English Language JAMB, WAEC, NECO AND NABTEB Official Past Questions

SECTION C: SUMMARY

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this section. 

The campaign for the education of the girl-child appears to have achieved outstanding success. Many parents were once known to be indifferent to the education of the girl-child. But now, it is boys who appear to have become less serious with their studies. This calls for a determined effort to save the boy-child’s education from further decline and avoid possible unpleasant consequences for both genders and the society.

It has been observed that more girls than boys now enrol for secondary and tertiary education than was the case forty years ago. Today, the population of boys and girls in classrooms is either equal or the girls outnumber the boys. The trend appears to be that after obtaining the first degree, they work to raise enough money to get married. On the other hand, their female counterparts often proceed to higher degrees while waiting to get married. This is one of the reasons why more females register for postgraduate programmes in various disciplines. 

In addition, it appears that female students now perform better in academics than males. They are often more on the list of the best students in a class, just as more girls obtain first-class honours than boys in the universities. At a dinner for new dental surgeons in a prominent university, the guest lecturer asked the male students to stand up for recognition. Two men stood up; the other nineteen surgeons were female!

More girls seem to show greater commitment to education by staying to learn during school hours, unlike a good number of boys who absent themselves from school for all manner of reasons. They attend parties when lessons are on, and hide in various locations to commit cybercrime or engage in other nefarious activities. Therefore, boys have higher cases of truancy, resulting in a decline in their academic performance. 

Certain consequences may result from this present situation. Most top positions in public and private establishments might eventually be occupied by women who have the required academic qualifications. Companies and industrious are in constant patronage and will engage only the topmost brains with the necessary experience to occupy leadership positions. Thus, most female graduates and award-winners will qualify for these positions over men. 

The effect will most likely be felt in homes where women are married to men who have lower academic qualifications. When rich senior school certificate holders are husbands of graduates or PhD holders, misunderstandings and conflicts are bound to occur. The wives are likely to view issues from a broader perspective, while their husbands may consider their opinions as confrontational. Peace and harmony may become elusive in such homes. 

Nevertheless, the development so far should make women very proud. But with more women as managers and policymakers, the downside is that there may be instances when women will use their higher number in positions of authority to formulate policies that will favour them and possibly dominate the males.

In conclusion, while the campaign for the educational progress of women should be sustained, efforts should be intensified to arrest the current decline of interest of young men in education. Abundant benefits await society if there is a balance in the educational attainment of both genders. 

SECTION B: COMPREHENSION

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.

I got home late on the day of the party. Although I had planned to be home early, the heavy traffic scuttled my plan. The party was in full swing by the time I arrived, with our street lined up with cars. I entered the compound and stood for several minutes, watching the scene before me with awe. My wife had spared no expenses in organising the party. 

I watched my son beam with delight. He made me proud and was now getting his reward. My plan had worked. I hadn’t believed it would do the trick but I knew I just had to motivate him to do better than being content with the tenth position every term for the past two years. I knew he could be the best in his class, but he was just not trying hard enough. His lack of push was a weight on my shoulders and it was clear he needed an incentive. So, when he approached me with his yearly demand for a party, an idea occurred to me. I had always declined his request for an elaborate celebration. It was not for lack of money; I just never believed in living ostentatiously. Maybe my austere background had something to do with it. After all, as a manager of a reputable bank, I earned enough to make life comfortable for my family of four.

My plan to have a small family sprang from my desire to give my children the best in life. They were in one of the best schools and were always well-groomed. 

Looking at the children enjoying themselves took me down memory lane. I remember my days in school when I was at that age. Things were quite difficult for me while growing up. My parents were separated and my father had taken another wife who treated me with disdain. I worked like a grown-up man on my father’s farm to get produce to sell so as to pay my school fees. My consolation those days was my strong belief that I would make it one day, after all, every cloud has a silver lining. 

After my secondary school education. I knew I had to get a job, as any hope of going further in my education was slim despite my good grades. I went to live with my uncle, who was accommodating and soon got me a job in a bank. Through hard work and after passing various professional examinations, I rose to the peak of my career. 

The joyous shouts of the children roused me from my reminiscences, I realised that if I had not used my son’s obsession with a party as a carrot for push, we wouldn’t be celebrating his resounding success today. As soon as he knew the reward for coming first in his class, he worked hard like never before. He also surprised us by being the best student in all his subjects, even in Mathematics, which used to be his Achilles heel. 

The plan was worth it, though I still lament the amount of money it gulped.