Q&A - PSLE English

[htan045]

Hi appreciate your input on the following S&T question (taken fr Catholic High 2011 Prelims):


I did not complete my assignment on time. I would be punished by the teacher.

___________________________________ unless___________________________.

Thanks.

[beariecrystal3]

XXXX:

beariecrystal3:

My brother has always been taller than _____ even though he is three years younger.


1) i
2) me
3) mine
4) myself

Can someone help me. is it I or me? Thanks

If you want to pass exams, it is \"I\". If you want to learn English as it is spoken, then \"me\". Think of the I as implicitly meaning \"I am\".

(To those who insist on this form even in spoken English, have you ever heard this [grammatically correct] construction: \"She is taller than she.\" ? Invariably people will say, \"She is taller than her.\")

Thanks

[XXXX]

htan045:

Hi appreciate your input on the following S&T question (taken fr Catholic High 2011 Prelims):


I did not complete my assignment on time. I would be punished by the teacher.

___________________________________ unless___________________________.

Thanks.

I'm probably going to regret this...
I would not complete my assignment on time unless I would be punished by the teacher.

But this sounds very clunky. Something like:
I'd never complete my assignment on time unless [I'd be punished by the teacher] / [the teacher would punish me].

Anyway, HTH. I'm intrigued to know what the model answer is.

[beariecrystal3]

Annie is looking forward to ______ the new vampire movie at the end of the year.

1) watch 2)watched 3)watching 4)have watched

The answer key’s answer is watching. Curious why it is watching and not watch.

-----------
If you _______ the accident, you should have made a police report.
1) witness 2) have witnessed 3) will witness 4)had witnessed

The right answer shown on the answer key is had witnessed.Why isnt it have witnessed?

[htan045]

The answer key is :I would be punished by the teacher unless I complete my assignment on time.



I thought it's not quite right as the sentences given are in past tense, but I'm not sure if it should be :-
(a). I would be punished by the teacher unless I completed my assignment on time.

OR

(a). I would be punished by the teacher unless I had completed my assignment on time.

Any thoughts on this?

XXXX:

htan045:

Hi appreciate your input on the following S&T question (taken fr Catholic High 2011 Prelims):

I did not complete my assignment on time. I would be punished by the teacher.

___________________________________ unless___________________________.

Thanks.

I'm probably going to regret this...
I would not complete my assignment on time unless I would be punished by the teacher.

But this sounds very clunky. Something like:
I'd never complete my assignment on time unless [I'd be punished by the teacher] / [the teacher would punish me].

Anyway, HTH. I'm intrigued to know what the model answer is.

[XXXX]

htan045:

The answer key is :I would be punished by the teacher unless I complete my assignment on time.



I thought it's not quite right as the sentences given are in past tense, but I'm not sure if it should be :-
(a). I would be punished by the teacher unless I completed my assignment on time.

OR

(a). I would be punished by the teacher unless I had completed my assignment on time.

Any thoughts on this?

XXXX:

[quote=\"htan045\"]Hi appreciate your input on the following S&T question (taken fr Catholic High 2011 Prelims):

I did not complete my assignment on time. I would be punished by the teacher.

___________________________________ unless___________________________.

Thanks.

I'm probably going to regret this...
I would not complete my assignment on time unless I would be punished by the teacher.

But this sounds very clunky. Something like:
I'd never complete my assignment on time unless [I'd be punished by the teacher] / [the teacher would punish me].

Anyway, HTH. I'm intrigued to know what the model answer is.

[/quote]The answer key is :I would be punished by the teacher unless I complete my assignment on time.



Yes I think that is fine. The tense is actually present - its the subjunctive feeling, I believe - the most tricky tense (and I'm no expert.)

I think completed is also OK but then it might mean making assignments plural, as something that happened more than once! We are not given any reason to change the tense.

The unless acts as a negative IF - so the logic of the sentence is
\"If I do not complete my assignment on time, the teacher would punish me.\"
which turns around to the model:
I would be punished by the teacher unless I complete my assignment on time.
which is an odd way of putting it - as if being punished is the default state. Hence I attempted to change the meaning completely to keep a natural order of cause and effect (as in I would only ever be motivated to complete it on time if there was the threat of punishment.) I doubt I'd get any marks for that though, so learn the model!

[XXXX]

beariecrystal3:

Annie is looking forward to ______ the new vampire movie at the end of the year.

1) watch 2)watched 3)watching 4)have watched

The answer key's answer is watching. Curious why it is watching and not watch.

-----------
If you _______ the accident, you should have made a police report.
1) witness 2) have witnessed 3) will witness 4)had witnessed

The right answer shown on the answer key is had witnessed.Why isnt it have witnessed?

Just to reassure you, both model answers are correct, IMO.

I can't explain the first one, except it sounds right! If you swap \"see\" for \"watch\" I can imagine both see and seeing being (almost) correct. Tricky.

But:
\"I'm looking forward to seeing her again.\"
is definitely better than
\"I'm looking forward to see her again.\"

I think we discussed the second one not too long ago. It is about the order of events that happened in the recent past - which means it is correct to use the \"had witnessed\" before \"have made\".

If it was \"have witnessed\", then this would be correct, I think:
If you have witnessed the/an accident, you should make [go and make] a police report. (Again matching tenses to the order of events.)

[notredame]

Question: A series of publicity stunts _______ (was/were) staged.


Model answer is ‘was’. I thought it should be were. Please help. Thank you.

[AdvancedAcademia]

notredame:

Question: A series of publicity stunts _______ (was/were) staged.


Model answer is 'was'. I thought it should be were. Please help. Thank you.

The answer is 'was'. A series is singular, think of it as a list or collective noun.

[XXXX]

AdvancedAcademia:

notredame:

Question: A series of publicity stunts _______ (was/were) staged.


Model answer is 'was'. I thought it should be were. Please help. Thank you.

The answer is 'was'. A series is singular, think of it as a list or collective noun.

Hmmm. I'm sure this is the correct reading of the \"rule\" but I'd argue that \"were staged\" matches the plural stunts better and doesn't jar on the ear, certainly in spoken English. (Use \"was\" to pass exams though.)

A series of publicity stunts _______ (was/were) staged.
This begs the question, who staged them? Good writing style avoids use of passive voice for this very reason.

\"They were staged by the daring and innovative performance art troupe from NUS\".
You wouldn't say,
\"It was staged by [ ]\". We are clearly talking about several stunts here, so plural wins except in the passive-voice sentence, designed to trip people up in an exam.