Q&A - PSLE English

[ridcully]

Mum1113:

Qn : \"I did not know from whom this parcel was just now but I realise it is probably from my third uncle,\" Frank told his friend.

Ans : Frank told his friend that he had not known from whom that parcel was from then, but realised it was probably from his third uncle.

Nearly there. Like Mdm Koh says, it is a rather clunky question so I have exercised a little artistic licence, consistent with answers expected in the PSLE. The basic principle is to move the direct speech further into the past and adjust adverbs of time accordingly:

Frank told his friend that he had not known from whom that parcel was at first, but then realised it was probably from his third uncle.

Enlightening
R

[ridcully]

Mdm Koh:

2. My neighbour plays mahjong on Friday evenings, but she is otherwise very committed to her family and work.


3. Mrs Tan asked her five-year-old son to count the beads carefully and tell her how many there were altogether.

Good answers.

Mdm Koh:

However, Ridcully, it seems that your debate with James is getting to you. :slapshead:

Not at all. I'm just having a little fun. Possibly I should make it more self-deprecating rather than go for easy targets. :rotflmao:

Anyway, your efforts in answering these latest questions are much appreciated by all, especially me because I find it rather time-consuming these days to answer so many queries.

Best regards and keep up the good work!
R

[Vanilla Cake]

Source: Rosyth School P6 SA1 2009 Q68


Yang Liwei spoke to his family while in space. He also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.
Not only _____________________________________________________________________________

Answer given
Not only did Yang Liwei spoke to his family while in space, but he also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.

My answer
Not only did Yang Liwei speak to his family while in space, but he also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.

Pls advise which one is the correct answer. Thanks for your time to answer this question. Mdm Koh / ridcully - Your kindness in answering my previous questions with clear explanations is appreciated.

[pixiedust]

indoor vs indoors

Source: A sentence lifted from sample compo given by school.

Question : I had to stay indoor/indoors as it was raining heavily.
Am I right ?-> indoor is an adjective eg. indoor pool. It is incorrect to write 'to stay indoor', instead it should be 'to stay indoors'.

[ridcully]

Vanilla Cake:

Source: Rosyth School P6 SA1 2009 Q68


Yang Liwei spoke to his family while in space. He also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.
Not only _____________________________________________________________________________

Answer given
Not only did Yang Liwei spoke to his family while in space, but he also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.

My answer
Not only did Yang Liwei speak to his family while in space, but he also orbited the earth fourteen times in one day.

Your answer is the correct one. The finite verb is 'did' so you are correct to have 'speak' in its base form.

I have always thought that Rosyth School was overrated. This example of incorrect answers by Rosyth is one of many passed to me by various parents.

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

pixiedust:

indoor vs indoors

Source: A sentence lifted from sample compo given by school.

Question : I had to stay indoor/indoors as it was raining heavily.
Am I right ?-> indoor is an adjective eg. indoor pool. It is incorrect to write 'to stay indoor', instead it should be 'to stay indoors'.

Yes, 'indoor' is an adjective and 'indoors' is an adverb. Hence:

Ridcully swam in his indoor swimming pool rather than his outdoor one.

Ridcully had to stay indoors because he was irritated by the paparazzi lurking outdoors.

Swimmingly
R

[pixiedust]

Thanks R.


About the answers to past year questions, we buy the exam papers from vendors, not the schools. I am not quite sure where the answers are taken from, I suspect they took it from the source child (after teacher goes through the paper in class) and hence there is high risk of communication and other errors. I believe the answers are not provided by the schools.

[ridcully]

pixiedust:

About the answers to past year questions, we buy the exam papers from vendors, not the schools. I am not quite sure where the answers are taken from, I suspect they took it from the source child (after teacher goes through the paper in class) and hence there is high risk of communication and other errors. I believe the answers are not provided by the schools.

Being a magical and benevolent pixie, you are very charitable! Although I am magical, I am neither benevolent nor charitable when it comes to bad English.


At the tuition centre where I work and in my private tuition [no, I am not advertising], I meet children from many schools (both 'top' schools and 'neighbourhood' ones) who show me their school worksheets and the erroneous corrections done by their teachers. My suspicion is that the mistakes originate at source, that is the schools.

Rgds
R

[Mdm Koh]

ridcully:

pixiedust:

About the answers to past year questions, we buy the exam papers from vendors, not the schools. I am not quite sure where the answers are taken from, I suspect they took it from the source child (after teacher goes through the paper in class) and hence there is high risk of communication and other errors. I believe the answers are not provided by the schools.

Being a magical and benevolent pixie, you are very charitable! Although I am magical, I am neither benevolent nor charitable when it comes to bad English.


At the tuition centre where I work and in my private tuition [no, I am not advertising], I meet children from many schools (both 'top' schools and 'neighbourhood' ones) who show me their school worksheets and the erroneous corrections done by their teachers. My suspicion is that the mistakes originate at source, that is the schools.

Rgds
R

I believe the mistakes originate from the schools too. And my suspicion is that they might've been the \"first draft\" from the teacher who set the paper.

This is because after an exam paper is set by a teacher, it will go through several rounds of vetting before it is printed for the students.

As I have spotted way too many errors in the exam papers that I downloaded online (not only in the answer schemes, but in the questions too), my guess is that some of these were not the final vetted papers that were used in the schools' exams, but rather, earlier unedited copies.

[Kloggy]

Hi Ridcully / Mdm Koh,


Have a few S&T that need your advise. I listed 2 possible answers for each qn. Would like to know if both are correct answers.

1) Our principal invited President Nathan to our school
________________________ by _____________

(a) President Nathan was invited to our school by our principal.
(b) President Nathan was invited by our principal to our school.

2) He was curious and persistent. He solved the mystery.
Owing to his

(a) Owing to his curiosity and persistence, he solved the mystery.
(b) Owing to his curiosity and persistence, the mystery was solved.

3) The thief crept into the house stealthily so he would not be detected.
to avoid

(a) The thief crept into the house stealthily to avoid being detected.
(b) The thief crept into the house stealthily to avoid detection.

4) If you do not finish your homework, you cannot watch the movie.
unless

(a) You cannot watch the movie unless you finish your homework.
(b) You cannot watch the movie unless you have finished your homework.

5) Sarah read the book a second time. The story was very interesting.
such ________________

(a) The story was such an interesting one that Sarah read the book a second time.
(b) It was such an interesting story that Sarah read the book a second time.

6) "You must finish your homework. Don’t watch television," Mrs Ang told her daughter.
Mrs Ang told her daughter __________________

(a) Mrs Ang told her daughter to finish her homework and not to watch television.
(b) Mrs Ang told her daughter that she had to finish her homework and not to watch television.

7) All the girls were present at the school concert performance last night.
None _______________________________

Ans : None of the girls was absent from/at the school concert performance last night.

In this last question, shd the preposition used be "absent from" or "absent at" ?

Sorry for the many questions and many thanks in advance.
Kloggy