PSLE 2024 English Paper 2 Answers and Guide

Hello! This is a guide I did up for the PSLE 2024 English Paper 2. This assumes that you have a copy of the English 2024 PSLE Paper 2 already on hand.

Click the relevant tabs to jump to the corresponding section! You can reach out to me if you have any questions or feedback!

Booklet A

Grammar MCQ

QnAnswerExplanation
13 – In response toThe students made a request here. Because of the students’ request, the teacher extended the project submission deadline. This is a response, leaving (3) in response to as the only possible choice.
In case of: ONLY if X action is done, will a response take place.
In addition to: Adds on an extra thing to what is already there
In connection with: referencing or concerning (someone/something).
24 – The worstHere, it is stated that the performance was abysmal – really terrible. “The worst” is the only response that captures the full depth of how bad it is.
As bad as: not possible, as there is nothing of the same level to compare to

Very bad: not strong enough
Worse than: similar to “as bad as”, there is nothing in the sentence to compare the current performance to.
34 – against“With great difficulty” suggests the element of resistance, and “swam” suggests the man is in the water. “Against” is the only suitable preposition for this.
By: besides the current
Along: going with the current’s flow – should not be too difficult to reach the puppy!
Under: the man swam below the current somehow, which is not possible!
42 – learningHere, we are using the verb “learn” as a noun, giving more information about what the grandparents had trouble with. This is called a “gerund”. We add “-ing” to change a verb into a gerund, leaving (2) learning as the only answer.
52 – little“Little” describes the lowest possible level of an uncountable object (“time”), leaving this as the only answer. “Few” is for countable nouns, and “less” is used in comparisons.
62 – HadThe verb “had” signifies a conditional state – one where James put the compass in his bag. “Did” is for asking questions, while “Might” and “should” are what we call modals – words asking or requesting for something to happen. This leaves “had” as the only answer.
73 – has been circulatingThe news started circulating in the past (“since yesterday”), but has yet to stop circulating. This automatically rules out (1) and (2).

“News” are also a non-quantifiable noun (this scary-looking term simply means “uncountable”); because of this, we use the singular present perfect continuous “has been circulating” instead of “have been circulating”.
83 – does sheA question tag question! Here, the verb is “visits” – a  straightforward, simple present verb. This rules out the other options for question tags, except for “do”, “does”, “or” did, leaving option (3) “does she”.
However, take note that it is very common for questions to throw you off with misleading options or to cause similar mistakes in other sections of your paper. A very frequent trick is to place “doesn’t she” as an option.   At this point, make sure you check for any negative adverbs such as “never”. The presence of a negative adverb in front of the verb will force the blank to use a positive question tag, such as in this question.
93 – has handedEveryone” may seem like a plural noun/subject, but it is treated as a singular subject. Think of it as ONE collective group. To match the correct subject-verb agreement, we need to use “has handed” instead of “have handed”.
101 – ofThis is part of a common phrase – to rob [someone] of. This language rule is known as a collocation –words combined in a universally-accepted manner.

Vocabulary MCQ

QnAnswerExplanation
111 – state “Health” is usually combined with “state (of)”, making this another collocation.
124 – monotonousThis word means “speaking with little variation and expressiveness in tone”, and is the only possible answer.

“Tedious” and “repetitious” refer to the difficulty of a task and has nothing to do with the manner of speaking.

On a side note, I’ve almost never seen “repetitious”. You may be more familiar with its much more widespread variant “repetitive”. Based on some digging I did, it seems “repetitious” is more used in situations where something is so repetitive it becomes annoying.
134 – accommodateThis word describes “able to fit something in a defined space”.
142 – evaluatedThis word roughly means “to assess the standard (of something)”.

Analyse” usually refers to close observation to determine facts/statistics.
Inspect” is to observe something closely to check for problems/ensure they adhere to rules.
Measure” determines the size/amount of something (“measurement”).
154 – unanimouslyYour hint for this question comes from the phrase “everyone thought”. This option will be the only one that fits this meaning that everyone agreed on something without opposition.
162 – sharply“Keenly” refers to already being in a heightened or greatly increased state of perception. The other options all describe a change of state (with varying intensities), excluding them from the definition above.
171- silenceThis refers to the “volume” – or in this case, the quietness; the lack thereof of any volume/sound. “Silence” is the only direct fit.

The other options all introduce elements of suspense/unease that is not present in the original word.
181 – pouncedBased on this passage it seems to be from the point of view of a cat – a predatory animal. Usually, a predator pounces to catch prey.
193 – instantly“In no time” suggests that the whole thing was over immediately; in an instant.
“Urgently” and “hurriedly” suggest mannerisms when carrying out an action and do not fit the question which is asking for a time bracket.

“Briefly” means “lasting for a short moment”, which will not fit here – it means the cat caught its prey for a short moment but then lost it later!
202 – with respectThe root word of “reverently” is “revere”, which means to respect.
It is easy to answer (4) based on the context of the current scene. However, the dictionary meaning leaves only (2) as the possible answer.

Visual Text MCQ

QnAnswerExplanation
21Option 3The three dots (ellipses) are a way to build suspense and tension to the next part of the ad in the subheader.
Think of Visual Text MCQ as advertising 101. Why do you want to deter people from reading your ad? This makes (3) the only answer by process of elimination.
22Option 1“Students’ jaw dropping” suggests an element of surprise. And for good reason – this teacher is a year head. He is supposed to uphold the school rules, yet here he is telling people that he used to skip school. Truly shocking and surprising! (1) is the only answer that fits here.
23Option 1Mr Chen enjoyed sports in school and even became a scout leader; Mdm Siti joined the Drama Club and won many writing competitions.
While both of them wanted to teach, it was something that their former school teachers inspired in them only because they took part in the school activities. Their school teachers also did not impact their studies directly, and both of them shared their individual struggles in their studies and CCAs. This leaves (1) as the only option.
24Option 1This is the only option that both teachers do not state, leaving this as the only option.
25Option 3“Is a process” in option 3 means that things take time to build and progress.
26Option 4Using the first letter of a series/list to form a word is something known as an acronym. This is a memorisation tool said to aid memory recall.
Is this why Singapore loves its acronyms so much? Hmm…
27Option 3Option 3 comes earlier than the other options (some of which are not stated), leaving this as the only possibility.
28Option 2This article mainly shares different aspects of secondary life from the eyes of two teachers and how they dealt with it. Option 2 is the best to answer this question.
Option (1) is not stated, but in any case it is a tactic to aid the broader strategy/purpose. Option (3) is not stated or implied, and Option (4) is not feasible as the text does not state “secondary education is important for the following reasons”.

Booklet B

Grammar Cloze

QnAnswerExplanation
29H (is)This is a fact that is known in the current time (present); we use the present tense “is”.
30D (been)Even in the past, humans were already interested. We use “have been” for this – the present perfect tense, “have” + the participle of “be” (been).
31B (as)The preposition “as” means “since” or “because” – here it’s because of the paintings made.
32L (some)The phrase “at some point in time” means an unclear point of time.
33M (their)The possessive pronoun “their” links the ownership of the wealth and power to the members of royalty.
34Q (was)We use the past tense “was” for an event that happened “during the early days” – in the past.
35P (those)“Those” refers to the animals. The concept of their plight is “far away” from us in the present; hence we use “those” instead of “these”.
36G (had)“Had” shows a state of being in the past, which has already completed.
37K (of)This preposition bridges the relationship between “severe injuries” and “evidence”.
38F (for)This preposition shows purpose or reason behind doing something. The purpose of the zoo back then was to provide recreation; the zoo was set up for recreation.

Editing

39awfullySpelling mistake
40warm“Keeping” is a gerund — a verb used as a noun. To give “keeping” extra information, we use “warm” as an adjective.
41weatherSpelling mistake
42reservoirSpelling mistake
43adventurousWe will need to use the adjective spelling to describe what kind of “mood” the writer is
44trulyWe need to use the adverb spelling to modify the verb “was”
45ofthis preposition shows the relationship between “sightings” and “wild boars”, showing us what people saw
46unbelievableSpelling mistake
47take“Let” is a suggestion or imperative. The desired action that the suggestion or imperative asks for “take” should be in the present tense, with no “s” or in the continuous form.
48assuredSpelling mistake
49guaranteeSpelling mistake
50yourselvesThe letter is addressing two people in the second-person point of view, as it excludes the writer.  We use “yourselves” for this situation instead of the first-person “ourselves”.

Comprehension Cloze

QnAccepted AnswersExplanationRejected answers
51butThis coordinating conjunction shows contrast.However – while it shows contrast, it is a conjunctive adverb instead. It should be used at the start of a new sentence.
52Suggests
implies
We need a word that “hints at an idea without showing it directly”shows/states – it is not outright stated that a dragon playground MUST feature a slide from the word alone.
53withThe preposition “with” is used here to show what the playgrounds were accompanied by (the history and geography)
54landreclaimed land — land recovered from the sea
55Grew
Soared
surged
We need a word that shows a “rise” in something. It must be in the past tense as this took place in the 60s.
56Met
Satisfied
fulfilled
We need to show that people were happy with the basic housing needs they got.achieved – there is no stated goal that the people had to work for
57amongThe preposition “among” is needed here to show how the residents communicated in a group consisting of themselves.with – this word will cause the sentence to read “public housing designs and the residents did not interact together much”
58suchThe determiner “such” shows an upcoming list of examples of what “public facilities” are.
59bringingThis verb here is used for the phrase/collocation “bringing people together”.
60spendingThis verb “spending” is being used to complete the phrase “spending much time”. The later part of this clause explains where they spent said time.
61memories
recollections
We need to use a word that hints at remembering something from the past.flashback – this describes experiencing a scene from the past, often an unpleasant one instead. It will not fit here.
62ensureWe need a word that means “to make sure something will happen” – such as making sure that the condition of children being protected is always there.Protect: shield from an active threat. This does not fully fit here as there is no active ongoing threat.
Safeguard: too similar to “safety” later in the sentence. High chance of being penalised.
63only
just
This adverb shows that a limited number remains, or that there are fewer and fewer options.
64longWe need this adverb to question the duration of time these playgrounds will continue to existmany — based on grammar rule. This answer can be accepted if the sentence reads “who knows how many more of these playgrounds will be around?”
65still
yet
Both of them mean that the proposed action is “even better” / more satisfactory than the options before it.  

“Better still” seems to be more prevalent in British English, while “better yet” is more widely used in American English texts. Both should be accepted, although “still” is preferred.

Synthesis

66) Both of my uncles do not know how to drive.

  • “Neither” has a negative meaning. It is converted to “Both”, which is positive.
  • To keep the meaning of the sentence, we add “do not” to “knows”
  • As “Both” is plural”, the verb “knows” must become plural by dropping the “s” > know

67) Playing soccer with his classmates is what Farid enjoys.

  • The classic subject and object switcharoo! Farid is the subject, enjoys is the verb, and the “object” is “playing” – this is a gerund, or a verb used as a noun.
  • Place the object at the front of the new sentence – “Playing soccer with his classmates”. This is now the subject.
  • We need to add the verb “is”. This is a form of the stative verb “to be”.
  • There is one final unaccounted word – enjoys. Add this word to the end.

68) Gopi became upset because of his mother’s refusal to buy a toy for him.

  • Sentences with two parts like this tend to test your ability to convert a verb to an abstract noun.
  • Ascertain who became upset. Here it is Gopi – Gopi became upset.
  • Next, we finish the reason why. It was because of his mother’s refusal to buy a toy for him. The verb “refused” is changed to “refusal” – the abstract noun form of the verb “refuse”.

69) Having chosen what she wanted to eat, Alice placed her order.

  • “Having” is used for this sentence that has two events in the past. First she chose her order, THEN she placed her order.
  • The first event should have its verb switched to the past participle form. Chose is changed to “chosen”. Write down the first part of the sentence, but drop “Alice” from this part first.
  • Finish off the sentence with the second event, but replace “she” in the second sentence with “Alice”.

70) I wish I took part in the competition yesterday.

“Had taken” cannot be used here, as this question needs just a “state” in simple past tense on whether you participated in the competition or not.

The verb “regret”, which is negative in meaning, is replaced with “wish”, which is positive.

This means the adverb “not” has to be dropped.

However, “taking” on its own is now grammatically incorrect. This gerund (verb used as noun) needs to be changed to “take”. As the sentence is in the past tense (“yesterday”), the verb is changed to “took”.

Open-Ended Comprehension

This section is pending edits. Check back soon!

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