Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me which answers seem illogical to you? Which possibilities would you accept and which ones would you definitely rule out? Would it be possible to tell my why, please?

1) He has LITTLE / ENOUGH / A LITTLE / SOME time for his hobbies now that he has been promoted.

2a) A FEW / MANY of the composer's works have survived, but 3a) FEW / ALL are well-known.

2b) FEW of the composer's works have survived, but 3b) ALL are well-known.

c) Any other possibility ?

4) I don't like London at all because there's TOO MUCH / MUCH pollution. (Is it clear from the fist part of the sentence that we need to add �TOO� before �much�?)

5) A FEW / SOME tokens of affection would have made a huge difference.

6) You're not going to miss the train. There's SOME / ENOUGH / A LITTLE time before it leaves.

7) The Jordanian community is in a state of rage at the bombings that took place in the MUCH / MOST beloved capital Amman on Wednesday night.

Many thanks,
Hela

[bud]

1) All are possible:

little - His new job is more time-consuming, leaving less time for his hobbies.

enough - The opposite - His new job requires less of his time, leaving time for his hobbies (he must have been promoted to management!).

a little - Probably his new job requires slightly less time than his previous job. While previously, he had no time for his hobbies, now he has a little bit of time for them. (The context could change this to mean that he has less time for his hobbies than before, but now he at least has a little time. I think the first meaning is most likely, though.)

some - This is just like "a little" in possible meanings, only the amount of time left for hobbies is increased.

2-3) Few/all makes sense (all of those few are well-known). Many/few also makes sense (the few well-known works being a subset of the many surviving works). Many/all does not work, in my opinion ("but" points to a contrast, and there is none with many/all. "And" would be used, instead I'd say). Few/few does not work, in my opinion.

4. "Much" works OK by itself. In saying it that way, you'd have in mind (or in the context) cities that have very little pollution (is that even possible, though?). But "too much" is better, I'd say. It allows that all (most) cities are polluted, but that you judge London's to be worse. Also, I think using "at all" would tend to make you want to use an intensifier. "At all" is itself an extreme end of a scale.

5. Either is fine. I think "a few" is more likely, though. The sentence implies that there were no tokens of affection. The speaker is probably trying to say that the lack of even an attempt at showing affection greatly affected the feeling of the situation. In itself, that feeling was a huge, silent statement. So even a few tokens of affection would have precluded the possibility of that silent statement.

6. All are possible. "Enough" is the most likely, as it would fit any situation. "A little" would work if you were, say, at a cafe in the train station. "Some" is similar to "a little," except you wouldn't have to be quite as close. You could be in a cafe two blocks away, for example.

7. "Much" is best. "Most" has a possible technical issue in that it is used in comparison. Are we comparing Amman with any other cities/capitals?