Korean Job Discussion Forums

[raewon]

Here's a question from a handout:

He made a chair _____ recycled wood.
a) to b) for c) from d) of e) with

Supposedly there's only one answer. I can eliminate choices (a) and
(b), but what about the others? (d) sounds a bit odd, but is it "wrong"?
(c) and (e) both sound fine to me.

[thegadfly]

(c) is the best answer, as recycled wood was the base material, from which the chair was made.

(e) is not as good because it can be used for the tools as well as the materials -- e.g. He made a chair with his own two hands or he made a chair with a hammer.

[andrewchon]

I vote for c) from.

Same reason as above.

[Darkray16]

I would say both work.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/with

Look at definition number 4.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/from

look at definition number 5.

both answers are correct as recycled wood is both the source and was used during the process. The two prepositions are not exclusive. Both can be true in the same context.

In other words, while all objects which you made the chair from is also something you made it with, the reverse is not always true. But in this situation it is.

The question is fail.

[frankly speaking]

C is the most direct answer, but E could be argued correct also. It is important not to have ambiguity on tests. You could also use the word using instead of with and it makes sense.

If students put E, then you cannot really mark them wrong, but C is the best and clearest choice.

[Fox]

I also think C is the best answer, but honestly D and E both sound perfectly fine to me as well. They ultimately all mean the same thing: he made a chair, and the chair's material is recycled wood.

This is the kind of question where it would have been much better to ask, "Which of the following could complete the sentence, circle all correct answers." While speaking English, you're going to hear people say from, of, and with in situations like this, so it's important they know all of them are acceptable.

[raewon]

Thanks everyone. Now I can say with confidence that there's a huge
problem with the question as is. I would also like to change the question to a "choose all possible answers" style (as Fox suggested) but
I still think there would be some disagreement. This question is
toast.

[T-J]

The answer is the one that they had to memorize from their text.

[jhuntingtonus]

F) out of.

[DCJames]

If this is a conversarional english class than C is the answer because it's the most conversational / idiomatic.

[Gillian57]

[edwardcatflap]

out of