I am a teacher of English in China. The following test item is taken from China National College Entrance English Examinations, which were held just on June 8th,2006.
Engines are to machines ____ hearts are to animals.
Which is right, "as" or "what"? Thanks very much for your answer.
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Actually, I think the answer should be "as", but the reference answer released officially is "what", and they say “A is to B what C is to D” is a fixed structure in English. And, you know this is an English test item in China College Entrance Exams! So have they made a mistake?
2006-06-10 01:43:34 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The correct answer is "as". This type of question is called an analogy.
Another and more popular example of one is:
A glove is to hand as a shoe is to ________ (The answer is foot because the glove covers/protects the hand then the shoe must cover/protect whatever it is referring to.)
I hope that made sense to you. If I figure out a better way to explain it let you know.
2006-06-10 01:54:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
I think the answer is definitely "as". I am an English teacher here, in Korea, and exam questions (and books) are often written incorrectly because native English speakers are regularly not employed to create or edit questions.
Cheers!
2006-06-10 01:52:10 · answer #2 · answered by empirebillybay 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Either could be considered correct grammatically. Most native speaking English would probably say as. In the context of a mathematical question, what seems more appropriate.
2006-06-10 02:20:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it is what, because one is a living item and the other is a machine.
2006-06-10 01:52:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The correct answer is "as" but the way it is worded with "what" can also be considered grammatically correct.
2006-06-10 01:50:11 · answer #5 · answered by Heavn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"as" is correct. Yes they have made a mistake and your intuition is correct. Can you contact them and get them to disqualify the question?
2006-06-10 01:48:17 · answer #6 · answered by Zelda Hunter 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Usually those type of questions are worded using the word 'as'.
2006-06-10 08:24:03 · answer #7 · answered by Rachel O 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They've made a mistake - it should be AS.
2006-06-10 02:20:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As is correct.
2006-06-10 01:47:46 · answer #9 · answered by Iron Rider 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as
2006-06-10 13:25:01 · answer #10 · answered by Maus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋