Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Best collocation

Here's the exercise:
"Choose the best collocation.
to .............. a file
browse, be connected, enter, access
compose, attach, go, visit, select"
The answer is "attach".
What's wrong with "access" and "select"?
Kiuhnm

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Not only are 'access' and 'select' perfectly fine choices, so is 'browse' if
the file is physical rather than electronic. I imagine you could also
compose a file that would contain a list of valid virtual addresses.

On Apr 23, 11:25 am, "Tony the Ice Man"
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I agree.  The reason why I think "attach" is the correct answer is due
to the fact that  "collocation" has to do with the most frequent
juxtaposition of words, or at least that's the way I understand it.
So, even though it's correct to say "select a file", , "browse a
file", etc.  the expression "attach a file" is more common than the
other two.  In other words, the exercise is not asking what is
correct, but what is more common which is what "collocation" is about.
gfc

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I would propose a different assessment of the reason why it is correct: The 
authors did sloppy work in delimiting the correct answer. I don't know why 
one would assume that "to attach a file" is more common than "to select a 
file". It certainly isn't something so clearly right that it should be a 
major criterium for the selection of the right answer. A Google search 
returns 125K for "to attach a file" and 85.3K for "to select a file". Even 
with this imperfect method of gauging usage, that ratio isn't convincing.

 - Show quoted text -
Yes, I agree on that too.  125 vs 85.3 is not that much of a
difference.  Usually, when we talk about collocation, we refer to two
(or perhaps more than two?) words that are VERY commonly paired up.
So, for example "terribly sorry" is much more common than "terribly
angry" and if you had the two in a collocation exercise, the choice
would be clear.  I agree with you that "attach a file" does not stand
out as a choice as much as it should considering that this is a
collocation exercise.  However, that would be my answer if I were to
do the exercise.
gfc

 do the exercise.
Whereas I more often select a file than attach a file. In fact, I have to
select a file before I can attach it. Perhaps the authors spend their days
more with email than other computer-related tasks. The bottom line for me is
that I would chastise them for creating that exercise, and if they persisted
in making such poor choices, I'd fire them.

 collocation exercise.
In this case I cannot rationally choose between "browse", "access", 
"attach" and "select". If anything, I would discard the final two as they 
are (I expect) common only in an IT context. The first two would have made 
perfect sense in an office 50 years ago (and would still do so today, given 
the progress we've made with the paperless office!!). So I'd plump for 
"browse" since I'd expect that to be more common than "access". Throw 
"fetch" into the mix and I'll change my mind :-)
Bottom line: as a question, it stinks!
Antonio

 "I bit portano i caratteri. I caratteri le parole. Le parole, l'anima."
www.6502.4000.it
What???????
Why don't you write it in Italian because I don't understand what you
are trying to say in English.  Did you perhaps mean "stop playing"?
"stop to play" means something else.
gfc