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syoshioka99
Joined: 28 Oct 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Korea
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 Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:13 am Post subject: I don't understand the following sentence... |
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Could you please restate?
We wonder at how various animals and insects, in order to maintain their species, complete a complex process which no one taught them.
Question 1: I do not understand the sentence, especially "we WONDER AT
HOW various animals and insects,..."
Question2: can I remove "at" from this sentence and does it still have the same meaning as the original one?
Satoru
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Lorikeet
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 1877
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:03 am Post subject: |
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You have a very good question. You are thinking of the verb "wonder" as in "I wonder what he did last night." This one means you are curious or don't know what he did.
The other "wonder" is different. It means I am amazed to know this. "We wonder at how various animals and insects, in order to maintain their species, complete a complex process which no one taught them" means we know that many animals do complex things that are based on instinct, and not on someone teaching them, and we are amazed by it. For example, fish can return to the same stream they were hatched in to spawn (lay their eggs) and no one gives them a map of how to get there. |
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syoshioka99
Joined: 28 Oct 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2005 7:13 am Post subject: Thanks for your comment, Lorikeet. |
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By the way, Ive been to San Fransisco. It's a nice place, huh?
Satoru
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