A fill-in-the-blanks (grammar) question?

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ooohlala

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This is the question and I don't know how I'm supposed to answer it.

Woman was not meant to be _______ an unthinkable drudge ______ the mere pretty ornament of man's leisure.

I'm supposed to fill in the blanks 'with an appropriate word in each'. How?
 

Rover_KE

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What is the source of this question, ooohlala?

The word unthinkable should clearly be unthinking, which makes me suspect the validity of the question.

Rover
 

ooohlala

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RoverKE, it's from a local English grammar workbook (I live in Algeria).

I don't get the unthinkable part either ><
 
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BobK

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...

I don't get the unthinkable part either ><

:?: Saying this ('I don't get') suggests that you didn't understand Rover's correction! But there is no doubt (and there should remain no doubt in your mind): the text should be 'unthinking'.

Perhaps what you meant was 'I didn't get "unthinkable"'...?

b
 

ooohlala

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No, I meant that like Rover, I don't understand the 'unthinkable' part of the sentence, either.
 

ooohlala

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If it were unthinking, how would you fill in the blanks then?
 

Rover_KE

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We still expect you to try first.

Rover
 

mykwyner

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Woman was not meant to be try an adverb or adverbial phrase here an unthinkable drudge try a coordinating conjunction here the mere pretty ornament of man's leisure.
 

Barb_D

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My two cents: This question is the pits. If I gave this to my native-speaking teenage daughter, she'd have no idea what she was supposed to put there. This is a logic question? It would make sense if you had a list of vocabulary words to choose from, perhaps, but to generate words that would work here is a really hard question for an English learner.
 

BobK

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... It would make sense if you had a list of vocabulary words to choose from, perhaps, but to generate words that would work here is a really hard question for an English learner.

:up: Besides, it's so badly worded. We all know what it means, but 'ornament of man's leisure'...? ;-)

b
 
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