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Some of you were inquiring which tests were evident in the third edition.

Sataruday, November 1995
Sataruday, May 1996
Sataurday, November 1996
Sataruday, January 1997
Sataruday, May 1997
Sunday May 1997
Sataurday Jan 2000
Sunday May 2000
Sataurday, January 2002
Satyardy, May 2002(misprint so they put it on their website)

By Incognito (Incognito) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 11:34 pm: Edit

thnx for the info Bard. I think that I speak for many on the forums when I say that this is appreciated, because lots of people have been asking about this...

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 12:31 am: Edit

Thank you.

I was one of the people asking for the dates of the tests. We knew about about the May 2002. I wanted to know if it would be the October 2001 test that is also available online.

This means that there is one more test to locate and get answers. As I posted somewhere else, I think it would be neat to compose our own answer sheets for these two additional tests. I would be happy to contribute lots of answers and find a way to host the answer sheets. If anyone is interested to help to that effort, you can email at xiggi@aol.com or post here.

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 02:25 am: Edit

So how many of these are different than that of 2nd edition?

By Zulu (Zulu) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 09:52 am: Edit

"Different than" is a grammatical error. "Different from" is the accepted American form, while "different to" is what is used in the UK. It's not "color" -- it's "colour". Further, "didn't used to" is also another egregious and characteristically American grammatical error.

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 09:59 am: Edit

Really? Never knew that. Thanks.

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 11:11 am: Edit

QUOTE 1. "Different from" is the construction that no one will object to.
"Different to" is fairly common informally in the U.K., but rare in
the U.S. "Different than" is sometimes used to avoid the cumbersome
"different from that which", etc. (e.g., "a very different Pamela
than I used to leave all company and pleasure for" -- Samuel
Richardson). Some U.S. speakers use "different than" exclusively.

QUOTE 2. From the University of Victoria
Different from" is the more accurate and acceptable form: "Apples are different from oranges," "He was different from what I expected."
However, "different than" is becoming acceptable before clauses ("He was different than I expected") because the "what" can be conveniently omitted. Take note of the audience and tone of the essay before deciding.

QUOTE 3. In American English, "different from" is considered standard and is
the most appropriate form to use in formal writing and even in formal
speech; "different than" is colloquial and is perfectly normal and
acceptable in ordinary speech.

In British English, "different to" is very common and is usually
considered acceptable even in formal writing. This one sounds weird
to Americans.


Despite the fact that we are here to learn, picking on someone's typos or grammar is POOR taste.

This being said, I hope that your comment about "colour" was sarcastic or self-deprecrating. If not, I believe you selected the wrong forum. The last time I checked this was an American based forum discussing an American test. Maybe, we should tell you to spell your name Zoulou since that usage is preferred in some parts of the world

Finally, to give you "slight" credit, here is a last commennt. It appears to give you some solace but its conclusion remain the same.

ERRARE HUMANUM EST. That is L'erreur est humaine, for the rest of us.

QUOTE 4: Some may say: Who cares what preposition we use? Prepositions have always been a little arbitrary. Bernstein would reply that it's more than a matter of switching words; we're talking about different parts of speech. A key element of his argument is that than is usually construed as a conjunction, with part of the dependent clause omitted. "We are better than they" is really an abbreviation of "we are better than they are" (which is why we properly say they rather than them.) But in most cases--I'll get to the exceptions in a moment--different doesn't take a conjunction ("I am different than he is"?); it takes a plain old preposition, from. This argument probably had more force in 1965 than it does today, when most people don't even know what a preposition is. But Bernstein's point is still valid. Many people who know nothing of grammar will concede that better than them grates on the ear nonetheless.

Bernstein admits that there are instances in which different than is preferable. He cites some quotes originally dredged up by Bergen Evans: "How different things appear in Washington than in London." "It has possessed me in a different way than ever before." To use from in these sentences would require some lumbering construction like, "How different things appear in Washington from the way they appear in London." Bernstein and Evans offer a rather vague rationale for why than is OK, but it boils down to this: In the sentences above, than functions as a conjunction, not a preposition. The first is a condensed version of "How different things appear in Washington than they do in London"; the expanded form of the second would conclude, "than it ever has before."

So there's our rule. When different is followed by a prepositional phrase, the preposition should be from. When it's followed by a dependent clause introduced by a conjunction (even if much of the clause is elliptical), the conjunction should be than.

A few malcontents will have none of this, claiming that in the UK it's considered perfectly proper to use different than in a prepositional construction. So? The British also drink warm beer, avoid dentists, and came up with 5,280 feet to the mile. In the end, logic will always fall before usage; you're not going to find me holding out for "it is I" rather than "it's me," even though logic demands the former. But this is one of those on-the-bubble situations where logic has a fighting chance, so I say we give it a shot.

By Virgo007 (Virgo007) on Friday, March 28, 2003 - 08:02 pm: Edit

i didnt even know the 3rd edition was out...i didnt see it any where

By Amylase (Amylase) on Sunday, June 15, 2003 - 02:09 am: Edit

Xiggi, I'm amazed at how much you know. What grade are you in?