Q&A - PSLE English

[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) -

[joconde]

Muffins:

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!

Thanks muffins for the clarifications. However, I'm still confused with the first one. Do u mind explaining the grammar rule with regards to 'whom' ? Eg : The girl whom I was talking to is my sister. In this case, 'girl' is also a person, but we do not use 'with whom'.

[Nebbermind]

joconde:

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 ?

I've always written it this way.

The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

Always thought it sounds better with a pause after 'girl' but not sure if it's 'PSLE standard' :oops:

[The Alternative Story]

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) -

Hi happyluckymom,

The answer is (1) which is colon because colons are used after a statement that introduces a list. In your example, the earlier
statement is followed by a list of the people who cannot go, thus a
colon is used.

Colons are used either to show a contrast between two parts of a
sentence or more commonly to introduce a list.

- Contrast

Eg: He was always getting beaten by his parents: Ely, his sister, was
always the apple of everyone's eyes.

- Introduce a list

Eg: I am going to the supermarket to buy a lot of groceries: cheese,
milk, ham, bread, cereal and eggs.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

Nebbermind:

joconde:

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 ?

I've always written it this way.

The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin.

Always thought it sounds better with a pause after 'girl' but not sure if it's 'PSLE standard' :oops:

Hi,

Just want to add to the discussion.

Usually, it is alright to leave out 'with' and just put in 'whom'.

For the first example:

- The girl whom I share an apartment with is my cousin. (child's answer)

- The girl with whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin (answer
sheet)

There is no need to put 'with' before 'whom' (answer sheet)
as there is already a 'with' after 'an apartment' and when you put
in a 'with' before the 'whom', then you are repeating the preposition
and it is wrong grammatically.

However if the answer were \"The girl with whom I share an apartment is my cousin\", then it is correct.

The answer sheet is also wrong as there is only one comma, for
'whom','whose','who, 'which', you either have 2 commas or no commas
at all.

If you were to insert 2 commas it would read as,

\"The girl, whom I share an apartment with, is my cousin. (The commas
bracket the extra information)

The child's answer \"The girl whom I share an apartment with is
my cousin\" is also correct.

One easier way to remember is to know that 'whom' is usually sandwiched
between 2 different people. - The girl whom I...

TAS