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Diamondrg Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

test question

1b00Which do you think is correct, a or b?02b02br
02br
01b00An acorn, left to itself becomes an oak, and a geneticist 01i00___ its DNA to make it grow into an elm may justly be said ___02i00 with its natural course.02br
02br
02b01font00A) 02font01font00altering / to have interfered02font02br
01font00B) 02font01font00having altered / to interfere02font02br
01font00C) 02font01font00to alter / having interfered02font02br
01font00D) 02font01font00being altered / interfered02font02br
01font00E) 02font01font00to have altered / to be interfering02font0-
  

Top answer

02br 02br 00A) 00altering / to have interfered02br 00B) 00having altered / to interfere02br 02font 01font 00A. 02font 02br 02br 00Best wishes, Clive02br 0-

— Clive

  • 02br 02br 00A) 00altering / to have interfered02br 00B) 00having altered / to interfere02br 02font 01font 00A.
  • 02font 02br 02br 00Best wishes, Clive02br 0-
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18 Answers
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0Hi,02br
02br
01font00Which do you think is correct, a or b?02font02br
02br
01font00An acorn, left to itself becomes an oak, and a geneticist 01i00___ its DNA to make it grow into an elm may justly be said ___02i00 with its natural course.02br
02br
00A
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0I think B makes the second clause more parallel to the first. 02br
02br
00Ikia0-
0
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0Hi,02br
02br
00To do that with B, you'd have to change it to 01font00 having altered / to 01font01i00have interfered02i02font00 00in my opinion02font02br
02br
01i00Best wishes, Clive02i0-
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0So with the answer our sentence becomes like this:02br
02br
00An acorn, left to itself becomes an oak, and a geneticist 01b01font00altering02font02b00 its DNA to make it grow into an elm may justly be said 01b01font00to have interfered02font02b00 with its n
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0
0Dear Mamger,02br
02br
00It is a most interesting question. 05000 It is my opinion that A is the answer. It is further my opinion that the best paraphrase is as follows:-02br
02br
00It may justly be said that a geneticist 01b01font00who alters02font00 02b00the DNA of an acorn (which bec
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Goldmund12cite10Dear Mamger,12br
12br
10It is a most interesting question. 15010 It is my opinion that A is the answer. It is further my opinion that the best paraphrase is as follows:-12br
12br
10It may justly be said that a geneticist 11b11font10
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0And which becomes first here - 01b00altering02b00 or 01b00interfering02b00?0-
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0 I take "00a geneticist 01b01font00altering02font02b00 its DNA to make it grow into an elm" as a gerundive noun phrase which can be paraphrased as "01b01font00that 02font02b00a geneticist 01b01font00altered 02font02b
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0"An acorn, left to itself becomes an oak, and a geneticist altering [who alters] its DNA to make it grow into an elm may justly be said to have interfered with its natural course."02br
02br
00I would take "altering" as a defining participle here. "Altering" is the act, and "having interfered" is a later description of that act (e.g. "that geneticist has interfered with its n
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0 Is it impossible to take "a genecist altering" as "a genecist's altering"?02br
02br
00paco 0-
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