Please take this seven question English quiz for me

bjoreil wrote:

Cool the burn immediately so as to increase tissue damage.

You have the grammar right but you seem to have misunderstood the biology.   

daldri wrote:

We were delighted __to get___________ your letter this week.

get
to get
getting
got

Cool the burn immediately so as to ___minimise_______ tissue damage.

minimize
maximize
increase
revive

This house _was built__________ ten years ago.

built
was build
were built
was built

Drinking cans are brought back to the factory for __recycling________

recycle
recycled
to recycle
recycling

Peter is really interested __in________ Vietnamese history

on
in
at
about

Do you mind if I _____borrow______ your book?

borrow
borrows
to borrow
borrowing

And finally, here is the best one:

They get up early _in order not to miss_________ a bus to school

so as not to
in order not to
not to
All are corrected (yes, it says corrected)

Last one should be using the definite article,not the indefinite article. The bus, not a bus.

Heretolearn wrote:

What were the "correct" answer according to the teacher then?
I doubt any Vietnamese who is qualified to teach English at any school or even English center would answer these quiz wrong. More likely since it is an online quiz the one who did the input for it was being careless and hence put in the wrong data. If you come to the school and ask the teacher surely they will get it fix.

I don't know what the teacher thought were correct answers.  They only provided my daughter with the questions that she got "wrong".  All 6 of the first questions were answered correctly and matched  the anwers given above in this thread.  The 7th one that has no correct answer so it is a wild guess as to what the teacher thought was correct.

Check that, the only one that I know what the teacher thought was correct was borrows for the correct answer of borrow because it fit the teahcer's  "template" for correct answer like "Do you mind if I sits here?" which she used in the class to teach the lesson.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

How about, "I'm fine thank you, and you?" When on earth have you heard a native speaker say this? Maybe if you time traveled to 1820 in posh London perhaps. The alphabet taught is also strange, I guess it is some combination of French/English. British English seems to be considered the right answer over American English, where in my humble opinion either should be correct.

I think there are also some Vietnameseisms that have crept in. Supposedly all of my students live in houses. My coteacher informed me that apartments are only high rises with like 20 floors or more and everything else is a house.

Well I was born long after 1820, not in posh London either & if I am asked.....good morning, how are you? I always reply "I'm fine thank you, how are you? Pretty standard I would say even today.

As far as I am concerned there is only one English language not some bastardized form spoken in certain parts of America. Mind you looking at CNN these days half the people I see being interviewed dont speak even what you might call American English, seems to be some sort of Alien lizard language!

VnTeacher3 wrote:

The American form is now the dominant form of the language like it or not. The present day "English accent" was actually affected in the 1800s and people prior to the Victorian era spoke closer to American style English than what is spoken there today. And I have never heard some from the UK respond in such a manner either, definitely not the "And you" part, which I'm guessing comes from the French "et vous" but you seem like an unpleasant Brit so feel free not to respond.

American form is wrong ... It's called English language not American language

Americanisms spread globally due to many people watching YouTube and American TV shows.

For example, sick usually means Ill orpoorly, but Americans have us sick and sockets as being something good ??

VnTeacher3 wrote:

I fail to get this argument. English originated in Germany. Perhaps we should have Germans teach us the intricacies of the language? The vast majority of the world does not refer to the trunk of a car as a "boot", the first floor as the "Ground floor" pants as britches etc. If Vietnamese students prefer to study in the UK, then studying the British form of English makes sense, but where the language originated from is frankly a poor argument. Perhaps people should still be studying Latin over Italian?

At the time the when the Anglo Saxons invaded & took over Briton there was no such country as Germany.

By the way the USA no mater what you or most Americans think is not the world. So the most English language speakers come from India & I bet they say trousers not pants & boot not trunk.

Guy on CNN yesterday...........poor people should be "incentisized to do better. I presume he meant "given incentives"  WTF is that about?

VnTeacher3 wrote:

How about, "I'm fine thank you, and you?" When on earth have you heard a native speaker say this?

I would guess a small percentage of American citizens speak in this manner, based on social interactions I've had (possibly 5% to 10%?)

English is the language of most international business.

We often hear that 1% of the population possesses as much wealth as the other 99%

"I'm fine thank you. And you?" is probably not formal enough for proper use in the upper echelons of the business world.

"I'm fine thank you, Mr/Ms Blank. How are you, sir/ma'am?" or some similar form is how someone should teach English for Success.

Teaching for the needs of the lowest common denominator is cheating everyone, including the teacher, who misses out on the opportunity to successfully teach a more complicated form of English for the future benefit of their students.

I'm aware that the reality of the situation here in Vietnam doesn't seem to allow for that type of teaching, but we aren't talking about reality here on the ground.

We're talking about your statement that people don't speak that way.

I simply beg to differ.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

Spend hours with customer service and tell me if Indians truly speak English . I once was so relieved when I finally got connected to a Canadian customer service agent, my headache immediately disappeared. 
I've never seen that word spelled that way in America, although CNN has become a low quality outlet, so who knows. "Poor people need better incentives to move up the ladder." or "Poor people need to be incentivized (provided with opportunities/incentives) in order to perform better." Something along those lines makes sense.

Is incentivize a real word?
Both mean “to motivate or encourage.” Technically, they mean “to provide incentives.” The word incentivize is one of those noun-to-verb words formed by adding the suffix -ize. Its first cousin is prioritize. ... The word incent has only one redeeming feature: it's shorter. Good writers avoid these words.

Languages are constantly changing, and just because English originated in the British Isles does not make that form superior, sorry. You could argue Americans are more provincial, but that's an entirely different argument. If you want to count Indians, count all the Koreans, Chinese etc that "know" English as a second language.

Hey, if England had 250 million people and Australia 150 million, and New Zealand a number more, I'd realize that students need to learn that form, but as things stand, American English is the language of commerce. I realize Brits profit off of history, but that does not make it superior.

You missed out Nigeria, Canada, Ghana, South Africa

VnTeacher3 wrote:

How about, "I'm fine thank you, and you?" When on earth have you heard a native speaker say this? Maybe if you time traveled to 1820 in posh London perhaps.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

And I have never heard some from the UK respond in such a manner either, definitely not the "And you" part

I answer "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" in all the languages I speak in all the countries I've lived. 

So do my children who are native English speakers (born in Southern California, spoke only English until they took up Spanish in high school). 

So does my husband who is native English speaker (born in Manitoba, Canada but grew up in Southern California as part of the original beach and surfer bums in Laguna Beach). 

So did his mother and maternal grandmother who were born in the UK and spoke the Queen's English even after they moved to Southern California.

So did his paternal grandparents who were born in County Cork in Ireland.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

It's a real word. Let's put it this way, do the Americans speak a more intelligible form of English or do the former (more recent colonies)? South Africans seem to be hit or miss depending on what region they hail from, but most do seem to be well spoken. Canadians speak a form of English virtually indistinguishable from Americans.

Thats probaly because the Canadians don't actually like America as a whole.
If you google it... 67 nations list english as their official language, i didnt see that many mention american.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

Please, someone tell me I didn't enter an alternate reality. I have never heard some respond in this way unless they were learning ESL or teaching it. I've heard "I'm fine, how about yourself?" "I'm fine, how are you? etc. Never heard "I'm fine thank you, and you?" Not once.

Thats because you come from a former colony, took something you didnt have and changed it to make it your own. Changing something doesnt always make it better.

VnTeacher3 wrote:

It's a real word. Let's put it this way, do the Americans speak a more intelligible form of English or do the former (more recent colonies)? South Africans seem to be hit or miss depending on what region they hail from, but most do seem to be well spoken. Canadians speak a form of English virtually indistinguishable from Americans.

Oh come on, I worked 45 years plus in the oil fields, you telling me that them goodolboys from the Swamps & some of the oil states like Texans speak any better & understandable English than say SA or OZ? Hey I have worked with Swampies that could not speak, read or write any form of the English language I have ever come across. They sort of used a guttural grunting language (in between spitting tobacco juice everywhere) & gave directions with their hands. Some of them were nice people though.

Just look at them TV programs like Swamp People & Duck Dynasty, Jesus after all them years they are still out there! WTF is that about tell me? Bet there are some of them over here teaching English too

VnTeacher3 wrote:

Please, someone tell me I didn't enter an alternate reality. I have never heard some respond in this way unless they were learning ESL or teaching it. I've heard "I'm fine, how about yourself?" "I'm fine, how are you? etc. Never heard "I'm fine thank you, and you?" Not once.

Are you sure you dont mean...........I'm fine how about yall?

VnTeacher3 wrote:

Please, someone tell me I didn't enter an alternate reality. I have never heard some respond in this way unless they were learning ESL or teaching it. I've heard "I'm fine, how about yourself?" "I'm fine, how are you? etc. Never heard "I'm fine thank you, and you?" Not once.

I saw from your profile that you lived in NY.  My daughter and son-in-law were from Columbia Law School, then interned in NYC Big Law before moving to Southern California.  (He's from West Virginia while she's true Southern CA beach kid).  They've always answered "I'm fine, thank you, and you?" 

I don't know why you're so astonished that politeness still hold an important presence in our society.

colinoscapee wrote:

This should be good.

An American who is a 20-year veteran of Vietnam has just joined today and already posted a million times is taking on some British speakers.

Got my popcorn, six-pack of beer and a tub of KY if things really start to heat up.

Ding-ding, there goes the bell.

I recon its Indi

VnTeacher3 wrote:

The vast majority of the world does not refer to the first floor as the "Ground floor". Perhaps people should still be studying Latin over Italian?

The vast majority of the world DOES refer to the first floor as ground floor or something similar.  It's the ground floor everywhere in Europe, even where people do not speak English.  In Asia, it's the ground floor for India, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei, Maldive, and UAE (don't know about the rest)

Re: studying Latin over Italian, I was taught in my third year leaning Italian that knowing Latin would help my studying Italian a great deal, so I did for the next 4 years.  Public schools in Italy have Latin as part of the curriculum.  When church service are conducted in Latin and building encriptions are in Latin, one cannot escape learning it.

"Good morning, how are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, and you?"

That is a response, and a followup question.
Personally I don't answer 'fine'. That sounds like a very stiff or old person. "Fine" is just average, so so, meaningless.
I spent most of my life in Los Angeles, Boston. SF Bay area. Casual culture.

First, the pronoun is usually dropped.
Typical responses I would hear:

Good!
Pretty good!
I'm alright
Great! (salesman type)
Fantastic!! (jerk)
Hey Bob.  (health question is really a rhetorical greeting)

When someone does answer "I'm fine" it is said with a medium tone - low tone.
Like Eeyore talks.
With "fine" implying: I don't feel so good, but I'll pretend my condition is average.

Then the question: "and you?" or "how about you?" is truncated if asked at all.

You?
What's goin on?
How ya doin? (just an echo of the question)
How bout dem Sox last nite?!
My car was broken into again.
etc

I think a good English teacher should teach the vernacular.
Student in the states will sound fresh off the boat speaking formally, will have to relearn local slang soon anyway, and will hate his English teacher.

gobot wrote:

"Good morning, how are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, and you?"

That is a response, and a followup question.
Personally I don't answer 'fine'. That sounds like a very stiff or old person. "Fine" is just average, so so, meaningless.
I spent most of my life in Los Angeles, Boston. SF Bay area. Casual culture.

First, the pronoun is usually dropped.
Typical responses I would hear:

Good!
Pretty good!
I'm alright
Great! (salesman type)
Fantastic!! (jerk)
Hey Bob.  (health question is really a rhetorical greeting)

When someone does answer "I'm fine" it is said with a medium tone - low tone.
Like Eeyore talks.
With "fine" implying: I don't feel so good, but I'll pretend my condition is average.

Then the question: "and you?" or "how about you?" is truncated if asked at all.

You?
What's goin on?
How ya doin? (just an echo of the question)
How bout dem Sox last nite?!
My car was broken into again.
etc

I think a good English teacher should teach the vernacular.
Student in the states will sound fresh off the boat speaking formally, will have to relearn local slang soon anyway, and will hate his English teacher.

Well tell you what, I spent the best part of my working life in the oil filed working internationally with many Americans, working in America & latterly in a position to select new hires who would work on the rig I was manager of & anyone talking to me like that at an interview would not even get past the first 5 minutes of the interview, they would be.....gone!!! no messing, get your sorry hippy ass out of my office!

gobot wrote:

"Good morning, how are you?"
"I'm fine thank you, and you?"

That is a response, and a followup question.
Personally I don't answer 'fine'. That sounds like a very stiff or old person. "Fine" is just average, so so, meaningless.
I spent most of my life in Los Angeles, Boston. SF Bay area. Casual culture.

First, the pronoun is usually dropped.
Typical responses I would hear:

Good!
Pretty good!
I'm alright
Great! (salesman type)
Fantastic!! (jerk)
Hey Bob.  (health question is really a rhetorical greeting)


I think a good English teacher should teach the vernacular.
Student in the states will sound fresh off the boat speaking formally, will have to relearn local slang soon anyway, and will hate his English teacher.

Agree, except where I'm from, it would be unusual not to ask the question back. Maybe sometimes to salesmen or a clerk or something, you would just say you are "Good" and move along, but generally you would ask how they were as well. But it's a big country and I have not been to every part of it.

gobot wrote:

Hey, what's goin on Goodolboy? How ya doin? 

What this is only about interviews? I guess I missed that part. What ev.

whasup Gobotomfella, dude am dein jist great min, but I'm hotter than a bull frog in a pepper patch these days in Saigon.

foo ye dein yersel?

THIGV wrote:

This may sound like a compromise to some but I feel that the ""I'm fine thank you, and you?" form sounds more like telephone English than direct face to face speech.  t

Jesus, WTF is that about, telephone English