Contents

CHAPTER 1: BASIC SENTENCE STRUCTURES....... 1

Simple Sentences ......................................................... 1 Compound Sentences................................................... 3 Complex Sentences ...................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2: TENSES.................................................. 7

Present Simple Tense.................................................... 7 Present Continuous Tense ............................................ 8 Present Perfect Tense ................................................... 9 Present Perfect Continuous Tense .............................. 10 Past Simple Tense....................................................... 12 Past Continuous Tense................................................ 12 Past Perfect Tense ...................................................... 13 Past Perfect Continuous Tense ................................... 15 Future Simple Tense.................................................... 16 Future Continuous Tense ............................................ 18 Future Perfect Tense ................................................... 19 Future Perfect Continuous Tense ................................ 20

CHAPTER 3: VERBS.................................................. 23

Introduction.................................................................. 23 Modal Verbs ................................................................ 25 To-Infinitives ................................................................ 30 Bare Infinitives............................................................. 33 Gerunds....................................................................... 35 Irregular Verbs............................................................. 36

CHAPTER 4: NOUNS................................................. 41

Introduction.................................................................. 41 Articles......................................................................... 43 Singulars and Plurals .................................................. 48

CHAPTER 5: PREPOSITIONS................................... 50

Introduction.................................................................. 50 Commonly used prepositions ...................................... 50 Useful preposition combinations.................................. 57

CHAPTER 6: VOCABULARY..................................... 60

Festivals ...................................................................... 60 Food items, cooking and flavours................................ 61 Transport ..................................................................... 62 Music ........................................................................... 63 Entertainment, arts and craft ....................................... 63 Blogging, computers, video games and the Internet ... 64 Fashion and clothing ................................................... 65 Friendship and relationships........................................ 66 School, subjects and studying ..................................... 67 Health.......................................................................... 68 Nature.......................................................................... 69 Sports and athletic events ........................................... 70 Travelling..................................................................... 71 The environment ......................................................... 71 Synonyms and Antonyms............................................ 72

CHAPTER 7: EXAMINATION SKILLS ....................... 76

Introduction to the Territory-Wide System Assessment (TSA) ........................................................................... 76 The Four Components under the TSA ........................ 77 General Tips on Listening............................................ 79 General Tips on Reading............................................. 85 General Tips on Writing............................................... 88 General Tips on Speaking........................................... 91 CHAPTER 8: REVISION TESTS ................................ 93

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Present Perfect Tense Form: have / has + past participle

- The present perfect tense is used for actions happening in the past but completed in the present.

- Below is a time line that shows the relationship between time and the action:

- The focus is on the effect of the action in

the present.

- Examples:

o Mother has finished cooking already.

o Since the age of six, Winnie has been an active swimmer.

ACTION in Present Perfect Tense

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

TIME FOCUS of a Sentence in the Present Tense

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- Below is a time line that shows the relationship between time and the actions:

Check Point Complete the following sentences with the correct tenses. Use the verbs included in the brackets.

1. My grandfather always _______ (forget) what time Susan _______ (arrive) every day.

2. Do you want to join us? We _______ (have) a great time here at the beach.

3. I _______ (rush) to the hospital when my

son _______ (be) born.

4. I _______ (cross) the road last night when I _______ (witness) a car accident.

5. When Maggie _______ (come) back from

her holiday, she _______ (realise) that somebody _______ (break) into her house.

6. Clara _______ (cry) all day. Is she alright?

ACTION in Future Perfect Continuous Tense

PAST PRESENT FUTURE

TIME FOCUS of a Sentence in the Future Tense

ACTION in Future Simple Tense

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o “An” is generally used when the noun that follows begins with a vowel. Examples:

� An apple

� An octopus

o However, many students do not know the following rule – you also have to consider whether the consonant is pronounced in a way that makes it sound like a vowel.

o See the following examples:

� An x-ray machine

Although “x” is a consonant by itself, use an instead of a.

This is because “x” is pronounced as “ex”, which begins with a vowel!

� A universal truth

Although “universal” starts with the letter “u”, use a instead of an.

This is because when you pronounce “universal”, it is really pronounced as “yoo-nee-ver-sal”.

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CHAPTER 6: VOCABULARY

- Vocabulary is fundamental to the English language, both for writing and for oral English.

- In this section, you can find some useful vocabulary on different topics.

- You can improve your vocabulary by

reading more books and articles in newspapers or magazines, and by watching movies or television programmes in English.

Festivals

- Christmas carolling 報佳音

- Feast 大餐

- Open-air Christmas markets 露天聖誕市集

- Saints 聖人

- Decorations 裝飾

- Midnight mass 子夜彌撒

- Boxing Day 拆禮物日

- Christmas Eve 平安夜

- New Year’s Eve 大除夕

- Easter eggs 復活蛋

- Festive atmosphere 節日氣氛

- Dragon boat festival 端午節

- Dragon boats 龍船

- Dragon boat races 龍舟比賽

- Fire crackers 爆竹

- Red packets/pockets 利是/紅包

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CHAPTER 7: EXAMINATION SKILLS Introduction

- There are four principle language skills that you need to acquire in learning a language:

o Reading o Listening o Speaking o Writing

- Language examinations usually involve

testing of your ability in these four areas.

- Territory-Wide System Assessment (TSA) is a set of tests which all Form 3 students will take. The English examinations in school usually follow the English section of the TSA.

- Thus, by analysing the TSA question papers and format, students will be able to gain insights and polish their examination skills for internal school examinations.

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- After completing your essay, always read it again to check if you can find any spelling or grammatical errors, and make any improvements.

Sample Essay “Single-sex schools are better than co-educational schools.” Do you agree? Write about 150 words. Hong Kong has many secondary schools, and among them there are co-educational schools, boys schools and girls schools. On the question of which is better, I think that single-sex schools are to be preferred on the whole. I have two reasons to support this. The first reason is that single-sex schools give students a better environment in which to learn. They can be more focused on their studies, without being exposed to a different sex at an early age. They may be distracted easily, which is natural for young persons. The second reason is that it makes it easier for the school to organize student classes and activities, since there is no need to consider sexual differences. One example is in sports classes. Another is the smaller chance of group bullying by one sex against the other. Although co-educational schools have their good sides, on the whole I would prefer single-sex schools.

(152 words)

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CHAPTER 8: REVISION TESTS Agreement Do you remember that verbs must agree with the subject of the sentence? Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in present simple tense.

1. I ________ (be) so hungry. I ________ (want) to eat!

2. John ________ (be) never happy after his

dad ________ (scold) him.

3. The class of 30 students ________ (go) to Repulse Bay every year for their autumn picnic.

4. My family ________ (live) in the New

Territories.

5. The kittens ________ (be) nowhere in sight – their mother ________ (look) everywhere to find them.

Answers: 1. am, want 2. is, scolds 3. goes 4. lives 5. are, looks