Thread: Help me, please.

A test contains these tasks. 1. A glass vase is made....glass. a) from; b) out of; c) with. Correct answer: out of. 2. Paper is made....wood-pulp. a) from; b) out of; c) with. Correct answer: from. What differense is among these tasks?

The difference is that in the first case, the glass of which the vase is made still remains glass. The quality of the material does not change. In the second case, one material (pulp) is transformed into another material (paper), therefore you use "from" rather then "of" or "out of".

I think I should add that many native speakers use "from" in both situations indiscriminately. But if you are preparing for an exam, you should stick to the grammar-book rules .

OMG!!! translationsnmru!! I would probably have selected the correct answers... HOWEVER, I would NEVER, NEVER, EVER had been able to explain WHY!!! You did a wonderful job!

xgirlyana, FYI...I am a native speaker and he is correct that we might say "from" in either case, but stick to what the book says for your test!!! And GOOD LUCK!!!

Thank you so much for your help!

I need your help again. Check my essay, please. I'm going to pass an exam in English at school this year. I need it to enter to the university.
I tried to comment the following statement: Some people claim to have seen UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) such as flying saucers; others believe that UFOs exist only in science fiction.

There are different opinions about UFOs. Some people believe that UFOs exist but others say that UFOs are just a myth made by men's imagination.
In my opinion, UFOs are real. I have no reasons to think other way. There are many facts that make me believe in UFOs' existance. I have never seen UFOs but scientists have some arguments that prove its existance. First, they found water on the Mars! Well, not water but ice. It means that bacterias, plants, animals or someone else can live there. Second, there are people who have already seen UFO, they have pictures and videos of UFOs. Third, archeologists found ancient pictures of UFOs. Ancient people drew things that they had seen. And if they drew UFOs, they saw UFOs. These facts make me sure that OFOs exist.
But some people think that UFOs doesn't exist. Who knows, maybe they are right. I respect their position.UFOs' exictance is just a theory and scientists try to prove it.
So, there are different opinions about UFOs. But remember that iа people believe in something, it becomes real. Let's hope that someday we will find life in the spice.

I study how to teach Russian as a foreign language. Going through the text-book of Russian for Americans I got some questions. Is it possible to say "to learn by memory" instead of "to learn by heart"? Is there any stylistic difference? What's the difference between "exit exam", "final exam", and "graduate" one? Is it better to say "unsatisfactory" or "unacceptable" about D mark ("2" in Russian educational system)?

Originally Posted by MALIZIA

Is it possible to say "to learn by memory" instead of "to learn by heart"? Is there any stylistic difference?

These I can answer. The answer is 'no' to the first, which makes the second obsolete.

'To learn by heart' does not mean that you use the heart as a means of learning like you would your memory. 'By heart' like 'by rote' just means 'to commit to memory', 'to memorize'. You can also say 'I know that song by heart' but not 'I know that song by memory', so you can see that 'heart' here is not considered to be the tool you are using, as your usage of 'memory' in the same structure seems to imply.

Robin

Originally Posted by MALIZIA

What's the difference between "exit exam", "final exam", and "graduate" one?

I am not certain from your question if you are asking what are the meanings from an American point of view or Russian. So, I am answering from an American point of view.

An exit exam can have two meanings.

In one case it can be an exam you would take just to show you have proficiency in the subject or current task. Such as an "exit card to leave the class for the day." In order to leave the class at the end of the day, all of the students take an Exit Exam which covers the topic for that day.

It also has the meaning of a larger scope as in an "Exit from school." To graduate form high school or college, you would take an Exit Exam for the subject. If you don't pass the Exit Exam, even if you passed the final for that class, you won't graduate. This is true for classes like Algebra, English, Science and so on.


A final exam covers all the material from one course. So if you have been in Algebra or Russian for a semester or a year long course, it would cover ALL the material for that course. Some schools require you pass the final in order to pass the class even if you had an "A" going into the final.

I have not heard of a "graduate exam." There is a Graduate Record Examination http://www.ets.org and most high schools require exams in order to graduate, like Alabama's High School Grauation Exams... yet once again I am not certain if that is what you mean by "graduate exam."

Actually, you can say "you know something FROM memory". The difference is that when you say you know "by heart" it means you're in complete mastery of it. When you say "from memory" you specify that you didn't read it off of a sheet of paper or a study guide; you memorized it. Knowing something "from memory" wouldn't sound as secure as knowing it "by heart", I guess.