April 2020 – Page 3 – SEI 新宿英会話教室 BLOG

Comedians in Cafe on Diet

Jerry: What do you ①–a soy or meat burger?
Alec: I would ② have soy.
Jerry: ③ a vegetarian diet, I still got fat.
Alec: ④ eating soy, so am I.
Ricky: You’re both ridiculous.

Use all choices in the spaces above:
prefer
despite
rather
In spite of my

Answers And Explanations
Jerry: What do you (①) prefer–a soy or meat burger? ‘Prefer’ is used regarding choices.
Alec: I would (②) rather have have soy. ‘Rather’ precedes a verb, such as ‘have.’
Jerry: (③) Despite a vegetarian diet, I still got fat. ‘Despite` precedes a noun.
Alec: (④) In spite of my eating soy, so am I. ‘In spite of’ precedes a noun or a… pronoun or Proper Noun and then a verb. But here, we have ‘my,’ which couldn’t come before the ‘a vegetarian diet’ in number ③。　
Ricky: You’re both ridiculous.

No Phones in Pockets!

From Twitter:
Dr. J: Don’t do that.
Bo: _①_ my phone in my chest pocket?
Dr. J: Right.
Bo: Really?
Dr. J. You’ll get tumors in your chest. Not in your pants pocket either.
Bo: And headphones?
Dr. J:_ ②_them; don’t hold a phone near your head–nor a tablet or laptop on your lap.

Choices:
have
use
put

Answer And Explanation:
① ‘Put‘ is the answer; though ‘have’ is okay, the emphasis in a “dos and don’ts” situation is usually on the beginning action, or the doing. In other words, we put something in a place before we have it in that place. So the ‘putting’ is a the “beginning” or causal action. Also, if you imagine a patient in a doctor’s office–after a physical exam– s/he probably puts the phone in his or her pocket in front of the doctor. So, the doctor’s saying “don’t do that” refers to something the person is “doing”, not “having.”

② ‘Use’ is the answer; there is no other sensible choice, here.

Working from Home

I like working from home.

From Twitter:
I like working from home, because I can save time ＿①＿ to the office.

Choices
a。from going
b。of going
c。to go

Answer and Explanations:
The answer is:
a. ‘from going to,’ because we are taking time out of, or “from” an activity.

b. If we wanted to use ‘of going’ we would need to be referring to a specific amount of time, so would need ‘the’ in front of it: ‘save the time of going.’

c. If we used ‘to go,’ the meaning changes to suggesting that we want to go to the office.

What Are They Doing?

From Twitter:

What are these people doing? Look at the choices under the picture gallery and make sentences.

① Mo –

② Jo –

③ Im –

④ Bi –

⑤ Ci –

⑥ Ee –

⑦ Gi –

⑧ Mi –

⑨ Xi –

Make sentences with these choices and see the white board below for help:

play ❶
make
sing
drive
ride
fly
write
Play ❷

Answers:

① Mo –

Mo is writing.

② Jo –

③ Jo is riding a trolley.

Im is flying a rocket.

④ Bi –

Bi is driving (or riding in) a car.

⑤ Ci –

Ci is making a movie (or filming [with a camera]).

⑥ Ee –

Ee is playing (keyboard[s]).

⑦ Gi –

Gi is singing (with a mic[rophone]).

⑧ Mi –

⑨ Mi is weightlifting/working out/ exercising.

Xi is playing (or wathcing) football.

Whose Mask?

Is this mine or yours? It’s hers. Or–is it his?

Jo (a guy) and Mo (a gal) took ① masks off & left ②. Later they are confused as to who owns what, and Bo helps them sort it out.

Jo: Is this ③ mask or is it Mo’s?
Bo: It’s ④.
Jo: Where’s ⑤?
Bo: ⑥ here.
Jo: And yours?
Bo: ⑦ on me!
Mo (to Jo): Does Bo have ⑧ mask?
Jo: Yes ⑨ has it.

Choices
my
their
she
her
it’s
them
hers
mine
your