O-Level Editing 5: The Hawker Centre
Twelve numbered lines, laid out as the paper does it. Lines 1 and 12 are correct. Of the ten between them, eight carry one grammatical error and two are correct: write the corrected word for the eight, and a tick for the two.
This passage tests articles, singular and plural nouns, pronoun case and word forms.
Spelling and punctuation are not tested. Change a word only when the grammar is wrong.
The passage
(1) The hawker centre near our flat has stood there longer than anyone in my family can remember.
(2) My grandfather insists it serves best wonton noodles in the whole estate.
(3) My father queues there every Saturday, whatever the weather is doing.
(4) Every one of the forty stall under that roof pays the same rent.
(5) The auntie at the laksa stall always keeps a table for my mother and I.
(6) She wraps a few extra prawns careful in a sheet of brown paper.
(7) The new seating area has more furnitures than the old one ever did.
(8) We eat at the corner table, which is the only cool spot at noon.
(9) Us regulars know to arrive before the office crowd comes down.
(10) On my last birthday the auntie gave me discount of one dollar.
(11) Last month the town council stressed the important of keeping the centre clean.
(12) It closes for three months in the new year, and nobody knows yet where we will eat.
Check your answers
Line 2: reveal answer
best → the best (article)
A superlative needs "the" in front of it. There is only one best, and "the" is how English says so.
Line 3: reveal answer
Tick. This line is correct.
A habit in the present simple, with a present continuous for what is happening around it. Both are right.
Line 4: reveal answer
stall → stalls (singular and plural nouns)
"Forty" needs a plural noun. Note that the verb stays singular, because the subject is "Every one", not "stalls".
Line 5: reveal answer
I → me (pronoun)
The pair is the object of "for". Drop the other person and you get "for I", which nobody would write.
Line 6: reveal answer
careful → carefully (word form)
The word describes how she wraps them, so it has to be the adverb. The line is a habit, like the rest of the passage, so the tense is not at fault.
Line 7: reveal answer
furnitures → furniture (singular and plural nouns)
"Furniture" is uncountable, like advice, equipment and luggage. You count pieces of it, not furnitures.
Line 8: reveal answer
Tick. This line is correct.
"Which" is right because it refers to the table, a thing rather than a person, and "eat" matches the present habit the passage describes.
Line 9: reveal answer
Us → We (pronoun)
The pronoun is the subject of "know". Remove "regulars" and the line reads "Us know", which is plainly wrong.
Line 10: reveal answer
discount → a discount (article)
"Discount" is a countable noun appearing for the first time, so it needs an article. A missing article is easy to read straight past.
Line 11: reveal answer
important → importance (word form)
"The" has to be followed by a noun. "Important" is the adjective; "importance" is the noun made from it.
Check the harder lines
Line 5 reads: 'The auntie at the laksa stall always keeps a table for my mother and I.' Why is 'me' correct?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (B) Because the pronoun is the object of 'for'
The correct answer is (B). After a preposition you need the object form, and 'for I' shows it immediately. (A) states a rule that does not exist. It happens to give the right answer here, but it fails on 'My brother and me cycled', where the pair is the subject and the pronoun has to be 'I'. (C) and (D) are about the rest of the line. Use the same removal test here as in Practice 3: take the other person out and listen.
Line 4 reads: 'Every one of the forty stall under that roof pays the same rent.' Which version is fully correct?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (A) Every one of the forty stalls pays the same rent
The correct answer is (A). 'Forty' forces the plural noun, and the subject is still the singular 'Every one', so the verb stays 'pays'. (B) changes the verb too, and 'pay' does not agree with the singular subject 'Every one'. (C) leaves the noun wrong. (D) breaks 'every one'. The noun goes plural and the verb does not, and that combination is what the line is testing.
Line 7 reads: 'The new seating area has more furnitures than the old one ever did.' Which of these nouns behaves the same way as 'furniture'?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: (C) equipment
The correct answer is (C). 'Equipment' is uncountable, so there is no 'equipments', just as there is no 'furnitures'. (A), (B) and (D) are ordinary countable nouns with normal plurals. The group worth memorising is short: advice, equipment, furniture, luggage, information, homework, news.
What to take away
This passage runs mostly in the present, describing a habit. Lines 10 and 11 step into the past, and each one says when. Before you change a verb, check whether the passage has really changed time or whether you have only assumed it has.
Lines 3 and 8 were correct. In a passage written mostly in the present, a present verb is not evidence of anything.
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