Repaso P4

Respuesta correcta: A) It was after the floods that the road to Cartago reopened.

• A) It was after the floods that the road to Cartago reopened.This works: It was ... that isolates the time phrase, so the sentence stresses when the road reopened.
• B) The road to Cartago reopened after the floods, as everyone knows.This is a plain declarative with an added comment, so no element is singled out for emphasis here.
• C) After the floods, the road to Cartago reopened last Saturday.This is normal word order with the cause in front, so the sentence stresses the floods, not the time.
• D) The floods made the road to Cartago reopen a little later.This presents the floods as the cause in an ordinary causal sentence, not in an emphasis structure.

Respuesta correcta: C) Yours sincerely, Daniela Vargas

• A) Love, DaniLove is a friendly sign-off used between close peers, so it does not fit a formal email to a principal.
• B) Catch you later, DanielaThis is an informal goodbye between friends, so it sounds far too casual for official school business.
• C) Yours sincerely, Daniela VargasThis works: Yours sincerely is a standard formal valediction and it is followed by the writer's full name.
• D) Thanks for everything, DaniThis thanks the reader but it is not a closing formula, so the email would end with no proper sign-off.

Respuesta correcta: B) Only after the last bell did the students leave the building.

• A) Only after the last bell the students did leave the building.Here the auxiliary did stays after the subject, but a fronted phrase at the start forces inversion.
• B) Only after the last bell did the students leave the building.This works: the fronted phrase comes first, so the auxiliary did moves in front of the subject.
• C) After the last bell only did the students leave the building.Only is misplaced inside the time phrase, so the fronted element is not the one that triggers inversion.
• D) Only after the last bell did leave the students the building.The verb is cut off from its subject by the object here, so this is not the inverted clause at all.

Respuesta correcta: D) The more she trains, the faster she runs on the track.

• A) She trains more, so she runs faster every single morning.So links two separate facts, so it gives a result without showing how the two amounts depend on each other.
• B) The more she trains, faster she runs on the track.The first half is right, but the correlative needs a second the before the comparative in the other clause.
• C) She trains the most, so she runs the fastest every morning.The superlative compares her with everyone, while the context describes how her own effort changes her speed.
• D) The more she trains, the faster she runs on the track.This works: the pair the more and the faster links two clauses whose quantities grow together.

Respuesta correcta: A) Glass recycling in Alajuela went up this year.

• A) Glass recycling in Alajuela went up this year.This works: it keeps the topic, the place and the general trend, which is exactly what a main idea needs.
• B) A radio station in Alajuela got new equipment this year.The station and its equipment are only background in the report, so this moves away from the main topic.
• C) Alajuela residents must separate glass before Friday.No deadline is heard on the air, so this adds a rule and turns a reported fact into invented advice.
• D) Alajuela will open a new recycling plant next year.A future plant is never announced, so this invents a development the report does not support at all.

Respuesta correcta: B) The Liceo de Alajuela joined the recycling drive.

• A) The drive collected paper from every household in the country.This names every household in the country, but the guest only mentioned one school taking part.
• B) The Liceo de Alajuela joined the recycling drive.This works: it repeats the specific detail given on air, the name of the school that joined the drive.
• C) The drive started after the mayor visited a school.A visit by the mayor never appears in the podcast, so this adds a cause that was not stated.
• D) The drive ended last March with no results at all.The guest described a drive that was still going on, so this adds an ending date and a negative result.

Respuesta correcta: D) In my opinion, buses should run more often, because many students arrive late.

• A) In this essay I am going to talk about several things.This only announces the topic, so it makes no claim and gives no reason a reader could argue with.
• B) Public transport is nice and everybody knows that.The vague adjective and everybody knows weaken the claim, so it is not a thesis a reader can test.
• C) I walked to school yesterday and it took twenty minutes.This is a personal anecdote about one morning, so it supports no general position on transport.
• D) In my opinion, buses should run more often, because many students arrive late.This works: it states a clear opinion and because introduces the reason the essay will develop.

Respuesta correcta: A) Rarely have our athletes trained as hard as they did last spring.

• A) Rarely have our athletes trained as hard as they did last spring.This works: rarely is a negative adverb, so the auxiliary have moves in front of the subject our athletes.
• B) Rarely our athletes have trained as hard as they did last spring.The subject sits between rarely and the auxiliary, so the inversion that rarely requires never happens.
• C) Rarely have trained our athletes as hard as they did last spring.The verb appears before its subject here, so the clause is not the subject-auxiliary order that rarely needs.
• D) Rarely did trained our athletes as hard as they did last spring.Did with the past participle leaves no place for the subject, so the auxiliary form is wrong as well.

Respuesta correcta: C) A second serious problem for small growers is the low price they receive.

• A) To conclude, coffee farming in Turrialba has a bright future.To conclude only fits the last paragraph, so this sentence cannot introduce the ideas of a body paragraph.
• B) For example, one farmer near the volcano earns half his income from sales.For example opens a supporting detail, so it belongs after the main point of the paragraph has been stated.
• C) A second serious problem for small growers is the low price they receive.This works: it names the second main idea of the essay and announces the reasons that will follow.
• D) On the other hand, my cousin prefers tea to coffee in the morning.This switches to a personal preference the essay never argues about, so it breaks the paragraph's topic.

Respuesta correcta: B) I would like to request a change of my class hour, if possible.

• A) You must change my class hour to the afternoon, right now.You must plus the bare command is an order, so it sounds demanding in a request to a coordinator.
• B) I would like to request a change of my class hour, if possible.This works: would like to request is a polite formula, and if possible softens the demand even further.
• C) Change my class hour to the afternoon, no problem?An imperative plus a tag question demands action here, so the tone is rude rather than courteous.
• D) I need you to change my hour, so do it soon, please.So do it soon gives a direct command, so adding please cannot cancel that forceful order.

Respuesta correcta: C) It was the volunteer brigade that fixed the broken pipes in Escazu.

• A) It was last week when the volunteer brigade fixed the broken pipes.This is a time cleft, so it emphasises last week and leaves the doer in the background clause.
• B) What the volunteer brigade fixed were the broken pipes in Escazu.A what cleft here puts the pipes in the focus slot, so the brigade is not the stressed element.
• C) It was the volunteer brigade that fixed the broken pipes in Escazu.This works: It was plus the agent plus that lifts the doer into the focus, as the question asks.
• D) The broken pipes were fixed in Escazu by the volunteer brigade.This is the passive voice, which moves the doer away from the focus instead of stressing it.

Respuesta correcta: A) July is the busiest month for tours to Heredia.

• A) July is the busiest month for tours to Heredia.This works: if July tours fill three weeks ahead, demand in that month must be high, so it is the peak.
• B) Heredia has closed its tourism office for good.Nothing about a permanent closure appears in the interview, so this goes far beyond what was said.
• C) Fewer than ten tourists visited Heredia last July.Advance bookings signal many visitors rather than fewer than ten, so this contradicts the evidence.
• D) Tours to Heredia in July are free of charge.The guide never mentions prices at all, so no conclusion about free entry can be drawn from bookings.

Respuesta correcta: D) The Chompipe trail is by far the steepest of the three trails.

• A) This is the more long trail of the three, so it also takes the most time.Double comparatives collide here, since more long and the most describe the same item in one sentence.
• B) The Chompipe trail is the most steep of those three routes.A superlative takes the most plus an adjective, not most plus an adverb, so this form is wrong.
• C) The Chompipe trail takes more hours than any other trail there.Any other already means most of all, so it wrongly replaces the comparative form more hours.
• D) The Chompipe trail is by far the steepest of the three trails.This works: by far strengthens the superlative and steepest already carries the final -est ending.

Respuesta correcta: B) Dear Principal, could you please send me the report at your convenience?

• A) Hey, send me that report now, thanks a lot, bye.The informal tone stays and the command grows stronger, so the message still fails school protocol.
• B) Dear Principal, could you please send me the report at your convenience?This works: the formal greeting plus could you please turns the demand into a courteous hedged request.
• C) Hey, just send the report, ok? I need it.Just and ok keep the message casual and demanding, so the register is informal in a formal email.
• D) Hello teacher, send me the report quick, thanks.Quick is informal and demands a fast order, so it clashes with the polite tone a school email requires.

Respuesta correcta: C) Some people argue that uniforms limit self-expression, yet they also save time.

• A) School uniforms are the worst idea anyone has ever had.This is an insult with no argument, so it dismisses the other side instead of presenting it for the reader.
• B) Critics say uniforms hide identity, although most students still prefer them.The connector although sets up a contrast, so the writer's own preference replaces the claim being explained.
• C) Some people argue that uniforms limit self-expression, yet they also save time.This works: some people argue states the opposing view and yet adds the writer's reply in one sentence.
• D) Those who dislike uniforms simply have no taste at all.This attacks the people instead of their idea, so it is personal and never answers the argument.

Respuesta correcta: D) A, C, D, B

• A) B, A, C, DStarting with the planting detail leaves the reader without the seasonal frame the rest of the text explains.
• B) C, D, A, BThe result comes before the background that explains it, so the reader meets the consequence before its reason.
• C) D, C, B, AThis puts the effect before its cause and ends on the driest fact, so the logic runs backwards.
• D) A, C, D, BThis works: general season, then the problem, then its result, then the human response, a clean chain.

Respuesta correcta: B) What the team in Alajuela did was win the final last Saturday.

• A) It was last Saturday that the team in Alajuela won the final.This is a time cleft, so it stresses last Saturday and leaves the winning itself in the background.
• B) What the team in Alajuela did was win the final last Saturday.This works: a what cleft with did was puts the action win in the focus slot, so the victory is stressed.
• C) The team in Alajuela won the final last Saturday at the gym.This is plain word order with the time first, so it stresses the date rather than the victory.
• D) It was the final that the team in Alajuela won last Saturday.This is an object cleft, so it stresses the final itself instead of the act of winning it.

Respuesta correcta: C) I see your point, but in our group the work was divided badly, so I prefer working alone.

• A) No, group work is useless and you clearly did not understand it.No plus useless attacks the other speaker, so the disagreement is rude and it offers no usable reason.
• B) You are completely wrong about group work, sorry, but that is all.The insult cancels the apology and the reason given is empty, so the reply fails on tone and on content.
• C) I see your point, but in our group the work was divided badly, so I prefer working alone.This works: the concession I see your point softens the refusal, and but plus so carries the reason.
• D) Group work is better, obviously, so stop complaining about it.This agrees with the classmate instead of disagreeing, so it does not do what the speaker was asked to do.

Respuesta correcta: A) Bus delays in Heredia were worse in May than they were in April.

• A) Bus delays in Heredia were worse in May than they were in April.This works: forty percent is above twenty-five, so the report supports exactly this claim about those two months.
• B) Most buses in Heredia run late in every month of the year.Two months of figures cannot prove a pattern for the whole year, so this generalises far beyond the data.
• C) The buses in Heredia need to be replaced immediately.A rise in delays never proves that vehicles must be replaced, so this recommendation goes beyond the evidence.
• D) April was the worst month of the year for transport.The report compares April and May only, so it cannot rank April against every other month of the year.

Respuesta correcta: D) Dear Director, I am writing to explain why the new timetable suits students better than the old one.

• A) Hey you, the new timetable is not more better than the last one, ok?The informal greeting and not more better both fail: a double comparative cannot stand and the tone is wrong too.
• B) Dear Director, the new timetable is better and it fits better, students will like it.Two complete clauses are joined with only a comma here, so the sentence fuses and the email loses its finish.
• C) Dear Director, which starts at seven, the new timetable suits working students best.The relative clause which starts at seven has no subject to attach to, so it dangles before the main clause.
• D) Dear Director, I am writing to explain why the new timetable suits students better than the old one.This works: a formal greeting, a clear purpose and one comparative clause make the email correct and polite.