Q&A - PSLE English

[r2010]

ridcully:

r2010:

Qs Tim is afraid of the dark. He does not want to sleep alone.


My DS answer - Fearing of the dark, Tim does not want to sleep alone.

Answer given - fearing the dark, Tim does not want to sleep alone.

'Fearing' requires an object. An object is a noun or noun equivalent, not a prepositional phrase. Hence, 'the dark' is a noun phrase and so is fine, whereas 'of the dark' is a prepositional phrase and so is not fine.

Rgds
R

Thank you very much.

[ms_lim]

ridcully:

ms_lim:

Please help to explain this qn from Pei Chun 2011 Prelim, ans key is (4) but why not (1) :


My elder sister has been so busy with her work the past week that she has not got round to ______ her laundry.
(1) do
(2) does
(3) done
(4) doing

'Got round to' is a phrasal verb. The preposition 'to' needs to be followed by a noun or noun equivalent such as a gerund. 'Doing' is a gerund and so fulfils the role. 'Do' is a verb.

Rgds
R

Dear ridcully, thank you for your explanation.

[P5G]

Please help.


8. Alice was cycling at East Coast Park with her family where she saw her classmate, Susan ___________ a picnic with her family.

(1) has
(2) had
(3) have
(4) is having


TIA.

[P5G]

Please help.


70. Adrian was bored. He went to catch a movie with his friends.

_______________________ out of _________________.


Adrian out of boredom went to catch a movie with his friends.

Adrian went to catch a movie with his friends out of boredom.


Please advise if both answers are acceptable?


TIA.

[P5G]

Please help.


66. Sarah does not want to study medicine as much as she does law.

________ prefers ____________.


Sarah prefers to study law to medicine.

Sarah prefers to study medicine to law.


Please advise if any of the answers is correct…


TIA.

[Alchemist]

P5G:

Please help.


66. Sarah does not want to study medicine as much as she does law.

________ prefers ____________.


Sarah prefers to study law to medicine.

Sarah prefers to study medicine to law.


Please advise if any of the answers is correct..


TIA.

Hi - I think it should be the 1st option : Sarah prefers to study law to medicine.

[Alchemist]

P5G:

Please help.


70. Adrian was bored. He went to catch a movie with his friends.

_______________________ out of _________________.


Adrian out of boredom went to catch a movie with his friends.

Adrian went to catch a movie with his friends out of boredom.


Please advise if both answers are acceptable?


TIA.

Hi - I think it should be option 2. The first sentence does not make grammatical sense.

[chrisu]

This question is from PSLE English Model Exam Papers by EPH;

Exam Paper 5 Q.11)
The hostages ______________ their arms down on the ground and surrendered to the police.
(1) lie
(2) lay
(3) laid
(4) lain

Book answer is (3) laid

I think I have read here;
Human : Lie (present tense), Lay (past tense), Lain (past participle)
Chicken : Lay (present tense), Laid (past tense), Laid (past participle)

My daughter answer is lain.
Anyone can help to verify? Thank you.

[ridcully]

P5G:

8. Alice was cycling at East Coast Park with her family where she saw her classmate, Susan ___________ a picnic with her family.


(1) has
(2) had
(3) have
(4) is having

'Saw' is a verb of perception. We normally have this pattern of usage:

verb of perception + object + base form/gerund

Therefore, the answer is (3)

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

P5G:

70. Adrian was bored. He went to catch a movie with his friends.


_______________________ out of _________________.


Adrian out of boredom went to catch a movie with his friends.

Adrian went to catch a movie with his friends out of boredom.

Please advise if both answers are acceptable?


TIA.

Here 'out of' means what caused Adrian to catch a movie [How did he 'catch' a movie - did it fall from the sky?!]. As such, it is acting as a connector of reason for a subordinate idea.

The main clause is 'Adrian went to catch a movie'. We do not normally separate a subject from its main clause by inserting the subordinate idea. Thus, the second sentence is the correct one. To illustrate this, the second sentence could be rewritten:

Adrian went to catch a movie with his friends because he was bored.

We would not say:

Adrian because he was bored went to catch a movie.

The first sentence would be permissible if you used commas:

Adrian, out of boredom, went to catch a movie with his friends.

Rgds
R