What do "Could there be" and "anything else" mean in the text below?
Here is an extract from The Vampire Diaries:
Man: As Jeremy's teacher, I'm concerned. All right? It's the third day of school. And he's skipped 6 of his classes.
Woman: Mr. Tanner. Are you aware that Jeremy and Elena's parents died?
Man: 4 months ago,a great loss.Car accident .Wickery bridge,if I remember correctly .And you're related to the family how? The, uh, mother's kid sister?
Woman: Younger sister.
Man: Right.
Woman: yes.6 classes? Are you sure? I mean, that's kind of hard to do.
Man: Not when you're on drugs .It's his attempt at coping, Ms. Summers. And the signs are there.He's moody, withdrawn, argumentative, hung-over. Are there any other relatives in the picture?
Woman: I'm their sole guardian.
Man: Uh-huh.Could there be?
Woman: What are you suggesting, exactly?
Man: It's an impossible job, isn't it, raising two teens?
Woman: It's been tough, but, no, it's not.
Man: Wrong answer.It is an extremely impossible job, and anything less and you're not doing it properly.
The teacher look too rude in the film. And the woman is a single 26-year-old aunt who play an inexperienced mother for her niece and nephew. She's upset when the teacher asks "Could there be?". I don't know why she feels so. I would appreciate it, if you could use the phrases above in an other example situation for me.I'm obsessed with the problem above. Could you help me?Does "and anything less" mean "If raising two teens is any thing less than extremely impossible, then..."?
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Answers · 14
2
When he asks "Could there be?" in this conversation, he is asking if there is anyone besides the woman who could be the child's guardian in a slightly impolite way.
By "anything less" he is suggesting that if raising two teenagers doesn't seem like an impossible task, then you are doing a poor job of looking after the children.
1
"Could there be?" - maybe, "could there be such a thing as a sole guardian for Jeremy and Elena?" He meant that it's impossible for one person to take that responsibility, especially someone so young to him. Yeah, he was rude.
"anything less" - here, his presumption is the same. She didn't answer his question the way he wanted her to, which was yes. Anyway, he was asking a rhetorical question, so yeah.
This episode was a few seasons ago, I don't remember this character. You'll learn to forget him. haha
0
Thanks but why the teacher asks "could there be?"? He has already asked "Are there any other relatives in the picture?". Why do you think "could" is slightly impolite.
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