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

Question 86:

• 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.


What is the point made by the writer about solving the problem of unemployment in developing countries?

A. Use appropriate intermediate technology
B. A few people should produce a great deal
C. Stop migration to cities
D. Create more work places

Question 87:

• JAMB 1999

  If present trends continue, the world would face major crises by end of the century: insufficient cheap convenient energy. For without such energy, industrial production will fall, agricultural output will drop, transport will be restricted and standard of living in developed countries will plummet. At present, almost all our energy comes from fossil fuels. The earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been formed from organic matter subjected to enormous heat and pressure of millions of years. But such reserves are finite. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. We can estimate the amount of recoverable fuel under the surface of the earth and we know the rate at which it is being extracted. Fairly simple calculation can therefore determine its remaining life. If present trends continue, gas and oil reserves will be exhausted by the middle of the 21st century-about 70 years from now. Similar estimates for coal and wood reserves suggest a projected supply of 250-300 years. Of course long before fossil fuels are exhausted, demand will greatly exceed supply.
  For too many years, the world has consumed fossil fuels with little thought for the future. In fact, world energy consumption increased almost 600% between 1900 and 1965 and it is projected to increase by another 450% between 1965 and the year 2000. Crude oil has been pumped out of the ground for about 100 years, but over half of it is been consumed in the past 18 years. Coal has been mined for over 800 years, but over a half of it has been extracted in the past 37 years. In sum, most of the world’s consumption of energy from fossil fuels throughout history has taken place within living memory.


The expression 'standard of living in developed countries will plummet' means

A. The economy of rich nations will stagnate
B. Economic life will improve in rich nations
C. Purchasing power will decline sharply in rich nations
D. People in developed nations will experience boom

Question 88:

• JAMB 1999

  If present trends continue, the world would face major crises by end of the century: insufficient cheap convenient energy. For without such energy, industrial production will fall, agricultural output will drop, transport will be restricted and standard of living in developed countries will plummet. At present, almost all our energy comes from fossil fuels. The earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been formed from organic matter subjected to enormous heat and pressure of millions of years. But such reserves are finite. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. We can estimate the amount of recoverable fuel under the surface of the earth and we know the rate at which it is being extracted. Fairly simple calculation can therefore determine its remaining life. If present trends continue, gas and oil reserves will be exhausted by the middle of the 21st century-about 70 years from now. Similar estimates for coal and wood reserves suggest a projected supply of 250-300 years. Of course long before fossil fuels are exhausted, demand will greatly exceed supply.
  For too many years, the world has consumed fossil fuels with little thought for the future. In fact, world energy consumption increased almost 600% between 1900 and 1965 and it is projected to increase by another 450% between 1965 and the year 2000. Crude oil has been pumped out of the ground for about 100 years, but over half of it is been consumed in the past 18 years. Coal has been mined for over 800 years, but over a half of it has been extracted in the past 37 years. In sum, most of the world’s consumption of energy from fossil fuels throughout history has taken place within living memory.


The writer warns that the world could

A. Lose all its oil reserves in a matter of years
B. Face energy crisis soon if production is not stepped up
C. Experience scarcity and low energy price soon
D. Face low energy supply and poor agricultural output

Question 89:

• JAMB 1999

  If present trends continue, the world would face major crises by end of the century: insufficient cheap convenient energy. For without such energy, industrial production will fall, agricultural output will drop, transport will be restricted and standard of living in developed countries will plummet. At present, almost all our energy comes from fossil fuels. The earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been formed from organic matter subjected to enormous heat and pressure of millions of years. But such reserves are finite. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. We can estimate the amount of recoverable fuel under the surface of the earth and we know the rate at which it is being extracted. Fairly simple calculation can therefore determine its remaining life. If present trends continue, gas and oil reserves will be exhausted by the middle of the 21st century-about 70 years from now. Similar estimates for coal and wood reserves suggest a projected supply of 250-300 years. Of course long before fossil fuels are exhausted, demand will greatly exceed supply.
  For too many years, the world has consumed fossil fuels with little thought for the future. In fact, world energy consumption increased almost 600% between 1900 and 1965 and it is projected to increase by another 450% between 1965 and the year 2000. Crude oil has been pumped out of the ground for about 100 years, but over half of it is been consumed in the past 18 years. Coal has been mined for over 800 years, but over a half of it has been extracted in the past 37 years. In sum, most of the world’s consumption of energy from fossil fuels throughout history has taken place within living memory.


fossil fuels as used in the passage includes

A. Wood, kerosine and natural gas
B. Oil, coal and natural gas
C. Lignite, butane and charcoal
D. Wood, coal and oil

Question 90:

• JAMB 1999

  If present trends continue, the world would face major crises by end of the century: insufficient cheap convenient energy. For without such energy, industrial production will fall, agricultural output will drop, transport will be restricted and standard of living in developed countries will plummet. At present, almost all our energy comes from fossil fuels. The earth’s reserves of fossil fuels have been formed from organic matter subjected to enormous heat and pressure of millions of years. But such reserves are finite. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. We can estimate the amount of recoverable fuel under the surface of the earth and we know the rate at which it is being extracted. Fairly simple calculation can therefore determine its remaining life. If present trends continue, gas and oil reserves will be exhausted by the middle of the 21st century-about 70 years from now. Similar estimates for coal and wood reserves suggest a projected supply of 250-300 years. Of course long before fossil fuels are exhausted, demand will greatly exceed supply.
  For too many years, the world has consumed fossil fuels with little thought for the future. In fact, world energy consumption increased almost 600% between 1900 and 1965 and it is projected to increase by another 450% between 1965 and the year 2000. Crude oil has been pumped out of the ground for about 100 years, but over half of it is been consumed in the past 18 years. Coal has been mined for over 800 years, but over a half of it has been extracted in the past 37 years. In sum, most of the world’s consumption of energy from fossil fuels throughout history has taken place within living memory.


The writer seems to suggest that developed nations should

A. Always calculate a fossil fuel's remaining life
B. Reduce industrial and agricultural producton
C. Reduce dependence on fossil fuels
D. Review industrial dependence on energy