Comprehension/Summary - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 491:

• JAMB 2000

The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap.  With the most profound respect to the members of the senate, I do not think that it is within the competence of that.........16.......[A. executive B. judicial C. administrative D. legislative] body to pass a motion to........17.......[A. enforce B. nullify C. modify D. order] the executive action of the president. The senate is........18.......[A. a wing B. a portion C. an anchor D. an arm] of the National Assembly. But it is not by itself alone the National Assembly. One can imagine the confusion which would be created if the........19........[A. House of Representative B. Judiciary C. National Assembly D. Executive council] were to take a view dramatically opposed to that reflected in the senate resolution. The strongest objection to the action of the senate is passing the resolution is the fact that it constituted itself the.........20...... [A. litigant B. defendant C. plaintiff D. attorney] as well as the judge of the constitutionality of the action of the president. The function of the senate is to.......21..... [A. enact B. create C. compose D. annul] laws. But the senate has no authority or.......22.....[A. might B. power C. dynamism D. strength] to control the President in the exercise of his.......23......[A. official B. authoritative C. judicial D. executive] powers. It cannot by a mere resolution or motion give any direction to the president regarding the exercise of his powers or can it undo what the president has done in the executive of those powers. The only way in which the exercise of the powers of the president can be........24.......[A. modified B. standardized C. regulated D. ordered] is by........25......[A. an act B. a decree C. a motion D. a bill] of the National Assembly.


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

A. Modified
B. Standardized
C. Regulated
D. Ordered

Question 492:

• JAMB 2001

  By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man’s establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads and coachmen and grooms unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
  The roads which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible, but the road surface was easily transformed and during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. the Situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short-sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
  Yet, it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment; the nervous system who used and dwelt by the road suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speedways called for a corresponding lightening up of the nerves and especially I the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually on the stretch to practise himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.


One of the following statements can be deduced from the passage

A. People no longer used trains with the advant of cars and lorries
B. Significant improvement occured in road trandport since the advent of cars, lorries and motor cycles
C. Human society was ststic without the express spees of cars and motorcycles
D. Society would be better without the chaotic volumes and speed of motor cars, lorries and motor cycles

Question 493:

• JAMB 2001

  By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man’s establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads and coachmen and grooms unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
  The roads which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible, but the road surface was easily transformed and during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. the Situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short-sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
  Yet, it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment; the nervous system who used and dwelt by the road suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speedways called for a corresponding lightening up of the nerves and especially I the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually on the stretch to practise himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.


From the passage, it is obvious the

A. Motor cars were mere luxuries which many peopls tried desperately to acquire
B. The motor car was invented before the express trains.
C. The train was the fastest means of transport before the motor car and the lorry
D. The motor car and the lorry came to displace the train trafic

Question 494:

• JAMB 2001

  By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man’s establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads and coachmen and grooms unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
  The roads which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible, but the road surface was easily transformed and during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. the Situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short-sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
  Yet, it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment; the nervous system who used and dwelt by the road suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speedways called for a corresponding lightening up of the nerves and especially I the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually on the stretch to practise himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.


The writer seems to suggest that

A. The roads that existed were dormant
B. Coachmen and grooms were not mechanically minded
C. There were no roads before the advent of cars and motor cycles and so people had to be mechanically minded
D. The volume and speed of traffic on the roads increased with the advent of cars, motorcycles and lorries

Question 495:

• JAMB 2001

  By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the highway. The private car was now part of every rich man’s establishment, although its price made it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the middle class. But for the adventuresome youth, there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention producing accidents and ear-splitting noises. Already the dignified carriages and smart pony-traps were beginning to disappear from the roads and coachmen and grooms unless mechanically minded, were finding it more difficult to make a living.
  The roads which had gone to sleep since the coming of the railway now awoke to feverish activity. Cars and motor cycles dashed along them at speeds which rivalled those of the express trains and the lorry began to appear. Therefore, the road system was compelled to adapt itself to a volume and speed of traffic for which it had never intended. Its complete adaptation was impossible, but the road surface was easily transformed and during the early years of the century, the dustiness and greasiness of the highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen and straighten the roads and get rid of blind corners and every steep gradient were tasks which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. the Situation was worst of all in towns where not only was any large scheme of road widening usually out of the question, but also where crowding and danger were all too frequently increased by the short-sighted eagerness of town authorities in laying down tramlines.
  Yet, it was not only the road system that was in need of readjustment; the nervous system who used and dwelt by the road suffered. The noises caused by the conversion of the roads into speedways called for a corresponding lightening up of the nerves and especially I the towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life and limb was compelled to keep his attention continually on the stretch to practise himself in estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off the pavement.


The writer uses the expression unless mechanically minded to refers to

A. Coachman and grooms adaptable to the new technology
B. Coachmen and grooms who chose to become mechanics
C. Town authorities laying down tramlines
D. Those amenable to change and development