You have just ended your tenure as the president of the youth club in your community. Write a speech which will be delivered at the last general meeting before you leave office, recounting your achievements and expressing your hopes for the future of the club.
Tell a story that ends with the words: It was a bitter experience, but I learnt my lesson.
The transistor radio you bought from a department store with a two-year guarantee developed a fault after six months. You took it to the technical section of the store where the foreman refused to accept it, alleging that the guarantee did not cover the fault reported. Write a letter to the General Manager of the store lodging your complaint, explaining the nature of the fault and requesting the store to fulfill its guarantee.
Write an article suitable for publication in a foreign magazine on the traditional marriage system of your people.
There was a terrible storm in your town during which houses were destroyed. Your family house was among those affected. Write a letter to your uncle working overseas describing the disaster and requesting for his help in reconstructing the house.
A youth club in your country is organizing an essay competition for final year Senior Secondary School students on the topic: The lingua franca question: problems and prospects. Write your entry.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
On a global basis, no statistics are adequate to suggest the magnitude of the revolution in education today. In the United States Information Services libraries in the third world, about thirty million people annually use the facilities provided. The agency distributes eight million books every year. The Soviet Union also distributes over one hundred and fifty million books to developing countries all over the world. But together, these programmes do not come near to meeting the world demand.
Mere facts and figures cannot convey the human passion for learning. In the English-speaking teaching programmes mounted for children in Latin-American countries, children have been known to have sold the shoes off their feet to pay their way to classes. In Africa, a tribal chief was turned away from enrolling in a class because there were no more chairs. The next day, he and a contingent of his fellow chiefs were waiting outside the door, each carrying his own chair.
This revolution is not limited to the developing world. In the United States there are more than fifty million students attending more than 185,000 public and private schools at all levels. There are more students today in the United States than there were city residents only forty years ago. We have entered an age in which education is not just a luxury which gives some men an advantage over others. It has become a necessity without which a person is defenseless in this complex industrialized society. Levels of education which were once regarded with awe have now become Commonplace. And jobs which once could be filled with possession of strength and native intelligence now call for a college degree. We have truly entered the century of the educated man.
It is a mistake, however, to confuse skill with education. A man who has been taught only to hold a job has not been educated; he has only been trained. And the man who has merely been trained is not fully qualified to take his p a free society as a fully participating citizen. An all-round education should equip the learner for any challenges he may encounter.
Education, of course, is not something that is acquired just in college. It is a life-long task and when I think of death, I think of it as the moment when the brain ceases to inquire and expand.
(a) In four sentences, one for each, summarize the instances given by the writer to show that education is spreading at a very rapid rate.
(b) In two sentences, one for each, state the reasons given by the writer to support the view that education is changing fast.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Marriage as a human institution is facing its greatest threat ever in the twentieth century. Never, since the first man and woman were joined together, has the institution been beset by as many problems as it is now. And this trend, which started in the Western World, has spread and is spreading to all parts of the globe.
The most disturbing problem is the high rate of divorce. It is no longer a social stigma for women to fill in forms indicating that they are divorced; men. too, proclaim their liberty from the shackles of matrimony somehow with pride. Little wonder that young couples resort to separation and eventually divorce. at the slightest disagreement.
The availability of an alternative aggravates the seriousness of the problem. Instead of entering into matrimony, very many couples simply decide to live together. Even the courts now recognize such common law marriages, and respect the rights of partners in such associations. The great advantage this accords the partners is the fluidity of the association, the ease with which one or both can call off the union.
Besides, very many countries now enact laws that recognize the rights of children born out of wedlock. This singular factor has helped to shoot up the number of such children in many civilized communities. A recent survey in an urban college shows that about forty percent of the students were born out of wedlock.
Not less among the factors hastening the death of the marriage institution is the progressively rising cost of living. Nowadays, it is essential for both partners to be gainfully employed to be sure of a reasonable decent level of existence. The marriage ceremony itself costs so much that the young men simply remain single, raising one or two children from ladies who themselves are often willing collaborators against the institution of marriage.
(a) What does the author mean by referring to marriage as an institution?
(b) What do the words liberty and shackles mean, as used in the passage?
(c) (i) What, according to the passage, is a common-law marriage?
(ii) Mention one advantage of this system
(d) Mention any two factors that are seriously threatening the marriage institution.
(e) … who themselves are willing collaborators against the institution of marriage.
(i) What grammatical term is used to describe the above expression as used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function?
(f) For each of the following, find another word or phrase that means the same and which can replace it as used in the passage:
(i) globe; (ii) stigma; (iii) an alternative; (iv) enact; (v) survey.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Do the present policies on those who commit crimes reflect a class war? For long, people have alleged that certain laws discriminate against some members of the society while such laws favour others. Besides, some sociologists also claim. that .some members of the society are more prone to some specific crimes than others. So, our opening question is pertinent.
When we realize that armed robbery and similar offences require the use of brute force, it immediately becomes clear that these are offences almost exclusive to the masculine world. The offences are thus sex bound. Besides, the need to be physically strong and agile tends to exclude the upper middle-age and the elderly; so, age is also a factor, Moreover, members of the working class, who at least have some financial returns to rely on, hardly ever have the urge to resort to violence.. This tends to limit violent crimes to the unemployed, poor and desperate males in their late teens, twenties, or early thirties. Indeed, if elderly citizens are involved, they function as the barons, the financiers, who sit back at home while they let loose the dogs of vandalism and death. They provide the money and tools for the front line criminals.
Similarly, drug pushing tends to be more prevalent among the weaker sex, especially ladies in their twenties. They are biologically more attractive, and hence more likely to wade through the airport and border post while hiding deadly gramms of hard drugs within one or other of their bodily crevices. Again if older citizens are involved it is more as the barons, shielding the carriers from prosecution if they are caught. So, this is another crime that is largely sex-bound.
Punishments for offences limited to the citizens on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder appear to be harsher. So, robbery with violence attracts death, and pushing hard drugs attracts long jail terms. Meanwhile, pen robbery and large-scale fraud, offences which are invariably specific to the high class officials, do not attract severe penalties. Indeed, most culprits at this level manage to wriggle out of the net of the law.
There thus appears to be sufficient reasons to answer our original question in the affirmative.
(a) Mention any two yardsticks used by the writer to categorize those who commit violent crimes.
(b) What two roles do the barons of the identified crimes play?
(c) Among what group of people are violent crimes most common?
(d) (i) Does the writer consider the punishment for the various crimes mentioned in the passage as fair?
(ii) Support your answer with a brief description of the writer’s argument.
(e) …they let loose the dogs of vandalism and death. (I) What figure of speech is the above expression?
(ii) What does the expression mean?
(f) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and can replace it as used in the passage: (i) pertinent: (ii) agile; (iii) desperate; (iv) prevalent; (v) severe.
You were an eye-witness to a fire outbreak which completely destroyed the main market in your town. Write an article suitable for publication in a national newspaper describing the incident and suggesting measures that could be adopted to prevent a recurrence.
You changed school recently and have been at the new school for six weeks. Write a letter to your uncle explaining why you left your former school and describe at least three things You find more interesting in the new school.
The Political Science Students Association in one of the higher institutions of learning has invited your school to participate in a debate on the topic: Civil Rule is Preferable to Military Rule. Write out your speech for or against the motion.
There have been widespread complaints by students against the teaching staff: absenteeism, lateness to classes, failure to prepare lessons, and so on. As the senior prefect, write a letter to the principal, informing him of the situation and requesting him to take necessary action in order to avert a riot that is being secretly planned by students.
Your school was tipped to win the final match of the inter-school football competition for secondary schools in your state, but unfortunately you lost to the underdog. Write an article for publication in your school magazine on that match, explaining why your school lost and the lessons to be learnt.
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions on it.
The food and oil crises demonstrate the extent of our interdependence. Many developing nations need the food surplus of the developed nations. And many industrialized nations need the oil production of a few developing nations.
Energy is required to produce food, and food to produce energy – and both to provide a decent life for everyone. The problems of food and energy can be resolved on the basis of cooperation — or can, I should say, be made unmanageable on the basis of confrontation. Runaway inflation, propelled by food and oil price increases, is an early warning signal. Let us not delude. ourselves. Failure to cooperate on oil, food and inflation could spell disaster for every nation.
The United Nations must not, and need not allow this to occur. A global strategy for food and energy is urgently required. It is my belief that four principles should guide a global approach.
Firstly, all nations must substantially increase production. Just to maintain the present standards of living, the world_ must almost double its output of food and energy to match the expected increase in the world population by the end of the century. To meet aspirations for a better life, production will have to expand at a significantly faster rate than t population growth. Second, all nations must seek to achieve a level of Prices which not only provide an incentive to producers but which consumers can also afford. It should now be clear that the developed nations are not the only countries which demand and receive adequate returns for their goods. But it should also be clear that by confronting consumers with production restrictions, artificial pricing and the prospect of ultimate bankruptcy, producers will eventually become victims of their own actions. Third, all nations must avoid the abuse of man’s fundamental needs for sake of narrow material or bloc advantage. The attempt by any country to use one commodity for political purposes will inevitably tempt other countries to use their commodities for their own purposes. Fourth, the nations of the world must ensure that the poorest among us are not overwhelmed by rising prices of the imports necessary for their survival. The traditional aid donors and the increasingly wealthy oil producers must join hands in this effort
(a) Summarize in one sentence, how the developed and developing nations are interdependent in their needs.
(b) In one sentence, show what the inevitable result of confrontation among nations will be.
(c) In four sentences, one for each, summarize the writer’s suggestions for effecting smooth global interdependence.
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions on it.
When you come to think seriously about it, you cannot but conclude that the only permanent factor in international relations is national interest. This, at least among the advanced nations of the world, is very clear. A few instances would suffice.
Take the issue of political ideology. The world used to be, and is still to some degree, divided into distinguishable ideological camps. A nation is ruled either by a democratic or a dictatorial regime. From the way these two ideological camps launch verbal attacks on each other, one would assume they would never have anything to do in common. But there are numerous instances when a democratic regime had been drawn into the open embrace of a totalitarian regime. So it was during the two world wars when democratic and totalitarian regimes found themselves on the same side.
Consider also the factor of economic policies. We know today that capitalism and socialism, as economic policies, are poles apart. The two systems, at least in theory, cannot tolerate each other. But in actual fact, there has been cooperation between capitalist and socialist states when they learn they can be interdependent economically. Trading, after all, does not know one ideology from another, and money is used for the same purpose whether in China or in America.
From the foregoing, it would be correct to claim that there is no country in the world which is democratic in all respects, nor is there any which is exclusively dictatorial. Even more correct than this is the claim that there is no wholly capitalist state, nor is there a completely socialist nation. Therefore, definitions must be made cautiously, and recognition must be given to the fact that each capitalist state embraces a certain degree of socialism, and every socialist nation accommodates some degree of capitalism. So, why need we be rigid in our political and economic inclinations?
(a)What does the writer consider the most important factor in international relations?
(b) Identify the two political and the two economic systems mentioned in the passage.
(c) According to the passage, under what condition has there been cooperation between capitalist and socialist states?
(d) Why should we be flexible in our political and economic given to inclinations
(e) …… they would never have anything to do in common.
(i) What is the grammatical name given to the above expression as used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function?
(f) For each of the following words, find another the above phrase that word or phrase at means the same and can replace it as used in the passage: (i) advanced; (ii) distinguishable (iii) numerous; (iv) ideology; (v) cautiously
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.
Write a story in which you were personally involved, ending with, ‘if I knew he was that kind of person, I wouldn’t have gone out with him.”
Write an article for publication in the science magazine on the topic: Science and Technology in National Development.
You have changed school and after a few months, you discover that your present school is not as good as the former. Write a letter to a friend of yours in your former school giving at least three areas in which the new school does not measure up to the old one.