Meaning of 'crop'

[joriens]

Test No. incompl/inter-6 "The Farmer and his Sons", question 10

Clearly their father had been a wise man because all the work the sons had done on the land ensured that they had the best ......... for years.

(a) gathering
(b) yielding
(c) crop
(d) production

Test No. incompl/inter-6 "The Farmer and his Sons", answer 10

Clearly their father had been a wise man because all the work the sons had done on the land ensured that they had the best crop for years.

Correct answer: (c) crop

Your answer was: incorrect
Clearly their father had been a wise man because all the work the sons had done on the land ensured that they had the best production for years.
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what does crop mean?

joriens

[Alan]

This means the collection of the fruit or grain.
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Christina328]

[Christina328]

[Alan]

Hi Christina328,

The word crop has to be used here because it refers to what the farmer's sons harvested after all their hard work. Production isn't clear because you would have to say what the production consisted of.

Alan
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English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Progressive Forms

[Haihao]

Hi,

Is it the 'icing on the cake' to use crops for 'for years'?

haihao

[Yankee]

.
Could you reword your question, Haihao? I don't understand what you're asking.
.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Haihao]

Hi Amy,

I am sorry for the confusion. What I wanted to ask was if crops would be better because it is followed by 'for years'.

haihao

[Yankee]

Thanks, Haihao

Yes, you can use 'crops' to talk about the same crop over many years and/or if the farmer grows a variety of different things. Saying "the best crop for years" could mean "better than anyone else's crop during a period of years.

'Crop for years' also could also have another, more informal meaning. In informal usage, "for years" is sometimes used instead of "in years" and if that were the intended meaning, then the sentence would refer to one single crop in one year that is better than any of the other crops in previous years.

Amy
_________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[AneliM]

HI :D ...actually my question is quite irrelevent here i'm afraid ...
>>> this story abou the the father and his sons is very familiar to me ...i've heard it as a child ( that wasn't so long ago ) and i've always thought it was a part of Bulgarian tales 'storage' ...
seeing that story posted here made me wonder ...it would be cool if Bulgarian stories are known by more and more ppl but it would be too cool to be true ...after all i could not be 100% sure of its origin ... :roll:

at least i would be grateful to know has anyone heard of this story before :?:

[Kabara]

Hey Anelim,
I'm the one, who heard that story before:)
I think it is a story, written by Jean de La Fontaine, but I'm not sure :S

[AneliM]

Hey Thanks for the replay. i can look through his works and see for sure...(i know it... i'll end up whole day reading fables even if i quickly find the one i'm looking for :) )

[Alfwm]

[Alan]

Hi Alfwm,

If you wanted to use a different word, 'yield' would be the one to choose. This is the noun from the verb 'yield' and yielding' is the present participle.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Passive Voice

[Alfwm]