Comprehension

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. In the interval he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and there are few things of which he stands in more fear than of the absence of noise.
What does the word 'which' stand for? For example, we can say 'This is the room in which he was born'. Here 'which' means 'room'. But if 'which' in the above sentence stands for 'things' to me it doesn't make sense.

2. I have heard a young man holding up the monologue of a prince among modern wits for half an hour in order to tell us absolutely nothing about himself with opulent long-windedness.

The author once heard a young man who for thirty munutes_______.
a. interrupted an outstandingly witty speaker
b. in a group of witty people, hindered a prince from making a speech
c. delayed the speech which a prince was about to deliver to a group of intelligent people.
'a' is the key. However, according to my dictionary, one of the meanings of 'hold up ' is 'to delay, to bring to a stop'. My question is 1. Does 'bring to a stop' bears the meaning 'interrupt'? 2. If it does how can I know in whether it means 'delay' or 'bring to a stop'? If I understand it as 'delay' then 'c' is correct. Am I right?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[RonBee]

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. In the interval he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and there are few things of which he stands in more fear than of the absence of noise.
What does the word 'which' stand for? For example, we can say 'This is the room in which he was born'. Here 'which' means 'room'. But if 'which' in the above sentence stands for 'things' to me it doesn't make sense.

The word "which" stands for a particular kind of thing. It stands for the kinds of things he is afraid of.

2. I have heard a young man holding up the monologue of a prince among modern wits for half an hour in order to tell us absolutely nothing about himself with opulent long-windedness.

The author once heard a young man who for thirty munutes_______.
a. interrupted an outstandingly witty speaker
b. in a group of witty people, hindered a prince from making a speech
c. delayed the speech which a prince was about to deliver to a group of intelligent people.
'a' is the key. However, according to my dictionary, one of the meanings of 'hold up ' is 'to delay, to bring to a stop'. My question is 1. Does 'bring to a stop' bears the meaning 'interrupt'? 2. If it does how can I know in whether it means 'delay' or 'bring to a stop'? If I understand it as 'delay' then 'c' is correct. Am I right?

The phrase "prince among modern wits" suggests that the person is especially witty. Thus, only a fits here. "Hold up" is being used to mean "interrupt" although normally it would not be used that way.

 

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your explanation.

Best wishes,

Jiang

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. In the interval he does all he can to make a noise in the world, and there are few things of which he stands in more fear than of the absence of noise.
What does the word 'which' stand for? For example, we can say 'This is the room in which he was born'. Here 'which' means 'room'. But if 'which' in the above sentence stands for 'things' to me it doesn't make sense.

The word "which" stands for a particular kind of thing. It stands for the kinds of things he is afraid of.

2. I have heard a young man holding up the monologue of a prince among modern wits for half an hour in order to tell us absolutely nothing about himself with opulent long-windedness.

The author once heard a young man who for thirty munutes_______.
a. interrupted an outstandingly witty speaker
b. in a group of witty people, hindered a prince from making a speech
c. delayed the speech which a prince was about to deliver to a group of intelligent people.
'a' is the key. However, according to my dictionary, one of the meanings of 'hold up ' is 'to delay, to bring to a stop'. My question is 1. Does 'bring to a stop' bears the meaning 'interrupt'? 2. If it does how can I know in whether it means 'delay' or 'bring to a stop'? If I understand it as 'delay' then 'c' is correct. Am I right?

The phrase "prince among modern wits" suggests that the person is especially witty. Thus, only a fits here. "Hold up" is being used to mean "interrupt" although normally it would not be used that way.

 

[RonBee]

You're quite welcome, kind sir.