Argumentative/persuasive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 6:

• JAMB 1979

There is one fascinating question that arises out of the contemplation of mud sculpture. Why should anybody use unbaked mud, the most perishable of materials? Is it because no other material is readily available? The question is not easy to answer definitely. Mud, is, of course, the cheapest and most readily available material. Yet there is ample proof that mud is not used merely because it is easy to get hold of and cheap. Many Igbo Mbari houses are the only buildings in the village that have an imported corrugated iron roof which prove that the people who built them shun no cost to make them look important. In all the areas where I have seen mud sculpture, wood carving and brass casting are also known and practiced. In Yoruba country, stone is also used as a medium for sculpture.
One important thing to realize is that different materials are not necessarily used because they have lasting, durable qualities. In Yoruba country today, brass can only be used by Oshun or Ogboni worshippers. Ivory can only be used by Obatala worshippers, copper by Sonponna, iron by Ogun and so on.
Materials are used for their mystic properties of absorbing or repelling human radiation. The Obatala worshippers used Ivory as protection, in the sense that it is protecting him from the destructive psychic influences of a man whose mentality is basically different or opposed to his. Similarly Oshun worshippers uses brass figure in their shrines not because brass last longer than wood, but because brass possesses certain magical qualities that are sacred to Oshun.
It is not difficult to understand why mud is considered the appropriate medium for Ala (the Igbo earth goddess). Olokun (the Bini god of the ocean), or Legba (originally an earthgod of the Fon). The fact that the material is perishable and sometimes does not even last five years does not enter into the consideration. One does not interfere with the natural life of a carving. When it perishes, a new one simply has to be made.


it seems probable that mud is used for culture because

A. It is cheap
B. It is thought to have particular significance
C. It is easy to obtain
D. It has the quality of durability
E. Other materials are thought to have supernatural powers

Question 7:

• JAMB 1981

  From time to time I hear someone say, ‘But Yoga comes from India, therefore is something “foreign” and I don’t see how we can make use of it’. Of course this is foolishness. It is like saying, ‘I don’t want to listen to the music of Bach because he was a German’, or it is like someone in India declaring, ‘We don’t want to use electricity, because Thomas Edison was an American’ Yoga is universal, it is a priceless gift from the East and its benefits are available to all of us who would accept them.
It is very tragic that many of us, not knowing the facts, have for many years confused Yogis (a person who practices ‘Yoga’ is a Yogi) with a certain class of people in India who are known a s Fakirs. Fakirs have gain extra ordinary control of their senses, but use this control to subject their bodies to abnormal conditions. For example, they sit on the famous ‘bed of nails’ stick pins and feats. They are generally persons of low mentality, and they perform these supernatural things for money, food, favours and so forth. These Fakirs should never be confused with Yogis nor do snake charmers or Indian rope trick practitioners have anything to do with Yoga. Yoga is a natural development for body and mind and a true Yogi will never permit anything harmful or unnatural to be done to his body or mind.
Finally, there is the question of ‘religion’. I am often asked, ‘Is Yoga a religion?’ My answer is, ‘Definitely not! For us, Yoga is a dynamic system of physical exercise and a practical and valuable philosophy to apply to everyday life. In short, Yoga is way of life and everyone, regardless of his religion, can benefit greatly from any6 one or all aspect of Yoga.




which of the following statement is true according to the passage

A. Yoga is foreign and therefore foolish
B. To think that Yoga is foreign is foolish
C. Yoga is foolish because it is foreign
D. Not to take advantage of Yoga on the ground that it is foreign is foolish
E. It is foolish to take advantage of foreign practices

Question 8:

• JAMB 1981

  From time to time I hear someone say, ‘But Yoga comes from India, therefore is something “foreign” and I don’t see how we can make use of it’. Of course this is foolishness. It is like saying, ‘I don’t want to listen to the music of Bach because he was a German’, or it is like someone in India declaring, ‘We don’t want to use electricity, because Thomas Edison was an American’ Yoga is universal, it is a priceless gift from the East and its benefits are available to all of us who would accept them.
It is very tragic that many of us, not knowing the facts, have for many years confused Yogis (a person who practices ‘Yoga’ is a Yogi) with a certain class of people in India who are known a s Fakirs. Fakirs have gain extra ordinary control of their senses, but use this control to subject their bodies to abnormal conditions. For example, they sit on the famous ‘bed of nails’ stick pins and feats. They are generally persons of low mentality, and they perform these supernatural things for money, food, favours and so forth. These Fakirs should never be confused with Yogis nor do snake charmers or Indian rope trick practitioners have anything to do with Yoga. Yoga is a natural development for body and mind and a true Yogi will never permit anything harmful or unnatural to be done to his body or mind.
Finally, there is the question of ‘religion’. I am often asked, ‘Is Yoga a religion?’ My answer is, ‘Definitely not! For us, Yoga is a dynamic system of physical exercise and a practical and valuable philosophy to apply to everyday life. In short, Yoga is way of life and everyone, regardless of his religion, can benefit greatly from any6 one or all aspect of Yoga.




which one of the following in the authors opinion best complete this statement. The Indians would

A. Not use electricity because Thomas Edison was an American
B. Not use electricity because American electricity is inferior to some other kind of electricity
C. Not use electricity since they can substitute their own Yoga for it
D. Not use because Indians and Americans are friendly people
E. Use electricity irrespective of who discovered it

Question 9:

• JAMB 1983

  Is work for prisoners a privilege to save them from the demoralizing effects and misery of endless unoccupied hour? Is it something added to a prison sentence to make it harder and more unpleasant, or something which should have a positive value as part of a system of rehabilitation?
Those magistrates who clung to a sentence of hard labour doubtless looked upon strenuous work as an additional punishment. This point of view is widely accepted as right and proper, but it ignores the fact that unwillingness to work is often one of the immediate causes of criminality. To send prisoners back to the outside world, more than ever convinced that labour is an evil to be avoided, it to confirm them in their old way of life. It has been said that the purposed of prison work in a programme of rehabilitation is twofold: training for work and training by work. The prisoner, that is to say, needs to be trained in habits of industry; but over and above this, he will gain immeasurably if it is possible to rouse in him the consciousness of self-mastery and of purpose that the completion of any worthwhile piece of work can give to the doer. He may find the pride of achievement in something more satisfying, and more socially desirable, than crime. But these things can only come when the work itself has a purpose and demands an effort.




According to the author, some magistrate sentence prisoners to hard labour because

A. Some prisoners are unwilling to work
B. Work is a privilege
C. Prisoners need to learn a trade
D. It is an additional punishment
E. It is a means of rehabilitation

Question 10:

• JAMB 1983

  Is work for prisoners a privilege to save them from the demoralizing effects and misery of endless unoccupied hour? Is it something added to a prison sentence to make it harder and more unpleasant, or something which should have a positive value as part of a system of rehabilitation?
Those magistrates who clung to a sentence of hard labour doubtless looked upon strenuous work as an additional punishment. This point of view is widely accepted as right and proper, but it ignores the fact that unwillingness to work is often one of the immediate causes of criminality. To send prisoners back to the outside world, more than ever convinced that labour is an evil to be avoided, it to confirm them in their old way of life. It has been said that the purposed of prison work in a programme of rehabilitation is twofold: training for work and training by work. The prisoner, that is to say, needs to be trained in habits of industry; but over and above this, he will gain immeasurably if it is possible to rouse in him the consciousness of self-mastery and of purpose that the completion of any worthwhile piece of work can give to the doer. He may find the pride of achievement in something more satisfying, and more socially desirable, than crime. But these things can only come when the work itself has a purpose and demands an effort.




which of these is NOT the purpose of work in a programme of rehabilitation?

A. Training the prisoners to have satisfaction in work
B. Developing in them a pride in sense if achievement
C. Developing in them more satisfaction in work than in crime
D. Helping them to accelerate their reform and discharge
E. Training them for work and by work