Present progressive or "going to" future?

[bruxinha]

Hello,
I have a question about an exercise from a test. The test was written by me and another teacher at my school, and we are a bit unsure about an answer. The student who wrote that answer is a near native-speaker, being raised bilingually in Germany.
Here's the complete exercise, for the context.

It's Pryanga's birthday. Complete the questions and answers with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Use the simple present or the present progressive. Pay attention to the signal words! There is one example.​

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Pryanga’s mother usually bakes (bake) apple cake at the weekend, but birthday cakes are special.​

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Pryanga: Mum, _____ (you/need) my help?​

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Mum: No, I don’t. Dad’s in the garden, he _____ (pick) some cherries for your​

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cake now. But where’s Amit? _____ (he/decorating) the party room?​

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Pryanga: I don’t know! I _____ (have) a shower right now! I’ll help him with​

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the decoration when I’m ready. Oh, Ruby’s mum always _____ (put) chocolate chips in her​

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cherry cakes, it tastes soooo good! ______ (we/have) any?​

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Mum: Sure, darling, don’t worry. I’ve bought some last week!​

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In Pryanga's second sentence, the required answer is "I am having a shower right now!". The present progressive fits, since she's talking about what she is doing at this exact moment. It's not a future action nor something she will do in a few minutes or even hours. She's already doing it ("right now").

The student used a future form and wrote "I'm going to have a shower right now!" Does it sound natural, would this be preferable to the original answer?
Would this mean that she's on her way to the shower (as in "I'm going to have a shower now."), or does the expression "right now" imply that she's already under the shower, hence the present progressive? My humble opinion (more an intuition) makes me prefer the present progressive version, but I'm not a native speaker.

 

[Rover_KE]

Think about it logically: if she's already in the shower you'd be aware of the steam and splashing water, of her nakedness, and of having to shout at each other through the door or shower curtain.

 

[jutfrank]

Your student apparently didn't understand the context very well and I must say I can't really blame them.

Although the exclamation marks show clearly enough in my opinion that Pryanga is angry because she's in the middle of having a shower, it's a bit odd don't you think for this whole conversation to be taking place with Pryanga in the shower. Where's the mother supposed to be? Standing outside the bathroom door? And why does Pryanga offer to give her mother help just as she's in the middle of a shower? And where's the coherence with Pryanga suddenly talking about chocolate chip cookies? If there's meant to be a pause there, it isn't obvious.

The whole thing is badly written. For this reason, give your student the points and rewrite the dialogue before using it again.

 

[Tarheel]

The conversation is not natural at all. It might make sense for her to say she's in the shower if she's talking on the cellphone. Also, say: "I bought some last week."

 

[bruxinha]

Thank you all for your answers!

Your student apparently didn't understand the context very well and I must say I can't really blame them.

Actually, there was more background information to the context before this exercise, since there was a short text about Pryanga on the page before. In the text there was a sentence about her mother baking the birthday cake herself, so we know she was in the kitchen. He must have read the text to do the previous exercises.

Although the exclamation marks show clearly enough in my opinion that Pryanga is angry because she's in the middle of having a shower, it's a bit odd don't you think for this whole conversation to be taking place with Pryanga in the shower. Where's the mother supposed to be? Standing outside the bathroom door?

The mother is in the kitchen, about to bake the cake, that's why she asks where her son is (he was supposed to decorate the living room for the party later that day). She can't see where Pryanga or Amit are, because they are in different rooms.

And why does Pryanga offer to give her mother help just as she's in the middle of a shower?

Well, she's not really offering help, she just asks her mother if she needs her help right away (because she's still in the shower). I do agree, we can make it more precise and maybe rewrite the sentence to something like "Do you need my help to bake the cake right away, or can I help you later?" Anyway, she won't take hours under the shower, it's a matter of minutes (since she's already doing it).

And where's the coherence with Pryanga suddenly talking about chocolate chip cookies? If there's meant to be a pause there, it isn't obvious.

I agree, the pause isn't obvious. We're talking about a test, not a novel, so the space is limited.
There are no cookies involved, she just mentions chocolate chips. It was just an idea that stroke struck her... Her mother is about to bake a cherry cake and she suddenly remembers that her friend's mum uses chocolate chips. She likes how they taste in the cake and would like to have them in her birthday cake too. Maybe the word "chips" can be confused with the salty potato sticks, but we're talking about those little chocolate drops used for baking.

The whole thing is badly written. For this reason, give your student the points and rewrite the dialogue before using it again.

Thanks again for your information, we'll make sure to rewrite the exercise if we use it again.

 

[Tarheel]

Two things. One, it's an idea that struck her. Two, say: We'll be sure to rewrite the exercise if we use it again. (You can also say "make sure".)

Potato chips aren't shaped like sticks.

 

[bruxinha]

Two things. One, it's an idea that struck her. Two, say: We'll be sure to rewrite the exercise if we use it again. (You can also say "make sure".)

Oh no, shame on me... It is struck, indeed. Maybe the auto-correction played a trick on me this time. I'll edit it right away!

Potato chips aren't shaped like sticks.

Well, not in the USA or in Germany, but in the UK they are.

 

[Skrej]

We have those as well, bu

Oh no, shame on me... It is struck, indeed. Maybe the auto-correction played a trick on me this time. I'll edit it right away!


Well, not in the USA or in Germany, but in the UK they are.

We have those here in the US as well, but they're still not called 'chips'. They're potato 'sticks', (sometimes spelled as 'stix' for marketing purposes).

It's difficult to imagine a context where chocolate chips and potato chips (or sticks) are easily confused.

 

[probus]

Think about it logically: if she's already in the shower you'd be aware of the steam and splashing water, of her nakedness, and of having to shout at each other through the door or shower curtain.

Except for one thing: the name Priyanga strongly suggests the action takes place in India, so there's unlikely to be steaming hot water. Indian shower water tends to be tepid or lukewarm.

 

[jutfrank]

We have those here in the US as well, but they're still not called 'chips'. They're potato 'sticks', (sometimes spelled as 'stix' for marketing purposes).

There's some confusion going on here. When bruxhinha says 'potato chips', she means fries (what we Brits call just chips), not potato sticks.

Bruxinha, if you say 'potato chips' to a Brit, I think most of us would think you mean crisps (US: (potato) chips), not chips (US: fries).

I hope I've cleared that up!

 

[bruxinha]

Except for one thing: the name Priyanga strongly suggests the action takes place in India, so there's unlikely to be steaming hot water. Indian shower water tends to be tepid or lukewarm.

Probus, on the one side yes, the name suggests India. On the other side, don't forget the big Indian/Pakistani communities in London, where the action of the text actually takes place. This detail wasn't mentioned in the exercise I posted above, because it was already in the previous text about the girl.
So yes, Rover_KE is right, there might have been steam involved

But we're drifting away from the topic... I think the main question has been answered and the confusion about chips/sticks/crisps has been cleared up. Thank you all, once again!