Argumentative/persuasive Comprehension passage - Jamb English Language Past Questions and Answers

Question 81:

• JAMB 1993

ADUKE: Listen my fellow women. The issue has little to do with being literate or not. It is true that most members of NAM (New Awareness Movement) are literate, but this does not make all of us enlightened. We must be able to draw a line between the two. You may be literate and yet possess a consciousness that is decadent and servile. On the other hand you may not have received formal education and yet may be the greatest exponent of progressive ideas.
HASANA: I agree with what our sister has said. Let us not allow ourselves to be divided by a greedy and an inflated notion of the certificates we possess. In this century, as we march towards the year 2000, our primary concern should be how best to improve the lot of womanhood in our society. Let us not forget that for each woman who is beaten up by her man for flimsy reasons are status of all of us here is downgraded. For each woman who is insulted for no reason than that of her sex, every one of us here is spat on in the face. For each woman who is denied opportunities in the society simply because she is a woman, the whole lot of us are dehumanized. Each widow in this society is an everywoman, and the lot of each of us should be viewed as collective. Each rotten egg that is thrown at anyone of us is an eternal splash of dirt on our faces. Each decayed tomato that is cast at her is a collective curse on our fecundity: each pebble thrown at her, a missile against our womanhood. This is an age of awareness, and it is the duty of NAM to collectively rise in defence of the right of women.
IME: We can no longer allow ourselves to be fried alive. We are going to squeeze ourselves into tight-fitting trousers, register into judo classes, and then file out into the street and punch the face of every man we behold.


From the speech by Ime, it is clear that the women

A. Intend to do real battle with the menfolk on defence of their rights
B. Will no longer perform their traditional duties
C. Are henceforth prepared to adopt a policy of confrontation with men
D. Can do anything that man can do and sometimes even better

Question 82:

• JAMB 1994

  What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot work their way out of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When the do find occasional work, their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so the drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in big cities either - and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities because their chances of finding some work appear to be greater than in the villages - where such chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then producers mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
  The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contains about eighty ninety per cent of the population? The primary needs is work, places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker, it must be to maximize work opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed The poor man greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore important that everybody should produce something, than that a few people should each produce a great ideal. And in most developing countries , this can only be achieved by using an appropriate technology.


Which of the following statement best explains the meaning of the phrase 'reverse this trend' as used in the text?

A. Return to the former state of affairs
B. Reappraise the programmes
C. Improve the situation
D. Make the rich become poor

Question 83:

• JAMB 1994

  In many places in the world today, the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and the programmes of development planning and foreign aid appear to be unable to reverse this trend. Nearly all the developing countries have a modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are similar to those in developed countries. But they also have a non-modern sector, where the pattern of living and working are not only unsatisfactory, but in many cases is even getting worse.
  What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot find occasional workout of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either — and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities because their chances of finding work appear to be greater there than in the villages — where chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
  The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. Bu t the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker, it must be to maximize wok opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man’s greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.


Which of the following statements best explains the meaning of the phrase ‘reverse this trend’ as used in the text

A. Return to the former state of affairs
B. Reappraise the programme
C. Improve the situation
D. Make the rich become poorer

Question 84:

• JAMB 1994

  In many places in the world today, the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and the programmes of development planning and foreign aid appear to be unable to reverse this trend. Nearly all the developing countries have a modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are similar to those in developed countries. But they also have a non-modern sector, where the pattern of living and working are not only unsatisfactory, but in many cases is even getting worse.
  What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot find occasional workout of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either — and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities because their chances of finding work appear to be greater there than in the villages — where chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
  The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. Bu t the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker, it must be to maximize wok opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man’s greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.


From the way the winter describes the typical condition of the poor in developing countries, one could conclude that

A. Rural poverty is a disease
B. The poor have no hope
C. Rural poverty is caused by rich
D. The problems of the poor are temporary

Question 85:

• JAMB 1994

  In many places in the world today, the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and the programmes of development planning and foreign aid appear to be unable to reverse this trend. Nearly all the developing countries have a modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are similar to those in developed countries. But they also have a non-modern sector, where the pattern of living and working are not only unsatisfactory, but in many cases is even getting worse.
  What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot find occasional workout of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either — and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities because their chances of finding work appear to be greater there than in the villages — where chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
  The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. Bu t the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker, it must be to maximize wok opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man’s greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.


When the writer say ‘ .... literally millions of work places’ he wants the reader to

A. Take the million figure literally
B. Appreciate numerous workplaces
C. Realize that the million figure is mere exaggeration
D. Appreciate the size of the work force