Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Although rural people needed kerosene for lighting, they relied on it more for cooking. However, persistent fuel scarcity had made the commodity hardly affordable where it was available. Fetching dry wood from the forest became inevitably the order of the day.
Early one morning Jojo and I. armed with cutlasses and axes, joined other young people, who were more conversant with the forest, in search of dry wood It soon dawned on us that this “essential commodity” had been driven so far away that we had to wander into the heart of the forest before we could fine a huge branch of tree that looked dry. Convinced that it was. we went into action. each cutting from his own side.
Scarcely had we started when Jojo suddenly jumped up from her position and exclaimed “Goodness!” When I inquired what had happened. she explained that the ground on which she was standing was lifting her up This sounded weird and I went closer to examine the ground. It appeared level and was full of dry leaves. There was no sign of anything other than the bare ground. Mockingly, I asked her to return to work, adding that her phobia about the forest was changing into an illusion. Nevertheless. I struck the ground with my cutlass cutting through it to reassure her that there was nothing to fear. But before I could leave we noticed blood trickling out of the cut on the ground and we scampered away, developing goose-flesh.
As we watched from the distance, we observed that there was a writhing movement and gradually. a curled creature stretched into full length of about three and a half feet. The earthy but splendid design of the skin became visible and it started what was like its last struggle away from the spot Its pace was decreasing with every effort to crawl on while more blood was being lost as a result of the deep cut it had received.
Whether it was shock or fear that prevented me from finishing up what I started, I cannot say. But though we accomplished our aim of going to the forest that day. I was haunted by the guilt of an unwilling murderer many days after.
(a) Why was kerosene important to rural people?
(b) State two reasons why the people sought an alternative to kerosene
(c) What lifted Jojo up?
(d) What did the narrator start that he could not finish?
(e) ” the heart of the forest (i) What figure of speech is contained in this expression? (ii) What does it mean?
(f) “As we watched from the distance (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage ? (ii) What is its function?
(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) persistent (ii) inevitably, (iii) weird; (vi) mockingly;
(v) splendid;
(vi) accomplished.
Explanation
(a) Rural people needed kerosene for lighting and cooking.
(b)(i) Kerosene was scarce.
(ii) It was expensive/It was hardly affordable
(c) A snake/A curled creature.
(d) The killing of the snake/ the curled creature.
(e)(i) Metaphor (ii) The middle or inner-most part of the forest.
(f)(i) Adverbial clause (of time). (ii) It modifies (the verb) 'observed'
(g)(i) persistent - continual, continued, unending, frequent, prolonged (ii) inevitably - unavoidably, certainly, inescapably (iii) weird - strange, unusual, odd, abnormal (iv) Mockingly - Teasingly, In jest, Jokingly, Playfully, Jeeringly (v) splendid - beautiful, impressive, magnificent (vi) accomplished - achieved, realised, fulfilled.