2006 WAEC English Language Theory Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.       Late one night Mr….

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

      Late one night Mr. Oliver was returning to his school on the outskirts of the hill station of Simla. He had been teaching in this school for many years. A bachelor, he usually strolled into the town in the evening, returning after dark. when he would take a short cut through a pine forest. Whenever there was strong wind, the pine trees made moaning, eerie sounds that kept most people to the main road. But Mr. Oliver was not a nervous or imaginative man.

      He carried a torch on this particular night and its pale gleam – the batteries were running down moved fitfully Over the narrow forest path. When its flickering light fell on the figure of a boy who was sitting alone on a rock. Mr. Oliver stopped. Boys were not supposed to be out of school after 7 p.m.. and it was now well past nine.

      “What are you doing out here, boy?” asked Mr. Oliver sharply, moving closer so that he could recognize the miscreant. But as he approached the boy, he sensed that something was wrong. The boy speared to be crying. His head hung down, he held his face in his hand and his body shook convulsively. It was a strange soundless weeping, and Mr. Oliver felt quite uneasy.

      “Well, what’s the matter?” he asked. his anger giving way to concern. “What are you crying for’?” The boy would not answer or look up. His body continued to be rocked with silent sobbing. “Come on, boy, you shouldn’t be out here at this hour. Tell me the trouble. Look up.” The boy looked up. He took his hands from his face and looked up at his teacher. The light from Mr. Oliver’s torch fell on the boy’s face, if it could be called a face.

      He had no eyes, ears, nose or mouth. It was just a round smooth head with a school cap on top of it, and that’s where the story should have ended, as indeed it has for several people who have had similar experiences and drop dead of unexplainable heart attack. But for Mr. Oliver. it did not end here.

      The torch fell from his trembling hand. He turned and scrambled down the path. running blindly through the trees and calling for help. He was still running towards the school building when he saw a lantern swinging in the middle of the path. Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. He stumbled up to the watchman, gasping for breath and speaking incoherently. “What is it, Sahib?” asked the watchman “Has there been an accident? Why are you running?”

      “I saw something – something horrible – a boy weeping in the forest, and he had no face!” No face, Sahib?” “No eyes, nose, mouth, nothing!” “Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?” asked the watchman and raised the lamp to his own face. The watchman had no eyes, no ears, no features at all, not even an eyebrow. The wind blew the light out, and Mr. Oliver had his heart attack …

(a) Why did Mr Oliver take the pine forest route to his school?

(b) What did Mr. Oliver think when he first saw the `boy’?

(c) What was the first indication to Mr. Oliver that all was not well?

(d) What did the night watchman turn out to be?

(e) Mr. Oliver had never before been so pleased to see the night watchman. What is ironical about this sentence in the light of the rest of the story?

(f) “Do you mean it was like this, Sahib?” What does “this” refer to?

(g) ” who have had similar experiences and dropped dead of unexplainable heart attack.”

(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (ii) What is its function?

(h) 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) miscreant (ii) sensed (iii) concern (iv) rocked (v) scrambled.