All About English Grammar & Vocabulary

[P5G]

Ms English Lessons,


I will be learning Percentage in Term 3.

I need your help to interprete the following Mathematics question:

Abel, Bob, Conan, Dave and Elijah divided a certain number of marbles amongst themselves in the following way: Abel took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles, then Bob took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles. Conan, Dave and Elijah did the same. At least how many marbles were there in tbe beginning?


Please advise which interpretation is correct.


http://www.onsponge.com/forum/35-thinkingmathonsponge/3458-p5-maths-percentage.html


http://psle2010a.blogspot.com/2010/06/challenging.html#comments

TIA.

[tankee]

hi English Lesson


Thanks ! All these have been returned to my teachers :oops:

[CoffeeCat]

P5G:

Ms English Lessons,


I will be learning Percentage in Term 3.

I need your help to interprete the following Mathematics question:

Abel, Bob, Conan, Dave and Elijah divided a certain number of marbles amongst themselves in the following way: Abel took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles, then Bob took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles. Conan, Dave and Elijah did the same. At least how many marbles were there in tbe beginning?


Please advise which interpretation is correct.


http://www.onsponge.com/forum/35-thinkingmathonsponge/3458-p5-maths-percentage.html


http://psle2010a.blogspot.com/2010/06/challenging.html#comments

TIA.

You do not need an english specialist to answer interpretation of a maths question; it's like asking one to interpret a legal document = P.
But anyway today i found out your question is exactly the same as 2006 hci smops round 2 qns except for the names. Anyway my personal interpretation is the same as the hci's one which is also the same as uncle observer's.

[iamyoung]

Hi TAS,


Can I ask,

People like to go to ______ Ion Orchard.

Should I put 'the' in the blank, or just leave it ?
I understand that 'the' is used to specific locations.
However, I was told that for this question, we should leave blank.
But isn't Ion Orchard specific ?

Thank you.

[starlight1968sg]

I guess Ion Orchard is a name and thus may not be necessary to include the word "the".


It is just like "People like to go to Malaysia" and not "People like to go to the Malaysia".

[The Alternative Story]

iamyoung:

Hi TAS,


Can I ask,

People like to go to ______ Ion Orchard.

Should I put 'the' in the blank, or just leave it ?
I understand that 'the' is used to specific locations.
However, I was told that for this question, we should leave blank.
But isn't Ion Orchard specific ?

Thank you.

Hi iamyoung,

Starlight is right Ion Orchard is the name of a place, so there is no
need for an article (a, an, the).

This is because when you are given the name of the place, you have
already pointed out the specific shopping centre that you want to go to.

When do you need to use 'the'?

- the: to identify/pick out a specific member of a group so that
everyone involved knows that you are referring to that specific
member

Example:

- I want to go to the shopping centre that is opposite
Toa Payoh mrt station.

In this case, there are many shopping centres, but you are referring to
the specific one that is opposite Toa Payoh mrt station.
You are picking it out from a number of shopping centres, thus 'the'
is used.

However, for your example, the moment that is a name attached to
the shopping centre- Ion Orchard, there is no need to pick it out from
a number of shopping centres, as you have already identified it
by giving the name.

Hope this helps you:D

TAS

[pixiedust]

English Lessons, GREAT lessons ! I especially like Lesson 2 ! Thank you so much.


Looking forward to Lesson 3.

[cmm]

Great thread, English Lessons! :celebrate:

[English Lessons]

P5G:

Ms English Lessons,


I will be learning Percentage in Term 3.

I need your help to interprete the following Mathematics question:

Abel, Bob, Conan, Dave and Elijah divided a certain number of marbles amongst themselves in the following way: Abel took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles, then Bob took 1 marble and 20% of the remaining marbles. Conan, Dave and Elijah did the same. At least how many marbles were there in tbe beginning?


Please advise which interpretation is correct.


http://www.onsponge.com/forum/35-thinkingmathonsponge/3458-p5-maths-percentage.html


http://psle2010a.blogspot.com/2010/06/challenging.html#comments

TIA.

Hi,

The conjunctive adverb \"then\" in the sentence \"..., then Bob ...\" shows the sequence between the two clauses, ie after Abel has taken his share of marbles, Bob then took his. Therefore I would agree with the latter's interpretation, although I could not determine on the correctness of the answer given.

Hope this helps.

EL

[English Lessons]

Lesson 3: Difference between \"Between and Among\"


Basic rule:
Use Between with two things, distance, intervals, before each, and after difference.
Use Among with three or more things.

Example:
John is standing between Peter and Jane.
The distance between the two bus stops is 500m.
We will be at the school between 1 and 2 pm.
Insert a new line between each paragraph.
What's the difference between normal and express stream?
The rich man divided his money equally between his two children.
The rich man divided his money equally among his three children.

Exception:
You can use the word Between when you are referring to distinct, individual items even if there are more then two of them. On the other hand, use Among if you are referring to things collectively.

Example:
My son chose between RI, NUS High and River Valley High.
My son chose among the top secondary school.

Lastly, it is incorrect to say:
“There were between 10 to 15 people at the meeting.”

It should be:
“There were between 10 and 15 people at the meeting.”