Comprehension/Summary - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 186:

• JAMB 1983

  At the time of trouble in Ireland, a priest said, ‘Man is half beast’, A diplomat replied, ‘Yes. And the beast is the half I like the best’. The priest meant that beasts behave as badly as man when man makes up his mind to behave badly. If you look at the folly and cruelty of today’s world, it is hard to disagree with the diplomat or the priest. But human nature can be changed. Anybody, if that is what they most want to do, can change the most difficult person they know. The art of changing people has been lost in the modern world. That is why the modern world has lost its way.
There are two ways of looking at human nature. One is to make the best of it and it is assume that it is the raw material of life which cannot be altered. That is what most people in the free world to today. In these circumstances, if you expect the worst, you are seldom disappointed. Faith today has become irrelevant to the everyday needs, of so many people in positions of responsibility because they do not expect faith to change men.
Another way of dealing with human nature is to exploit it. All materialistic s, whether of the right or the left, do this. All over the world vanity, fear, ambition, lust and greed are used to control the life of men; and if the control breaks down, man does not hesitate to use force, or to destroy life. The end, he says, justifies the means and men are only of value in so far as they are a means towards the achievement of his ambition. If they cannot be bribed or forced to play their part, then they must be liquidated.




Faith today is by and large irrelevant because

A. Nobody thinks it an alter human nature
B. Most people do not believe in God
C. Being in a position of responsibilty nullifies the importance of faith
D. Responsible people need not bother about faith
E. The faithful are very few in the world anyway

Question 187:

• JAMB 1983

  At the time of trouble in Ireland, a priest said, ‘Man is half beast’, A diplomat replied, ‘Yes. And the beast is the half I like the best’. The priest meant that beasts behave as badly as man when man makes up his mind to behave badly. If you look at the folly and cruelty of today’s world, it is hard to disagree with the diplomat or the priest. But human nature can be changed. Anybody, if that is what they most want to do, can change the most difficult person they know. The art of changing people has been lost in the modern world. That is why the modern world has lost its way.
There are two ways of looking at human nature. One is to make the best of it and it is assume that it is the raw material of life which cannot be altered. That is what most people in the free world to today. In these circumstances, if you expect the worst, you are seldom disappointed. Faith today has become irrelevant to the everyday needs, of so many people in positions of responsibility because they do not expect faith to change men.
Another way of dealing with human nature is to exploit it. All materialistic s, whether of the right or the left, do this. All over the world vanity, fear, ambition, lust and greed are used to control the life of men; and if the control breaks down, man does not hesitate to use force, or to destroy life. The end, he says, justifies the means and men are only of value in so far as they are a means towards the achievement of his ambition. If they cannot be bribed or forced to play their part, then they must be liquidated.




materials can be found

A. In capitalist countries
B. In communist countries
C. In less developed countries
D. Among people who do not have neighbours
E. All over the world

Question 188:

• JAMB 1983

  Typical Zacharia! Devil-may are and irreverent as ever. No doubt he was just the same when he was cook to a Greek trader in the town. In fact, I suspect that to him the Reverend Father is just another sort of trader. Conceited ass, thinking himself superior to the Father! And in what is he superior? Success with women perhaps? Zacharia knows that they all admire him and is always striving for still more admiration. He dresses sharply and walks in a haughty manner that suits in his tallness. And then he feeds his pride on the swarms of girls who run after him. It’s maddening to him how little you need to attract them. I remember my mother coming home from market in the town, after selling her vegetables and cocoa. How indignant she was ‘It’s so shameful, ‘she cried,’ our best-looking and most respectable girls go to town and throw themselves at strangers as ugly as sin, speaking the most outlandish tongue. Men I can scarcely look at without shuddering! And why? Just money! Money! Ah, what a world! And my father replied in a buried voice, ‘It is the times!’ ‘the times!’ shouted mother ‘can you imagine my child Ann with creatures like those?
But perhaps the girls who chase Zacharia aren’t drawn by his tallness or his leather shoes. Perhaps they’re only after childish things, a bit of bread or a pot of jam, knowing that he’s a cook. My father often says women are like children in their desires. And after all, I too can boast a little. Plenty of women turn to look at me, especially when I’m dressed all in white! But I’m not vain enough to fuse over a little thing like that. Not like Zacharia, who doesn’t know women are simply children.




zacharia

A. Wasb the cook of a trade
B. Worked for a priest
C. Worked for the speaker's mother
D. Was a rich man
E. Was a handsome man

Question 189:

• JAMB 1983

  Typical Zacharia! Devil-may are and irreverent as ever. No doubt he was just the same when he was cook to a Greek trader in the town. In fact, I suspect that to him the Reverend Father is just another sort of trader. Conceited ass, thinking himself superior to the Father! And in what is he superior? Success with women perhaps? Zacharia knows that they all admire him and is always striving for still more admiration. He dresses sharply and walks in a haughty manner that suits in his tallness. And then he feeds his pride on the swarms of girls who run after him. It’s maddening to him how little you need to attract them. I remember my mother coming home from market in the town, after selling her vegetables and cocoa. How indignant she was ‘It’s so shameful, ‘she cried,’ our best-looking and most respectable girls go to town and throw themselves at strangers as ugly as sin, speaking the most outlandish tongue. Men I can scarcely look at without shuddering! And why? Just money! Money! Ah, what a world! And my father replied in a buried voice, ‘It is the times!’ ‘the times!’ shouted mother ‘can you imagine my child Ann with creatures like those?
But perhaps the girls who chase Zacharia aren’t drawn by his tallness or his leather shoes. Perhaps they’re only after childish things, a bit of bread or a pot of jam, knowing that he’s a cook. My father often says women are like children in their desires. And after all, I too can boast a little. Plenty of women turn to look at me, especially when I’m dressed all in white! But I’m not vain enough to fuse over a little thing like that. Not like Zacharia, who doesn’t know women are simply children.




which of the following was NOT a quality of Zacharia''s character

A. Vanity
B. Lack of respect for others
C. Humility
D. Arrogance
E. Insubordination

Question 190:

• JAMB 1983

  Typical Zacharia! Devil-may are and irreverent as ever. No doubt he was just the same when he was cook to a Greek trader in the town. In fact, I suspect that to him the Reverend Father is just another sort of trader. Conceited ass, thinking himself superior to the Father! And in what is he superior? Success with women perhaps? Zacharia knows that they all admire him and is always striving for still more admiration. He dresses sharply and walks in a haughty manner that suits in his tallness. And then he feeds his pride on the swarms of girls who run after him. It’s maddening to him how little you need to attract them. I remember my mother coming home from market in the town, after selling her vegetables and cocoa. How indignant she was ‘It’s so shameful, ‘she cried,’ our best-looking and most respectable girls go to town and throw themselves at strangers as ugly as sin, speaking the most outlandish tongue. Men I can scarcely look at without shuddering! And why? Just money! Money! Ah, what a world! And my father replied in a buried voice, ‘It is the times!’ ‘the times!’ shouted mother ‘can you imagine my child Ann with creatures like those?
But perhaps the girls who chase Zacharia aren’t drawn by his tallness or his leather shoes. Perhaps they’re only after childish things, a bit of bread or a pot of jam, knowing that he’s a cook. My father often says women are like children in their desires. And after all, I too can boast a little. Plenty of women turn to look at me, especially when I’m dressed all in white! But I’m not vain enough to fuse over a little thing like that. Not like Zacharia, who doesn’t know women are simply children.




The girls were apparently attracted to Zacharia by

A. Wealth
B. The life of towns
C. The appearance of the young men
D. The fact that the young men spoke strange dialects
E. Food