Would you check my sentences for the exam?

[hirashin]

Hello, native English speakers,
Would you check my sentences I made for the exam, please?
(a) There are twelve months in a/one year.
(b) My grandfather was born in America.
(c) Many books have been published so far. / So far many books have been published.
(d) Scientists say that your blood type has a lot to do with your character.
(e) More than a hundred books about blood types have been published in Japan.
(f) A person under the sign of Aries is said to be a little careless.
(g) Horoscopes are not popular in Japan.
(h) Many people believe that there is no relation between blood types and characters.
(i) Horoscopes are based on twelve astrological signs.
(j) The U.S. government has not tried to solve the weight problem.
(k) The efforts of the U.S. government to solve the weight problem have been successful so far.
(l) More than half of Americans over 19 weigh more than they should.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

[Lothor]

c) needs a comma after 'So far'
d) is factually incorrect. From Wikipedia, "The scientific community generally dismisses such beliefs as superstition or pseudoscience because of the lack of demonstrable evidence or reference to testable criteria"
No need for you to perpetuate myths as a teacher!
f) "A person with the star sign of Aries" is a little better.
h) "...between blood type and personality" is better

Just a general comment, would it be possible to make the sentences a bit more relevant/interesting for your high-school students?

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for your ongoing help, Lothor. I appreciate it.

Actually, (d) is one of the wrong sentence which does not correspond to the text.

FYI, here's a copy of my exam problems.

問１ [ ]に指定された条件及び語数で、次の日本語を英語にしなさい。数字もつづりで書くこと。(9)
①１年には12か月ある。[thereで始めて7語で]
②私の祖父はアメリカで生まれた。[America を用いて6語で]
③これまでに多くの本が出版されてきた。[many, far を用いて7語で]

問２ 次の英文を読んであとの問いに答えなさい。(41)
Can someone's birthday or blood type influence their ( あ )? Some people believe (①). Among young people, (②) instance, horoscopes are very popular. There (③) twelve astrological signs (④)(⑤) year, and your birthday tells you what ( い ) you are. Horoscopes are ( う ) on these signs. They (⑥) often used to tell someone's character. If you are born (⑦) April 1, (⑧) example, you belong (⑨) the sign "Aries". People who believe (⑩) horoscopes say that anyone ( え ) under the sign of Aries is
( お ) but (⑪) little careless.
(⑫) addition to astrological signs, some people believe that your blood type ①[is, have, has] a lot to do (⑬) your character. (②) instance, a person with blood type A is said to (⑭) serious, a person with blood type B is said to (⑭) curious, a person with blood type AB is said to (⑭) artistic, and a person with blood type O is said to (⑭) very outgoing. In Japan, this blood type ( き ) of character is very popular (⑮) people of all ( か ). Hundreds of books about blood types have been ( く ), and some of them have ( け ) best sellers.
Scientists say that there (⑯) no clear relation (⑰) astrological sign and character, or blood type and character, yet many people are fond (⑱) asking (⑲) about their signs and blood types. It is ②[real, true, really] that not everyone believes (⑩) ③[this, that, these] theories, but for people ④[which, who, whose] do, it can (⑳) a lot of fun to talk about and ( こ ) people's characters according (㉑) their blood type or sign.

(a) (①)～(㉑)の( )にあてはまる適切な語を下の選択肢から記号で選びなさい。同じ番号には同じ選択
肢が入ります。同じ記号を何度選んでもかまいません。文頭に来る文字も小文字になっています。(21)
ア）between イ）among ウ）to エ）so オ）with カ）on キ）for
ク）in ケ）of コ）a サ）others シ）is ス）are セ）be

(b) ( あ )～( こ )にあてはまる適切な語を下の選択肢から記号で選びなさい。ただし、すべて１回ずつ
選ぶこと。(10)
ア）become イ）published ウ）guessエ）character オ）based
カ）sign キ）theory ク）brave ケ）born コ)ages

(c) 下線部①～④の[ ]の中から適切な語をそれぞれ一つずつ選び、解答欄に書きなさい。(4)

(d) 次の英文が本文の内容と一致していればT、一致していないか、もしくは書いていなければFを
解答欄に書きなさい。(6)
① Scientists say that your blood type has a lot to do with your character.
② More than a hundred books about blood types have been published in Japan.
③ A person under the sign of Aries is said to be a little careless.
④ Horoscopes are not popular in Japan.
⑤ Many people believe that there is no relation between blood types and characters.
⑥ Horoscopes are based on twelve astrological signs.


問３ 次の英文を読んであとの問いに答えなさい。
[①] who lives in the United States knows that many Americans ①[they / than / weigh /more] should. This ②[very / is / a / serious] problem. According to a report, about 65% of Americans aged 20 or older are [②] than they should be. Almost ③[out / three / one / of] Americans over 20 are said to be "obese". This means [③] they have an especially serious weight problem (The U.S. government uses "overweight" to mean a [④] serious problem, and "obese" to mean a more serious one. ) Although Americans ④[trying / been / to / have] fight this social problem, [⑤] are becoming [⑥] rather than better.
Why is it so bad if people weigh more than they should? The biggest reason ⑤[that / overweight / being / is] or obese can ⑥[the / be / health / bad / for]. [⑦] instance, obese people can easily [⑧] diabetes, heart disease or ⑦[types / cancer / of / some]. They are more [⑨] to have a stroke. [⑩] fact, it is [⑪] that in the United States at least 280,000 people die every year ⑧[obese / because / being / of].
In [⑫], weight problems sometimes have a [⑬] effect on people's feelings. For [⑭], when people who are overweight or obese hate their own looks and want to [⑮] thinner, ⑨[may / unhappy / they / feel] or depressed. This can [⑯] them a lot of stress.
The United States and its people [⑰] a lot of great and [⑱] things in the world. And now they are [⑲] hard ⑩[way / a / find / to] to solve this weight problem. But [⑳], so [㉑], their efforts have not [㉒] very successful.

(a)[①]～[㉒]に当てはまるものをそれぞれ次の選択肢から記号で選びなさい。(22)
①a)People b)Anyone c)Someone ②a)heavy b)heavier c)heaviest
③a)that b)which c)when ④a)less b)more c)much
⑤a)thing b)a thing c)things ⑥a)bad b)worse c)worst
⑦a)In b)For c)To ⑧a)dependent b)decorate c)develop
⑨a)like b)liking c)likely ⑩a)In b)As c)For
⑪a)say b)says c)said ⑫a)audition b)addition c)admission
⑬a)negative b)neutral c)positive ⑭a)example b)exact c)exactly
⑮a)be b)am c)is ⑯a)cause b)because c)feel
⑰a)has doing b)have doing c)have done ⑱a)amaze b)amazing c)amazed
⑲a)try b)trying c)tried ⑳a)fortunately b)unfortunately c)luckily
㉑a)much b)many c)far ㉒a)be b)being c)been

(b)下線部①～⑩の単語を正しい語順に並べて意味の通る英文にしなさい。(20)

(c)上の文章に書いててある内容について、次の質問に、日本語で答えなさい。(6)
①医学的に「肥満」だと言われているのは、20歳を超えるアメリカ人のうちのどれくらいの割合か。(1)
②「肥満」によってなりやすい病気を四つあげなさい。(3)
③太り過ぎや肥満は身体の病気以外に、どんなよくない効果があるか説明しなさい。(2)

(d)次の英文のうちで本文の内容と一致するものを一つ選びなさい。(2)
①The U.S. government has not tried to solve the weight problem.
②The efforts of the U.S. government to solve the weight problem have been successful so far.
③More than half of Americans over 19 weigh more than they should.

Hirashin

 

[Lothor]

Oh, I get it, it's part of a reading comprehension, so you don't have any choice on the content of the sentences.

By the way, these exam questions are really hard on the eye. I take one look at the text with all the numbers, katakana characters and [way / a / find / to] type options and just don't want to read it because it looks messy and confusing. And if I don't like the look of it, your students certainly won't.

Can't you set an exam without all the interruptions to the text?

 

[mdchachi]

(h) Many people believe that there is no relation between blood types and characters.

I think they are all ok except I don't think you should use plurals here.
Many people believe that there is no relation between blood type and character.

Also in proper sentences, I think it's better to spell out nineteen than to use the number 19.

 

[hirashin]

Thanks for the help, mdchachi.

 

[hirashin]

Oh, I get it, it's part of a reading comprehension, so you don't have any choice on the content of the sentences.

By the way, these exam questions are really hard on the eye. I take one look at the text with all the numbers, katakana characters and [way / a / find / to] type options and just don't want to read it because it looks messy and confusing. And if I don't like the look of it, your students certainly won't.

Can't you set an exam without all the interruptions to the text?

I also think this kind of exam looks messy. But I can't find another way to avoid looking messy. Most of the students, who are eleventh graders, even don't know the basic knowlege of English. They don't know how to make English sentences. That's why I have to give them a lot of mutiple-choice questions.

Hirashin

 

[Lothor]

It's a shame to hear that and you have my sympathies. So, assuming they started English in year 7, why can't they form basic sentences in their fifth year of study?

 

[hirashin]

The system of teaching English at schools which the government determines is really bad. The English abilities of Japanese students are getting worse and worse. To my surprise, some (many?) of the students will go to universities without knowing the basics of English. In Japan, graduating from college seems to mean nothing. (I hope my English makes sense. Please correct my sentences if needed)

Hirashin

 

[joadbres]

I recommend changing sentence (f) to read as follows:
(f) A person born under the sign of Aries is said to be a little careless.

Sentence (i) could be improved by changing it as follows:
(i) Horoscopes are based on a set of twelve astrological signs.

However, this could cause confusion with your students, and so it is probably best to leave it unchanged.

 

[WonkoTheSane]

Do you get any flexibility in how you choose to teach?

 

[hirashin]

I'm just a part-time teacher. So I didn't have a chance to give my opinion about how to teach English to the students. The textbook, which is far beyound the abilities of the students I teach, had already been chosen when I was hired by the school.

I have been trying to get them to understand English, making a lot of prints that explain basic English grammar. But I'm not sure if my efforts have been successful so far.

The biggest problem is that most of the students are not motivated to learn the language. I sometimes feel empty.

Hirashin

 

[Lothor]

I'm just a part-time teacher. So I didn't have a chance to give my opinion about how to teach English to the students. The textbook, which is far beyound the abilities of the students I teach, had already been chosen when I was hired by the school.

I have been trying to get them to understand English, making a lot of prints that explain basic English grammar. But I'm not sure if my efforts have been successful so far.

The biggest problem is that most of the students are not motivated to learn the language. I sometimes feel empty.

Hirashin

I don't know how much freedom you have to do what you want in the classroom, but if you have low-ability, low-motivation students, your explanations of basic English grammar, however good they are, may not be appreciated. What they may appreciate is more interesting lessons with simple tasks where they do stuff (preferably talk!) rather than absorb stuff. That feeling of emptiness you have is entirely understandable and I wish you the best.

 

[hirashin]

Thank you for your advice.

I wish I could give simpler and more enjoyable lessons. But the school expects me to giive them lessons for college entrance examinations. The textbook they have selected is much more difficult than they can understand. It's impossible for most of them to understand the text no matter how carefully I explain it. I'm thinking of not using the textbook.