Expositive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 121:

• JAMB 1991

  All too often, there is deference between what we say and what we think we have said, and between how we feel we have handled people and how they think they have been treated. When such ‘gaps’ occur between the intent and the action, it is often stated that there has been ‘a break- down in communication ’. Sometimes the break — down is allowed to become so serious that the gap becomes a chasm, relatives in family ceasing to speak to one another, managements and trade unions refusing to meet, government recalling ambassadors when relations between states reach a low ebb.
  In fact, sometimes when people communicate, either as individual or within groups, problems inevitably occur; instruction maybe impossible to carry out, offence is taken at a particular remark, a directive is ambiguously phrased or people’s attitudes are colored by jealousy, resentment or frustration.
  During the past fifty years, industrial, commercial and public service organization have grown prodigiously to meet the needs of advanced technological societies. Sometimes as many as 10,000 people work on one site, or one company employs more than 50,000 people. Clearly, good communications are essential to the efficient operation of any organization, and vital to the fulfillment of al those who commit their working lives to it.
  For this reason, management specialist and behavioral scientist have devoted much thought and energy over recent years to analyzing the problems caused by bad communication practices, and creating good communication climate and systems.
  As a result of the current structure of societies and economies, most of us spend our working lives in an organization that we become good communicators with social skills.


Which of the following titles best sums up the passage?

A. The need for effective communication
B. Break down in communication
C. Communication in technological societies
D. Bad communication practices

Question 122:

• JAMB 1991

  All too often, there is deference between what we say and what we think we have said, and between how we feel we have handled people and how they think they have been treated. When such ‘gaps’ occur between the intent and the action, it is often stated that there has been ‘a break- down in communication ’. Sometimes the break — down is allowed to become so serious that the gap becomes a chasm, relatives in family ceasing to speak to one another, managements and trade unions refusing to meet, government recalling ambassadors when relations between states reach a low ebb.
  In fact, sometimes when people communicate, either as individual or within groups, problems inevitably occur; instruction maybe impossible to carry out, offence is taken at a particular remark, a directive is ambiguously phrased or people’s attitudes are colored by jealousy, resentment or frustration.
  During the past fifty years, industrial, commercial and public service organization have grown prodigiously to meet the needs of advanced technological societies. Sometimes as many as 10,000 people work on one site, or one company employs more than 50,000 people. Clearly, good communications are essential to the efficient operation of any organization, and vital to the fulfillment of al those who commit their working lives to it.
  For this reason, management specialist and behavioral scientist have devoted much thought and energy over recent years to analyzing the problems caused by bad communication practices, and creating good communication climate and systems.
  As a result of the current structure of societies and economies, most of us spend our working lives in an organization that we become good communicators with social skills.


According to the passage, which of the following are NOT likely to contribute to a break down in communication?

A. People's attitude and feeling
B. Ambiguously phrased instruction
C. Managements and trade unions
D. Management specialists and behavioura, scientists

Question 123:

• JAMB 1991

  All too often, there is deference between what we say and what we think we have said, and between how we feel we have handled people and how they think they have been treated. When such ‘gaps’ occur between the intent and the action, it is often stated that there has been ‘a break- down in communication ’. Sometimes the break — down is allowed to become so serious that the gap becomes a chasm, relatives in family ceasing to speak to one another, managements and trade unions refusing to meet, government recalling ambassadors when relations between states reach a low ebb.
  In fact, sometimes when people communicate, either as individual or within groups, problems inevitably occur; instruction maybe impossible to carry out, offence is taken at a particular remark, a directive is ambiguously phrased or people’s attitudes are colored by jealousy, resentment or frustration.
  During the past fifty years, industrial, commercial and public service organization have grown prodigiously to meet the needs of advanced technological societies. Sometimes as many as 10,000 people work on one site, or one company employs more than 50,000 people. Clearly, good communications are essential to the efficient operation of any organization, and vital to the fulfillment of al those who commit their working lives to it.
  For this reason, management specialist and behavioral scientist have devoted much thought and energy over recent years to analyzing the problems caused by bad communication practices, and creating good communication climate and systems.
  As a result of the current structure of societies and economies, most of us spend our working lives in an organization that we become good communicators with social skills.


From the text, it can be inferred that a good communicator needs to

A. Create favourable communication conditions
B. Get the technological systems to work effeciently
C. Call a spade a spade
D. Be able to address 10,000 workers

Question 124:

• JAMB 1991

  All too often, there is deference between what we say and what we think we have said, and between how we feel we have handled people and how they think they have been treated. When such ‘gaps’ occur between the intent and the action, it is often stated that there has been ‘a break- down in communication ’. Sometimes the break — down is allowed to become so serious that the gap becomes a chasm, relatives in family ceasing to speak to one another, managements and trade unions refusing to meet, government recalling ambassadors when relations between states reach a low ebb.
  In fact, sometimes when people communicate, either as individual or within groups, problems inevitably occur; instruction maybe impossible to carry out, offence is taken at a particular remark, a directive is ambiguously phrased or people’s attitudes are colored by jealousy, resentment or frustration.
  During the past fifty years, industrial, commercial and public service organization have grown prodigiously to meet the needs of advanced technological societies. Sometimes as many as 10,000 people work on one site, or one company employs more than 50,000 people. Clearly, good communications are essential to the efficient operation of any organization, and vital to the fulfillment of al those who commit their working lives to it.
  For this reason, management specialist and behavioral scientist have devoted much thought and energy over recent years to analyzing the problems caused by bad communication practices, and creating good communication climate and systems.
  As a result of the current structure of societies and economies, most of us spend our working lives in an organization that we become good communicators with social skills.


'Chasm' as used in the passage means

A. Serious eruption
B. Disaster
C. Wide difference
D. Disagreement

Question 125:

• JAMB 1992

  The preparation which a study of the humanities can provide stems from three observations about education in our world of accelerating social and technological change. First, with the rate of change, we cannot hope to train our student for specific technologies. That kind of vocational education is obsolescent. By the time the specific training will have been completed, the world will have moved on.
  If our education consists of narrow training, we will not be prepared to change. Second and paradoxically, what our student desire from their education is preparation for specific careers — business, engineering, medicine, computer programming and the like, but we will not be able to train them for a life-long career. Their confronting the depressed job market gives our students a certain anxiety, but the solution they seek in vocational training is not sufficient. Third, we sense in our students a narrow materialism, with the good life defined in terms of material comforts. Education then means learning to do a job which will make money. I see in this definition a limiting sense of what education and thus life offer, a definition which excludes joy and meaning. Our narrow approach to the study of the humanities responds to these three related problems. In our changing, yet narrow world, the teaching of the humanities finds one powerful justification — it teaches student how to think.


'We sense in our students a narrowing materialism' means that our students' concept of education is one that

A. Prepares them for money, joy and meaning
B. Makes them ready to confront the depressed job market
C. Only prepares them to acquire material comforts
D. Trains them for life-long career