thrown in prision vs. thrown in the prison

[Lost_Soul]

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #42 "American Slang Words (16)", question 4

The armed robbers were quickly apprehended and then thrown in the slammer.

(a) prison
(b) cold
(c) work camp

English Idioms and Expressions, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #42 "American Slang Words (16)", answer 4

The armed robbers were quickly apprehended and then thrown in the prison.

Correct answer: (a) prison

Your answer was: correct
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What is a better way to put it, considering the context of the sentence:
a. He was thrown in prison
b. He was thrown in the prison ?

Many thanks !
Alex.
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Alex

How much upchuck would a woodchuck upchuck if a woodchuck could upchuck ?

(a guy from Russia)

[Yankee]

Hi Alex

If the reference is not to a particular prison, you would omit the word 'the' as follows:

- thrown in prison
- thrown in jail

BUT if you use 'slammer', you need to include the word 'the'.

(AmE)
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, and native speaker of American English

[Lost_Soul]

[Yankee]

Hi Alex

Yes, the way the test question is currently programmed is a bit misleading. That problem could possibly be solved this way, for example:

[Torsten]

We've removed the article and so the sentence will soon read "... in prison".
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Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary