Expression: That is too much

[udo vollrath]

Test No. errors/advan-8 "Admire his Achievement", question 6

It's a very rare case indeed if a serious earthquake takes place in that country.

(a) case
(b) if
(c) serious
(d) takes place

Test No. errors/advan-8 "Admire his Achievement", answer 6

It's a very rare occurrence indeed if a serious earthquake takes place in that country.

Correct entry: occurrence
The error was: (a) case

You have not found the error.
It's a very rare case indeed that a serious earthquake takes place in that country.
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It's a very rare occurrence indeed IF (????) a serious earthquake takes place in that country

I would have expected a THAT
udo vollrath

[Alan]

That is asking too much!
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Too Many Words

[nessie]

How about "case" here? why is it wrong?

[nessie]

Could any body please answer my question?
Thank you in advance.

[Alan]

Hi,

The statement is about something happening (occurrence) and not an example (case).

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story If you vote

[nessie]

But "case" doesn't just mean "example", it also means "situation", and so I think it it quite all right to use "case" here with that meaning.

[Alan]

Hi Nessie,

Let's please not argue about this! The error tests are the most difficult to create because of the choice of the exact word in the tester's mind but I believe that 'occurrence' suggesting what has happened/what will happen is best suited here.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Saying It Twice

[Yankee]

Hi Nessie

I agree with Alan that occurrence is better. I think it is more appropriate because the sentence refers to the possibility of an unexpected event (earthquake) happening/taking place.

Maybe looking at the definitions of occur and occurrence will help:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=54863&dict=CALD
.
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Amy
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ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English