A polite answer to "Would you mind ..." ?

[Ryonan]

Hello everyone,
I've just finished my pre-GCSE exams, everything goes well but i'm currently stuck with some of the questions, they're likes this :
1."Would you mind if i shut the window? "
we have 4 choices here :
A. Yes, i wouldn't mind (this is my choice)
B. No, don't shut it
C. Yes, please shut
D. No, please do

2."What's Alice like ?"
A.She has long hair
B.She's very nice (This is my choice)
Me and my English teacher had an agrument about this question, he thought A is the answer but i'm not.

Thanks for your help !

[konungursvia]

1:D. 2 could go either way, depending on context.

[Barb_D]

She has long hair is an answer to "What does she look like?"

When you ask what some is like you are usually interested in their personality or their character, compared to their appearance.

[Ryonan]

Thanks for reply,
but may we have a clear answer at the question 2, i think they should ask "What does Alice look like ?" if they want to have "She has long hair ?"
thanks.
[EDIT]
Thanks, that's what i think !
[/EDIT]

[Soup]

Hi Ryonan

Congrats on the pre-GCSE.

The common reply to 1. is "No, I wouldn't mind" which surprisingly isn't even a choice.

Of the choices provided, all of them could work because three of them are ambiguous. My choice, the unambiguous one, B. "No, don't shut it."

1. Would you mind if I shut the window?

A. Yes, (I agree with you. It's cold in here) I wouldn't mind (if you did shut the window)

Problem: punctuation

Repair: Yes. I wouldn't mind.

A. Yes, I wouldn't mind.

Problem: Yes is positive, wouldn't negative.

Repair: Yes, I would mind. Don't shut it.
Repair: No, I wouldn't mine. Please shut it.

B. No, don't shut it.

Here the speaker is not replying to the question "Would you mind" but rather to the act of shutting the window:

Sam: Shut the window?
Max: No, don't shut it.

C. Yes, [I agree with you. It's cold in here] please shut [it]. I added "it".

Problem: punctuation

Repair: Yes. Please shut it.

C. Yes, please shut.

Problem: missing object

Repair: Yes. Please shut it.

D. No, [I wouldn't mind] please do.

Problem: punctuation

Repair: No. Please do.

________________________________________

Speakers might purposely shorten look like (meaning, appearance) to like because of the ambiguity that results. For example, using look like makes Sam appear shallow here:

Max: So, I hooked you up with Pat for this Friday night.
Sam: What's Pat look like?
Max: Are appearances all you care about?

Shortening look like to like helps out because of the ambiguity it houses:

full phrase: look like
Default meaning, appearance

Elliptical phrase: (look) like
Default meaning, appearance
Secondary meaning, character

Max: So, I hooked you up with Pat for this Friday night.
Sam: What's Pat like?
Max: He's nice or He's tall, dark and handsome.


In short, like is ambiguous, and because of that A., while it is correct, is not the best answer here:

2. What's Alice like?

A. She has long hair.
B. She's very nice.

In other words, A. houses the secondary meaning, appearance, whereas B. houses the primary meaning, character.

Note, the default meaning rules, unless context suggests otherwise. For example, Max and Sam are talking about appearances, and so here like means appearance, not character--but it could if they wanted it to:

Max: I'm hooking up with Robin on Friday. He's good looking, to say the least.
Sam: What about Pat? What's he like?
Max: He's a tall, cool glass of water. Not bad on the eyes.

[Ryonan]

Thanks for the clear explanation, Soup!

[engee30]

hello everyone,
i've just finished my pre-gcse exams, everything goes well but i'm currently stuck with some of the questions, they're likes this :
1."would you mind if i shut the window? "
we have 4 choices here :
A. Yes, i wouldn't mind (this is my choice)
b. No, don't shut it
c. Yes, please shut
d. No, please do means no, i wouldn't (mind if you shut the window). Please do (= shut the window).

2."what's alice like ?"
a.she has long hair this one works fine too. Talking about someone's outward appearance i'd rather use the question what does alice look like? in such a test
b.she's very nice (this is my choice)
Me and my english teacher had an agrument about this question, he thought a is the answer but i'm not.

Thanks for your help !

:-d

[tp123456]

The following are the answers to your queries.

1."Would you mind if i shut the window? "
Ans: No. I wouldn't mind. (I don't have any problem if you shut the window)
Yes. Please shut. (I don't have any problem if you shut the window)

Yes. I would mind. (I have problem if you shut the window)

2."What's Alice like ?"
This means how Alice look like. (hair, fair) not character or personality.

She's very nice. (this shows the personality not a look) So 1st is correct.

[Soup]

2."What's Alice like ?"

This means how Alice look like. (hair, fair) not character or personality.

That's incorrect. Question 2. has two meanings, and the first interpretation is what's her personality like?