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Tinanam0102 Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

It / the kind

Hi teachers,

As a result, Al Qaeda "central" - Osama bin Laden and his gang - has been whittled down to about 400 fighters. It has been unable to execute large-scale attacks of the kind that were at the core of its strategy - to hit big-value American targets that military or political symbolism.

1. Does It a pronoun for Al Qaeda "central" or Osama bin Laden and his gang?

2. Does its mean Al Qaeda "central"'s

3. What does "the kind" mean?

4. Does "to hit big-value American targets that military or political symbolism" describe "the core of its stragegy"?

5. Would you tell me what "symbolism" in this text means?

Thank you very much.

Tinanam
  

Top answer

Hi, As a result, Al Qaeda "central" - Osama bin Laden and his gang - has been whittled down to about 400 fighters. It has been unable to execute large-scale attacks of the kind that were at the core of its strategy - to hit big-value American targets that have military or political symbolism . Some of your questions show the sort of difficulties that can arise if you write with a lot of dashes.

  • Hi, As a result, Al Qaeda "central" - Osama bin Laden and his gang - has been whittled down to about 400 fighters.
  • It has been unable to execute large-scale attacks of the kind that were at the core of its strategy - to hit big-value American targets that have military or political symbolism .
  • Some of your questions show the sort of difficulties that can arise if you write with a lot of dashes.
  • 1.
  • Does It a pronoun for Al Qaeda "central" or Osama bin Laden and his gang?
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11 Answers
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Hi,

As a result, Al Qaeda "central" - Osama bin Laden and his gang - has been whittled down to about 400 fighters. It has been unable to execute large-scale attacks of the kind that were at the core of its strategy - to hit big-value American targets that have military or politic
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1. It = Al Qaeda "central";

2. its (strategy) = the strategy of Al Qaeda "central";

3. here: "the kind" = the kind of large-scale attacks of big-value American military targets and those of political symbolism;

4. Yes;

5. here: symbolism means the use of symbols such as, for example, Pentagon, Capitol, etc. in politics.
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Hi Clive,

Thank you for helping me.

1. Would you tell me "whittled down to about 400 fighters", meaning reducing about 400 fighters, or now it has remained about 400 fighters?

2. "big-scale attacks of the kind" and "The fatal problem with these kinds of attacks is that they kill ordinary civilians."

2a. Can I write "big-scale kind of attacks"
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Hi,

1. Would you tell me "whittled down to about 400 fighters", meaning reducing about 400 fighters, or now it has remained about 400 fighters? gradually reduced to 400 fighters

2. "big-scale attacks of the kind" and "The fatal problem with these kinds of attacks is that they
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Hi Clive,

Thank very for helping me.

I'd like to ask how to construct sentences like "large scale attacks of the kind", "these kinds of attacks". The first example, "the kind" is placed at the end. The second one "these kinds" is placed at the front. Are the meaning totally different if they placed differently?

Thanks again.

Tin
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Hi,
It has been unable to execute large-scale attacks ( of the kind ( that were at the core of its strategy. ) )


'd like to ask how to construct sentences like "large scale attacks of the kind", "these kinds of
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Hi Clive,

Thank you for your help.

Mary bought some cookies of the kind that Tom hated.

Can I just say: Mary bought some cookies that Tom hated without "of the kind" in the sentence?

Thank you.

Tinanam
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Hi,

Mary bought some cookies of the kind that Tom hated.

Can I just say: Mary bought some cookies that Tom hated without "of the kind" in the sentence?
Yes, you can. But now you are giving less information. This just tells me Tom hated those specific cookies.

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Hi Clive,

Thank you for staying with me on this thread for so long.

I'm starting to see the difference now. Just to check my understanding:

1. Tom hated those specific cookies, which could mean Mary picked and bought randomly on that day.

2. Tom hates all cookies of that kind. Like there are almonds in cookies. He hates almonds.

Th
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Hi,

Yes, that's the idea.

Clive

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