Narrative Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 81:

• JAMB 1985

Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Obi: Let’s go to the Sport Club Cafeteria. One naira
per meal is a privilege in this country.
And God knows that I am too broke to afford
anything More
Olu: Got a membership identity card? Don’t forget
the place is for bona fide members
only.
Obi: Forget it. There are other types of
identity cards, remember. Just flash
something before the eyes of those men at the
gate, provided it looks like an identity card.
Olu: Ee...eh, I see. That is why the place is
always congested. I don’t think it
is even worth the trouble. I can’t stand a
queue.
Obi: That shouldn’t bother you. You don’t have to
join the queue. Just walk
straight to the serving point without fear
and be sure you shout your
order.
Olu: But only V.I.Ps have the right to break
queues.
Obi: Sure, but V.I Ps don’t wear badges on their
faces. Post man, pose. After
all this is Nigeria
olu: You mean there are many impostors here?
Obi: Certainly, and many people with privileges
too. If you want to get
along, you must pose, and to get along
means getting what you want
If you choose to term it ‘privileges, it
suits me. It is all a question of
semantics.


From the whole conversation, it is clear that Obi and Olu are

A. Irresponsible
B. Selfish
C. Privileged
D. 'go-gotters'
E. Epitomes of the Nigerian society

Question 82:

• JAMB 1985

Mathematics is the language in which the Book of Nature is written: Mathematics is the queen of the Sciences. It is universally agreed that Mathematics is the backbone of Science and Technology. For without Mathematics the engineer is but an artist or sculptor. He can build his bridge, attest to its from and beauty, but without Mathematics he cannot guarantee its reliability to serve the purpose for which it is built. Mathematics is indeed the science of sciences. It is also art of all arts. It is right, legitimate and defensible to consider Mathematics as an Art. The poet, the musician, the artist and the Mathematician have a lot in common. Fundamental to all their studies and works is their common interest in the logical study of related concepts and objects from patterns which will produce beauty, harmony and order. Thus the poet arranges words to produce a pattern called poetry: the musician arranges sounds to produce a pattern called music, the artist arranges colours to produce pattern called painting and the Mathematician arranges abstract ideas into a pattern, using symbols, to produce equations. Each of these patterns- the poem, the music, the painting and the equation must stand up to the test of some order, harmony and beauty. So if Mathematics is not an art what is art?


The view expressed in this passage belong to

A. JAMB
B. Artists
C. Mathematicians
D. The poet
E. The author of the passage

Question 83:

• JAMB 1985

Mathematics is the language in which the Book of Nature is written: Mathematics is the queen of the Sciences. It is universally agreed that Mathematics is the backbone of Science and Technology. For without Mathematics the engineer is but an artist or sculptor. He can build his bridge, attest to its from and beauty, but without Mathematics he cannot guarantee its reliability to serve the purpose for which it is built. Mathematics is indeed the science of sciences. It is also art of all arts. It is right, legitimate and defensible to consider Mathematics as an Art. The poet, the musician, the artist and the Mathematician have a lot in common. Fundamental to all their studies and works is their common interest in the logical study of related concepts and objects from patterns which will produce beauty, harmony and order. Thus the poet arranges words to produce a pattern called poetry: the musician arranges sounds to produce a pattern called music, the artist arranges colours to produce pattern called painting and the Mathematician arranges abstract ideas into a pattern, using symbols, to produce equations. Each of these patterns- the poem, the music, the painting and the equation must stand up to the test of some order, harmony and beauty. So if Mathematics is not an art what is art?


The expression 'Mathematics is the queen of the Sciences' contains

A. A contradiction
B. An analogy
C. An irony
D. A lie
E. Nonsense

Question 84:

• JAMB 1985

The land was ready and ploughed, waiting for the crops. At night, the earth was alive with insects singing and rustling about in search of food. But suddenly, by mid-November, the rain fled away: the rain-clouds fled away and left the sky bare. The sun danced dizzily in the sky, with a strange cruelty. Each day the land was covered in a haze of mist as the sun sucked up the drop of moisture out of the earth. The family set down in despair, waiting and waiting,. Their hopes had run so high; the goats has started producing milk, which they had eagerly poured on their porridge, now they ate plain porridge with no milk. It was impossible to plant the corn, maize, pumpkin and water-melon seeds in the dry earth. They sat the whole day in the shadow of the huts and even stopped thinking, for the rain had fled away. Only the children were quite happy in their little girl world. They carried on with their game of making house like their mother and chattered to each other in light, soft tones. They made children from sticks around which they tied rags, and scolded them severely in an exact imitation of their own mother. Their voices could be heard, scolding all day long: ‘You stupid thing, when I send you to draw water, why do you spill half of it out of the bucket? ‘You stupid thing! Can’t you mind the porridge pot without letting the porridge he burn? ‘Then, they would beat the rag-dolls on their bottoms with severe expressions.
The adults paid no attention to this; their nerves were stretched to breaking point waiting for the rain to fall out of the sky. Nothing was important, beyond that. All their animals had been sold during the bad years to purchase food and of all their herd only two goats were left. It was the women of the family who finally broke down under the strain of waiting for rain.


The evidence that the family hope had run high is that the

A. Land was ready for planting
B. Earth was alive with insects singing
C. Goats had started producing milk
D. Family ate porridge
E. Family had corn and maize seeds

Question 85:

• JAMB 1985

The land was ready and ploughed, waiting for the crops. At night, the earth was alive with insects singing and rustling about in search of food. But suddenly, by mid-November, the rain fled away: the rain-clouds fled away and left the sky bare. The sun danced dizzily in the sky, with a strange cruelty. Each day the land was covered in a haze of mist as the sun sucked up the drop of moisture out of the earth. The family set down in despair, waiting and waiting,. Their hopes had run so high; the goats has started producing milk, which they had eagerly poured on their porridge, now they ate plain porridge with no milk. It was impossible to plant the corn, maize, pumpkin and water-melon seeds in the dry earth. They sat the whole day in the shadow of the huts and even stopped thinking, for the rain had fled away. Only the children were quite happy in their little girl world. They carried on with their game of making house like their mother and chattered to each other in light, soft tones. They made children from sticks around which they tied rags, and scolded them severely in an exact imitation of their own mother. Their voices could be heard, scolding all day long: ‘You stupid thing, when I send you to draw water, why do you spill half of it out of the bucket? ‘You stupid thing! Can’t you mind the porridge pot without letting the porridge he burn? ‘Then, they would beat the rag-dolls on their bottoms with severe expressions.
The adults paid no attention to this; their nerves were stretched to breaking point waiting for the rain to fall out of the sky. Nothing was important, beyond that. All their animals had been sold during the bad years to purchase food and of all their herd only two goats were left. It was the women of the family who finally broke down under the strain of waiting for rain.


'The adults paid no attention to this' refers to

A. The children scolding the reg-dolls
B. The plain porridge
C. The burnt porridge
D. Their breaking nerves
E. The land