Question posted on my Facebook page by Mary Anne Santos Fernandez (March 11, 2015):
Hello, Sir! Which of the instructions below is correctly stated?
*Study the words below and give their MEANINGS. Choose from the box.
or
*Study the words below and give their MEANING. Choose from the box.
Witch hag records destruction gruesome insulting
1.mocking
2. ghoulish
3. hag
4. devastation
5. chronicles
Thank you, Sir!
My reply to Mary Anne Fernandez:
I think both instructions are problematic in their phrasing and in their use of the operative noun “meaning” or “meanings.” I would use the verb “match” instead of “give” because the answers are already provided, so the test is just of matter of matching each word with the correct answer. And then I would use the adjective “corresponding” to modify the plural noun “meanings” to clearly indicate a strictly one-to-one relationship between each test word and its meaning. The adjective “respective” is also applicable grammatically, but I’d prefer “corresponding” because its sense is more precise in this particular instance.
The test will then look this way as modified:
*Study the words below and match them with their corresponding MEANINGS. Choose from the box.
Witch hag records destruction gruesome insulting
1.mocking
2. ghoulish
3. hag
4. devastation
5. chronicles
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I hope this helps.
