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Park sang joon Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
The analyses of a text #1
Several enemies are perusing the speaker and he maybe broke his ankle, as jumping out of a tower and landing.
I sat up. I got to my knees. I tried my ankle, couldn't use it. Nothing around to serve as a crutch, either. Okay. I crawled then. Away. What else was there to do? Gain as much ground as I could and think hard while I was about it.
["Sign of the Unicorn" of The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny]
I'd like to know if "I would" is implied before "gain."
And I'd like to know what "be about it" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
I sat up. I got to my knees. I tried my ankle, couldn't use it. Nothing around to serve as a crutch, either. Okay. I crawled then. Away. What else was there to do? Gain as much ground as I could and think hard while I was about it.
["Sign of the Unicorn" of The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny]
I'd like to know if "I would" is implied before "gain."
And I'd like to know what "be about it" means.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
The last sentence is elliptical (ellipsis is very often encountered in English). " The words "They would soon figure out I had jumped and would start looking for me at the base of the tower", "and so I had to", "away from the tower", "immediately, despite the broken ankle", "moreover, I had to", and "about alternatives to crawling" are omitted for brevity and are understood from the context. "
- The last sentence is elliptical (ellipsis is very often encountered in English).
- " The words "They would soon figure out I had jumped and would start looking for me at the base of the tower", "and so I had to", "away from the tower", "immediately, despite the broken ankle", "moreover, I had to", and "about alternatives to crawling" are omitted for brevity and are understood from the context.
- "
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1 Answers
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The last sentence is elliptical (ellipsis is very often encountered in English). The complete sentence would be something like: "They would soon figure out I had jumped and would start looking for me at the base of the tower, and so I had to gain as much ground away from the tower as I could immediately, despite the broken ankle, and, moreover, I had to think hard about alternatives to crawling,
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