DISPROVING VS DISAPPROVING

Shengliver’s Note: Rarely is a mistake detected in China’s National Matriculation English Test. When I came across the word ‘disproving’ in 2014’s NMET Beijing, I reckoned it was a mistake. I list my research results as follows for my readers to judge.

 

The following is a screenshot of part of a reading comprehension passage from NMET Beijing 2014. Note the word disproving.

 

The passage is adapted from an original article found on this English website:

http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/the-capital-is-coming-up-roses-why-store-scenting-is-big-business-in-london-9330347.html

 

My reader, do sales assistants with raised eyebrows have a disapproving or a disproving attitude? The answer is obvious.

 

The collocation ‘disapproving attitude’ is found on a corpus website:

 

Hence, the word disproving in the NMET Beijing 2014 should be disapproving, as follows.