P4 English SA1 2023 — Maha Bodhi

Q: The mischievous Tom ran about the room and accidentally ____________ the vase.

A. broke. The sentence describes a past completed action ('ran about'), so the simple past 'broke' is required to match the tense.

Q: While Mr Tan ____________ in the garden, he spotted a snake.

D. was digging. 'While' signals an ongoing past action interrupted by another past event ('spotted'). The past continuous 'was digging' is correct.

Q: She posted the letter the following day after she ____________ it.

C. had written. Two past actions occur in sequence; the earlier action (writing) requires the past perfect 'had written' to show it happened before 'posted'.

Q: ____________ it is a fierce-looking dog, do not approach it.

A. If. 'If' introduces a conditional warning — given the condition (it is fierce-looking), the listener should not approach. The other conjunctions do not fit the cause-effect logic.

Q: My taxi arrived ____________ I stepped out of the door.

A. as. 'As' indicates two events happening at the same moment — the taxi arrived at the exact moment of stepping out. 'While' usually pairs with continuous tenses, not simple past.

Q: We met the fisherman ____________ boat was wrecked in the thunderstorm.

D. whose. The blank needs a possessive relative pronoun to show that the boat belongs to the fisherman. 'Whose' is the only possessive relative pronoun.

Q: A tiny chick ____________ slowly from the egg before the astonished children.

C. emerged. 'Emerged' precisely describes coming out gradually from an enclosed space (the egg). 'Exited' is too abrupt, 'arrived' implies travel, and 'appeared' lacks the sense of coming out from within.

Q: Janet was alone at home. When she heard a sound from the kitchen, the timid girl looked about ____________.

C. nervously. A 'timid' girl hearing an unexpected sound while alone would naturally feel anxious, so 'nervously' matches her emotional state.

Q: The plate slipped from Mary's hand as she was picking it up and it ____________ on the table.

D. clattered. 'Clattered' describes the loud, rattling noise a falling plate makes on a hard surface. 'Chimed' is for bells, 'clinked' is a light glassy sound, 'clanked' is for heavy metal.

Q: Leo knew that he needed to give his mother ____________ why he was home late.

C. an explanation. Giving a reason for being late is precisely 'an explanation'. The other nouns do not convey providing a reason.

P4 English 2023 SA1 20 questions 20 marks

Source: Maha Bodhi, 2023

This P4 English SA1 paper from Maha Bodhi (2023) covers visual text and situational writing across 20 questions worth 20 marks. Practise English the way it's tested at P4 level in Singapore, with step-by-step answers on LearnBuddy.

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Q1 MCQ 1 mark

The mischievous Tom ran about the room and accidentally ____________ the vase.

Q2 MCQ 1 mark

While Mr Tan ____________ in the garden, he spotted a snake.

Q3 MCQ 1 mark

She posted the letter the following day after she ____________ it.

Q4 MCQ 1 mark

____________ it is a fierce-looking dog, do not approach it.

Q5 MCQ 1 mark

My taxi arrived ____________ I stepped out of the door.

Q6 MCQ 1 mark

We met the fisherman ____________ boat was wrecked in the thunderstorm.

Q7 MCQ 1 mark

A tiny chick ____________ slowly from the egg before the astonished children.

Q8 MCQ 1 mark

Janet was alone at home. When she heard a sound from the kitchen, the timid girl looked about ____________.

Q9 MCQ 1 mark

The plate slipped from Mary's hand as she was picking it up and it ____________ on the table.

Q10 MCQ 1 mark

Leo knew that he needed to give his mother ____________ why he was home late.

Q11 MCQ 1 mark

The little shepherd who always told lies enjoyed ____________ about wolves attacking his sheep. The villagers would rush there in a frenzy, trying to help him.

Q12 Open-ended 1 mark

Mother had no more money. She said to Jack, "Sell this cow of (12) ____________ at the market." (Choose the correct possessive pronoun from the box: his, ours, mine, hers, yours, theirs. Use each word only once.)

Q13 Open-ended 1 mark

"These beans of (13) ____________ are magic beans! Plant them and they would grow right up to the sky!" (Choose the correct possessive pronoun from the box: his, ours, mine, hers, yours, theirs. Use each word only once.)

Q14 Open-ended 1 mark

"You'll find a castle at the top! All the riches could be (14) ____________ !" declared the man. (Choose the correct possessive pronoun from the box: his, ours, mine, hers, yours, theirs. Use each word only once.)

Q15 Open-ended 1 mark

Jack handed the cow over. Now, the beans were (15) ____________. He could not wait to plant them! (Choose the correct possessive pronoun from the box: his, ours, mine, hers, yours, theirs. Use each word only once.)

Q16 Open-ended 1 mark

There was once a boy named Zac who could not stand losing. He tried all kinds of tricks to win. He won so many times that almost everyone (16) ____________ to play with him. (Choose the best word from the box: challenging, confident, desperate, refused, competitors, confronting, hesitant, spectators. Use each word only once.)

Q17 Open-ended 1 mark

However, one person who did not mind playing with him was Kenny. Kenny enjoyed (17) ____________ Zac though he lost every time. (Choose the best word from the box: challenging, confident, desperate, refused, competitors, confronting, hesitant, spectators. Use each word only once.)

Q18 Open-ended 1 mark

Once, Zac decided to participate in the national video games championship, where he would find some strong (18) ____________. Kenny was one of them. (Choose the best word from the box: challenging, confident, desperate, refused, competitors, confronting, hesitant, spectators. Use each word only once.)

Q19 Open-ended 1 mark

At the championship, Zac was (19) ____________ he would win. However, the judges saw through Zac and stopped him from cheating. (Choose the best word from the box: challenging, confident, desperate, refused, competitors, confronting, hesitant, spectators. Use each word only once.)

Q20 Open-ended 1 mark

Zac was getting (20) ____________ when he saw that Kenny was going to win. Without his tricks, Zac could not beat a single player. Finally, they announced the champion. It was Kenny. Zac learnt that he should not win through dishonest acts. (Choose the best word from the box: challenging, confident, desperate, refused, competitors, confronting, hesitant, spectators. Use each word only once.)

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P4 English SA1 2023 — Maha Bodhi

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