grammar

[jiang]

Dear Teachers,
The following is part of a cloze test.
Consider the word "breakfast". "To fast" is to go for some period of time wirthout eating. Thus, in the morning, after many hours ________ the night without food, one breaks one's food.
The choices of the blank are: a. for b. during c. at d. on
The answer is d. I have two questions here:
One is why is 'd' correct? Is it because when we describe certain activity at night we should use on? The other is whether I can use 'b'. Since I don't understand why 'd' I think 'b' is better.

I am looing forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[Tdol]

I wouldonly use b. I don't know if d is OK in AE, but it doesn't work in BE.;-)

PS-one breaks one's FAST.

 

[Casiopea]

..., after many hours ____the night without food, one breaks one's food.

The choices of the blank are: a. for b. during c. at d. on

The answer is d.

It's probably a typo (typographical error) given that b and d are similar in form. The closest answer is b, although it's still not 100%. tdol's right about breaking the fast; moreover, one breaks bread, not food. I think the cloze sentence in question is somewhat questionable.

 

[Tdol]

I'd use something different, like 'after spending the night...', though this wouldn't be allowed in a cloze. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

This is probably best:

• Consider the word "breakfast". "To fast" is to go for some period of time wirthout eating. Thus, in the morning, after spending the night without food, one breaks one's fast.

In the example given, b ("during") is, of course, the best choice.



[Edited to fix a goof.]

 

[Tdol]

D doesn't work in BE, I don't think. I'd like to see what Red says on this. ;-)

 

[RonBee]

D doesn't work in BE, I don't think. I'd like to see what Red says on this. ;-)

Oops! I meant to say b ("during"). In my opinion, d is entirely wrong.

I hope you don't mind if I change that answer.