Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: CAE Test

I made this small test for you:
Choose the correct word (s) to complete each sentence.
1. Hi, Sue. .................... a good time?
A. Do you have B. Are you having C. You are having D. You have
2. .................... the question?
A. Do you understand B. You understand
C. Are you understanding
3. I'm sorry I .................... able to come to the meeting. I had another
commitment.
A. didn't be B. wasn't C. was
4. Libby took another biscuit while her mother .................... .
A. wasn't looking B. hadn't looked C. didn't look
5. Tom can't write. .................... his arm.
A. He's broken B. He broke C. He was breaking
6. It's only the second time she .................... a horse. She's very good at
it.
A. rode B. rides C. has ridden
7. a: "Mmm. Something smells good."
b: "I .................... cakes all morning."
A. 've made B. 'm making C. 've been making
8. When is the rain going to stop? It's been four months .................... some
sunshine.
A. that we don't have B. that we haven't had
C. that we didn't have D. since we had
9. We .................... chocolate when we were children.
A. haven't been eating B. didn't eat C. haven't eaten
10. a: "Maya's in hospital."
b: 'Is she? Oh, I .................... her some flowers."
A. 'm sending B. 'll send C. 'm going to send
------END----
I will try to put up more tests on the page later taday at
http://plainenglish.alldiscussion.net
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 A. He's broken B. He broke C. He was breaking
"He was breaking his arm" potrebbe andare anche bene.
:-D
Ciao,
Enrico il Pentolaio.
-- 
She's not worth it. Or is she?

 A. 'm sending B. 'll send C. 'm going to send
B
Kiuhnm

 Dunno...
I'd say B.

 I'd say B.
I'm still dubious :-(
Kiuhnm

 
Well, this does not say anything. If you would have checked some of the 
results, you'd know that google returns also sentences without the 
ending question mark.

 ending question mark.
1) I checked SOME of them.
2) I didn't find the option "leave out the sentences without '?'".
3) My intention wasn't to give you a proof but to save me some typing.
I found *many* instances of similar sentences in the novels I read. As I 
already said, it depends on our idea of correctness.
Kiuhnm

 Kiuhnm
bye
Gennaro 

 Same as above, why B?
passante: fasdfsdk ipufidfs ojo otuoty?
amico A guarda l'amico B con aria stupita e dice:"you understand the 
question?"
amico B: yes (e rivolgendosi al passante) that's correct, it's five o'clock
passante: dgsdfgfjkoasdlad
amico B: you're quite welcome


 Saying a stupid thing a second time doesn't make it any better.
Great... a diplomatic oracle!
Kiuhnm

 A. 'm sending B. 'll send C. 'm going to send
 B


Both answers given so far for this Q are wrong 

 , it depends on our idea of correctness.
To me, correctness means that the rules are strictly followed. That does 
not mean that an incorrect form is not used, nor accepted.
It's like if in Italian you use "gli" as referred to a female: it's 
basically wrong, but very often used and generally accepted.
Cheers.
/G

 passante: fasdfsdk ipufidfs ojo otuoty?
I see, really informal. :)

 is not a proper way of writing.
Ma quella sarebbe comunque la B, non la C :-)
-- 
Laz || 
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
 ||
|| 
http://www.josswhedon.it
 || 
http://www.miltoncaniff.net
 ||
"Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. 
And don't blink. Good Luck." 

 basically wrong, but very often used and generally accepted.
Generally accepted? I don't really think so.
A more appropriate example is the use of "gli" in place of "loro". For 
instance "Gli dissi" instead of "Dissi loro".
Is "I'm better than him" acceptable? Or should we always say "I'm better 
than he (is)"? According to the Oxford Dictionary they are both 
acceptable in the so-called Standard English.
Kiuhnm

 are having a good time?"
Yes, (I think) it is, but let's go back to the sentence:
"Hi, Sue. .................... a good time?"
Does it look like formal writing to you?
Kiuhnm


Still B ; in fact , the presumption of the sentence is that she *is* riding 
as we speak , though it might also be the recent past that's being referred 
to .
Mike 

 Ma quella sarebbe comunque la B, non la C :-)
Ops.


 instance "Gli dissi" instead of "Dissi loro".
Hmm... ir sounds awful to me, though most people use it nonchalantly.


 Ok, I see (*), but what if she is riding the horse as we speak?
La forma corretta quando si parla al presente è:
It's the [n-th] time [subject] + [verbo al present perfect]
Potrà sembrare strano, ma si dice così.


 Potrà sembrare strano, ma si dice così.
Gotcha.
Kiuhnm

Kiuhnm wrote:

Suvvia, mi pare che state menando il can per l'aia. Si sa che gli
esaminatori dei test vogliono le risposte secondo le regole da libro di
grammatica.
-- 

 grammatica.
Which book and which rules?
http://www.lang.unsw.edu.au/mep/level4_cambridge.htm
"The Cambridge Certificate of Advanced English (CAE)
This is an advanced level exam and is aimed at a level between the First 
Certificate and the Proficiency Examination. It offers a high level 
final qualification in the language to those wishing to use English in 
their jobs. The emphasis is on real world tasks.
Students need to be able to use the language fluently in BOTH FORMAL AND 
INFORMAL CONTEXTS."
Kiuhnm

 Which book and which rules?
Quelli per la preparazione del CAE.
-- 

 I made this small test for you:
E le soluzioni? :)
-- 

 A. 'm sending B. 'll send C. 'm going to send
Credo che la risposta corretta per il CAE sia la B, ma anche la C non mi
suona tanto male.
p.s. Are we talking aboute the famous bee? ;DDD

:
"questions through intonation
In spoken English, we can sometimes ask questions by using a rising 
intonation and no subject-verb inversion when we think we have 
understood something but want to make sure or find it surprising. Tag 
questions have a similar purpose. Compare the following:
This is your car? I didn't know you were going to buy a new car. Where 
did you get the money from?
You're coming to lunch tomorrow, aren't you? And Tom is coming with you?
Note that this word order is not possible after question words such as 
who/what/which."
Kiuhnm

 suona tanto male.
It depends. The answer C implies that you made the decision before 
hearing of Maya's plight.
Kiuhnm

 userebbero la B, sbaglio?
The rule I know says that when what happened has manifest consequences 
in the present, one must use the present perfect. I don't remember any 
US/UK distinction, but I mainly read/watch/study American English so I'm 
not so sure.
Kiuhnm

 You haven't really read them, have you?
Li ho letti, e ho passato l'esame con un buon voto, anche se ormai parliamo
di qualche anno fa.

 di qualche anno fa.
Congrats! I still have a long way to go. Anyway, I don't think I will 
ever take those exams (although I do CAE/CPE exercises every day).
Kiuhnm

 ever take those exams (although I do CAE/CPE exercises every day).
So what exam would you consider taking, if you were ever to take one?
Cheers,


 So what exam would you consider taking, if you were ever to take one?
CAE or CPE ;-)
Kiuhnm

 suona tanto male.
Kiuhnm ha ragione. Se hai già o appena deciso, puoi dire "I'm going to 
send".

 send".
Puoi avere mentalmente "appena deciso" un decimo di secondo prima di dirlo,
però, non necessariamente "before hearing of Maya's plight". O no? :)
-- 

 però, non necessariamente "before hearing of Maya's plight". O no? :)
Già