English questions

Posted by R. Berg on June 19, 2003

In Reply to: Could you help me on this English questions? posted by sphinx on June 19, 2003

: 1.The Great Lawn is Central Park's outdoor spot for concerts. The carpet of green grass is the place to be on summer evenings to enjoy outdoor dinners and free performances.

: (Could you explain, in the sentence "The carpet of green grass...", the carpet of green grass is for who to be on summer evenings> I think it lacks of a object.)

: 2.Fuel cells pollutr much less than traditional power sources. They produce little more than water as a by-product.

: (What does "little more than" mean? and what is the "by-product" that is in this sentence? water?)

: 3.Eskimos make their clothes from skins of animals.

: (i think ot should be "make their clothes of", which means the making without changing natural properties.)

: 4.One of the most popular programmes on televison was sport and an interesting result of the televison was the increased attendance at the actuall events. How far this was due to a growth interest in the gameand how far out of the people's desire to apperea on the screen is not clear.

: (Could you explain it?)

: Thanks in advance!

1. The carpet of green grass is the place for anyone to be. "To be" doesn't need an object in this sentence. The writer isn't saying that the grass is the place to be rich or to be thoughtful or to be quiet or anything like that. The grass is the place to BE, the location to exist in, as if the writer had said "I now describe the grass. Be there."

2. "Little" in this sentence means "not much." Fuel cells produce a by-product that is not much more than water. Their by-product is mostly water.

3. No, "from" is all right. "From" and "of" aren't so different as all that, and anyway, Eskimos might scrape off the hair and do other things to process the skins.

4. (Probably "a growth OF interest in the game.") Many people watched sporting events
on television. As a result, more people went to the actual games or races than had gone to them before they were broadcast. It is not known whether this increase in attendance occurred because seeing sports on TV made people more interested in sports or because people went to sporting events hoping that they themselves, as members of the crowd, would be shown on TV.

• English questions sphinx 06/20/03
  • English questions R. Berg 06/20/03