All About English Creative Writing

[elkniwt]

Hi TAS,


Like to add on my previous qns on Unless:

The new medicine will not be on sale if it is not properly tested.
Unless _____________________________________________

1. Unless the new medicine is not properly tested, it will be on sale.
2. Unless the new medicine is properly tested, it will not be on sale.

No. 2 sounds more right. But how to let the child know it should be 2. Is ans 1 acceptable??

Initially i thot the condition in unless should not have "not", but it does not seem right.

You can finish all the food if you are hungry.
_______________unless _______________________

1. You can finish all the food unless you are not hungry.
2. You cannot finish all the food unless you are hungry.

This one 1 sounds more right. How to do know when to use what?? Please advise. Thank you!!!

[phppsmss]

elkniwt:

Hi TAS,


Pls help in the following S&T qns :

1. Michael will not play basketball with us. He has to fetch his sister from school.
Unless _______________________________________________

My dd's answer is
Unless Michael has to fetch his sister, he will play basketball with us.

The answer given in the answer key is
Unless Michael does not have to fetch his sister from school, he will play basketball with us.

2. Drivers will not be able to see well at night. There are no lights along the roads.
Unless _________________________________________________

My dd's answer is
Unless there are no lights along the road, drivers will be able to see well at night.

Answer key :
Unless there are lights along the road, drivers will not be able to see well at night.

For Q2, the answer key sounds more logical but how to explain it to a child. She has problems with unless.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Unless ---(1st part of sentence)---, ----(2nd part of sentence)----. Can also be perceived as : only if XXXX, otherwise XXXX


e.g. Qn: Drivers will not be able to see well at night. There are no lights along the roads.

Using the logic of cause and effect, drivers will not be able to see well at night(effect) as there are no lights on the road (cause).


The 2nd part of the sentence will always be the effect & the likelyhood of an event happening.

Drivers not being able to see well at night ->EFFECT: so this event becomes the 2nd part of the sentence


The 1st part of the sentence is the OPPOSITE of the stated cause.

No lights on the road (cause) ---> there are lights on the road (opposite)


As such, the answer is: Unless there are lights on the road, drivers will not be able to see well at night.

Your DD's answer of : 'Unless there are no lights along the road, drivers will be able to see well at night' is fine as well. However, she is going the longwinded route and it does not pertain to the question. Ask her to follow align her answer according to what the question provides. If she were to follow the method above, using the cause and effect analysis, her answer will be similar to the answer key.

In sum, the 2nd part of the sentence for 'unless'sentences are effects/consequences, while the 1st part of the sentence is the opposite of the cause which led to the effect in the 2nd part of the sentence.

Q1

Your DD's answer is correct, though -as I have mentioned earlier - not inline with what the question offers. The answer key is wrong.

My proposed answer: Unless Michael does not have to fetch his sister from school, he will NOT play basket ball with us (effect AS STATED IN THE QUESTION).

In my opinion, your DD's answer is more direct and straight to the point. But I presume students have to use what the questions offer/states.

[Belle]

Hi,


I would like to sign up my P1 DD for creative writing at TAS East Branch.

However, there is only one time-slot (2-4pm) at the moment and we could not make it.

Anyone of you interested to sign up at other timing as well? Maybe, we could consolidate and check with them if they could open up another class.

Many thanks!

[rong05]

Hi,


I am interested too.

I am looking at Sunday at around (+/- 30mins) 10am to 12pm or anytime on Saturday’s morning or noon but lesson must end latest by 3pm.

If you are looking at other weekdays’ timings, please let me know.

What is the minimum number of students before TAS is willing to start a class?

[Belle]

rong05:

Hi,


I am interested too.

I am looking at Sunday at around (+/- 30mins) 10am to 12pm or anytime on Saturday's morning or noon but lesson must end latest by 3pm.

If you are looking at other weekdays' timings, please let me know.

What is the minimum number of students before TAS is willing to start a class?

The minimum no. of students required to start is 4.

Thanks for the reply. I have taken note and hopefully we can receive reply from other interested parents. In addition to the Saturday timing, If Sunday, 11am to 1pm, ok with you? Its good to provide more available timing as we also need to check with TAS if there are teachers to teach at our requested timing and venue available as I understand that they rented the venue at East.

[rong05]

Hi Belle,


I’ve pm-ed u.

[The Alternative Story]

elkniwt:

Hi TAS,


Like to add on my previous qns on Unless:

The new medicine will not be on sale if it is not properly tested.
Unless _____________________________________________

1. Unless the new medicine is not properly tested, it will be on sale.
2. Unless the new medicine is properly tested, it will not be on sale.

No. 2 sounds more right. But how to let the child know it should be 2. Is ans 1 acceptable??

Initially i thot the condition in unless should not have \"not\", but it does not seem right.

You can finish all the food if you are hungry.
_______________unless _______________________

1. You can finish all the food unless you are not hungry.
2. You cannot finish all the food unless you are hungry.

This one 1 sounds more right. How to do know when to use what?? Please advise. Thank you!!!

Hi elkniwt,

Sorry for the late reply, we were busy with a number of
school projects and hence could not reply that fast.

For the 'unless' question, usually the
condition is not negative. The condition
is usually a positive one, we would usually not
state a negative condition and then give a positive
result:
Eg:

Unless you do not do your work, you can go out.


We would usually put in a positive condition and then
show the negative consequences if that condition is
not met:
Eg:

Unless you do your work, you cannot go out.

For the 2nd example, the condition is not a negative
one when 'not' is added. In fact, being hungry is
more negative than not being hungry. So the
second answer is correct. The negativity of the
statement is not based on whether there is a 'not'
inside but whether the meaning of the sentence
carries a negative connotation.

Hope this helps

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

double post

[Atan]

Hi TAS,


I am interested in P3 Creative Writing class - Bt Timah for the June holidays and normal classes. Would appreciate yr kind adv on possible schedule. Tks v much in advance.

[Atan]

Atan:

Hi TAS,


I am interested in P3 Creative Writing class - Bt Timah for the June holidays and normal classes. Would appreciate yr kind adv on possible schedule. Tks v much in advance.

Dear TAS,

Pls ignore my prior post. I have emailed your gmail so pls assist to reply via email instead. Tks again.