TPS News

Correct best answer: Replace “stooped” with “stopped.”

“When the class lecturer stopped in midsentence and began to gather her papers, we all looked at one another and shook our heads at her slavish regard for the clock.”

It is possible that the lecturer in question indeed “stooped” to gather her papers, but then she might have done so and continued to lecture. One action doesn’t preclude the other. That she notably did something “in midsentence” suggests it was more dramatic than just move. Quitting talking in midsentence is a far more startling turn of events. The writer might have intended to show the lecturer did both—stopped and stooped—but neglected to write that she did. This might also be a simple spelling error. In any event, the choice of words interrupts the flow of the sentence and confuses the picture. That surely was not the intent of the writer.
題目中的講師可能真的「彎下腰（stooped）」收拾報告，但是之後應當會繼續上課。合理的動作之間不應有所抵觸；很明顯地，那位講師在話說到「一半」時做了某件事，讓讀者知道接下來的動作應該更戲劇化。突然停止說話的動作可是相當驚人的轉折呢。或者作者想表達那位講師「停止說話」並且「彎下腰」，不過文句並未詳細說明這點。這也有可能是拼字上的錯誤造成的。總之，作者遣詞上的錯誤打斷了文章的流暢度，造成畫面上的混亂。這肯定不是作者的本意。