T3.1.1 Analysing challenging texts with grammar Quiz: KS3 English, Unit 3

The 20 questions

1. In 'Silently, the owl glided over the field', what is the function of 'Silently'?

   • It is a determiner that specifies which owl is being described in the text.
   • It is a fronted adverbial that tells how the owl moved.
   • It is a noun phrase that names the owl as the subject of the sentence.
   • It is a subordinate clause that explains why the owl was moving at all.

2. Which sentence contains a passive verb?

   • The postman was delivering letters all morning in the rain.
   • The postman will deliver the letter, and he has delivered many others.
   • The postman delivered the letter to the wrong house before lunchtime.
   • The letter was delivered to the wrong house before lunchtime.

3. In 'Although it was late, she kept reading', what kind of clause is 'Although it was late'?

   • A co-ordinating clause that links two equal ideas using a simple coordinating conjunction.
   • A noun phrase that names the thing she was reading about in the story and its setting.
   • A main clause that could stand alone as a complete sentence with its own finite verb and subject.
   • A subordinate clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it depends on the main clause.

4. Which sentence uses the present perfect tense?

   • They were finishing the project when the teacher arrived in the classroom.
   • They are finishing the project and will submit it to the teacher tomorrow.
   • They have finished the project and submitted it to the teacher this morning.
   • They finished the project and submitted it to the teacher yesterday afternoon.

5. In 'The dog, tired after the walk, fell asleep', what is 'tired after the walk'?

   • A determiner that specifies which dog is being discussed in the sentence.
   • A conjunction that joins the dog's walk to the moment it fell asleep.
   • A participle phrase that adds extra information about the dog.
   • A main clause that tells the reader what the dog did in the afternoon.

6. Which feature is typical of a complex sentence?

   • It contains three full stops and a list of separate, unconnected short sentences.
   • It contains two main clauses joined by a comma and no subordinating word at all.
   • It contains one main clause and at least one subordinate clause.
   • It contains only a single verb and no clauses, phrases or other extra detail.

7. What is the effect of the three short sentences in 'He ran. He fell. He stood.'?

   • They prove that the writer knows only short words and cannot use any longer sentences.
   • They make the reader feel calm and relaxed, as if the action is happening very slowly.
   • They create a tense, rapid rhythm that mirrors the speed and shock of the action.
   • They show that the character has forgotten the events and cannot remember them clearly.

8. In 'The book, which was written in 1950, is still popular', what is 'which was written in 1950'?

   • A noun that names the author of the book as the subject of the sentence.
   • A relative clause that gives extra information about the book.
   • A fronted adverbial that tells the reader when the story is set in time.
   • A modal verb phrase that expresses how likely the book is to remain popular.

9. Which sentence uses a modal verb to express possibility?

   • The storm arrived before midnight, and the windows were closed by the family.
   • The storm is arriving before midnight, and the family has closed the windows.
   • The storm might arrive before midnight, so we should close the windows now.
   • The storm arrives before midnight every single time that the weather is windy.

10. What is the function of the noun phrase 'the tall oak tree at the end of the garden'?

    • It acts as a single unit that names a thing and can be the subject or object of a sentence.
    • It is a conjunction that joins two separate clauses about the garden in the same sentence.
    • It is a finite verb that shows the action of standing tall at the end of the garden.
    • It is an adverb that tells the reader how the garden looks at a particular time of day.

11. In 'Rain fell, so the match was cancelled', what does 'so' do?

    • It is a co-ordinating conjunction that links two main clauses and shows a result.
    • It is an adverb that describes how the rain fell upon the field of the match.
    • It is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a clause that cannot stand alone.
    • It is a determiner that specifies which match was cancelled by the referee.

12. Which sentence uses the subjunctive mood in a hypothetical statement?

    • If I am you, then I would apologise to her straight away.
    • If I were you, I would apologise to her straight away.
    • If I will be you, I would apologise to her straight away.
    • If I was you, I would apologise to her straight away.

13. In 'The results, which were announced today, surprised everyone', what does the relative pronoun refer to?

    • The noun 'results', which is the antecedent of the relative clause.
    • The pronoun 'everyone', which is the object of the verb 'surprised'.
    • The adverb 'today', which tells the reader when the announcement was made.
    • The verb 'announced', which is the main action of the entire sentence.

14. Which sentence has a non-finite clause?

    • The team trained every evening, and they hoped that they would win the cup.
    • The team trained every evening, which made them the strongest team in the league.
    • Hoping to win, the team trained every evening during the long autumn term.
    • The team trained every evening because they wanted to win the cup that year.

15. What is the effect of starting a sentence with a fronted adverbial, as in 'Slowly, the door opened'?

    • It shows that the door is broken and cannot open quickly, so the reader is told to expect delay.
    • It replaces the subject of the sentence so that the reader is not told who opened the door.
    • It delays the main verb, which builds suspense and draws attention to the manner of the action.
    • It makes the sentence grammatically incorrect, because the verb must always come first in the sentence.

16. Which feature of sentence structure is shown in 'She laughed, cried and shouted'?

    • A list of three verbs linked by commas and a conjunction, forming a co-ordinated list.
    • A passive construction in which the subject receives the action of being laughed at.
    • A subordinate clause that begins with a subordinating conjunction such as 'because' or 'when'.
    • A question tag that asks the reader to confirm the actions the character performed earlier.

17. In 'The window was broken by the ball', which is the agent of the passive sentence?

    • The ball, which is named as the thing that performed the action of breaking the window.
    • The preposition 'by', which introduces the phrase that describes the time of the breaking.
    • The window, which is the subject of the sentence and receives the action of being broken.
    • The verb 'was broken', which shows the action in the past tense and passive form.

18. What tense is 'The children were reading quietly when the bell rang'?

    • Past progressive, showing an action in progress that was interrupted by a second event.
    • Future perfect, showing an action that will be completed before a particular future time.
    • Present simple, showing a habit that the children repeat every day at the school.
    • Past perfect, showing an action completed before another event in the past happened.

19. A text uses long noun phrases, such as 'the dim, flickering light of the candle'. What is the likely effect?

    • It turns the text into a set of instructions, because noun phrases are used only in recipes.
    • It removes all verbs from the text, which makes the action stop completely in the story.
    • It creates a detailed, descriptive mood and invites the reader to picture the scene carefully.
    • It makes the text easier for young readers, because the noun phrases make each sentence shorter.

20. Which word in 'The car, which had been washed, shone in the sun' is a past participle used as part of a verb phrase?

    • washed, because it is the past participle of 'wash' that completes the passive verb phrase 'had been washed'.
    • sun, because it is a noun that names the thing the car shone against in the sentence.
    • which, because it is a relative pronoun that introduces the main clause of the sentence here.
    • shone, because it is a finite verb in the past tense that describes the car's shine in the sun.

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