The French Tutor The SAT II Paragraph Completion Series

Salut, mes chers lecteurs! We’re back today with another post about the absolument formidable SAT II French Subject Test! In this post, we’ll be analyzing a new type of question: the paragraph completion series. Beyond the one-off fill-in-the-blank questions that we’ve treated in previous posts, the paragraph completion series uses the same kind of setup, but with the added twist that there has to be contextual coherence among the answers. All this means is that when faced with a paragraph like the one below, you’ll have to select answers that make sense in view of the whole â€Å"narrative.† Let’s take a look at a sample paragraph and see if we can crack it: Avant ---(1)--- partir en vacances, Jean et Camille ont ---(2)--- à   l’aà ©roport ---(3)--- demander ---(4)--- l’avion partait ---(5)--- . The first thing we can do is try to fill in the sentence without even looking at the answer choices, relying on our existing knowledge of grammar and our instincts about what sounds right. While we are doing this, we can take note of the different parts of speech that are going to be necessary to complete the sentence above. For example, we know that in blank 1, we will need a preposition, since we are dealing with a time-maker signifying the first event in a sequence: Before leaving on vacation, Jean and Camille did something. What that something is is clearly what will go in blank 2, and we note that we will be dealing with a verb in the composite past tense, the passà © composà ©. We know this to be true because of the helping verb already given in the phrase, the ont, which is avoir conjugated in the third-person-plural in the present – the trademark construction for the helping/auxiliary verb in the composite past. So we’ve got a preposition in blank 1 and a verb in blank 2. Since we’re talking about a past action (the two clues there are the time-marker Avant and the helping verb), the blank will have to entail the second component of the composite past, which is the past participle of the active verb. What about blank 3? Well, it can’t be another verb, because right a fterwards in the sentence, we have an infinitive, the verb demander, to ask or enquire. We can’t have a noun there since there’s no trace of an article to be found, so blank 3 must be another preposition, some kind of word that links the verb in the past tense of blank 2 to the action implicit in the infinitive form of demander. As for blank 4, again, it can’t be a verb, because we can’t have a double infinitive with demander as the first verb in a sequence, and it can’t be a noun since we have a noun and a definite article immediately following the blank. Blank 4 must be another linking word. And blank 5? Well, it’s going to have something to do with the plane leaving, since that’s what immediately precedes it in the sentence. It sounds like the best fit will be some form of description, some way of describing how the plane was departing. So we should be primed to look for descriptive terms, perhaps adverbs or temporal modifiers—words that color for us the way that an event happened or is happening. With all this in mind, it’s possible that we can â€Å"solve† the sentence without even having to look at all of the answer choices. But if we do need to consult the available options, at least we know what we are specifically looking for. Let’s turn now to the answer choices and see where we can go from here. 1. (A) ------ 2. (A) tà ©là ©phonà © 3. (A) ------ 4. (A) si 5. (A) en temps (B) à   (B) tà ©là ©phonà ©e (B) à   (B) quand (B) chaque heure (C) de (C) tà ©là ©phonà ©s (C) de (C) quel (C) à   l’heure (D) que (D) tà ©là ©phonà ©es (D) pour (D) que (D) parfois OK – let’s get to it! In blank 1, we are indeed dealing with a prepositional phrase, the combination of the time-marker Avant with a fixed preposition. But which one? We can eliminate the first answer choice because it just looks and sounds wrong—putting Avant right up against the infinitive is the â€Å"literal† translation (â€Å"Before leaving†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ), but we know that French is rarely that straightforward. So, of the three remaining choices, what works? Many action verbs in French take à   as their preposition, but what about time-markers? The same is true for de. These two prepositions definitely get around in French. What next, though? Well, what about que? We know that que is often used in time-order expressions, that is, expressions that help us put a number of events in sequence: aprà ¨s que, tant que, aussità ´t que, dà ¨s que, lorsque, pendant que†¦and yes, also avant que. BUT we must recall that all of these que expressions are not followed by an infinitive, but rather by the subject of the clause. You can’t have an avant que + verb; you would need avant que + subject + verb, and even this is a particularly tricky construction, because in some cases it takes the subjunctive as well as a special form of negation called the ne-explà ©tif. But that’s another story. For now, suffice it to say that que won’t work here. If we have made it this far, hopefully our instincts will kick in and we will recall that avant takes de before an infinitive. So, â€Å"Avant de partir en vacances†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The answer is (C). In blank 2, as we previously discussed, we are dealing with a construction in the passà © composà ©. We’ve already got the subject (Jean et Camille – so, ils) and the helping verb (avoir in the third person plural – ont) so all we need is the past participle and we’re good to go. Fortunately, the answer choices are all different forms of the same verb, so we don’t even have to worry about the possibility of multiple meanings in the sentence. This just comes down to straight grammar: how do we conjugate the verb tà ©là ©phoner in the past tense? It is worth pointing out just for reference that French has a quirky way of handling phone calls. The two verbs predominantly used to express the act of phone-calling are appeler and tà ©là ©phoner. Curiously, the former doesn’t take a preposition but the latter does—so formally, we say tà ©là ©phoner à   qqn but just appeler qqn. This explains the à   in the position just after the blank. Fortunately, the test-makers were not mean this time, and they gave us four answer choices based on the same verb. If they were real jerks, however, they could have thrown in a few appeler permutations to throw us off. Even if that happens, you’ll be prepared, since you now know the difference!! Anyway, this is an easy one, since all we need to do is put the verb tà ©là ©phoner in the past participle form. Some quick questions first: Is it a reflexive verb? Has it taken a direct object? Is it irregular? In this usage, the answers are no, no, and no. It’s just the classic conjugation of an –er verb, so we lop off the ending and add an à ©. Tà ©là ©phonà ©, answer (A). Done. In blank 3, we know we’re looking for a preposition, and indeed, the answer choices give us the usual suspects. In this blank, we are seeking the equivalent of the English â€Å"to,† since the sentence is â€Å"Jean and Camille called the airport TO enquire†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Easy right? Except that in French, à  , de, and pour can all mean â€Å"to,† and further, they can all precede infinitives! Here, we are best served by remembering that we are dealing with an infinitive that is grammatically separate from another verb construction. What the heck do I mean by that? I mean that in the sentence, our setup is not verb + preposition + verb, but rather noun + preposition + verb. Some quick examples: Je continue à   apprendre le franà §ais. I continue to learn French. [ conj. verb + à   + inf. ] Tu arrà ªtes de fumer? You (will) stop smoking? [conj. verb + de + inf. ] Nous allons au cafà © pour manger. We go to the cafà © to eat. This one is different because of the structure: [conj. verb + noun + pour + inf. ] In this instance, the meaning of the sentence depends on the implicit link, across the noun, between the conjugated verb and the verb in the infinitive, a link that is represented by the use of the preposition pour. If we got rid of the cafà ©, the sentence would still work: Nous allons pour manger -- We go to eat (as in, we are going somewhere to eat). But when there is a noun in the middle, and the meaning of the preposition in the sentence is â€Å"for/to,† the construction will look like our third example and the preposition will be pour. Another way of looking at this is to approach it from the angle of causation. We consider whether the first action in the phrase is really more of an action TO something else, or FOR something else. If it is more FOR than TO, it is likely that the preposition will be pour. In this example, Jean and Camille called the airport with the purpose of inquiring about their flight – that was their reason for calling – they called FOR that. So in blank 3, we will go with (D) pour. We’re almost done! We already ascertained, without looking at the answer choices, that blank 4 would be some kind of linking word. And indeed, as we look through the answer possibilities, we see that we’re getting a mishmash of parts of speech—interrogatives, relative pronouns, and the word si, which we know is used in hypothetical statements largely like we use â€Å"if† or â€Å"whether† in English. Now is in fact a good time to think about the English meanings of these words, because a quick review of the sense of these words will help us eliminate poor choices. So far for the sentence, we’ve got â€Å"Before leaving on vacation, Jean and Camille called the airport to inquire—† and our choices are roughly â€Å"if/whether,† â€Å"when,† â€Å"which,† and â€Å"who.† Looking ahead in the sentence, we see that the next element after the blank is l’avion, so a noun with its definite article. Right away, we can kill two answer choices: qui and quel. Just from context and usage, we see that qui doesn’t work. And as for quel—with slight modifications, the sentence could accommodate this choice, as in â€Å"which plane was full,† or â€Å"which plane they were taking.† But in â€Å"which† phrases, the word quel takes the place of the article, and so the article is omitted. The sentence would need to read â€Å"†¦quel avion†¦Ã¢â‚¬  instead. Because the definite article is still present in the sentence, we can eliminate this answer choice. Alright, that leaves si and quand. It will be better to tackle this one in context. A look ahead to the last blank reminds us that there’s another verb in between, the verb partait in the imperfect. We previously decided that the last blank would have to be a descriptor or time-marker. With this in mind, we can scan the answer choices for both blanks 4 and 5, and see what matches up. Regarding si and quand, both seem to work in theory—Jean and Camille could be trying to find out whether the plane was departing at a certain time, for example, or they could be trying to find out when the plane was leaving on that particular day. To help narrow the context, we need to go to the specific answers of blank 5 and work backwards to blank 4. Lo and behold, all four of the answer choices are time expressions, and some are idiomatic. Here’s where we can flex our vocabulary muscles. We can recognize that â€Å"en temps† is an Anglicism with no real meaning; â€Å"chaque heure† expresses an action recurring each hour; â€Å"à   l’heure† is the idiomatic expression for on time—literally â€Å"at the hour†; and â€Å"parfois† just means â€Å"occasionally or sometimes.† OK – in the context of air travel, we’re inclined to eliminate â€Å"en temps† and â€Å"parfois† without even thinking. As for the same plane (remember the direct article) leaving every hour, that would be a remarkable achievement for aeronautics, but an unlikely SAT-II answer. That leaves â€Å"on time,† which makes the most sense anyway, given the context. Great – we know that blank 5 has (C) as the answer. Now let’s jump back to blank 4. From here, it’s just common sense. Does a traveler inquire when a plane is leaving on time, o r whether it is leaving on time? Based on usage, we can safely say that the answer to blank 4 is (A), si. So now we’ve got a paragraph that makes a lot of sense: Avant de partir en vacances, Jean et Camille ont tà ©là ©phonà © à   l’aà ©roport pour demander si l’avion partait à   l’heure. This is all well and good, but one major question still remains: Who still calls the airport to inquire about a flight status? Don’t these people have the Internet We will have to explore this, and other pressing questions, in the posts to come. But for now, you’ve got a great window into how to dissect (and conquer) a paragraph completion series. Keep up the good work, and until next time, enjoy!

An essential or a larger focal association for the...

An essential or a larger focal association for the representation of the LGBT group is not existing, yet various LGBT rights associations are active around the world. The LGBT social movements that are organized today are consisting of a wide range of political activism and cultural activities. These exercises incorporate campaigning, road walks, social gatherings, media, craftsmanship, and research. Also, included, not constrained to, in the social objectives of the LGBT social developments are the tests in the prevailing developments of manliness and gentility. Homophobia and the supremacy of the gendered hetero atomic family or heteronormativity are likewise included in the challenges of the social movements. Of course, these social†¦show more content†¦LGBT Politics is the fight for equality among the LGBT community. Issues about electoral politics, legislative process and the people involved in the two said issues are given emphasis on the campaigns, movements and caree rs of openly LGBT candidates and incumbents. (Gay Politics — ABOUT, n.d.) The rights of the LGBT Community are also included in LGBT Politics. The LGBT rights movements have never been made up of the LGBT themselves. Other people who are supporting the LGBT Community are also part in the alliance of activist who are fighting for the rights of the LGBT Community. Examples of the political agendas of the LGBT are the creation of links between the fight for the feminists, the provision of alternative to the offerings of gay scenes, and the fight for the commercialization of the LGBT Pride. Also, it’s providing and identity to those who think gender and sexuality are complicated. (Queer politics: the debate, n.d.) There are many issues regarding the LGBT Rights. Some of them include same-sex marriage, civil union, LGBT adoption, recognition of LGBT parenting, immigration equality laws, anti-discrimination laws for employment and housing, anti-harassment policies, hate crime laws providing enhances criminal penalties for prejudice-motivated violence against LGBT people, laws related to sexual orientation and military service, health care, and the sodomy law. The issues mention aboveShow MoreRelatedLgbt Subculture Of The Lgbt Movement1390 Words   |  6 PagesHow does this picture represent LGBT subculture in order to express the stereotypes they have faced, how far the movement has come in America, and how they continue to support the movement? The LGBT movement has been fighting for rights over the last century across the world. Members of this community have come a long way from where they started. However, stereotypes and ridicule are still pinned against these individuals that form the min ority subculture of the LGBT movement. 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One Giant Ride free essay sample

One Giant Ride Life is like a giant theme park. You enter the park excited to jump onto every ride and see what it’s like. It is then when you find some rides you love and others you hate. Growing up, plenty of experiences have tested my definition of what is right and wrong, moral and immoral, just and unjust, good and bad, but at the end of the day every new experience is like a new ride. As I grew older, the classic Cincinnati tradition of summers at King’s Island Amusement Park became a major part of my life. This is strange because many of its rides mirror the same ups and down, loops, twists and turns, thrills and let downs that I have experienced in my own life. Looking back at my life up to this point, I can honestly say I have no regrets. There may have been something I wished to change or something I wished had gone differently, but with every obstacle I have had to overcome, as well as with every perfect moment, I have developed and become more of the individual I always w anted to be. We will write a custom essay sample on One Giant Ride or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Being nineteen years young, my life is only about to start, but my past has become one of my greatest assets. My tumultuous past has given me the ability to adapt to huge changes in my life because, frankly, I have gone through so many in my short time on Earth. My unsteady past has turned me into a person who is, whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, very unemotional. However, there are still occasions during which I turn into a tempestuous whirlwind. I am the kind of person who understands that in the bigger picture of it all, I will be fine no matter what comes my way. Tough experiences have made me into a being that even my mom looks up to. And finally, my past has taught me one of the most important lessons, that even if I don’t know what I want to be like when I get older, I know what I don’t want to be like. The Vortex From the time I was a toddler I have been plagued by change. At the age of two, my parents divorced and I was left to begin this journey of broken relationships. It did not take very long for me to get used to the partial custody way of life, which consists of traveling back and forth from house to house. I always remember my Minnie Mouse suitcase that held my favorite belongings and clothes, the only constant in my life between houses. As my life approached the drop that I was in for, I was introduced to two people that my parents started dating. I still hear stories about my skepticism of these people preceding the large heartache that was about to push me over the edge, much like on the Vortex where we climbed 120 feet into the air only to be thrown 100 feet to the ground seconds later. This drop epitomizes the remarriage of my parents only a few months apart. The remarriage of both my mother and father was hard for me because I was still very young at this point and I was used to having them all to myself. For the first time in my life, I was faced with a challenge where I learned I couldn’t always get what I wanted. Little did I know at that point in the game, my parents remarrying would be the groundwork for a bittersweet future, in the sense that I would come to despise my step dad yet love my step mom more than I could have ever imagined. Within the ten-year relationship between my step dad and my mom, I came to distance myself from that side of my family. My step dad’s insane discipline regimen was awful. He would ground me for staying up later than my 8 o’clock bedtime for reading. Being a 7th and 8th grader at this point I felt completely trapped. He would constantly yell at my three sisters and me, and I still remember the times where I had to bring my little sisters into my room because my parents were fighting. It was there where my sisters and I grew an inseparable bond and I became like a third parent to them. Although I loved my sisters very much, being fitted with the burden of parenting my younger siblings in eighth grade was quite heavy. There were many times where I cried myself to sleep. It finally got to the point that I couldn’t take it any more and I sat my mom down and told her I was going to move in with my dad and step mom. It literally broke her heart when I did, but distance was the best thing for me. She grudgingly allowed it. It was the summer before my freshman year when I was finally all moved into a new house with Dad and Paige. Starting a new school, high school at that, and adapting to a whole new way of life turned out to be the best change ever to wash over me. Paige and I grew so close. She literally has become my mother. Being adopted and coming from a broken home herself, she understood my situation and I have truly never grown to love and appreciate anyone more. She became the most stable person in my life, the one who helped me to become a strong and independent person. She taught me that being independent was something that no one could take away from me no matter how awful my parents acted. Tomb Raider Expedition In the back of King’s Island lies a building that remains closed half of the time. Tomb Raider, as the fans affectionately call it, straps you in and gyrates, shakes you up and down, back and forth, inside and out, forcing you to endure longer than usual minutes upside down over caverns spinning out of control. This is what my life had become, a crazy ride spinning all over the place, and, just when you think it has stopped, catapults you backwards and upside down. I had just started my second year in competitive cheerleading. We would travel all around the east coast competing against the nation’s best and it was the most fun I had had in high school. I practiced with the team for months, never missing a rehearsal or meeting. I worked out with more energy and kept my spirits higher than anyone else on my team or any of the other ones. It was the best week of my life leading up to the first competition- and it was the day before our first competition when I tore my AC L, MCL, and Lateral Meniscus. I was devastated. And what’s worse, I was forced to go into surgery followed by six months of physical therapy. My injury caused me to go into a depression. I refused to go out or hang out with my friends, and I literally cried for a month straight. I felt miserable. It wasn’t until Paige came to me one afternoon and said, â€Å"Courtney, go ahead and cry because this is the last night that I am going to let you do it. Starting tomorrow you are going to pull yourself out of this depression because only you can do that. It is time to stop feeling sorry for yourself, get over it and make the best out of the situation you are given.† These words became like fresh air to me. I realized that there was nothing I could do, but to use my energy to get better. Like Tomb Raider which goes forever yet stops sooner than you would expect, my depression abruptly grinded to a halt. Outer Limits Unfortunately, although I was over the depression, the worst had only just begun. Hidden between a classic midway ride one could find a bunker carved out in a mock area 51 display. Here lies Outer Limits, formerly known as Flight of Fear. After waiting in line you are strapped into a spaceship and the attendants begin counting down 3†¦2†¦1†¦ From zero to sixty in two seconds flat you are thrust into a blinding bright light then out into a dark, empty room where all you can see before you is miles and miles of twisted steel. The tracked lies twisted in a giant ball almost as if it had no order. Both sets of my parents decided to get divorced yet again. It was in the summer before my senior year and it was nearly cataclysmic. I was happy that my mom and step dad were getting a divorce, but I would never wish what my mom had to go thorough on my worst enemy. Rob fought for every last dime, and since my mom was a stay at home mom, the little she was given was easily expe nded. He fought dirty and led my mom through almost a year and a half of legal drama that resulted where it was impossible for anyone to come out a winner. On other side of that grimy table my dad and Paige getting divorced was worse. Paige and I had grown even closer and I was not ready to leave her. However with this divorce Paige would be reduced to legally being just my good friend. The struggle that resulted with this was a tough decision: with whom should I move in- my single mom, my single dad, or Paige? The choice I made was hard for both of parents because I chose Paige. She had become more than a mother to me and had tried her best throughout this entire ordeal to make the transition as smooth on me as possible. While the ride is infamous for its crazy twists and turns, it is nice enough to let you get out on flat ground instead of just dumping you on your head. The Beast Deep in the woods of King’s Islands’ back lot remains an enigma 30 years in the making. Once the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, The Beast rocks you like a hurricane as you journey through the woods â€Å"escaping The Beast.† But The Beast has a unique feature, different from other roller coasters. When calm is reached, the train then begins a climb up a second hill leading to a ferocious attack from its famed double helix. After two years of watching my mom’s struggle as a single parent with four children I saw her go from bad to worse. I saw my mother fall from everything that she had once stood for. It was perhaps the darkest hour I have had so far in my nineteen years in existence. My mother committed the darkest deed and oldest sin in the book; she had attempted to commit suicide. It is an awful feeling to realize that your own mother felt that helpless and that neither my sisters nor I could have been a reason enough to live. I again fe lt like I had to be the parent of my sisters and my mother. She spent two weeks in a psychiatric ward and I thought I had never seen my mom at a lower point. I was sadly mistaken because a little over three months later I received a call from my aunt while I was at school that my mom had been checked into a rehab facility for alcohol and pills. In my mind I couldn’t and still can’t understand why my mom became addicted. After getting out of rehab, she was forced to go back into rehab two more times. Each time I think it will be the calm signaling the end of the ride, but it inevitably leads to more hills and more helixes. The Scrambler Separating the Nickelodeon Universe kiddy park and the intense, more daring, adult rides, the Scrambler is not only a representation of the transition from my high school life to college life, but it is a ride that literally scrambles you. In its fast circular speeds the cars spin, but the actually car is spinning within itself. This causes a jerking motion that literally slams you from one side to the other and culminating a force of gravity that smashes you together with the people in your car but keeps you laughing it up the entire time. Dealing with all of the issues with my mother and starting my first completely independent life as a college student at University of Kentucky, I was bombarded with other issues that effect young adults. Figuring out how to make an easy transition from high school life to college life luckily came effortless to me. I have dealt with the confusing boy issues, which have stressed me out more than I have wanted and the overall issue of learning to balance all of my time with the massive amounts of homework I am given weakly. Although it is a struggle, the struggle is on a much lower scale and something I can most definitely handle. I am still being jolted around, and although it is all very confusing, it is finally the type of ride I can enjoy. As the sun is setting and the day is through throngs of people start pouring out of the amusement park and heading towards their cars, children become sluggish, teenagers are joyous and adults are just glad the day is over. My time in the amusement park is far form over. I still have many rides left in me and many new endeavors to explore. Several years of ups and downs will soon follow, but with my development thus far I at least have enough insight to better understand with the changes and issues that come my way. I have become a person that has evolved over so much. I am still searching for my soul purpose and what I am going to do with my life, however I do know what I will never be. I will never ever have to worry about money or ever fall into the same path as my mother. I will take her mistakes and better myself from it. It is funny that despite all of the divorce in my life, that I still do believe in love and that it can last forever. All I know is that with every decision I make I will choose to be better because I have seen just how low a person can get. I may not know what the future has in store for me, but rest assured that I will be different form the rest. I can guarantee that my future has something incredible in store for it and only time will tell what will come of it.