Our legendary primary school leaving examination comes with a section that requires students to manipulate their thoughts and combine two given sentences into one by using predetermined sentence structures. This article written by a tuition agency whose expertise I trust will give you an inkling of what I’m talking about.

Some of these structures are admittedly not often used in our everyday lives (neither…nor, anyone), so to inject greater purpose into my students’ learning, I came up with some examples of how they could weave various structures into their composition writing. The story is about a boy getting himself hurt in a basketball match. The structures that crop up during synthesis exams are bolded as follows.

——- “I would rather take risks than play it safe. Go big or go home!” I muttered resolutely to myself.

As soon as the whistle pierced the air, I charged at my opponent to get the basketball, throwing caution to the wind.

Little did I know that I was about to make a costly mistake.

Upon hearing the sickening crack of my arm, I felt nauseous, as if the world were spinning around me.

To my dismay, an excruciating pain shot up my arm.

My friends rushed to render me assistance without thinking twice.

Due to my rash action, I threw my teammates off their game.

My coach, who prioritised our safety above all else, glared at me, steam pouring out of her ears. My coach, whom we nicknamed “The Devil,” glared at me, her face contorted with rage.

As a result of my foolish act, my team lost the match.

Despite causing my team to lose the match, I was wrapped in a group hug by my teammates, who comforted me.