more Writing questions

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1

<p>1.(As) children mature, they develop (an independence) that their parents, who (have been) responsible for them since they were born, often find difficult (to accept).</p>

<p>Why isn't the answer B."children" is plural so shouldn't it be "independence" be plural?</p>

<ol>
<li>After the uprising of October 10, 1911, that (has led) to (the establishment of) a Chinese republic, many Chinese Americans decided to return to China (in) hopes of a bright future (there).</li>
</ol>

<p>why is "has led" wrong there. These perfect tenses always confuse me. CB says the answer is "led" but it doesn't thoroughly explain why. The sentence is in past tense and "has led" is past tense isn't it?</p>

<ol>
<li>In the novel, Jane Eyre must make many difficult choices, (like when she forces) herself to leave the house of Mr. Rochester, the married man she loves.</li>
</ol>

<p>A. like when she forces
B. and, as an example, when she forces
C. for example, by forcing
D. as exemplified by when she forces
E. including forcing</p>

<p>I picked A. Why is the answer E and why is a gerund necessary there?</p>

2

<p>for Q1, because the sentence means “each of the chilren”; this is similar to:
their father VS their fathers
the previous we are saying each people’s father, and the later we are saying all people’s fathers.</p>

<ol>
<li>when we use perfect tense, whether present or past, we are indicating one of the following:</li>
<li>actions that just happened: i’ve just finished it.</li>
<li>actions that happened in the past and continues up to now: i’ve worked for her since last year. (still work for her)</li>
<li>actions that happened in the past but have impact on present: i have gone to NY. (unlike in 2, i don’t keep going to NY, but am now still in NY)
“lead” doesn’t fit in any of the above, past tense is the answer. if you use “had led” it implies that the uprising ceased to lead to the establishment some time in the past. if you use “has lead”, it means the uprising is still leading to the establishment or continues to impact the establishment; that is illogical as the establishment happened many years ago</li>
</ol>

<p>3.E is a correct grammatically and concise. A is not formal; it would be better if in the form: …difficult choices; for example: she forces herself to leave the house of Mr. Rochester, the married man she loves.</p>

3

<p>1) Independence is not countable. You cannot pluralize it. Two people who are independent have independence, or in this case, an independence. You use the indefinite article “an” to communicate that the independence is particular to each child. If you are delivering a phone call message to someone, you may say “a Mr. Cooper called you.” The idiom “one of a kind,” which means “unique,” utilizes this as well, because we know the “kind” is specific. We can’t assume that it can be any kind, otherwise it wouldn’t be unique.</p>

<p>The indefinite article “a” or “an” can mean “a certain” or “a particular.”</p>

<p>One may have the urge to say “a [noun] that…” because the “that…” makes the noun particular or more specific:</p>

<p>“There is a happiness that makes the heart afraid.”
“There is a particular kind of happiness that makes the heart afraid; this is different from the kind of happiness that does not make the heart afraid.”</p>

<p>2) “has led” is not in the past tense – it is in the present perfect tense. It describes an action that occurred in the past and still has relevance in the present.</p>

<p>It might mean that you do something continuously (as a routine):
“Since 2008, I have eaten egg and toast for breakfast every morning.” – I still do in the present
It might mean that you did ONE thing in the past, but it still affects you in the present:
“I have prepared for the test.” – I am not preparing anymore, but I am prepared. If you simply say “I prepared for the test” you are only indicating that the action took place, but not that it still has relevance (meaning you may not be prepared anymore and need to study again).</p>

<p>All that being said, “it has led to the establishment” and “it led to the establishment” are both correct, but you only use the present perfect when you need to. In this case, we are just adding a simple detail (a parenthetical) about the fact that it led to the establishment. There is no point in mentioning that it is still established today because the sentence strictly talks about the past.</p>

<p>3) The sentence starts off with “Jane Eyre must make many difficult choices,” which refers to choices that haven’t been made yet. You may say “like when she forces herself…” if you are looking back on something and describing an event that is already known. It hasn’t happened yet since we just established that she “must make… choices.”</p>

<p>A gerund has no tense:</p>

<p>“the forcing took place in the past”; “the forcing is taking place”; “the forcing will take place”</p>

<p>One may be confused about this fact because a gerund is identical to a present participle in form. A present participle is the verb form of a gerund (“I am forcing her to leave the house right now”) and is in the present tense. A gerund acts as a noun and has no tense.</p>

<p>So, since a gerund has no tense, you can use it to indicate an action that is arbitrary. “like when she forces” is too specific. Not to mention it indicates the time (when she forces) as opposed to the action itself.</p>

4

<p>yes but for #3 can you elaborate why A is wrong and E “including forcing” is right?</p>

5

<p>bump? silverturtle?</p>

6

<p>Was my explanation not adequate? “Choices” are actions. The gerund “forcing” is an action and a noun. “When she forces” is neither an action nor a noun. Mentioning the time (“when”) is unnecessary. Gerunds have no tenses; they are just actions, so it is fine.</p>

7

<p>I’m not sure how to generally add to the explanation. Is there a more specific question that you can ask?</p>

8

<p>o i see, the forcing has not happened yet and “like when she forces” is referring to something that happened.</p>

<p>what tense is “like when she forces” in? and what tense do we need here for the underlined part?</p>

<p>also, Literature is always in the present tense right? Can you give an example.</p>

9

<p>to the OP, where did you find these questions? Blue Book? what pages…just curious</p>

10

<p>Yes, literature is in the present tense; “like when she forces” is in the present tense. The underlined part is not an event itself; it is a choice.</p>

<p>Jane Eyre must make many different choices, like [this choice] or [that choice].</p>

<p>“Jane Eyre must make many different choices” describes what Jane has to do throughout the novel. It is not necessarily one event. The choices she makes may be spread throughout the novel. So we say “like…” to specify one specific choice. “Forcing” is a choice. “When she forces” is an event in which she makes the choice, but not the choice itself. So the underlined part does not need a tense because it is not an event – it is an action.</p>

11

<p>ok thanks a lot.</p>

<p>it is an old administered test but it can also be found in the new BB 3rd test</p>