word reference

1- The law is seen as a mechanism by which moral social behaviours are enforced .

which refer to what ? the mechanism or the law ?

2- Rules are important to stop the strong from using their physical and mental superiority.

their refer to what ? the strong or the strongest ?

1: "which" refers to "mechanism".

2: "their" refers to "the strong". "the strongest" isn't even in that sentence.

Thank you guest for your answer

1: "which" refers to "mechanism".

2: "their" refers to "the strong". "the strongest" isn't even in that sentence.

That was my answer in the exam too.

but my teacher said that "which" refers to "the law" and that "their" refers to " the strongest" as it is understood implicitly from the sentence.

Well, your teacher is wrong, I'm afraid. There's nothing you can do but find a better teacher.

It is grammatically impossible for "which" to refer to "law" because "law" if part of subject and "which" is in the predicate.

"the strong" and "the strongest" mean essentially the same thing, so your teacher has somewhat of a point, but is still confused. "the strongest" really just just has more emphasis in a case like this... There's no major difference in meaning that your teacher should be able to complain about.

What kind of an exam was that? From a syntactic point of view, Guest is of course right, and I can't imagine how your teacher could mess this up so badly.

If it was a comprehension test though, "which" refers to the mechanism that is the law; "The law is seen as a mechanism by which moral social behaviours are enforced" > "social behaviours are enforced by the law".

and "the strongest" is indeed implied, meaning-wise. When we say "to stop the strong from using their physical and mental superiority", we actually do mean "the strongest".

If it was a comprehesion test though, her questions are silly because the law and the mechanism are one and the same (she should have asked something like "what are social behaviours enforced by?" or something), plus "the strong" (as opposed to "the weak") is the exact same thing as "the strongest".

1- The law is seen as a mechanism by which moral social behaviours are enforced .

which refer to what ? the mechanism or the law ?

2- Rules are important to stop the strong from using their physical and mental superiority.

their refer to what ? the strong or the strongest ?

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These don't seem like unreasonable questions to me. I think that people studying English seem to get hung up on 'grammar' and miss the essential meaning of what is being asked.

Question 1: It is unclear whether 'which' refers to the mechanism or the law. Which refers to both.

Question 2: Again, the 'stongest' is not actually mentioned. But the assumption is that 'the stongest' will win. So 'their' refers to the 'strong' and by implication, 'the stongest'.

I must admit, these are not good questions, particularly for learners of English. A good question, should have a simple clear cut answer that can be marked 'right or wrong'.

The correct answers to these questions are complex and vague. Does that make them a better test of english. What is the Teacher trying to achieve with these questions.