beside oneself

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

She was beside herself with joy.

a. very happy b. almost out of his senses

I think the key should be "a" but the key is "d".

Could you please explain why "d" is correct? Is "beside oneself" should be used exaggerately so that it means "too happy to be normal"?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[bhaisahab]

Dear teachers,

She was beside herself with joy.

a. very happy b. almost out of his senses

I think the key should be "a" but the key is "d".

Could you please explain why "d" is correct? Is "beside oneself" should be used exaggerately so that it means "too happy to be normal"?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

There is no "d". If you mean "b", it doesn't fit.

[JohnParis]

"I think the key should be "a" but the key is "d".
Did you mean to type "b" or is something missing?

If it's just a typo, then:
If you are beside yourself with a particular feeling or emotion, you are so deeply affected by it that you have very little control over what you say or do.
To me, your explanation of "very happy" doesn't go far enough to explain the depth of the expression.

John

[jiang]

Hi bhaisahab,

Sorry about the mistake.

Two of the four choices are wrong. They are:
b. very calm c. nearly confused
The rest of the four are:
a. very happy d. almost out of his senses

Jiang

[jiang]

Hi JohnParis,

As far as I can understand you think "almost out of his senses" is the key. Is that right?

Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

"I think the key should be "a" but the key is "d".
Did you mean to type "b" or is something missing?

If it's just a typo, then:
If you are beside yourself with a particular feeling or emotion, you are so deeply affected by it that you have very little control over what you say or do.
To me, your explanation of "very happy" doesn't go far enough to explain the depth of the expression.

John

[bhaisahab]

"Almost out of her senses" could be correct.

[jiang]

Hi bhaisahab,

Thank you very much for your help. Now I understand it.

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

[JohnParis]

Jiang please re-read your initial post.

You offered only 2 choices for an answer. That was why I was confused.

Now that you provided the complete list of choices, the only possible answer is " d ".
a. very happy
b. very calm
c. nearly confused
d. almost out of her senses

John

[JohnParis]

Dear Jiang,

You wrote "As far as I can understand you think "almost out of his senses" is the key. Is that right?"

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that native English speakers never use the word "key" as you have employed it in your sentence above.
Do not worry, I see this often with Chinese and Indochinese learners.
Nevertheless, you should know that "key" does not mean "answer", and if you were to use the term "key" in an American or British school, no one would know what you meant. Use the word "answer", do not use the word "key". If one of your teachers has a problem with my advice, please have them write to me (you can find my email in my profile) and I will explain it to them directly.

John

[jiang]

Hi JohnParis,

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I understand it.

Have a nice weekend.
Jiang