Q&A - PSLE English

[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.

[D3-n]

To contribute my 2 cents…


Even though the act of "falling" has happened, this past participle is still of relevance to the "now", which is "help is needed". Therefore the present "has" and not "had" is grammatical。

Compare to…
Melissa had fallen into the pond yesterday and fortunately was rescued by Sam.

So one way is to think in terms of relevance when you are deciding on the present or past perfect form.

[Ponsoby]

D3@n:

To contribute my 2 cents..


Even though the act of \"falling\" has happened, this past participle is still of relevance to the \"now\", which is \"help is needed\". Therefore the present \"has\" and not \"had\" is grammatical。

Compare to...
Melissa had fallen into the pond yesterday and fortunately was rescued by Sam.

So one way is to think in terms of relevance when you are deciding on the present or past perfect form.

:goodpost: Ans - has fallen. Your explanation is easy to digest.

[Alchemist]

HI - Could I please check with you if Comprehension Cloze can have the same word as answer for 2 blanks.


eg: Video games can also ________________ thinking skills.
Some educational games may ____________ your performance in mathematics.

Both these sentences appear at different parts of the cloze passage. My DD put "improve" for both.

Is that acceptable?

thanks

[NerdyMath]

Alchemist:

HI - Could I please check with you if Comprehension Cloze can have the same word as answer for 2 blanks.


eg: Video games can also ________________ thinking skills.
Some educational games may ____________ your performance in mathematics.

Both these sentences appear at different parts of the cloze passage. My DD put \"improve\" for both.

Is that acceptable?

thanks

'Stimulate' for the first blank is more suitable.
'Enchance' for the second blank.

DS.

[D3-n]

Improve can indeed be used for both skills and performance.

Improve your skills.
Improve your performance.

However it is risky to repeat an answer for the same Compre Cloze.
So the best solution is to find a synonym.

Here,
I would use sharpen thinking skills and improve your performance.

Hope this helps.

[Joy of Learning 111]

Alchemist:

HI - Could I please check with you if Comprehension Cloze can have the same word as answer for 2 blanks.

No.

[Nv-mom]

Qns: The guests, one of______was a Nobel Prize winner, _______escorted to the conference room on the top floor.

(1)who…were
(2)whom…were

Please explain.

[NerdyMath]

Nv-mom:

Qns: The guests, one of______was a Nobel Prize winner, _______escorted to the conference room on the top floor.

(1)who......were
(2)whom.....were

Please explain.

1.

An easier way to know when to use whom and who.

Look at the word that is at the right side of the blank. If it's a pronoun(he,she,we,they), then use whom.

If the word at the right side of the blank is an auxilary verb(was,were,is,are), then use who.

Another way is to see if it is who or whom is to check for active and passive sentence that is written beside the blank..Active is whom, while passive is who. Hope it is clear enough....

Written by Ds.

[Nv-mom]

Hi NerdyMath, thank u very much for the explanation