Q&A - PSLE English

[D3-n]

"Climb out" means to get out/crawl out/emerge out of a mass of something, and in this case, it refers to the mass of solid rocks.

"Climb up" would refer to a gain in vertical height, which is not the case here.
Hope this helps.

[Joy of Learning 111]

prisnkc:

Need help on another Vocabulary question:


Just after dark, up to 100 little Blue Penguins, the smallest penguins in the sea, waddled their way past the rocky coastline. From there, they climbed out onto the rocks, dried and cleaned themselves and then waddled up the beach to the breeding colony where their parents and babies waited outside their best calling for food.

Why it is \"climbed out onto the rocks\" and not \"climb up\"?

We have to visualise the penguins initially waddling in the shallow water as they emerge from the sea onto the land. The land is rocky and hence uneven; therefore, it is a bit tricky finding suitable spots to fully emerge from the sea onto land. ‘Climb out’ captures this idea of the penguins extricating themselves from difficult or confined spaces.

The term ‘rocks’ here does not mean boulders, which would imply the need to climb up, that is, gain vertical height.

[ELFan]

My niece’s answer to this synthesis question is wrong. What should be the correct answer?


Question: Marvin said, “I am not sure how to solve this Mathematics question. I shall ask Mr Chong tomorrow.”

My niece’s answer: Marvin said that he was not sure how to solve that Mathematics question and he should ask Mr Chong the next day.

What should be the correct answer?

Thank you!

[Joy of Learning 111]

ELFan:

My niece’s answer to this synthesis question is wrong. What should be the correct answer?


Question: Marvin said, “I am not sure how to solve this Mathematics question. I shall ask Mr Chong tomorrow.”

My niece’s answer: Marvin said that he was not sure how to solve that Mathematics question and he should ask Mr Chong the next day.

What should be the correct answer?

Thank you!

Why is your niece’s answer to this question wrong and who says so? I commend your niece’s knowledge.

It is formally correct. However, many local teachers will insist upon ‘would’ rather than ‘should’, for they feel that ‘should’ implies an ‘ought to’ instead of a simple declaration of intent. To be on the safe side, ask your niece to use ‘would’.

So the correct answer would be:
Marvin said that he was not sure how to solve that Mathematics question and would ask Mr Chong the next day.

Note that you can remove the redundancy of 'he'.

[ELFan]

Thank you very much, @Joy of Learning 111

[sim]

Hi ,

The boys enjoy playing badminton. They do not enjoy playing computer games at home.

My ds Ans:- The boys prefer playing badminton to computer games at home.

Teacher ans:- The boys prefer playing badminton to playing computer games at home.

I thought verb which is repeat must be omitted but i came across both types of answers. Very confusing

[Joy of Learning 111]

sim:

Hi ,

The boys enjoy playing badminton. They do not enjoy playing computer games at home.

My ds Ans:- The boys prefer playing badminton to computer games at home.

Teacher ans:- The boys prefer playing badminton to playing computer games at home.

I thought verb which is repeat must be omitted but i came across both types of answers. Very confusing

Your son's answer is correct.

Being charitable, I presume that the teacher is thinking of having the same grammatical units after 'prefer' and 'to', in the same manner after for example 'either ... or'. Your son's answer reflects this: the gerund (verbal noun) 'playing' after 'to' is understood.

Not only do we omit repeated gerunds, we also omit repeated nouns. For example:

I prefer red wine to white.

[sim]

Hi, however he was marked wrong for not repeating the gerund (playing) so dont know what is accepted during PSLE.

[Joy of Learning 111]

sim:

Hi, however he was marked wrong for not repeating the gerund (playing) so dont know what is accepted during PSLE.

I presume correct English is acceptable for the PSLE.

Cambridge Dictionaries online gives the example:
[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/prefer]
She prefers drinking tea to coffee.

Your son's teacher presumably would mark the Cambridge lexicographers wrong.

I have not looked at all past papers of the PSLE on this issue, but based on a quick perusal I believe that for S&T the gerunds are usually different so the problem does not arise. For example:

The boys enjoy playing badminton. They do not enjoy lazing about.

The boys prefer playing badminton to lazing about.

[KRR]

Hi,


Can somebody help me solve this question.

It is time she __________ some water, or she will suffer from dehydration.

drink, drank, drunk, drinking

The teacher’s answer is ‘drink’
Can you please explain why it cannot be ‘drank’

Thank you very much.
KRR