[Grammar] Chinese English Test Choice Question (5)

[LiuJing]

The professor claims to be expert at economy, but in fact, the figures he illustrates his speech with are inaccurate and ______ he knows about it is out of date.

a--so much b--how much c--little that d--the little

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The given right answer is [d]. I am wondering why [a] is incorrect.
Thank you.

 

[bhaisahab]

The professor claims to be expert at economy, but in fact, the figures he illustrates his speech with are inaccurate and ______ he knows about it is out of date.

a--so much b--how much c--little that d--the little

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The given right answer is [d]. I am wondering why [a] is incorrect.
Thank you.

a) Could work with some additions to the sentence, "...and so much of what he knows..."

 

[TheParser]

The professor claims to be expert at economy, but in fact, the figures he illustrates his speech with are inaccurate and ______ he knows about it is out of date.

a--so much b--how much c--little that d--the little

------------------------------------------------------

The given right answer is [d]. I am wondering why [a] is incorrect.
Thank you.

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

Hello, LiuJing.

(1) You always ask such interesting and challenging questions!!!

(2) As Teacher Bhaisahab said, it would be "good"

English if the test question read:

So much of what he knows is out of date.

(3) I communicated with a very experienced English teacher

who teaches many learners worldwide, and she told me:

(a) So much that he knows about it is out of date is NOT necessarily

"bad" English -- but just UNUSUAL because native speakers

usually do not use it as a subject. It usually comes in the

middle (her examples):

It's not so much that I hate him; it's just that he is dangerously stupid.

He ate so much that he thought he might explode.

Thank you

 

[LiuJing]

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

Hello, LiuJing.

(1) You always ask such interesting and challenging questions!!!

(2) As Teacher Bhaisahab said, it would be "good"

English if the test question read:

So much of what he knows is out of date.

(3) I communicated with a very experienced English teacher

who teaches many learners worldwide, and she told me:

(a) So much that he knows about it is out of date is NOT necessarily

"bad" English -- but just UNUSUAL because native speakers

usually do not use it as a subject. It usually comes in the

middle (her examples):

It's not so much that I hate him; it's just that he is dangerously stupid.

He ate so much that he thought he might explode.

Thank you

Thank you , TheParser. The Chinese English test is just like this. We have to be fed up with it. In the right choice one, the little he knows about it, is 'little' a noun here?

 

[TheParser]

Thank you , TheParser. The Chinese English test is just like this. We have to be fed up with it. In the right choice one, the little he knows about it, is 'little' a noun here?

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

Yes, LiuJing, I think that the the makes little a noun. Probably, it should

read: The little that ....

That is: The little (that he knows about it) is out of date.

that he knows about it = adjective clause that modifies little.

Thank you