TheUltimateWinner wrote:
Quote:
Judge Bonham denied a motion to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to a hotel.
(A) to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of to confine them to
(B) that would have allowed members of the jury to go home at the end of each day instead of confined to
(C) under which members of the jury are allowed to go home at the end of each day instead of confining them in
(D) that would allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than confinement in
(E) to allow members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than be confined to
Request Expert Reply:E says:
'Judge Bonham denied a motion for a PURPOSE'. Is it really? I did not find the actual feelings of the correct version!
The meaning what comes to my mind is:
Judge Bonham denied a motion THAT allows members of the jury to go home at the end of each day rather than be confined to a hotel.Am I missing anything to comprehend the meaning of correct choice E, experts?
Hello,
TheUltimateWinner. I understand why you are confused about this one. The word
motion, in this sense, is more like
vote (or even
move, believe it or not). You would say,
I cast a vote to [do something], or,
I make a motion to [do something], or,
I move to [do something]. Thus, a judge denying
a motion to allow members [to do something] is perfectly idiomatic. It is not a common idiom, but a native speaker would most likely be familiar with it, given the popularity of courtroom reality TV shows and film dramas. To be clear, this
to does
not serve in the same capacity as
in order to. In fact, that would be the opposite of what the sentence is intended to convey: the judge denied a motion that
would have allowed members of the jury to go home, rather than denying a motion
so that members of the jury
could go home. I know it is confusing. As I said before, this is not too common an idiom, so I would just add it to a list you might be keeping on the side and, should it pop up again (though I doubt it), be ready to take it on.
I hope that helps. I have wanted to answer this question since I saw it yesterday, but, you know, work got in the way.
- Andrew