Grammar in Context (Level 3): Simple Present, Simple Past, Present Continuous, and Past Continuous by Fung Lan Yong

Assessment: Simple Present, Simple Past, Present Continuous, and Past Continuous
by Fung Lan Yong, Honorary Advosor
IPB Pine Academy Sabah
July 8, 2014

Section A: Simple Present Tense

Part 1:

Fill in the blanks with the simple present tense. The first one (0) is done for you.

(1 mark each)

South Korea, known for high-tech exports such as cars and smartphones, (0) is (be) sending a new product abroad: its alphabet. A tribe on a remote Indonesian island, in danger of losing its culture because it (2) ________ (to have) no written language, recently designated Korean Hangul as its official alphabet.

"Of Indonesia's 700 local languages, most lack a writing system," said Chun Tai-hyun, vice president of a research group that (2) __________ (study) how to spread Hangul. A nine-member delegation of the Cia-Cia tribe arrived in Seoul last week to visit the homeland of their adopted script. The tribe, which (3) _________ (number) 60,000 people, is centred in Bau-Bau, a town on Buton Island off south-eastern Sulawesi.

"I (4) __________ (be) very elated being in South Korea," Fitriana, a 16-year-old high school student, said at a news conference, reading Korean letters on a placard in front of journalists. Like many Indonesians, Fitriana (5) ________ (go) by one name. Cia-Cia primary and high school students now (6) _________ (enjoy) a weekly Hangul lesson, officials say. Most (7) _________ (catch) on quickly. "Seventy-five percent of the students at my school (8) _________ (use) Hangul fluently after four months," said Zumiani, an elementary school principal. Bau-Bau Mayor Amirul Tamim said he chose Hangul because it was better suited to the nuances of his tribe's language than the Roman characters that Indonesia (9) ________ (use) in its written language. South Korea has agreed to build a centre in Bau-Bau to train language teachers and help document Cia-Cia's history and culture, which (10) __________ (date) back 600 years.

However challenges (11) _________ (remain). The project (12) _________ (remain) short of both funds and human-power. "Because parents of those learning Hangul (13) __________ (study) their kids' books at home, textbooks are worn to tatters quickly." Chun said. Chun, 56, who has studied linguistics for three decades, (14) _________ (plan) to research other indigenous Indonesian languages near the Cia-Cia region in an effort to help prevent their extinction. "I had thought that Hangul was just a pride of Koreans," Chun said. "Now it (15) __________ (appear) that Hangul is an alphabet that the Cia-Cia tribe can also be proud of."

Hangul has been selected in part because of the relationship between the way people (16) ___________ (speak) and the shape of the letters, originally based on the shape of the mouth in forming words. Two Korean teachers (17) __________ (be) inculcating Hangul into classes in elementary schools, and other volunteer teachers are expected. The town of Bau-Bau also (18) ___________ (plan) to train local people to teach Hangul, which (19) __________ (consist) of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Hangul, developed by scholars in the 15th century in Korea at the behest of King Sejong, (20) __________ (be) is the official writing system of both North and South Korea.

Bibliographical details

Title: Korean writing system saves Indonesian tribe's language

Author: Donald Kirk (30 August 2010)

Publisher: Christian Science Monitor

Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/Korean-writing-system-saves-Indonesian-tribe-s-language

Part 2:

Construct five sentences in the simple present tense using any of the verbs

in the passage. Do not copy from the passage. (1 mark each)

Example: The students attend Intensive English classes every day.

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Section B: Simple Past Tense

Part 1:

Fill in the blanks with the simple past tense. The first one (0) is done for you.

(1 mark each)

Wearable technology is the fastest growing category at this year’s Computex, Asia’s largest tech trade show which (0) kicked (kick) off in Taiwan on Tuesday, with health-tracking a dominant theme. “Health and fitness sensors and data are fundamental for wearables and largely define the category,” (1) _________ (say) Daniel Matte of market research firm Canalys. Market tracker IDC (2) __________ (predict) in April that sales of wearable tech items (3) _________ (will) triple this year to 19 million units worldwide, growing to 111.9 million by 2018. At Taiwanese smartwear company AiQ’s Computex stand this week, a muscular mannequin (4) __________ (show) off a lycra cycling top.

Stainless steel fibres in the fabric and electrodes in the sleeves sense heart rate and other vital signs as well as calories (5) ________ (burn), sending the data to a Bluetooth clip which can transmit it to a phone, tablet or other smart device. The technology will appeal to sports fans, but it is Taiwan’s bus drivers who will be the first to benefit, when companies ask them to wear smart shirts later this year in a move that (6) ________ (can) prevent accidents. “We will provide a shirt which can monitor the drivers in case they are falling asleep, or in case any vital signs are not OK, and it will provide a signal or a warning to the bus company,” (7) ___________ (reveal) AiQ vice-president Steve Huang.

The clothing (8) _________ (be) trialled for a year on discharged hospital patients to track their condition and it (9) _________ (receive) positive feedback from wearers, he (10) __________ (add). But analysts and consumers still have reservations about whether smartwear can really tell us the truth about our bodies. “Current sensors are not very accurate, but there will be improvements,” said Matte.

Samsung (11) ___________ (unveil) a new digital health technology platform last week that uses sensors to track a range of body functions such as heart rate and blood pressure. Another giant of the sector, Apple, also (12) _________ (launch) its “Health” app this week, with speculation mounting it will move into hardware later this year.

Leading Taiwan tech firm Acer also (13) _________ (demonstrate) its first wearable at Computex – a fitness-tracking wristband which links to a smartphone. But while tech firms jump on the health-monitoring bandwagon there are questions over how the huge flow of data from the new devices will be handled. “There is a massive opportunity to analyse and monetise the large amounts of data that wearable sensors and platforms will generate. Privacy is always a concern,” said Matte.

Huang acknowledged the tension between the potential commercial benefit for smartwear firms and the risk of invading users’ privacy. “There will be a lot of legal and moral issues,” he (14) __________ (indicate). Tech companies are also emphasising the potential benefits of analysis to help users make sense of their data, and the possibility of linking up with experts who can give them feedback. “Maybe we will cooperate with some medical institutions like hospitals to improve this kind of product and to do something to really help people – this has been talked about at Sonostar,” (15) __________ (state) Paula Luh at the Taiwanese firm’s stand.

Bibliographical details

Topic: Smart clothing for healthier lives

Published: June 6, 2014

Publisher: The Star Online

Link: http://www.thestar.com/Smart-clothing-for-healthier-lives

Part 2:

Construct five sentences in the simple present tense using any of the verbs

in the passage. Do not copy from the passage. (1 mark each)

Example: The students attended Intensive English classes yesterday.