Direction: Read the following passage and answer the question. (choose the most appropriate answers) When another old cave is discovered in the South France, it is not usually news. Rather, it is an ordinary event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody pays heed to them. However, when the Lascaux cave complex was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago. The scenes show people hunting animals , such as bison or wild cats. Other images depict birds and, most noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other animals. Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental difficult task. They did not limit themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces that required climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux complex. Unfortunately, the paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature changes, which easily wear the images away. Because the Lascaux caves have many entrances, air movement has also damaged the images inside, Although they are not out in the open air, where natural light would have destroyed them long ago, many of the images have deteriorated and are barely recognizable. To prevent further damage, the site was closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years after it was discovered.
In the underlined expression 'hunting animals' the word 'hunting' is used as:
Verb in continuous form
Analysing the Phrase 'hunting animals'
The question asks about the grammatical function of the word 'hunting' in the phrase 'hunting animals' as used in the passage. Let's look at the sentence from the passage where this phrase appears:
"The scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wild cats."
Here, the phrase 'hunting animals' describes the action being performed by the people shown in the scenes. The word 'hunting' is derived from the verb 'to hunt'.
Understanding the Word 'hunting'
The word 'hunting' ends in '-ing'. Words ending in '-ing' can function in different ways in English:
- As a noun (gerund): e.g., "Hunting is a popular sport." Here, 'hunting' is the subject of the sentence.
- As a present participle: This form is used in continuous verb tenses (e.g., "They are hunting") or can function as an adjective (e.g., "a hunting dog") or as part of a participial phrase modifying a noun (e.g., "the man hunting in the woods").
Examining the Options
Let's consider the given options for the word 'hunting' in the phrase 'hunting animals':
- Verb in continuous form: This refers to the present participle form of the verb 'hunt' which is used to create continuous tenses (like present continuous, past continuous, etc.). While the phrase 'hunting animals' isn't a complete continuous verb phrase by itself (it lacks a form of 'be' verb like 'are' or 'were'), the word 'hunting' itself is the present participle form, which is the core component of continuous verb forms. In the sentence "The scenes show people hunting animals", 'hunting' functions as a present participle modifying 'people' or part of a participial clause describing their action. This form is directly related to continuous verb structures.
- Noun: Although 'hunting' can be a noun (gerund), in the phrase 'hunting animals', it describes an action being performed by the people, not an object or concept itself. It is not functioning as the subject or object of a main verb here in the same way a gerund noun does.
- Adjective: 'Hunting' can function as an adjective, like in "hunting season" or "hunting dogs". In "people hunting animals", 'hunting' is a present participle that could be seen as modifying 'people' (meaning 'people who are hunting animals'). While it has an adjectival quality here, the option "Verb in continuous form" focuses more directly on the origin and typical use of the '-ing' verb form itself in constructing continuous aspects.
- Juncture: A juncture is a term in linguistics referring to the transition or pause between sounds or words. This is clearly not the function of the word 'hunting'.
Conclusion
In the context of the sentence "The scenes show people hunting animals", the word 'hunting' is the present participle form of the verb 'to hunt'. This specific form ending in '-ing' is used both in continuous verb tenses and sometimes acts adjectivally or forms participial phrases. Among the given options, "Verb in continuous form" highlights the origin of the word form – it is the form of the verb used to construct continuous tenses. Therefore, based on the provided options, 'hunting' is identified as the verb in its continuous form (present participle) which is part of the description of the action.
Important Questions from Reading Comprehension
Why, according to the writer can't people be motivated to use a resource prudently?
1. They feel that others may overuse the resource
2. It is possible to substitute the resource
3. Abundance of the resource availability
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
When do people use resources exhaustively?
The self-interest of people affects the use of renewable resources
People rooted in a locality
Which among the following is closest in meaning with the word 'deplete'?
