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ESL forum >
Ask for help > meaning
meaning
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aaisha86
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meaning
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Hello everybody , i ave a problem understanding the following sentences and i need someone to clarify the meaning for me:
- Large amounts of nutrients are required to maintain weight ,much less increase production or performance.
-eggs are marked so that the proper end will be in the right position to ensure a good hatch.
-The DNA content of sperm varies slightly based on the gender of the offspring that would result from conception. |
5 Jan 2012
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ueslteacher
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... EDIT: large amounts of nutrients are needed to increase production or performance as well
(maybe even more than for maintaining weight). ... eggs are marked (stamped with some kind of a mark); to mark - mark something to show the position of something ... the gender (male or female) of the baby which results from the conception (the process of an egg being fertilized inside a mother �s body so that she becomes pregnant)
Sophia
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5 Jan 2012
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yanogator
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I �m not sure I agree with Sophia about the first one, but I can �t be sure, because it isn �t good English. Her interpretation is what it seems to say, but we have the expression "much less" that means something like "by comparison" or "not so obviously". Another expression we use in that situation is "let alone".I think the writer is trying to say, "Large amounts of nutrients are required to maintain weight , and that isn �t even enough to increase production or performance." I can �t be at all sure, since it wasn �t a correct usage of the expression "much less". However, you can see from the sentence that it is trying to contrast the amount needed merely to maintain weight with the (increased) amount necessary for an increase. EDIT - Since Sophia edited her answer, I no longer disagree with her. Bruce
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5 Jan 2012
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ueslteacher
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I didn �t know about the expression, thanks, Bruce:)even/much/still lessand certainly not No explanation was offered, still less an apology.He �s too shy to ask a stranger the time, much less speak to a room full of people.
Sophia |
5 Jan 2012
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MoodyMoody
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For the second sentence: marked probably means that one end of the egg was inked (probably stamped) to indicate "this end up."
The third sentence isn �t wrong like the first sentence, but still sounds a bit clumsy to me. The underlined part means that if the sperm cell fertilized an egg, the embryo might be a girl or a boy. Most sperm, of course, do not end up fertilizing eggs, so this sentence used the conditional to show a condition that probably doesn �t exist. With academic writing such as this, I �m surprised the writer didn �t just directly mention X and Y chromosomes. |
5 Jan 2012
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Errie
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@MoodyMoody..... nice explanation....
I was thinking the same regarding the X and Y chromosomes. |
6 Jan 2012
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