[Vocabulary] If experience there is a guide

[nininaz]

Hello,

What is the meaning of 'experience ' and 'guide' in the below?!
What is the meaning of the whole sentence"If experience there is a guide"?
What is the grammatical role of "experience"?Is that a verb?
in the "simply passing its second reading today would be significant " , it means the law would be passed by the Congress?!

"...The Assisted Dying Bill would allow adults of sound mind with six months to live to end their lives at a time of their choosing.
It would be a profound step for society modelled on the law in Oregon. If experience there is a guide, it could lead to around 1,000 people a year in England and Wales choosing an assisted death. Opponents argue it would put the frail, vulnerable and disabled at risk. Whilst it's unlikely to get sufficient backing or parliamentary time to become law, simply passing its second reading today would be significant – the first time such a bill would have done so."

Source:BBC Learning English

Thanks

 

[TheParser]

It would be a profound step for society modelled on the law in Oregon. If experience there is a guide, it could lead to around 1,000 people a year in England and Wales choosing an assisted death.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****



Hello, Nininaz:

As I interpret those words in boldface:

1. "There" refers to the state of Oregon.

2. "Experience" refers to how a similar law has worked in Oregon.

3. "Guide" refers to how such a law would probably work in England and Wales.

To put it into simpler English, I feel that those two sentences mean something like:

The proposed law would be similar to the law in the American state of Oregon. If one studies how the Oregon law has worked, then one can make an intelligent guess that around 1,000 people a year in England and Wales would choose an assisted death.


James

 

[BobK]

:up: Incidentally, it's not Congress; it's the House of Commons.

(It might help you understand the third sentence if you stress the word 'there': 'If experience there is a guide ...'. Otherwise you're left with 'there is a guide', which could send you down a very confusing sidetrack!;-))

b

 

[nininaz]

:up: Incidentally, it's not Congress; it's the House of Commons.

(It might help you understand the third sentence if you stress the word 'there': 'If experience there is a guide ...'. Otherwise you're left with 'there is a guide', which could send you down a very confusing sidetrack!;-))

b

Thanks so much.oh, how could you know that?!!
I exactly were confused because I stressed on" experience "and read the sentence , as "there is a guide"..How Can I understand on which word should I stress?!

 

[cereal_chick]

First let me correct some of your written English, since it has been left alone up to this point. I apologise for nitpicking, but it is necessary for you to learn. Do remember that spaces should be placed:
* After the ends of sentences, whether they end in a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!), put a space before starting the next one;
* After colons );
* Before phrases in quotation marks;
* NOT before a comma, only after and also
* Not between the start and end of a phrase and the quotation marks surrounding it.
Remember as well that the starts of sentences should always be capitalised, and not any word after unless it is a proper noun.

To further pick through your English:
"What is the meaning of 'experience' and 'guide' in the below?!" = One would say "In the text below" or just "below".
"Stress on" is not the right verb here (if indeed it is a verb). It is simply "stress", e.g. "which one should I stress?"
"I exactly were confused" doesn't make sense. To be in the past tense for "I" is "was", and where "exactly" comes in I don't know.

To answer your question, prosodic stress (that is, stress as applied to words in phrases rather than syllables in words) in English is a rather complex and many-nuanced thing. If you are having difficulty understanding a text because of where you are placing stress, try placing it on other words to see what fits with the context. As your English improves, this sort of thing will no doubt get easier.

[Not a teacher]

PS: The bill's second reading refers to a stage in the House of Lords' (and Commons' as well, but the bill in question is currently in the Lords) deliberation of the bill. It consists of a debate about the general features of the bill and then a vote is taken by the House to determine whether the bill will be taken any further (not whether it will pass and become law). As the later stages involve amending the bill, a bill passing its second reading generally signifies that it will be eventually passed by whichever House it is in, making it a significant stage in its progress.

 

[BobK]

It's a fair cop. I wasn't sure whether it was Lords or Commons. I don't really follow the news at Westminster (though I'll catch up this evening at 22.00 BST - Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4, when I'm sure they'll be discussing this).

nininaz: The way to 'guess' the stress is to read a lot. After a few years, you'll have seen hundreds of expressions like 'If experience + <place-expression>["there"/"in Texas"....] is + <condition-expression> [examples: "a guide"/"anything to go by"/"an indicator of possible success"...], so the right stress will just hit you. Until you have that experience (of reading analogous texts), you can only take Calls's advice.

b
PS Getting the stress wrong, especially when reading aloud, is something we all suffer from (native speakers too). Stick at it!