One question from ETS prep book

[trungthanh]

Hi everyone,

I got a tough question from the ETS Preparation Kit workbook:

(Woman) I'm taking my roommate out for her birthday tonight-you know,
to that fancy new restaurant.
(Man) You can't go like that. You'd better change.
(Narrator) What does the man suggest the woman do?

(A) Take a lot of money.
(B) Go to a different restaurant.
(C) Ask someone else to go with her.
(D) Wear different clothes.

The correct answer is D. I also choosed D by my sense, but still didn't know why. Why the answer B, which also looks feasible can't be chosen?
Could you, pls, explain this for me?
Thank you very much!

[Hippo]

Hi Trungthanh!

Sure we all understand that man suggests to change something, the question is what he suggests to change.

From the phrase "you can't go like that" we can conclude that he doesn't like something in the womans appearance. If he had wanted to advise her to change the place he would probably have said something like following: "You can't go THERE".

In general, I realise that my explanation is pretty obvious. The problem, I think, that you probably assosiate phrase "like that" with one from your native language and try to use its "native" meaning. I do have simular problems sometimes. But in this case, answer B doesn't seem like a feasible one for me.

Regards.
(errors were corrected)

[Hippo]

One more tip. Where does the demonstrative pronoun "that" points?
You can't say "You can't go like a restoraunt", but you can say "You can't go like you" or "you can't go like a pig"...

[trungthanh]

Hi there, Hippo!

Originally posted by Hippo


From the phrase "you can't go like that" we can conclude that he doesn't like something in the womans appearance. If he had wanted to advise her to change the place he would probably have said something like following: "You can't go THERE".

What a percetive explanation! Thank you

Originally posted by Hippo


In general, I realise that my explanation is pretty obvious. The problem, I think, that you probably assosiate phrase "like that" with one from your native language and try to use its "native" meaning.

Exactly, I assimilated that English phrase meaning with the use of it in my native language. From that perspective, it seems hard for me to find out the solution.:o

Thank you for your kindly reply!
See ya!

[hsengoren]

Originally posted by Hippo

One more tip. Where does the demonstrative pronoun "that" points?
You can't say "You can't go like a restoraunt", but you can say "You can't go like you" or "you can't go like a pig"...

Hi Hippo,
Can you explain what does "You can't go like you" mean please?

[Hippo]

Hi Hsengoren,
Actually this sentence is quite awkward. I just tried to say something like:
"You can't go if you look like you do now"