Suggested answers for an English question in supplementary exercise

tws2010

In the supplementary exercise I bought from a bookshop, I spotted quite a few questions and would like to discuss with you:

Question A in a comprehension which you are required to give long answers

Q:  Find a word in the story whcih has the same meaning as "spicy"
My kid's answer:  The word "hot" has the same meaning as "spicy" (I think this is correct)
Suggested answer from the supplementary exercise:  The word "spicy" (I think this is not correct.  One one hand, this is not in a completed answer.  This may also be wrong if you are asked to give short answer.



Question B - my kid was asked to buy what you can buy and where you can buy

My kid wrote:  I can buy the jeans in a clothes shop.  
                       I can buy books in a book shop.
Suggested answer:  I can buy books in the clothes shop.
                                 I can buy books in the book shop.

For a student in P.3, I think my kid's answers are also good because if you put 'a', it's in more a generic tone.  If you write "the", you assume people know what book shop and what clothes shop you refer to.  

Your thoughts.  Please feel free to give me a shout if my understanding is wrong.  Happy to discuss further

Many thanks for your time.

rubycourt

Cannot find the suggested answer of question A in your post...for question B, is there a specific shop that the question refers to?

tws2010

回復 rubycourt 的帖子

Many thanks rubycourt.  Re Question A, the answer is just 'The word "hot"

Re Question B, there are no specific shops, names of shop or any pictures on the shops.  It's just the picture on the item you have to buy.  It's very generic.  So I think e.g. 'I can buy pencils from a bookstore' instead of 'I can buy pencils from the bookstore.' because if you use 'the bookshop', people assume what bookshop you refer to.

Many thanks for your time.  

I don't know whether I am 100% correct because it's a long time since I graduated.  So I welcome all advices.  Besides, as parents, I guess we should not 100% rely on the supplementary exercise bought from bookshops, we really have to check!

猴子爸

Where can I get the books?
You can borrow the books from (the) or (a) library.  I would use (the) even though I am not referring to any particular library in this context.  It sounds more natural to me.

MaMaHH

回復 tws2010 的帖子

As I remembered, my child did the Q2. It's in a dialogue. 'the' is the model answer.  'Specific' is one of the 'rule' of using 'the', however, in daily life, you can find 'the' is used in front of some place even though they are not 'specific' e.g. in the library, in the beach, in the hospital ( 'the' is used in the case when some places are assumed w/i common knowledge of the people in the conversation). We don't hv 'articles' in our language, so it's a bit hard to understand their non-rule usage.

tws2010

回復 MaMaHH 的帖子

I checked with my friend's wife who is a westerner teaching in a famous international school.  She said unless it's aunique thing, such as the sun, the moon, the first time you mentioned something (unless it's mutually understood what you are saying or it's clearly stated or hinted), we have to use 'a' in the first place.  Such as if you say 'I borrowed a book from the library.'  she will challenge 'you assume which library I know where you borrowed the book from.'  In conclusion, she said we have to use 'a'.  Another e.g. she mentioned 'I saw a dog.  The dog is fat.'

tws2010

回復 tws2010 的帖子

Thanks all for your advices which are very useful.  It seems that the more I picked up what I learned in the good old days, the more I puzzled and hesitated...

Mighty

如果没有前文後理、我敢説SUGGESTED　ANSWERS是錯的。
Q: Where do you buy jeans?
A: I buy jeans in a jeans shop.
Q: Where do you buy books?
A: I buy books in a bookshop.
Or you can use "jeans shops" and "bookshops" without any articles but is not so common.  用左”THE"、可能在説者＆聴者之間只有一間JEANS SHOP　OR　BOOK　SHOP。　本EXERCISE　BOOK可以掉得LA.　下下要考究対＆不対、父母辺有GUM多時間。　Time to look for a better one.

MaMaHH

回復 tws2010 的帖子

Dear tws2010

Just want to add - when we talk about the usage of Eng, we cannot ignore the context (e.g. only a statement, in a dialogue, decribing a picture, people in the content, etc ), Also, some of the books /ex books/teachers use American English and some use British English, we hv to pay extra attention when teaching our children.  If your child is confused, they can confirm with their school teachers for an 'acceptable' answer, so they will not lose marks in exams.  If you hv time, it is not difficult for u to find web sites teaching articles, they provide useful examples and explanations which are far beyond the general text books in HK.

猴子爸

From British Council's website:

We also use the definite article:

• to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:

The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)
The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)
The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)

Not sure if this rule applies to what we are discussing now.  

tws2010

Thanks all for your time, valuable advices.   In particular thank you for all sincere and open discussions.  I have better idea and teach my kid.  Honestly, I am not worried at one or two marks deduction, but rather I focus more on the attitude to learn.  It’s really good that we can have such a good platform that we can ask, discuss and share what we would like to know.  Learning is always life learning and never ended piece of work.  Hopefully, our kids will inherit our sincere and positive attitude in learning and show it at work when they grow up.

Sincere thanks to all of you!