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

Question 101:

• 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 102:

• JAMB 2001

The passage below has gaps numbered 6 to 15. Immediately following each gap are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap.  Before any detailed analysis begins, the first thing to do with the data is to check through the field record book and questionnaires for any........6......[A. records B. events C. odds D. mistakes], inconsistencies and incompleteness. In some cases, it may be possible to correct any discovered shortcomings. When it is possible to carry out these........7......[A. plans B. possibilities C. corrections D. expectations].
  In most scientific......8.....[A. experiment B. data C. conclusion D. questionnaires] such revisits are clearly impossible. This is true of many surveys too. A road traffic survey.......9......[A. conducted B. experimented C. classified D. precoded] to find out the amount and frequency of daily traffic between two towns cannot be expected to be........10.....[A. reproducible B. undertaken C. observed D. produced]. There is no way of going back to check whether the number of vehicles reported for any particular hour is correct or not. With open-ended questions the......11.....[A. methods B. responses C. errors D. conclusion] have to be classified into relatively small number of groups. The process of classifying answers and of sometimes identifying them by number and letter is called.......12.......[A. recording B. recoding C. encoding D. coding]. When closed-ended questions are used, it is possible to code all the possible answers before they are actually received. This is called........13.....[A. precoding B. coding C. encoding D. recoding]. What is done, a check through the answers for proper classification, numbering and lettering is still called for at this stage. This whole process of checking through questionnaires and notebooks is called......14.....[A. editing B. posting C. listing D. auditing]. Collected data will eventually have to be used in drawing......15.....[A. references B. examples C. conclusions D. analogies] and writing a report about the population from which it came.


In question number 12 above, choose the best option from the letters A-D that best completes the gab.

A. Recording
B. Recoding
C. Encoding
D. Coding

Question 103:

• JAMB 2002

  Those who have been following the argument for and against the deregulation of the oil industry in Nigeria may have got the impression that deregulation connotes lack of control or indifference on the part of the government. But there is nothing so far from official quarters to suggest that deregulation will cause the government to relinquish its control of the oil industry because the absence of direct control does not mean that it will surrender all its rights to the entrepreneurs who may want to participate in the industry. Yet the opposition expressed so far against stems from the fear that the government would leave Nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel who would command the heights of the oil industry and cause pump price of fuel to rise above the means of most Nigerians.
 `As a result of such fears, many Nigerians have become resentful of deregulation and in fact the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to ‘deregulate’ the government if it should go ahead with the deregulation plan. But Nigerians have not fared any better with the economy totally in government control. Until recently, the most important sectors of the economy were in the hands of the government. Today, the deregulation of some of these sectors has broken its monopoly and introduced healthy competition to make a little easier for Nigerians. A good example is the breaking of the stifling monopoly of Nigeria Airways. Today, the traveller is king at the domestic airports as opposed to the struggle that air travels used to be under Nigeria Airways monopoly. Before, it was almost easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for travellers to board a plane.
  Following from this, the apostles of deregulation rightly heap all the blame for the problems associated with petroleum products distribution in this country squarely on the government, which owns all the refineries and which sells fuel to local consumers through its agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In the same way, the government argues that if the current NNPC monopoly were broken with the introduction of entrepreneurs to the refining and sale of petroleum products in the country, the Nigerian people would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices for petroleum products in this country, the deregulation of the oil sector should bring some relief to the people by ensuring that wastage, corruption and inefficiency are reduced to the minimum. Consumers will also have the last laugh because competition will result in the availability of the products at reasonable prices. This appears to be the sense in deregulation.


Which of these correctly summaries the arguments adduced by the advocate of deregulation?

A. Dereuglating the economy will make the NNPC more efficient and less wasteful
B. The government should deregulate every aspect of the nigerian economy
C. Competition in the oil industry will be beneficial to severval nigerians
D. Competition should be allowed in the production and distribution of petroleum products

Question 104:

• JAMB 2002

  Those who have been following the argument for and against the deregulation of the oil industry in Nigeria may have got the impression that deregulation connotes lack of control or indifference on the part of the government. But there is nothing so far from official quarters to suggest that deregulation will cause the government to relinquish its control of the oil industry because the absence of direct control does not mean that it will surrender all its rights to the entrepreneurs who may want to participate in the industry. Yet the opposition expressed so far against stems from the fear that the government would leave Nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel who would command the heights of the oil industry and cause pump price of fuel to rise above the means of most Nigerians.
 `As a result of such fears, many Nigerians have become resentful of deregulation and in fact the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to ‘deregulate’ the government if it should go ahead with the deregulation plan. But Nigerians have not fared any better with the economy totally in government control. Until recently, the most important sectors of the economy were in the hands of the government. Today, the deregulation of some of these sectors has broken its monopoly and introduced healthy competition to make a little easier for Nigerians. A good example is the breaking of the stifling monopoly of Nigeria Airways. Today, the traveller is king at the domestic airports as opposed to the struggle that air travels used to be under Nigeria Airways monopoly. Before, it was almost easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for travellers to board a plane.
  Following from this, the apostles of deregulation rightly heap all the blame for the problems associated with petroleum products distribution in this country squarely on the government, which owns all the refineries and which sells fuel to local consumers through its agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In the same way, the government argues that if the current NNPC monopoly were broken with the introduction of entrepreneurs to the refining and sale of petroleum products in the country, the Nigerian people would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices for petroleum products in this country, the deregulation of the oil sector should bring some relief to the people by ensuring that wastage, corruption and inefficiency are reduced to the minimum. Consumers will also have the last laugh because competition will result in the availability of the products at reasonable prices. This appears to be the sense in deregulation.


Which of the following conclusions can be reached from the passage?

A. The deregulation of the economy will solve all the problems of petroleum products distribution
B. The government is hell-bent on leaving nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel
C. Nigerians cannot buy fuel at exorbitant prices
D. The deregulation of the oil industry does not preclude the government from exerting its influence

Question 105:

• JAMB 2002

  Those who have been following the argument for and against the deregulation of the oil industry in Nigeria may have got the impression that deregulation connotes lack of control or indifference on the part of the government. But there is nothing so far from official quarters to suggest that deregulation will cause the government to relinquish its control of the oil industry because the absence of direct control does not mean that it will surrender all its rights to the entrepreneurs who may want to participate in the industry. Yet the opposition expressed so far against stems from the fear that the government would leave Nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel who would command the heights of the oil industry and cause pump price of fuel to rise above the means of most Nigerians.
 `As a result of such fears, many Nigerians have become resentful of deregulation and in fact the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to ‘deregulate’ the government if it should go ahead with the deregulation plan. But Nigerians have not fared any better with the economy totally in government control. Until recently, the most important sectors of the economy were in the hands of the government. Today, the deregulation of some of these sectors has broken its monopoly and introduced healthy competition to make a little easier for Nigerians. A good example is the breaking of the stifling monopoly of Nigeria Airways. Today, the traveller is king at the domestic airports as opposed to the struggle that air travels used to be under Nigeria Airways monopoly. Before, it was almost easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for travellers to board a plane.
  Following from this, the apostles of deregulation rightly heap all the blame for the problems associated with petroleum products distribution in this country squarely on the government, which owns all the refineries and which sells fuel to local consumers through its agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In the same way, the government argues that if the current NNPC monopoly were broken with the introduction of entrepreneurs to the refining and sale of petroleum products in the country, the Nigerian people would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices would be all the better for it. It stands to reason that once the government continues to fix maximum prices for petroleum products in this country, the deregulation of the oil sector should bring some relief to the people by ensuring that wastage, corruption and inefficiency are reduced to the minimum. Consumers will also have the last laugh because competition will result in the availability of the products at reasonable prices. This appears to be the sense in deregulation.


An appropriate title for this passage is

A. The advantage of a deregulated economy
B. Making a case for deregulation
C. Highlighting the dangers of deregulation
D. The problems of the NNPC