English Remedial Module Revised
English Remedial Module Revised
March, 2025
OBU, Ethiopia
Instruction: Express your agreement on the following topic using the expressions of agreement.
1. Foreign aids do not necessarily solve the problem of developing countries.
2. Social media should be censored by the government.
Intransitive verbs are verbs often describe actions or events which do not involve anyone or
anything other than the subject. They never have a direct or an indirect object. The subject and
verb express a complete thought without an object. Intransitive verbs do not act upon anything.
However, they be followed by an adjective, an adverb, a proposition or other parts of speech.
Study the following sentences:
1. Solomon Barega runs fast.
2. Her tooth ached.
(=In the above sentences, the verbs ‗runs‘ and ‗ached‘ are intransitive verbs.)
Instruction: In pairs, write five sentences using intransitive and transitive verbs.
1. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
4. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Examples:
1. Active: The students (subject) always write their homework (object) in this room.
Passive: Their homework is always written in this room.
2. Active: He does not play football.
Passive: Football is not played by him.
3. Active: Does he play football?
Passive: Is football played by him?
4. Active: Does he not play football?
Passive: Is football not played by him?
Instruction: Fill the blank spaces with the appropriate irregular verb.
1. My dog jumped out of the swimming pool and _____________ himself, causing water to
spray everywhere. (shake, shook, shaken)
2. You should have ___________ Trish‘s face when she got her surprise. (saw, had seen, seen)
3. We _____________ the whole day lounging on the beach. (spend, spent, had spend)
4. Let‘s _____________ a hike on Saturday. (take, took, taken)
5. My brother Mike ______________ his stinky socks on the coffee table. (leave, left, leaving)
6. This is the ninth time that pitcher has _____________ a foul ball (throw, threw, thrown)
7. The water balloon _____________ when it hit its target. (burst, busted, broken)
8. Jesse intentionally ______________ gum in Jeff‘s hair. (stick, stuck, sticky)
The ‗yes/no‘ questions are formed by using the ‗do verbs‘ (do, does, did), ‗have verbs‘ (has,
have, had), and modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, ought to, etc.).
Examples:
1. Do you like animals? 2. Is there a book on your table?
a) Yes, I do. b) No, I don‘t a ) Yes, there is. b) No, there isn‘t.
3. Can you bring me your marker tomorrow? 4. Are there two pens on the table?
a) Yes, I can. b) No, I cannot (can‘t). a) Yes, there are. b) No there aren‘t
Activity-1: Write a short paragraph about the causes and solutions of car accidents in Ethiopia.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
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…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….
2.3.4. Referencing
A narrative paragraph is a paragraph which tells us a story. When you tell a story either at
paragraph or essay level, you need characters (people, animals or things) about whom the story
talks. Second, you need main point (theme) that the reader takes as important moral lesson.
Third, setting, (the time and place) where the events in the story take place, are essential.
Instructions: Use the outlines given below and complete the narrative paragraph by adding three
to four sentences individually.
Example of an outline to write a paragraph on punctuality
Assume that the title of your paragraph is ―My Lateness is My Enemy‖
o the place where the story took place-Addis Zemen
o time - summer
o late arrival for classes
o missing a test that carried 10 points
o - the declination of rank from first to second
o missing the school reward
―My Lateness is My Enemy‖
The story took place in Addis Zemen Primary School in 2001 E.C.I am always punctual in my
life but one day unusually I could not wake up from my bed at the right time. When I looked at
my watch, the class time had gone by 40 minutes. I collected my belongings hurriedly and ran to
school. When I arrived there, the school gate had already been closed.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The non-defining relative clauses, on the other hand, are clauses that provide information about
the things or the persons described in the sentence, but the information does not determine the
things or the persons they describe. For example, in sentences like My father, who is over 60,
still works on the farm, it is clear that you have only one father; therefore, the relative clause
who is over 60 is not essential to tell us about your father although it adds some information
about your father‘s age. Non-defining clauses are set-off by commas to indicate that the clause is
not determinant of the noun used.
A. Relative pronouns used in defining relative clauses
Examples
1. This is the picture which/that caused such a sensation.
2. The car which/that I hired broke down.
3. The ladder on which I was standing began to slip.
4. The year when (in which) he was born was a time of natural disasters.
5. The hotel where (in/at which) they were staying was not much convenient.
Examples:
1. Fentahun, whom everyone suspected, turned out to be innocent.
2. Dilnesa, for whom I was working, was very generous about overtime payments.
3. Emebet, whose children are at school all day, is trying to get a job.
4. These books, which you can get at any bookshop, will give you all the information you need.
Activity: Select the appropriate relative pronoun and fill in the gaps in the following sentences.
Activity-1: Discuss the following questions with your partner and circle answers.
1. Bekalu: How __________ do you watch television?
Dinku: Every evening.
A. often B. much C. happy D. relaxed
2. It is ______ to read. I don‘t understand it at all.
A. enough difficult B. too difficult C. difficult enough
1. Dad doesn‘t care much, but mom gets angry if I don‘t ________ her text message.
A. apply for B. reply to C. reply for D. reply
2. My younger brother is very much interested ________studying robotics.
A. on B. in C. for D. at
Because of dangling modifier, the sentence below has more than one possible meaning. In the
case, see both the intended meaning and the unintended meaning of the sentence.
1. Having finished the essay, a new Facebook status was uploaded.
Intended meaning: Somebody finished the essay.
Unintended meaning: A new Facebook status finished the essay.
Instruction: Correct the following dangling sentences.
1. Burning quickly, the firefighters turned several hoses on the house.
2. While focusing the camera, several people wandered out of view.
4.2.5. Debate
4.4.2. Synonyms/Antonyms
Synonyms are words having nearly the same meaning. Antonyms are words that have opposite
meanings. Look at the following examples for each.
4.4.3. Analogy
Analogy is also a similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar. A good
example of this will be bird and feathers. The similarity between these two unrelated pairs of words
is an analogy. The best way to approach analogy question is to make up a relationship between the
first two words and find another pair in the choices that would fit into that same sentence.
advice/advise ■ raises/rises/races
later/latter/latest ■ breath/breathe
access/axis/excess
Instruction: Write the correct word to complete each sentence.
1. Almaz remembered to pack everything for the trip ________________for her cultural dress.
Do you know if the gift shop will _____________a chechque for payment? (accept, except)
2. Whatever you do, don‘t ______ your ticket, because it‘s your only way to get back into the
park. Danny tried on his dad‘s old leather jacket, but it was a bit ______ on him. (lose, loose)
3. Kalil loves to act and sing, so he hopes to get ____ in the school musical this summer. Selam
and her twin sister Lemlem have never been ______ for more than a weekend. (apart, a part)
4. Getting enough fresh air and exercise can have a positive ____on your mood and your health.
We can‘t always predict how our decisions will _________others around us. (affect, effect)
4.5. Grammar
4.5.2. Quantifiers: many, much, few, a few, little, a little, some, any, a lot
Time management refers to your capability to plan and control how you devote your day to
effectively accomplish the goals you‘ve set. This includes allocating time among each of the
spheres of your life, work, family and social life. Since everyone‘s goals are different and carry a
different weight, it‘s important to set clear priorities to separate time wasters from the activities
that really matter. Poor time management skills can not only lead to procrastination but can cause
unnecessary worry and wear away your overall quality of life.
Time management is perhaps the single most important skill that will help a student succeed.
How well a student manages his or her time will also affect overall wellbeing at the end of the
week, at the end of the term or at the end of the year. Staying on top of coursework requires some
planning and commitment to stick to scheduled study times.
There are some tried-and-true methods that can help you master time management. Like any habit
you develop, you can become better at it through practice. It‘s difficult to use time wisely if you
don‘t know what to do with it. Students can benefit from having short- and long-term goals. For
example, a short-term goal might include completing their homework early each day, so they
have ample time for other personal activities. Their long term goal could be to study for the
forthcoming national exams.
You should also understand what your assignment requires and when their due date is. Writing
down deadlines for each one and breaking longer-term assignments into tasks with their own
deadlines can help you avoid beginning a major project at the last minute.
In like manner, setting time limits on specific tasks is important. Just because you spend a lot of
time on a given assignment doesn‘t mean you‘ve spent that time wisely. By assessing what needs
to be achieved within a given timeframe, tasks can be rated according to their importance. Setting
priorities for each day, week, month and year can help students accomplish their goals. It also
helps to make sure activities that are very important but not urgent such as personal devotions,
adequate sleep and exercise are given priority. Some people like to prioritize easy tasks for early
in the day and use the boost to move forward. Others prefer to tackle bigger jobs first.
Social media usage and internet surfing are temptations to students efficient time management.
These days, students at all levels are highly addicted to these timewasters. Whenever you are on
task doing your assignment or studying, make sure that you put your phone away and close
browser windows as they can take attention away from the task at hand. In order not to lose focus,
use technology wisely.
Being a secondary school student doesn‘t have to mean your life is all work and no play. It‘s just
as important to pencil in breaks, exercise and time with friends and family as it is to schedule time
for studying. Nobody performs at their uttermost under excessive stress. Since students need
healthy ways to manage the pressures of study while maintaining productivity, getting enough
sleep and exercising are all great ways to minimize stress, and actually make learning more
effective. The major mistake committed while working is when one is in a rush to meet the
deadline without taking proper breaks for rest or relaxation. It is impossible for anyone to focus
on work and to produce good results without considering any break in between.
Even if you struggle with time management, it‘s a skill you can build. Using these time
management techniques, you can successfully balance the demands of school, and life because
Proper time management is the foundation of a successful life and ensures achievement of one‘s
goals in a healthy manner.
(Adapted from https://www.breeze.pm/blog/how-is-time-management-related-to-productivity).
In pairs, categorize the following words/phrases taken from the reading text into either good time
management practices or poor time management practices:
6.4. Vocabulary
6.4.1. Word formation (prefixes and suffixes)
Prefix and Suffix are common in English and their correct use can help enhance the language
skills and deal with the unknown vocabulary easily.
I. What is Prefix?
A Prefix is a word (a group of letters) that is added at the beginning of the root word to form a
new word. A prefix word does not have any meaning of its own but when added to a root word it
modifies the meaning of the word. It makes a word negative, indicate opinion or show repetition.
Study the following examples
1. Un (Prefix) + Happy (Root Word) = Unhappy (new word)
2. Dis (Prefix) + Organized (Root word) = Disorganised (new word)
Instructions: Write the new word by adding the correct prefix from the list below. You can use
one prefix more than once. The first one is done for you.
A collocation is a pair or group of words that always goes together. Although there are no
specific rules for collocations, it is important to study the commonly observed collocations that
appear in the forms of adjectives and nouns as well as verbs and prepositions. Sometimes it is
difficult to use the verbs ―do‖ and ―make‖ with the correct noun for most of our students. The
only thing you should do is to study the list of words that are followed by both verbs and use
them in your different communication settings correctly when/where they are necessary.
Examples:
do your best, business, the cleaning, a course, etc.
make an occasion, arrangement, attempt, change, comment, etc.
Instruction: Put either ―make‖ or ―do‖ before the nouns given here below.
o —–— 1. occasion o —–—10.change
o —–— 2. impression o —–—11. attempt
o —–— 3. effort o —–—12. gesture
o —–— 4. comment o —–—13. business
o —–— 5. offer o —–—14. damage
o —–— 6. gardening o —–—15. noise
o —–— 7. demand o —–—16. progress
o —–— 8. duty o —–—17. degree
o —–— 9. a course o —–—18. homework