Question

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.

Part A

Read the sentence below and answer the question that follows.

My grandfather the fisherman always told me that the best way to communicate with fish is to drop them a line.
Which two words or phrases combine to create the pun in this sentence?


A.“communicate” and “drop them a line”

B.“the best way” and “drop them a line”

C.“fisherman” and “fish”

D.“grandfather” and “communicate”

Question 2
Part B

What is the best interpretation of the pun in Part A?


A.The pun plays on the fact that you can’t write a fish a letter to communicate with it.

B.The pun plays on a phrase that means both to send a note and to attempt to catch a fish.

C.The pun plays on the fact that the grandfather must be crazy to think he can communicate with fish.

D.The pun plays on the grandson thinking his grandfather is goofy to suggest communicating with fish.

Answer 1

Answer: On Part A, the answer is alternative A, since there's double meaning in the words "communicate" and "drop them a line". On Part B, the best interpretation for the double meaning of these words on Part A are to really catch the fish or to send a note to it, so altenative B is the correct one.

Answer 2

Let's read the text again...

My grandfather the fisherman always told me that the best way to communicate with fish is to drop them a line.

There are three phrases that help us to understand the pun in the text: The grandfather is a fisherman, it means his job is to catch fish, by communicate he means to make the fish come closer, and by drop them a line he means the fishing rod thread.

Taking the above into account the correct answers are:

A.“communicate” and “drop them a line”

B.The pun plays on a phrase that means both to send a note and to attempt to catch a fish.