Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions on it.
It was a sunny day in the month of May. The sun took its rightful position very early, lending credence to the general feeling that Andrew’s birthday ceremony was going to be greeted with the blessing of a pleasant climate. The sky looked so bright that Andrew insisted on having an open-air party. The habitual doubting Thomases had no dissenting opinions to express. Andrew had gone to a great length to ensure a hitch-free party; a party which would remain the talk of the town. Although it was not intended to be free for all, a lot had been done to stamp the occasion on the memories of many people long afterwards.
The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew’s face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment. Very few of his conternporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular had been an orphan of storm. His father’s, death during his third year in the secondary school and that of his mother two years later were only two of this orphan’s ‘storms’. He suffered a physical misfortune when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger. But Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap. Every fool can afford to fail But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success. And so it was for Andrew. Ever since he finished his university education, it had been success galore. He had got a good i job in one of the country’s insurance companies. His pay was good, his promotion had been steady and his prospects seemed bright. At forty, he had a good car and had already bought a house of his own. The world was at his feet!
(a) Give, in (iii) word or phrase, the meaning of each of the following words, as used in the passage: (i) dissenting; (ii) stamp; (iii) contemporaries.
(b) What figure of speech is “the bright sun continued to smile?”
(c) (i) What kind of grammatical structure is “the courage to fail?” (ii) What is its function in the sentence?
(d) What two hardships had Andrew gone through in life?
(e) What is implied by the expression The world was at his feet?
Explanation
(a)(i) Dissenting - opposing, contradicting, doubting (ii) Stamp - impress, record, register (iii) Contemporaries -colleagues, mates, peers, friends,
(iv) Forbearance - endurance, (v) Storms - ordeals, problems
(b) Personification (c.)(1) a Noun phrase (ii) Subject
(d) The two hardships Andrew had gone through are: (1) His father died in his third year in the secondary school
(2) His left middle finger was cut by a stockfish machine.
(e) He had everything; or he had succeeded; or he had achieved greatness.