Category: Conversation

We Should Stop Idling

From Twitter
We should stop idling as

a. Earth is in a rapid, soon unstoppable environmental evolution.
b. Earth is in a rapid, soon unstoppable environmental devolution.
c. Air pollution is causes asthma attacks in people and lung cancer is the #1 killer in Japan.

Choose–
1. a & c
2. b & c

Answer And Explanation
The answer is 2., b & c, because devolution is the opposite of evolution. Evolution is incremental development that improves life; devolution is development that deteriorates it (breaks it down, degenerates or kills it). The global environment, as a result of rapid warming, is killing off species and may kill us off if we do not act fast and comprehensively to save our biosphere.

I Don’t Care

From Twitter:

Jo: Trump passed a new law.
Bo: _. What is it, no Korean or Chinese travel?
Jo: I thought you didn’t care.
Bo: I don’t, but was I right?
Jo: No. He banned negative reporters from the White House.
Bo: Old news.

Choose the best answer:
I couldn’t care.
I don’t know.
Who cares?

Answer

The answer is Who cares, because this expression means no one cares, certainly I don’t care, so who does (care)?

‘I don’t know‘ doesn’t create any sense, if you look at the statement from Jo. It would not be the correct response.

I couldn’t is grammatically correct, but awkward without ‘less,’ as the common expression is ‘I couldn’t care less.’

Masks

It’s not just about you; it’s about the comfort of others.

From Twitter:

1. Bo: Aren’t ya gonna _ a mask?
2. Jo: When I _ one of those, I’m uncomfortable.
Bo: We all are, but it’s necessary.
Jo: They don’t work!
Bo: They do–against sneezes, coughs–and, it’s not just about you; it’s about the comfort of others.

Pick The Best Answers:
wear
put on
use

Answers & Explanation:
1. ‘wear,’ because we wear clothing after we put it on.
2. ‘put on,’ because first we put on clothes, then we wear them all day–or until we take them off.
‘Use‘ works in both cases, but the test is to pick the best answers.

He Forgot

They fall off the roof.

From Twitter:

①_ man want_ to buy gift_ for his worker_.
④ Ｈe go__ to Radiohub to get phone-case_.
③___ ___ ___ office he put__ ___ case_ on __ roof of ___ car as he open_ ___ door.
④　On ___ way __ __ office they fall off ___ top of ___ car.

Use More Than Once:
to
es
his
the
way
heading
on
a
s

Answers And Explanation:
①　[A] man want[s] to buy gift[s] for his worker[s].
②　He go[es] to Radiohub to get phone-case[s].
③　[Heading] [to] [the] office he put[s] [the] case[s] on [the] roof of [his] car as he open[s] [the] door.
④ On [the] way [to] [the] office they fall off [the] top of [the] car.


①　A man is a new man in the story; the man (or “he”) is one already spoken about and known to the listener(s).
A man wants in general situations. The ‘s‘ is there to show we are talking about 1 man in the present tense.
We buy gifts or “a gift“ for persons or a person. He is buying for workers, so buys more than 1.
②　A man sometimes, usually, always or never goes somewhere. We use this tense for telling stories. The man buys phone cases because he has many employees.
③ Heading to a place means starting to go to that place. ‘To’ is a pre-position. It comes “pre” or before the position. As with all prepositions, it is there to indicate the relationship between the subject and the object (the destination). Our man heads to the office, because it is his office; it is known. He puts the cases on the roof of his car. The cases, because they are known cases. The roof of the car, because the car has one roof, and it’s his car because he owns it. He opens the door; it’s the door because the car has one door that the man is opening.
④ On the way to the office means while going to the office. This clause (A group of words containing a subject and verb phrase is “a clause”) shows when they (the cases) fall off the top of the car. It’s the top, because the car has only one top.

More Later…

Politics

What do you think?

From Twitter:

Toshi: _ of politics?
Tom: You should pay attention to it.
Toshi: We think it’s a waste of time.
Tom: That’s why it wastes more than your time.
Toshi: What do ya mean?
Tom: You don’t care, so it wastes your money, taxes, health and time.

Do you like
What do you think
Think

Answer And Explanation
A. The answer is what do you think; but some people (even one of my favorite living philosophers… not mentioning names… [his initials are Sam Harris] …) say “how do you think?,” but this means something different, such as what is the mechanism of your thought process; that is totally different and inappropriate for this situation (and others) wherein we want to know what thoughts someone has on a subject in the contents of their ideas–not how they arrive at them (chemically or procedural-ly).

B. “Think of politics?” kind of works in casual, abbreviated, dialectic speech, but these questions that I make here and on Twitter are about proper, Standard English.

C. “Do you like of politics?” makes no sense.

Epictetus 1

From Twitter:

“You are not you’re body and hair style,
but your capacity for choosing well.
If your choices are beautiful,
so too will you be.

– #Epictetus
(Italics, mine)

The Greek philosopher meant:
a. Mind is better than body.
b. Fashion is choice.
c. Our choices make us.
d. We are mind, not body.

Answer And Explanation
I think the answer is C. I mean–that is the best answer, in my view–because yes d.sounds correct, but I think it isn’t; we are notmind or body; we are both (many philosophers, scientists, and physiologists, these days, think it is true that mind and body are not separate; they are one thing).

Choice a. also could be mistaken for the answer; surely, religion teaches people that “the soul” (really a spiritual word for the mind) is the thing that matters. This is what leads people to think that they are (a spirit or a mind) “riding around in their heads”, as philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris says. This also seems wrong. “You,” or your mind, is no more separate from your body than your cornea is separate from your eye.

Choice b. is probably correct, but anyone who thinks that the great and honored philosopher #Epectitus was merely talking about fashion (in this statement) must be missing the point.

Save The World

From Twitter:
A. Do ya know who saved the world before ya were born?
B. Several people. JFK made a missile-for-missile deal to the USSR, saving us in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
A. No, it was Khrushchev’s idea.
B. Hmm. So, who?
A. A Russian, named _.

Vladimir Pusin
Stanislav Petrov
Yuri Gagarin

Answer: Stanislav Petrovic and Explanation: Stanislav Petrovic was Soviet Air Force officer in charge of monitoring incoming missiles. In 1983 he decided to ignore his instruments telling him that the USA had launched a missile strike against the Soviet Union…. Had he done his job according to protocol, we would have had a full scale nuclear war that would have ended–or could have ended the world or much of it. For more about nuclear weapons, go to http://samharris.org for a very good recent podcast with a nuclear weapons expert.

Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space (traveling in a rocket).
Vladimir Pusin is a made-up name.


Inconsistency

From Twitter:

① A. What’s culture _ to you?
B. The list is long.
A. Say 1 thing.
B. Inconsistency.
A. But we’re-
②　B. We have different _.
A. But–
B. You asked.
A. Explain.
B. Changing contracts on a whim.
A. Bosses can–
③ B. People take _ because of the contract.
A. Hmm.

jobs
values
worst
shock

Answers And Explanation
① shock (as in culture shock)　
② values (Values are principles, sometimes synonymous with morals, ethics)
③ jobs (People accept job offers because of the benefits and conditions)

Cars And Climate

From Twitter:
A: __ ? I saw a movie on #GlobalWarming; scientists say we shouldn’t idle our engines. Each car matters. __ ?
B: Oh, come on! How much damage can one car do?
A: Many folks do it; the carbon adds up.
B: Pft.
A: Be responsible!

① say
② did you know that
③ you know what
④ listen

Answers And Explanation
You know what? You know what? (Answer Choice 3) means, “Do you want to know something,” and what follows after this expression is the new information; in this case: I saw a movie on Global Warming.
Each car matters.

Did you know that? (Answer Choice 2) means “did you know that fact that I just told you about?”

Friends at A Smokey Izakaya

From Twitter

Clerk: I __ go. I __ get up early; I’m __ to meet my boss early–and, I __ stop drinking, eating so much pork.

Clerk’s Foreign Friend (a vegetarian wearing a gas mask who sipped one beer all night): Cool.

① must
② have to
③ supposed to
④ should

Answers And Explanation:
I have to go. (Answer 2) Have to shows obligation.
I should get up early; (Answer 4) Should shows obligations we want to resist
I’m supposed to meet my boss early (Answer 3) Supposed to precedes obligations others are expecting.
–and, I must stop drinking, eating so much pork. (Answer 1) Must introduces intentions or obligations with moral- or beneficial- imperatives.