Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

Hi teachers,
Please tell me the meaning of the 4 questions I have. Thanks.


1. Because I want you to *get checked out* to make sure you're healthy and will be around longer.

Is it more common to use "to check out" then the passive form?

2.We should certainly go, if only as a courtesy to Helen.
So they are doing it solely for Helen?

3.LAST POSITION HELD : Target for *middle management hostility*.
What is that?

4.HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION ?: I may already be a winner of the *Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes*, *so they tell me. *
What do they mean?

[CP]

1. To check out is to investigate. To get checked out is to be examined, by a doctor, in this context. So both active and passive uses of the verb are both used. Which is more common, I don't know.

2. Maybe solely for Helen, but at least partly for Helen's sake and partly for other reasons.

3. Sorry, but I don't get the question.

4. The Publishers Clearing House holds its sweepstakes from time to time, awarding a big cash prize to the winner. It advertises with mailings that begin, "You may already be a winner!" Here, someone is answering a question in an application for school or work that asks about special awards and recognition--you know, the Nobel Peace Prize, a special scholarship, third place for the 50-meter backstroke at the YMCA swim meet, anything. The joking answer by the person who has no awards, no prizes, no recognition at all might be, "I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes." The "so they tell me" part just means that the notice so notified the person, yet in reality everyone has received such a notice.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[missdaredevil]

Sorry to not have explained further. Question 3 was a fill in blank question for job applicants. I hope it explains.

[CP]

Okay, I get it now.

Paraphrasing, the question on the application is, "What is the last position (job description) that you held?" Ordinarily, we expect just a short description, like "Receptionist," "Data analyst," "Warehouse foreman," "Taxi dispatcher."

The answer given here is "Target for middle management hostility," that is, at my last job, I was the one who took the blame for everything. It doesn't matter what my job description was, because the middle managers, my supervisors, took out all their aggression on me; I was the target of their hostility, meanness, anger, etc.

It's a funny but inappropriate answer to give on a real job application.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb