Compulsory English: Unit-wise Objective Question Bank

The Grade 11 Compulsory English paper has no multiple-choice group, but it does carry 15 marks of short objective items: Question 7 is ten grammar items of one mark each, and Question 8 is five vocabulary items of one mark each. These are the cheapest marks in the paper, because each item tests one rule and the rules repeat. This chapter gives ten practice items for each grammar unit of the Grade 11 book (units 21 to 30 of the English book) and a bank of vocabulary items for Question 8 (unit 35).

17.1 Word classes, contracted forms and dictionary use

No.	Item	Answer
1	The word class of quickly in "She quickly left."	adverb
2	The word class of beautiful in "a beautiful garden"	adjective
3	The word class of under in "under the table"	preposition
4	The word class of but in "I tried but failed."	conjunction
5	The word class of Wow! in "Wow! What a view!"	interjection
6	The plural of child	children
7	The contracted form of will not	won't
8	The contracted form of I would (or I had)	I'd
9	The contracted form of cannot	can't
10	The abbreviation adj. in a dictionary entry means	adjective

Rule to remember: the class of a word depends on its job in the sentence, not on its spelling. Work is a verb in "I work" and a noun in "My work is done". The apostrophe in a contraction marks the missing letters.

17.2 Tenses

No.	Item	Answer
1	She ____ to school every day. (go)	goes
2	They ____ football when it started to rain. (play)	were playing
3	I ____ my homework already. (finish)	have finished
4	By 2030, he ____ his degree. (complete)	will have completed
5	We ____ in Pokhara since 2018. (live)	have lived / have been living
6	He ____ before I arrived. (leave)	had left
7	Water ____ at 100 degrees Celsius. (boil)	boils
8	Look! It ____. (rain)	is raining
9	Tomorrow at this time, I ____ to Doha. (fly)	will be flying
10	She ____ him yesterday. (not see)	did not see

Rule to remember: since and for with a period up to now need the present perfect; by plus a future time needs the future perfect; a general truth takes the simple present.

17.3 Articles, determiners and quantifiers

No.	Item	Answer
1	____ sun rises in the east.	The
2	She wants to be ____ engineer.	an
3	He is ____ honest boy.	an
4	____ Himalayas are in the north of Nepal.	The
5	I have ____ few friends here, so I am not lonely.	a
6	There isn't ____ milk in the cup.	any
7	How ____ rupees do you have?	many
8	____ student has a copy of the book. (each one separately)	Every / Each
9	____ of my two brothers is married. (not one, not the other)	Neither
10	He plays ____ guitar very well.	the

Rule to remember: an goes before a vowel sound, so an honest and an hour but a university. A few is positive (some); few alone is negative (almost none). Many goes with countable nouns and much with uncountable ones.

17.4 Modal verbs and semi-modals

No.	Item	Answer
1	____ you help me with this bag? (polite request)	Could / Can
2	You ____ obey the traffic rules. (obligation)	must
3	He ____ be at home; his car is outside. (deduction)	must
4	I ____ swim when I was five.	could
5	You look ill. You ____ see a doctor. (advice)	should / ought to
6	____ I come in, sir?	May
7	She ____ have forgotten the key. (she is not sure)	may / might
8	You ____ to wear a helmet. It is the law.	have
9	You ____ come with me. It is not necessary.	needn't
10	She ____ live in Pokhara, but now she lives in Kathmandu.	used to

17.5 Passive voice and causatives

No.	Active or prompt	Passive or answer
1	They built the temple in 1800.	The temple was built in 1800.
2	Someone is repairing the road.	The road is being repaired.
3	The teacher has praised Maya.	Maya has been praised by the teacher.
4	Who broke the window?	By whom was the window broken?
5	She will write a letter.	A letter will be written by her.
6	I ____ my hair cut yesterday. (have)	had
7	She ____ the house painted every year. (get)	gets
8	The boss made him work late.	He was made to work late.
9	People say that he is rich.	It is said that he is rich.
10	Open the door.	Let the door be opened.

Rule to remember: the passive is be plus the past participle, and be carries the tense. Have something done means that someone else does the job for you.

17.6 Reported speech

No.	Direct speech	Reported speech
1	He said, "I am hungry."	He said that he was hungry.
2	She said, "I have lost my pen."	She said that she had lost her pen.
3	"Where are you going?" he asked me.	He asked me where I was going.
4	"Do you like tea?" she asked.	She asked if I liked tea.
5	"Please sit down," the teacher said to us.	The teacher requested us to sit down.
6	"Don't touch the wire," mother said to me.	Mother told me not to touch the wire.
7	"I will call you tomorrow," he said.	He said that he would call me the next day.
8	"What a lovely day!" she said.	She exclaimed that it was a very lovely day.
9	"I can speak French," said Rita.	Rita said that she could speak French.
10	He said, "The earth moves round the sun."	He said that the earth moves round the sun.

Rule to remember: a reporting verb in the past moves the tense one step back; tomorrow becomes the next day and now becomes then. A universal truth keeps its tense (item 10).

17.7 Conditional sentences

No.	Item	Answer
1	If you heat ice, it ____. (melt)	melts
2	If it rains, we ____ at home. (stay)	will stay
3	If I were a bird, I ____. (fly)	would fly
4	If she had worked hard, she ____ the exam. (pass)	would have passed
5	Unless you hurry, you ____ late. (be)	will be
6	I wish I ____ more time. (have)	had
7	If he ____ earlier, he would have caught the bus. (leave)	had left
8	____ I known, I would have come. (inverted)	Had
9	If I ____ you, I would apologise. (be)	were
10	We shall go on a picnic provided it ____. (not rain)	does not rain

Rule to remember: zero conditional is present with present; first is if plus present, will; second is if plus past, would; third is if plus past perfect, would have. Unless already means if not, so do not add another negative.

17.8 Relative clauses and connectives

No.	Item	Answer
1	The boy ____ won the prize is my cousin.	who
2	This is the book ____ I bought yesterday.	which / that
3	The woman ____ car was stolen called the police.	whose
4	That is the house ____ I was born.	where
5	He is rich, ____ he is not happy.	but / yet
6	____ it was raining, we went out.	Although / Though
7	She stayed at home ____ she was ill.	because
8	Study hard, ____ you will fail.	or / otherwise
9	He is tired; ____, he keeps working.	however / nevertheless
10	Kathmandu, ____ is the capital of Nepal, is a big city.	which

17.9 Question tags, questions and subject-verb agreement

No.	Item	Answer
1	You are a student, ____?	aren't you
2	She doesn't smoke, ____?	does she
3	Let's start, ____?	shall we
4	Open the window, ____?	will you
5	Everyone ____ here. (be)	is
6	Neither of the answers ____ correct. (be)	is
7	The teacher, with his students, ____ going on a trip. (be)	is
8	Ram or his brothers ____ coming. (be)	are
9	The police ____ arrived. (has or have)	have
10	"____ is your name?" (question word)	What

Rule to remember: with either...or the verb agrees with the nearer noun (item 8); words between commas, such as with his students, do not change the verb (item 7). Police is always plural.

17.10 Prepositions, adjectives and adverbs

No.	Item	Answer
1	She is afraid ____ spiders.	of
2	He is good ____ chess.	at
3	I will meet you ____ Monday.	on
4	She was born ____ 2007.	in
5	This is the ____ book I have read. (interesting)	most interesting
6	He drives very ____. (careful)	carefully
7	My brother is ____ than me. (tall)	taller
8	The soup tastes ____. (bad or badly)	bad
9	He worked ____ to pass the test. (hard or hardly)	hard
10	We walked ____ the bridge. (from one side to the other)	across

Rule to remember: linking verbs such as taste, look, feel, seem take an adjective, not an adverb. Hardly means almost not; hard is the adverb that means with great effort.

17.11 Vocabulary, sounds, stress, word formation and idioms (Question 8)

No.	Type	Item	Answer
1	sound	the word with a different vowel sound: bit, seat, sit, hit	seat
2	sound	the number of syllables in banana	three
3	stress	stress in the noun photograph falls on	the first syllable
4	stress	stress in photography falls on	the second syllable
5	prefix	the opposite of possible	impossible
6	prefix	the opposite of legal	illegal
7	prefix	the prefix re- means	again
8	suffix	the noun of decide	decision
9	suffix	danger + -ous	dangerous
10	suffix	care + -less	careless
11	suffix	happy + -ness	happiness
12	synonym	enormous	huge
13	synonym	rapid	fast
14	antonym	ancient	modern
15	antonym	generous	mean / stingy
16	idiom	a piece of cake	something very easy
17	idiom	to break the ice	to start a conversation in an awkward situation
18	idiom	once in a blue moon	very rarely
19	idiom	to hit the nail on the head	to say exactly the right thing
20	idiom	under the weather	slightly ill
21	phrasal verb	call off	cancel
22	phrasal verb	give up	stop trying
23	phrasal verb	look after	take care of
24	phrasal verb	put off	postpone
25	phrasal verb	turn down	refuse
26	spelling	accomodate / accommodate	accommodate
27	spelling	recieve / receive	receive

Rule to remember: in Question 8 a word you do not know can often be solved from its parts: the prefix im- or il- usually reverses the meaning, and a suffix such as -ness or -ion makes a noun.

Chapter summary

• Q7 and Q8 together are 15 marks of one-mark items; attempt every one.
• Tenses: since and for need the present perfect; by plus a future time needs the future perfect.
• Articles go by the sound of the next word; a few means some and few means almost none.
• Modals: must is obligation or certainty; should is advice; needn't means it is not necessary; used to is a past habit.
• Passive is be plus the past participle; the tense is carried by be.
• Reported speech moves the tense one step back and changes tomorrow to the next day; universal truths do not change.
• Conditionals: if + present gives will; if + past gives would; if + past perfect gives would have.
• For tags, reverse the polarity; for agreement, find the real subject and ignore the words between commas.

Practice questions

Question 7: Grammar (1 mark each)

1. Fill in the blank with the correct form: She ____ (teach) English for ten years now. [1]
2. Fill in the blank: ____ you like some tea? (offer) [1]
3. Change into the passive voice: The students are cleaning the classroom. [1]
4. Report: "I don't know the answer," said Sunil. [1]
5. Add the question tag: Nobody called, ____? [1]

Answers to Question 7

1. has been teaching (or has taught) — a period up to now with for ten years.

2. Would — Would you like is the polite form of an offer.

3. The classroom is being cleaned by the students.

4. Sunil said that he did not know the answer.

5. did they — nobody makes the clause negative, so the tag is positive.

Question 8: Vocabulary (1 mark each)

1. Write the opposite of the word regular by using a prefix. [1]
2. Give a synonym of ancient. [1]
3. What does the idiom spill the beans mean? [1]

Answers to Question 8

1. irregular.

2. very old (or antique).

3. to reveal a secret by mistake.