Reading and Grammar Exercise (20 July 2015, Monday)

Ms Victoria Galvez

A) Learning Pronunciation: Phonics

1. Words ending with tch
Batch, Catch, Latch, Match, Patch
Clutch, Dutch, Hutch
Itch, Ditch, Witch
Crutch
Switch, Pitch
Stretch, Scratch, Snatch
Lets practise: 1. Catch the batch of fish and hang it on the latch of the gate.
2. Strike a match and put it on the patch.
3. The Dutch lady clutched her rabbits tightly as they attempted to escape from the hutch. 3. The witch itched after crawling out
from the ditch. 4. The elderly man hobbled unsteadily on his crutch. 5. The baseball player pitched the ball at the switch.
6. When Jane stretched, her handbag was snatched. She stretched her head in frustration.
2. Words beginning with th
Thin, Thick, Think, Thing
Thumb, Thump, Thud, Thug
Theft, Thresh, Thrush
Thrift, Thrill
Through VS True
Three VS Tree
Lets practise: 1. The couple has been thick and thin, so dont think a thing about separating them. 2. The thug shoved the victim to
the ground, and the victim landed with a loud thud. His heart thumped rapidly and his thumb was bloodshot red.
3. I will
thresh the thief who committed this theft! Tom swore.
4. The thrifty man gets a thrill just from the prospect of saving
money.
3. Words ending with th
Broth, Froth
Cloth, Moth
With, Width, Depth
Lets practise: 1. The froth from the fizzy drink resembles the steam from the broth.
3. You should practise not only thinking with some width but also with some depth.
entered sixth. Thomas took tenth place.

Fifth, Sixth, Tenth

2. The moth landed on the cloth.
4. Field came in fifth in the race. Sally

4. If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
5. The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
6. Through three cheese trees three free fleas few. While these fleas flew, freezy breeze blew. Freezy breeze made these three trees
freeze. Freezy trees made these trees cheese freeze. Thats what made these three free fleas sneeze.
B) Reading Aloud
1 Art Leisure
2 Michael Lau is a well-known sculptor, and many viewers have praised his artworks. Michael Lau was born in Australia but was
raised and schooled in England. Thus, his masterpieces have been heavily influenced by many European scholars.
3 Art is my soul, Michael revealed, in response to a question about his passion for art. It is a way of life, a means of leaving
something for mankind. Michael relishes leaving his personal touch on the collection of sculptures in the museum.
4 Michaels artistic talent has culminated in many exhibitions. A record 500, 000 people have graced his recent show so far. Two
million more are expected before the show concludes in two months. My work is my life, explained the 55-year-old, whole
endless love for sculpture began while he was being educated in England. Michael has a degree in fine art from the University of
London.
5 Michaels hands are full at the moment as he is preparing for another exhibition which will be open to the public at the end of
2015.
C) Grammar 1: The Present Perfect Continuous Tense
- The Present Perfect Continuous Tense is used to express an action which began in the past and is still going on. Such verbs are
formed with has been, or have been and the action word ending in ing.
E.g.s It has been raining the whole day.
They have been sleeping for an hour.
- The Present Perfect Tense is also used to express an action which began in the past and has just been completed.
E.g.s You have been avoiding me. Tell me why.
She has been rushing to catch the bus. She is panting now.
Exercise 1.1: Fill in the blanks with the Present Perfect Continuous Tense of the verbs in brackets.
1. We ________________________ (live) in this village for more than ten years.
2. I ________________________ (save) hard for the past week.
3. ____________ you ____________ (work) under the sun? You look very tanned, commented Alice.
4. She ________________________ (plan) to migrate to Australia since 2010.
5. You have grease on your fingers. ____________ you ____________ (try) to repair your tuk tuk?
6. The farmer ________________________ (plough) the paddy fields the whole morning.
7. My hair ________________________ (fall off) since last month. I think I should go for a check-up.
8. We ________________________ (wait) for him to arrive since 3pm.

9. The pen-pals ________________________ (correspond) with each other for the past five years.
10. She has been ________________________ (iron) the clothes since this morning.
Grammar 2: The Past Perfect Continuous Tense
- The Past Perfect Tense is used to express an action that was going on in the past when something else happened. Such verbs are
formed with had been and the action word ending in -ing.
E.g.s She had been sleeping soundly when the alarm rang.
He had been cycling when the accident happened.
- The Present Perfect Tense is also used in Indirect or Reported Speech to replace the Present Perfect Continuous Tense.
E.g.s The baby has been crying since 3pm, Mrs Tan said. Mrs Tan said that the baby had been crying since 3pm.
Exercise 2.1: Fill in the blanks with the Past Perfect Continuous Tense of the verbs in brackets.
1. They ________________________ (train) hard when he broke his arm.
2. Jane ________________________ (bleed) for five minutes before the ambulance arrived.
3. They said that they ________________________ (prepare) themselves for a powerful attack by the enemy.
4. She ________________________ (practise) on the piano for an hour when she heard a knock on the door.
5. The boy ________________________ (struggle) in the water for a few minutes before I saved him.
6. The men said that they ________________________ (cycle) across the country for the last two months.
7. They ________________________ (live) in Cambodia when the genocide occurred.
8. The pupils ________________________ (listen) attentively to the teacher when the inspector came.
9. I told her that I ________________________ (wait) for her since morning.
10. The little girl ________________________ (shriek) for a few seconds before her mother reprimanded her.