[Grammar] In fact, the islanders “indigenized” Christianity—that is, rather than practicing...

[mrsgraves]

I have some problems with answering the following questions from a test (answers from the key in bold):

1. In fact, the islanders “indigenized” Christianity—that is, rather than practicing it exactly ____________, they took in the new influences, while continuing their old traditions.
A/ like the missionaries did
B/ the way the missionaries were
C/ as did the missionaries
D/ as the missionaries were doing

I find answers A and C correct and I'd like to know why A is wrong.

2. Sexual expression is __________ bonding with others and hurting them that it can never be reduced to a mere set of social conventions.
A/ so powerful a way of
B/ such powerful way of
C/ so powerful as the way of
D/ a such powerful way of

I've never heard of such structure nor found anything on the Internet. I went for C but isn't the right answer.

3. She pounced on every missed opportunity and pondered how it all ____________ otherwise. But no human has the power to change the past.
A/ might have been made to happen
B/ could have been made happening
C/ could have been made happen
D/ could be made to have happened

I've simply eliminated the answer A in the preliminary selection because of the presence of the phrase make to happen but it seems that A is correct nevertheless.

I'd be really grateful if someone explained to me the bases on which we choose the answers. Thank you in advance!

 

[probus]

I agree with you in 1, A and C are equally good. In my opinion this is an error in the test design. You should go back to your teacher and request full credit for A.

In 2, B and C are ungrammatical, while D has a word order problem. The indefinite article always comes immediately before its noun and after all other adjectives.

In 3, only A is correct. B is natural, as in "Los Angeles is a happening place, sure, but San Francisco could be made happening too if its drug problem could be eliminated. But this usage is far less common than A. As to C, you can make something happen, but this usage is only for the present tense. In other tenses use to with happen.

 

[Raymott]

1 C is not at all normal English - although it is grammatical. I would choose A.
"They practiced Christianity, as did the missionaries." This is a natural usage.
"You must practice Christianty as do the missionaries." This is awkward, as is 1C.

mrsgraves, I think you should post each question separately. Often a single question can give rise to a lot of discussion, and then the thread gets confusing. Not all answers will be as correct and definitive as probus'.

 

[jutfrank]

mrsgraves, I think you should post each question separately. Often a single question can give rise to a lot of discussion, and then the thread gets confusing.

I agree, though I doubt any of us here would disagree that the answers to questions 2 and 3 are both A.

The issue is with question 1. After much reflection, I think I finally would have chosen D, where doing substitutes for practising it. I appreciate that this does, however, present a possibly inappropriate aspect (progressive) to the action. I also wonder if the choice of the gerund -ing form of practising (rather than the base form practise) is in some way priming the answer to be in the progressive aspect.

Really, my mind wants the answer to be as the missionaries did, where we assume that the missionaries are no longer present on the island.

What I do think for certain is that it doesn't work as a decent question for this test.

 

[Raymott]

I think 1.B could also be argued for. But at this stage, there's probably no point.

 

[bubbha]

The indefinite article always comes immediately before its noun and after all other adjectives.

That's an erroneous statement.

 

[Tdol]

What I do think for certain is that it doesn't work as a decent question for this test.

The distinctions between as and like are arguments of the past in many cases, so this test may be scratching away at the old grammar. It seems pedantic to argue that A is wrong because it's followed by a subject and verb because so many native speakers do it.

 

[jutfrank]

The distinctions between as and like are arguments of the past in many cases, so this test may be scratching away at the old grammar.

Yes, I suspect that's probably the case. But why do they prefer as did the missionaries over as the missionaries did?

 

[Tdol]

I think pedantry ain't what it usta be.