I wonder what our teacher will say

[Volcano1985]

I wonder what our teacher will say when she realizes that we worked together on our research projects.

A) I wish I knew whether or not our teacher will approve of our cooperation on the research projects.

B) I am sure our teacher will be angry when she finds out that we worked together to finish the research projects.

C) Our teacher will certainly understand that we cooperated on our research projects; what do you think her reaction will be?

D) When our teacher discovered that we cooperated on our research projects, what did she say?

E) Do you think our teacher will let us work together on our research projects when we ask her

Could you explain me why C, why not A?

[sarat_106]

Originally Posted by Volcano1985

I wonder what our teacher will say when she realizes that we worked together on our research projects.

A) I wish I knew whether or not our teacher will approve of our cooperation on the research projects.

B) I am sure our teacher will be angry when she finds out that we worked together to finish the research projects.

C) Our teacher will certainly understand that we cooperated on our research projects; what do you think her reaction will be?

D) When our teacher discovered that we cooperated on our research projects, what did she say?

E) Do you think our teacher will let us work together on our research projects when we ask her

Could you explain me why C, why not A?

Whether or not means regardless of whether. The first sentence does not have an alternative that matters or an alternative having emphasis, rather it works fine without ‘or not”.
I wish I knew whether our teacher will approve of our cooperation on the research projects.
As suggested by some use of the epression in such cases should be avoided. On the other hand, look at the following sentence where both alternatives are equally important:
This leaves open the question of whether or not we agree, the tax revenue must go up.

There is nothing to comment on 'C'. It is a natural expression.

[Barb_D]

It's true that "whether or not" can mean "it doesn't matter whether it's X or Y" that's not what it means in this case.

A means "I want to know whether she will or whether she will not approve."

C is the closer paraphrase. "I wonder what our teacher will say" is very close to "what do you think her reaction will be?"

(A is not that far off though. It could be read as though you are going to her and ask for permission BEFORE you work together and she may disapprove (and therefore you cannot work together). Since you have already worked together, this doesn't fit.

However, that's only one reading of it. You can also think of it as "Once she reads the report and realizes we worked together, will she be approving of our (already occurred) collaboration?"

(You can approve OF or disapprove OF something that is already in the past. You can approve something that is currently in question.) Regardless "will she approve?" is not as close as "what do you think her reaction will be?"

[yogahelps2]

A and C are very close. The only reason I can think of that C, rather than A, is the correct answer is that it is more open-ended. A specifically mentions approval, whereas C mentions her reaction.


Perhaps her reaction would be a loud, jumping up and down, "Hip-hip-hooray!" if she had previously told the students that she so often gets independent research projects, but that she really likes to see cooperative ones, even though she does give students the option of working independently.

[Raymott]

On the other hand "I wish I knew" is much closer to "I wonder" than it is to asking someone else their opinion.
I'd say A is closest.
(But you probably know that I think these quizzes you are posting are silly and invalid).

[Volcano1985]

Originally Posted by Raymott

On the other hand "I wish I knew" is much closer to "I wonder" than it is to asking someone else their opinion.
I'd say A is closest.
(But you probably know that I think these quizzes you are posting are silly and invalid).

I think A, too.By the way this question was asked in the matriculation examination here this year