Primary 5 English Practice Paper 5

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper — Answer Key

English Primary 5 — Grammar Practice Paper (Version 5 of 5)

Section A: Multiple-Choice Questions (10 marks)

1. (B) are

• Rule: With "neither…nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "Employees" is plural, so "are" is correct.
• Common mistake: Students may choose "is" because they match the verb to the first subject ("manager") instead of the nearer one.

2. (C) had prepared

• Rule: The past perfect tense ("had prepared") is used for an action completed before another past action ("arrived").
• Common mistake: Choosing "prepared" (simple past) ignores the time-sequence signal "by the time."

3. (B) was submitted

• Rule: Passive voice in the simple past tense. The report (subject) received the action, and "last Friday" signals past time.
• Common mistake: Choosing "is submitted" ignores the past time marker.

4. (B) had known

• Rule: Third conditional structure for an unreal past situation: "If + past perfect, would have + past participle."
• Common mistake: Choosing "knew" (second conditional) instead of the third conditional needed for a past unreal condition.

5. (D) into

• Rule: "Into" is used to indicate movement toward the inside of a place. "Ran into the playground" shows direction of movement.
• Common mistake: Confusing "in" (static position) with "into" (movement).

6. (B) has

• Rule: "Everyone" is an indefinite pronoun treated as singular, so it takes the singular verb "has."
• Common mistake: Choosing "have" because "everyone" feels plural in meaning.

7. (B) carefully

• Rule: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "explained." "Carefully" is the adverb form of "careful."
• Common mistake: Choosing "careful" (adjective) instead of the adverb form.

8. (B) lived

• Rule: The simple past tense is correct because the action (living in Tokyo) is completed — she has since moved to Singapore. The time frame is entirely in the past.
• Common mistake: Choosing "has lived" (present perfect) suggests the action continues to the present, which contradicts "before she moved."

9. (B) which

• Rule: "Which" is the relative pronoun used for things. "Book" is a thing, so "which" is correct.
• Common mistake: Choosing "who" (used for people) instead of "which."

10. (C) will announce

• Rule: "At the next meeting" signals a future event, so the future tense "will announce" is correct.
• Common mistake: Choosing "announces" (simple present for scheduled events) is acceptable in some contexts, but "will announce" is the clearest future form here.

Section B: Fill-in-the-Blanks (15 marks)

11. have been studying

• Rule: Present perfect continuous tense. "Since last month" indicates an action that started in the past and continues to the present. Structure: have/has + been + verb-ing.
• Marking: Award 2 marks for the full correct answer. Award 1 mark for "have studied" (present perfect simple, partially correct but less precise).

12. will have been constructed

• Rule: Future perfect passive voice. "By the end of next year" signals completion before a future point, and the bridge receives the action. Structure: will + have + been + past participle.
• Marking: Award 2 marks for the full correct answer. Award 1 mark for "will be constructed" (simple future passive — partially correct but misses the "by the end of" completion signal).

13. softly

• Rule: An adverb is needed to modify the verb "spoke." The adverb form of "soft" is "softly."
• Marking: Award 2 marks for "softly." Award 1 mark if the student writes "so soft" (adjective form — partially correct in informal usage but grammatically inaccurate here).

14. decision

• Rule: A noun is needed after the article "the." The noun form of "decide" is "decision."
• Marking: Award 2 marks for "decision." Award 1 mark for "deciding" (gerund — acceptable in some contexts but less appropriate after "the" in this sentence).

15. rains

• Rule: First conditional for a real/possible future situation. The "if" clause uses the simple present tense ("rains"), and the main clause uses "will + base verb."
• Marking: Award 2 marks for "rains." Award 1 mark for "will rain" (incorrect — "will" should not be used in the "if" clause of a first conditional).

16. who

• Rule: "Who" is the relative pronoun used for people. "Girl" is a person, so "who" is correct.
• Marking: Award 1 mark for "who." Also accept "that" (1 mark).

17. at

• Rule: "At" is the correct preposition for a specific point/location. "At the bus stop" indicates a specific place.
• Marking: Award 1 mark for "at."

Section C: Sentence Transformation (15 marks)

18. Tom said that he would finish the project by Friday.

• Rule: In reported speech, "I" changes to "he" (matching Tom), "will" changes to "would" (backshift), and "by Friday" remains unchanged as it is a time reference that does not require adjustment in this context.
• Marking (5 marks):
  • 1 mark for correct subject change ("he")
  • 1 mark for correct tense backshift ("would finish")
  • 1 mark for retaining "the project"
  • 1 mark for retaining "by Friday"
  • 1 mark for overall grammatical accuracy and sentence completeness
• Common mistakes: Forgetting to backshift "will" to "would"; changing "by Friday" to "by that Friday" (not necessary here); using "will" instead of "would."

19. The entire building was destroyed by the fire.

• Rule: In passive voice, the object of the active sentence ("the entire building") becomes the subject. The verb changes to "was + past participle" (simple past passive). The original subject ("the fire") becomes the agent introduced by "by."
• Marking (5 marks):
  • 1 mark for correct new subject ("The entire building")
  • 1 mark for correct passive verb form ("was destroyed")
  • 1 mark for correct agent ("by the fire")
  • 1 mark for correct tense (simple past)
  • 1 mark for overall grammatical accuracy and completeness
• Common mistakes: Using "is destroyed" (present tense) instead of "was destroyed"; omitting "by the fire"; writing "destroyed" without the auxiliary "was."

20. Although she is very tired, she cannot finish the race.

• Rule: "Although" is a subordinating conjunction used to show contrast. It can begin the sentence (followed by a comma before the main clause) or appear in the middle. The meaning must remain unchanged.
• Marking (5 marks):
  • 1 mark for correct use of "although"
  • 1 mark for retaining the first clause meaning ("she is very tired")
  • 1 mark for retaining the second clause meaning ("she cannot finish the race")
  • 1 mark for correct punctuation (comma after the "although" clause if it begins the sentence)
  • 1 mark for overall grammatical accuracy and completeness
• Alternative acceptable answer: "She cannot finish the race although she is very tired." (5 marks if fully correct)
• Common mistakes: Using "but" instead of "although"; changing the meaning; incorrect punctuation (missing comma when "although" begins the sentence).

Total: 40 marks