Expositive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 46:

• JAMB 1984

In 1973 a Japanese sericulturist arrives in Malawi with a batch of 40,000 silkworm eggs. They were taken to the Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station in Thyolo District. In this station, work is being done to determine favourable silkworm rearing conditions and areas where mulberry trees, leaves the worms feed on, could grow well. According to researchers, the silkworms- which eventually develop into cocoons from which raw silk is produced — do well with warm climatic conditions.
Silk is one of the strongest of fibers. Infect, for thousands of years, silk fabrics have been regarded as the most beautiful and durable materials woven by man. Many people call silk the cloth of kings and queens’.
The weaving of silk originated in china. An old Chinese book believed to be written by Confucius, tells us that the wife of Emperor Huang ti was the first person fabrics of silk. Around 2640 B.C Emperor Huang ti asked his wife His Ling-shih to study the worms that were destroying the mulberry trees in his garden. The Empress took some of the cocoons into the palace to see what they were made of. She dropped one of the cocoons into a bowl of boiling water and was amazed to see a cobweb-like tangle separate itself from the cocoon. She picked up the gauzy mass and found that one of the threads could be unwound almost without end from the cocoon. His Ling-shih had discovered silk. She was delighted with the discovery and even wove a ceremonial robe for the Emperor out of the cocoon threads. After that, the officials in the Emperor’s court wore brightly dyed silk robes on important occasions.
People in other countries regarded the new fibers as something rare and beautiful. A few traders went to China to learn about making cloth from silk, but the Chines kept their silkworm a closely guarded secret.


According to sericulturist, silkworms

A. Cannot survive in a warm climate
B. May be reared on any tree
C. Do well in areas with a warm climate
D. Produce the longest threads when they are fed leaves from the top of the mulberry tree
E. Are destroyed by heat

Question 47:

• JAMB 1984

In 1973 a Japanese sericulturist arrives in Malawi with a batch of 40,000 silkworm eggs. They were taken to the Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station in Thyolo District. In this station, work is being done to determine favourable silkworm rearing conditions and areas where mulberry trees, leaves the worms feed on, could grow well. According to researchers, the silkworms- which eventually develop into cocoons from which raw silk is produced — do well with warm climatic conditions.
Silk is one of the strongest of fibers. Infect, for thousands of years, silk fabrics have been regarded as the most beautiful and durable materials woven by man. Many people call silk the cloth of kings and queens’.
The weaving of silk originated in china. An old Chinese book believed to be written by Confucius, tells us that the wife of Emperor Huang ti was the first person fabrics of silk. Around 2640 B.C Emperor Huang ti asked his wife His Ling-shih to study the worms that were destroying the mulberry trees in his garden. The Empress took some of the cocoons into the palace to see what they were made of. She dropped one of the cocoons into a bowl of boiling water and was amazed to see a cobweb-like tangle separate itself from the cocoon. She picked up the gauzy mass and found that one of the threads could be unwound almost without end from the cocoon. His Ling-shih had discovered silk. She was delighted with the discovery and even wove a ceremonial robe for the Emperor out of the cocoon threads. After that, the officials in the Emperor’s court wore brightly dyed silk robes on important occasions.
People in other countries regarded the new fibers as something rare and beautiful. A few traders went to China to learn about making cloth from silk, but the Chines kept their silkworm a closely guarded secret.


The work carried out at the Agricultural Research Station in Malawi on the silkworm eggs was to

A. Try to breed cocoons which would produce more silk
B. Determine the survival rate of silkworms
C. Find out the most suitable areas and conditions for rearing silkworms
D. Search for better methods of rearing silkworms
E. Find out how cocoons become silkworms

Question 48:

• JAMB 1984

In 1973 a Japanese sericulturist arrives in Malawi with a batch of 40,000 silkworm eggs. They were taken to the Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station in Thyolo District. In this station, work is being done to determine favourable silkworm rearing conditions and areas where mulberry trees, leaves the worms feed on, could grow well. According to researchers, the silkworms- which eventually develop into cocoons from which raw silk is produced — do well with warm climatic conditions.
Silk is one of the strongest of fibers. Infect, for thousands of years, silk fabrics have been regarded as the most beautiful and durable materials woven by man. Many people call silk the cloth of kings and queens’.
The weaving of silk originated in china. An old Chinese book believed to be written by Confucius, tells us that the wife of Emperor Huang ti was the first person fabrics of silk. Around 2640 B.C Emperor Huang ti asked his wife His Ling-shih to study the worms that were destroying the mulberry trees in his garden. The Empress took some of the cocoons into the palace to see what they were made of. She dropped one of the cocoons into a bowl of boiling water and was amazed to see a cobweb-like tangle separate itself from the cocoon. She picked up the gauzy mass and found that one of the threads could be unwound almost without end from the cocoon. His Ling-shih had discovered silk. She was delighted with the discovery and even wove a ceremonial robe for the Emperor out of the cocoon threads. After that, the officials in the Emperor’s court wore brightly dyed silk robes on important occasions.
People in other countries regarded the new fibers as something rare and beautiful. A few traders went to China to learn about making cloth from silk, but the Chines kept their silkworm a closely guarded secret.


Choose the meaning which best fits the underlined phrase from the passage. Closely guarded secret

A. Carefully hidden from the knowledge of others
B. Secretly processed business with armed guards
C. Carefully hidden from the view of strangers
D. Scarcely known
E. Unknown

Question 49:

• JAMB 1986

  It is customary nowadays among fashionable ladies and gentlemen to acquire strange and sometimes quaint cloths which are scarcely ever used. Sometimes it may be an approaching festival; sometimes a two hour ceremony and sometimes to honour a dead colleague — something triggers off the modern craze to sew new materials whose use does not outlast the moment of craze. And so, people who just occupy small apartments in their parents’ homes, or have rented one room in a densely — peopled house find that more than two- thirds of their rooms are filled with bongo trousers which they cannot wear, worn out jeans which stinks, or specially made clothes for occasions that are not recurrent.
  Although plagued by the problem of school fees for their children, parents have had to swallow their own phlegm and humour their children who need special clothes for important events. Newly employed youths soon find that their comrades getting married, and a new and special attire must be used to grace the occasion. University students see matriculation ceremonies or induction ceremonies into club membership as special reasons to make new attire which — you may be sure they would not wear on another occasion that parallels the one for which these clothes were made.
  Medical doctors may soon find another cause for the incidence of high blood pressure among the youth. The desire to acquire new clothes is one strong possible cause, but a more subtle one which haunts like a ghost is the problem of choice of what to wear. The youths have so stuffed their apartments, wardrobes, drawers and trunks with so many clothes that the greatest problem they face is the choice of what to wear.


A suitable tittle for this passage is

A. Fashion craze
B. Fashion craze among the youth
C. University students and induction ceremonies
D. Parents and the money for fashion craze

Question 50:

• JAMB 1986

  It is customary nowadays among fashionable ladies and gentlemen to acquire strange and sometimes quaint cloths which are scarcely ever used. Sometimes it may be an approaching festival; sometimes a two hour ceremony and sometimes to honour a dead colleague — something triggers off the modern craze to sew new materials whose use does not outlast the moment of craze. And so, people who just occupy small apartments in their parents’ homes, or have rented one room in a densely — peopled house find that more than two- thirds of their rooms are filled with bongo trousers which they cannot wear, worn out jeans which stinks, or specially made clothes for occasions that are not recurrent.
  Although plagued by the problem of school fees for their children, parents have had to swallow their own phlegm and humour their children who need special clothes for important events. Newly employed youths soon find that their comrades getting married, and a new and special attire must be used to grace the occasion. University students see matriculation ceremonies or induction ceremonies into club membership as special reasons to make new attire which — you may be sure they would not wear on another occasion that parallels the one for which these clothes were made.
  Medical doctors may soon find another cause for the incidence of high blood pressure among the youth. The desire to acquire new clothes is one strong possible cause, but a more subtle one which haunts like a ghost is the problem of choice of what to wear. The youths have so stuffed their apartments, wardrobes, drawers and trunks with so many clothes that the greatest problem they face is the choice of what to wear.


In this passage the expression 'Parent have had to swallow their own phlegm' means parents

A. Had to swallow the sputum in their mouths
B. Have been phlegmatic all along
C. Have had to overcome their own pride or prejudice
D. No longer had to swallow