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Part A TSA Reading

Strategy 1: Making references

Personal pronouns: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they and them

They refer to something the writer has just mentioned before.

Relative pronouns: who, whom, that They refer to the person or people before it.

which, that They refer to the thing before it.

For example:

Peter talked to his friend who was sitting on the chair.

who = Peter’s friend because it appears right after ‘his friend’

*** However, sometimes when there is a comma (,) before “which”, “which” may refer to the whole

idea before it.

I failed in all the tests, which made my parents really angry.

“which” = I failed in all the tests

Practice 1

Read lines 2-3: ‘However, if it is something you really don’t like, just tell your host family politely.’

The word ‘it’ refers to ___________________.

A. cup noodles

B. your host family

C. your own food

D. food given by your host family

Practice 2

I am not going shopping with Peter this Sunday, as I have to go to Uncle Siu’s home. Mom

asked me to give a parcel to him. Then I will visit the palace which is a very famous tourist

attraction. I will have dinner with Mary and Sandy. They will make a seafood dish for me. I

think it will be very delicious. I like eating but I am happy to tell you that I am healthier than 5before. I do a lot of sports here, which keeps me fit.

1. In line 2, what does ‘him’ refer to?

____________________

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2. In line 2, what does ‘which’ refer to?

_____________________________

3. In line 3, what does ‘they’ refer to?

___________________________

4. In line 3, what does ‘it’ refer to?

___________________________

5. In line 5, what does ‘which’ refer to?

____________________________

Strategy 2: Identifying main ideas

Practice 3

A. Joe has experienced ups and downs in his life.

B. Mrs Tao has a son called Joe.

C. Mrs Tao and Joe are very close.

Strategy 3: Distinguishing facts from opinions

Practice 4

Read the following statements about Hong Kong. Write ‘F’ for fact and ‘O’ for opinion.

1. Hong Kong has a beautiful harbour.

2. Most people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese.

3. Most people in Hong Kong are very helpful.

4. Hong Kong is likely to remain prosperous for many years to come.

5. Hong Kong is the best city to visit when travelling in Asia.

6. Hong Kong is situated in the southeast of China.

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Strategy 4 Guessing the meaning of unknown words and expressions

We can often guess the meaning of words or expressions from what appears before and after

them.

Practice 5

1. In line 2, the phrase ‘hustle and bustle’ means _______________.

A. leisure activities

B. illegal activities

C. outdoor activities

D. busy and noisy activities

2. In line 4, what does ‘calligraphy’ mean?

A. beautiful handwriting

B. photography

C. shopping

D. games

3. What does ‘stunning’ (line 5) mean?

A. very big

B. very beautiful

C. ugly

D. clear

Auntie Winnie and I will be coming to Hong Kong again in June this year. Do you have any

hotel you can recommend to us? We are not used to the hustle and bustle of the city life. So

we plan to stay away from the city centre. Auntie Winnie is also more and more interested in

Chinese culture, like calligraphy and paintings. She wonders if you know any good place for

5her to go to. As for me, I would like to take some stunning photographs with my new digital

camera.

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Strategy 5 Understanding different views and attitudes

Pay attention to the use of words (e.g. adjectives, verbs, expressions) that show the writers’ attitudes.

Practice 6

What is the writer’s

attitude?

Angel Chan Owen Kan

A. Positive

B. Negative

C. Neutral

A. Positive

B. Negative

C. Neutral

Shark’s fin soup welcomed by different groups of people

By Angel Chan

Shark’s fin soup is a traditional and famous Chinese dish. It is expensive because shark’s

fin is rare. Serving shark’s fin soup during wedding or birthday banquets will show that the hosts

are generous to their guests. Furthermore, shark’s fin soup is a typical Chinese dish and it can

promote Chinese food culture to foreign people.

Let’s shake our heads to shark’s fin soup

By Owen Kan

Many sharks have been killed cruelly to make shark’s fin soup. People catch sharks and cut

off their fins. Then they throw them back into the sea. The sharks cannot swim without fins and

die.

It is too greedy to take sharks’ lives to satisfy our appetites. In addition, although shark’s fin is

expensive, it has low nutritional value and has no taste.

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Strategy 6 Identifying different text types

Practice 7

1. Where can you find the text?

A. in a diary

B. in a novel

C. in a poster

D. in a magazine

Strategy 7 Understanding the use of poetic devices in literary texts

a. Simile: comparison using ‘as…as’, ‘like’ and ‘as if’.

For example:

I am as happy as a bird. (It means I am very happy.)

He eats like a horse. (It means he eats a lot.)

Tom ran as if a tiger was chasing him. (It means he ran very fast.)

1. How many similes are there in the poem? _________________

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b. Metaphor: direct comparison without using ‘as…as’, ‘like’ and ‘as if’.

For example:

Susan is a fish in the water. (It means she swims very well.)

The moon is a sleeping beauty. (It means the moon is beautiful.)

2. Line 2: ‘Time is a doctor’ is an example of metaphor. Find another example in the poem.

_______________________________________________

c. Personification: giving human characteristics to objects or ideas.

For example:

The wind sang a happy song. (‘sang’ is a human characteristic)

The cars were laughing on the road. (‘laughing’ is a human characteristic)

The darkness put his arms around me. (‘put his arms’ is a human characteristic)

3. Decide which of the following is a personification.

A. It never sleeps, it never rests

B. It watches me while I sleep

C. Bearing in mind when to beep

D. All of the above

d. Rhyme: words ending with the same sound

For example:

One two three four five,

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Once I caught a fish alive. (☆ Rhyming words come at the end of the lines.)

This man is a sly fox,

He never wears socks. (☆ Rhyming words may not have the same ending spelling.)

My book was closed,

I read no more,

Watching the fire dance

On the floor. (☆ Rhyming words may not appear at the end of two successive lines.)

4. Can you find three pairs of rhyming words in the above poem?

________________ and _________________

________________ and _________________

________________ and _________________

e. Alliterations: words beginning with the same consonant sound

For example:

A small schoolboy sings a song sadly sitting on a stone.

Winnie wondered why we won.

5. Line 2: ‘cheerful children’ is an example of alliteration. Find another example of alliteration.

__________________________________________________________

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f. Onomatopoeia: words which imitate or suggest sounds.

e.g. meow (the sound of cats) ring ( the sound of telephone)

splash (the sound of water) smash (the sound of breaking glass)

6. Find two words which suggest the sound of water.

_______________ and _______________

7. Find one word which suggests the sound of thunder.

_______________________

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TSA Reading Practice

Part 1

Your History teacher gave your class the information below for your project.

Read the following leaflet and answer the questions.

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Circle the best answer.

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Part 2

You are reading an article about online friendships.

Read the article and answer the questions.

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Circle the best answer.

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Part 3

You are going to visit the Hong Kong Museum and do a report on dinosaurs. Your English

teacher has given you a poem to help you get started.

Read the poem and answer the questions.

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Answer all the questions. For mutiple-choices questions, circle the best answer.

Stanza One

1. The poet is trying to find a dinosaur. This means he is trying to find ________________.

A. rocks

B. soil

C. a skeleton

D. a live animal

2. Find one pair of rhyming words in the first stanza.

_______________ and __________________

Stanzas One and Two

3. In stanza one, the poet writes the work was ‘long and hard’. The words that show this in stanza

two are ___________________.

A. dirt and mud

B. rocks and soil

C. sweat and toil

D. arms and grew

Stanzas Two and Three

4. The words that describe the work the boy did are ____________________.

A. dug, shoveled and gravel

B. sweat, moved and stones

C. toil, found and bones

D. shoveled, dug and moved

Stanzas Three and Four

5. The boy acutally found __________________.

A. lots of different dinosaurs

B. bones on the floor of his bedroom

C. an incomplete dinosaur

D. a bunch of stones

Stanza Five

6. In stanza five the word that rhymes with ‘goal’ is ___________________.

7. In the poem, the boy wants to find a dinosaur because he ______________________.

A. was asked to by his parents

B. is interested in dinosaurs

C. wants to be infamous

D. is bored at home

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8. The poem is called ‘I Tried to Find a Dinosaur’. It could also be called ________________.

A. I Made My Parents Angry

B. I Found Some Bones

C. My Yard Now Has A Hole

D. all of the above

Part 4

All Form 3 students are going to attend a travel expo to gather information for the class trip.

Your English teacher has given you extracts from a travel brochure and a fact sheet to help

you prepare for the expo.

Fact sheet

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Circle the best answer.

1. Japan is made up of a total of ________________ islands.

A. 377, 887

B. 6,852

C. 4

D. 6,856

2. According to the pie chart, the largest island is ________________.

A. Hokkaido

B. Kyushu

C. Shikoku

D. Honshu

3. The smallest of the main islands is ___________________.

A. Hokkaido

B. Kyushu

C. Shikoku

D. Honshu

4. The population of Tokyo is _______________ million.

A. 12.5

B. 3.6

C. 2.6

D. 2.2

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Travel Brochure

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Circle the best answer.

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Part 5

You are reading a website about Liu Xiang.

Read the website and answer the questions.

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Circle the best answer.

1. How old was Liu Xiang when he first broke the world record?

A. 17

B. 21

C. 23

D. 24

2. Why is Liu Xiang well known to the world?

A. He has broken a lot of world records.

B. He is the first Chinese to win a track event in the Olympics.

C. He is the youngest hurdler in history.

D. He became the world champion within a short period of time.

3. What does the word ‘frenzy’ in line 16 mean?

A. support

B. news report

C. good performance

D. an uncontrolled behavior

4. How does Liu feel about being popular among the media?

A. delighted

B. annoyed

C. frightened

D. confused

5. Look at the word ‘crown’ in line 20. Now, look at the dictionary entry for ‘crown’ below.

Which meaning corresponds to the word in line 20?

crown n.

A. a circular decoration for the head, e.g. a beautiful crown

B. the winning of a sports competition, e.g. an Olympic crown

C. the top part of a head, a hat or a hill, e.g. a crown with ribbon

D. a piece to cover a damaged tooth, e.g. a back tooth with a crown

6. Read lines 19-20: ‘They were all expecting their hero to defend the crown…’

The word ‘They’ refers to ______________.

A. Liu and the media

B. the Chinese

C. people watching the Olympics

D. people all over the world

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7. According to paragraph 4, what is TRUE about Liu Xiang?

A. He has returned to the track with glory.

B. His foot injury has put an end to his career.

C. He broke the world record again in 2011.

D. People all over the world supported him.

8. Why is the Time magazine entitled ‘Liu Xiang & 99 More Athletes to Watch’?

Because these athletes ___________.

A. are very important

B. earn a lot of money

C. are new and young

D. will compete in the next Olympics

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Part 6

You are thinking about taking a part-time job. Your teacher has given you an article on this

topic to read.

Read the article and answer the questions.

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Circle the best answer.