Is the question and the answer natural?

Hi teachers,
Is the question and the answer natural?
Why does he almost always arrive on time at work?
Because after the disccusion with his boss, he almost never gets up late.

Thanks in advance.

learning54 said:

Hi teachers,
Is the question and the answer natural?
Why does he almost always arrive on time at work?
Because after the discusion with his boss, he almost never gets up late.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

No they are not natural. though they doubtless fit the passage for which you are preparing comprehension questions.

Hi,
If I want to include, 'almost always arrive', and 'almost never gets up late', could there be nother context for both the question and the answer to make them natural?

Do you actually mean another context, or do you mean another way of wording both the question and the answer? I assume the context is in the comprehension piece (which you normally say you can't change).

emsr2d2 said:

Do you actually mean another context, or do you mean another way of wording both the question and the answer? I assume the context is in the comprehension piece (which you normally say you can't change).

Click to expand...

Hi,
Thank you. You are very right. I mean another way of wording both of them.

He almost never gets up late. What is the beneficial result of this?
He almost always arives at work on time. How does he manage this?
What happened as a result of the discussion with his boss?

learning54 said:

Hi,
If I want to include, 'almost always arrive', and 'almost never gets up late', could there be nother context for both the question and the answer to make them natural?

Click to expand...

It would help if we had the relevant part of the comprehension passage to work from, but I'll take a stab:

Q - Why does he almost always arrive at work on time these days?
A - After being told off by his boss for his time-keeping, he almost never gets up late [these days].
A - His boss spoke to him about being late for work so now he almost never gets up late.
A - He had had a meeting with his boss about being late for work/about his time-keeping, so these days he almost never gets up late.

Note that it is very difficult to frame a natural question that will elicit in response the precise words you sometimes seem to want.

He almost never gets up late. What is the beneficial result of this? He is not going to be fired.
He almost always arives at work on time. How does he manage this? Getting up on time.
What happened as a result of the discussion with his boss? He used to arrived late. The last time he did it, was one hour and a half, and his boss told him that it was the last time or he'll fired him.

5jj said:

Note that it is very difficult to frame a natural question that will elicit in response the precise words you sometimes seem to want.

Click to expand...

Absolutely, the idea of a comprehension question is simply to make sure that the student understood the meaning/gist of the piece and has grasped any important information. I would never expect to get an exactly worded answer with such an exercise.

With absolute beginners, it's easier:

Q - What animal sits under the tree?
A - A dog sits under the tree.

5jj said:

Note that it is very difficult to frame a natural question that will elicit in response the precise words you sometimes seem to want.

Click to expand...

Hi,
I do realise it and I do appreciate your help.

learning54 said:

He almost never gets up late. What is the beneficial result of this? He is not going to be fired.

Click to expand...

That is correct only if that information is given in the text. Even then, it's only an indirect result.That he is not going to be fired is a result of his not being late. It is possible for him to get up late and yet still arrive at work on time.

emsr2d2 said:

It would help if we had the relevant part of the comprehension passage to work from.

Click to expand...

I really can't this time. The story has twenty chapters. The question is based on chapter ten. But there are others that lead to this question in particular because of something that is said on this one.

Could you please post the relevant part of the comprehension passage for us. We might want to revise our suggestions.

5jj said:

It is possible for him to get up late and yet still arrive at work on time.

Click to expand...

Hi,
You are very right! I didn't think about it.

learning54 said:

You are very right! I didn't think about it.

Click to expand...

We often don't. If I am writing comprehension questions nowadays, I spend a lot of time on them, and get a colleague to check them. If I am asking them orally, there's no big problem, because learner response shows up weaknesses in the questions immediately, and I can correct them on the spot. We often discover weakness in written questions only when it is too late.

I shudder to think of some of the inappropriate questions I must have written in my early days (and beyond ).

emsr2d2 said:

Could you please post the relevant part of the comprehension passage for us. We might want to revise our suggestions.

Click to expand...

Hi,
Of course I will.
Here it is, 'After the discussion with Mr.Landon, Robert almost always gets up very early. Now it's only half past seven in the morning and he is having a large breakfast in the kitchen'.

This is more or less the most important passage. Though you'll need some more information from others. for example, 'What kind of person is he?' His working hours: from nine to five, etc.

learning54 said:

Hi,
Of course I will.
Here it is, 'After the discussion with Mr.Landon, Robert almost always gets up very early. Now it’sonly half past seven in the morning and he is having a large breakfast in the kitchen'.

This is more or less the most important passage. Though you'll need some more information from others. for example, 'What kind of person is he?' His working hours: from nine to five, etc.

Click to expand...

"He almost always gets up very early" is not the same as "he almost never gets up late". "Late" suggests after he needed to. "Very early" suggests simply an early time in the morning, it does not say whether it is not only very early, but also exactly the right time for him to get to work.

Given the contents of the passage, unless we're missing something, we actually don't know the answer to "Why is he almost never late for work these days?" The only thing we know is that he had a discussion with his boss and now he gets up very early. The answer could theoretically be "Because his wife now drives him to work" or "Because he now runs to work instead of walking". Those are no more mentioned than the fact that he almost never gets up late these days.

5jj said:

We often don't. If I am writing comprehension questions nowadays, I spend a lot of time on them, and get a colleague to check them.

Click to expand...

You are very right again. Since I don't have a colleague near me I have to ask in this forum many things. Besides I'm not a native speaker, that adds difficulty, but never mind, It's my madnness, to learn and be a better teacher every day. Believe it or not, it took me twenty years to write a manuscript for beginner students. Though, I'm still correcting a few parts.

We often discover weakness in written questions only when it is too late.

Click to expand...

Do tell me about it!

I shudder to think of some of the inappropriate questions I must have written in my early days (and beyond).

Click to expand...

If you shudder, I panic! Even nowadays. :shock:

emsr2d2 said:

"He almost always gets up very early" is not the same as "he almost never gets up late".

Click to expand...

So sorry. I should have written, 'He almost never gets up late.' I should be very hungry. It's 16:44 pm and I haven't had my luch yet.