Common Sense in English for PSLE Students

8/13/2019 Common Sense in English for PSLE Students

1/53

[Type text]

Common Sense in English


2/53

[Type text]

Paper 1


3/53

[Type text]

Continuous Writing


4/53

[Type text]

Booklet A


5/53


6/53

[Type text]

Grammar


7/53

[Type text]

Punctuation


8/53

[Type text]

Vocabulary


9/53

[Type text]

Vocabulary Cloze


10/53

[Type text]

Comprehension


11/53

[Type text]

Booklet B


12/53

[Type text]

Grammar Cloze


13/53

[Type text]

Editing


14/53

[Type text]

Comprehension Cloze


15/53

[Type text]

Synthesis and Transformation


16/53

[Type text]

Comprehension Open-Ended

This section consists of 10 questions, each worth 2 marks, making this section worth 20 marks in all.

Students are assessed on their ability to answer the questions based on a correct understanding of the

passage given.


17/53

[Type text]

Comprehension Open-Ended

Once again, we can recall what comprehension is about. Comprehension tests our ability to

understand what someone has written. In this case, we must understand the passage, and the

only way to show that we understand the comprehension passage given is by answering the

questions correctly. That is where marks are also awarded.

To manage this section, I suggest using a 3-step approach: 1) Observe the questions, 2) Read and

Interpret the passage, then 3) Answer the questions.

Such an approach is particularly useful, especially if the passage is difficult. It is useful for good,

average and weak students. One reason why students find themselves having difficulty in this

section is because they do not apply the above 3-step approach, rather, they would only look at

the passage superficially, then answer the questions. Unless if the passage is very easy to

understand, or you are a very good student, doing so would definitely spell disaster!

1) Observe the QuestionsReading the questions first serves 2 main useful purposes: 1) gives us a rough idea

what the content of the passage is, and 2) know what is important to pay attention to

when reading the passage.

a) Words contained in questionsMost questions asked contain the 5 Ws and 1H:

What the thing referred to; sometimes asking Why

Who/Which the person or people/object (animal, colour, day etc.)

Where the place or surroundings something belongs to

When the time, date or surrounding situation (circumstances)

Why the reason

How using what way (method or means); in what way (manner)

Does the 5Ws and 1H sound familiar? When you are writing a composition, the 5Ws and 1H

are to guide you in planning and writing your story. When the author wrote the passage,

he/she also used the 5Ws and 1H the passage. Each paragraph may contain just 1W, the 1H,

more than 1W, or a mixture of Ws and the 1H. So it means that if we look at a paragraph


18/53

[Type text]

containing only the details relating to what and why (for example), then a question like

Where did the driver get into an accident? cannot be asked.

Other common words used to ask us for an answer include:

Did yes or no

Explain make clearer (more easily understood); sometimes asking Why

Quote use open-inverted commas or to copy the phrase or sentence

Evidence supporting facts

b) Highlight/Underline the key wordsIn each question, the key words are also called trigger words that tell us the important

things the question is asking. We want to make sure that we do not miss out anythingimportant the question is asking. Key words include the 5Ws and 1H and the other common

words listed above. For example, in the question

Which house did the arsonists target?

The keywords are which, house, arsonists and target.

We will highlight/underline these words accordingly:

Which housedid the arsonists target?

Other examples of identifying the key words are as follows:

Whowas guiltyof cheatingduring the exam?

Whatdid Mr Lin tell Richardto do?

When did the thieves strike?

Whereis the museum located?

Whydid Peterchoose to remainin the houseeven though it was on fire?

Howdid the Carlosget to the roofof the house?

Did Thomas diefrom the car accident? Give evidenceto support your answer.

He felt a sharp painat his left shoulder.Explainclearly what the problemwas.


19/53

[Type text]

Quotethe phrasethat suggests that the outdoor excursionbeganin the morning.

Do you notice that the important things are picked out? This makes it easier for us to focus

on what the question is asking for! It is important to know what each question requires, so

that we can answer each question correctly.

Of course, if you are a good student, there is no need to highlight/underline the key words

for every question, except the more challenging ones.

c) Write the meanings for the 5Ws and 1HIf you find it hard to put together many pieces of information at the same time, writing the

meaning beside the 5Ws and 1H, which are also words that ask a question, would make

your task easier. Apart from highlighting, you may find understanding each question easier

by following the examples below:

Whowas guiltyof cheatingduring the exam?

When did the thieves strike?

Whydid Peterchoose to remainin the houseeven though it was on fire?

Whereis the museum located?

Whatdid Mr Lin tell Richardto do?

Howdid the Carlosget to the roofof the house?

Once again, if you are a good student, there is no need to write the meanings beside all the

5Ws and 1H, except for the more challenging questions. It can be very time-consuming and

precious time that can be used to look for the answer in the passage and for checking for

mistakes will be used up. What I have recommended is only a guide to help students weak

in this section!

Which erson

At what time/in what situation

The reason

Place

The thing

Using what way


20/53

[Type text]

2) Read and Interpret the PassageMost of the time, the passage given would be a story or narrative (recall of things that

happened) written by an author.

a) Interpreting the passageTo interpret means to explain or tell the meaning of: present in understandable terms(Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 11thedition).

Looking at how something is communicated, the author is the communicator, and we are

the receivers (listeners or readers). Our task is to interpret what the author has written for

us, then answer the questions accordingly. Figure 1 shows what we do:

Figure 1: Communication to a reader

Whether or not we give the correct answer to each question depends on our interpretation

of the passage. If we interpret the passage correctly, we will successfully exegete (draw out)

the meaning of the authors words and will give the correct answer to a question.Likewise,

if we misinterpret the passage, we will eisegete (give our meaning to) the authors words

and get a wrong understanding of what the author actually meant; this would lead to giving

the wrong answer to a question.

Therefore, Correct InterpretationCorrect Answer; while

Wrong InterpretationWrong Answer

b) One Meaning PrincipleIt is the lexicographers task to give meanings to words. In order to find out what a word or

phrase means, we would of course look for its meaning in a dictionary. A word in a

dictionary almost always has many meanings given. However, only one of the meanings to

a word or phrase in the dictionary would fit the CONTEXT (one of the 3Cs to guide

interpretation discussed below), and that is the meaning which we want to find to interpret

the word correctly. In order to find the one meaning of a word or phrase, we must start with

using the correct methods to interpret.

c) Methods to use in InterpretingWe should use only the following 2 methods, and combine them to interpret a passage.

i) Literal methodThe literal meaning of a word or expression is its basic or original meaning ( Longman

Dictionary of Contemporary English, 4thedition). Using the Literal method of interpretation

means that we take the author at his/her word; the author means what he/she says and

says what he/she means! This is consistent with the ONE MEANING PRINCIPLE.

CommunicatorWrites something to Receiver

(reader)Interprets and answers

questions


21/53

[Type text]

For example, letslook at the following sentence:

Tom owned three cats while Bob owned four dogs.

The correct interpretation would be: there were seven animals in total.

However, if more information is given, we might have to change our original

interpretation. Consider the following:Tom owned three cats while Bob owned four dogs. That was how their respective children

behaved! Toms children typically enjoyed being cuddled and stroked on their heads by their

doting father, while Bobs children would bark angrily when they did not have their way.

In such a case, the question would be: would the Literal method of interpretation be

sufficient? No! We have to combine the Literal method with the Rationalistic method

below. (A useful guideline would be: if the literal interpretation makes sense, seek no

other ways to interpret a word or phrase).

ii) Rationalistic MethodThe word rationalistic comes from the word rational. The opposite of rational is

irrational. To be rational means to make ones thinking be based on reason rather than

emotions (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6thedition). To be rational in ones

interpretation means to make sure that the interpretation makes sense.

Lets relook at the case above (to see why it is important to use the Rationalistic Method

of interpretation):

Tom owned three cats while Bob owned four dogs. That was how their respective childrenbehaved! Toms children typically enjoyed being cuddled and stroked on their heads by their

doting father, while Bobs children would bark angrily when they did not have their way.

By combining the Literal and Rationalistic method of interpretation, the correct

interpretation would be: Toms had three children who behaved like cats while Bob had

4 children who behaved like dogs. The information given does not tell us whether Tom

and Bob owned any pets.

From the above example, we can see that even though we should interpret the

information given as literal, the interpretation should make sense. We must be alert to

Figures of Speech (discussed below) used, as we see from the above example, that thecats and dogs are used as figures of speech to the behavior of the children.

d) Figures of SpeechAn author sometimes uses a phrase not meant to be literal, but mean it to be a figure of

speech (or what is known as a figurative expression).


22/53

[Type text]

A figurative word or phrase is used in a different way from its usual meaning, to give you a

particular idea or picture in your mind (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 4th

edition). A figure of speech often uses a picture to illustrate what the author compares

something with.

Figures of speech include the following categories:

i) Similes(comes from the word similar i.e. appears the same)

E.g. It was like having to climb Mount Everest.

This means that the task was very arduous (tiring and difficult).

E.g. He was as sly as a fox.

This means that he is very cunning.

ii) Metaphors(analogies; likeness of two things matched)

E.g. Her life is a rollercoaster.

This means that her life has both good and bad times.

iii) Idioms

E.g. He would kick the bucket sooner or later if he continues doing that.

This means that he would die.

iv) Proverbs(common sayings)

E.g. Even a river 50 miles wide would not be able to satisfy his desire for wealth.

This means that his greed for money can never be satisfied.

v) Hyperboles(exaggerations; making things sound ridiculous)

E.g. The books he saw in the bookstore were innumerable.

This means that there were plenty of books in the bookstore; he most likely felt amazed

by what he saw.

vi) Antithesis(two opposing statements side by side)

E.g. It was a case of being so near, yet so far.


23/53


24/53

[Type text]

In this case, broke upmeans started laughing.

E.g. The old man next door finally kicked the bucketat the age of 98.

In this case, kicked the bucket(used as an idiom) means died.

E.g. The girl kicked the bucketand water was spilled on the floor.

In this case, kicked the bucketmeans the girl struck the bucket with her leg.

The above examples show that we cannot take a word or phrase and interpret its

meaning. We have to look at the context the word or phrase is used to determine its

meaning.

Now let us look at an example of taking a piece of information out of context:

E.g. The teacher told the class: Do not use the handicap toilet.

The question asked follows: What was the teachers instruction to the class?

If the answer is: The teacher told the class to use the handicap toilet.

Problem with answer: SUBTRACTING relevant information

The phrase use the handicap toiletis clearly taken out of context! The student has left

out a very important adverb (discussed later in Major Word Forms) not, which makes

the meaning completely opposite and different!

Or, if the answer is: The teacher told the class not to use the handicapped toilet unless

any one of them was handicapped.

Problem with answer: ADDING information not given

The condition stated in the answer that unless any one of them was handicapped is

not stated in the context given by the author. The student is making a guess to whom the

teacher allows to use the handicap toilet. If the student chooses to interpret information

not based on what is written but by making guesses, then if someone gives an answer

like The teacher told the class not to use the handicapped toilet unless the normal toiletwas unavailable, this answer or any other guesses would also have to be marked as

correct!

We can tell from this example that every word is important. When we look at the

passage to answer a question, we must neither ADD any information not written nor

SUBTRACT any information written.


25/53

[Type text]

Characteristics of a ParagraphThe passage is divided into several paragraphs. Paragraphs in a passage may be

compared to several boxes, each containing objects.

Each paragraph has the following characteristics:

Focuses on ONE key thingWhen we want to separate many objects into boxes, we try our best to put similar

objects (having similar characteristics) into each box. So the first box may contain

only pencils (of different types), the second box pens (of different types), the third

box Therefore, each paragraph concentrates on ONE key idea, event, type of animal,

way of doing something etc.

In the example below, two different paragraphs may show the same event, yet, the

focus of the author for each paragraph is different:

Sable waited at the bus-interchange for her bus to arrive. The bus-interchange

had several other passengers queuing at that berth waiting to board the bus. Some were seen

with shopping bags, some with plastic bags containing groceries, while others appeared

lethargic after a long day at the office.

As Sable nursed the thought of studying for her test the next day, a low-toned

voice of a fellow passenger sounded from behind: Excuse me miss


26/53

[Type text]

pencils etc. The TOPIC SENTENCE is also known as the most important sentence in

the paragraph because it would tell us the ONE main focus of the paragraph.

Let us relook at the example given before to illustrate:

Sable waited at the bus-interchange for her bus to arrive. The bus-interchange

had several other passengers queuing at that berth waiting to board the bus. Some were seenwith shopping bags, some with plastic bags containing groceries, while others appeared

lethargic after a long day at the office.




27/53

[Type text]

The SUPPORTING SENTENCES, PHRASES and WORDS also give us clues to help

us know the context of the stranger Sable met (key thing focused of second

paragraph). Should the stranger be interpreted as literal? If yes, that means that the

stranger should be interpreted as a human being (that Sable does not know). We cansee that the SUPPORTING SENTENCES, PHRASES and WORDS provide additional

information to tell us clearly that the stranger was a human being.

Has SUB-POINTSSUPPORTING SENTENCES, PHRASES and WORDS may be seen as points to

support the ONE key thing focused on. SUB-POINTS are sentences, phrases and

words that support the SUPPORTING SENTENCES, PHRASES and WORDS. It is

like writing about the lead, pencil spring, wooden covering etc. that make up the

mechanical pencil, red pencil, blue pencil etc. (We have already seen how the

mechanical pencil, red pencil, blue pencil etc. may be likened to the SUPPORTINGSENTENCES, PHRASES and WORDS.) Let us use paragraph two as our example to

illustrate:




28/53


29/53

[Type text]

as a phrasal verb (verb + preposition), where the meaning of words close and in put

together has a different meaning compared to close in used as a phrasal verb.(close and

in put together would have the idea allowing something less space)

skin should be interpreted as literal (and as a noun), not figurative.Reason: tattoo (literally) can be seen on someones skin.Furthermore, the preposition on

specifies the position of the tattoo and refers to skin. Other possible reasons include rival

gang members being able to identify him because they could see the tattoos on his skin.

The information given before and after skin does not suggest skin as a verb as in

stripping off the surface of an animal.

skin belongs to the skin ofwhich body part? We do not know and do not make a guess.

Reason: there is no information to tell us whether the skin is of his arm, back, leg, thigh

etc.

foes refer to his enemies belonging to a rival gang(in the first and second lines).

Reason: foes has the meaning of enemy (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6th

edition). To be consistent with the two other Cs to guide interpretation, CONSISTENCY and

CLEARER PART (discussed later) interpreting the less clear part, foes cannot refer to

enemy soldiers, germs that are harmful, opponent in a game etc.

walking into a lions den should be interpreted figuratively, not literally.

Reason: there is no other information to show that there was a lions den somewherearound, and that he was going to into it. Another reason is that the word tantamount has

the idea of being equal to something, so to take his foes on which would be tantamount to

walking into a lions den, should mean taking his foes on would be equal (as good as) to

walking into a lions den (which is used as an Idiom here). walking into a lions den in

this case should hence be interpreted as putting himself in great danger. (The word

tantamount changes the whole meaning of the phrase!)

the law means the police force.

Reason: the law in this case is related to gangit is in opposition to gang. In addition,being able to surrender himself to the law shows that the law is something that is going

after him and against him.Therefore, the law cannot mean anything else like the law of

gravity (which he cannot surrender himself to).

Using Personal Knowledge to Interpret


30/53

[Type text]

Our personal knowledge would only be useful if it helps us to be more familiar with the

topic of a passage and the technical terms (words and phrases of a specialized field e.g.

biology). Other than that, we should not use our personal knowledge to interpret the

passage. (Remember? Our task is to understand the meaning of the authors words, not to

give our meaning to the authors words.) Using the following example to illustrate:Raphael was warded in hospital for an accident. Finally, the doctors diagnosis was out:

he had ruptured several tendons and ligaments. As a result, he had to keep away from vigorous sports

like soccer as well as strenuous activities stressing the coordination between his limbs. It was a case of

more pain less gain!

The above paragraph is related to a topic about biology (or more precisely health science).

So someone who has read upbefore on the terms tendons and ligaments would know

better how these terms are linked to the rest of the information in the paragraph.

However, we do not add our own knowledge to the authors words, and assume things like:- Raphael would be able to play football again in three weeks- There was a lot of bleeding, so that caused the painFirstly, doing so would mean ADDING information and making guesses that may or may

not be true. Secondly, it is not a case like a boy accidentally cut himself with a knife and

thick, red liquid oozed out from his wound in this case, we can tell without any doubt

that the red liquid is definitely blood.

ii) CONSISTENCYConsistency is the noun of the adjective consistent. Being consistent in telling a story

means that all the different parts of the story would agree with or can be matched with

each other (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6thedition; Longman Dictionary of

Contemporary English, 4thedition). The opposite of consistent is inconsistent. A simple

example would be, if someone at first says that she scored eighty marks, and tells you

the marks she scored for each section but the marks do not tally to eighty, she is

inconsistent in what she has said. She is consistent in what she has said if all the all the

sections tally up to eighty marks.

a) Assume perfect agreementWhen we read the passage, we should have the thinking that there is consistency in the

information given. Sometimes, we may experience difficulty at first in finding

consistency, especially if the passage is a story. That is because the story is usually a

portion of a novel in a book. Even though we may only be given a limited amount of

information, we should not think that one part disagrees with other parts.


31/53

[Type text]

b) Consistency in InterpretationOur interpretation of one part of the passage must agree with other parts of the passage.

In order to confirm that our interpretation of one part is correct, we have to look at the

parts BEFORE and AFTER to know the whole CONTEXT that part belongs to, then we

can we be very sure. Let us look at the example below for an illustration:

It was going to be another routine Monday, thought Mdm Wen. As she flipped

the newspapers she was reading, a ghastly piece of news appeared, bringing a feeling of great

horror and disbelief. Even though the report about a hit-and-run incident stated that police were

still in the process of identifying the deceased victim, the photo of the victim beside the article

looked very familiar. Why has this thing happened to my son?She choked back tears as her

heart lamented with grief and anguish.

... (A few paragraphs later)


32/53

[Type text]

iii)CLEARER PARTIf we say that information is clearly given, it means that the meaning is obvious and

leaves no doubt at all (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 6thedition). Often in the

passage, there are two parts or more each referring to the same thing. We should use the

CLEARER PART to interpret the less clear part(s), not the other way round. Take the

following example:

Mrs Yun drank some water. It was refreshing, since it was a hot day and she was

feeling very thirsty. < The bottle of water cost two dollars, which was quite costly probably

because the bottle had a label which identified it being a prominent brand. The label read Ivien,

one company which supplied mineral water.

What kind of water did Mrs Yun drink?

Analysis: If we look at the phrase drank some water(in the first line), we can only tell

that Mrs Yun took in liquid through her mouth. This phrase does not tell us whether the

water was drinkable, how it tasted, or what type of water it was. It is only when we see

the phrase mineral water (in the fourth line), then we know that the type of water Mrs

Yun drank was mineral water.

What does it in identified it being(third line) refer to?

Analysis: it is a pronoun (discussed under section on Pronouns under Major Word

Classes later) which is a word used in place of a noun. We need to find the noun which

it represents. Inthis case, we consider the information that is very close to it we look

at the sentence it is in The bottle of water cost two dollars, which was quite costly

probably because the bottle had a label which identified it being a prominent brand.

The first bottle and the second bottlerefer to the same thing, and had a label is just

more information given to the bottle. it follows after, therefore, it must refer to the

bottle more specifically the bottle of water.

We may find ourselves lost sometimes when we are unable to see how one piece of

information connects with other pieces of information. Therefore, we could use arrows

to link the less clear parts with the CLEARER PART referring to the same thing:

Mrs Yun drank some water. It was refreshing, since it was a hot day and she

was feeling very thirsty. < The bottle of watercost two dollars, which was quite costly

probably because the bottle had a label which identified itbeing a prominent brand. The label read

Ivien, one company which supplied mineral water.


33/53

[Type text]

f) Useful Major Word Classes to knowWords belonging to the Major Word Classes are often used to test our understanding.

Most of the time, by carefully looking at the context and the related information, we will

be able to interpret the meaning of a paragraph and the words and phrases it contains.

However, students who are better at identifying how Major Word Classes affect the

meaning of sentences, phrases and words will find understanding the comprehension

passage easier. We will only want to look at some Major Word Classes that would be

especially helpful to pay attention to.

i) Linking Pronouns to their NounsPronouns are used in place of nouns, so that the writer of the passage need not repeat

the noun again and again. Examples include he, hers, your, it, that, the animal etc. A

noun in contrast is more specific and gives more information about a thing. Since eachpronoun is linked to a particular noun, we must find the noun the pronoun is referring

to. Let us have a look at the following example:

Simone was on her way home from school after a grueling training session had

ended. Her coach pushed her extra hard compared to the rest of her team mates since she was the

teams star player. She made her run six rounds round the school track. Since it was quite late by

the time the session had ended and she could not wait to have a good, hot shower, she decided to

take a shortcut routeagainst her mothers advice. She opted for the route that was dark and

deserted. Little did she expect, however, that someone had been observing her. With only 200

metres before her block would be seen, a burly, dark figure loomed unpleasantly in front of her.

Analysis: We will understand each pronoun by knowing the context each of them

belongs to. In order to understand the context, we will look BEFORE and AFTER to

identify the noun each pronoun refers to.

her in the first line clearly refers to Simone.

Each of the hers in the second line also refer to Simone, as well as she.

However, She in the third line clearly refers to Simones coach, since the informationlinked to Her coach is pushed her extra hard in line 2 and She made her run six

rounds (in line 3) is an elaboration of pushed her extra hard. Furthermore, it only

makes sense that it is the coach who directs Simone to run six rounds. So She in line 3

refers to the coach while her in the same line refers to Simone.


34/53

[Type text]

What does it in line 3 refer to? If we look at the phrase (in lines 3-4) it was quite late by

the time the session had ended, we can know that it has to be a measure of time.

Therefore, it refers to the time the session had ended.

She in line 5 refers to Simone, since the information linked to She is opted for the

route which only Simone can do.

It is useful to draw arrows to link a pronoun with a noun to make your task easier if you

feel confused seeing so many pronouns used. The below is what we can do:

Simonewas on her way home from school after a grueling training session had

ended.Hercoachpushed her extra hard compared to the rest of her team mates since she was the

teams star player. Shemade her run six rounds round the school track. Since itwas quite late by

the time the session had endedand she could not wait to have a good, hot shower, she decided

to take a shortcut routeagainst her mothers advice. Sheopted for the route that was dark and

deserted. Little did she expect, however, that someone had been observing her. With only 200

metres before her block would be seen, a burly, dark figure loomed unpleasantly in front of her.

ii) PrepositionsPrepositions occur before a noun or pronoun to show time, place, position and how

something is done. They commonly include on, above, at, below, inside, in, by etc. By

looking at preposition before a noun or pronoun, we must picture in our mind what the

author is telling us. Take the following for an example:

The boy jumped over the fence and landed in the canal filled with water.

Analysis: the prepositions are over, in and with. over has the idea of The boy

jumping to a height higher than the fence and not touching it. in is the opposite of out

and has the idea of The boy covered by the canal which took his landing. with means

having something in this case so the phrase canal filled with water may be rephrased

canal containing water.

and


35/53

[Type text]

iii)AdverbsAdverbs are words are used to tell us more specific information about a verb, an

adjective, a noun and a pronoun, and can be used to change the meaning of sentences.

Adverbs ending with -lyCompare the two sentences below which follow:

He dashed to the bathroom.

He dashed anxiously to the bathroom.

In the first sentence, we would not know the quality of dashed. However, in second

sentence, we know that he was feeling very anxious when he did the action of dashing.

One class of adverbs, as shown above, has the suffix (letters added to the end of a word)-ly.

Adverbs that give an indirectly opposite ideaThis class of adverbs usually appears at the beginning of sentences. We should pay

special attention to this class of adverbs, since it is not so obvious to students how they

should interpret information looking BEFORE and AFTER this class. Take the following

example:

Janet was feeling irritated with the other students around her. Despite this, she managed to dowell for that paper in the examination.

Analysis: The adverb used in this case is Despite, which gives the information

following it an indirectly opposite idea to the information before it. This means that

feeling irritated would usually lead to Janet doing badly for that paper in the

examination. The reason why the author has used Despite is to tell us that what had

happened in fact turned out not to be so.

Adverbs like However, In spite of, Unfortunately, Fortunately, Even though,

Nevertheless, Nonetheless, Even so, Still etc. have the same idea as Despite the readerseeing these adverbs will know that the information AFTER has an indirectly opposite

idea to the information BEFORE.

Adverbs that add a similar idea


36/53

[Type text]

This class of adverbs also usually appears at the beginning of sentences. Likewise with

the previous class of adverbs, we should pay special attention to this class, since it is not

so obvious to students how they should interpret information looking BEFORE and

AFTER this class. Take the following example:

Benny recalled that it was very obvious that they wanted to harm him. One of the

gang members blew smoke at him, while another held him by the neck in a chokehold grip.

Moreover, the gang leader shouted and cursed him with a torrent of expletives.

Analysis: The adverb used in this case is Moreover, which gives the information

following it a similar idea to the information before it. This means that it was obvious

that the gang leaders behaviour was out to harm Benny. In this sense, it is similar to the

behaviour of the other two gang members, obvious that they wanted to harm Benny.

Adverbs like Furthermore, On top of that, In addition, Besides, Also etc. have the same

idea as Moreover the reader will know that the information AFTER has a similar idea

to the information BEFORE.

iv)Conjunctions Use of andand is one of the most common conjunctions used. and occurring between two

pieces of information often shows two different things that are closely related, if not

a continuation of an action. For example, in the sentences:

He was feeling hot and sticky.(hotand stickywere the two different feelings but are

closely related.)

She was feeling grouchy and irritated. (irritated is very close to the meaning of

grouchy, but the author is not unnecessarily repeating an idea. His or her purpose

is to emphasise and explain more clearly how she was feeling.)

The girl was asked to jump and catch the ball.(The girl was to catch the ball after a

jump.)

g) The significance of Punctuation marksi) Comma (,)A comma is very commonly used for a pause, especially if the sentence is too long, to

separate all the information into parts. This would then make it easier also for the reader

to absorb the information he or she reads. However, when used in other ways, the

position of the comma is important in many cases.


37/53

[Type text]

More details about a person or a thingTwo commas enclosing a piece of information placed after a thing may be used to

tell us more information about that thing. As we can see in the example:

Peter was fishing with John, the smartest boy in class, when a fish suddenly bit the bait.

Analysis: the smartest boy in the class is located between two commas (a

parenthesis) that follow John. This means that this piece of information relates to

John, to let us know that John is the smartest boy in class, not Peter.

Meaning of information in direct speechIn direct speech, the position of the comma can affect the meaning of what someone

is saying. Let us compare position of the comma in each of these examples:

Mr Lee told his wife: No, necklace(on display) is too expensive.

Mr Lee told his wife:No necklace(on display), is too expensive.

Analysis:

In the first direct speech, Mr Lee meant that the necklace on display was too

expensive. The No is used by Mr Lee to make his point, so the comma is placed

after No. More information of No is the phrase necklace (on display) is too

expensive, whichis also the reason for Mr Lee saying No. So No in the first direct

speech has the idea of disagreement, and the necklace refers to a specific necklace.

In the second direct speech, Mr Lee meant that none of the necklaces on display was

too expensive, or that every necklace on display was affordable (to paraphrase). (The

meaning would still be about the same without the comma). The necklace in the

second direct speech does not refer to any specific necklace on display, and No in

this case is an adverb that gives an opposite idea to any necklace being too

expensive.

Meaning to list of several itemsAnother way that a comma is commonly used is to distinguish different items in a

list down several items. Let us compare the meaning to the items listed in the

following examples:

The cart contained one of each of the following items: ball, bat, pen, knife and book.


38/53

[Type text]

The cart contained one of each of the following items: ball bat, pen knife and book.

Analysis:

The first cart contains five items (ball, bat, pen, knife, book) as distinguished by the

comma.

The second cart contains only three items (ball bat, pen knife, book). In this cart,

ball is used as an adjective to tell us the type of bat (a noun). pen is similarly used

as an adjective to knife (also a noun).

We may also see a list where the comma is used, if not the word and:

The cart contained one of each of the following items: doll, cup and spoon and bottle.

The cart contained one of each of the following items: doll, cup, spoon and bottle.

Analysis:

An and is used before the last item (bottle)for both lists.

In the first list, and between cup and spoon shows that cup and spoon belong

together and can be counted as one item. (It could be that there are different colours

of packages having a cup and a spoon together.)

In the second list, the cup and spoon are seen as separate items.

Punctuations having a similar idea to commaWe may see the writer using punctuations like a semi-colon (;), brackets ( ) or a dash

(-). Let us have a look at the following examples:

Semicolons (;)

A semicolon is often used to show a pause (for the reader) that is longer than a

comma but shorter than a full stop. Let us look at some examples:

He headed towards the field; he was told that trespasses would be prosecuted.

Several countries were involved in the mission relief: Singapore; China; Indonesia; Taiwan;

and India.

Analysis:


39/53

[Type text]

In the first case, the phrase after the semicolon gives more information about what

happened after he headed towards the field. No significant difference to the

meaning occurs even if the semi-colon is replaced with a comma.

In the second case, the list of countries is given. Again, no significant difference to

the meaning occurs even if the semi-colon is replaced with a comma.

Brackets ( )

Brackets are used to enclose information relating to a thing. This is also known as a

parenthesis, which means extra information, or information that is less important

than words outside the brackets. We can therefore skip reading the information in

the brackets and still get the main point of the sentence. The extra information would

only serve to give us a clearer understanding.

The words and phrases in a bracket commonly either refer to more information

given about the thing before the bracket, or the meaning of the thing, as seen in the

following examples:

The rabbit hopped towards the carrot (not too far away) in an excited manner.

The act which he did was verboten (forbidden by law).

Analysis:

In the first case, we are told that the carrot is not too far away. We would not see a

significant difference to the meaning of the sentence if we replace the brackets with

two commas as follows:

The rabbit hopped towards the carrot, not too far away, in an excited manner.

In the second case, verboten has the meaning of being forbidden by law. No

significant difference occurs if we replace the brackets with one comma:

The act which he did was verboten, forbidden by law.

Only one comma is used in the second case because a full-stop at the end helps toenclose the phrase forbidden by law.

Dashes (-)

Dashes are commonly used separate two closely related pieces of information in a

sentence. Let us see an example:


40/53

[Type text]

She went over to that townher lover lived there.

The house was owned by an old ladya lady having lived a full lifeshe had no children.

Analysis:

In the two sentences above, no significant difference in meaning occurs if each of the

dashes is replaced by a comma. The phrase a lady having lived a full life in second

sentence is also an example of a parenthesis.

There is definitely a reason why an author may use semi-colons, brackets and dashes

over commas in some parts of a passage. However, for a start, assume that the use of

semicolons, brackets and dashes give the same idea to a sentence just like if a comma

is used instead.

Full stop (.)

A full stop ends a sentence, which itself may contain more than one piece of

information. As mentioned previously in the section on PARAGRAPHING, the next

sentence would usually provide more information about the previous sentence. Take

the following example:

He was unable to lift the table. The table weighed a ton almost a ton for his small frame.

Colon (:)

A colon is generally used to introduce a list of things or an explanation, as in the

following sentences:

Her stomach was bloated, and there was only one conclusion: she was pregnant.

Analysis:

she was pregnant explains the conclusion

That important meeting was attended by the following: Henry, John, Mike and Sally.

Inverted commas ( or )

Inverted commas serve two functions. The most common usage seen is the quotation

of someone speaking something, as in direct speech, as in the example:

He told her, Youre not going to beat me. Youre simply too weak inMath!

Analysis:


41/53


42/53

[Type text]

bipolardisorder is a term used by psychiatrist for someone with a type of mental

illness. A person not trained in healthcare would not understand this term well.

However, in this case, the reader will understand Bensons bipolar disorder by linking

the information linked to it lose his appetite, difficult to sleep, unable to

concentrate, take his anger and frustration< caning them. The meaning of bipolardisorder (a mood disorder with periods of depression and mania) in this case is not

given, but we have some idea how a sufferer like Benson would behave.

In another example, the meaning of the technical term is given:

The genus Panthera consists of a family of four big cats. Among its species includes the Panthera

Leo, which is commonly known as the lion.

Analysis:

The words known as the lion indicate that Panthera Leo means lion. The meaning of

Panthera Leo is given clearly in this case.

ii) Challenging VocabularyStudents taking PSLE need to know the meanings of a certain number of words. There

are many websites to test the number of words we know. Usually these tests divide

students into different grade levels (e.g. Grade 1, 2, 3 and so on) or match the difficulty

of words with different levels. For example, at the websitewww.freerice.com,the words

become more difficulty the higher the level (refer to Freerice 2.0).

In order to overcome this problem, here are some ways to help us:

Using a dictionaryWe should look up the meaning of a word unfamiliar to us in a dictionary that has

that word and the meaning that fits the context of the passage. It is a very good habit

to cultivate. Not too long ago, students had to carry around a hardcover dictionary

that would become worn out after using a long time. Besides, a dictionary carried

around by a student was usually a mini-dictionary (so that it would not be so bulky

and heavy) that sometimes did not contain the word the student was looking for.

Nowadays, the electronic version of big dictionaries can be downloaded and storedin mobile phones, making it very convenient to look up an unfamiliar word at any

time and place. More about dictionaries is discussed in the chapters VOCABULARY

and VOCABULARY CLOZE.

Guessing the meaning
http://www.freerice.com/http://www.freerice.com/http://www.freerice.com/http://www.freerice.com/


43/53

[Type text]

We should only do this when we are in an exam, where we have no access to a

dictionary. The rule to know the meaning of a word or phrase is to look BEFORE and

AFTER. However, we must be aware that this very seldom works! (We should not

try to test Lady Luck, but work hard!) Anyway, no marks are given for knowing the

meaning of all words; marks are only given if we answer the questions correctly! Nochoice, but we try our best by looking at the content of the passage, pick out the key

things in the paragraph the word is found to guess the idea of that word. Take for

example below:

We were greeted with a splendid, verdant view. The grass was fresh and full of

dew in the morning, just as the first rays of the morning greeted us. The smell of the pasture

not only attracted us who are used to city life, but the animals which would come to graze the

delicious pasture daily. Such was country life, so serene and pastoral in contrast to what we

had always felt what life was composed of.

What does the author mean by a verdant view?

Analysis:

As stated before, we find ourselves in the situation of an exam, and we do not know

the meaning of the word verdant. We can hope for the best in such a bad situation by

looking for the TOPIC SENTENCE and SUPPORTING WORDS and PHRASES to

find all the information relevant to the word verdant. In this paragraph, the

SUPPORTING WORDS and PHRASES include grass was fresh and full of dew,

smell of the pasture< graze the delicious pasture, country life, serene(calm) and

pastoral (peaceful). The TOPIC SENTENCE is We were greeted with a splendid,

verdant view. the grass was fresh and pasture give us the picture of the place

being green.

Therefore, if we answer: The place was full of greenery / The place looked very green

we will answer the question correctly!

3) Answer the questionsWe might be able to understand the passage well, but no marks will be awarded unless we

can provide the correct answers to the questions! Looking at things positively though, even

if we are not be able to understand every part of the passage, we will still be able to pick up

marks for questions testing our understanding on parts of the passage we understand. In all,

there would be 10 questions to answer, which will consist of different types of questions,

each worth 2 marks.

a) Finding the answer


44/53

[Type text]

For each question, we will apply the same steps to find the answer.

i) Identify relevant information from passageLet us recall that one paragraph focuses on one main thing, so we should be able to

easily find the part of the passage that contains the information related to help us

find the answer to the question. We must also note that since only a portion of thepassage would give us the relevant information we need, we must be able to know

which information is not relevant to the question. It will be a waste of time and we

will only confuse ourselves if we look at the wrong portion of the passage. We are

now like a detective looking for clues in the passage that would help us, and

ignoring irrelevant information!

ii) Highlight/Underline key words and phrases of the question in the passageThis step involves matching the key words and phrases we highlighted/underlined

in the question with the same words and phrases in the portion of the passage weidentified in the previous step. If a key word or phrase we highlighted/underlined in

the question is not found in the passage, then we must match that word or phrase to

the closest word or phrase in the passage.

iii)Look before and after the key words and phrases highlighted/underlinedRecalling our discussion about understanding the CONTEXT of something, we look

for information before and after a word or phrase in order to understand what that

word or phrase means or refers to. Often, it would be useful to draw arrows to link

pronouns like it, her, which, this etc. to the noun a pronoun represents. Adverbslike however, nevertheless, but, in addition, furthermore, moreover etc.

should be paid attention to.

iv)Answer the question by making changes to word forms (where needed)After we have found the information we need, we would answer the question with

all the relevant information. Often, we cannot copy totally whole sentences and

phrases, so we must make changes to some word forms to make sure our answer is

grammatically sound. Marks will be deducted for mistakes in grammar (e.g. present

tense not changed to past tense to answer the question).

v) Check our answersThis step can be done after we have finished answering all the questions, or after we

have answered each question. It is often necessary for us to look at the portion of the

passage we got our answer from several times.

Missing information


45/53

[Type text]

For each question, we must ask ourselves, is our answer sufficient? Does it contain

all the information required by the question? We must be thorough in our checking

by looking back at the portion of the passage we got our answer from and see if

there are any important words or phrases we left out. For example, we know that

there is a difference between hand and hands; not guilty and guilty; consciousand unconscious etc. And if the author mentions more than one point, we must

make sure that we do not just give one point. For example, if the portion of the

passage we look at states: Pauline was very sad and was full of bitterness, and the

question is: Howdid Pauline feel?, we should answer: She felt very sad and

bitter., and not She felt sad.(Notice that the word very beside sad should not be

left out, as well as the feeling of being bitter.)

Extra informationHave we overanswered the question? Generally speaking, if our answer exceeds

three lines, this would mean that there has been information we gave that is not

needed. A simple example would be a student knowing that the answer is found in a

particular paragraph, and copies the whole paragraph (perhaps trying to play safe)!

We should try to be as precise as possible in the amount of information we provide

for each question. As in another example, the portion of the passage states: Fabian

had just gobbled down a bowl of noodles for lunch, like a wild beast devouring a

prey. Some of his classmates were amazed at the speed he ate, when even a fever

could not prevent him from chomping up four hamburgers at once! And if the

question asks What did Fabian eat during lunch?, we should answer something like

He ate a bowl of noodles for lunch. Giving an answer like He gobbled down a

bowl of noodles for lunch like a wild beast devouring a prey, making some of his

classmates amazed at the speed he ate when even a fever could not prevent him


46/53

[Type text]

Little errors in grammar that may arise from using shall instead of should, or will

instead of would, or It was the cat that ate the food. instead of It was the cat

which ate the food., are usually overlooked and not penalized. Other mistakes that

are obvious as in the example: Why did the old lady suddenly faint?, and the

answer should follow The old lady fainted


47/53

[Type text]

As mentioned before, each paragraph may contain either 2Ws, or 1W and 1H etc. When

the examiner sets the questions, a question asking for a particular W or H can only be

asked if the answer is found in the passage. For example, in the following paragraph:

Looking back, I would never have put so much trust in a stranger again. I ought

to have been more obedient in following my mothers advice neverto talk to strangers; if not,

remember to have a healthy amount of wariness to strangers. The consequence of getting

robbed of my wallet was an expensive price to pay, and a traumatizing one too. I vowed from

then that I would never follow a stranger to a secluded area again, no matter how innocuous

he looked.

What are some questions that can be asked? The following are some possibilities:

1) What was the consequence the author suffered?2) What did the author regret not doing?3) How did the stranger look like to the author?4) Why was the author robbed?5) Where was the author robbed?The examiner cannot set questions where relevant information is not provided in the

passage. For example, the following are questions which cannot and will not be

asked:

1) At what time of the day was the author robbed?2) How much money did the author lose?3) How many years had passed since the author was robbed?4) What did the author do after he was robbed?The purpose of the examiner setting questions in the comprehension open-ended

section is not to ask us to for our opinion or to guess an answer. Rather, the

questions are to test how well we understand what the author of the passage has

written for us (the readers).

From the above questions that the examiner can ask, we realize that the questions

asked are quite direct, and the answer to each question can be found quite easily.

Answering this type of questions will be discussed in the section DIRECTQUESTIONS that would follow. We have to note, however, that the examiner can

ask questions where the information given in the passage is indirectly related. One

such type of question is an inferential question, which will be discussed in the

section INFERENTIAL QUESTIONS.


48/53

[Type text]

c) Types of questionsDifferent types of questions set test different skills of comprehension. Different types of

questions are also asked to identify students who are very competent, average and poor.

The types of questions asked can be divided into five broad categories as we will see.

i)

Direct questionDirect questions are the easiest of the five types of questions to answer. This category

of questions tests the most basic level of understanding. The answers are easily

found from the passage. Students who are weak in the comprehension open-ended

section should aim to pick up marks for this type of questions. Let us go back to an

example we saw previously:

Looking back, I would never have put so much trust in a stranger again. I ought

to have been more obedient in following my mothers advice never to talk to strangers; if not,

remember to have a healthy amount of wariness to strangers. The consequence of getting

robbed of my wallet was an expensive price to pay, and a traumatizing one too. I vowed fromthen that I would never follow a stranger to a secluded area again, no matter how innocuous

he looked.

1) Whatwas the consequencethe author suffered?We assume that this is the paragraph where the information relevant to this

question is found. Applying the steps we discussed previously, we go about

highlighting/underlining the key words and phrases in the passage that we have

highlighted/underlined in the question (which has been done in this case):

Looking back, I would never have put so much trust in a stranger again. I oughtto have been more obedient in following my mothers advice never to talk to strangers; if not,

remember to have a healthy amount of wariness to strangers. The consequenceof getting

robbed of my walletwas an expensive price to pay, and a traumatizing one too. I vowed from

then that I would never follow a stranger to a secluded area again, no matter how innocuous

he looked.

To find out more information about the consequence, we look before and after

the word consequence and the consequence refers to getting robbed of my

wallet. Next, we would write down the answer, making changes to thegrammatical word forms. An answer like this might follow:

The consequence suffered was getting robbed of his wallet. (Assuming the

author is male. my in the passage is changed

to his in our answer ).

2) Whatdid the author regret not doing?


49/53


50/53

[Type text]

1) Who does he (in line 6) referto?Once again, we follow the prescribed steps, and highlight he which has been done in

the passage, and look at information before and after he. In this case, the noun which

the pronoun he refers to is found before he. Our answer would be:

he refers to the stranger who robbed the authors wallet. (We do not write robbed the

author of his wallet because from the passage given, we do not know the authors

gender, male or female. We have once again answered in indirect speech, not he was

the stranger who robbed me.)

Another common pronoun that we are asked what something refers to is the pronoun

it. Let us look at a given case:

The monsoon season had arrived. It was at this time of the year that torrential

rainfall was to be expected for a whole month, and roaming the streets without an umbrella was

not an option, for even most who used an umbrella in a downpour would find some parts of

themselves bathed by the rain.Afraid that I might catch a cold if I walked about dripping from

head to toe, she made it a non-negotiable duty for me to carry an umbrella in my schoolbag each

day during that month.

2 i) What does it (in line 1) refer to?

Looking before and after it(in line 1), we must find what is the word or phrase that it

can be replaced with and the meaning of the sentence is still unchanged. The key

information includes monsoon season and this time of the year.(One way to go about the difficulty of determining the meaning of it in this case would

be to consider a similar scenario in your mind. Let us consider the situation: I was

looking for my pencil case that went missing. It was at a deserted corner of my home

that I found my pencil case. It definitely refers to the deserted corner, since was

functions like something equals to.)

So it (in line 1) refers to that time of the year.

ii)

iii)Vocabulary question

iv) Inferential questionv) Language Appreciation question


51/53


52/53


53/53

Comprehension Passage Interpretation Framework

Title: ______________________________________________________

Paragraph Title Key words and phrases

Common Sense in English for PSLE Students

Documents

Transcript of Common Sense in English for PSLE Students