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Sb70012 Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

At each end of the tube . . . .

At each end of the tube .............., one which gathers light and one which magnifies the image.
a) are two lenses there
b) two lenses are
c) are two lenses (Answer Key)
d) two lenses are there

Source: school exam

Hi,
Two native English speakers in WR forum made me confused about the original question. They said that the sentence is wrong because here's only one lens at each end.
http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/at-each-end-of-the-tube-%E2%80%A6-one-which-gathers-light-and-one-which-magnifies-the-image.3223173/

I couldn't understand what they are talking about.

Do you know what they meant exactly? Is the original question really wrong?

Thank you.
  

Top answer

I can't see what's unclear about that thread. On practical grounds, people are questioning, justifiably in my view, whether there really would be two lenses at each end (four in all), or whether it should be one at each end (two in all). This suggestion is not right though: There are two lenses, one at each end of the tube; o ne of which gathers light and the other which magnifies the image.

— GPY

  • I can't see what's unclear about that thread.
  • On practical grounds, people are questioning, justifiably in my view, whether there really would be two lenses at each end (four in all), or whether it should be one at each end (two in all).
  • This suggestion is not right though: There are two lenses, one at each end of the tube; o ne of which gathers light and the other which magnifies the image.
  • It's incorrectly punctuated, and "one of which ...
  • the other which" does not read correctly to me.
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5 Answers
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I can't see what's unclear about that thread. On practical grounds, people are questioning, justifiably in my view, whether there really would be two lenses at each end (four in all), or whether it should be one at each end (two in all).

This suggestion is not right though:

There are two lenses, one at each end of the tube; one of which gathers light and the other which
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sb70012They said that the sentence is wrong because there's only one lens at each end. ... I couldn't understand what they are were talking about.
Ignore all that. As sometimes occurs on forums, people get overheated about the content and forget the original grammar question.
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CalifJimIgnore all that. As sometimes occurs on forums, people get overheated about the content and forget the original grammar question.
It seems as if the writer thought that "At each end of the tube are two lenses" meant that there are two lenses in total. If so, this is poor English, or unclear English at best. It is quite right to point this out, in my op
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Search "compound microscope" online. More than one site claims "A compound microscope consists of two lenses mounted at each end of a hollow tube". (It turns out that this is an oversimplification. See below.)

Here's another, more-detailed explanation I found (emphasis mine):

The compound microscope consists of two lenses, an object and an eye lens; but each of these may
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CalifJimThe snag is that the sentence specifically speaks as if there are only two lenses in total when you get past the comma. (Oops!)
Yes, either that or at each end there is both a light-gathering lens and a magnifying lens. I am not an expert in optical equipment, but that doesn't seem a very likely configuration to me.
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