Q&A - PSLE English

[starlight1968sg]

The Alternative Story:

Hi starlight,

The answer for 1)

- The newscaster on CNA announced that there
had been heavy traffic on the PIE that day.

The answer for 2)

- Mary wants to donate a computer which she won for being the best
debator to the school.

TAS

Hi TAS,
For (1), why isn't \"announced that there was heavy traffic...\" as in the question?

For (2), why not \" which she had won...\"
The which refers to the computer and indeed she had won it.

Many thanks.

starlight
http://bungerstar.blogspot.com

[mujin]

The Alternative Story:

[quote]Hi TAS, need some help from you


1. If today ______ Tuesday, I would be able to give you a special discount on hotdogs.
is / are / was /were

Hi mujin,

The answer is 'were' as you are stating the impossible, today is not
Tuesday, if it were, then a special discount would already be given.

For conditionals, when they are stating the impossible, the verb
'were' is used instead of 'was'.

Eg: (stating the impossible)

- If I were you, I would not give my handphone number away.

- If I were Steve Jobs, I would give ipods to all my friends.
[quote]2. They were not giving up, _________ tedious the task was.
no matter / regardless / nevertheless / however[/quote]a) The answer is 'however'. 'However' is used in this context when
it is followed by an adjective.

Eg:

- I kept failing however hard(adjective) I worked.

b)'No matter' is used when there is the word 'how', 'what', 'when'
'who' after it.

Eg:

- I would give up no matter how hard it seems.

c) 'Nevertheless' is followed by a sentence, not a phrase. For
'no matter' and 'however', they are followed by phrases.

Eg:

- He kept doing poorly in his examinations, nevertheless, he would not
give up. ('he would not give up' can be a sentence)

d) 'Regardless' is followed by the word 'of'

Eg:

- I will follow him regardless of the risks.
[quote]3. You can buy branded goods ________ there than in Singapore.
cheaply / cheap / cheaper / more cheaply[/quote]The answer is 'more cheaply'.

'Cheap', 'cheaper' are adjectives. They are used to describe a noun.

Eg:

This bag is cheaper than the other one. (describing a noun- bag)

'Cheaply', 'more cheaply' are adverbs. They are used to describe
a verb.

Eg:

I can shop cheaply in Thailand. (describing a verb - shop)

Hence, the answer is 'more cheaply' as you are describing a verb - buy.
And you are comparing 2 places so 'more cheaply' and not 'cheaply'
is used.
[quote]4, We guessed that they had not left their shop as the door was still ________
open / opened/ opening / opens



Thanks[/quote]The answer is 'open'.

To help you to understand, here are 2 examples:

- The shop is opened by the Lims (passive form of verb- open. It shows
that the Lims opened the shop)

- The shop is open for business (the 'open' here is an adjective, it is
describing the state of the shop)

In your question, you are describing the state of the door-open, and not
showing the action of the door being opened by somebody else, hence
the answer is 'open'.

Hope this helps:D

TAS[/quote]
Hi TAS,

Thanks for the solution.
Is indeed very comprehensive and concise.

Certainly very helpful.

Mujin

[The Alternative Story]

starlight1968sg:

The Alternative Story:

Hi starlight,

The answer for 1)

- The newscaster on CNA announced that there
had been heavy traffic on the PIE that day.

The answer for 2)

- Mary wants to donate a computer which she won for being the best
debator to the school.

TAS

Hi TAS,
For (1), why isn't \"announced that there was heavy traffic...\" as in the question?

For (2), why not \" which she had won...\"
The which refers to the computer and indeed she had won it.

Many thanks.

starlight
http://bungerstar.blogspot.com

Hi starlight,

For (1), the verb is changed from 'was' to 'had been' as the verbs in
the past tense are changed to past perfect in reported speech.

Eg:

- \"I swam yesterday,\" I said.

I said that I had swum the previous day.

- \"It was sunny when I left for the beach,\" I said.

I said that it had been sunny when I had left for the beach.

For (2), there is no need to changed the verb to the past perfect-
had won. For linking words 'who', 'whose' 'whom' 'which', there is
no need to change the tense of the verb.

If you change it, it would be grammatically wrong.

- Mary wants to donate the computer which she won for
being the best debator to the school.

The other verb - wants - is in the present tense. When there are
2 verbs,the past perfect is used when both actions happened in the
past and the action that happened earlier in the past is in the past
perfect tense- This shows that the action in the past perfect
tense ended before the second action (in the past tense) started.
In this case, 'wants' is in the present tense so 'won' should be in the
past tense and not past perfect tense.

It will be 'had won' in this case:

- Mary wanted to donated the computer which she had won
for being the best debator to the school.

You can go to this link where we explain about the usage of the
past perfect tense:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11809&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

mujin:

Hi TAS,

Thanks for the solution.
Is indeed very comprehensive and concise.

Certainly very helpful.

Mujin

Hi Mujin,

No problem, glad to be of help

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

Hi TAS,

Once again, thanks so much for sharing.

[The Alternative Story]

Hi starlight,


No problem

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

Choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined:


When Mary was born, her father, Prof Ivan, was already confined to a wheelchair with motor neuron disease.
(1) bound
(2) refrained
(3) restrained
(4) suppressed

I know (2) and (4) are wrong.

Thanks.

[starlight1968sg]

Hi TAS,

Need your advice again:
1) The lady could help Mary. She did not help Mary.
Even though....
My ans:
Even though the lady could help Mary, she did not.

2) I have remedial lessons everyday. My friend also has remedial lessons everyday.
..... as well as...
My ans:
My friend, as well as I, has remedial lessons everyday.
My question:
Does it matter if I start with \"I\" or \"My friend\" ?

3) Your parent must sign the consent form in order for you to go on the Learning Journey.
Without...
My ans:
Without your parent signing the consent form, you cannot go on the Learning Journey.

Many thanks.

starlight
http://bungerstar.blogspot.com

[The Alternative Story]

starlight1968sg:

Choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined:


When Mary was born, her father, Prof Ivan, was already confined to a wheelchair with motor neuron disease.
(1) bound
(2) refrained
(3) restrained
(4) suppressed

I know (2) and (4) are wrong.

Thanks.

Hi starlight,

'Bound' and 'restrained' are very similar in meaning. The slight difference
is this:
'restrained' means to prevent someone from moving/to hold down
'bound' means to limit the furthest point of extension

Hence the answer is 'bound'. When a person is paralysed and
in a wheelchair, his movement is limited and he cannot extend his
movement beyond it. However, the wheelchair is not meant
to prevent him from moving, hence 'restrain' is not the right word.

For vocabulary, as there are an unlimited number of words that needs
to be learnt, it is important to use mnemonics to help your child
remember the words.

How to remember this:

- Bound (it is related to the word 'boundary', so a boundary is a limit
to where you can go, to bind/to be bound to a wheelchair means
the person's movement is limited to the wheelchair- the wheelchair
is his boundary.

- ReSTRAIN (focus on the word 'strain', imagine someone
straining against someone else holding him down.
To restrain thus involves the use of force and it holds a person down against his will.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

[quote]Hi TAS,

Need your advice again:
1) The lady could help Mary. She did not help Mary.
Even though....
My ans:
Even though the lady could help Mary, she did not.[/quote]Your answer is right, although the following answer would
seem more complete:

Even though the lady could help Mary, she did not do so.
[quote]2) I have remedial lessons everyday. My friend also has remedial lessons everyday.
..... as well as...
My ans:
My friend, as well as I, has remedial lessons everyday.
My question:
Does it matter if I start with \"I\" or \"My friend\" ?[/quote]You must start with 'My friend' in this case. When there are 2 or
more people mentioned in a sentence, personal pronouns like
'I', 'me', 'we' 'us' must be placed secondary to the other
people who are mentioned by name. I guess this is considered
polite as you do not talk about yourself first. But
it has since evolved to be part of the English grammar.

Eg:

My friend's mother gave Tammy and me a lift home.

Eg:

She showed her mother and us the treasure.
[quote]3) Your parent must sign the consent form in order for you to go on the Learning Journey.
Without...
My ans:
Without your parent signing the consent form, you cannot go on the Learning Journey.

Many thanks.[/quote]Your answer is correct.
No problem, glad to be of help.

TAS