Question 1

Identify the word class of each numbered word in bold in the text below. Present your answer in the following format:

Example: 1 The big 2 brown cow 3 jumped over the fence.

Your answer:

1) the = determiner
2) brown = adjective
3) jumped = verb Text

The World Health Organization says nearly everybody in the world breathes air 1that does not meet its standards for air quality.

The UN health agency on Monday 2issued an update 3to its database on air quality that draws on information from a growing number 4of cities, towns, and villages across the globe, now totalling over 6,000 municipalities.

WHO 5said 99 per cent of the global population breathes air that exceeds its air-quality limits 6and is often rife with particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the veins and arteries, and cause disease.

“After surviving a 7pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution,” said Dr Maria Neira, head of WHO’s department of environment, climate change and health.

The database, 8which has traditionally considered two types of particulate matter known as PM2.5 and PM10, has for the first time included ground measurements of nitrogen dioxide. The last version of 9the database was issued in 2018.

Nitrogen dioxide originates mainly from human-generated burning of fuel, such as through automobile traffic, and is 10most common in urban areas. Exposure can bring 11respiratory disease like asthma and symptoms like coughing, wheezing and difficulty in breathing.

The highest concentrations were found in the eastern 12Mediterranean region.

Particulate matter has 13many sources, such as transport, power plants, agriculture and the burning of waste. The 14developing world is particularly hard hit: India had high levels of PM10, while China showed high levels of PM2.5, the database showed.

The 15findings highlight the sheer scale of the changes needed 16to combat air pollution, said Anumita Roychowdhury, an air pollution expert at the Centre for Science and Environment.

India and the world need to brace for major changes to try to curb air pollution,
17including using electric vehicles, shifting 18away from fossil fuels, embracing a massive scaling-up of green energy and separating types of waste, she said.

The Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a New Delhi-based think tank, found in a study 19that more than 60 per cent of India’s PM2.5 loads are from households and industries. Tanushree Ganguly, who heads the 20council’s program on air quality, called for action on reducing emissions from industries, cars, biomass burning, and domestic energy.

Question 2

Identify TEN verb groups from the passage below, ONE from each of the ten sentences (numbered). All finite verb groups must comprise two or more words. There must be THREE non-finite verb groups (they must be different in form). Demonstrate your understanding of verb groups by labelling each verb group in terms of its finiteness, modality, tense, aspect, and voice. Present your answers using the format below:

(1) We were celebrating my nephew’s birthday with a special dinner at home, with only the most immediate family members, partly because of the pandemic but also because hosting big birthday parties is never really our thing.

(2) It is hard to believe that my nephew is 19 when it seems only a short while ago that I was still carrying him in his swaddling clothes, and his sole means of communication was making baby noises and blowing spit bubbles.

(3) After dinner, a cake was brought out and candles were lit, which my nephew blew out after making a silent wish. (4) This Western ritual, which originated in Europe, of observing a birthday with cake has become universal. (5) It is pretty much expected at every birthday celebration around the world and across most cultures.

(6) But what do the Chinese eat as a special birthday treat other than the Western confectionery called cake, which they have wholeheartedly embraced, as have most non-European people around the world?

(7) Eggs, which symbolise fullness and completeness in China, should be eaten on birthdays. (8) Long noodles are eaten by people celebrating their birthday with the hope of longevity. (9) For it to work, one must slurp the entire lengths of the noodles into the mouth and not bite them off. Peaches, which symbolise good health and longevity, are also popular among Chinese.

(10) Nowadays, in a perfect melding of East and West, old and new, I have been
noticing birthday cakes that are made to look like giant longevity peaches on steroids

Question 3

Underline the verb groups in the sentences a) – d) below and demonstrate your understanding of constituent and sentence structures in English by identifying the sentence type (i.e. simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) of each of the sentences.

a) According to Pisa’s survey of 15-year-olds in 79 countries, students now read less for pleasure.

b) They have also moved towards reading to fulfil practical needs, and they tend to do so online.

c) Reading for pleasure positively affects mental health, self-esteem, vocabulary, general knowledge, relationships, mood control, empathy, self-understanding and stress levels.

d) When a child reads for pleasure, he develops the capacity to immerse himself in a story, visualise meanings, relate to characters and participate in making meaning.

e) He relates to the characters in the story and this develops his capacity to experience the world from other perspectives and to learn from and appreciate others.

f) There is an urgent need for countries around the world to step up their efforts to promote reading, both online and offline.

g) He and other experts have said that for those armed with the new form of reading literacy, a digitalised and globalised world can be full of opportunities.

h) Without these skills, teenagers may be easily confused or misled by the information online.

Question 4

For this question, you need to demonstrate your understanding of word class and verb groups, and discriminate between grammatical and ungrammatical sentences in Standard English (StdE) and in Singapore Colloquial English (SCE, popularly known as Singlish).

a) Examine the following sentences in SCE: Got sale, they chiong! Got queue, they join! Those kiasu aunties are damn siasuay.

Using your knowledge of word class and verb groups, explain briefly how the underlined words chiong, kiasu and siasuay are used in the above sentences. Rewrite the three sentences in StdE and underline the word/phrase in each sentence that would be equivalent in meaning to chiong, kiasu and siasuay.

b) Construct a compound sentence containing the perfective aspect. The sentence must also contain words belonging to these four-word classes of determiner, adverb, adjective, and preposition. Label clearly the word class of each word used in your sentence.