Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Tony 1963]

Hi,

1. ____________ modeling business is by no means easy to get into, the good model will always be in demand.
A. since B. as
I think both of them are correct. Do you agree? When we are talking about reason, are there any differences between these two words?

2. ----Dad, I�ve finished my homework.
----Good, and __________you play or watch TV, you mustn�t disturb me.
A. whenever B. whether
I think both of them are correct. What do you say?

3. _________ David could remember, he had no reason to say an angry word to his students.
A. as far as B. as long as C. as well as D. as much as
It seems to me that all of them are correct. What do you say?

4. Criticism and self-criticism is necessary_________ it helps us to correct our mistakes.
A. in that B. now that
It seems to me that A is better, but I don�t know why. Can you explain it a little bit?

Thanks a lot.

Tony

[CP]

1. "Since the modeling business . . . ." You need the "the," and you want "since," since "since" means "because" here. If you want "as," make it "inasmuch as."

2. "Good, and whether you play or watch TV, you mustn�t disturb me." You want "whether" because it refers to two or more things. If you put "whenever," you will be laying down a rule that from now on, whenever the children play or watch TV, they must never disturb Dad.

3. "As far as David could remember" would mean so far as his memory could help him, he had no reason to say an angry word to his students. "As long as" would mean for as long a time as he had a memory, he had no reason to say anything in anger. I would choose "as far as."

4. You want "in that," since it means, more or less, "because" here. You would want "now that" only if it never helped correct mistakes until just now.

Now, I know some people would say that "criticism and self-criticism" can be considered a single entity, hence saying "is necessary" and "it helps us" are all right. But I think criticism and self-criticism are two different things, so the subject is plural. I would write it as plural: "are necessary" and "they help us."
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Tony 1963]

thank CP! it helps a lot!
Tony

[redset]

I'd say that as is fine for the first one too.