Exercises

1. It is Thursday.

2. Lydia’s school holiday began on 22^nd December.

3. Lydia will watch the firework from 8 o’clock to 9 o’clock on 25^th December.

4. Lydia will go to sing karaoke at a quarter past nine on 23^rd December.

5. It begins at noon on 24^th December.

6. She will go back to Hong Kong on 26^th December.

7. She will be in Taiwan from 24^th to 26^th December.

8. She will have dinner with Tim at a quarter past eight on 23^rd December.

Dear Diary

My first day of secondary school was great! My new teacher, Mr Chan, is very nice. I made some new friends. Scott likes to tell people what to do, but he isn’t bossy towards me. In fact, he is very friendly. He smiles at me, shook my hand and introduced himself. I made another friend – Laura. She’s rather shy, but when she does talk, she always says really nice things. My other new friend is Henry. He’s quite clumsy. He always trips over things. Mr Chan thinks he does it on purpose to make people laugh. He thinks Henry is funny. I can’t wait to get to know my new friends better.

Pronouns

I’ve just read Andrew Matthews’s book Making Friends – A Guide to Getting Along with People, and I have to say it is amazing! If you are having trouble making friends or getting along with people, this is definitely the book for you!

In Making Friends - A Guide to Getting Along with People, Matthews talks about how important it is for us to get to know ourselves better. He explains his ideas in a very simple way so it is easy to understand them. Even my sister, who hates reading, loves the book. In fact, she read it twice!

In the book, Matthews teaches us how to express our anger in a healthy way. He also gives us advice about how to control our negative emotions. He explains that they can cause lots of problems if we do not learn how to control them. To me, it is very important to control negative emotions.

If you need help making friends, or if you want to learn how to get along better with people, you should pick up this book. Believe me – you will be glad you did!

Proofreading – My Best Friend – Diane

1. My best friend is Diane Lam. She is twelve years old. She was

2. born in Hong Kong, but she lives in Vancouver, Canada, so

3. she sometimes misses Hong Kong.

4. Diane is very clever. She studies every night and always gets good marks

5. in school. She speaks several languages, including Cantonese,

6. Putonghua, English and French. Her parents want her to become a

7. doctor when she grows up. I think she would be a great doctor!

8. Diane is also very sporty. Her favourite sports are football, volleyball

9. and hockey. When I play sports, I am quite clumsy, but not Diane. She

10. never trips or stumbles like I do, and she runs very fast. In fact, I don’t

11. know anyone who can run as fast as she can.

12. Diane and I write to each other quite often. We sometimes also chat

13. online. I hope I can visit her in Vancouver this summer.

Yes/No-Questions

1. Does your best friend go to our school?

2. No, she doesn’t. She goes to a school in Kowloon.

3. Is she thirteen years old?

4. No, she isn’t. She’s only twelve.

5. Do you spend time with her at the weekend?

6. Yes, I do. We sometimes go to the library after school too.

7. Do you go shopping together?

8. Yes, we do. We love going shopping together.

9. Are you both interested in films?

10. Yes, we are. We always go to the cinema together.

Wh-Questions

1. What is Diwali? Diwali is an important Hindu celebration.

2. What does Diwali mean? It means the Festival of Lights.

3. Which month is Diwali in? It is in October or November.

4. What do Hindu celebrate Diwali? We celebrate it by lighting candles, having fireworks displays and exchanging presents.

5. Why is lights important? The lights beat the darkness, just like good overcomes evil.

6. What is your favourite Diwali? The fireworks! I think they’re beautiful.

Tenses

Complete these sentences. Use the past tense form of the verbs in brackets.

1. Yesterday was Mother’s Day. My father (took) us to a restaurant for dinner.

2. I went to bed early last night because I felt tired.

3. Jane had a bad dream last night.

4. My brother fell off his bicycle yesterday. He hurt his legs badly.

5. I wrote to Jane last night and post the letter this morning.

6. Kate’s parents were on vacation last week. They went to Shanghai and stayed there for three days.

7. I called him last night, but he was out.

8. They told her the bad news yesterday afternoon. She cried when she heard it.

9. We lived in Shatin from 1984 to 1989. Then we moved to Tai Po in 1990.

10. Jane went shopping last night. She bought a tie for her father for his birthday.

Exam Practice

Part A: Comprehension (MC, Blanks, Questions )

Part B: Vocabulary ( Nationalities, Diary, Christmas items)

Part C: Grammar
a. Personal Pronouns,
b. Proofreading,
c. Yes/No questions,
d. Wh-questions,
e. articles (blanks, proof-reading),
f. simple past tense,
g. future tense: sentence writing, rearranging words, reported speech,
h. Times and dates,
i. Picture description)

Question 4 and 5

4. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not? Please give ONE Bible verse to support your reason.

Yes, I believe in ghosts. Ghosts are normally seen as the souls of dead people. In Luke 24:39, when Jesus raised from death, He said to his disciples “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

5. Why did the Ghost of Christmas Past come to Scrooge? Where did the Ghost take scrooge to? What were Scrooge’s immediate actions when the Ghost took him there?

It was because Scrooge needed the ghost’s help to know and see himself as a child. He was brought back in time. He then saw himself as young boy reading quietly. This reminded him of his lack of mercy towards the boy who sang a Christmas Carol at his door last night. He started feeling sorry for the boy and himself.

My Favourite Subject

I like studying English. English is interesting to me. I can use English to learn a lot of knowledge. Knowledge can be learnt through studying, reading, and writing in English. English is an amazingly important language. The English language can help human being to communicate. Communication is also an important skill for us. We need to communicate with other people in our daily life. This makes our life more colourful.

Vocabulary Items

1. wicked
2. whitewash
3. unwillingly
4. whispered
5. terrible
   
6. pirate
7. homesick
8. funeral service
9. pretended
   
10. regret ?

Story Questions and Answers

1a. Describe the graveyard.
The graveyard was about half an hour's walk from the village. It was on a hill in a very lonely spot. Round it was an old broken fence. The graves were very, very old. Wooden crosses marked the graves. The crosses were so old that they were falling down. Grass was growing everywhere.

1b. Who were the three men in the graveyard?
The three men in the graveyard were Muff Potter, Red Joe and the young Doctor Robinson.

1c. Who was killed and who was the murderer?
The young doctor Robinson was killed and Red Joe was the murderer.

2a. Why did Tom and Joe run away from home?
Tom is angry with his aunt, teacher, and Becky. He thought when he was famous and rich, he would come back and the others would be kinder to him. They would be afraid of him, Joe was angry with his mother, so they decided to run away.

2b.What did the boys do on Jackson's Island?
They made a camp. They sat in front of a big fire and ate meat, fish and bread. They ate a great meal and felt very happy. They talked on until they felt tired. Then they felt a little sad, but after some time they all fell asleep.

3a) Tom told aunt Polly that he had had a dream. Was Tom speaking the truth?
No Tom wasn't speaking the truth.

3b. How do you know that he is/isn't speaking the truth?
It's not a dream, he really saw it.

3c. If you were Tom, what would you do and why?
If I were Tom, I would not do so because it is not good to lie.

4a. What made Tom jealous?
Becky sat down near Alfred Temple. They began to look at a picture book together. They both laughed loudly over the pictures. Tom heard them laughing. He became jealous.

4b. What did Alfred do to hurt Tom?
Alfred opened Tom's spelling book at the page for next lesson. Then he poured ink all over the page.

4c. Will you do it that way? Please explain.
I will not do it that way, because we should appreciate each other but not hate each other. We are all parts of the same body and if a part suffers, the other parts suffer, too.

A Link to Literature - Tom Sawyer

A Poem - Flowers

Flowers are teen girls.
Their beauty is natural and pleasant.
Their eyes embrace hopes.
They are symbols of happiness.
They are growing day by day.

Flowers are ladies in nice dresses.
They blossom in green leaves.

They look elegant with their colourful pedals.

Their sweet smell pleases everyone around.

They are apples in people's eyes.