Expositive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 226:

• JAMB 2012

It is said that experience is the best teacher, but to learn consciously through wisdom may even be a better and more convenient way. T learn by experience is to learn from mistakes. It means you have burnt our fingers and now your eyes are open'. This is a tough, costly and inconvenient way to learn. Rather than leaving our learning to experience, why do we not learn consciously going out way to acquire knowledge and wisdom rather than leave our learning to chance.
Surely, we can learn from mistakes but why wait till when we make mistakes before we lean? We should give more premium to learning by wisdom than by experience.
This will involve one making up ones mind to be decisive in learning. We must decide to learn consciously and not necessarily from negative experiences. The first step is to realize that life is simply the outcome and outplay of decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions of today. If we decide to learn today we are not likely to make mistakes and when we do not make mistakes, experience need not be our best teacher.
To avoid making experience our best teacher will take more than a decision. We must couple our decision with a complete and -wholehearted devotion. We must be resolved, resolute and resilient in our bid to learn by wisdom and not necessarily by experience. This is crucial because situations and circumstances will want us to make a detour and leave our learning and life to chance. We must therefore be disciplined to remain with our resolve to make a clean break with experience as our best teacher. Disciplined in this regard means learning something new everyday by wisdom rather than rather than experience. It
means consciously getting better by the day in your chosen field. Discipline will demand taking advantage of every learning opportunity that comes our way. It will mean we must pay the price for learning by wisdom -invest in books, magazines, seminars and other means by which we may become wiser.
It is much easier and cheaper to learn consciously by wisdom than to learn by experience. When we learn by experience , the deed is done and we are just picking up the pieces-learning in regret how to avoid such predicament next time. Consider the child who grapes a burning coal, he has learned the hard way through the painful experience, but his fingers will remain burnt. Thus the saying, that experience is the best teacher, may not be justifiable after all.
Adapted from Sunday Tribune , July 2007


According to the passage, we must be disciplined to

A. Make experience our best teacher in reality
B. Learn from our experiences in future
C. Choose the learning opportunity that comes our way
D. Decide against making experience our teacher

Question 227:

• JAMB 2012

It is said that experience is the best teacher, but to learn consciously through wisdom may even be a better and more convenient way. T learn by experience is to learn from mistakes. It means you have burnt our fingers and now your eyes are open'. This is a tough, costly and inconvenient way to learn. Rather than leaving our learning to experience, why do we not learn consciously going out way to acquire knowledge and wisdom rather than leave our learning to chance.
Surely, we can learn from mistakes but why wait till when we make mistakes before we lean? We should give more premium to learning by wisdom than by experience.
This will involve one making up ones mind to be decisive in learning. We must decide to learn consciously and not necessarily from negative experiences. The first step is to realize that life is simply the outcome and outplay of decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions. Our life now is the sum total of our decisions and our future will be determined by our decisions of today. If we decide to learn today we are not likely to make mistakes and when we do not make mistakes, experience need not be our best teacher.
To avoid making experience our best teacher will take more than a decision. We must couple our decision with a complete and -wholehearted devotion. We must be resolved, resolute and resilient in our bid to learn by wisdom and not necessarily by experience. This is crucial because situations and circumstances will want us to make a detour and leave our learning and life to chance. We must therefore be disciplined to remain with our resolve to make a clean break with experience as our best teacher. Disciplined in this regard means learning something new everyday by wisdom rather than rather than experience. It
means consciously getting better by the day in your chosen field. Discipline will demand taking advantage of every learning opportunity that comes our way. It will mean we must pay the price for learning by wisdom -invest in books, magazines, seminars and other means by which we may become wiser.
It is much easier and cheaper to learn consciously by wisdom than to learn by experience. When we learn by experience , the deed is done and we are just picking up the pieces-learning in regret how to avoid such predicament next time. Consider the child who grapes a burning coal, he has learned the hard way through the painful experience, but his fingers will remain burnt. Thus the saying, that experience is the best teacher, may not be justifiable after all.
Adapted from Sunday Tribune , July 2007


The phrase a complete and wholehearted devotion, as used in the passage, means

A. Acting without doubts
B. Learning with tension
C. Learning without pains
D. Teaching with ease

Question 228:

• JAMB 2012

Answer the following question below and select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence.
Hardworking students must not have a finger in every pie at school.

A. Hardworking students must not have a role to play in most activities in the school
B. Only hardworking students must participate in all activities in the school
C. Hardworking students do not participate in all activities in the school
D. Hardworking students must ask others to participate in school activities

Question 229:

• JAMB 2012

The medical definition of miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before twenty-four weeks. Miscarriage is very common, occurring in ten to twenty per cent, of confirmed pregnancies. Most of those feature ....16... twelve weeks of pregnancy. The most common ....17... is vaginal bleeding, which can range from light spotting to heavier than a period. You may see blood clots, brown discharge or other tissues that are not....18.... identifiable. Sometimes a sac-like structure is seen. Often, there is cramping with pelvic or back pain. You may find that the usual symptoms of pregnancy, such as breast tenderness, feeling sick and having to pass urine more....19... than usual stop unexpectedly. Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms of miscarriage and pregnancy symptoms continue, and the miscarriage only ......20..... in a routine scan . About half all early miscarriages happen because of a problem in the way the genetic material from the egg and sperm have combined during......21.... it can be difficult to find out why this has ....22...., but it is more likely to be due to random chance than to any underlying problem with either parent. Imbalances in pregnancy hormones, problems in the immune...23....,and some serious infections are also thought to make miscarriages more likely. The risk of miscarriage......24..... with age because the quality of eggs deteriorates . If a woman drinks too much alcohol or smokes heavily, the risk of miscarriage is higher. It is also increased with ....25... pregnancies such as twins.
Adapted from Saturday punch, 13 October 2007


Choose the most appropriate answer in the gap numbered 16

A. In the penultimate
B. In the first
C. Around
D. For

Question 230:

• JAMB 2012

The medical definition of miscarriage is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy before twenty-four weeks. Miscarriage is very common, occurring in ten to twenty per cent, of confirmed pregnancies. Most of those feature ....16... twelve weeks of pregnancy. The most common ....17... is vaginal bleeding, which can range from light spotting to heavier than a period. You may see blood clots, brown discharge or other tissues that are not....18.... identifiable. Sometimes a sac-like structure is seen. Often, there is cramping with pelvic or back pain. You may find that the usual symptoms of pregnancy, such as breast tenderness, feeling sick and having to pass urine more....19... than usual stop unexpectedly. Sometimes there are no signs or symptoms of miscarriage and pregnancy symptoms continue, and the miscarriage only ......20..... in a routine scan . About half all early miscarriages happen because of a problem in the way the genetic material from the egg and sperm have combined during......21.... it can be difficult to find out why this has ....22...., but it is more likely to be due to random chance than to any underlying problem with either parent. Imbalances in pregnancy hormones, problems in the immune...23....,and some serious infections are also thought to make miscarriages more likely. The risk of miscarriage......24..... with age because the quality of eggs deteriorates . If a woman drinks too much alcohol or smokes heavily, the risk of miscarriage is higher. It is also increased with ....25... pregnancies such as twins.
Adapted from Saturday punch, 13 October 2007


Choose the most appropriate answer in the gap numbered 17

A. Type
B. Cause
C. Period
D. Symtom