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Originally Posted by jiang Dear teachers,
I have four questions to ask.
No.1
With eyes glued to the video screen, they tap on for hours. For the rest of the world, it might be the middle of the night, but here time does not exist. This is a world unto intself. These young computer "hackers" are pursuing a kind of compulsion, a drive so consuming it overshadows nearly every other part of their lives and forms the focal point of their existence. They are compulsive computer programmers. Some of these students have been at the console for thirty hours or more without a break for meals or sleep.
We can learn from the passage that those at the computer center in the middle of the night are_________.
a. students working on a program
b. students deeply fascinated by the computer
The key is ' b'. The reason that 'a' isn't correct is there is a word 'compulsion'. Is that right? |
The more I think about it the more I favor
a. That is because the students are not fascinated by the computer itself so much as what they are able to do with it. Also, it explicitly says they are
compulsive computer programmers. That stongly suggests that they are working on a program or programs. What else would they be doing? :)
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Originally Posted by jiang No.2
Just as in that year, when those catastrophes were followed by substantial increases in insurance premiums, insurers are already lobbying for rate relief.
What does 'rate relief' mean? |
They want a reductiion in the rate they have to pay. They want to pay less money for insurance. :)
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Originally Posted by jiang No.3
For Soviets, clothing is the ______of greatest complaint, housing follows, and food is last.
a. source b. cause
What's the difference between the two? |
It is hard for me to see an important difference between the two. The source of a complaint is where it originates. In this case it is inadequate clothing. The cause of a complaint is the reason for it. Again, in this case it is the clothing. It is hard for me to see that one is better than the other.
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Originally Posted by jiang No.4
I prefer badminton to sauash tennis. It's not so tiring__________.
a. for instance b. for one thing
What's the difference between the two? |
The only thing I can see is that we don't normally use "for instance" at the end of a sentence. However, I can envision a native speaker using "For instance" at the beginning of sentence two (although I think "For one thing" is more likely). For example:
- I prefer badminton to squash. For instance, it is not so tiring.
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Originally Posted by jiang No.5
He worked seven days a week, and six of ________until one o'clock at night.
a. those b. them
I think both are correct. 'b' is better. Is that right?
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Prefer "those" if you are referring to something specific, which you are not doing here. (The sentence should have been written without the
and.)
:)