[General] of which level 8 was the highest.

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uktous

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Hi,

Question:
1) In my sentence, what does “(of) which” refer to?
2) In my sentence, what does “which” refer to?


Sentence:
The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest.


My opinion:
There are few possibilities:
1) the classes
2) those 8 levels
3) difficulty
4) degrees of difficulty


Thanks
 

buggles

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Hi,

Question:
1) In my sentence, what does “(of) which” refer to?
2) In my sentence, what does “which” refer to?


Sentence:
The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest.


My opinion:
There are few possibilities:
1) the classes:tick:
2) those 8 levels
3) difficulty
4) degrees of difficulty


Thanks

It's telling us that level 8 is the highest level of class.

Take out the middle part of the sentence and we get.............

The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels......of which level 8 was the highest.


buggles (not a teacher)
 

Abstract Idea

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Hi,

Question:
1) In my sentence, what does “(of) which” refer to?
2) In my sentence, what does “which” refer to?


Sentence:
The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest.

My opinion:
There are few possibilities:
1) the classes
2) those 8 levels
3) difficulty
4) degrees of difficulty

Thanks


(2) "those 8 levels"

"The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, from these eight levels, level 8 was the highest."

Not a native speaker
 

uktous

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Nov 7, 2009
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Student or Learner
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Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
UK
bad news.....

1 person chooses 1

1 person chooses 2

my friend chooses 4
 

jayan12

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Hi,

Question:
1) In my sentence, what does “(of) which” refer to?
2) In my sentence, what does “which” refer to?


Sentence:
The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest.


My opinion:
There are few possibilities:
1) the classes
2) those 8 levels
3) difficulty
4) degrees of difficulty


Thanks

2) those 8 level
 

Abstract Idea

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Joined
Jun 13, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Portuguese
Home Country
Brazil
Current Location
United States
bad news.....

The original sentence reads:
"The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest."
This sentence has at least two different meanings:

a) Each class was divided itself in eight levels, each level of each class with a degree of difficulty. Level eight was the one with the highest degree of difficulty.
b) Each class in the school had one specific level from eight predefined ones. Each one of the predefined levels had a specific degree of difficulty. From these predefined levels, level eight was the one with the highest highest degree of difficulty.

In both cases "of which" refers to "of those eight levels", you can rephrase the original sentence as:

"The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty; among those levels, level 8 was the highest."

The idea is that each level has a label; that is: level one, level two, ... , level eight.


Not a native speaker
 

buggles

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Joined
Aug 20, 2007
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British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
The original sentence reads:
"The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty, of which level 8 was the highest."
This sentence has at least two different meanings:

a) Each class was divided itself in eight levels, each level of each class with a degree of difficulty. Level eight was the one with the highest degree of difficulty.
b) Each class in the school had one specific level from eight predefined ones. Each one of the predefined levels had a specific degree of difficulty. From these predefined levels, level eight was the one with the highest highest degree of difficulty.

In both cases "of which" refers to "of those eight levels", you can rephrase the original sentence as:

"The classes in our school were divided into 8 levels representing different degrees of difficulty; among those levels, level 8 was the highest."

The idea is that each level has a label; that is: level one, level two, ... , level eight.


Not a native speaker



Can't argue with that - it's one heck of an ambiguous sentence, but I've been persuaded that "of which" does indeed refer to the levels and not, as I previously thought, the classes. "The levels" makes most sense whether we refer to levels within classes or level of class. Sorry about my original interpretation.
 
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