Noise was used with the sense of rumours

[lost_soul]

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #4 "How Mary fell in love", question 4

As soon as she had done that, all hell was let loose.

(a) there was loud hum
(b) there was sound of thunder
(c) there was a huge noise
(d) there was an enormous flame

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #4 "How Mary fell in love", answer 4

As soon as she had done that, there was a huge noise.

Correct answer: (c) there was a huge noise

Your answer was: ?
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"noise" was used with the sense of "rumours" here, wasn't it ???

[Alan]

Hi,

No, the huge noise refers to the noise made by the sound of the CD.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Briefly

[Haihao]

'All hell let loose' originally means 'a mess', 'chaos' or something like that. Am I right? So, can I understand that 'a huge noise' is correct because of the context?

haihao

[Yankee]

Hi Haihao

This particular test is in the form of a short story. So, the sentence prior to this test question is part of the context. And the sentence before this one was:
"She put her favourite CD on and turned it up full blast."

ESL Test How Mary fell in love, Question 4
http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ae004/esl-test.php#four

If you turn up a stereo "full blast" that means you have made the sound as loud as possible. And on most stereos that's so unbelievably loud that it seems all hell has broken loose.

Amy
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Haihao]

Hi Amy,

Thank you all the time. Your explanation always helps me lift those confusions off my chest thoroughly.
By the way, I'd like to ask you another question if I may.
How can I understand the idiom 'It is a long lane that has no turning' by its literal meaning and make it into the meaning somewhere about 'there will be a chance'?

haihao

[Yankee]

Hi Haihao

This is neither an idiom nor a well-known saying -- at least not in the US. I had to research it on Google. It appears to be a quote from something written by an English satirist named John Wolcot (pen name: Peter Pindar):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wolcot

Here is the full quote:

“Hope peeps from a cloud on our squad,
Whose beams have been long in deep mourning;
’Tis a lane, let me tell you, my lad,
Very long that has never a turning.”

- Peter Pindar: Great Cry and Little Wool, epist. 1.

And the meaning: Every calamity has an ending.
Bartleby

I think that you should simply imagine a road. All roads have turns along the way. It would be a very long road indeed that has no place to turn at all. In other words, there will always be a chance to turn somewhere on every road.

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Fan of Arabian horses]

[Yankee]

Hi Michael

I think it means that there are no roads which are "unbroken" by intersections (turns). Therefore, it is always possible to "break" (end) the straight line (road) somewhere. A straight line that can never be "broken" has no end would therefore be an infinitely long line.

Michael, I'm simply trying to interpret what I understand. I didn't write the sentence and, as I said, I don't consider it to be either an idiom or a well-known saying. To me, it is simply a quote. What do you understand from the quote?

Amy
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Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Fan of Arabian horses]

Hi Amy!

Your latter post sounds a bit angry! Sorry I didn?t intend to annoy you, just your two explanations sound a bit opposite.

I mean a long lane that has no turning might be a long One-Way-Street without any exit. So that you must follow it till the end.

It?s just my poor understanding of that.

Michael

[Conchita]

[Conchita]

[Yankee]

Hi Michael

I'm not angry, just a bit frustrated because I don't know how to explain the theoretical idea of an "infinitely long road" better than I have.

infinite = never-ending/without end

A road that has no end at all (infinite) would be an "extremely long" (infinite) road. Fortunately, there are no never-ending roads. All roads have ends and/or junctions where you can turn. If you turn off one road onto another, then you have finished traveling on the first road and are on a new road. The first road has ended for you.

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Alan]

Hi,

Let me throw in another phrase suggesting a similar thought: Every cloud has a silver lining.

A
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Words, words, words...

[Fan of Arabian horses]

Hi Amy!

What makes you think that the long lane that don?t have any turning/curve/bend is an infinite/endless one? I think, you just could see one if mankind would erect a lane along the equator. There wouldn?t be any turning or curve or bend. According to the geometrie the only infinite/endless lines/lanes is a circle or ellipse.

Hope that is a bit of Alan?s silver lining of every cloud!

Michael

[Yankee]

Hi Michael

That is simply my interpretation of what the author of the quote meant when he wrote "has no turning". And that was why I compared it to an unbroken straight line.