From Twitter:
Dialog
Boy: Did you ace* your test?
Girl: No. I didn’t; I blew it.
Boy: Why?
Girl: I couldn’t study; my sister and brother were acting up!
Question:
A. To “blow it” means
① to make it bigger
② to do badly
③ to cause it to explode
B. ”Act up” means
① to be active
② to be up-beat
③ to be bad
________
The answer to Question A is ② ‘to do badly.’
The answer to Question B is ③ ‘to be bad’
*To ace something is to do it perfectly. Basically it is the opposite of “blow it.”
From Twitter
Is that ① I smell; is mom ② , again?
Is there ③ here?; I smell ④ !
Choices:
cooking
fire
cigarettes
smell
someone smoking
The answers are below the images.
Answers And Explanation
Is that ① cooking I smell; is mom ② cooking, again? Cooking is a noun and a verb.
Is there ③ someone smoking here?; I smell ④ cigarettes! Smell is a verb as well as a noun.
Bill: Let’s go to the game. C’mon; it’ll be fun.
Sara: You won’t take “no” for an answer, will ya?
Bill: Oh–I’m sorr-
Sarah: Oh, all right,* let’s go; I know this means a lot to ya.
* Here ‘all right’ means:
a. All’s okay
b. Sara wants to go
c. She doesn’t want to but will
① Without a subject, what is the implied subject in a sentence?
What is the subject in this sentence?
・ “Go!”
a. I
b. you
c. we
d. no subject is implied
Answer And Explanation:
The answer is b., you, because in an imperative (like a command), the implied subject is always the second person pronoun or proper noun; it is ‘you.’.
The Boys Club of America teaches young men leadership skills, camping and social skills.
From Twitter:
Which is correct?
① Boys Club
② Boy’s Club
③ Boy Club
④ Boys’ Club
Answer And Explanation
Well, they are all correct except number 2, but they all mean different things:
First, number 2 is incorrect without an article, as in A Boy’s Club;
① Boys Club means a place you can go to find boys
② Boy’s Club means one boy’s club, owned by him.
③ Boy Club either means a club for boys or a club of boys or both.
④ Boys’ Club means a place of , for and owned by boys
I have no purpose except to teach you style (which includes punctuation). There is no inappropriate reference here. I thought of this, because all around Tokyo one sees ‘Girl’s Bar,’ which is incorrect. It means one girl owns a bar, and it is incorrectly written. I didn’t use the example of a “girly bar” (the correct usage), because I think these places are sad, exploit women, fleece lonely and incapable men and ruin relationships; tragically, they offer jobs to young women who deserve to be offered government education and training programs. I did not want to call attention to girly bars. Also, in America, the Boy Scouts is sometimes referred to as a “boys club.”
From Twitter:
I wasn’t _____ rain. That’s why I don’t ave an umbrella!
a. ‘Waiting for’ is not the answer, because only farmers and poets wait for rain.
b. ‘Waiting on’ is not it, because we wait on friends and it means wait for.
c. ‘expecting’ is the answer, because it means ‘thinking would come/be/”waiting for” (sort of).
d. ‘Expect’ is not right, because it doesn’t fit the grammar; we need the continuous tense.
From Twitter:
___ me to help you.
a. allow is the answer, because we allow + noun/pronoun/proper noun
b. Lets doesn’t fit the grammar; who or what allows “me?,” and no infinitive is needed.
c. Allows doesn’t fit the grammar; who or what allows “me?”
d. Let doesn’t fit the grammar; let doesn’t require an infinitive.
We’re not free so long as:
a. we have free speech
b. fossil fuel is legal
c. the meat & dairy industry are destroying the air & sea
d. taxes are theft e.
e. we must serve in the army
f. smokers can give us cancer with 1 alpha particle
① a & e
② b & c
③ d
④ b, c and d
⑤ a ~ f
The answers are b, c and f.
a. is not a reason for lack of freedom; It’s a reason we are free.
b. Taxes aren’t theft; they are agreed upon by our representatives and many of them serve us.
e. Serving in the army is something people do in free countries. One could say that it is control of the citizens if they do not elect for it, but even in countries such as South Korea–a democracy–the people can elect to do away with conscription.
