From ETS TOEFL Practice Tests Vol.1, Test B

[raghuveer_v]

You know where this question is from from the title of this post so,

Erin , the question of using the article "the" comes again.

Here is the question.

10. The air inside a house or office building often has higher concentrations of contaminants ----- heavily polluted outside air.

(A) than does
(B) more
(C) as some that are
(D) like of

Now, the answer is (A).
I agree that B,C and D are wrong.

But since we are talking about air in a specific region (heavily polluted outside air) and not air in general, I think we should use
"....than does the heavily polluted outside air"

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Edited by - raghuveer_v on 2002 Jun 12 11:17:32

[Erin]

Hi there, Raghuveer. First, I just want to say that I've been reading (and enjoying) all your posts, even if I haven't found the time to respond to all of them. It sometimes happens that what you say sparks my mind, and I want to reflect on what I would say to you in response. This process sometimes lasts up to two days. For example, I've been thinking a lot about what you said about copies of the GRE Big Book being sold at roadside stalls and about the cost of taking the GRE in India. In a word, many of your comments are not simple ones, and evoke a wide range of emotions.

Okay, that said, let's get on to this question. First, though, we must accept one thing: ETS does not make mistakes. Well, almost never. When they do, they pull the question from the test pool and re-evaluate it. However, we can be sure that all published material has undergone just about every test and review possible and is solid (correct).

Furthermore, ETS avoids controversial grammar points, especially in the TOEFL, so we can be sure that whatever appears on the TOEFL is widely agreed upon by most or all language teachers (in terms of rules, not in terms of test construct).

To be honest, I think we're in a bit of a gray area here. I would say that it's arguable whether "outside air" is so specific as to warrant the use of "the." On the one hand, we could argue that NOT using "the" would cause us to think about ALL the outside air. On the other hand, I believe that we could also convincingly argue that using "the" would cause us to think of the outside air as a specific noun, i.e., most likely one contrasted with another noun.

However, I'd have to side with ETS on this one, and here's why: This whole question comes down to the choice of a single word, a in the phrase The air inside a house or office building... The choice of the article "a" tells us that we are talking about "non-specific" houses and apartment buildings, i.e., that we are talking about ALL houses and apartment buildings in general.

I believe this discussion might be a bit esoteric, so let me bring it back down to Earth . Part of our confusion in this sentences stems from the use of a non-count noun, "air." Let's change this noun to a count noun and see what happens:

<ul>[*]The plants inside a house or office building often have higher concentrations of contaminants than do outdoor plants.
In this sentence, we are clearly referring to ALL plants.

[*]The plants inside a house or office building often have higher concentrations of contaminants than do the outdoor plants.
Here we are talking about a specific group of outdoor plants, i.e. the ones that are outside whatever house or building we are talking about.[/list]
Finally, after writing all this stuff, I'm starting to think that the more debatable question is whether we should use "the" with the first noun, this one:

The air inside a house...

But, again, I'd have to side with ETS (in spite of all my complaints about ETS, their policies, test contructs, etc., I do think they write good questions!).

I'd like to hear what you have to say, Raghuveer!

BTW, your post was a very nice looking one... Is web design your new hobby??

Erin

TestMagic help you before your test?

Please remember to post after your test.

Please? Please?

[anand_mvs]

Hi there

I have read the question. In my opinion,Here there is no question of any particular air ( like air outside ). Here a comparision is being made between two different things. If we make the characteristics of the air outside the house fixed like by saying ' air from the factory chimney' etc, then there is a need for THE. Hence the sentence with given option is correct.

Example:
1)The Mango is more sweet than the Orange.(particular comparision, only one mango and orange)
2)The Mango tastes more sweet than does Orange.( Comparision between mango and orange in general, nothing in particular)

The second example is more relevent to the given question. This is a crude explanation and is open to question. It may also be wrong. Please reconfirm and reply me.

anand

[Erin]

Hi there

I have read the question. In my opinion,Here there is no question of any particular air ( like air outside ). Here a comparision is being made between two different things. If we make the characteristics of the air outside the house fixed like by saying ' air from the factory chimney' etc, then there is a need for THE. Hence the sentence with given option is correct.

Example:
1)The Mango is more sweet than the Orange.(particular comparision, only one mango and orange)
2)The Mango tastes more sweet than does Orange.( Comparision between mango and orange in general, nothing in particular)

The second example is more relevent to the given question. This is a crude explanation and is open to question. It may also be wrong. Please reconfirm and reply me.

anand

I think your explanation is a good one, and I agree with you! Thanks for your input, anand!

Erin

[raghuveer_v]

Hi there, Raghuveer. First, I just want to say that I've been reading (and enjoying) all your posts, even if I haven't found the time to respond to all of them. It sometimes happens that what you say sparks my mind, and I want to reflect on what I would say to you in response. This process sometimes lasts up to two days. For example, I've been thinking a lot about what you said about copies of the GRE Big Book being sold at roadside stalls and about the cost of taking the GRE in India. In a word, many of your comments are not simple ones, and evoke a wide range of emotions.

Thank you ,Erin !

I am eager to hear what you have to say. And would definitley wait...

Okay, that said, let's get on to this question. First, though, we must accept one thing: ETS does not make mistakes. Well, almost never. When they do, they pull the question from the test pool and re-evaluate it. However, we can be sure that all published material has undergone just about every test and review possible and is solid (correct).

Furthermore, ETS avoids controversial grammar points, especially in the TOEFL, so we can be sure that whatever appears on the TOEFL is widely agreed upon by most or all language teachers (in terms of rules, not in terms of test construct).

Yeah, I agree that almost never makes mistakes.

But, one gets so excited, when he thinks he has found a mistake in something supposed to be perfectly faultless, that ...

To be honest, I think we're in a bit of a gray area here. I would say that it's arguable whether "outside air" is so specific as to warrant the use of "the." On the one hand, we could argue that NOT using "the" would cause us to think about ALL the outside air. On the other hand, I believe that we could also convincingly argue that using "the" would cause us to think of the outside air as a specific noun, i.e., most likely one contrasted with another noun.

However, I'd have to side with ETS on this one, and here's why: This whole question comes down to the choice of a single word, a in the phrase The air inside a house or office building... The choice of the article "a" tells us that we are talking about "non-specific" houses and apartment buildings, i.e., that we are talking about ALL houses and apartment buildings in general.

I believe this discussion might be a bit esoteric, so let me bring it back down to Earth . Part of our confusion in this sentences stems from the use of a non-count noun, "air." Let's change this noun to a count noun and see what happens:

<ul>[*]The plants inside a house or office building often have higher concentrations of contaminants than do outdoor plants.
In this sentence, we are clearly referring to ALL plants.

[*]The plants inside a house or office building often have higher concentrations of contaminants than do the outdoor plants.
Here we are talking about a specific group of outdoor plants, i.e. the ones that are outside whatever house or building we are talking about.[/list]

Yeah, This makes perfect sense. And, Thankyou for showing me a method of evaluating and analyzing scentences buy substituting one noun with another. That surely helps!

Finally, after writing all this stuff, I'm starting to think that the more debatable question is whether we should use "the" with the first noun, this one:

The air inside a house...

But, again, I'd have to side with ETS (in spite of all my complaints about ETS, their policies, test contructs, etc., I do think they write good questions!).

I'd like to hear what you have to say, Raghuveer!

That's the point which I was thinking about too ...

I thought, How can we compare two things and use "the" before only one of them.

BTW, your post was a very nice looking one... Is web design your new hobby??

Erin

Web designing has been one of my interests since long (correct usage?) . I am just a beginner, though. It's only that I am unable to pursue my interest, because I am not presently at my home. So, I am finding alternative ways of enjoying it.

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[raghuveer_v]

And,...

Hi there

I have read the question. In my opinion,Here there is no question of any particular air ( like air outside ). Here a comparision is being made between two different things. If we make the characteristics of the air outside the house fixed like by saying ' air from the factory chimney' etc, then there is a need for THE. Hence the sentence with given option is correct.

Example:
1)The Mango is more sweet than the Orange.(particular comparision, only one mango and orange)
2)The Mango tastes more sweet than does Orange.( Comparision between mango and orange in general, nothing in particular)

The second example is more relevent to the given question. This is a crude explanation and is open to question. It may also be wrong. Please reconfirm and reply me.

anand

Thank you!

Erin and other TestMagicians-in-training, meet my friend Anand . He's going to write the GRE and TOEFL shortly.

Thank you once again Anand. Hope to see you around frequently.

<table style="background-color:white;color:Gray;font-face:arial;font-size:10px;font-weight:bold;border:1px solid black;vertical-align:middle;cursor:hand;" onMouseOver="this.style.backgroundColor='silver';" onMouseOut="this.style.backgroundColor='white';" cellpadding=1 cellspacing=1><tr><td> Raghuveer</td></tr></table>