PLEASE refer to the accompanying bar chart. This is an item from a recent English test. According to the teacher, the answer is B. Glass.

I don’t agree with the teacher because:

1. The title of the chart, “Reduction in Energy Use and Pollution by Recycling”, means there is: a. Reduction in energy use by recycling; and b. Reduction in pollution by recycling. The conjunction “and” joins sentences of a similar idea.

2. The question asks for the item that produces the lowest percentage of pollution when recycled.

I would say that the item which produces the lowest percentage of pollution must be the item that has the largest percentage in reduction of pollution. Here, it is the opposite: reduction in pollution and produces pollution. – Aiman Cheah Tiong Chap

Thank you for sending me part of your exam paper with the title of the bar graph visible. I cropped your jpg file so that only the bar graph and its title is left, and this is what I’m attaching here. But my real answer is below.

I agree with you that the title of this bar graph means that it shows

a. Reduction in energy use by recycling; and

b. Reduction in pollution by recycling.  

The question deals with only the pollution part. But I don’t think the question addresses the information available in the bar graph. Taking only the pollution part, the graph shows by how many percent pollution is reduced when various materials are recycled. It doesn’t show the percentages of pollution produced by the different materials when they are recycled. So how can a question be asked about the latter? Besides, isn’t recycling about reducing pollution, not producing it?

If the answer is to be “Glass”, I would formulate the question thus:

“Identify the item which when recycled, would reduce pollution by the lowest percentage.”

Was and is

1. Which is correct?

a. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

b. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

c. It is ... had ever seen.

2. How do I put it if I mean to say that I JUST arrived at a place? Which is correct?

a. This is the first time I’m here.

b. This is the first time I’ve been here. – Jenny

1. When you say “It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”, you are referring to something you saw in the past, but the statement is still true at the moment you speak, that is, you have not so far seen anything more beautiful than it.

When you say “It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.”, you are also referring to something you saw in the past. The statement means that at the time you saw it, you had not seen anything more beautiful, but now you may or may not have seen something to surpass it in beauty. You can expand the sentence in two ways to convey the two different possibilities:

“It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen at that time, and is still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.”

OR “It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen at that time, but since then, I have seen many things that are more beautiful.”

We don’t usually use “It is” with “had ever seen”, as in your third sentence. But we can use “It is” with “have ever seen”. If you are speaking now about something you are seeing now, e.g. a Flame of the Forest tree in full bloom, you may exclaim: “It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!”

2. You say “This is the first time I’ve been here.” OR “This is my first time here.”

Below are examples of usage from the Internet:

“This is the first time I’ve been here and it’s an intimidating stadium,” Coppell said. (from telegraph.co.uk, Apr 10, 2005)

“His son, Andrew, 15, added: ‘This is my first time here – and it’s good fun. We’ve had to wait for a bit, though.’” (from guardian.co.uk, Aug 5, 2001)

More on tenses

1. “Are” and “have” are both verbs in the present tense. How do we use them in questions? For example, do we say:

“Are you sleeping?” or “Have you slept?”

2. Use of do and did: which do we use in these sentences?

a. Do/Did you go for the exhibition? (for an exhibition that is going on)

b. Do/Did you eat?

c. Do/Did you join the school tuition?

3. You hear a baby crying. Do you say:

“Baby is crying.” or “The baby cries.” – Felicia

1. “Are” is the plural present tense form of the verb “be” and can be used by itself, OR as an auxiliary (helping) verb in the present continuous (progressive) tense, OR as part of a passive verb. In your first question “Are you sleeping?”, “are” is the auxiliary verb of the present continuous verb “are sleeping”. We usually ask this question when someone is lying down with his eyes closed and we aren’t sure whether he’s asleep or awake. Here are some other examples of questions using “are”:

Are you a teacher? (“are” used as the main verb)

In your house, are the dishes washed in a dishwasher, or by hand? (“are washed” is the passive form of “wash” or “washes”)

“Have” is used in asking questions when it is part of a present perfect tense verb as in your sentence “Have you slept?” where “have slept” is the verb. In this question, someone is asked whether or not he has slept at an unspecified time before the present.

Sometimes “have” is used as the main verb in a question, as in “Have you a recipe for a spiced apple juice to be served hot in winter?” (telegraph.co.uk Food and Drink Advice)

But this is rather old-fashioned and formal.

2. You should ask:

a. Did you go to the exhibition?

b. Did you eat before you went? (“Did you eat?” by itself is incomplete) OR Did you eat all the apples in the fridge?, etc.

Do you eat durians? (When we use the present tense form of “do” in this question, it means “Are durians among the food you eat?”)

c. Did you join the school tuition group? (“the school tuition” sounds vague)

3. You say: “The baby is crying.”

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