Sentence Improvement

Not a great question, in my opinion. I see no reason why (a) is necessarily better than (d), and if I were doing this test I would not be sure what was expected.

Nakoolcan't we choose 'place of study' as it means the same as (a).

I'd say that Alma Mater is much more specific than 'place of study'. After all, 'my place of study' could be 'my bedroom' or 'my home office' or 'the library', and repaying a debt to your home office seems a bit strange.

CJ

In my experience, nine times out of ten "place of study" means an institution.

GPYIn my experience, nine times out of ten "place of study" means an institution.

Are you saying that for you Alma Mater is no more specific than place of study?

I'm not familiar with 'place of study' as any kind of fixed expression or idiom. Is it British, perhaps?

Another question I'm wondering about. Is Alma Mater no

CalifJimI'm not familiar with 'place of study' as any kind of fixed expression or idiom. Is it British, perhaps?

Well, maybe it is then. When I type "place of study" into Google, the majority of the hits are referring to institutions. I cannot very easily see how many are US.

CalifJimIs Alma Mater not used in Britain?

CalifJimAre you saying that for you Alma Mater is no more specific than place of study?

It is more specific in the sense that "place of study" can refer to another type of thing, but in the original sentence I would only understand it refer to an institution, so the issue does not really arise.

GPYnot as widely used as in the US.

I suspected that. For an American college student to refer to the university he graduated from as 'my place of study' would be rather strange, since it's not clear in many cases that much studying occurs. Much more likely, 'my place of partying'.