I am not a native speaker of English so I am not sure how a native speaker would choose an answer. But I would go for choice D. My decision is based on the following reasons.

• It is clear from the title of the ad that the sale is going to be of porcelain items.
• It is onec-in-a-life-time opportunity and just any second hand porcelain sale can hardly be termed so. This renders choice a invalid.
• Modern porcelain work is not likely to be termed as 'antique' either. Bang goes choice b.
• Choice c stands some chance to be the answer but the noun 'collections' suggest that there are going to be more than one collection while it is clearly stated in the ad that 'a collector from Japan' is selling. so it is going to just one collection. Besides the language used in choice lacks strength and does not sum up the message forcefully which choice D does.

Regards
Saadat Mond

-----Original Message-----
From:   Salza [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, May 10, 2001 11:29 AM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Private Collection

A simple question came up that my colleagues and I couldn't come to an
agreement to which answer is most suitable. So, I told them I'd go right to
the experts here for help?




.............................................................
Question:
What items are offered for sale in the following advertisement?

===========================================================
ANTIQUE JAPANESE PORCELAINE SALE
A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity!

A collector from Japan is selling six of his most fine,
rare and exclusive pieces from his famous private collection.

Coming to Kuala Lumpur soon!            * Pictures of four porcelain
Pan Pacific Hotel
22nd March 2000
================================================================

Answer:
A)Some second-hand porcelain
B)Some modern porcelain works
C)Some private collections of porcelain
D)Some exclusive antiques

..........................

I go for C because I think that the Japanese guy is selling his private
collection of "porcelain" and not other antiques. Unfortunately, all my
four other colleagues disagree with me; they choose D as a better answer. I
am confused. They could be right but can someone help me to explain why D
is correct and not C?

Please provide reason to your answer.

Thanks. I appreciate your help.
Salza

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/