Q&A - PSLE English

[Blur Baby]

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[Blur Baby]

Hi, I have a question on synthesis and transformation.



There was an accident on the expressway. It caused a massive jam.

___________ resulted in _________


Thank you.

[sharonkhoo]

Blur Baby:

Hi, I have a question on synthesis and transformation.



There was an accident on the expressway. It caused a massive jam.

___________ resulted in _________


Thank you.

An accident on the expressway resulted in a massive jam. (I think using 'the accident' should also be OK.)

[GiftedGem]

jetsetter:

Jade:

One more that needs help, why is the answer \"are\" when statement is about thing of the past:


Flowers (are) commonly used to design clothing worn in the 1960s.
Options: are / were/ have been / had been


Gosh, the more I mark the more confused I am...guess my only grammar foundation is also not there.

TIA.

Hi, the answer \"are\" is not wrong either. In this case, writer is using the Historical Present Tense which is used in non-fiction, e.g. accounts of history, or in journalism (headlines).

Hi Jetsetter, I beg to differ
Historical Present Tense is applicable unless the sentence is phrased in this way :-
Flowers are commonly designed for clothing worn in the 1960s.

Becos the words 'used to' implying it is already in the past, hence the answer should be 'were' .
Flowers were commonly used to design clothing worn in the 1960s.

[bebe]

Hi, can someone advise me, which one is correct?


a) James rarely exercises, does he ?
b) James rarely exercises, doesn’t he?

[sharonkhoo]

bebe:

Hi, can someone advise me, which one is correct?


a) James rarely exercises, does he ?
b) James rarely exercises, doesn’t he?

a) is correct. 'Rarely' has a negative sense, so the question tag will be positive.

[bebe]

slmkhoo:

bebe:

Hi, can someone advise me, which one is correct?


a) James rarely exercises, does he ?
b) James rarely exercises, doesn’t he?

a) is correct. 'Rarely' has a negative sense, so the question tag will be positive.

My gal chose (a) and teacher marked her wrong. I also think that (a) sounds better.

[bebe]

By the time the police arrived at the crime scene, all the valuables

(a) were stolen
(b) has been stolen
have been stolen
(d) had been stolen.

Teacher’s answer is (b). Why can’t it be or (d)?

[jetsetter]

GiftedGem:

jetsetter:

[quote=\"Jade\"]One more that needs help, why is the answer \"are\" when statement is about thing of the past:


Flowers (are) commonly used to design clothing worn in the 1960s.
Options: are / were/ have been / had been


Gosh, the more I mark the more confused I am...guess my only grammar foundation is also not there.

TIA.

Hi, the answer \"are\" is not wrong either. In this case, writer is using the Historical Present Tense which is used in non-fiction, e.g. accounts of history, or in journalism (headlines).

Hi Jetsetter, I beg to differ
Historical Present Tense is applicable unless the sentence is phrased in this way :-
Flowers are commonly designed for clothing worn in the 1960s.

Becos the words 'used to' implying it is already in the past, hence the answer should be 'were' .
Flowers were commonly used to design clothing worn in the 1960s.[/quote]I do believe it's a botched attempt by the writer to use the historical present. Was making a wild guess that the writer had intended \"clothing worn in the 1960s\" to mean a type of fashion genre, i.e. Sixties fashion (which is still being designed and worn in this time and age), as in:

Flowers are commonly used to design 1960s clothing.

If the writer was describing a past action of using flowers to design clothing 50 years ago, then clearly the given answer \"are\" is wrong. I'm inclined towards this possibility:)

Cheers!

[sharonkhoo]

bebe:

By the time the police arrived at the crime scene, all the valuables

(a) were stolen
(b) has been stolen
(c) have been stolen
(d) had been stolen.

Teacher's answer is (b). Why can't it be (c) or (d)?

The correct answer is (d). 'Arrived' is past, and the stealing happened before that, so it should be 'had been'.