Q&A - PSLE English

[Kiatkhim]

Joy of Learning 111:

Kiatkhim:

Please advise.


If you had come with me to the performance, you (would have) or (would have had) enjoyed the show!

Thanks.

(would have)

That is, 'would have' + 'enjoyed' (past participle).

This is an example of the 3rd Conditional.

Thank you.

[Nv-mom]

Qns:He spent a year devouring his grandfather’s entire library________.(on/in/off)

Please suggest the answer or any other suitable word.

[Joy of Learning 111]

Nv-mom:

Qns:He spent a year devouring his grandfather's entire library________.(on/in/off)

Please suggest the answer or any other suitable word.

The sentence:

‘He spent a year devouring his grandfather’s entire library.’

makes complete sense.

‘Devour’ does not take a preposition. Here, ‘devouring’ means reading quickly and eagerly. We do occasionally enjoin someone to ‘read up’ on the matter. However, I think the question-setter is confusing this meaning with the more common meaning of eating hungrily, for which we could say ‘eat up’ or ‘gobble up’.

There is a nice Latin term you could use:

‘He spent a year devouring his grandfather’s entire library in situ.’

This would mean he read in the place where the books are normally kept.

Although I recommend Latin terms for the ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels, I would not recommend them for the PSLE.

[Nv-mom]

Hi joy of learning, thank you so much for the explanation

[jwxh]

___________ more dustbins in the school ___________ less littering?


(1) Do … mean
(2) Do ----means
(3) Does … mean
(4) Does … Means

plse help

[jwxh]

Ben was barely fiiteen when she won first prize in the competition, _________ he?


1) did
2) was
3) didn’t
4) wasn’t

plse help

[Joy of Learning 111]

jwxh:

___________ more dustbins in the school ___________ less littering?


(1) Do .... mean
(2) Do ----means
(3) Does ... mean
(4) Does ... Means

plse help

(1) Do ... mean

because 'Do' is the finite verb (plural form) agreeing with 'dustbins' and 'mean' is non-finite (base form).

[Joy of Learning 111]

jwxh:

Ben was barely fiiteen when she won first prize in the competition, _________ he?


1) did
2) was
3) didn't
4) wasn't

plse help

4) wasn't

because of 'was'.

[NerdyMath]

"Sam, come quickly!", shouted Jane, "Melissa _________ into the pond!"


1) falls
2) fallen
3) has fallen
4) had fallen

Answer is 3. Why isn’t 4 accepted? DS wrote 4 as the action of Melissa falling happened before Jane shouted.

[Joy of Learning 111]

NerdyMath:

\"Sam, come quickly!\", shouted Jane, \"Melissa _________ into the pond!\"


1) falls
2) fallen
3) has fallen
4) had fallen

Answer is 3. Why isn't 4 accepted? DS wrote 4 as the action of Melissa falling happened before Jane shouted.

Jane's shouting is not an event for which we make a comparison regarding order in the past; instead, it is the speech verb for the direct speech.

Also, Jane is stating something that has just happened so there has not been sufficient time, so to speak, to justify moving it into the past: Melissa is still in the water affecting the present. Think of booking a taxi and it arrives. You do not say 'The taxi arrived'; rather, you say 'The taxi has arrived': meaning, it is there now waiting for you.