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    Answer to selected letters from last week
    Following each question are my comments.
    [ 2006-03-20 14:34 ]

    Answer to selected letters from last week

    Here are a few questions from readers during the past week. Following each question are my comments. Identities of readers are concealed to spare blushes of the bashful.

    • Letter:

    I want to point out a mistake you neglected in your article about freedom. "You, for example, are entitled to demand your right to searching the google for more on liberty or freedom without always drawing 'the page you are looking for can not be opened' or similar such in return. " I think in this sentence, 'searching' should be 'search'! I know, you are a master of the English language and the above mistake is only a slip of your pen. So asking you to collect your mistake is just like teaching fish to swim, but still I think you have to, for you are a columnist, who is admired by so many English learners.

    Besides, I can't understand the sentence 'In fact if it's interesting enough, I'll be off to work right away, no question asked.' What is the meaning of 'no question asked'?Does it mean 'when no question is asked'?

    At last I want to say I have learned a lot from you. You seem to be a deep thinker, so reading your articles is not as easy as I expected, and usually I try hard to figure out everything while reading them.

    My comments:
    Thanks for the effort. You must be a teacher, pal - fellow sufferers, in a way.

    First of all, there's no such an animal as "a master of the English language" in this country. Look up to anyone as a "master" or an "expert" at your own peril.

    As for my mistakes, I make them all the time. It is part of what I do - I'm not proud to say. As one who writes as often and on the fly as I do, and one whose English is as poor as mine, I'm bound to make mistakes, slip-of-the-pen or otherwise.

    However, the "mistake" you spotted is not among them, no slip of hand occurring in that case. One has a right to get a lawyer, for example in our system of law. It's as well as saying that one has a right to (getting) a lawyer.

    Speaking of slip of the pen, you wrote "collect your mistake" when you meant to say "correct your mistake".

    That "you are a columnist, who is admired by so many English learners" is another accusation I won't accept. First of all, I've heard you say it. I've not heard many say it. Besides, I don't ask anything of the kind. It is a trap. Being admired can make you feel indebted to those who profess to admire you, and before you know it, you are doing things just to please them.

    I share my ideas with my readers and that's gratification enough in itself. I otherwise owe exactly the same thing to my readers as they owe me - nothing.

    That said, I thank you for flattering me and I may add that, in my humble opinion, you're one of the kindest people I've never met.

    Finally, in that particular sentence, "no questions asked" means "without fuss".

    It's literally "no questions asked" as well as figuratively in this headline from The Scotsman - US soldiers shoot first, no questions asked (September 17, 2004).

    • Another letter:

    I am a University student in ANHUI University in Hefei, Anhui Province. By now, (I) want to study continully (continually) after congratulation (graduation) from Anhui University. But my English is very poor, can you give some advise (advice) about my English learning?
    Beijing - very (well-)known in the world. I lo(n)g to live there, so (I) intend to choose a famous university which locates in there.

    My comments:
    I did the minimum editing (in bracket) to make it more intelligible to other readers. I made sure that I did not alter your meaning or damage the integrity of your writing style.

    I wish you were more specific, though. English learning is a tricky business for anybody, especially for us Chinese. Without your being specific, I can only offer such vague and generalized advice as "don't use a Chinese-English dictionary", "don't use an English-Chinese dictionary" or "everything your teacher says is good for you is bad", any of which may not be helpful at all in your particular situation. So use a lot of discretion plus with a huge pinch of salt if you do want to follow any of the advice to a T.

    Beijing is a particularly nice place to be, in perhaps a few days/weeks from now, when the spring comes unpredictably and goes away equally fast. There's nothing wrong for you "to intend to choose a famous university" in Beijing. There are many famous universities in here. I suggest that you be good, so that one of these famous universities will long to choose you.

    • Question:

    I've more than once heard people call Yao Ming a "gym rat". Is it not a derogative term?

    Answer:
    It's pretty bad, isn't it? People must have been calling Yao Ming that name because he's Chinese, he's tall, he's rich or that he shares a room with mice in a gymnasium.

    Kidding.

    Being called a gym rat is not bad at all. Quite on the contrary, it's a compliment in Yao Ming's case. A gym rat refers to a player who trains so much daily that it's as though he lives in the gym, as do the rats who've taken up residence in there.

    When Yao Ming first arrived in the NBA, the then Houston Rockets point guard Steve Francis (now playing in New York) said of Yao:

    "He's always the first guy at practice and he's the last to leave. He's just like me, only 7 (feet) - 5 (inches) and Chinese."

    As a matter of fact, one of the things scouts liked about Yao was his work ethic.

    Tony Ronzone, an international scout for the Pistons, spied on Yao before he signed with the Rockets. Ronzone said of Yao (July 25, 2002, Houston Chronicle):

    "He can pass from the post and has great skills. He can play. He can run the floor.

    "And another big thing is that this is a kid who was not forced to play basketball because of his size. He's a kid who wanted to play basketball. This kid is a gym rat. He's the first one on the floor and the last one to leave. I love the kid, and people will love him."

    • Question:

    In today's article (March 13, 2006-03), you said "In my case, French has been lurking in the back, waiting to be picked up again something like for ever". I am just wondering why you put "something like" in there. Aren't they redundant?

    Answer:
    Yeah, them two words - they probably were redundant had I been writing a poem trying to convey the meaning of life in 20 words. It is just my particular way of speaking, or a spur-of-the-moment thing. Didn't mean to put you in a worrisome reverie - never thought that they could, either. Sorry.

    • Another question about the same article:

    Another sentence baffling me is 'Sometime along the way, I gave up trying, having realized that I was learning French only so that I could brag about that fact.''Only so that'sounds so weird to me!I do not suppose it is idiomatic English. Shall we change it like this: Sometime along the way, I gave up trying, having realized that I was learning French only for the purpose that I could brag about that fact?

    Answer:
    Why should I do a thing like that?

    However, feel free to tamper with my writings. Once they're tossed online, they are yours to deal with.

    A little learning might be the real dangerous thing here. So, therefore, let's all keep the learning going.

     

    About the author:
     

    Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for future use in this column.

     

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