Term pack

Year 10 English

Name: ________________________

Skills in this pack

Agreement with harder subjects
The passive in every tense
Editing and proofreading
Reading a passage closely
Writing a summary
Writing an analytical paragraph
Writing a formal letter

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Year 10 English · 1 of 7

Agreement with harder subjects

Make the verb agree when the subject is a quantity, a fraction, an inverted phrase or a subject buried in an added phrase.

1.Sort each subject by the verb it needs.
Groups: Takes a singular verb · Takes a plural verb
- All of the roads
- Every one of the roads
- A number of visitors
- More than one answer
- Both of the answers
- The number of visitors
2.Which sentence is correct?
- a) Half of the mangoes was ripe.
- b) Half of the mangoes is ripe.
- c) Half of the mangoes has ripe.
- d) Half of the mangoes were ripe.
3.Put the steps of choosing the right verb in the order you should do them.
- Next, look at the word that is left standing — that is the real subject.
- Then decide whether that word names one thing or more than one.
- First, cross out every phrase beginning with with, along with or as well as — and of-phrases too, unless the subject is a fraction, most, some, all, both or none.
- Finally, choose the verb form that matches it, and read the whole sentence back.
4.A number of students ____ absent today.
- a) was
- b) is
- c) has
- d) are
5.Write "was" or "were": Among the papers on the desk ____ a torn map.
6.Write "has" or "have": More than one house ____ been damaged by the storm.
7.Write "is" or "are": Two-thirds of the water ____ still in the tank.
8.Sort each sentence by whether the verb agrees with its subject.
Groups: Agrees · Does not agree
- The number of letters have grown.
- The number of letters has grown.
- A number of letters have arrived.
- A number of letters has arrived.
- More than one shop was shut.
- More than one shop were shut.

Agreement with harder subjects · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 2 of 7

The passive in every tense

Form the passive in any tense, and with a modal verb or an imperative.

1.Sort each sentence by its voice.
Groups: Passive · Active
- The gates are locked at nine.
- The council is building a new library.
- A new library is being built.
- The prize was won by a girl from Pune.
- A girl from Pune won the prize.
- The guard locks the gates at nine.
2.Complete the passive with the three missing words: The road ____ at the moment. (verb: repair)
3.Complete the passive using "must", with three words: The report ____ before Friday. (verb: submit)
4.Sort each passive verb phrase by whether it carries a modal verb.
Groups: Passive with a modal · Passive without a modal
- was washed
- has been signed
- must be signed
- should be washed
- is repaired
- can be repaired
5.Change to the passive: "Someone was following us."
- a) We had been followed.
- b) We were being followed.
- c) We are being followed.
- d) We were followed.
6.Change to the passive: "They have finished the work."
- a) The work had been finished.
- b) The work is finished by them.
- c) The work has finished.
- d) The work has been finished.
7.Why might a writer choose the passive in "The window was broken during the night"?
- a) To move the sentence into the future.
- b) To turn the sentence into a question.
- c) Because who broke it is unknown or does not matter.
- d) To say clearly who broke it.
8.Complete the passive with the two missing words: The letters ____ yesterday. (verb: send)

The passive in every tense · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 3 of 7

Editing and proofreading

Find and correct the single error in a line — grammar, spelling or punctuation.

1.Put the steps of proofreading a line in the right order.
- Finally, read it aloud to catch a missing or wrong punctuation mark.
- Then check the tense against the time words in the line.
- First, read the line once for its meaning.
- Next, check that the verb agrees with its subject.
2.One word must be removed: "He is the most tallest boy in the class." Write the word to remove.
3.Correct the spelling: "I beleive you." Write the word correctly.
4.Correct the spelling: "I recieved your letter." Write the word correctly.
5.Correct the error: "Each of the girls have a badge." Write the corrected word.
6.Correct the spelling: "They live in a seperate house." Write the word correctly.
7.Which word is the error? "The book which I bought it yesterday is torn."
- a) torn
- b) which
- c) bought
- d) it
8.Which word is the error? "He has went to the market."
- a) went
- b) market
- c) to
- d) has

Editing and proofreading · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 4 of 7

Reading a passage closely

Answer questions on an extract — what it states, what it implies, and what its words mean there.

1.Read: "Rooftop gardens cool a building, hold rainwater and give city birds somewhere to feed. They cost little to start and less to keep." What is the main idea?
- a) City birds are in danger.
- b) Rainwater should always be collected.
- c) Buildings are too hot in summer.
- d) Rooftop gardens are cheap and useful in several ways.
2.Read: "He had rehearsed the speech forty times, yet his hands would not keep still." What does "yet" do here?
- a) It offers an example of the first half.
- b) It gives the result of the first half.
- c) It sets the second half against the first.
- d) It gives the reason for the first half.
3.Read: "The old bridge was rickety, and the villagers crossed it one at a time." What does "rickety" mean here?
- a) Unsteady
- b) Crowded
- c) Newly built
- d) Very wide
4.Read: "'Of course you may borrow it,' said Nita, holding the book a little tighter." What does the detail about her hands suggest?
- a) She had only just bought it.
- b) The book was very heavy.
- c) She did not really want to lend it.
- d) She was about to read it aloud.
5.Put these four sentences into the order that makes one paragraph. The time words tell you where each one belongs.
- By September the water has drawn back a little, and the birds arrive.
- In July, however, the rains fill it to the brim.
- They stay until the mud returns.
- For most of the year the lake is a shallow bowl of cracked mud.
6.Read: "Meera checked the sky twice before she left, and pushed the umbrella deep into her bag." What does this suggest?
- a) She disliked walking.
- b) She had lost her umbrella.
- c) She was expecting rain.
- d) She was going to the market.
7.Read: "The letter was terse: three lines, no greeting, no signature." Write one word that gives the meaning of "terse" here.
8.Match each sentence to what the word in brackets means in it.
- The keen wind cut through his shirt. (keen)
- She has a keen interest in birds. (keen)
- The train drew into the station. (drew)
- She drew a map on the board. (drew)
- He could not bear the noise. (bear)
- The path bears to the left. (bears)
- moved
- sketched
- turns
- eager
- sharp
- tolerate

Reading a passage closely · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 5 of 7

Writing a summary

Cut a passage to its essential points and write them out as your own connected sentences.

1.Why should a summary avoid copying the passage's own sentences word for word?
- a) Because a summary may not use complete sentences.
- b) Because copying does not show that the passage has been understood.
- c) Because a summary has to be longer than the passage.
- d) Because the passage's sentences are always badly written.
2.Which is the best opening sentence for a summary of a passage about water shortage?
- a) I think the passage is about water shortage.
- b) Water shortage in the district has three main causes.
- c) In this passage the writer says a great many things.
- d) Let me tell you all about water shortage.
3.Reduce this phrase to a single word: "people who live in a village".
4.Reduce this phrase to a single word: "at regular intervals".
5.A passage of 240 words is to be summarised in about a third of its length. Roughly how long should the summary be?
- a) 120 words
- b) 200 words
- c) 80 words
- d) 40 words
6.Sort each feature by whether it belongs in a summary.
Groups: Belongs · Does not belong
- The passage's own examples
- The main idea of each paragraph
- Your own opinion of the passage
- A long quotation from the passage
- The points in the order the passage gives them
- Linking words between the points
7.Match each long phrase to the single word that can replace it.
- a large number of
- in the near future
- due to the fact that
- at the present moment
- in the event that
- with the exception of
- now
- because
- soon
- if
- except
- many
8.Reduce this phrase to a single word: "at this point in time".

Writing a summary · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 6 of 7

Writing an analytical paragraph

Turn a chart or a table into one paragraph that reports what it shows, without listing every figure on it.

1.How should an analytical paragraph on a bar chart begin?
- a) With your own opinion of the figures
- b) With a sentence saying what the chart shows
- c) With a list of every figure on it
- d) With the highest bar
2.Match each kind of change to the word that describes it.
- a large rise
- a small rise
- a large fall
- a small fall
- no change at all
- an up-and-down movement
- edged up
- fluctuated
- soared
- held steady
- plunged
- slipped
3.The chart shows how many readers used the village library each year from 2019 to 2023. Tap the bar for the first year in which the number fell.
Write the number of the part.
4.Sort each sentence by where it belongs in an analytical paragraph.
Groups: Opening · Body · Close
- Overall, use of the library grew across the period.
- After a dip in 2022, they recovered a little in 2023.
- Numbers rose sharply between 2019 and 2021.
- The bar chart shows how many readers used the library each year from 2019 to 2023.
- Taken together, these figures show a library in better health than five years ago.
- The chart below gives the number of readers over five years.
5.Which verb form fits the sentence that introduces a chart: "The graph ____ the rainfall over five years"?
- a) showed
- b) shows
- c) has been showing
- d) will show
6.Which sentence reports a trend rather than a single figure?
- a) There were sixty readers in 2022.
- b) The chart has five bars on it.
- c) In 2021 the figure was ninety-five.
- d) The number rose steadily until 2021 and then fell.
7.Complete with one word: The number of readers reached its ____ in 2021, the highest point anywhere on the chart.
8.Complete with one word: The number of readers rose ____ 2019 and 2021.

Writing an analytical paragraph · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 10 English · 7 of 7

Writing a formal letter

Write a letter to an official that names its business at once and keeps its language businesslike to the end.

Before you start

A formal letter with each of its blocks marked. Notice how far down the page the greeting comes, and how short the subject line is beside the body.

1. Your own address
2. The date
3. The officer's address
4. Salutation
5. Subject line
6. Body paragraphs
7. Sign-off and name

Everything above the greeting is addresses and dates. The letter itself does not begin until the body.

1.You are writing to the municipal officer about waste that is no longer being collected. Which closing sentence is best?
- a) I hope you will do something about it.
- b) That is all I have to say on the matter.
- c) I request that you arrange for collection to resume without further delay.
- d) Please look into it whenever you happen to have time.
2.Sort each sentence from a complaint letter by what it is doing.
Groups: States a fact · Asks for action
- May I request an early reply.
- The lane is unlit after seven in the evening.
- Three complaints have already been made.
- Kindly arrange for an inspection this week.
- I request that you have it repaired.
- The gate has been broken since Monday.
3.Sort each sentence by whether its language suits a formal letter.
Groups: Suits a formal letter · Too informal
- Write back soon, okay?
- It's been going on for ages now.
- I just wanted to say something about this.
- I am writing to draw your attention to the matter.
- The problem has continued for three weeks.
- I should be grateful for an early reply.
4.A formal letter spells its verbs out in full. Write "don't" as a formal letter would write it.
5.Put the steps of drafting a formal letter in the order you should do them.
- First, name in one line what the letter is about.
- Then set out the details, in the order they happened.
- Finally, say clearly what you are asking the reader to do.
- Next, say in the opening sentence why you are writing.
6.Match each part of a formal letter to what it holds.
- Subject line
- Salutation
- Opening paragraph
- Middle paragraph
- Closing paragraph
- Sign-off
- The action you are asking for
- The polite phrase before your name
- The greeting to the reader
- One line naming what the letter is about
- The reason for writing
- The details of the matter
7.What should the first sentence of a formal letter do?
- a) Say why you are writing
- b) Describe the weather that week
- c) Apologise for taking up any time
- d) Ask after the reader's family
8.A formal letter avoids short forms. Write "we can't" out in full, in two words.

Writing a formal letter · Year 10 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Answer keys — Year 10 English

In the same order as the worksheets.