Teacher Discussion Forums

I need your opinion on some toefl questions.
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Can I shorten #1 sentence into #2?
1) A permanent ice cap and an extensive snowfield are ....
2) A permanent ice cap and extensive snowfield are...
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1. Mountain Rainier has a permanent ice cap and extensive snowfields,which gives rise to over forty glaciers.
the answer is : snowfields-->snowfield
my opinion : gives --> give

2. _____________ roads became a major branch of engineering
during the 1850s, and even the most difficult obstacles were
surmounted.
1) There were built
2) The building of
3) To build
4) Had built

The answer : 2)
My opinin : how about #3

3. Glands are tissues that produce substances necessary for the functioning of another tissues or organs.

The answer : another --> other
my opinion :
Yes, another should be other
Is it okay to write functioning instead of function here?

As far as I know, noun rather than gerund should be used after preposition when taking the article "the" with no object.
I am participating in providing food for the poor
I am participatiing in the provision of food for the poor

Thanks

heyiamhere wrote:I need your opinion on some toefl questions.

I am certainly happy I don't have to take a TOEFL test if these are some of the questions....

---------------------
Can I shorten #1 sentence into #2?
1) A permanent ice cap and an extensive snowfield are ....
2) A permanent ice cap and extensive snowfield are...
---------------------

1. Mountain Rainier has a permanent ice cap and extensive snowfields,which gives rise to over forty glaciers.
the answer is : snowfields-->snowfield
my opinion : gives --> give

The original has a plural for "extensive snowfields" and I don't know why you want to change it to singular. It seems to me that either "give" or "gives" would work in your example, depending on whether the items were viewed as one entity or not. I personally prefer "give" which is why I'm glad I'm not taking the test.

2. _____________ roads became a major branch of engineering
during the 1850s, and even the most difficult obstacles were
surmounted.
1) There were built
2) The building of
3) To build
4) Had built

The answer : 2)
My opinin : how about #3

3 is wrong as far as I can see. "A major branch of engineering is building roads" might work, but "A major branch of engineering is to build roads" doesn't.

3. Glands are tissues that produce substances necessary for the functioning of another tissues or organs.

The answer : another --> other
my opinion :
Yes, another should be other
Is it okay to write functioning instead of function here?

For me, they both sound okay. I don't know about the actual biological usage though. I will be interested to see what everyone else thinks.

Thanks

Some additional questions....

When an ice cap and an entensive snowfield are two different entities,
can I omit a for the second item as in #2?

1) A permanent ice cap and an extensive snowfield are ....
2) A permanent ice cap and extensive snowfield are...

I would (tentatively) say, "yes."

Q1 The Mount Rainier question. I'm not sure sometimes if your memory is serving you well. I doubt very much if the question said "Mountain Rainier", it probably said "Mount Rainier". But if the question was exactly

Mount(ain) Rainier has a permanent ice cap and extensive snowfields, which gives rise to over forty glaciers.

then I can't see where the problem is either. For me too, "snowfields" could be singular, with or without the "a" , and "gives" could be "give" without making the first version wrong.
TOEFL is strange sometimes.

Q2 to build /building. "To build" makes it sound more like a project:

"To build a rocket capable of reaching the Moon became a major goal of engineering during the 1950s"

This doesn't work for roads in the 1850's.

Q3 Glands. This is interesting. Obviously you were right but I wonder why "the functioning" is ok. As you point out, we normally seem to prefer a noun form if it exists : "after the arrival" to ?"after the arriving" . It may not have any explanation.

Hi Heyiamhere,

You wrote:
"Glands are tissues that produce substances necessary for the functioning of other tissues or organs.
Is it okay to write functioning instead of function here?"

I think it's correct to use "functioning" in this sentence because it refers to "the proper working" of these tissues and organs. Using "function" would change the meaning and the sentence would be talking about what these tissues and other organs are meant to do in/for your body, what their role is.