Descriptive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 71:

• JAMB 1991

Undergraduate students in psychology and education come to their first course in statistics with diverse expectation of and background in mathematics. Some have considerable formal training and quantitative aptitude and look forward to learning statistics. Others — perhaps the majority, including some of those who aspire to postgraduate studies — are less confident in their quantitative skills. They regard a course in statistics as a necessary evil for the understanding or carrying out of research in their chosen fields, but an evil nonetheless.
The third edition, like the predecessors, is directed primarily at the latter audience it was written with the conviction that statistical concepts can be described simply without loss of accuracy and that understanding statistical techniques as research tools can be effectively promoted by discussing them within the context of their application to concrete data rather than as pure abstraction. Further, its contents are limited to those statistical techniques that are widely used in the literature of psychology and to the principle underlying them.
The changes that have been made in this edition reflect both the results of our teaching experience and the increasing prominence being given by statisticians to certain topics. Thus our discussion of some procedures, particularly those in the realm of descriptive statistics, which students grasp easily, have being shortened or rearranged. The treatment of other topics has been expanded. Greater emphasis has been placed on sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and the notion at statistical power.


The expression 'necessary evil' means that

A. Evil is essential in studying the subject discussed
B. Studying the subject is an unpleseant experience which must be endured
C. Only those who are evil can understand the subject
D. Those lacking in quantitative skills see the subject as an evil

Question 72:

• JAMB 1991

Undergraduate students in psychology and education come to their first course in statistics with diverse expectation of and background in mathematics. Some have considerable formal training and quantitative aptitude and look forward to learning statistics. Others — perhaps the majority, including some of those who aspire to postgraduate studies — are less confident in their quantitative skills. They regard a course in statistics as a necessary evil for the understanding or carrying out of research in their chosen fields, but an evil nonetheless.
The third edition, like the predecessors, is directed primarily at the latter audience it was written with the conviction that statistical concepts can be described simply without loss of accuracy and that understanding statistical techniques as research tools can be effectively promoted by discussing them within the context of their application to concrete data rather than as pure abstraction. Further, its contents are limited to those statistical techniques that are widely used in the literature of psychology and to the principle underlying them.
The changes that have been made in this edition reflect both the results of our teaching experience and the increasing prominence being given by statisticians to certain topics. Thus our discussion of some procedures, particularly those in the realm of descriptive statistics, which students grasp easily, have being shortened or rearranged. The treatment of other topics has been expanded. Greater emphasis has been placed on sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and the notion at statistical power.


From the passage, we learn that the book discussed has been

A. Reprinted twice
B. Published three times
C. Rewritten three times
D. Revised twice

Question 73:

• JAMB 1991

Undergraduate students in psychology and education come to their first course in statistics with diverse expectation of and background in mathematics. Some have considerable formal training and quantitative aptitude and look forward to learning statistics. Others — perhaps the majority, including some of those who aspire to postgraduate studies — are less confident in their quantitative skills. They regard a course in statistics as a necessary evil for the understanding or carrying out of research in their chosen fields, but an evil nonetheless.
The third edition, like the predecessors, is directed primarily at the latter audience it was written with the conviction that statistical concepts can be described simply without loss of accuracy and that understanding statistical techniques as research tools can be effectively promoted by discussing them within the context of their application to concrete data rather than as pure abstraction. Further, its contents are limited to those statistical techniques that are widely used in the literature of psychology and to the principle underlying them.
The changes that have been made in this edition reflect both the results of our teaching experience and the increasing prominence being given by statisticians to certain topics. Thus our discussion of some procedures, particularly those in the realm of descriptive statistics, which students grasp easily, have being shortened or rearranged. The treatment of other topics has been expanded. Greater emphasis has been placed on sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and the notion at statistical power.


The changes that were made in the book were motivated by

A. Professional experience and popularity of topics
B. Teaching experience and statisticians view of some topics
C. The examination results of previous generation of students
D. The need to avoid areas which students grasp easily

Question 74:

• JAMB 1991

Undergraduate students in psychology and education come to their first course in statistics with diverse expectation of and background in mathematics. Some have considerable formal training and quantitative aptitude and look forward to learning statistics. Others — perhaps the majority, including some of those who aspire to postgraduate studies — are less confident in their quantitative skills. They regard a course in statistics as a necessary evil for the understanding or carrying out of research in their chosen fields, but an evil nonetheless.
The third edition, like the predecessors, is directed primarily at the latter audience it was written with the conviction that statistical concepts can be described simply without loss of accuracy and that understanding statistical techniques as research tools can be effectively promoted by discussing them within the context of their application to concrete data rather than as pure abstraction. Further, its contents are limited to those statistical techniques that are widely used in the literature of psychology and to the principle underlying them.
The changes that have been made in this edition reflect both the results of our teaching experience and the increasing prominence being given by statisticians to certain topics. Thus our discussion of some procedures, particularly those in the realm of descriptive statistics, which students grasp easily, have being shortened or rearranged. The treatment of other topics has been expanded. Greater emphasis has been placed on sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and the notion at statistical power.


It can be inferred from the passage that the book was written by

A. An educational psychologist
B. More than one author
C. A prominent statistcian
D. A professor of statistics

Question 75:

• JAMB 1992

  Lets begin with a picture.
  He must not have been more than thirty years old. The oval face, devoid of those wrinkles of age, the well-turfed and black hair, and his still complete though brown set of teeth supported this assessment. All he had for clothing was a piece of cloth with some words written on it. It must have been one of those cloth-posters used but now abandon by ‘show-biz’ promoters. Across his neck was yet another cloth which bore our national colors of green and white. His feet were naked — just as they came from their creator. In one hand he had an empty tin. He talked ceaselessly and in a disordered fashion. The other free hand emphasized his spoken words and gesture. As he talked, he gazed at you as if you were responsible for his pathetic condition. He looked redeemable, though. There are many of his type in various urban centers.
  Beggars! They are in every conceivable place. At the bank, the supermarket, the church, the mosque, the post office — there you will meet them. Before you know it, the more healthy ones besiege you for alms almost to the point of assault. Surely, there is no rationale in giving alms to someone who is physically stronger than you are and who, from all indication, can and should work and fend for himself. Some others are feeble and unfortunately handicapped. Women and young girls constitute a sizeable number of these healthy beggars. Some are nursing mothers and one wonders who their husbands are. Conception by Mr Nobody, perhaps. The young girls in this category are the mother-beggars of tomorrow. But tell me; can’t the society be spared the human waste?


..... this assessment’ refers to the man’s

A. Face
B. Hair
C. Age
D. Naked