Comprehension/Summary - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 611:

• JAMB 2006

  The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks .
One of the most difficult and confusing aspect of English language is its spelling system. There is often ....16.... [A. discrepancy B. discord C. a similarity D. concord] between the punctuation of a word and its spelling. One cannot always tell how to spell a word ....17.... [A. throughout B. by C. as to D. as from] its pronunciation.
In order to understand the peculiarity of English spelling ....18....[A. difficulty B. confusion C. system D. code], it is good to know something about the history of the language. First, it is helpful to realize that English was originally spoken by people who could neither read nor write. While the ....19.... [A. middle-class B. educated C. less enlightened D. uneducated] people spoke English, the literate upper classes spoke French and wrote in Latin, later when English became a ....20.... [A. literary B. romantic C. written D. coded] language, there was no system for spelling its words. Moreover, the first writers of English were French speaking ....21... [A. newscasters B. scribes C. orators D. interpreters] who knew English only slightly: therefore, they carried many French spelling ....22.... [A. habits B. attitudes C. idiosyncrasies D. mannerisms] into English. In addition, these first writers of English, who were used to writing in Latin, often ....23.... [A. inserted B. interjected C. interpolated D. juxtaposed] letters into words even when they were not pronounced because the ....24.... [A. antecedent B. opposing C. corresponding D. synonymous] word in Latin was spelled that way. Finally, the confusion increased when the ....25.... [A. diction B.morphology C. orthography D. pronunciation] of certain words changed while the spelling remained the same.




In question number 23 choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gap

A. Inserted
B. Interjected
C. Interpolated
D. Juxtaposed

Question 612:

• JAMB 2006

  The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks .
One of the most difficult and confusing aspect of English language is its spelling system. There is often ....16.... [A. discrepancy B. discord C. a similarity D. concord] between the punctuation of a word and its spelling. One cannot always tell how to spell a word ....17.... [A. throughout B. by C. as to D. as from] its pronunciation.
In order to understand the peculiarity of English spelling ....18....[A. difficulty B. confusion C. system D. code], it is good to know something about the history of the language. First, it is helpful to realize that English was originally spoken by people who could neither read nor write. While the ....19.... [A. middle-class B. educated C. less enlightened D. uneducated] people spoke English, the literate upper classes spoke French and wrote in Latin, later when English became a ....20.... [A. literary B. romantic C. written D. coded] language, there was no system for spelling its words. Moreover, the first writers of English were French speaking ....21... [A. newscasters B. scribes C. orators D. interpreters] who knew English only slightly: therefore, they carried many French spelling ....22.... [A. habits B. attitudes C. idiosyncrasies D. mannerisms] into English. In addition, these first writers of English, who were used to writing in Latin, often ....23.... [A. inserted B. interjected C. interpolated D. juxtaposed] letters into words even when they were not pronounced because the ....24.... [A. antecedent B. opposing C. corresponding D. synonymous] word in Latin was spelled that way. Finally, the confusion increased when the ....25.... [A. diction B.morphology C. orthography D. pronunciation] of certain words changed while the spelling remained the same.




In question number 24 choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gap

A. Antecedent
B. Opposing
C. Corresponding
D. Synonymous

Question 613:

• JAMB 2007

  It is of no more use to give advice to the idle than top pour water into a sieve, but it strike me that lazy people ought to have a large looking glass hung up where they are bound to see themselves in it. For sure, if their eyes are at all like mine, they will never bear to look at themselves long or often. The ugliest sight in the world is one of those thorough-bred loafers, who would hardly hold up his basin if it were to rain with porridge: and for certain, would never hold up a bigger pot than he wanted to fill for himself.
Perhaps, if the shower should turn to beer, he might wake himself up a bit; but he will make up for it afterwards, since as a slothful man, he folds his hands in sleep and hates to get up even for his meals. Men like him ought to be treated with like the drone which the bees drive out of their hives for inactivity overdependence.
Every man ought to have patience and pity for poverty; but for laziness, a long whip might be better. This would be a healthy treatment for all sluggards, but there is no chance of some of them getting their full dose of this medicine, for they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and like spoons will scarce stir their own tea unless somebody lends them a hand. They are like the proverbial dogs that leaned his head against the wall to bark and, like lazy sheep, it is too much trouble for them to carry their own wool. If they could see themselves, it might by chance do them a world of good; but perhaps it would be too much trouble for them to open their eyes even if the glass were hung for them.
If I seem to hit hard at the sluggards, it is because I know they can bear it, for if they were seed on the threshing floor, you will thresh many days to get them out of the straw, for laziness is in their bones, and will show itself in their idle flesh, no matter what you do with them.
Adapted from Spurgeon, C.H.: John Ploughman’s Talk




which of the following explains the point being made in the second paragraph?

A. The drone and the slothful often look themselves up in the mirror
B. The drone and the slothful are idle so they depend on others for their needs
C. The drones and the sluggards are lazy people who sleep a lot
D. The drone and the slothful hover around beehives because of their independence on honey

Question 614:

• JAMB 2007

  It is of no more use to give advice to the idle than top pour water into a sieve, but it strike me that lazy people ought to have a large looking glass hung up where they are bound to see themselves in it. For sure, if their eyes are at all like mine, they will never bear to look at themselves long or often. The ugliest sight in the world is one of those thorough-bred loafers, who would hardly hold up his basin if it were to rain with porridge: and for certain, would never hold up a bigger pot than he wanted to fill for himself.
Perhaps, if the shower should turn to beer, he might wake himself up a bit; but he will make up for it afterwards, since as a slothful man, he folds his hands in sleep and hates to get up even for his meals. Men like him ought to be treated with like the drone which the bees drive out of their hives for inactivity overdependence.
Every man ought to have patience and pity for poverty; but for laziness, a long whip might be better. This would be a healthy treatment for all sluggards, but there is no chance of some of them getting their full dose of this medicine, for they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and like spoons will scarce stir their own tea unless somebody lends them a hand. They are like the proverbial dogs that leaned his head against the wall to bark and, like lazy sheep, it is too much trouble for them to carry their own wool. If they could see themselves, it might by chance do them a world of good; but perhaps it would be too much trouble for them to open their eyes even if the glass were hung for them.
If I seem to hit hard at the sluggards, it is because I know they can bear it, for if they were seed on the threshing floor, you will thresh many days to get them out of the straw, for laziness is in their bones, and will show itself in their idle flesh, no matter what you do with them.
Adapted from Spurgeon, C.H.: John Ploughman’s Talk




which of the following represents the authors view in the passage?

A. The slothful will not get out of bed unless someone wakes them
B. Laziness leads to poverty so both should be rejected with equal vehemence
C. Idle and unproductive people should have no place in society
D. Loafers carry their basins about looking for who will fill them with food

Question 615:

• JAMB 2007

  It is of no more use to give advice to the idle than top pour water into a sieve, but it strike me that lazy people ought to have a large looking glass hung up where they are bound to see themselves in it. For sure, if their eyes are at all like mine, they will never bear to look at themselves long or often. The ugliest sight in the world is one of those thorough-bred loafers, who would hardly hold up his basin if it were to rain with porridge: and for certain, would never hold up a bigger pot than he wanted to fill for himself.
Perhaps, if the shower should turn to beer, he might wake himself up a bit; but he will make up for it afterwards, since as a slothful man, he folds his hands in sleep and hates to get up even for his meals. Men like him ought to be treated with like the drone which the bees drive out of their hives for inactivity overdependence.
Every man ought to have patience and pity for poverty; but for laziness, a long whip might be better. This would be a healthy treatment for all sluggards, but there is no chance of some of them getting their full dose of this medicine, for they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and like spoons will scarce stir their own tea unless somebody lends them a hand. They are like the proverbial dogs that leaned his head against the wall to bark and, like lazy sheep, it is too much trouble for them to carry their own wool. If they could see themselves, it might by chance do them a world of good; but perhaps it would be too much trouble for them to open their eyes even if the glass were hung for them.
If I seem to hit hard at the sluggards, it is because I know they can bear it, for if they were seed on the threshing floor, you will thresh many days to get them out of the straw, for laziness is in their bones, and will show itself in their idle flesh, no matter what you do with them.
Adapted from Spurgeon, C.H.: John Ploughman’s Talk




one conclusion that can be drawn from the opening paragraph is that

A. It a waste of time to advise lazy man because he will always use a sieve to sift the advise
B. Lazy people are thorough-bred loafers who cannot even eat their porridge
C. Though lazy people have ugly faces, they like to see themselves in the mirror
D. Lazy people work only to satisfy their own immediate needs