Hi, Cnjackie!
When is the assignment due?
— David promised to come round to have supper with us today.
— But he ____. I’ve been alone for half an hour.
A. won’t
B. hadn’t
C. hasn’t
D. doesn’t
Last edited by emsr2d2; 16-Aug-2020 at 21:00. Reason: Fixed strange spacing between words
Hi, Cnjackie!
When is the assignment due?
I'm not a teacher. I speak American English. I've tutored writing at the University of Southern Maine and have done a good deal of copy editing and writing, occasionally for publication.
Come on! I'm not a student. It's also not a assignment. I have the answer. But I'm just wonering which one you will choose, and why choose it.
I also have asked someone else, but they also have different opinions.
Which answer did you choose before you found out the "right" answer, and what was the given answer?
Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.
I think both A and C are right. The standard answer is A.
It's not a particularly well-written question but with "I've been alone for half an hour" means that C is the only logical answer. We are supposed to assume (I think) that David should have arrived at some point before or during the last half an hour. Therefore, "But he hasn't [come for supper]" is the only one that works.
"But he won't" would be OK without "I've been alone for half an hour" because there is no correlation between the two.
So in my opinion, the "official" answer is wrong.
Where did you find the question (source and author)?
Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.
It's from a junior high school English test in China.
Some people say A is right, and some say C is right.
I think the replying part should depend on the time. Supposing they have finished supper, and ready to go. They think David will not come.
I still don't see how "But he won't. I've been alone for half an hour" makes sense. And if the two people having the dialogue have already finished supper and are getting ready for bed, then the person saying "I've been alone for half an hour" is lying.
Remember - if you don't use correct capitalisation, punctuation and spacing, anything you write will be incorrect.