Q&A - PSLE English

[starlight1968sg]

The Alternative Story:

starlight1968sg:

The majority of children ( ) returned.

Is the answer singular ie has?
Thanks.

Hi starlight,

The answer is plural - 'have'.

This is because 'the majority of people' means most of the people.
You talking about the individuals that make up the majority, 'majority'
does not refer to one single group. Hence, the verb is plural.

TAS

Hi TAS,
I am pretty surprised to know the ans is \"have\" as I thought that majority means a group and is treated as a singular.
Thanks for highlighting my mistake.
So may I say that if the word \"minority\" is used instead of \"majority', the verb is still plural?

[The Alternative Story]

starlight1968sg:

Hi TAS,
I am pretty surprised to know the ans is \"have\" as I thought that majority means a group and is treated as a singular.
Thanks for highlighting my mistake.
So may I say that if the word \"minority\" is used instead of \"majority', the verb is still plural?

Hi starlight,

Yes- the 'majority/minority' question is a very interesting one.

When we say \"A/The majority/minority of students use the internet
daily\", we are talking about the individual students, so it's plural.

However, when we say \"The minority has spoken\"/
\"The government's majority has voted\", we are talking about
one group so it is singular.

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

Hi TAS,

Need your help again on Synthesis and Transformation:

Raju asked, "How could the book have gone missing last Tuesday if you ahd kept it properly? "
Ans:
Raju asked me…

My ans is: Raju asked me how the book could have gone missing the previous Tuesday if I had kept it properly.

Is my ans correct?

Many thanks.

[The Alternative Story]

starlight1968sg:

Hi TAS,

Need your help again on Synthesis and Transformation:

Raju asked, \"How could the book have gone missing last Tuesday if you ahd kept it properly? \"
Ans:
Raju asked me....

My ans is: Raju asked me how the book could have gone missing the previous Tuesday if I had kept it properly.

Is my ans correct?

Many thanks.

Hi starlight,

Yes, your answer is correct. In this question, the verb (had kept) is
already in the past perfect tense, and for verbs in the past
perfect tense, we do not change it further.

The modal verb (could) is also in the past tense and there is no way
to change it to the past perfect tense so for this question, there is no
change in the tense of the verbs.

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

Hi TAS,

Is model ans correct:
Raju asked me how the book have gone missing the previous Tuesday if I had kept it properly.

The word "could" is missing in the model answer.

Thanks again.

[The Alternative Story]

starlight1968sg:

Hi TAS,

Is model ans correct:
Raju asked me how the book have gone missing the previous Tuesday if I had kept it properly.

The word \"could\" is missing in the model answer.

Thanks again.

Hi starlight,

The model answer is wrong, there should be a 'could' in the answer.

TAS

[joconde]

Hi, need some help on synthesis :


(1) Is the answer sheet correct here :

The girl is my cousin. I share an apartment with her.
____________________ whom__________________.

My child’s ans : The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin.
Answer sheet : The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

(2) Is my child’s answer acceptable in exam ?

They were unable to complete the task although they had made careful preparations.
Despite _____________________________________.

My child’s ans : Despite the careful preparations, they were unable to complete the task.
Answer sheet : Despite the fact that they had made careful preparation, they were unable to complete the task.

Thanks !

[Muffins]

joconde:

Hi, need some help on synthesis :


(1) Is the answer sheet correct here :

The girl is my cousin. I share an apartment with her.
____________________ whom__________________.

My child's ans : The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin.
Answer sheet : The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

(2) Is my child's answer acceptable in exam ?

They were unable to complete the task although they had made careful preparations.
Despite _____________________________________.

My child's ans : Despite the careful preparations, they were unable to complete the task.
Answer sheet : Despite the fact that they had made careful preparation, they were unable to complete the task.

Thanks ![/quote]

For the first one, your child's answer is wrong, solely because he had forgotten to add the \"with whom\" part. As the sentence is phrased in that way, you have to take into consideration that the cousin is a person, not a thing. As a result, \"with whom\" needs to be added.

For the second one, your child's answer is not acceptable as he did not add the \"made careful preparations\" into his sentence. If he would have put the sentence as: Despite making careful preparations, they were unable to complete the task.

Hope I helped!

[happyluckymom]

Can anyone help me with punctuations? When to use a colon in a sentence?

[happyluckymom]

If the sentence is:

Thoughts were already forming in my head as I mentally eliminated those who could not go(15) probably the bossy pair of prefects, Joel and Joshua, Ai Ting the "crybaby" and Ming Lee, otherwise known as the "monkey".
15) (1) :
(2) ,
(3) .
(4) -