Expositive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 206:

• JAMB 2009

  Millons of people today are in serious ‘debt’. This can be a major factor in wrecking their cars, damaging their careers and even ruining their marriages. It can adversely affect their health and lifespan. It is a deficit that contributes to immune suppression, creating susceptibility to various infections. Conditions as different as diabetes, heart diseases, and extreme obesity, as well as other health problems have been linked to it. Yet, most victims are oblivious of this debt. The debtor is the one who does not have enough sleep needed for well-being. This can be caused by voluntary sleep deprivation resulting from a person’s life-style or by involuntary sleep deprivation because of illness and other causes. Medical researchers estimate that the earth’s population is now getting on the average an hour less sleep per into both the variety of sleep-related illnesses and their impact on the quality of life.
 The medical world once viewed the chronic inability to sleep as just one disorder, commonly called insomnia. However, a commission created by the U.S. Congress recognized 17 distinct sleep disorders. At any rate, insomnia has so many causes that it is often considered to be a sympt5om of other problems, much as fever suggests some sort of infection. Even occasional deprivation of sleep can be disastrous. Consider the case of Tom, although an experienced truck driver, he plunged his 18-wheel vehicle over an embankment, spilling 400 litres of sulphuric acid onto a major highway. Tom admits: ‘I fell asleep.’ Students of two U.S. highways estimated that drowsy drivers caused some 50 per cent of the fatal crashes.
  With hundreds of thousands of sleep-related auto and other accidents happening annually, the worldwide coast to productivity and family is enormous. What factors may contribute to lack of sleep? ‘One is the social phenomenon often called 24/7- operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The newspaper, USA Today, described this as a cultural earthquake that is changing the way we live, noting that a new wave of round-the-clock retailers and services is profiting by mocking the clock. In many lands, people watch all-night television programmes and access the internet when they should be sleeping. Then there is the toll taken by emotional disorders, often involving anxieties heightened by stress occasioned by the pace of life. Also, there are a variety of physical diseases that can contribute to lack of sleep.
  Many doctors note how difficult it is to get their patients to take sleep seriously. One doctor complained that chronic fatigue is even considered ‘a status symbol’ by some. And because their condition often worsens very gradually, victims of sleep deprivation may not recognize that they suffer from a serious sleep disorder. Many of them reason, ‘I’m just getting old’ or I’ can’t cope with life, so I tend to shut down’ or ‘I’m tired all the time because I can never get the long rest I need.’ Reversing this sleep debt is a complex challenge. But understanding how a healthful sleep cycle works and learning to identify the signs of sleep debt can provide the motivation to change. Recognizing the symptoms of a serious sleep disorder can save lives and this should be a warning to many Nigerians, particularly those who engage in long night journeys.


The expression 'mocking the clock' as used in the passage, captures the

A. Phenomenon of retailers making a lot of profit because they operate at night
B. Fact that retail business is a waste of time
C. Total disregard of time by retailers and services
D. Fact that the time available to retailers and services is not enough to do good business

Question 207:

• JAMB 2009

  Millons of people today are in serious ‘debt’. This can be a major factor in wrecking their cars, damaging their careers and even ruining their marriages. It can adversely affect their health and lifespan. It is a deficit that contributes to immune suppression, creating susceptibility to various infections. Conditions as different as diabetes, heart diseases, and extreme obesity, as well as other health problems have been linked to it. Yet, most victims are oblivious of this debt. The debtor is the one who does not have enough sleep needed for well-being. This can be caused by voluntary sleep deprivation resulting from a person’s life-style or by involuntary sleep deprivation because of illness and other causes. Medical researchers estimate that the earth’s population is now getting on the average an hour less sleep per into both the variety of sleep-related illnesses and their impact on the quality of life.
 The medical world once viewed the chronic inability to sleep as just one disorder, commonly called insomnia. However, a commission created by the U.S. Congress recognized 17 distinct sleep disorders. At any rate, insomnia has so many causes that it is often considered to be a sympt5om of other problems, much as fever suggests some sort of infection. Even occasional deprivation of sleep can be disastrous. Consider the case of Tom, although an experienced truck driver, he plunged his 18-wheel vehicle over an embankment, spilling 400 litres of sulphuric acid onto a major highway. Tom admits: ‘I fell asleep.’ Students of two U.S. highways estimated that drowsy drivers caused some 50 per cent of the fatal crashes.
  With hundreds of thousands of sleep-related auto and other accidents happening annually, the worldwide coast to productivity and family is enormous. What factors may contribute to lack of sleep? ‘One is the social phenomenon often called 24/7- operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The newspaper, USA Today, described this as a cultural earthquake that is changing the way we live, noting that a new wave of round-the-clock retailers and services is profiting by mocking the clock. In many lands, people watch all-night television programmes and access the internet when they should be sleeping. Then there is the toll taken by emotional disorders, often involving anxieties heightened by stress occasioned by the pace of life. Also, there are a variety of physical diseases that can contribute to lack of sleep.
  Many doctors note how difficult it is to get their patients to take sleep seriously. One doctor complained that chronic fatigue is even considered ‘a status symbol’ by some. And because their condition often worsens very gradually, victims of sleep deprivation may not recognize that they suffer from a serious sleep disorder. Many of them reason, ‘I’m just getting old’ or I’ can’t cope with life, so I tend to shut down’ or ‘I’m tired all the time because I can never get the long rest I need.’ Reversing this sleep debt is a complex challenge. But understanding how a healthful sleep cycle works and learning to identify the signs of sleep debt can provide the motivation to change. Recognizing the symptoms of a serious sleep disorder can save lives and this should be a warning to many Nigerians, particularly those who engage in long night journeys.


In the first sentence of the passage, the word 'debt' is quoted because

A. It has been used for a special effect
B. It has been used in the first sentence
C. Of the seriousness of the matter it addresses
D. It is capable of destroying people

Question 208:

• JAMB 2009

  Millons of people today are in serious ‘debt’. This can be a major factor in wrecking their cars, damaging their careers and even ruining their marriages. It can adversely affect their health and lifespan. It is a deficit that contributes to immune suppression, creating susceptibility to various infections. Conditions as different as diabetes, heart diseases, and extreme obesity, as well as other health problems have been linked to it. Yet, most victims are oblivious of this debt. The debtor is the one who does not have enough sleep needed for well-being. This can be caused by voluntary sleep deprivation resulting from a person’s life-style or by involuntary sleep deprivation because of illness and other causes. Medical researchers estimate that the earth’s population is now getting on the average an hour less sleep per into both the variety of sleep-related illnesses and their impact on the quality of life.
 The medical world once viewed the chronic inability to sleep as just one disorder, commonly called insomnia. However, a commission created by the U.S. Congress recognized 17 distinct sleep disorders. At any rate, insomnia has so many causes that it is often considered to be a sympt5om of other problems, much as fever suggests some sort of infection. Even occasional deprivation of sleep can be disastrous. Consider the case of Tom, although an experienced truck driver, he plunged his 18-wheel vehicle over an embankment, spilling 400 litres of sulphuric acid onto a major highway. Tom admits: ‘I fell asleep.’ Students of two U.S. highways estimated that drowsy drivers caused some 50 per cent of the fatal crashes.
  With hundreds of thousands of sleep-related auto and other accidents happening annually, the worldwide coast to productivity and family is enormous. What factors may contribute to lack of sleep? ‘One is the social phenomenon often called 24/7- operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The newspaper, USA Today, described this as a cultural earthquake that is changing the way we live, noting that a new wave of round-the-clock retailers and services is profiting by mocking the clock. In many lands, people watch all-night television programmes and access the internet when they should be sleeping. Then there is the toll taken by emotional disorders, often involving anxieties heightened by stress occasioned by the pace of life. Also, there are a variety of physical diseases that can contribute to lack of sleep.
  Many doctors note how difficult it is to get their patients to take sleep seriously. One doctor complained that chronic fatigue is even considered ‘a status symbol’ by some. And because their condition often worsens very gradually, victims of sleep deprivation may not recognize that they suffer from a serious sleep disorder. Many of them reason, ‘I’m just getting old’ or I’ can’t cope with life, so I tend to shut down’ or ‘I’m tired all the time because I can never get the long rest I need.’ Reversing this sleep debt is a complex challenge. But understanding how a healthful sleep cycle works and learning to identify the signs of sleep debt can provide the motivation to change. Recognizing the symptoms of a serious sleep disorder can save lives and this should be a warning to many Nigerians, particularly those who engage in long night journeys.


From the passage, doctors find it hard to convince their patients of the gravity of lack of sleep because

A. It is caused by a variety of reasons
B. The patients are often tired and cannot get enough sleep
C. People believe that it enhances one's personality
D. Its impact on the patient is slow

Question 209:

• JAMB 2010

  One of the interesting things to me about our spaceship is that it is a mechanical vehicle, just as is an automobile. If you own a car, you realize that you must put oil and gas into it and must put water in the radiator and take care of the car as a whole. You begin to develop quite a little thermodynamic sense. You know that you are either going to have to keep the machine in a good order or it is going to be in trouble and fail to function. We have not been seeing our spaceship earth as an integrally-designed machine which to be persistently successful, must be comprehended and serviced in total.
  Now there is one outstanding important fact regarding Spaceship Earth and that is that no instrument book came with it. I think it is very significant that there is no instrument book for successfully operating our ship, in view of the infinite attention to all other details displayed by our ship. It must be taken as deliberate and purposeful that an instruction book was omitted. Lack of instruction has forced us to find out that there are two kinds of mangoes-unripe mangoes that will kill us and ripped mangoes which will nourish us. And we had to find out ways of telling which were-which mangoes before we ate it or otherwise we would die. So we were forced because of this to devise scientific experimental procedures and to interpret effectively the significance of the experimental findings. Thus, because the instruction manual was missing, we are learning how we can safely survive on the planet.
  Quite clearly, all living beings are utterly helpless at the moment of birth. The human child stays helpless longer than the young of any species. Apparently, it is part of the “invention” that man is meant to be utterly helpless through certain anthropological phases. When he begins to be able to get on a little better, he is meant to discover some of the physical principals inherent in the universe as well as the many resources around him which will further multiply his knowledge. Designed into this Spaceship Earth’s total wealth was a big safety factor. This allowed man to be very ignorant for a long time until he had amassed enough experience from which to extract progressively the system of generalized principals governing increase of energy. The designed omission of the instruction book forced man to discover retrospectively just what his most important capabilities are. He learned to generalize fundamental principles of universe.


According to the writer, the exciting thing about spaceship Earth is that it

A. Has no instrument manual
B. Is not difficult to maintain
C. Is peculiar to other automobiles
D. Is relatively easy to operate

Question 210:

• JAMB 2010

  One of the interesting things to me about our spaceship is that it is a mechanical vehicle, just as is an automobile. If you own a car, you realize that you must put oil and gas into it and must put water in the radiator and take care of the car as a whole. You begin to develop quite a little thermodynamic sense. You know that you are either going to have to keep the machine in a good order or it is going to be in trouble and fail to function. We have not been seeing our spaceship earth as an integrally-designed machine which to be persistently successful, must be comprehended and serviced in total.
  Now there is one outstanding important fact regarding Spaceship Earth and that is that no instrument book came with it. I think it is very significant that there is no instrument book for successfully operating our ship, in view of the infinite attention to all other details displayed by our ship. It must be taken as deliberate and purposeful that an instruction book was omitted. Lack of instruction has forced us to find out that there are two kinds of mangoes-unripe mangoes that will kill us and ripped mangoes which will nourish us. And we had to find out ways of telling which were-which mangoes before we ate it or otherwise we would die. So we were forced because of this to devise scientific experimental procedures and to interpret effectively the significance of the experimental findings. Thus, because the instruction manual was missing, we are learning how we can safely survive on the planet.
  Quite clearly, all living beings are utterly helpless at the moment of birth. The human child stays helpless longer than the young of any species. Apparently, it is part of the “invention” that man is meant to be utterly helpless through certain anthropological phases. When he begins to be able to get on a little better, he is meant to discover some of the physical principals inherent in the universe as well as the many resources around him which will further multiply his knowledge. Designed into this Spaceship Earth’s total wealth was a big safety factor. This allowed man to be very ignorant for a long time until he had amassed enough experience from which to extract progressively the system of generalized principals governing increase of energy. The designed omission of the instruction book forced man to discover retrospectively just what his most important capabilities are. He learned to generalize fundamental principles of universe.


The absence of instrument manual in Spaceship Earth has

A. Made the operation of the Spaceship Earth difficult
B. Forced man to devise other means of travelling in space
C. Challenged man's inquistiveness
D. Made man helpless