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Chan-Seung Lee



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032
PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:50 pm    Post subject: miss Reply with quote
Quote:
Mr. Wilson is 65 years old. He no longer works. But he needs something to keep him busy. He misses not being with people.


In the quote, what does 'He misses not being with people.' mean?

Thanks.
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Sirius



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
Posts: 119
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It means he is lonely.

When he was working he had lots of people around him. Now that he is retired he doesn't and he misses the company of others.
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CP



Joined: 12 Jun 2006
Posts: 2875
Location: California
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
To be correct, it should read, "He misses being with people." At present, he is not with people, and he misses being with them.
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Chan-Seung Lee



Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:41 pm    Post subject: once again Reply with quote
Quote:
Mr. Wilson is 65 years old. He no longer works. But he needs something to keep him busy. He misses not being with poeple. One day Mr. Wilson called the city hospital on the phone. He asked if he could help there. A lady told him to come right over. Mr. Wilson got on a bus and went to the hospital. He learned how he could help. Now Mr. Wilson goes to the hospital every morning. He brings food to the sick people. He reads and talks to them. Mr. Wilson is a friendly person. He makes people feel better. The hospital is glad for people like Mr. Wilson.


Thanks for your reply.

As cp told me, if 'He misses not being with people.' is changed to 'He misses being with people.', it can mean that he is lonely.
But the story book was published by McGraw-Hill in 1998. Since then it has not been changed. So I'd like to trust the text.
As a result, I think that 'He misses not being with poeple.' have the meaning itself. I wrote the full story for your understanding so that you may think the real meaning of it. Please read the full story and tell me the meaning of it.
In addition, can you tell me the meaning of 'The hospital is glad for people like Mr. Wilson.'?


Thanks as always.
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Lorikeet



Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 1877
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Don't trust the textbook. The text should be "He misses being with people." but I think many people would understand the error to mean the same thing. The rest of the story only makes sense if he was initially lonely and that's why he volunteered at the hospital. The hospital is glad to have people like Mr. Wilson volunteer.
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Philo Kevetch



Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 564
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
He no longer works and misses 'not' being with people....

makes it sound like he was a lighthouse keeper, shepard, fire ranger, etc.

all jobs where someone spends extended periods of time alone.

Seems someones' blue pencil needs to be sharpened in this case :)
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rice07



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 385
PostPosted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi

According to Philo- "He no longer works and misses not being with people",seems like sentences with double negatives. An opinion used to adopt one negative for its full meaning in sentence with double or mutiple negatives.

Example:

I shouldn't be surprised if they didn't get married soon.=I souldn't be surprised if they get married soon.=I should be surprised if they didn't get married soon.

Allow me to form a hypothesis on the following:

Truth: He no longer works(unchanged)

so I guess: He no longer works and miss being with people.
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rice07



Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 385
PostPosted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
=>He no longer works and misses being with people.
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