Catalonian independence bid

Sonoe talked at lunchtime about the uneasy situation in the Spanish region of Catalonia, which held an unofficial referendum last weekend. 

The turnout was 42%, of which 90% voted 'for', which could be seen as only the most fervent 38% of the whole Catalonian population.

Does this mean that the other 58% who didn't vote were mainly opposed to change? 

If so, that would mean that the independence vote would not have been won by the proponents..

Words and usage: Turn out
Turn out is a noun and verb meaning the number of people who go to a place to do an action, in this case, going to a voting station to cast their vote. 

Other forms and uses can be found at Oxford Dictionaries.

Grammar point:  'Be mainly opposed'
Adverbs can tell us the size of the part of a total. This may be a number, volume or frequency.
'Mainly' means a part larger than half, perhaps up to 90%. For example, if the weather forecast says it will be mainly rainy tomorrow, we can expect most hours of the day to be wet!
Adverbs with similar meaning include mostly and largely. An antonym example is partly or slightly.

More explanation can be found at The British Council website.

Practice: Write about the question 'Do you think your region could become independent?'

Quiz Me! Conversation cards, available to buy at englishbooks.jp


#大人 #英会話

EFL Daily - Catalonian independence bid
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