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countable and uncoutable noun

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countable and uncoutable noun

by bupbebeo » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:34 pm
The majority of the talk was devoted to an account of the experimental methods used by investigators in the field.

a, the majority of the talk was
b, the greater part of the talk was
c, the bulk of the talk has been
d, a large amount of the talk has been
e, a predominance of the talk was

I suspect C and E, but the correct answer is B. Could anyone help me figure it out?
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:05 pm
talks can not be counted so majority can not be used. majority of votes is correct as votes can be counted.
greater part of talk is appropriate that other words. hence B is correct
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by bupbebeo » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:00 am
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:talks can not be counted so majority can not be used. majority of votes is correct as votes can be counted.
greater part of talk is appropriate that other words. hence B is correct
why C & E are wrong???
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by pradeepkaushal9518 » Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:50 am
bulk normally refers to volume. we never measure talk with volume. normally heavy peoples are called bulky. so C is wrong

a single person can also dominates others in a particular talk. but here we have to measure the talk hence a predominance of the talk doesnt give reason. so E is also rejected. if any expert can por more light on this then it would help u
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by bupbebeo » Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:15 am
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:bulk normally refers to volume. we never measure talk with volume. normally heavy peoples are called bulky. so C is wrong

a single person can also dominates others in a particular talk. but here we have to measure the talk hence a predominance of the talk doesnt give reason. so E is also rejected. if any expert can por more light on this then it would help u
when I look up the bulk in Cambridge dictionary. bulk can be used in the phrase bulk of something. in that case it meas most of something. the dictionary gives an example: " In fact, the bulk of the book is taken up with criticizing other books". the do not see the difference between " bulk of the book " and " greater part of the talk".
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by evsistr » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:19 am
I think answers (C) and (D) are incorrect due to the Present Perfect tense they have.
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by gabriela13 » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:56 am
Choice B is correct because it uses "great" to modify TALK -uncount noun (majority ONLY modifies count nouns) and keeps the tenses parallel. The other examples shift tenses for no apparent good reason.
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by bupbebeo » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:54 am
gabriela13 wrote:Choice B is correct because it uses "great" to modify TALK -uncount noun (majority ONLY modifies count nouns) and keeps the tenses parallel. The other examples shift tenses for no apparent good reason.
Great or tense does not play role in this sentence. I just want to know why predominance of talk and bulk of talk are not accepted.
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by gabriela13 » Sat May 01, 2010 4:51 am
Tense shift: was....has been

When there is a shift in tense, it is important to have a justification for it. The sentence does hot indicate an existing condition, change or unfinished action --has been.

was....was --keep the tenses parallel--usually avoid shift in tenses
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by Shawshank » Sat May 01, 2010 5:25 am
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:talks can not be counted so majority can not be used. majority of votes is correct as votes can be counted.
greater part of talk is appropriate that other words. hence B is correct
Majority of the people supported the noble cause.

IS this statement correct then.. can "people" be counted. How can u justify "Majority" is only used with countable objects.
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by sandy_online » Sat May 01, 2010 7:22 am
Shawshank wrote:
pradeepkaushal9518 wrote:talks can not be counted so majority can not be used. majority of votes is correct as votes can be counted.
greater part of talk is appropriate that other words. hence B is correct
Majority of the people supported the noble cause.

IS this statement correct then.. can "people" be counted. How can u justify "Majority" is only used with countable objects.
i think the context you have used "people", it is countable
more here about majority: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/majority
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