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Samuraigirl Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Subjunctive mood
Hi guys,
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In Tokyo, the government has been fighting a war with crows for the past ten years by setting traps to kill them. However, recent research has suggested that crows are clever enough to recognize human faces, and they can be trained like dogs or dolphins to help humans. Some experts believe that these big black birds could even be taught to keep our cities clean or help to save people in emergencies.
[Question] How can crows help humans?
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Another how-question!
My answer is “By training them,” but the book (written by a Japanese teacher) says “They can be taught to keep our cities clean or help to save people in emergencies.”
But in the text, this info is written in subjunctive mood, meaning the probability is low, while ‘can’ in the question indicates the answer must be something real and possible, right?
Waiting for your intelligible explanation! (^o^)/
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In Tokyo, the government has been fighting a war with crows for the past ten years by setting traps to kill them. However, recent research has suggested that crows are clever enough to recognize human faces, and they can be trained like dogs or dolphins to help humans. Some experts believe that these big black birds could even be taught to keep our cities clean or help to save people in emergencies.
[Question] How can crows help humans?
-------------------------------------
Another how-question!
My answer is “By training them,” but the book (written by a Japanese teacher) says “They can be taught to keep our cities clean or help to save people in emergencies.”
But in the text, this info is written in subjunctive mood, meaning the probability is low, while ‘can’ in the question indicates the answer must be something real and possible, right?
Waiting for your intelligible explanation! (^o^)/
Top answer
Your answer is the wrong way round: it means that the crows would train the humans. I agree that "can" seems too strong, given the wording of the last sentence in the original text. ", so blame the question-setter!
- Your answer is the wrong way round: it means that the crows would train the humans.
- I agree that "can" seems too strong, given the wording of the last sentence in the original text.
- ", so blame the question-setter!
- " is a possibly better alternative.
- By the way, the second sentence in the original text is probably misworded.
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5 Answers
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Your answer is the wrong way round: it means that the crows would train the humans.
I agree that "can" seems too strong, given the wording of the last sentence in the original text. However, the word is used in the question itself, "How can crows help humans?", so blame the question-setter! "How might crows be able to help humans?" is a possibly better alternative.
By the way, th
I agree that "can" seems too strong, given the wording of the last sentence in the original text. However, the word is used in the question itself, "How can crows help humans?", so blame the question-setter! "How might crows be able to help humans?" is a possibly better alternative.
By the way, th
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>Your answer is the wrong way round: it means that the crows would train the humans.
Yes, I was stupid and noticed it only after I posted,
I've corrected it this way:
By being trained like dogs or dolphins to follow what humans direct.
Now, is it an answer to this question?
>By the way, the second sentence...
Your mentioning reminds me of the di
Yes, I was stupid and noticed it only after I posted,
I've corrected it this way:
By being trained like dogs or dolphins to follow what humans direct.
Now, is it an answer to this question?
>By the way, the second sentence...
Your mentioning reminds me of the di
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samuraigirlI've corrected it this way:By being trained like dogs or dolphins to follow what humans direct.Now, is it an answer to this question?If you want a "By ..." answer, I think "By keeping our cities clean and helping to save people in emergencies" more specifically reflects what the text says.
samuraigirl>By the w
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Thank you for your reply GPY.
I wanted to say "Thank you for your comment." Maybe this is the right word, I think.
By the way, how about this answer:
"How can crows help humans?"
"They can be trained like dogs or dolphins to help humans."
I wanted to say "Thank you for your comment." Maybe this is the right word, I think.
By the way, how about this answer:
"How can crows help humans?"
"They can be trained like dogs or dolphins to help humans."
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samuraigirlBy the way, how about this answer:"How can crows help humans?""They can be trained like dogs or dolphins to help humans."I find this less satisfactory. To me, the "How?" question seems to expect an answer that refers to keeping cities clean and saving people in emergencies.
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