Jan 18, 2006 real TOEFL TEST

[xizzhu]

36. Madder plants, which comprise a very large family of mostly tropical trees, shrubs, and herbal, include coffee and gardenia.



i understand that "herbal/adj." is wrong and "herbal" should change into "herbs", which is parallel to "trees" and "shurbs".

what is really bothering me is how come "mostly" is not wrong !!

i checked both MW and LONGMAN, which say "mostly = mainly".

Whatever, i always believe "be mostly tropical trees" or "be mainly tropical trees" is correct. i cannot figure out how come "a family of mostly tropical trees" is not wrong!!

thanks in advance

[wasleys]

Originally Posted by xizzhu

36. Madder plants, which comprise a very large family of mostly tropical trees, shrubs, and herbal, include coffee and gardenia.

i understand that "herbal/adj." is wrong and "herbal" should change into "herbs", which is parallel to "trees" and "shurbs". what is really bothering me is how come "mostly" is not wrong ! i checked both MW and LONGMAN, which say "mostly = mainly".

Whatever, i always believe "be mostly tropical trees" or "be mainly tropical trees" is correct. i cannot figure out how come "a family of mostly tropical trees" is not wrong!

xizzhu,

I don't understand your question. Can you explain in more detail?

Michael

[xizzhu]

Originally Posted by wasleys

xizzhu,

I don't understand your question. Can you explain in more detail?

Michael

my questions are:
1. why is the word "mostly" correct in this sentence?

2. which word is modified by "mostly"?

3. in the position of "mostly", it seems to modify "tropical"; but if it were ture, how could i understand the meaning of "mostly tropical"? i think that "mostly tropical" is illogical and "mostly tropical" makes no sense. in other words, we can not say: too tropical

[wasleys]

Originally Posted by xizzhu

1. why is the word "mostly" correct in this sentence?

2. which word is modified by "mostly"?

3. in the position of "mostly", it seems to modify "tropical"; but if it were ture, how could i understand the meaning of "mostly tropical"? i think that "mostly tropical" is illogical and "mostly tropical" makes no sense. in other words, we can not say: too tropical

xizzhu,

I'm not a grammarian, just a person who speaks the language, so these comments refer to common usage rather than rules of grammar.

In terms of use I think either mostly or mainly could be used. Both = the majority of. I think perhaps mostly is stronger than mainly. I suspect I would have used mainly in this case, but that is a question of style.

As to meaning it means 'most of the trees in the family are tropical trees'.

Best I can do. You need a grammarian for a full answer, but as no one else has come along you'll have to make do with my thoughts for the time being.

Michael

[xizzhu]

Originally Posted by wasleys

xizzhu,

I'm not a grammarian, just a person who speaks the language, so these comments refer to common usage rather than rules of grammar.

In terms of use I think either mostly or mainly could be used. Both = the majority of. I think perhaps mostly is stronger than mainly. I suspect I would have used mainly in this case, but that is a question of style.

As to meaning it means 'most of the trees in the family are tropical trees'.

Best I can do. You need a grammarian for a full answer, but as no one else has come along you'll have to make do with my thoughts for the time being.

Michael

thanks!

[xizzhu]

Originally Posted by wasleys

xizzhu,

I'm not a grammarian, just a person who speaks the language, so these comments refer to common usage rather than rules of grammar.

In terms of use I think either mostly or mainly could be used. Both = the majority of. I think perhaps mostly is stronger than mainly. I suspect I would have used mainly in this case, but that is a question of style.

As to meaning it means 'most of the trees in the family are tropical trees'.

Best I can do. You need a grammarian for a full answer, but as no one else has come along you'll have to make do with my thoughts for the time being.

Michael

is the following statment correct?

A very large family of mostly tropical trees = A very large family of what is mostly tropical trees or = A very large family of what composes mostly tropical trees.

[wasleys]

Originally Posted by xizzhu

is the following statment correct?

A very large family of mostly tropical trees = A very large family of what is mostly tropical trees or = A very large family of what composes mostly tropical trees.

xizzhu,

I would suggest the following:

'A very large family of mostly tropical trees' would be typical use.

'A very large family of what is mostly tropical trees' means the same thing, but should be are not is and what are is not really needed.

'A very large family of what composes mostly tropical trees' does not mean the same. It says the trees are composed of the family. It should be 'A very large family composed of mostly tropical trees'.

Michael

[xizzhu]

Originally Posted by wasleys

xizzhu,

I would suggest the following:

'A very large family of mostly tropical trees' would be typical use.

'A very large family of what is mostly tropical trees' means the same thing, but should be are not is and what are is not really needed.

'A very large family of what composes mostly tropical trees' does not mean the same. It says the trees are composed of the family. It should be 'A very large family composed of mostly tropical trees'.

Michael

i wrote those because i'm looking for what is modified by "mostly". i don't believe that "mostly" modifies "tropical".

Originally Posted by wasleys

xizzhu,

I would suggest the following:

'A very large family of mostly tropical trees' would be typical use.

'A very large family of what is mostly tropical trees' means the same thing, but should be are not is and what are is not really needed.

'A very large family of what composes mostly tropical trees' does not mean the same. It says the trees are composed of the family. It should be 'A very large family composed of mostly tropical trees'.

Michael

yes, it should be "what are"

however, i wrote those because i was trying to find what is being modified by "mostly"; and i don't believe that 'mostly" modifies "tropical". but there must be a work modified by "mostly".

[matbocau194]

Hi xizzhu,

In my opinion, "mostly" here modifies "trees", not "tropical" (And "trees" in this sentence are "tropical trees").

"Mostly" means "in most cases" or "most of the time" and it's an adv. Sometimes, a noun can be modified by an adv. Ex: She's a really mother.

Here are examples I found in Longman Dictionary:
"Mostly, he travels by car"
"The room was full of sports people, mostly footballers"

[dewi]

hi xizzhu,
i agree with matbocau194 that "mostly" in the sentence modifies "trees"(noun), not "tropical"(adjective), coz the word "tropical" is also a modifier that modifies "trees".

it means "almost all of tropical trees"