Comprehension/Summary - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 396:

• JAMB 1991

Undergraduate students in psychology and education come to their first course in statistics with diverse expectation of and background in mathematics. Some have considerable formal training and quantitative aptitude and look forward to learning statistics. Others — perhaps the majority, including some of those who aspire to postgraduate studies — are less confident in their quantitative skills. They regard a course in statistics as a necessary evil for the understanding or carrying out of research in their chosen fields, but an evil nonetheless.
The third edition, like the predecessors, is directed primarily at the latter audience it was written with the conviction that statistical concepts can be described simply without loss of accuracy and that understanding statistical techniques as research tools can be effectively promoted by discussing them within the context of their application to concrete data rather than as pure abstraction. Further, its contents are limited to those statistical techniques that are widely used in the literature of psychology and to the principle underlying them.
The changes that have been made in this edition reflect both the results of our teaching experience and the increasing prominence being given by statisticians to certain topics. Thus our discussion of some procedures, particularly those in the realm of descriptive statistics, which students grasp easily, have being shortened or rearranged. The treatment of other topics has been expanded. Greater emphasis has been placed on sampling theory, hypothesis testing, and the notion at statistical power.


It can be inferred from the passage that the book was written by

A. An educational psychologist
B. More than one author
C. A prominent statistcian
D. A professor of statistics

Question 397:

• 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 398:

• 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 399:

• 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 400:

• 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