Errors in the tests

[Yankee]

Shouldn't there be an article in front of a Noun?

There is a typo in sentence 1 in this test. The article 'a' needs to be added so that the sentence reads this way:

A(n) autobiography is a story where a person writes about themselves and their own life story.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Slava]

Many thanks, Amy.

http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii270/esl-test.php#one

Changed.

Slava

[Mister Micawber]

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I know the composer's intent, but I don't think there's enough context to warrant the validity of the distractor in THIS QUESTION.
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Mister Micawber]

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This one has two right answers: http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic22389.html#74119
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Slava]

Dear Charles,
please make for me the correct sentences (options, answers) for two tests:

I. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei098/esl-test.php#six

Do you want to watch ......... movie with me tonight?

(a) a
(b) an
(c) the

Correct answer: (a) a
Do you want to watch the movie with me tonight?

II. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii173/esl-test.php#eight

Her best friend ......... in that apartment building over there.

(a) live
(b) lives
(c) lived

Correct answer: (b) lives
Her best friend lives in that apartment building over there.

Many thanks
Slava

[Mister Micawber]

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I. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei098/esl-test.php#six

Do you want to watch ......... movie with me tonight?

(a) a
(b) an
(c) some

Correct answer: (a) a
Do you want to watch a movie with me tonight?

II. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ii173/esl-test.php#eight

Her best friend ......... in that apartment building over there.

(a) live
(b) lives
(c) living

Correct answer: (b) lives
Her best friend lives in that apartment building over there.
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Slava]

Charles,
please change the sentence, don't the options.
This test is about usage of articles in English.

I. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei098/esl-test.php#six

Do you want to watch ......... movie with me tonight?

(a) a
(b) an
(c) the

...............................

Thanks for last corrections.
Slava

[Mister Micawber]

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Some is considered by some grammarians as the indefinite plural article, Slava. However, since it is not my test:

I. http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei098/esl-test.php#six

Hello, my name is Bob! I haven't anything to do tonight, so if you're not busy, would you like to watch ......... movie or something with me?

(a) a
(b) an
(c) the
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Slava]

Many thanks, Charles.

PS Correct answer now:
Hello, my name is Bob! I haven't anything to do tonight, so if you're not busy, would you like to watch a movie or something with me?
Am I right?

Slava

[Mister Micawber]

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Yes, I think that will work, Slava. I don't think we can absolutely solve the a/the dual possibilities in this question, but at least now 'the' is a much less likely choice.
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_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Mister Micawber]

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Past perfect seems odd, or at best unnecessary, in this test question: http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic22514.html#74458 .

Simple past works fine here-- 'by the time I reached the bottom'.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Alan]

Hi,

I agree that the past simple would work as well but I can't see any objection to the past perfect either. I'm not sitting on the fence here because it depends how you interpret the sentence. You could regard the 'reaching' and the 'feeling' as happening together at the same time and in that case you would use past simple. On the other hand you could interpret it to mean that first you reached the bottom of the mountain and then you felt tired in the sense that you realised that you felt tired. That seems plausible because often if you are engaged in physical work you are not aware that you are tired and it's only when you stop that you realise you are. I'll come off the fence now and suggest the sentence is left as it is.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story New year resolutions

[Mister Micawber]

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I agree that a person could:

a-- "regard the 'reaching' and the 'feeling' as happening together at the same time (simple past)"

or

b-- "interpret it to mean that first you reached the bottom of the mountain and then you felt tired".

However, in the second case the 'reaching' precedes the 'tiredness', so the 'reaching' would be in the past perfect,not the 'tired feeling':

By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, I had felt extremely tired.

Not a good choice.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mr. Micawber

[Alan]

Isn't that precisely what I've just written: 'reach' past perfect', 'feel' past simple as in the correct answer.
Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story The Name of the Game

[Yankee]

I'm not on the fence with this one either. I agree with MM that the way the past perfect is used in the test sentence is odd.

The word 'by' and the phrase 'by the time' are both used to refer to something that happened before or not later than something else. So, "by the time I reached the bottom" can only mean "not later than the time at which I reached the bottom". Attempting to use 'by the time' mean the same thing as 'after' is odd, and certainly wouldn't be typical in my book.

A typical "by the time" sentence would use the past perfect this way:
By the time I called the fire department, the fire had spread to the house next door.

In other words, the fire spread before I called the fire department.

I think everyone will agree that it would be strange to say this:
X By the time I had called the fire department, the fire spread to the house next door. X

I'd say the past perfect does not work well with "feel tired" because this refers to an on-going state rather than a completed action. However, the past perfect would work with "begin to feel tired", for example:
By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, I had begun to feel tired.

If you want to indicate that a feeling of extreme tiredness arrived only after you reached the bottom of the mountain, then I would suggest actually using the word 'after' rather than trying to use a phrase that typically means 'before':

After I had reached the bottom of the mountain, I felt extremely tired.

That's how I see things.
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_________________
Amy
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ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English