3 grammar sentences

[baovan]

Hi everyone,
I have the following grammar sentences:
1/ The prices at chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as those at discount stores.
2/ As every other nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard.
3/ Until recently, women were forbidden by law from owning property.


por favor, el señor help me to answer these questions.
Thanks alot!

[xizzhu]

Originally posted by baovan

Hi everyone,
I have the following grammar sentences:
1/ The prices [at] chain stores [are] as resonable, [If no more] reasonable, [as] those at discount stores.
2/ [As] every [another] nation, the US [used to define] [its] unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard.
3/ [Untill recently], women [are] forbidden [by law] [from owning] property.
por favor, el señor help me to answer these questions.
Thanks alot!
only personal opinion.

[hieunguyen_vn]

3/ [Untill recently], women [were] forbidden [by law] [from owning] property.

I think B should be [has been]
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learn, learn.... and pass it on

[baovan]

Hi, Hieunguyen_vn
I also agree with you in sentence three, but my book is D. I don't know why B is correct .
Besides, the answers to the first and second question are D and A respectively.
Eric, can you help me to explain why?
Best regards,

[baovan]

Hi Eric,
I think , "every + singular noun" and therefore "every other nation" should be used " every nation".

[tanya]

Here is what I think about these sentences:
1. The prices at the chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as those at discount stores. (Hello, don't we need an article here?!).
2. As every nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard. (the expression "every other" has a completely different meaning. It means "every second; every alternate". So, for example, when we say "he comes every other day", we mean, that he comes Mondays, Wednedsdays, Fridays and so on, not every day, but every other day. I hope, I made myself clear.).
3. Until recently, women were forbidden by law to own property. ("to forbid somebody to do something", we don't need any preposition).

[vvaann]

Originally posted by baovan

Hi everyone,
I have the following grammar sentences:
1/ The prices at chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as those at discount stores.
2/ As every other nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard.
3/ Until recently, women were forbidden by law from owning property.


por favor, el señor help me to answer these questions.
Thanks alot!

Hi baovan,

Your questions are tricky! I don't think these are good TOEFL questions; however they're (very) good for grammar review.

1. C

To me, "if not more reasonable" is quite problematic and should be appropriately replace by "if not lower". The point is that people don't say more or less reasonable since "reasonable", I think, is an adjective without gradations in degree. However, you said that the correct answer, according to your book, is D, din't you? Could you check it again for me?
BTW, I think this kind of question no longer appears in TOEFL today.

2. A

"As" should be "Like" in this sentence. Both "like" and "as" are used to say that two things are similar, BUT: "like" is used before nouns, whereas "as" is used before clauses. For examples:
Her heart is like a locked door.
My best friend loves my darling very much, as I do.

3. D

Again, this question is very tricky! The correct answer is D, not B.
Grammatically, "were" seems incorrect and "from owing" doesn't; some might think that "were" should be "have been", me too! the present perfect would be better in this case. HOWEVER, the real mistake here is "from owning". The problem is that the verb "own" is NOT used in progressive tense; that's the only problem. If it was "from having" instead of "from owning", the sentence would be okay.
BTW, we still have the structure "to forbid sb from doing sth".

[muaxuan68]

The following are my answers.

1/ The prices at chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as than those at discount stores.
2/ As Like every other nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard.

3/ Until recently, women were have been forbidden by law from owning property.

[Erin]

These questions look really familiar for some reason. I think I've seen them before.

BTW, baovan, my name is Erin, not Eric.

Originally posted by baovan

1/ The prices at chain stores are as resonable, if not more reasonable, as those at discount stores.

This question should be taken behind the barn and shot.

The problem here is that we are trying to use two structures at the same time: as... as... and more... than...

These structures must be complete in the sentence, but they are not. There are several places where we can change this, so several answers could be chosen. Therefore, the question is invalid.

Originally posted by baovan

2/ As every other nation, the US used to define its unit of currency , the dollar, in terms of the gold standard.

vvaann got this one--we need like, not as.

Originally posted by baovan

3/ Until recently, women were forbidden by law from owning property.

tanya got this one. Remember:

forbid + to do something: forbid + person/NOUN + infinitive

prohibit from + doing something: prohibit + person/NOUN + from + GERUND

[vvaann]

Originally posted by Erin Billy


tanya got this one. Remember:

forbid + to do something: forbid + person/NOUN + infinitive

prohibit from + doing something: prohibit + person/NOUN + from + GERUND

Erin, you made me so much surprised!

Every dictionary has this structure: forbid + person/noun + from + gerund

Could you please give some clarification?

Thank you.