Q&A - PSLE English

[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.

[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.