Structure: Simple Past Tense, Past continuous, Past perfect and past perfect continuous

Simple Past Tense: The regular verbs form there past by adding (Ed) to the simple form of verb, while irregular verbs form their past tense in different ways e.g.

Ume worked. In farm yesterday (regular)

The boys talked to me this morning (regular)

We ate late last night (irregular)

Ada spoke to me on telephone (irregular)

Past Continuous Tense: This shows that an action was still continuing in the past. It is formed by using a form of the past auxiliary ‘be’ and ‘ing’ e.g. was/were+ing

I was drinking.

We were drinking.

Past Perfect: This shows that an action was completed before another action in the past, or completed before a definite time. The auxiliary used here is ‘had’.eg

(a)After he had drunk the water, he thanked me.

(b)They had finished the work before the teacher arrived.

Past perfect continuous: e.g.

I had been drinking.

We had been doing it.

They had been trying.

She had been working.

B: Comprehension

Content: Definition of a Paraphrase, Paraphrasing a Particular Passage.

Paraphrase: This simply means an expression which is re-composed or re-stated in a shorter or clearer way. It means a restatement of a text in different words, often to clarify meaning.

A paraphrase of the comprehension passage on page 39 Marriage and Family.

Irrespective of one’s personal achievement, the only way a woman can be respected in Nigerian society is when she’s married.

Marriage was formerly a sacred institution before Western civilisation.

The three major ways of contracting marriage in Nigeria are: court, religious and customary

Marriage customs vary from tribe to tribe in Nigeria. A way of showing wealth and prowess in traditional Nigerian society is polygamy. This is fading out while monogamy is gaining ground.

Evaluation: In your own word, paraphrase the comprehension read on page 39-40.

Reading assignment: Effective English Page 41.

C: Essay writing: Various Methods of Introducing Writings.

Content: Essay Writing, Types

Essay writing: The features of a good essay include, a rich content, its orderly presentation, correct use of language and avoidance of mechanical errors.

(i)Content: The material the candidate presents must be relevant to the question set.

(ii)Organization: This is an orderly exposition, demonstrating the required formal features.

(i)Expression: This is the candidate’s ability on:

(ii) choice of the right words; idioms and expressions

Use of language

(iii) Use of different types of sentences

(iv)Effective use of punctuation marks for sentence control

(v)Mechanical Accuracy: All these are looked out for here:

(a) Careless handwriting.

(b)Omission of words

(c)Use of incorrect tense, e.g. wrong use of number (singular/plural)

Wrong use or omission of punctuation marks.

Wrong use of capital letters.

TYPES OF ESSAY

Narrative Essay: It requires you to relate an event or incident as an eye witness would. It’s the art of storytelling. The use of past tense(s) is central to a narrative essay since an account of the past occurrence is meant to be given.

Descriptive Essay: It requires  you to write a description of, for example an object, a person, an animal, an incident or a scene e.g. describe a rainy day you will live to remember.

Expository Essay: It requires you to explain a thing or process fully. Usually, it requires the writer to compare and contrast, discuss causes and effects of something or define something thoroughly. Examples of an expository essay topics are: Wild Animals in their Natural Environments, articles, or The Rising Cost of Living in Nigeria, How Christmas festival is celebrated in my Village Yearly, The Roles of the Judiciary in the National Development, Nigeria and its people, Road accidents in Nigeria, etc.

Argumentative Essay: It requires you to present a subject view to persuading your reader to agree with your own point of view against another one e.g. Pipe-borne Water is more useful to the People than Electricity.

Evaluation: Write an essay presenting your points ‘for’ or ‘against’ the topic ‘ Day Students Perform Better than Boarding Students in Examination.

Readingassignment: Countdown by Evans page 2-4

Weekend Assignment: Question 41-50 on page 378-380 of Countdown.