First Semestral Assessment 2013

English Language Paper 1

Primary Four
Picture Composition

Time: 50 minutes Marks: 20

There are two questions. Answer only ONE of them.
Question 1

You were outside the mall yesterday when you saw a pickpocket in action. Look at
the pictures above. Write a personal recount of at least 120 words about what
happened.

Consider the following points when you plan your composition: Helping words:
- When and where did the incident take place? taxi stand
- What were you doing?
queue
- What were the rest of the people doing?
chatting
- What you did when you saw the pickpocket in action?
- Who responded to that action? engrossed
- What happened after that? chase
security
guard
1 arrested
wallet
Question 2

Write a composition of at least 120 words about a

time you went on an outing with your family.

The pictures, not arranged in sequence, are

provided to help you think about this topic. Your
composition should be based on one, two or all of
these pictures.

Consider the following points when you plan your

composition:

Where did you go on the outing?

Why did your go for the outing?
What did you enjoy most at the outing?
What problem did you encounter during the outing?
What did all of you do about it?
What happened after that?

You may use the points in any order and include

other relevant points as well.

Helping words:

picnic

enjoying

lonely

drizzle

shelter
disappointed

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Section A: Vocabulary MCQ (6 x 1 mark = 6 marks)
For each question from 1 to 6, four options are given. One of them is the
correct answer. Shade the correct oval (1, 2, 3 or 4) on the Optical Answer
Sheet (OAS) provided.

1. Paula was glad when she found the ___________ on how to make banana
muffins.

(1) tool
(2) recipe
(3) ingredient
(4) equipment

2. Although Mr Lee is not able to move, he has shown ___________ of what is

happening around him. He responds to the nurses and his family by blinking
his eyes.

(1) bitterness
(2) weakness
(3) awareness
(4) willingness

3. The ___________ of the serious accident were sent to the hospital

immediately.

(1) victims
(2) onlookers
(3) attendants
(4) passengers

4. David was promoted because he is a very ___________ worker.

(1) modest
(2) capable
(3) obliging
(4) inexperienced

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5. The villagers had to ___________ from their homes when the volcano
erupted.

(1) commute
(2) storm
(3) creep
(4) flee

6. Mrs Tan was ___________ when she realised that her student, Samuel, had
forgotten to bring his homework to school again.

(1) jealous
(2) pleased
(3) petrified
(4) frustrated

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Section B: Grammar MCQ (8 x 1 mark = 8 marks)
For each question from 7 to 14, four options are given. One of them is the
correct answer. Shade the correct oval (1, 2, 3 or 4) on the Optical Answer
Sheet (OAS) provided.

7. My brothers go to school ___________ every morning.

(1) myself
(2) himself
(3) ourselves
(4) themselves

8. Mary ___________ reading to her sister now.

(1) is
(2) are
(3) was
(4) were

9. You ___________ not behaving yourself yesterday, Mrs Tan scolded.

(1) is
(2) are
(3) was
(4) were

10. Daddy ___________ to wake Joshua up now! Gary informed his mother.

(1) try
(2) tries
(3) is trying
(4) has tried

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11. Yesterday, we ___________ our bicycles to the park and had a picnic there.

(1) ride
(2) rides
(3) rode
(4) was riding

12. Look here! ___________ wallet belongs to Mr Buckley! Ron exclaimed.

(1) This
(2) That
(3) These
(4) Those

13. Do not put too ___________ salt in the soup! It is bad for our health! warned
Mrs Chan.

(1) few
(2) little
(3) many
(4) much

14. ___________ of the passengers in the minibus refused to wear the seatbelt
except for Maria, a law-abiding citizen.

(1) All
(2) Any
(3) None
(4) Some

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Section C: Comprehension MCQ (5 x 2 marks = 10 marks)
Read the following passage and answer questions 15 to 19.

Jonathans uncle, who ran a bird shop, gave Jonathan a special present for his

eleventh birthday. It was a green and yellow bird that his uncles employee had caught

in the forest. Jonathan saw the bird in its pretty white cage. It was the most thrilling

moment of his life. He loved birds and this one was more beautiful than any other bird

he had seen before.

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Jonathan immediately noticed that the bird had a little black dot under each eye,

which looked like a tear. He decided to call his pet Little Sad Eyes. It was not only its

eyes that gave the bird its sad appearance. It also had a habit of lowering its head and

hiding it under its wing.

Jonathan tried to make Little Sad Eyes happy. He hung its cage near a large 10
window that opened out into the garden. He tried to discover which type of seeds his

bird liked best. He even provided it with a little swing and a small glass bell. Jonathan

often whistled lively tunes to the bird, hoping that it would respond. However, nothing

helped. The little bird continued to look unhappy, keeping its head under its wing and

looking as if it were shedding tears. 15

One day, a small flock of birds began flying outside. Little Sad Eyes looked up

sharply and began to flap its wings about excitedly. Even after the birds left, it

continued to hop about its cage, making small chirping sounds. After some time, it

went back to its quiet, sad position. This time, it hid its head even further under its

wing. 20
At last, Jonathan understood. He sighed and said softly, I will miss you, Little Sad

Eyes, but this is probably for the best. Goodbye!

Adapted from A Collection of Short Stories - Little Sad Eyes

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15. Jonathans uncle got the beautiful bird _________.

(1) from the forest

(2) from a bird shop
(3) for his eleventh birthday
(4) from a member of his staff

16. Jonathan decided to name his pet Little Sad Eyes because of _________.

(1) its sad appearance

(2) its green and yellow feathers
(3) its habit of putting its head under its wings
(4) the small black mark below each of its eyes

17. Little Sad Eyes showed its unhappiness by _________.

(1) shedding tears

(2) flapping its wings
(3) hopping about in its cage
(4) not responding to Jonathan

18. The word this in line 22 refers to _________.

(1) Jonathan giving the bird away

(2) Jonathan setting the bird free
(3) the bird being kept in the cage
(4) the bird hiding its head further in its wing

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19. Which of the following statements is true?

(1) Little Sad Eyes chirped and hopped around when Jonathan bought a
little swing and a small glass bell for it.
(2) Jonathan tried to make Little Sad Eyes happy by buying a little swing
and a small glass bell for it.
(3) Little Sad Eyes hid its head even further under its wing when it saw the
flock of birds.
(4) Jonathan stopped whistling to Little Sad Eyes because it started to chirp
and hop.

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Section D: Vocabulary Cloze (5 marks)
Read the passage carefully. Choose the correct word from the helping words
given in the box and write its letter (A-M) in each blank. The letter I has
been omitted to avoid confusion.

USE A WORD ONCE ONLY

(A) backpack (B) count (C) happy (D) helmet

(E) jumped (F) posture (G) reluctant (H) seatbelt
(J) swerved (K) tell (L) turned (M) vision

Erica Langton had always been a cautious driver. Mr and Mrs Langton could

always __________ (20) on Erica to take care of her younger brother, Max. The

two woke up early one morning as Erica had to send Max to school. In her rush,

she had forgotten to wear her spectacles. As a result, her __________ (21)

became a little poor.

Along the way, their family vehicle __________ (22) to the next lane to avoid

colliding into a lorry that had tried to cut into her lane. Max called out to his sister in

shock. He knew that that would happen as Erica could not see clearly and was

driving too slowly. Max had seen the impatient lorry driver with his unbuckled

__________ (23) ages ago.

Erica apologised to Max for being careless. Max told his elder sister that they

should take the bus instead. Erica was __________ (24) to do what he suggested

but she eventually parked the car at the nearest car park. They then continued

their way to school on the public bus.

Adapted from Ten by Shamini Flint

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Section E: Grammar Cloze (8 x 1 mark = 8 marks)

Passage 1

Read the passage carefully. Choose the correct word from the words given
in the box and write its letter (A to F) in each blank.

EACH WORD CAN BE USED ONLY ONCE.

(A) I (B) her (C) me

(D) she (E) they (F) we

Maria Gomes is a fantastic singer and performer. _________ (25) is one of my

favourite pop idols. Her album, My Universe, is ranked number one in the music

charts. I saved up money and bought _________ (26) album last year. Barbara

Spize is another pop idol that _________ (27) like. My best friend and I want to be

as famous as Gomes and Spize. _________ (28) look up to their glamorous and

famous lifestyles. We would always watch their concerts together.

Adapted from The Diary of Amos Lee: Im Twelve, Im Tough, I Tweet! by Adeline Foo

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Passage 2

Read the passage carefully. Underline the correct word from the words given
in the brackets.

Your body is wired with thousands of nerves. A recent study (29) [ has / have ]

shown that the nerves let your brain send messages to different parts of your body.

Signals (30) [ travel / travels ] through your nerves very quickly. Many things slow

down or (31) [ stop / stops ] signals from your brain to other parts of your body.

One of the most common causes (32) [ is / are ] illegal drug use. Drugs can cause

permanent damage to your brain.

Adapted from Celebrating Chemistry: Body Works

http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/education/whatischemistry/scienceforkids/articles/CSTA_015145

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Section F: Synthesis (3 x 1 mark = 3 marks)
For each of the questions 33 to 35, rewrite the given sentences using the
word(s) provided. Your answer must be in one sentence. The meaning of
your sentence must be the same as the meaning of the given sentences.

33. Qistina went to bed early. Qistina had to prepare breakfast the next day.

_____________________________________________________________ as

______________________________________________________________.

34. Tony must train hard. Tony will win the gold medal in the competition.

If _____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________.

35. He can leave the bag at the reception counter. He can leave it in the locker.

____________________________________________________________or

______________________________________________________________.

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Section G: Comprehension Open-ended (5 x 2 marks = 10 marks)
Read the following passage and answer questions 36 to 40.

Wherever Chef Colin Tan goes with his goodies, dogs come running to
him. Chef Colin owns a dog-treat bakery in Clementi which he calls a bark-ery.
He uses ingredients like peanut butter, sweet potatoes and goat cheese to create
healthy snacks for dogs.

Chef Colin has always liked working in the kitchen. When he was three 5
years old, his mother gave him a plastic knife. He used it to help cut carrots,
cheese and onions. When he was only seven years old, he told his family that he
planned on becoming a chef. He worked hard and when he was eighteen, he
attended the Culinary School of America.

Upon returning to Singapore, he decided to do something different. With 10

his two friends, Chef Colin started Barkleys Bistro, a dog-treat bakery for dogs.
Chef Colin and his team brainstorm ideas for recipes. Often, they choose a
favourite human food, such as peanut-butter cookies before tweaking the recipe
to make it healthy for dogs. That is how they came up with Lollys Peanut
Buttons. 15

The team researches each ingredient that goes into the treats. For
example, they use oats which help the dogs digest their food, and flax as it gives
dogs a shiny coat and helps them get more energy. He does not use salt and
sugar as these ingredients might upset the stomachs of some dogs. Before selling
his treats, Chef Colin wants to know if they taste good to dogs. He tests them out 20
on his neighbours dogs. He feeds the treats to their dogs and sees if the dogs
liked them or not. He is always glad when the dogs give him a tail-wagging report.
Interestingly, although the treats are meant for dogs, they can be eaten by people
too!

Adapted from Cooking by Canines by Sara Matson

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Write your answers in complete sentences.

36. Why is the food sold at Barkleys Bistro different?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

37. Why does Chef Colin not use salt and sugar in the food he prepares?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

38. How does Chef Colin test if his food tastes good?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

39. Which sentence in the last paragraph tells you how the dogs signal to Chef Colin that
the food tastes good?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

40. Put a tick in the box for the ingredients that Chef Colin uses to make the treats.

oats flax

carrots onions

peanut butter sweet potatoes

- END OF PAPER -

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