Re: Some Qs for you to solve wise folks

Posted by Smokey Stover on December 06, 2003

In Reply to: Some Qs for you to solve wise folks posted by sphinx on December 06, 2003

: 1.
: M:Do you like a cup of wine?
: W:Would I ever?
: (Will the women take the cup of wine? What does 'ever' mean here and is there any other ways in which 'ever' is used like this?)

: 2.Ba Jin live by example. He is one of the few writers in China who has never lived on government pay, saying he didn't want to earn fame or money from his books. "I'm like a silkworm," he once said. "As long as I have leaves of mulberry to eat, I must produce silk to make the world warmer."
: (live by example?)

: 3.Westlife set a new world record by getting five number ones in a row in the UK charts, better than Beatles.
: (What are five number ones?)

: 4.Crowds protested against the false general election result and official curruption, and then cheered as their 75-year-old Georgian president was forced to resign. "These political troubles could not have ended bloodlessly and I would have had to exercise my power," Shevardnadze said. "I believe I must resign for my people."
: (It is part of a news report with the title 'People Power in Georgia'. Do you know how is 'people power'?

: And in the passage, Shevardnadze used subjunctive mood, which really confused me. Could you retell his words in indicative/ordinary mood?)

: 5.This law is part of a bigger referendum law that could see votes held on other major policies.
: (What kind of votes can be 'held'?)

: Greatly thank you!

In answer to no. 2, I disagree slighty with the estimable ESC. I don't think Ba Jin is talking about living by example. I think he is saying that a writer must write, just as a silkworm must eat mulberry leaves.
In regard to no. 4, what subjunctive. Shevardnadze used the conditional. His words cannot be translated to the indicative and mean the same thing. The subjunctive would (conditional) have required him to use an additional clause, such as, "Had I decided to hold my post at any cost, . . ." Could and would often indicate the conditional mood (one of the modes of the verb), and sometimes are in clauses associated with a subjunctive clause, often associated with an "If" or an inverted word order, like, "Had I not ...." The subjunctive is used for conditions contrary to fact. A conditional may imply a subjunctive somewhere just around the corner, but is not by itself considered a subjunctive. And since my knowledge of grammar is slightly greater than that of a squid, take this as worth exactly what you paid for it.
In regard to no. 5, "hold" is one of the things you can do to elections or votes. You can also "take" a vote or "have" an election. Votes can be held when the word is used as a synonym for an election or a formal or informal indication of the voters' choice in some matter. You and I can vote, meaning cast our ballots, and the organization to which we belong (like the county or the city or the country) can "hold a vote" (or election) through some agency assigned this duty. Or the science club can hold a vote just by having someone say, "Everybody in favor raise your hand," or "Does anyone object?" The short of it is that vote can mean more than one thing. It can mean an individual ballot or expression of choice, and it can mean an election or the equivalent.