reference time

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I have four questions to ask:

No.1
This exercise asks us to find reference time for the pst perfect. But I can't find reference time in the following two sentences:

They were poor, and most of the excitement was in the turkdey they had raised themselves.
How fortunate that he had been able to love!

No.2
Is there any difference between the two sentences:

It's two miles to the beach.
It's two miles off the beach.

No.3
Could you please explain the meaning of the expression 'running joke'? Does it mean 'a popular joke'?

No.4
Could you please explain if a person says "Goodness me!" what emotion does he express? I can't find the expression in my dictionary.

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

Jiang

[Tdol]

1 a) The turkey raising occurred before the excitemnet. b) There's a bit of ellipsis here- How fortunate [he was]...
2) Two miles to- if you are intending to travel there Two miles off- that's out to sea IMO- an island,etc
3) A running joke is a repeated joke, so a TV show where jokes about, say, a person's character or problem are repeated (with variations but a common theme) would have a running joke.
4) Surprise

[jiang]

Dear Tdol,

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

Have a nice weekend.

Jiang

Originally Posted by Tdol

1 a) The turkey raising occurred before the excitemnet. b) There's a bit of ellipsis here- How fortunate [he was]...
2) Two miles to- if you are intending to travel there Two miles off- that's out to sea IMO- an island,etc
3) A running joke is a repeated joke, so a TV show where jokes about, say, a person's character or problem are repeated (with variations but a common theme) would have a running joke.
4) Surprise

[Tdol]

You too, Jiang.