Descriptive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 161:

• 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 21 choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gap

A. Newscasters
B. Scribes
C. Orators
D. Interpreters

Question 162:

• 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 22 choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gap

A. Habits
B. Attitudes
C. Idiosyncrasies
D. Mannerism

Question 163:

• 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 164:

• 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 165:

• JAMB 2007

  In time past in Nigeria, being a secretary was perceived with utter disdain by many people. Other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, engineers, surveyors, estate officers and architects were revered. Many issues readily come to mind concerning the old perspective of secretaries as professionals.
One, they were regarded as people with little or no education. Indeed, many of them were said to be mere typists who learnt how to punch keys on the typewriter. They hardly had any formal education but obtained doubtful certificates. This was made possible because anyone could easily learn to be a typist under the shade of a tree or in a personal office of a retired secretary or a chief typist from any business organization. As long as a short piece of work could be typed almost accurately and in record time, one then became a secretary. This unrealistic practice — to call an unqualified person a secretary — might have been introduced and sustained by people who did not know who a secretary was. The educated secretaries obtained a minimum of the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) or its equivalent from institutions in and outside Nigeria, particularly Great Britain, Canada or the United States of America.
Two, they were mostly women and very few male secretaries, who suffered more humiliation than their female counterparts. They were regarded as men who did not succeed in life and did the work that normally women were supposed to do.
Three, and deriving from the second reason, secretaries were, as a matter of fact, very close to their bosses. Most people, including husbands of secretaries, regarded such a mode of interaction as tempting — a kind of constant closeness which might engender a deliberation or unintentional amorous relationship between superior and subordinate officer. Quite often, such a situation could not be ruled out when body contacts was established inadvertently or deliberately between two people of opposite sex especially when either one or both people were attractive and attracted to each other.
Moreover, we often talk of the devil and the havoc he is capable of causing in the lives of people, particularly the unguarded ones.
In today’s world, these points of view concerning secretaries are fading fast. Now, there is a clear distinction between a typist and a secretary. Modern secretaries are trained in polytechnics and universities. Gone are the days when secretaries were taught only the art of punching the typewriters and various filling systems. They are also encouraged to take training courses other than secretarial duty. Many secretaries have had their training in faculties of business administration, law, art and mass communications of universities. They take relevant courses in administration and other social science departments that enhance their personality, carriage, interpersonal relations and office management.
Obviously, secretaries, including the male ones, are more important and well respected today than in the past.




the writer seems to suggest that

A. Secretaries were best trained by retired chief typists
B. There was nothing wrong in having males as secretaries
C. The Ordinary National Diploma was sufficient for secretaries
D. Only graduates who studied abroad were secretaries