Primary 5 English Semestral Assessment 2 (End of Year) Paper 3

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper - English Language Primary 5

SA2 (Version 3 of 5) — Answer Key

Section A: Grammar MCQ (10 marks)

1. (C) were playing

• Reasoning: Past continuous is used for an ongoing action interrupted by another past event ("started to rain"). The children were in the middle of playing when the rain began.

2. (B) are

• Reasoning: With "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "Students" is plural, so "are" is correct. Present tense is appropriate for a current situation.

3. (B) had

• Reasoning: This is a second conditional (unreal/hypothetical present/future). The structure is: If + past simple, would + base verb. "Had" is the past simple form.

4. (B) was submitted

• Reasoning: Passive voice is required because the report received the action. "Last Friday" indicates past tense, so "was submitted" is correct.

5. (B) has

• Reasoning: "Everyone" is an indefinite pronoun treated as singular. Present perfect ("has completed") is appropriate for an action completed recently with present relevance.

6. (B) who

• Reasoning: "Who" is the relative pronoun used for people as the subject of the relative clause. "Which" is for things; "whom" is for objects; "whose" shows possession.

7. (C) patiently

• Reasoning: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "explained." "Patiently" is the adverb form of "patient."

8. (C) on

• Reasoning: "On" is the correct preposition for placing something on a surface (the table).

9. (B) had

• Reasoning: Past perfect ("had started") is used for an action completed before another past action ("arrived"). The sequence is: movie started → we arrived.

10. (B) makes

• Reasoning: "The news" is an uncountable noun treated as singular. Present simple ("makes") is correct for a general statement.

Section B: Grammar Cloze & Editing (20 marks)

11. went on / took

• Reasoning: Past simple is needed for a completed action last Saturday. "Went on a trip" or "took a trip" are both acceptable collocations.

12. had told

• Reasoning: Past perfect is required because the teacher's telling happened before the looking forward (which is already in the past). Sequence: teacher told → they looked forward.

13. led / took / brought

• Reasoning: Past simple is needed to match the narrative tense. "Led us through" or "took us through" are both acceptable.

14. is

• Reasoning: Present simple is used for a general fact or permanent state. The reserve is (currently) home to over 200 species.

15. travel / fly / migrate

• Reasoning: Present simple is used for habitual or general truths about migratory birds. "Travel" or "fly" or "migrate" are all acceptable.

16. Error: were → Correction: was

• Reasoning: The subject is "collection" (singular), not "stamps." The verb must agree with the singular subject: "The collection...was donated."

17. Error: would have studied → Correction: had studied

• Reasoning: This is a third conditional (unreal past). The correct structure is: If + past perfect, would have + past participle. "Would have" is never used in the if-clause.

18. Error: happy → Correction: happily

• Reasoning: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "played." "Happily" is the adverb form of "happy."

19. Error: have → Correction: has

• Reasoning: "Each" is an indefinite pronoun treated as singular. The correct form is "Each...has received."

20. Error: have → Correction: has

• Reasoning: The subject is "library" (singular), not "month." The relative clause "which opened last month" is additional information. The main verb must agree with "library": "The library...has already become."

Section C: Grammar Transformation & Application (20 marks)

21. Jason said that he would finish the project by the following day / the next day.

• Marking: [2 marks] — 1 mark for correct pronoun change ("I" → "he") and tense shift ("will" → "would"); 1 mark for correct time reference change ("tomorrow" → "the following day" / "the next day").
• Common mistake: Students may forget to change "tomorrow" to "the following day" or "the next day."

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

• Marking: [2 marks] — 1 mark for correct passive construction ("were destroyed"); 1 mark for correct agent placement ("by the storm").
• Common mistake: Students may use "was" instead of "were" (houses = plural).

23. She is so tired that she cannot concentrate on her homework.

• Marking: [2 marks] — 1 mark for correct use of "so...that" structure; 1 mark for retaining the original meaning.
• Common mistake: Students may write "so...and" or omit "that."

24. The boy who won the art competition is my neighbour.

• Marking: [2 marks] — 1 mark for correct use of "who" as the relative pronoun; 1 mark for correct sentence structure and meaning.
• Alternative acceptable answer: The boy that won the art competition is my neighbour.

25. It was the first time they had seen such a beautiful sunset.

• Marking: [2 marks] — 1 mark for correct use of "It was the first time"; 1 mark for correct past perfect tense ("had seen").
• Common mistake: Students may use "have seen" instead of "had seen."

26. skill

• Reasoning: A noun is needed after "great." The noun form of "skillful" is "skill."

27. magnificence

• Reasoning: A noun is needed as the subject of the sentence. The noun form of "magnificent" is "magnificence."

28. respectfully

• Reasoning: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "speak." The adverb form of "respectful" is "respectfully."

29. discovery

• Reasoning: A noun is needed as the subject of the sentence. The noun form of "discover" is "discovery."

30. determination

• Reasoning: A noun is needed after "great." The noun form of "determine" is "determination."

31. (B) did she pass

• Reasoning: "Not only" at the beginning of a sentence triggers inversion. The auxiliary "did" comes before the subject "she."

32. (B) be

• Reasoning: After verbs of demand/request like "insisted," the subjunctive mood is used. The base form "be" is correct (not "is" or "was").

33. (A) Affected

• Reasoning: A past participle is needed to begin the participial clause. "Affected by the heavy rain" correctly modifies "the outdoor concert."

34. (A) from

• Reasoning: "Refrain from" is a fixed prepositional collocation. It means to stop oneself from doing something.

35. (B) had I closed

• Reasoning: "Scarcely" at the beginning of a sentence triggers inversion. The structure is: Scarcely + had + subject + past participle + when + past simple.

36. are / were

• Reasoning: "Committee" is a collective noun. When the focus is on individual members having different opinions, a plural verb is acceptable. Both "are" (present) and "were" (past) are acceptable depending on context.

37. could

• Reasoning: "Wish" + past simple (or "could") expresses a present unreal situation. "Could" is the correct modal verb here.

38. that / which / (no pronoun — zero relative pronoun)

• Reasoning: A relative pronoun is needed to connect the relative clause to "book." "That" or "which" are both acceptable. The pronoun can also be omitted because it functions as the object of "borrowed."

39. so

• Reasoning: "So...that" is the correct correlative structure to express result. "So fast that" is the standard pattern.

40. by

• Reasoning: "By" is the correct preposition to indicate a deadline (no later than a specific time).

Marking Summary