CA1 Revision 2

Dear all,

Some last minute revision notes for CA1:

Grammar rules 

1. Always look at the verbs to determine the tenses (present / past / past perfect)

take (present tense)
took (past tense)
had taken (past perfect)

2. Neither .... nor ..........
    Either ..... or .........

This is also known as the proximity rule. Always look at the second noun involved to determine if the verb that follows is Singular / Plural.

e.g Neither Peter nor Fabian is at home now.
      Either your or I am to complete the work.
      Neither the boy nor the girls are studying.

3. Verb Noun Verb Rule 

The second verb is always in the root word or continuous form.

I saw the boy take / taking the wallet.
He witnessed the driver swerve / swerving the car.

4. Can / Could / Will/ Would / Shall/ Should / Might / May + Verb (Root word)

The verb that follows after these words are in the root word form.

May I take the plate?
He would strike back if he was provoked.

5. Each / Every / Everyone / None / No one / Neither of / Either of (Singular form)

These words are all in the singular form.

Each of the cars is painted by Jim.
None of the boys is here now.
Neither of the students has eaten yet.

Synthesis and Transformation

1. However (adjective) (pronoun/noun) (verb)

However tired Peter was, he continued to press on.

2. Much to (pronoun) (noun) .................

Much to our horror, we witnessed the accident.
Much to Peter's disappointment, he failed to clinch the award.

3. Reported Speech 

Remember to check for the tenses of the verbs OUTSIDE the speech first.
Check for your PPTT (pronoun / place / time / tense) to change the respective words.
If it is a question, check if it is a 'Yes/No' question. If it is, then you got to start your answer with 'if / whether'.

*Remember to put a tick for the words used, a cross for the words not used and (C) for words that need to be changed.

Some questions require the use of transformation and as such, do know how to change from one form to the other.

e.g

Angry (adjective) --> Anger (Noun)
Disagree (verb) --> Disagreement (Noun)
Strong (adjective) --> strongly (adverb) --> strength (noun)

You can have some practice at this website. Click HERE!

Vocabulary MCQ & Cloze 

Remember to read the sentence or passage first. Thereafter, highlight the main key words in the sentence to give you the clues for the answer. Certain words can mean the same meaning but only one word can fit the given context.

Comprehension Cloze 

Read once through first for the main idea.
Thereafter, link the information and highlight the key words.
Highlight for tenses / singular / plural clues.
Some information can be found in the passage itself so read carefully. Some clues in the first paragraph may provide the answer for the blanks in the last paragraph so read as a whole.

Comprehension OE 

Read through the questions first!

Highlight the 5W 1H and key words in the questions.

Highlight for tenses. (Past or present)

Read through the passage and carry out your chunking or pre-reading activity.

For vocabulary questions, quoting of words / phrase / sentence, please make sure punctuation and spelling are 100% accurate.

All the best! You can do it!
Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong

CA1 Revision 1

Dear all,

Some notes for your Paper 1:

Always check for your FRAP
Format 
Role
Audience 
Purpose 

Formal e-mail 

Dear Mr Tang,

I am writing his email to inform you of ..........................
.......................................................
........................................
.................................
..........................
...................
.............
........
....
I hope you can ..................

Yours sincerely,
Peter Wong

Informal e-mail

Dear Mr Wong,

How are you? I hope you are feeling better. I am writing this email to inform you of ........................
........................................
.................................
..........................
...................
.............
........
....
I hope you can .......................

Regards,
Peter

For your composition, you need to plan first and always remember to plan for your introduction, events, problems and solution.

Introduction
Flashback ?
Conversation ?
Sound ?

Events 
What happened? Describe the actions
Why did it happened?
How did the characters feel?

Problem
What happened? Describe
Why did it happened?
Feeling of the people involved.

Solution?
What was done?
Elaborate and explain why it was done.
Feeling of the people involved.
Any lessons to be learnt?

Do not forget to infuse good vocabulary words and phrases as much as possible into your writing.

Sincerely,
Mr Nelson Ong