Q&A - PSLE English

[Niedino]

Vanilla Cake:

Vanilla Cake:

Hi All,

Pls help to check the answers worked out by my younger sister for the 2011 Nanyang Pri Sch P6 Prelim English paper 2.
Q12. 3
Q18. 4
Q21. 1

Pen88n:

Following answers please check:
Q12) 4
Q18) 3
Q21) 2

Hi Pen88n,
I have typed out the concerned questions to gather feedback from KSP members.

Q12
The river meanders _____ the valley before it reaches the sea.
(1) in
(2) over
(3) along
(4) through

Q18
The wooden cabinet that we bought at a discounted price is the perfect _______ to the country decor in our home.
(1) company
(2) compilation
(3) compliment
(4) complement

Q21
Night was beginning to fall. William walked out of his makeshift hut and decided to venture further than usual. He planted flagged bamboo poles in the snow to mark the route. After putting in the last pole, he walked in what he thought was a circle before turning back. Retracing his footsteps, he found no flags or bamboo poles.

(1) thrust
(2) affixed
(3) attached
(4) fastened

Hi,

My opinion.

Q12 should be (4), as a valley is formed by a river, the river should run through it, hence meandering through it.

Q18 should be (4), as option 3 is a form of praise, which the wooden cabinet is not.

Q21 should be (1), as the action 'thrust' is more suited in this context than 'affixed' which sounds like something is being tied or screwed onto something.

Hope it helps!

Niedino

[ridcully]

blitz:

Can I just confirm this: Any words in between commas, can be omitted?


A question like:
Betty, as well as her sisters, _is_ going to watch a movie.
Am I right?

Yes. The expression within the commas is considered non-restrictive, that is not essential to identifying the subject of the sentence. In your example, 'Betty' is the subject.

Expressions within commas beginning with 'as well as', 'together with', 'in addition to' etc are not considered part of the subject nor necessary to identify the subject.

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

vidhyalog:

Hi -


How do we treat should in reported speech?

eg. \"You should concentrate on developing your skills instead of picking on each other,\" Mr Raj reprimanded the team members.

Mr. Raj told __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Should the answer be:

Mr. Raj told the team members they should concentrate on developing their skills instead of picking on each other.

or

Mr Raj told the team member to concentrate on developing their skills instead of picking on each other.

TIA

Go for the second solution [told + infinitive]

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

vidhyalog:

Niedino:

[quote=\"vidhyalog\"]They did not take the cash in the bag.

None of _________________________________________

Son's answer : None of the cash in the bag was taken by them.

Answer key : None of them took the cash in the bag.

TIA.

Hi Vidhyalog,

I would accept the answer key's answer as your son's answer has changed the voice of the sentence from active to passive. You should not change too much of a sentence's meaning & form in synthesis / transformation unless required to.

Hope it helps!

Niedino

I just realised - we cannot say none of the cash. It can be none of the notes.
So that would also make my son's answer wrong.[/quote]Why can't we say 'none of the cash'? 'None' can be followed by an uncountable noun.

Rgds
R

[Verysuperkiasu]

Question tag


She likes neither of the twins, _____ she?

Should the answer be does or doesnt?

[Alchemist]

Verysuperkiasu:

Question tag


She likes neither of the twins, _____ she?

Should the answer be does or doesnt?

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

[Verysuperkiasu]

vidhyalog:

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

Hmm....yes, it does make sense. Thanks!

[Verysuperkiasu]

vidhyalog:

Hi - Would appreciate assistance with this S&T.


Mala is a perfectionist who will be satisfied only the best results.

Nothing but _________________________________________

Ans : Nothing but the best results satisfy Mala who is a perfectionist.

or

Nothing but the best resutls will satisfy Mala who is a perfectionist.

I think the second one as it is best to try as much as possible to retain the words in the original sentence.

[ridcully]

Verysuperkiasu:

vidhyalog:

I think it should be does she . Since there is already a negative implied in the neither, so the question should be does she? ( it is like saying - She does not like either of the twins, does she?)

I think there was another query using 'rarely' - which was similar.

John is rarely late for school, isn't he?

In this case - John is rarely late - implies something positive - as in he is always early for school . In other words it would be - John is always early for schoolm, isn't he?

Makes sense?

Hmm....yes, it does make sense. Thanks!

I was the one who previously answered about 'rarely'.

The issue is grammatical: Implying something positive is not what determines the question tag.

'Rarely' is grammatically negative. It means 'not often'. Thus, the sentence 'John is rarely late for school can be rewritten:

John is not often late for school.

Now you can see that the question tag has to be positive:

John is not often late for school, is he?

John is rarely late for school, is he?

Rgds
R

[ridcully]

Some unusual question tags:


Ridcully hardly ever complains, does he?

Mr and Mrs Ridcully rarely eat at the Raffles Hotel, do they?

I am a grammarian, aren’t I?

Let’s enjoy the PSLE, shall we?

This is good fun, isn’t it?

That is even more entertaining, isn’t it?

Rgds
R