Comprehension/Summary - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 466:

• JAMB 1999

The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks. Publishing is the fast growing business in Nigeria and there are therefore, many publishing houses all over the country. When ........16........[A. an article B. an essay C. a book D. a manuscript]. is submitted by an author, the publisher sends it to ........17........[A. an assessor B. an evaluator C. a checker D. an examiner] to know if it is actually publishable. This is important because the publisher wants to make sure that the book catches the ......18.....[A. market B. audience C. students D. shops] when it is eventually published. In a good publishing house, there is .......19......[A. an error-proof B. an editor C. a lithographic D. an evaluation] section which is concerned with........20......[A. proof-reading B. reading over C. scanning over D. skimming over] the manuscript and correcting both the spelling and typing errors. After this, the manuscript is .........21.......[A. typewritten B. typeset C. double-spaced D. single-spaced] in readiness for .......22.....[A. photocopying B. Xeroxing C. filming D. printing].
The printed ........23......[A. items B. bulletin C. copies D. specimen] are then stored in the warehouse and a few of them may be sent to the author as ........24......[A. complementary B. complimentary C. acknowledgement D. sample] copies. Since it is not just the aim of the publisher to offset the cost of production but also to make some gains, there is a strong marketing division which promotes sales. A certain percentage of the cover price of the book is paid to the author as ........25......[A. royalty B. honorarium C. dividend D. interest].


Select the correct option for the space numbered 23 in the above passage

A. Items
B. Bulletin
C. Copies
D. Specimen

Question 467:

• JAMB 1999

The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks. Publishing is the fast growing business in Nigeria and there are therefore, many publishing houses all over the country. When ........16........[A. an article B. an essay C. a book D. a manuscript]. is submitted by an author, the publisher sends it to ........17........[A. an assessor B. an evaluator C. a checker D. an examiner] to know if it is actually publishable. This is important because the publisher wants to make sure that the book catches the ......18.....[A. market B. audience C. students D. shops] when it is eventually published. In a good publishing house, there is .......19......[A. an error-proof B. an editor C. a lithographic D. an evaluation] section which is concerned with........20......[A. proof-reading B. reading over C. scanning over D. skimming over] the manuscript and correcting both the spelling and typing errors. After this, the manuscript is .........21.......[A. typewritten B. typeset C. double-spaced D. single-spaced] in readiness for .......22.....[A. photocopying B. Xeroxing C. filming D. printing].
The printed ........23......[A. items B. bulletin C. copies D. specimen] are then stored in the warehouse and a few of them may be sent to the author as ........24......[A. complementary B. complimentary C. acknowledgement D. sample] copies. Since it is not just the aim of the publisher to offset the cost of production but also to make some gains, there is a strong marketing division which promotes sales. A certain percentage of the cover price of the book is paid to the author as ........25......[A. royalty B. honorarium C. dividend D. interest].


Select the correct option for the space numbered 24 in the above passage

A. Complementory
B. Complimentary
C. Acknowlegdement
D. Sample

Question 468:

• JAMB 2000

  Time was when boys used to point toy guns and say ‘Bang’. Now, they aim real guns and shoot one another. Nearly 4,200 teenagers were killed by firearms in 1990. Only motor vehicle accidents kill most teenagers than firearms and the firearms figures are rising. The chance that a black male between the ages of 15 and 19 will be killed by a gun has almost tripled since 1985 and almost double for white males, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics.
  Who could disagree with Health and Human services secretary, Donna Shalala, when she pronounced these statistics ‘frightening and intolerable?’. In the shameful light of this ‘waste of young lives’ in Ms Shalala’s words, an often-asked question seems urgently due to be raised again. Would less violence on television, the surrounding environment for most children and young adults make violence in actual life less normal, less accepted, less horrifying?
  It may be difficult to prove an exact correlation between the viewer of fantasized violence and the criminal who acts out violence after turning off the set. But if the premise of education is granted-that good models can influence the young-then it follows that bad models can have an equivalent harmful effects. This is the reasonable hypothesis held, by 80 per cent of the respondents to a recent Time Mirror [poll who think that violent entertainment is ‘harmful’ to the society. Witness enough mimed shootouts; see enough ‘corpses’ fall across the screen and the taking of a human life seems no big deal. Even if a simple causal relationship cannot be established between watching violence and acting it out, is not this numbed sensitivity reason enough for cutting back on the overkill in films and TV?


The writer uses 'numbed sensitivity' to refer to

A. Deadening of the capacity to feel
B. Objectiionable behaviour
C. Heartlessness on the part of actors
D. Unreasonable violence

Question 469:

• JAMB 2000

  Time was when boys used to point toy guns and say ‘Bang’. Now, they aim real guns and shoot one another. Nearly 4,200 teenagers were killed by firearms in 1990. Only motor vehicle accidents kill most teenagers than firearms and the firearms figures are rising. The chance that a black male between the ages of 15 and 19 will be killed by a gun has almost tripled since 1985 and almost double for white males, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics.
  Who could disagree with Health and Human services secretary, Donna Shalala, when she pronounced these statistics ‘frightening and intolerable?’. In the shameful light of this ‘waste of young lives’ in Ms Shalala’s words, an often-asked question seems urgently due to be raised again. Would less violence on television, the surrounding environment for most children and young adults make violence in actual life less normal, less accepted, less horrifying?
  It may be difficult to prove an exact correlation between the viewer of fantasized violence and the criminal who acts out violence after turning off the set. But if the premise of education is granted-that good models can influence the young-then it follows that bad models can have an equivalent harmful effects. This is the reasonable hypothesis held, by 80 per cent of the respondents to a recent Time Mirror [poll who think that violent entertainment is ‘harmful’ to the society. Witness enough mimed shootouts; see enough ‘corpses’ fall across the screen and the taking of a human life seems no big deal. Even if a simple causal relationship cannot be established between watching violence and acting it out, is not this numbed sensitivity reason enough for cutting back on the overkill in films and TV?


What will actually be proved 'if the premise of education is granted'?

A. Entertainment on television is harmful to society
B. Violence on television encourges violence in real life
C. Good models can infuence the young
D. The viewer of fastasizes violence is the criminal who acts out violence

Question 470:

• JAMB 2000

  Time was when boys used to point toy guns and say ‘Bang’. Now, they aim real guns and shoot one another. Nearly 4,200 teenagers were killed by firearms in 1990. Only motor vehicle accidents kill most teenagers than firearms and the firearms figures are rising. The chance that a black male between the ages of 15 and 19 will be killed by a gun has almost tripled since 1985 and almost double for white males, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics.
  Who could disagree with Health and Human services secretary, Donna Shalala, when she pronounced these statistics ‘frightening and intolerable?’. In the shameful light of this ‘waste of young lives’ in Ms Shalala’s words, an often-asked question seems urgently due to be raised again. Would less violence on television, the surrounding environment for most children and young adults make violence in actual life less normal, less accepted, less horrifying?
  It may be difficult to prove an exact correlation between the viewer of fantasized violence and the criminal who acts out violence after turning off the set. But if the premise of education is granted-that good models can influence the young-then it follows that bad models can have an equivalent harmful effects. This is the reasonable hypothesis held, by 80 per cent of the respondents to a recent Time Mirror [poll who think that violent entertainment is ‘harmful’ to the society. Witness enough mimed shootouts; see enough ‘corpses’ fall across the screen and the taking of a human life seems no big deal. Even if a simple causal relationship cannot be established between watching violence and acting it out, is not this numbed sensitivity reason enough for cutting back on the overkill in films and TV?


From the passage, it can be inferred that since 1985

A. More black males between the ages of 15 and 19 have been killing one another with guns
B. More black males between the ages 15 and 19 have been getting killed by guns
C. More white than black males have been getting killed by guns
D. More black than white males have been killing one another with guns