Q&A - PSLE English

[Nv-mom]

The porcelain mug is on the table. It belongs to Mother.


__________________which __________

My DDs ans: The porcelain mug, which belongs to Mother, is on the table.
Book Ans: The porcelain mug which is on the table belongs to Mother.

Pls help. Which is the correct answer and any explanation for it?

[ChiefKiasu]

Joy of Learning 111:

My suggestion:


The answer sheet is preferred because it states the effect clearly and completely. In cause/effect sentences, we take the effect clause to be our main idea.

In your daughter’s answer, the effect is ‘finally succeeded’ whereas it is more properly ‘finally succeeded in winning the race’.

Usually, we do not have this problem because the cause/effect parts refer to entirely different things. For example:

I felt sick as a result of eating too many durians.

I agree. The answer sheet's answer is better.

[ChiefKiasu]

Nv-mom:

The porcelain mug is on the table. It belongs to Mother.


__________________which __________

My DDs ans: The porcelain mug, which belongs to Mother, is on the table.
Book Ans: The porcelain mug which is on the table belongs to Mother.

Pls help. Which is the correct answer and any explanation for it?

Semantically, in the context of the earlier 2 statements, your DD's answer is probably more correct than the book's answer. But in my opinion, both are acceptable.

[Joy of Learning 111]

Nv-mom:

The porcelain mug is on the table. It belongs to Mother.


__________________which __________

My DDs ans: The porcelain mug, which belongs to Mother, is on the table.
Book Ans: The porcelain mug which is on the table belongs to Mother.

Pls help. Which is the correct answer and any explanation for it?

My suggestion: The way to read these normally is that the first sentence expresses the main thought and the second sentence expresses some additional information about the subject of the first sentence. Therefore, your daughter’s answer is correct.

One way to think about these is to imagine that a question is being asked. Is it:

a. Where is the porcelain mug?

or

b. Whose porcelain mug is that?

Question a. would elicit your daughter’s answer, whereas question b. would elicit the book’s answer.

[Osso bucco]

Dear parents,


My daughter took her PSLE last year (2014) in Methodist Girls' School, achieving a score of 270. She has posted her composition notes in the following website https://pslerevision.wordpress.com/

Hope you'll find it useful!

[Joy of Learning 111]

Osso bucco:

My daughter took her PSLE last year (2014) in Methodist Girls' School, achieving a score of 270. She has posted her composition notes in the following website https://pslerevision.wordpress.com/

Dear Osso bucco

That’s really excellent of you and your daughter. Thank you for creating such a website.

May I gently make one or two suggestions to improve the website even further? Firstly, the model compositions are extremely long: the ‘Burglary’ one is 1,587 words long. The prescribed minimum for the PSLE is 150 words but most schools encourage their students to aim for about 250 words, which is a realistic figure given the time constraint. Perhaps your daughter could rewrite it so that the condensed form is within 250 words? Secondly, the new format for the PSLE in 2015 is based on three pictures. Perhaps your daughter could write some new compositions under the new format?

[lifeisabeach]

Does your child’s teacher return the compositions done during exams?

I m doing a small survey here.
If they don’t return it, then how will the child know where they are wrong?

[Joy of Learning 111]

lifeisabeach:

Does your child's teacher return the compositions done during exams?

I have privately tutored many children over many years. To a tee, the children’s teachers do not return the compositions done during the exams.

lifeisabeach:

If they don't return it, then how will the child know where they are wrong?

Hopefully, the teachers will go through individually with the children in class. More generally, the teachers will provide individualised feedback on compositions done outside of exams. Parents can also request advice during PTMs.

[Kiatkhim]

Can someone advise?


Raju was one of the men who (was) or (were) commended by the police for helping the accident victim.

Thank you.

[nicnac]

Kiatkhim:

Can someone advise?


Raju was one of the men who (was) or (were) commended by the police for helping the accident victim.

Thank you.

Were.
Was- agrees with Raju
Were - agrees with men