Hello. I am an English teacher in China. I have one question just below, which is taken from the 2006 China National Matriculation English Test. Actually, I posted this question on the Internet several days ago, and I got nearly 20 answers (thanks for all the help). Most of the answers (except a few) chose “when”, but the official answer is “that”.
You know this is a high stakes exam to millions of Chinese. Is the official answer “that” wrong? I particularly want more help form the English native speakers (American or British). Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot
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--It's thirty years since we last met.
--But I still remember the story, believe it or not, ______ we got lost on a rainy night.
A. which B. that C. what D. when
B or D? Why?
2007-01-12 01:54:53 · 15 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
I choose "That." Reason is - I think "when" would only be correct if it was preceded by "of"
2007-01-12 02:00:58 · answer #1 · answered by I hate friggin' crybabies 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The answer is "that" because the subordinate clause modifies story. (Just remove the "believe it or not" since it doesn't add anything and is just there to confuse.)
This is a really weird sentence that I don't think a native speaker would usually use. They would opt for something that uses "of when" or "when" with a different construction.
I hope one day you get to be in charge of making the test and can put something more reasonable together. This kind of tricky question leads students to hate English, sadly.
2007-01-12 12:23:15 · answer #2 · answered by sksogang 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is "B - that". The reason is this: If you remove the phrase "believe it or not", the sentence would correctly read as "But I still remember the story that we got lost on a rainy night.". Because the story refers to "that" rainy night that we got lost. The use of "that" is usually more restrictive in the sense that we are saying that it is that one particular rainy night where the story had happened.
It is not totally wrong to use "which" as the word "which" is used more flexibly than the word "that". So in normal conversational English, it doesn't really matter whether you use "that" or "which". However, if it's for academic purposes, the word "that" would be more appropriate as the sentence is likely to refer to "that" rainy night.
2007-01-12 10:10:17 · answer #3 · answered by dway2success 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"That" is the correct answer. If you place "when" in the blank it causes the sentence to be and incomplete sentence.
Both "But" and "when" create conditional clauses and leave no complete structure for the sentence.
I am not a grammer expert but these are the rules I remember from junior high grammer.
By the way, if you are speaking to a native english speaker both sentences would be completely understood and accepted.
2007-01-12 10:08:40 · answer #4 · answered by Robert L 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This may be a difficult thing -
THAT refers to the antecedent - "story".
WHEN refers to the "30 years"
Now, which antecedent are we to choose? The closest one is usually correct, therefore "that" will be super-correctly correct.
However, usage and standard spoken English would practically always use "that" is that sentence, since it sounds better. Subjective judgment you see. It just 'sounds' better.
Native British-educated English speaker who LOVES words.
2007-01-12 13:13:45 · answer #5 · answered by thisbrit 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
WHEN
But I still remember the story, , when we got lost on a rainy night ,believe it or not .
But sorry Im neither a US or Brit
bye master
2007-01-12 10:13:49 · answer #6 · answered by srevalsan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
D. of when
The best way to tell is by taking out the extra phrase. So in this case:
I still remember the story of when we got lost on a rainy night.
2007-01-12 10:07:37 · answer #7 · answered by mine2006aug 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I would choose D. when. The reason is when you are rememering something, usually you say remember 'when' we got lost..., not remember 'that' we got lost..., unless you are saying remember 'that time' we got lost... I've spoken English (I'm from America) all my life and would never even consider using 'that' in that sentence, it does not make sense to me.
Good luck.
2007-01-12 10:20:42 · answer #8 · answered by sheila33 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion it could be either.
Although.."WHEN" does sound more correct.
"THAT" makes it sound like the person speaking was not involved when "we got lost." It sounds like they do not remember except for being told about it.
Casual everyday English would more likely use "when."
2007-01-12 21:05:36 · answer #9 · answered by Indigo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, no, no. The answer is D "when".
Read the sentence. "When" is the only logical choice. You are referring to something that happened thirty years ago.
2007-01-12 10:05:43 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
US speaker
its when. theyre must be a translation problem. D is correct because "that" is out of place and when is refering to a time period
2007-01-12 10:03:51 · answer #11 · answered by nomansland 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋