SKILL 9: LISTEN FOR “ALMOST NEGATIVE” EXPRESSIONS

Certain expressions in English have “almost negative” meanings. These expressions are common on the TOEFL  test and need to be reviewed.

Example

(woman)             Were you able to pay the electric bill?

(man)                   I had barely enough money.

(narrator)            What does the man imply?

Possible answers:

(A)   He had plenty of money for the bill.

(B)   He did not have enough money for the bill.

(C)   He paid the bill but has no money left.

(D)   He was unable to pay the bill.

In the man’s statement, the word enough indicates that there was enough, so he did pay the bill. However, it was barely enough, so he almost did not have enough and certainly has no money left. The correct answer is therefore answer (C).

For more information watch the next video...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAp9ilzVZWs