Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions on it.
When Chief Obinwa read the note and absorbed its terse content, he nearly collapsed. For minutes, he stared at it in utter disbelief. But much as he wished otherwise, the message was clear, the robbers had indicated that they would visit him very soon, and that ‘no force in the world’ would stop them from carting away all he had. The note ended by warning him in his ‘own interest’ not to be funny by informing the police or other law-enforcement agents.
As a wealthy business man, Chief Obinwa had seen enough of life to know that the gang meant business. He could recall at least half a dozen men who had got such sinister notes in the past, and who had been robbed as planned. One of them had contacted the police which then guarded his house for weeks. But the robbers struck all the same — they attacked him in his expensive car on his way to another town, thrashed him thoroughly, and relieved him of the car.
So, contacting the police was out of it, he decided. But what could he do? He confided in his closest friend, who had been his business associate for thirty years. The latter advised him to vacate his house for as long as it was necessary and seek refuge in a hotel. After giving this much thought, Chief Obinwa checked into Exclusive Hotel. But he stayed only for a night. He reasoned that leaving his retinue of wives, children, servants and relatives behind was not the best solution. So, emptying the water in an over-head tank, Chief Obinwa turned the tank into his refuge every night. His powerful double-barrelled rifle in hand, he hid in the tank late in the night, waiting.
Then, one night, the robbers came in a lorry. They were about a dozen. As they were forcing their way in, Obinwa aimed at their leader, and brought him down with a loud report. Another shot, and a second man fell. Surprised, the others fled, with Chief Obinwa’s shots seeing them off. By day break, the news spread fast. The body of Chief Obinwa’s friend and business associate was found in a pool of blood at the entrance to the chiefs house. He was the leader of the gang!
(a)(i) What message did Chief Obinwa receive? (ii) Why did he decide not to call in the police?
(b) Why did Chief Obinwa’s friend give the kind of advice he gave?
(c) Why did Chief Obinwa drop the idea of continuing to hide in a hotel?
(d) Why was the chief able to repel the thieves single-handedly?
(e) his retinue of wives, children servants and relatives behind….
(i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression (ii) What is its function?
(f) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase that could replace it as used in the passage:
(i) absorbed; (ii) sinister (iii) associate (iv) refuge (v) report.
Explanation
(a)(i) The message Chief Obinwa received was that armed robbers were coming to visit him
(ii) He did not call the police because people who had called the police in the past were still dealt with by the robbers.
(b) The chiefs friend gave the advice so that the chief would not be at home to give them a fight or resist them when they eventually come.
(c) Chief Obinwa dropped the idea of continuing to hide because he considered the safety of his wives and children.
(d) The chief was able to repel the thieves single handedly because he had a gun and he hid at an advantaged spot.
(e) (i) noun phrase (ii) object of the verb 'leaving'
(f)(i) absorbed - took in, comprehended, understood (ii) sinister - terrible, evil (iii) associate - partner. colleague
(iv) refuge - protection, cover, safety (v) report - sound. noise