A while ago, I took this mock English language
proficiency test online just to check where I stood when it came to
English. I had to answer 75 multiple choice questions in 60 mins! I wasn't
particularly worried about the time limit. I mean, I've been studying English
right from my school days and it's always been one of my favorites. So, an
English test should not be a big deal...right?
Right...well, almost! The paper was mostly okay but there were
some tricky ones here and there. Questions, that made me stop and think for a
while...the kind of stuff that makes you doubt your abilities...like the words
principal/principle, discrete/discreet, advice/advise, collage/college etc.
These words are a piece of cake actually. But, sometimes, these are the sort of
simple yet complicated words that suddenly fall into the "I'm not so
sure" list, even though, deep down, you probably know the right answer!
There was this one question, even though I knew the answer right
away, had me stumped for a while as I got suddenly transported to the not so
sure domain!! For the grammar aficionados out there (wow, till this moment
I thought aficionados had two 'f''s ...thank you spell check, its only one
'f'!), this was the question -
"Either you or I [is/are/am] to blame"
(Choose the right option)
So, there I was, trying to figure out the correct option with a
completely confused head. I knew the answer right away but somehow suddenly I
was not so sure! I said the line in my head again and again with different options
every time, until the sentence with a particular word started sounding alien
with one particular option. But as it is, I got more confused. So, I decided to
answer the remaining questions and then come back to this one in the end,
hoping that by some miracle, I would arrive at the answer when I look at it
with a fresh mind. But no such luck! I must have looked like an idiot to my
family members as I screwed up my face in all possible ways hoping to get the
answer by the right intonation in my head which ultimately showed on my
face!!
I was getting frustrated. I had finished the remaining paper and
only this question was troubling me. I have almost always worked grammar this
way. If it doesn't sound right when I say it, it probably isn't! What was the right
choice? What do you do when your first instinct tells you one answer which you
know is right but something else insists that none of the options is the right
answer?? Ultimately I answered the question with my first gut instinct.
This got me thinking. What happens when such a confusing question
pops in our life and there are only a few valid choices that you can make? Your
first instinct tells you that the answer lies in one of the options right in
front of you but somehow you feel that none of them is the ideal solution. You
imagine your life with the solution fit into it and somehow it doesn't feel
good or right. What do you do? How do you choose? What helps you make the right
decision? Is it the beauty of life? That there are no right or wrong decisions
- just decisions and what 'you' make of them?
Well, I do hope so! :-)
2 comments:
Oh yeah !! Very familiar with this situation in life and during my MBA exams :p ..I must say my choice of correct options mostly only stayed in my head and I choose the wrong ones :p still managed to come out with flying colors mostly so no regrets ... :)
LOL Anjali...Good that you never had trouble choosing the options during the exams and ultimately came out of it with flying colors :-) Wish I could say the same for my life choices!! However no regrets either :-)
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