Titles of English composition

[sitifan]

1. Why do you want to enter college?
2. What else would you do if you should fail to enter college?
(Titles of English composition, Joint College Entrance Examination in Taiwan, 1997)

Are the titles acceptable to native speakers?

 

[Rover_KE]

The URL you linked to is blacklisted and can't be opened.

Why are you asking about a 22-year-old publication?

 

[sitifan]

http://www.yentzu.idv.tw/discuss_detail.asp?b_type=&b_id=4415
There is still argument about their acceptability among Taiwanese teachers of English.

 

[bubbha]

When you say "titles," do you mean "essay prompts"?

I see nothing wrong with them in American English.

 

[sitifan]

When you say "titles," do you mean "essay prompts"?

I see nothing wrong with them in American English.

I translated the Chinese into English as follows:

Below are two English questions related to your future plans. Answer each question using about 60 English words.
1. Why do you want to enter college?
2. What else would you do if you should fail to enter college?
https://www.certifiedchinesetranslation.com/tc/English/entrance.htm
​

 

[GoesStation]

Number two is weird. A native speaker would say if you fail to gain admission to any college.

 

[sitifan]

What else would you do if you should fail to enter college?

A Taiwanese teacher of English says that "else" redundant. He corrects it as follows:

What would you do if you didn't get into college?​

​

Do native speakers also think that "else" is redundant?

 

[Tdol]

The teacher is right to correct it IMO.

 

[emsr2d2]

I find "enter" unnatural in both. In the first, I would use "go to college". In the second, I would use "fail to get into college".