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

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

      We have often heard students making wild assertions that the public examining bodies are their worst enemies. Some, in fact, see the officials of these public examining bodies as wicked souls scheming day and night to devise ways of failing them. How correct are these assertions? The facts will speak for themselves. 
      The task of setting an examination paper begins long before the examination day. Indeed. months or years before then, seasoned experts in the-various subjects are given the teaching and examination syllabuses and requested to set questions. These are compiled for subsequent scrutiny. Then a second set of experts is invited to examine the questions critically, make necessary modifications and come up with questions that conform with acceptable standards. The result of this exercise is a set of polished and unambiguous questions that are very fair to those being examined. These questions are then securely stored. 
      The next stage is the registration of candidates This stage involves not just the examining body, but also the candidates, their parents. their teachers. principals and some other members of the public. This is so because apart from the candidate having to fill in the forms. his principal has to endorse them while the parents have to provide the registration fee. Any mistake or inaction on the part of any of these may ruin the candidates chances. If, for instance, the candidate makes a mistake in his choice of subjects or in completing his forms or if the principal does not forward the registration fee at the right time. his chances in the examination may be jeopardized. 
      Next is the conduct of the examination itself. Again. more officials from outside the examining body than from within it are involved. Think of the supervisors. the invigilators, and even the security officials. They are definitely more in number than the staff of the examining body and any one of them could take an action that might result in the failure of candidates. Take the invigilator for instance If he is negligent candidates could swap answer scripts under his very nose; and when this is detected by the markers, as it often is. the results of the candidates may be cancelled. 
      Probably, the most hated person to the candidates is the marker whom they, in their ignorance, regard as a wicked drunkard who delights in failing candidates. What candidates do not realize is that an examiner is trained to score points strictly according to a carefully prepared marking scheme from which he must not deviate it is his constitution. Besides, his work is consistently checked by his team leader and the chief examiner. Should he be discovered to have marked inaccurately, he could be removed. So, contrary to candidates’ opinion. the examiner is a seasoned teacher, a careful scorer, a person always on his guard. 
      The final stage comes with the collation of results. This stage is mainly computerized, and computers do not make mistakes. A candidate’s results may not be processed if he is involved in a malpractice, has used a wrong examination number or no number at all, or if he fails to write all the papers that make up a subject. So. when a result is withheld, the fault is mostly that of the candidate.
      How then should we view the activities of the public examining bodies? Definitely, we should view them with understanding, sympathy and appreciation. 
(a) In one sentence, summarize the writer’s purpose in this passage. 
(b) In two sentences, one for each, state how the actions of the candidate and the invigilator can jeopardize the candidate’s chances of success. 
(c) In three sentences, one for each summarize the steps taken by examining bodies to ensure that candidates are given a fair chance of success. 

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. 
      A candidate in an examination hall  is a close cousin of the boxer in the ring. Both are fighting for a prize or, at least, for some champion is like commendation. Their goal is to win, and victory brings fame while failure leads to disaster and frustration. Each victory paves the way fora promotion up the ladder, and the higher one climbs the more exposed to the public glare one gets. A worid boxing a Nobel Prize winner among academics; each is at the apex of his career, but the route to that position can be tortuous and rough. The examination candidate is not a very normal person for the simple reason that he is under severe  pressure. Although he is alert and his pulse is fast, he is liable to commit elementary errors without knowing.
      Thus, he may repeat or omit one word, miss the spelling of another, or interchange the positions of two words. If he reads over, which he hardly ever does, he may see what was originally in his brain rather than what is on paper. So, most errors escape him. More alert than at ordinary times though his brain maybe, it can play funny tricks in the examination hall. Thus, while struggling with the question, he may suddenly recall an old joke or a long forgotten and obscure incident. Right there in the examination hall, while his pen is dancing furiously on the paper, the candidate may remember a beautiful tune as if his mind is saying: “Forget this task, enjoy some music.” 
      Happily, these do not usually disrupt the exercise at hand: the task goes on while the candidate may smile to himself at the strange recall of the joke or music. 
      The brain can play a different type of trick. A fact long stored up and remembered a short while before the examination can suddenly evaporate. All attempts to recall it may prove unsuccessful. Usually, till the paper ends, the fact remains elusive  only to resurface much later when not needed. 
      The candidate does not fare better in an oral examination. His problems are heightened by the fact that his fate depends entirely on the examiner’s assessment of him rather than what he writes down himself. The facial appearance of the examiner is also a strong factor since a stern, unsmiling examiner can be intimidating. 
      Yet, an examination candidate need not be frightened. He needs all the calmness  he can muster. He should sleep soundly before the exercise trusting that all the preparations he made earlier will not fail him at the hour of need. The fact is that one forgets more when one is tired, especially when one panics unnecessarily. 
(a) In what two ways is an examination candidate similar to a boxer? 
(b) Identify two direct results of pressure on the candidate. 
(c) Give two examples of the funny tricks the brain can play on the candidate. 
(d) Give two reasons why a candidate may have a greater problem at an oral examination than at a written paper. 
(e) “. . while his pen is dancing furiously on the paper’ (i) What figure of speech is this? (ii) What does it mean? 
(f) A candidate in an examination hall….” 
(i) What is the grammatical name given to the expression above as it is used in the passage? 
(ii) What is its function in the sentence? 
(g)For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) paves: (ii) apex; (iii) severe: (iv) elusive: (v) stern (vi) calmness. 

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

      The most memorable experience of my life was an incident that occurred some thirty years ago when I was in the fourth form in the secondary school. In those days, the speech-making and prize-giving day was always a great event. It was always a day when the results of the promotion examinations were announced to the students after weeks of suspense. The afternoon commenced with all the students taking their seats in the large hall, and the members of staff, led by the principal, filing in. There were also three guests, each of them an important figure  in the town. The principal and the dignitaries made speeches admonishing the students to work hard in order to attain their goal. Then the prize-giving commenced.

      Soon, it was the turn of my class For the overall best student, my name was called. This was not unexpected, the position having become almost identified with me. Amidst the clapping, I stood up and moved towards the principal whose outstretched hand held a fat book. I was already before him when he peered through his heavy spectacles, surveyed my figure and held back the book. There was a sudden silence. Students were amazed  at this turn of events. Then he explained, “You ‘II have your prize when you pay your outstanding fees.”

      I stood there almost petrified. Had I been warned of this disgrace, I would simply not have stood up let alone bothering to go forward. There I was, the sorry focus of attention I wished my legs would refuse their function but they did no such thing. On the other hand they refused to beat a retreat, at least, for those burning seconds. Then suddenly, spontaneously, the students started clapping and hailing me. Thus, my return journey was more loudly cheered than the outward journey.

      For the prize in English, my name was also called. Of course I sat still but the students hailed on. The prize was kept. For Mathematics, it was the same drama. Somehow the students’ behaviour saved the day for me.

      Poorly clothed, in torn tennis shoes and being a debtor, I was the talk of the school. The little fee I had paid that year was earned through doing menial jobs at weekends, supplemented with donations from some school mates. Father’s financial difficulties had been aggravated by a protracted court case. He had no alternative but to ask me to withdraw from school and look for a job. This I had refused to do.

      I had borne the cross gallantly until that day when the principal’s action threatened to kill whatever courage remained in me. I ordered the tears to gush out to flood my sad face, but the ovations forced the spring to remain dry. I had the loudest ovation that day: the students’ response to my plight was my own prize.

(a) Why were the students usually in suspense before the prize-giving day?

(b) Why was the announcement of the writer’s name as the winner of the best student prize not a surprise?

(c) What two proofs are there in the passage to show that the writer was liked by his school mates?

(d ) Why was his father unable to pay his school fees?

(e) “whose outstretched hand held a fat book” (i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (Ii)What is its function in the sentence?

(f) “/ had borne the cross gallantly . ..”

(i) What figure of speech is this expression?

(ii)What does it mean as it is used in the passage?

(g) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) memorable (ii) figure (iii) amazed (iv) menial (V) protracted (vi) plight

You have just taken part in a local festival in your village. Write an article for publication in a cultural magazine describing the festival, its origin and importance to your people and the role you played.

Tell a story that ends with the advice. “Cut your coat according to your cloth”.

 You are the chief speaker in a school debate the topic of which is “Public secondary schools are better than the private ones”. Write your speech for or against the topic.

Write a letter to your elder brother working abroad describing the hardship you and your parents are facing at home and requesting him to give some financial assistance.

 Write an article for publication in a national newspaper on why you think a woman should be your country’s next president.

 You have been sent on indefinite suspension for the part you played in a recent disturbance in which valuable school property was damaged. Write a letter to the principal of your school describing the part that you played and apologizing for your involvement.

In question numbered 100 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 100 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 99 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 98 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 97 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 96 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 95 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 94 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 92 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 93 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 91 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.

In question numbered 90 above, choose the best option from letters A – E that best completes the gap.