Katta's English
Every year in Lund, there's an English competition for high school students, and every year the newspaper posts the questions a few days later (and the answers the day after that) so that anyone who wants to can test their English.
I'm much too lazy to repost the whole test, especially since I'd have to post the answers as well, but I thought I'd share the questions I couldn't answer, so that those of you who keep forgetting that I'm Swedish can go, "Wait, she doesn't know these simple words?" *g*
The words (bolded) I couldn't figure out at all were:
They grow gooseberries in their garden.
The principal met GCSE and A-level pupils.
It was a balmy night.
Did he bamboozle her?
Did he pop his clogs yesterday?
They called for the ouster of the minister.
He ate Turkish Delight at Christmas. (It should be noted that they disallowed "candy" as an answer.)
The fuselage is made of stainless steel.
My stereo has a separate control for the treble.
The place is a byword for elegance.
Did he bite the bullet?
We had three successive games against their team. (I blame brain fart for this one - I do know the difference between successive and successful, honestly!)
She knitted an afghan.
CCTV was used to identify the bombers.
The design of the car was off-the-wall.
After the bombing, there was a clampdown.
She pottered about the garden.
The woman looked at the oblong picture.
President Putin has a lot of clout.
The ones where I gave myself half a point were:
The principal met GCSE and A-level pupils.
Some of the employees were given fringe benefits.
Did they suss it?
The man was sitting in a Humvee.
A prisoner's favourite punctuation mark is the period. It marks the end of his sentence. (I figured out the double meaning of "sentence" but missed the double meaning of "period".)
My final score is thus 128.5 of 150, which is about 10-12 points more than I used to get in high school. Though it should be noted that I've marked myself - it's quite possible a teacher would have been much stricter!
I'm much too lazy to repost the whole test, especially since I'd have to post the answers as well, but I thought I'd share the questions I couldn't answer, so that those of you who keep forgetting that I'm Swedish can go, "Wait, she doesn't know these simple words?" *g*
The words (bolded) I couldn't figure out at all were:
They grow gooseberries in their garden.
The principal met GCSE and A-level pupils.
It was a balmy night.
Did he bamboozle her?
Did he pop his clogs yesterday?
They called for the ouster of the minister.
He ate Turkish Delight at Christmas. (It should be noted that they disallowed "candy" as an answer.)
The fuselage is made of stainless steel.
My stereo has a separate control for the treble.
The place is a byword for elegance.
Did he bite the bullet?
We had three successive games against their team. (I blame brain fart for this one - I do know the difference between successive and successful, honestly!)
She knitted an afghan.
CCTV was used to identify the bombers.
The design of the car was off-the-wall.
After the bombing, there was a clampdown.
She pottered about the garden.
The woman looked at the oblong picture.
President Putin has a lot of clout.
The ones where I gave myself half a point were:
The principal met GCSE and A-level pupils.
Some of the employees were given fringe benefits.
Did they suss it?
The man was sitting in a Humvee.
A prisoner's favourite punctuation mark is the period. It marks the end of his sentence. (I figured out the double meaning of "sentence" but missed the double meaning of "period".)
My final score is thus 128.5 of 150, which is about 10-12 points more than I used to get in high school. Though it should be noted that I've marked myself - it's quite possible a teacher would have been much stricter!