[Grammar] Does this question have different options?

[cnjackie88]

— David promised to come round to have supper with us today.  
— But he ____. I’ve been alone for half an hour.  
A. won’t 
B. hadn’t 
C. hasn’t   
D. doesn’t 

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi, Cnjackie!

When is the assignment due?

 

[cnjackie88]

Come on! I'm not a student. It's also not a assignment. I have the answer. But I'm just wonering which one you will choose, and why choose it.
I also have asked someone else, but they also have different opinions.

 

[emsr2d2]

Which answer did you choose before you found out the "right" answer, and what was the given answer?

 

[cnjackie88]

I think both A and C are right. The standard answer is A.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's not a particularly well-written question but with "I've been alone for half an hour" means that C is the only logical answer. We are supposed to assume (I think) that David should have arrived at some point before or during the last half an hour. Therefore, "But he hasn't [come for supper]" is the only one that works.

"But he won't" would be OK without "I've been alone for half an hour" because there is no correlation between the two.

So in my opinion, the "official" answer is wrong.

Where did you find the question (source and author)?

 

[cnjackie88]

It's from a junior high school English test in China.
Some people say A is right, and some say C is right.

 

[cnjackie88]

I think the replying part should depend on the time. Supposing they have finished supper, and ready to go. They think David will not come.

 

[Tdol]

I think both A and C are right.

They are.

 

[emsr2d2]

I still don't see how "But he won't. I've been alone for half an hour" makes sense. And if the two people having the dialogue have already finished supper and are getting ready for bed, then the person saying "I've been alone for half an hour" is lying.

 

[Rover_KE]

Hi, Cnjackie!

When is the assignment due?

Come on! I'm not a student. It's also not a assignment.

How are we supposed to know that unless you tell us?

You can put that information in a signature line by clicking on Settings and then Edit Signature.

 

[jutfrank]

This seems very straightforward to me. The correct answer is C. The other answers are not correct. (See post #6)

Remember that for this type of gap-fill question, when the sentence including the gap is accompanied by other sentences, those other sentence are there to make the 'gapped' sentence make sense. In other words, you must select your answer in light of the whole context.

 

[cnjackie88]

So, which answer is correct?
As most of you are native speakers, but it seems some of you also have different ideas.

 

[jutfrank]

So, which answer is correct?

The correct answer is C.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

— David promised to come round to have supper with us today.  
— But he ____. I’ve been alone for half an hour.  
A. won’t 

No. We don't know whether he will or won't. We can't predict the future.

B. hadn’t 

No. You're in the present (you're alone now, waiting), so your verb needs to be a present tense.

C. hasn’t   

Yes. He was supposed to arrive, but so far, he hasn't.

D. doesn’t 

No. I think we all agree that that one makes no sense.

As you can see, Jackie, native English speakers don't always agree.

But I'm right.

Other business: The first sentence says "us," but the last sentence says "I." Where did everyone else go?

 

[emsr2d2]

Other business: The first sentence says "us," but the last sentence says "I." Where did everyone else go?

For me, the "us" refers to the two speakers. I take the long dash before "David" and the one before "But" to mean that they are spoken by two different people. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that speaker 1 has only just arrived and speaker 2 had been alone for the half an hour before speaker 1's arrival.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I think the replying part should depend on the time. Suppose they have finished supper, and they're ready to go.

That won't work. How could they have eaten together if one of them has only just arrived?

They think David will not come.

Then it would be phrased differently:

— David promised to come round to have supper with us today.
— But he didn't. I’ve been alone for half an hour.  

Won't would be grammatical, but it isn't natural.

So only C works.

 

[emsr2d2]

If it had been a "Put a word in the gap (free choice)" exercise, I would have put "didn't" there too. Unfortunately, that wasn't one of the options. The only one of the four given that works is "hasn't".

"He hasn't [come]" does at least leave open the possibility that he will still turn up.

 

[Rover_KE]

The correct answer is C.

Welcome back, jutfrank. We've missed you.

If you've had the virus, I hope you're better.

 

[jutfrank]

Welcome back, jutfrank. We've missed you.

If you've had the virus, I hope you're better.

Thanks very much. It's nice to be back.

I haven't had the virus but I appreciate the concern. I'll be dropping in sporadically over the coming weeks. In the meantime, I hope everybody here stays happy and healthy.