Take up the story or pick up the story?

Question

Harry, would you ___ the story where John left off yesterday?
A. pick up B. take up

By the way, here are two other questions:

-You don't seem to to be quite yourself today. Waht's wrong?
~~Oh, I am sufffering from a cold~~-Nothing serious, though.
A.though B. however

A group of teenagers visited ____ 19th century cottaged last Sunday,

where they took plenty of photos.
A. a B. the

Thanks in advance.

Metal.carratt · Accepted Answer

I think however is normally followed by the contrasting part, not preceeded by. i.e.:

* I'ts nothing serious though
* However, it's nothing serious.

But I could be wrong..

'a' or 'the' in the last question would depend entirely on context. Has the cottage been mentioned previously already? If so 'the' would be best. If it hasn't, or if there is no context then 'a' would be better.

(side note: 'cottage' not 'cottaged', but I assume that's just a typing mistake.)

CalifJim · Answer

1. Neither "pick up" nor "take up" strikes me as wrong. Both seem acceptable.
2. "Nothing serious, though" fits better in the context.
3. Both are correct. Without further context, we'd have to say that the cottage was not previously mentioned, so "a" is more appropriate.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

wangqh2696122Harry, would you ___ the story where John left off yesterday?
A. pick up B. take up "Take up" is sometimes used in this case, but I think of it as applying to some sort of action.
"Let's take up the agenda where we left off."

By the same token, "pick up" is sometimes used in my example.

Take up the story or pick up the story?

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