[Vocabulary] which hoice?

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hooshdar3

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"The audience was surprised with the student's ---------- speech.
1)diligent 2)menacing 3)inquisitive 4)spontaneous"


I chose 1, answer sheet gives 4.Which is correct and why?
 

riquecohen

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"The audience was surprised with the student's ---------- speech.
1)diligent 2)menacing 3)inquisitive 4)spontaneous"


I chose 1, answer sheet gives 4.Which is correct and why?
The correct answer is 4. Have you tried to look up these words in a dictionary? I suggest OneLook Dictionary Search.
 

Tdol

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The clue's in the word surprised, though it's not a particularly good question IMO.
 

Barb_D

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Not a good quesiton at all. I expect if he were menacing, that would have been a bit of a surprise as well!
 

hooshdar3

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The correct answer is 4. Have you tried to look up these words in a dictionary? I suggest OneLook Dictionary Search.

diligent also means "detailed and careful" , doesn't it?
Why do you say 4 is correct?
 
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SoothingDave

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Why would you be surprised that someone's speech was "detailed and careful"? Unless the student was known to be sloppy and unprepared.

This is a poor question.
 

SoothingDave

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Not a good quesiton at all. I expect if he were menacing, that would have been a bit of a surprise as well!

Yes, and it's possible to be surprised by an inquisitive speech as well.
 

hooshdar3

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Why would you be surprised that someone's speech was "detailed and careful"? Unless the student was known to be sloppy and unprepared.

This is a poor question.

When you think someone may not be able to perform well because he is young and inexperienced, you would certainly be surprised if he performs well, won't you?
 

Tdol

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While I think it's a poor question, I think diligent speech is the least likely answer.
 

SoothingDave

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Yes. It's a poor question. But spontaneity would be the most surprising, if forced to choose an answer. The others deal with the content of the speech. This is with the very fact that the student spoke at all.
 

hooshdar3

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While I think it's a poor question, I think diligent speech is the least likely answer.

Why would you say "diligent" is the most unlikly answer?
 

Tdol

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Because you have to add extra context to make sense of it- you have to add information about the student normally being lazy, for instance; otherwise, why would it be a surprise? There's nothing surprising about diligent students- there may be a surprise about a particular student being diligent for once. Take a look at this forum- for every student who posts their homework question and expects us to do it for them, there are hundreds diligently supplementing their learning. It's not a shock to find diligence among students. Without adding further information, which is not in the sentence, what possible reason could there be for using diligent? Also, describing a speech as diligent is a strange pairing- what exactly is a diligent speech?
 

hooshdar3

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Because you have to add extra context to make sense of it- you have to add information about the student normally being lazy, for instance; otherwise, why would it be a surprise? There's nothing surprising about diligent students- there may be a surprise about a particular student being diligent for once. Take a look at this forum- for every student who posts their homework question and expects us to do it for them, there are hundreds diligently supplementing their learning. It's not a shock to find diligence among students. Without adding further information, which is not in the sentence, what possible reason could there be for using diligent? Also, describing a speech as diligent is a strange pairing- what exactly is a diligent speech?

There is no other context-it was a test!So hypothesize as you like!
diligent (ˈdɪlɪdʒənt)

Definitions
adjective

careful and persevering in carrying out tasks or duties
carried out with care and perseverance ⇒ diligent work

Definition of diligent | Collins English Dictionary

Why doesn't a diligent speech mean a well-done speech?
 

Tdol

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Supplying an imaginary context in your head is not the way to get a test question right. You have to try to choose the best answer from the choices given. You cannot hypothesise as you like, even with exclamation marks.

I am well aware of the meaning of the word diligent, and quoting a dictionary definition does not prove your case.

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) - zero results for 'diligent speech'
http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/- zero results for 'diligent speech'
Google manages 363 examples, and most of them are things like diligent speech therapy

I said it was a strange pairing, and it is.

On a personal note, I am retiring from posting in your threads.
 
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hooshdar3

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Supplying an imaginary context in your head is not the way to get a test question right. You have to try to choose the best answer from the choices given. You cannot hypothesise as you like, even with exclamation marks.

I am well aware of the meaning of the word diligent, and quoting a dictionary definition does not prove your case.

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) - zero results for 'diligent speech'
http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/- zero results for 'diligent speech'
Google manages 363 examples, and most of them are things like diligent speech therapy

I said it was a strange pairing, and it is.

On a personal note, I am retiring from posting in your threads.
Why sir?
your posts will help me a lot.
 
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