Want help from English native speakers—three English questions?

Question

Hello, I am a Chinese teaching English in my home country. I have 3 questions just below, which are taken from the China National College Entrance Examination papers over the past years. As answers differ greatly, I particularly want some help form the native English speakers (British or American). Anyway, your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

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1 The husband gave his wife ________ every month in order to please her.
A. all half his income B. his half all income
C. half his all income D. all his half income
Which one? Why?

2 — What’s wrong with your coat?
— Just now when I wanted to get off the bus, the man next to me ____ on it.
A. sat B. had sat C. had been sitting D. was sitting
Which one? Is there anything wrong with this sentence?

3 He was educated at a local grammar school, ________ he went on to Cambridge.
A. from which B. after that
C. after which D. from this
Which one? Why?

Answer 1

1. None of those. I would say "The husband gave his wife half of his total income every month in order to please her."

2. C. or D.

3. A.

Answer 2

1 None of the stated options are correct, "half his income" or half of his income" would be correct. If you wanted to emphasise the point that he actually gave her half of everything he made, not half of some smaller portion, you could say "half his total income" or "half of his total income".

2 A or D are correct, but refer to 2 different situations. Both B and C are incorrect, since use of "had" makes the man's coat-sitting past tense, in which case, as it is no longer happening, there is no problem for the person to get up and get off the bus. In A, the the coat-sitter has just gotten on the bus at the same stop where the other person wants to get off and in sitting on the coat, is preventing the person from getting up to get off. In D, the coat-sitting has occurred at some previous stop and the person has only now just noticed it in being prevented from getting up to get off the bus.

3 In common conversation, either B or C would be correct, however if you were writing an essay, C would be the best. The rule is if both "that" and "which" sound ok, use "which".

Answer 3

1. None are correct because the words "all" and "half" are very close to each other and cause confusion since they contradict each other in meaning. You should say.."In order to please his wife, the husband gave her half his monthly income".

2. A. Sat - You need simple past tense here since you are speaking of a single point of time in the past, "just now when I wanted....: The other two tenses imply a continuous past action.

3. B is the best, but a bit repetitive, since college is always after grammar school. However, unless the person literally walked out of the grammar school and proceeded immediately to the college, you shouldn't use "from". The best sentence would be "He was educated at a local grammar school before he went on to Cambridge."

Answer 4

1. Half his income or half of his income.
Reason: It isn't proper english to say it any of the ways you have it. ALL doesn't fit in there correctly to make it a complete sentence.
2. Just now when I went to get off the bus, the man next to me had been sitting on it. OR
Just now when I wanted to get off the bus, the man next to me was sitting on it.
When you use verbs the sentence must agree with it. HENCE the tenses that I used. WENT AND HAD BEEN AGREE> Wanted and was agree.
3. Ok all these answers are starting a prepositional phrase. try this instead.
He had been educated at a local grammar school. Then he went on to Cambridge.
Your sentences need some work. the way a person reads it can cause them to choose different answers. Maybe more detailed and to the point.

Answer 5

1. None of these make much sense. If you leave the 'all' off the front of A, it will be correct.

2. All of these could be considered correct, depending on context. If the problem with the coat is that it is crushed, there could be the implication that it was noticed that the man either (b) had sat on it and then got off earlier or (c) had been sitting on it and needed to stand up for it to be retrieved. Also in that case, (d) could be correct for the same reason as (c) was with the implication. My first thought, however, was (a), because I thought of the coat being ripped as though someone sat on it as the wearer was standing up.

3. Definitely (a). To use (b) or (d), you would need to start a new sentence and the use of the preposition 'on' suggests a spatial, rather than temporal, motion.

Answer 6

Question 1:P None of the answers are correct. The word "all" needs to be removed. He either "gave is wife half of his income" or he "gave her all of his income".

Question 2: D is the answer. Is anything wrong with the sentence? Yes. The "Just now" throws it off a little bit. You might want to re-write it as, " When I wanted to get off the bus, I noticed the man next to me ____ on it."

Question 3: C is the correct answer for proper English. Most Americans would say that B is the correct answer. I'm sorry, but I can't remember what the rule is.

Answer 7

1. None of these is correct. If you wanted to say that he gave her half his income, then that is what you would say, not all half. Half is half, you can not give less or more than half and still call it half.
2. The man next to me was sitting on it.
3. c - after which, if you are using it in the same sentence. If you are starting another sentence (but you aren't because there is a comma after 'school') but if you were, it would be b, After that.
Hope this is helpful.

Answer 8

1. C; half of his total income. not "total half his income" or "total his half income".
2. A; nothing wrong. it says "just" in the beginning of the sentence so it's "sat" like in "just sat". You dont say "just had sat" or "just was sitting". the man next to me sat on it, just when i got up to get off the bus. he wasnt sitting on it the whole time, or i would've noticed, he sat on it just when i got up.
3. C; after being educated at a local grammar school, he went on to Cambridge. you can also say "He was educated at a local grammar school. After that, he went on to Cambridge." the correct answer is C, simply because there is only one sentence and not two.

Answer 9

for the first one the correct way to answer it would be(half of his income)the answers that you have listed would be incorrect in american grammar.

for number 2- the correct answer would be (had sat) apparently the man wanting off the bus was in the window seat and wanted off atthe stop where the man got on and sat next to him sitting on his coat.
#3-the correct answer would be (c:after which)he continued his education by going to cambridge after attending grammar school

Answer 10

1."The husband gave his wife half his all income every month in order to please her."
This is a very stilted construction of the sentence, and none of them really make sense. A better way to say this would be :
"The husband gave his wife half his income every month, in order to please her."


2A "sat" - it is the correct conjugation of the verb "to sit"

3. This could be two sentences or have several of the words in use A makes one sentence and all the rest seem to ask for two sentences.

Answer 11

question 1

none of the above.... the answer should be ....... half his income

question 2

D.was sitting

because the first person WAS on the bus... the man WAS sitting on his coat

nothing really wrong with the sentence, it is just a bit awkward and is more likely a conversation sentence

question 3

All of the above... all answers work equally well