Q&A - PSLE English

[youngtay]

TAS


Thanks for your explanation.

Best wishes

[Fongg]

Au:

May I know the answer for his question?


If only you ________ to me earler, I could have helped you.
(1)come
(2)came
(3)has come
(4)had come

_______ winning the singing contest, she has received many offers to sing professionally.
(1)For
(2)Since
(3)Unless
(4)Despite

Thanks in advance!

I think the answer for the first one should be (4) and answer for second is (2). Are you a PSLE student, if so, all the best for you exams tomorrow!!

[lightbulb]

Hi,


I’m still a little confused about the majority/minority question as my teacher has never introduced this to me.

A minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.
The minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

A majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.
The majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.

The student’s majority (play/plays) computer games at night.
The student’s minority (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

Please reply only if you are totally sure about this and try to reply ASAP as my english PSLE is tmrw. Sorry for the hurry!

Thanks

[Learning Partners]

youngtay:

Hi. Pls help


She stepped outside and ____when a cold wind blew.
1) cringed
2) flinched
3) cowered
4) shuddered

May I know what is the answer? TIA

Hi TAS and Tianzhu, we have a different take on this question.

(1) cringed - recoiled in fear or embarrassment
(2) flinched - recoiled in fear or pain
(3) cowered - crouched in fear
(4) shuddered - trembled in fear or from cold

Note that 'recoil' means 'draw back' while 'shudder' means to tremble/shiver.

Technically, it is possible to recoil from the cold but the more common reaction is to shiver (hence shudder).

It is true that if used creatively, we can pair 'cringe' with 'cold'.

However, in the definitive sense, the association between 'shudder' and and 'cold' is much stronger than that between 'cringe' and 'cold'.

As mentioned in our previous posts, when there are two possible answers, the more correct answer (in our local school context) would be the one that is more commonly applied.

Thus, our choice for this question is (4) shuddered.


Learning Partners

[Nebbermind]

Learning Partners:

youngtay:

Hi. Pls help


She stepped outside and ____when a cold wind blew.
1) cringed
2) flinched
3) cowered
4) shuddered

May I know what is the answer? TIA

Hi TAS and Tianzhu, we have a different take on this question.

(1) cringed - recoiled in fear or embarrassment
(2) flinched - recoiled in fear or pain
(3) cowered - crouched in fear
(4) shuddered - trembled in fear or from cold

Note that 'recoil' means 'draw back' while 'shudder' means to tremble/shiver.

Technically, it is possible to recoil from the cold but the more common reaction is to shiver (hence shudder).

It is true that if used creatively, we can pair 'cringe' with 'cold'.

However, in the definitive sense, the association between 'shudder' and and 'cold' is much stronger than that between 'cringe' and 'cold'.

As mentioned in our previous posts, when there are two possible answers, the more correct answer (in our local school context) would be the one that is more commonly applied.

Thus, our choice for this question is (4) shuddered.


Learning Partners

I kinda agree with LP. Thought we would usually use 'cringe' as a emotional reaction while 'shudder' more a reaction to external factors.

[iFruit]

lightbulb:

Hi,


I'm still a little confused about the majority/minority question as my teacher has never introduced this to me.

A minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.
The minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

A majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.
The majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.

The student's majority (play/plays) computer games at night.
The student's minority (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

Please reply only if you are totally sure about this and try to reply ASAP as my english PSLE is tmrw. Sorry for the hurry!

Thanks

'Majority of students' or 'minority of students' is still a 'collection of students' so it is plural. You can replace Majority/Minority with 'group' and see what makes sense.


for example,

\"A Majority of the students play computer games at night.\"
\"A group of students play computer games at night.\"

However,

\"Majority always wins\". Here Majority is taken as singular when it is referred to in isolation.

\"The students' group is almost always rowdy.\"
\"The students' majority is almost always rowdy.\"

So, the answers should be

A minority of the students sleep early at night.
The minority of the students sleep early at night.

A majority of the students play computer games at night.
The majority of the students play computer games at night.

The students' majority plays computer games at night.
The students' minority sleeps early at night.

HTH

[iFruit]

Learning Partners:

youngtay:

Hi. Pls help


She stepped outside and ____when a cold wind blew.
1) cringed
2) flinched
3) cowered
4) shuddered

May I know what is the answer? TIA

Hi TAS and Tianzhu, we have a different take on this question.

(1) cringed - recoiled in fear or embarrassment
(2) flinched - recoiled in fear or pain
(3) cowered - crouched in fear
(4) shuddered - trembled in fear or from cold

Note that 'recoil' means 'draw back' while 'shudder' means to tremble/shiver.

Technically, it is possible to recoil from the cold but the more common reaction is to shiver (hence shudder).

It is true that if used creatively, we can pair 'cringe' with 'cold'.

However, in the definitive sense, the association between 'shudder' and and 'cold' is much stronger than that between 'cringe' and 'cold'.

As mentioned in our previous posts, when there are two possible answers, the more correct answer (in our local school context) would be the one that is more commonly applied.

Thus, our choice for this question is (4) shuddered.


Learning Partners

I too think it should be 'cringed', because it is a first or fleeting reaction.

1) She shuddered through the cold winter night.
2) She cringed when she stepped into ice cold water.

[Learning Partners]

lightbulb:

Hi,


I'm still a little confused about the majority/minority question as my teacher has never introduced this to me.

A minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.
The minority of the students (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

A majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.
The majority of the students (play/plays) computer games at night.

The student's majority (play/plays) computer games at night.
The student's minority (sleep/sleeps) early at night.

Please reply only if you are totally sure about this and try to reply ASAP as my english PSLE is tmrw. Sorry for the hurry!

Thanks

Hi lightbulb,

1. A minority of the students (sleep) early at night.
2. The minority of the students (sleeps) early at night.

3. A majority of the students (play) computer games at night.
4. The majority of the students (plays) computer games at night.

5. The student's majority (plays) computer games at night. (The noun that does the action here is 'majority'.)
6. The student's minority (sleeps) early at night. (The noun that does the action is 'minority.)



Note 1: (5) and (6) are very awkward-sounding and we usually do not use such sentences.



Note 2: The rule to remember is that when we use the following phrases:

- a number of
- a majority of
- a minority

the word 'a' renders the phrases indefinite which means that they simply refer to the nouns in the plural form.


But:

- the number of
- the majority
- the minority

are singular because these phrases refer to specific values and each of these values is singular.

Eg: The number of fish in the pond has decreased over the past month.

In the above example, 'the number of fish' is a value and this value is a singular noun so the verb used is 'has decreased'.



Learning Partners

[harish_thiyagrajan.023307hotmail.023307com]

I too agree that the answer is shuddered. But my teacher said it was cringed. :?

[harish_thiyagrajan.023307hotmail.023307com]

All the best to students writing PSLE tomorrow!