Primary 5 English Semestral Assessment 2 (End of Year) Paper 2

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper - English Language Primary 5

SA2 Practice Paper — Version 2 of 5: Answer Key

Section A: Grammar MCQ (10 marks)

1. Answer: (B) flies

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: "Flock" is a collective noun treated as singular in this context, so the verb must agree with a singular subject. "Flies" is the correct singular present tense form.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "fly" because they associate "birds" (plural) with the verb, but the subject is "flock," not "birds."

2. Answer: (B) are

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "Students" (plural) is closest, so the plural verb "are" is correct.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "is" by incorrectly matching the verb to the first subject "teacher."

3. Answer: (B) had

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: The past perfect tense ("had started") is used to show that one past action was completed before another past action ("arrived"). The word "already" signals the past perfect.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "has" (present perfect) because they confuse the time frame.

4. Answer: (C) were

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: This is a second conditional (unreal/hypothetical) sentence. In formal grammar, "were" is used for all subjects (including "I") in the subjunctive mood.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (B) "was" because it feels natural in informal speech, but "were" is the grammatically correct form in standard English for hypothetical conditionals.

5. Answer: (B) was submitted

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: The sentence requires the passive voice in the simple past tense. The report (subject) received the action (submitted), and "last Friday" indicates past time. "Was submitted" is the correct passive past form.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (D) "has submitted" by confusing active and passive voice.

6. Answer: (C) who

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: "Who" is the relative pronoun used for people when it functions as the subject of the relative clause. "The girl" is a person and the subject of "won."
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "which" (used for things/animals) or (B) "whom" (used for objects, not subjects).

7. Answer: (C) into

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: "Into" indicates movement from outside to inside a space. The children moved from outside the playground to inside it.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "in" (which indicates location, not movement) or (B) "onto" (which implies movement to a surface).

8. Answer: (B) has

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: "Everyone" is an indefinite pronoun that takes a singular verb. "Has" is the correct singular present perfect form.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "have" because "everyone" feels like it refers to multiple people.

9. Answer: (A) to finish

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: The verb "ask" takes the pattern "ask + object + to-infinitive." The correct form is "asked the staff to finish."
• Common mistake: Students may choose (C) "finish" by omitting the required "to" before the infinitive.

10. Answer: (C) is

• Marking: 1 mark for correct answer.
• Reasoning: "News" is an uncountable noun and always takes a singular verb. "Is" is the correct singular present tense form.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "are" because "news" ends in -s and looks plural.

Section B: Grammar Cloze Passage (10 marks)

11. went

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: Simple past tense is required. "Last Saturday" indicates a completed past action. The past tense of "go" is "went."

12. was

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: "Everyone" is singular and requires a singular verb. The past tense of "is" is "was." The context is past (the trip already happened).

13. was filled / was crowded / was packed

• Marking: 1 mark for any appropriate word.
• Reasoning: The sentence describes the museum being full of visitors in the past. A passive construction or past tense adjective is needed. Acceptable answers include "was filled," "was crowded," or "was packed."
• Note: Award 1 mark for any grammatically and contextually appropriate answer.

14. were

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: "Exhibits" is plural, so the plural past tense verb "were" is required. The passive voice "were designed" is correct here.

15. looking

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: The verb pattern "spend time + gerund (-ing form)" is required. "Spent nearly an hour looking" follows this pattern correctly.

16. could

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: The sentence describes a past ability or possibility. "Could" is the past tense of "can" and fits the context of visitors being able to programme robots.

17. for

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: The preposition "for" is used to indicate the recipient of an action. "Bought a book for my brother" is the correct structure.

18. for

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: Same as above. "Picked up a puzzle for me" uses "for" to indicate the recipient.

19. were

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: "We" is a plural subject, so the plural past tense verb "were" is required.

20. had

• Marking: 1 mark.
• Reasoning: The past perfect tense "had ever had" is used to describe an experience up to a point in the past ("by the time we reached home"). The structure "one of the best...we had ever had" is the correct idiomatic form.

Section C: Grammar Editing (10 marks)

21.

• Error: were
• Correction: was
• Marking: 1 mark for identifying the error, 1 mark for the correct answer (2 marks total).
• Reasoning: The subject is "collection" (singular), not "stamps." The verb must agree with the singular subject: "The collection...was donated."

22.

• Error: have
• Correction: has
• Marking: 1 mark for identifying the error, 1 mark for the correct answer (2 marks total).
• Reasoning: "Each" is a singular indefinite pronoun and takes a singular verb. "Each of the participants has received" is correct.

23.

• Error: was
• Correction: were
• Marking: 1 mark for identifying the error, 1 mark for the correct answer (2 marks total).
• Reasoning: "The children" is a plural subject and requires the plural verb "were." "The children were playing" is correct.

24.

• Error: were
• Correction: was
• Marking: 1 mark for identifying the error, 1 mark for the correct answer (2 marks total).
• Reasoning: With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "The girl" (singular) is closest, so the singular verb "was" is correct.

25.

• Error: meet
• Correction: meets
• Marking: 1 mark for identifying the error, 1 mark for the correct answer (2 marks total).
• Reasoning: "The committee" is a collective noun treated as singular here. The simple present tense requires the singular form "meets" (with the third-person -s).

Section D: Sentence Transformation (10 marks)

26. Sarah told me that she would help me with my project the next day / the following day.

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct pronoun change ("I" → "she") and tense shift ("will" → "would").
  • 1 mark for correct time reference change ("tomorrow" → "the next day" / "the following day") and overall grammatical accuracy.
• Common mistakes: Forgetting to change "tomorrow" to "the next day"; changing "you" to "me" incorrectly (it should remain "me" because the reporter is the person being addressed).

27. Several houses in the village were destroyed by the storm.

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct passive construction ("were destroyed").
  • 1 mark for correct agent ("by the storm") and overall accuracy.
• Common mistakes: Using "was destroyed" (singular) instead of "were destroyed" (plural subject "houses"); omitting "by the storm."

28. She is too tired to finish the race.

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct use of "too."
  • 1 mark for correct infinitive structure ("to finish") and retention of original meaning.
• Common mistakes: Writing "too tired that she cannot" (incorrect structure); omitting "to" before the verb.

29. He failed the test because he did not study for it.

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct use of "because" to show cause and effect.
  • 1 mark for correct sentence structure and retention of original meaning.
• Common mistakes: Reversing the clauses without adjusting the logic; writing "because he failed the test he did not study" (reversed logic).

30. My mother asked me where I had put the keys.

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct tense shift in reported speech ("did put" → "had put").
  • 1 mark for correct word order (subject before verb: "I had put" not "had I put") and removal of question mark.
• Common mistakes: Keeping the question word order ("where had I put"); failing to change the past simple to past perfect.

Section E: Word Forms & Vocabulary in Context (10 marks)

31. discovery

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Reasoning: The sentence requires a noun to follow the possessive "scientist's." The noun form of "discover" is "discovery."
• Common mistake: Writing "discovering" (gerund) or "discovered" (past tense verb) instead of the noun form.

32. impressed

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Reasoning: The passive voice requires the past participle "impressed." "The audience was impressed" is the correct passive construction.
• Common mistake: Writing "impressing" (present participle) instead of the past participle.

33. confidently

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Reasoning: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "spoke." The adverb form of "confident" is "confidently."
• Common mistake: Writing "confident" (adjective) instead of the adverb form.

34. arrangement

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Reasoning: A noun is required after the article "the" and before the prepositional phrase "of the flowers." The noun form of "arrange" is "arrangement."
• Common mistake: Writing "arranging" (gerund) instead of the noun form.

35. explanation

• Marking: 2 marks.
• Reasoning: A noun is required after the possessive "his" and before the prepositional phrase "of the problem." The noun form of "explain" is "explanation."
• Common mistake: Writing "explaining" (gerund) or "explained" (past tense) instead of the noun form.

Mark Summary