Q&A - PSLE English

[QuiteKSMum]

Hi kurosaki,


Qn 1 -you may refer to this thread under Enrichment, Languages & Drama, Quirky Grammar...thread, pg 2. Verb of perception explained by Learning Partners.
Qn 2 - my answer is \"to\". :? while DH's ans is \"and\" - between this AND that...

You might want to pose the qn in the above thread?

Cheers!

[ridcully]

kurosaki:

Hi, got two questions that I need help in:

1)She saw a shark ____ towards the surfer and she screamed.
Choices: (1) swim (2) swam (3) swims (4)was swimming
Answer key was (1), can anyone explain?

2)Conservationists estimate that between 2000 ____ 3000 remain in the wild.
Answer given was \"and\", \"to\" is not acceptable. Can anyone explain this too?

Thanks a lot!

I posted a reply in the PSLE English thread. Here's a copy for reference:

Q1. This is known as the infinitive. In that sentence, the finite verb is 'saw'.

Infinitives are non-finite, that is they do not agree with their subject, and written in base form. Although they are the base form of a verb, they do not act as verbs in the sentence, but rather they act as a noun, adjective or adverb.

Here, 'swim' is forming an adjectival phrase to describe the noun 'shark'.

Q2. Ans is \"and\". Common prepositional usage. Certain words go with certain prepositions. For most purposes, you simply have to accept collocation.

Rgds
R

[meimeitan]

Hi


Anyone can solve the following problems?

(1) The number of stealing cases ______ rising quickly.
–> the answer should be "is" or "are"

(2) A number of children ________ playing in the park.
–> the answer should be "is" or "are"

Thanks.

[ridcully]

meimeitan:

Hi


Anyone can solve the following problems?

(1) The number of stealing cases ______ rising quickly.
--> the answer should be \"is\" or \"are\"

(2) A number of children ________ playing in the park.
--> the answer should be \"is\" or \"are\"

Thanks.

See my posting on page 64 dated 19 Apr 2011 08:22 which deals with these quantifying phrases.

[meimeitan]

Hi ridcully


Thanks for yr reply. How about the following:

Who is going to win the match? Well, at this point, it is _________ guess.
(a) nobody’s
(b) anybody’s
everybody’s
(d) somebody’s

Thanks.

[meimeitan]

Hi


If you don’t mind, can I add one more as follow:

The three dollars that you see on the table now ________ to Seta.
(a) belong
(b) belongs
have belong
(d) is belonging

Thanks. he… he…

[meimeitan]

Since everyone is going to the polling station, I post one more question.


It was an unusual sight ___ forty student leaders scrubbing their school windows with newspaper, checking flowerpots for stagnant water and clearing stairwells and corridors for litter.

(a) colon :
(b) comma ,
hyphen -
(d) semi-colon ;

Thanks.

[ridcully]

meimeitan:

Hi ridcully


Thanks for yr reply. How about the following:

Who is going to win the match? Well, at this point, it is _________ guess.
(a) nobody's
(b) anybody's
(c) everybody's
(d) somebody's

Thanks.

Ans: (b)

[ridcully]

meimeitan:

Hi


If you don't mind, can I add one more as follow:

The three dollars that you see on the table now ________ to Seta.
(a) belong
(b) belongs
(c) have belong
(d) is belonging

Thanks. he.. he...

Depends on context.

This one is a bit trickier than it seems at first. Usually, measurements of money take singular verbs, in which the case the answer would be (b).

However, if the speaker is referring to a number of coins/notes totalling three dollars, and is drawing attention to the fact that there are several coins/notes rather than the monetary total, then the answer is a plural verb, that is (a).

I suspect attention is being drawn to a number of coins/notes, so the answer would be (a).

[ridcully]

meimeitan:

Since everyone is going to the polling station, I post one more question.


It was an unusual sight ___ forty student leaders scrubbing their school windows with newspaper, checking flowerpots for stagnant water and clearing stairwells and corridors for litter.

(a) colon :
(b) comma ,
(c) hyphen -
(d) semi-colon ;

Thanks.

Ans: (a)