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Updated on
23 Mar 2023
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Question about English (US)
What does "It seemed to him that already he was saved--twenty-nine men to draw and only two marked papers left." mean?
What does "It seemed to him that already he was saved--twenty-nine men to draw and only two marked papers left." mean?
This one is from an exam, but I can't understand the sentence.
Can you briefly tell me what this means?
Does it mean he is drawing?
Can you briefly tell me what this means?
Does it mean he is drawing?
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23 Mar 2023
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- English (US)
I went and found the source material for this quotation. It refers to drawing slips- in other words, there are a certain number of papers in a container, and each person takes out (or draws) a paper. Three of them are marked. The men who draw a marked slip face some sort of consequence.
The word 'draw' here refers to a lottery/random draw rather than drawing in the art sense.
He's relieved because the first person to draw has just drawn a marked paper and there are twenty-nine men who will draw their own papers before he does, meaning the odds are good that the other two marked papers will be drawn by other people.
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- English (US)
I went and found the source material for this quotation. It refers to drawing slips- in other words, there are a certain number of papers in a container, and each person takes out (or draws) a paper. Three of them are marked. The men who draw a marked slip face some sort of consequence.
The word 'draw' here refers to a lottery/random draw rather than drawing in the art sense.
He's relieved because the first person to draw has just drawn a marked paper and there are twenty-nine men who will draw their own papers before he does, meaning the odds are good that the other two marked papers will be drawn by other people.
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