Cloze

[blacknomi]

Originally Posted by tdol

Wouldn't work- force adjustment mean downsizing\rightsizing?

By imposing a tax on downsizing or rightsizing,....

The employer wants to adjust its structure to a better size, but how can they do that by imposing a tax on it?

[Francois]

You fire someone = you must pay extra taxes. Do you think they would, like, have any niggle about it?

FRC

[blacknomi]

What a strange feeling--the _____ still says summer, but the nights are starting to feel like autumn.

1. calendar
2. weather
3. temperature
Key:1

Why not 2 and 3? Aren't they idiomatic?

[Francois]

This is the usual which-fits-best type of question. The most logical choice is 1), as it opposes two distinct aspects of a season: the date, and the weather. As for the other ones, here "the nights" could refer to both the weather and the temperature (which is part of the weather come to that), so the sentence would be awkward without context. It would be like saying "the weather says summer, but it's as cold as if we were in winter".

FRC

[blacknomi]

I don't get your point. :?

[Francois]

but the nights are starting to feel like autumn.

How can the nights make you feel like you're in autumn? They're probably colder, possibly more rainy, etc. In other words, the weather in the night makes you feel like autumn. So, basically, the sentence with choice 2) or 3) would be saying "the weather says it's summer, but the weather says it's autumn". This is not right.
The calendar, however, is completely distinct from the weather, and this makes for a clear, unambiguous opposition -- and a good sentence.

FRC

[blacknomi]

Merci! :D It's clearer.

This thread has PM function. lol 8)