P4 English SA1 2023 — St Hildas

Q: "Have you __________ that interesting movie?" asked Ali.

C. watched. The auxiliary verb 'have' requires the past participle form of the verb to form the present perfect tense. 'Watched' is the past participle of 'watch'.

Q: I __________ the table. You may use it now.

D. have cleared. The present perfect tense 'have cleared' is used because the action was completed in the recent past and has present relevance (the table is now ready to use). The subject 'I' takes 'have' (not 'has').

Q: The children __________ in the room. Please keep your voices down.

D. are sleeping. The present continuous tense 'are sleeping' is needed because the action is happening now ('keep your voices down' implies the children are currently sleeping). The plural subject 'children' takes 'are'.

Q: He __________ running in the rain when his mother stopped him.

C. was. The past continuous tense 'was running' describes an ongoing action in the past that was interrupted by another action ('stopped him'). The singular subject 'He' takes 'was'.

Q: I __________ for school at 6.00 a.m. every morning.

B. leave. The simple present tense 'leave' is used for habitual/routine actions ('every morning'). The subject 'I' takes the base form 'leave' (not 'leaves').

Q: Muthu can already swim __________ he has only attended two swimming lessons.

D. although. The conjunction 'although' is used to introduce a contrast — Muthu can already swim despite having only attended two lessons (an unexpected outcome).

Q: "__________ owns this book?" asked John.

A. Who. 'Who' is the correct interrogative pronoun to ask about the person who performs an action (owns the book). 'Whose' would require a different structure (e.g., 'Whose book is this?').

Q: The apples __________ sold by the boy yesterday. Please ask him for the price of the apples.

D. were. The passive voice in the past tense is required ('yesterday' indicates past). The plural subject 'apples' takes 'were' to form 'were sold'.

Q: Tick (✓) your chosen answer. Mother's reaction to the news of the burglary tells us that she would __________ [1m]. Options: stand up for justice / ignore her daughter / mind her own matters

A. stand up for justice. Mother immediately went to investigate and pounced on the burglar to capture him, showing she would 'stand up for justice' rather than ignore the situation or mind her own matters.

Q: Tick (✓) your chosen answer. Mother did not suffer __________ when she was trying to catch the burglar. [1m] Options: cuts on her hand / bruises on her arm / swelling on her face

A. cuts on her hand. The passage states Mother showed 'the swelling on her face and bruises on her arm' to the reporters. Cuts on her hand are NOT mentioned, so this is what she did not suffer.

P4 English 2023 SA1 25 questions 46 marks

Source: St Hildas, 2023

This P4 English SA1 paper from St Hildas (2023) contains 25 questions worth 46 marks. Use it as a study reference for English topics typically tested at P4 level in Singapore schools.

Q1 Open-ended 20 marks 🖼 Visual

Write a composition of at least 120 words about being careless. 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: How did the incident happen? How were you or others affected by the incident? What happened in the end? What was the lesson learnt? You may use the points in any order and include other relevant points as well. Helping words and phrases: stood rooted to the ground; boiling with rage; reduced to tears; fear gripped me; escaped with only some scratches; apologised profusely.

Q1 MCQ 1 mark

"Have you __________ that interesting movie?" asked Ali.

Q2 MCQ 1 mark

I __________ the table. You may use it now.

Q3 MCQ 1 mark

The children __________ in the room. Please keep your voices down.

Q4 MCQ 1 mark

He __________ running in the rain when his mother stopped him.

Q5 MCQ 1 mark

I __________ for school at 6.00 a.m. every morning.

Q6 MCQ 1 mark

Muthu can already swim __________ he has only attended two swimming lessons.

Q7 MCQ 1 mark

"__________ owns this book?" asked John.

Q8 MCQ 1 mark

The apples __________ sold by the boy yesterday. Please ask him for the price of the apples.

Q9 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 1. Mother picks Jill up from school every day. One day, Jill decided to (9) __________ home on her own.

Q10 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 1. She (10) __________ for half an hour.

Q11 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 1. She must have been (11) __________ in the wrong direction.

Q12 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 1. She explained that she was going home and pointed out the direction she (12) __________ towards.

Q13 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 2. Jack and Mary loved playing with each other. (13) __________ would share their toys freely.

Q14 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 2. Jack did not allow Mary to play with (14) __________ favourite toy.

Q15 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 2. Mother heard (15) __________ quarrelling and she went over.

Q16 Open-ended 1 mark

Section B: Grammar Cloze - Passage 2. She was shocked to find out what (16) __________ was all about.

Q17 Open-ended 1 mark

Which three-word phrase from paragraph 1 tells you that something is no longer present? [1m]

Q18 MCQ 1 mark

Tick (✓) your chosen answer. Mother's reaction to the news of the burglary tells us that she would __________ [1m]. Options: stand up for justice / ignore her daughter / mind her own matters

Q19 Open-ended 2 marks

Why did Mother peek through the windows? [2m]

Q20 Open-ended 1 mark

For Q20 – ____, state what each character did to capture the burglar from lines 14 to 16. [2m] Question 20: Character — Clare. What did Clare do?

Q21 Open-ended 1 mark

For Q20 – ____, state what each character did to capture the burglar from lines 14 to 16. [2m] Question 21: Character — Mother. What did Mother do?

Q22 Open-ended 1 mark

Write 1, 2 and 3 in the blanks below to indicate the order in which the events occurred in the story. [1m] ____ Mother peeked through the window. ____ The reporters spoke to Mother. ____ Mother and daughter pounced on the burglar.

Q23 Structured 2 marks

Based on the story, state whether each statement in the table below is true or false, then give a reason why you think so. [2m] Statement 1: When Mother peeked into the neighbour's house, it was neat and tidy. Statement 2: Clare and Mother caught the burglar's attention.

Q24 MCQ 1 mark

Tick (✓) your chosen answer. Mother did not suffer __________ when she was trying to catch the burglar. [1m] Options: cuts on her hand / bruises on her arm / swelling on her face

P4 English SA1 2023 — St Hildas

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