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.

Tasks to do

-Practise the solo poem for the coming speech festival
- Read aloud the poem five to ten times a day
- Select book for book report
-Fill in the book report review form.

The Un-developers by Jenny Joseph

The little cats sit under the hedge.
The many small offspring of a great big tabby.
Who lives out of sight round the other side of the house.
They are watching the pigeons in the road.
The pigeons strut and flirt and think no danger.
Children are delighted with the cats.
And cajole them as they are tugged along by Mum;
An old woman puts down crumbs for the birds.
And cars pass in between.
The cats purr and the pigeons peck up the fodder
But they are waiting for interruptions of humans to pass
So they can get on with what they are doing:
Five little kittens lurking and stalking big birds
And foolish pigeons flirt-flirting in the road.
http://mail.yottkp.edu.hk/~eng/lynnwilson.htm

Welcome Message

Hi! Welcome to my homepage. I'm Christie. I like reading, singing, listening to music and chatting.

I am a form one student studying in Hong Kong. My favourite subjects are English, Music Appreciation and Chinese. I have been a member of my school choir for three years. I am learning to play piano.

I have a warm family. There are many members in my family: my parents, my younger brother, and my domestic helper from Philippine. I also consider my fish and plants are members of my family. I love them all.

I also have a big circle of friends. Most of my friends think I am friendly and easy going. They love talking with me because I always care about them.

Panda Ada

Once upon a time, there was an adorable but childish girl-panda called Ada. Everyone called her Dada because it was her nick name. She was pretty and she liked to sleep.

One day she made a dream when she was having a nap. In her dream mama-panda bought her some delicious leaves and she was eating the leaves happily. Suddenly she heard somebody shouting at her. She woke up but she was very angry with the one who disturbed her sweet dream. She hid herself under the blanket. She continued to stay on her bed.

After ten minutes, mama-panda came to Dada's room and told her that her friend, Mimi came and wanted to give her some delicious leaves. Mimi left the delicious leaves that she brought with her. Dada was very sad for what she did to her friend.

She decided to go to Mimi's house and said sorry to Mimi. Mimi said sorry too, because she disturbed her friend's sleep. After that, they ate the delicious leaves together while they talked about Mimi's last dream.

When Dada came back home, she thought about Mimi's dream. It was about a wonderful forest, there were a lot of nice pandas, some pandas made friend with Mimi and they invited Mimi to the wonderful forest. Mimi met a lot of kind pandas there. There were also a lot of trees with delicious fruits and leaves. There was also an amazing waterfalls. It was surely a good place to live, all of the padans lived happily there. They wanted Mimi to stay there too, but Mimi did not stay because of her mama and her papa. She could not live without them …She woke up!

Dada really liked Mimi's dream, it was really an interesting and beautiful dream. But she did not believe there was a wonderful forest, because people had caused damage to the forests. They hunted animals like pandas.

At night, Dada prayed before she slept because she wanted to have a dream about the wonderful forest. God heard Dada's prayer about the wonderful forest.

Dada fell into sleep she heard someone called her name in her dream she looked around and she saw a lot of pandas. They were friendly and nice to her, they brought Dada to the wonderful forest. She saw what Mimi saw too. There was many kinds of butterflies flying over the beautiful flowers.

There were many baby pandas playing around the trees, they looked lovely. And she saw some
pandas swam in the amazing waterfalls, it was a beautiful place that she could never think of leaving! She heard a voice telling her to believe and show respect to others. Suddenly Dada woke up. She hugged her mother and shared her dream.

That day, she learned to be a polite and respectful panda.

Story Writing

What is story?
Story is a piece of writing that describes a chain of related events. Every story is about one or more characters trying to deal with some sort of difficulty.

What is a story map?A story map is a map that helps writer organise the story by focusing on characters, setting, plot; i.e. events that starts with beginning, rising, climax and ending.

What are the eight types of plot?

Plot can be defined as the arrangement of narrative events in a story. It is usually organised in such a way as to create interest and involvement for the reader. It also helps to establish and emphasise causality. There are usually eight types of plot mapped by writer to devise the sequence of events in the story.
They can arrange from:

1. problem to solution
2. mystery to solution
3. conflict to peace
4. danger to safety
5. confusion to order
6. dilemma to decision
7. ignorance to knowledge
8. questions to answers

To learn to understand and appreciate stories is a challenging but rewarding process. As long as one can get hold of the plot, s/he will find easily get the message across.