Primary 6 PSLE English Semestral Assessment 2 (End of Year) Paper 5

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper — English Primary 6 SA2 (Version 5 of 5)

Answer Key and Marking Scheme

Section A: Grammar MCQ (10 marks)

1. (B) had known

• Reasoning: This is a third conditional sentence (unreal past condition). The structure requires the past perfect ("had known") in the if-clause and "would have + past participle" in the main clause. The main clause "would have taken" signals that the condition clause must be past perfect.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "knew" (second conditional form) or (C) "have known" (present perfect, which does not match the past unreal context). [1]

2. (B) had used up

• Reasoning: The past perfect tense ("had used up") is required because the action of using up supplies was completed before another past action (the rescue team arriving). The phrase "by the time" signals a sequence of two past events.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "used up" (simple past), which does not show the correct sequence of events. [1]

3. (A) hand in

• Reasoning: "Hand in" means to submit or give something to a person in authority. "Hand out" means to distribute. "Hand over" means to give control of something. "Hand down" means to pass something to a younger generation. The context requires "submit."
• Common mistake: Students may confuse "hand in" with "hand out." [1]

4. (B) are

• Reasoning: When using "neither...nor," the verb agrees with the subject closest to it. "Employees" (plural) is closer to the verb, so the plural form "are" is correct.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "is" by incorrectly matching the verb to "manager" (the first subject). [1]

5. (A) is

• Reasoning: When a subject is followed by "along with," "as well as," or "together with," the verb agrees with the main subject ("The scientist," singular). Therefore, "is" is correct.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (B) "are" by incorrectly treating "the research assistants" as part of the subject for verb agreement. [1]

6. (A) put off

• Reasoning: "Put off" means to postpone or delay. "Put across" means to communicate an idea. "Put away" means to store. "Put through" means to connect by phone or to cause someone to undergo something. The context requires "postpone."
• Common mistake: Students may confuse "put off" with "put across." [1]

7. (C) had already been published

• Reasoning: The past perfect passive ("had already been published") is needed because the publishing occurred before another past event (the film adaptation being released). The passive voice is required because the novel is the receiver of the action.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (B) "has already been published" (present perfect), which does not match the past time frame. [1]

8. (A) barely

• Reasoning: "Barely" means "only just" or "almost not," which fits the context of someone speaking so softly that hearing was difficult. "Nearly" means "almost" (but not quite). "Seldom" means "rarely" (frequency). "Roughly" means "approximately" or "in a rough manner."
• Common mistake: Students may choose (B) "nearly," which changes the meaning. [1]

9. (B) so

• Reasoning: The structure "so + adjective + that" is used to show result. "Such" would require "such + a/an + adjective + noun + that." "Too" would require "too + adjective + to + verb." "Very" does not pair with "that" in this result-clause structure.
• Common mistake: Students may choose (A) "such" by confusing the "so...that" and "such...that" structures. [1]

10. (B) trekking

• Reasoning: After "after," a gerund (verb + -ing) is used when the subject of both clauses is the same ("the hikers"). "After trekking" is the most concise and natural form. Option (A) is grammatically correct but unnecessarily wordy for this context. Option (C) is also grammatically possible but less common at P6 level. Option (D) is incorrect because "trek" is not used in the passive here.
• Marking note: Accept (A) or (B). Award 1 mark for either. [1]

Section B: Grammar Cloze Passage (15 marks)

11. went

• Reasoning: The passage is set in the past ("Last Saturday"), so the simple past tense of "go" is required. [1]

12. was

• Reasoning: The trip is the subject, and it received the action of being organised (passive voice). Since the event is in the past, "was" (singular, past) is correct. The full answer is "was organised," but the blank requires only "was."
• Marking note: 2 marks — 1 mark for correct auxiliary "was," 1 mark for correct passive construction context. [2]

13. reached / entered / arrived at

• Reasoning: A past tense verb is needed to describe the action before which Mrs Lim gave her reminder. "Reached," "entered," or "arrived at" are all acceptable.
• Marking note: Accept any appropriate past tense verb that fits the context. [1]

14. so

• Reasoning: The structure "so + adjective + that" is required here. The sentence reads: "This exhibition is so informative that you will learn something new..."
• Common mistake: Students may write "such," which would require a noun phrase after it (e.g., "such an informative exhibition"). [1]

15. were

• Reasoning: "The students" (plural subject) + past tense of "be" = "were." The sentence is in the passive voice ("were amazed by"). [1]

16. could / would / might / can

• Reasoning: A modal verb is needed to express possibility or conditional effect. "Could" or "would" are the most natural choices in this context about a hypothetical/illustrated scenario.
• Marking note: Accept "could," "would," "might," or "can." [1]

17. such as / like / including

• Reasoning: The blank introduces examples of renewable energy sources. "Such as" is the most standard phrase for introducing examples in formal writing.
• Marking note: Accept "such as," "like," or "including." [1]

18. record / write / note / document

• Reasoning: A verb meaning "to write down" or "to note" is needed. The students were asked to put their observations into a reflection journal.
• Marking note: 2 marks — 1 mark for a correct verb, 1 mark for the verb fitting the context of writing/recording observations. Accept "record," "write," "note," "document," or "jot down." [2]

19. had

• Reasoning: The past perfect tense ("had gained") is needed because the gaining of understanding occurred before "the end of the visit" (a past reference point). The phrase "by the end of" signals the past perfect.
• Marking note: 2 marks — 1 mark for "had," 1 mark for correct past perfect construction in context. [2]

20. could / might / would

• Reasoning: A modal verb expressing possibility or willingness is needed. The students are asking about a future possibility from a past perspective. "Could" is the most natural choice.
• Marking note: Accept "could," "might," or "would." [1]

Section C: Editing and Sentence Transformation (15 marks)

21. Editing (5 marks)

• Marking note: There are more than five errors in the passage. Award 1 mark for each correctly identified and corrected error, up to a maximum of 5 marks. The five most critical errors are:
  1. "go" → "went" (past tense required)
  2. "drive" → "drove" (past tense required)
  3. "visit" → "visited" (past tense required)
  4. "were" → "was" (subject "weather" is singular)
  5. "eat" → "ate" (past tense required)
• Common mistakes: Students may miss the subject-verb agreement error ("weather were") or may not recognise that "tries," "leave," and "returned" are also errors. [5]

22. Reported Speech Transformation (3 marks)

Model answer: The teacher told the class that they had to submit their project by Friday or they would lose marks.

• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct tense shift: "must" → "had to"
  • 1 mark for correct pronoun change: "you" → "they"
  • 1 mark for correct modal shift: "will" → "would" and overall sentence structure
• Common mistakes:
  • Forgetting to change "must" to "had to"
  • Forgetting to change "you" to "they"
  • Forgetting to change "will" to "would"
  • Including "said to" instead of "told" (minor; accept if the rest is correct) [3]

23. Sentence Combining (3 marks)

Model answer: The storm was so severe that many trees were uprooted and the roads were blocked.

• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct use of "so...that" structure
  • 1 mark for including all three original ideas (storm severity, trees uprooted, roads blocked)
  • 1 mark for grammatical accuracy and logical flow
• Common mistakes:
  • Omitting one of the three ideas
  • Incorrect structure (e.g., "The storm was so severe, many trees were uprooted" — missing "that")
  • Changing the meaning of the original sentences [3]

24. Conditional Sentence (2 marks)

Model answer: If she had studied hard, she would not have failed the examination.

• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct past perfect in the if-clause: "had studied"
  • 1 mark for correct conditional perfect in the main clause: "would not have failed"
• Common mistakes:
  • Using second conditional ("If she studied hard, she would not fail") — this does not match the past context
  • Forgetting "not" in the main clause
  • Incorrect verb forms [2]

25. Active to Passive Voice (2 marks)

Model answer: The beach has been cleaned up by the volunteers.

• Marking scheme:
  • 1 mark for correct passive construction: "has been cleaned up"
  • 1 mark for correct agent: "by the volunteers"
• Common mistakes:
  • Changing the tense (e.g., "was cleaned up" instead of "has been cleaned up")
  • Omitting "by the volunteers" (award 1 mark if the passive construction is correct but the agent is missing)
  • Incorrect past participle (e.g., "cleaned" without "been") [2]

Summary of Marks

End of Answer Key