Descriptive Comprehension Passage - Englishlanguage Jamb Past Questions and Answers

Question 266 :

• JAMB 2020

Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society.
It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves,
'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution
which preserved the people's culture and tradition.
Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress.
The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes.
But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.


Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions.
The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes.
In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts.
Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale.
Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.


Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art.
Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre.
Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind.
The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.


The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as
most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans.
The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at
his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.


By the expression "climb down", the author implies that modern playwrights should ____________

A. Be simplistic in the use of language
B. Not move up
C. Use language that is most appreciated by the people
D. Wait for the community to catch up with them

Question 267 :

• JAMB 2020

Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society.
It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves,
'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution
which preserved the people's culture and tradition.
Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress.
The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes.
But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.


Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions.
The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes.
In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts.
Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale.
Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.


Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art.
Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre.
Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind.
The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.


The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as
most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans.
The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at
his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.


It is important for university to be independent so that they can ____________

A. Attract funds from industries
B. Determine their goals
C. Be left to expand without any hindrances
D. Carry out effective research

Question 268 :

• JAMB 2020

Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society.
It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves,
'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution
which preserved the people's culture and tradition.
Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress.
The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes.
But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.


Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions.
The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes.
In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts.
Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale.
Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.


Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art.
Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre.
Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind.
The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.


The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as
most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans.
The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at
his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.


The expression "intricate issues of special concern" means ____________

A. Important policy statements
B. Interwoven topics of significance
C. Complex matters requiring careful thoughts
D. Knotty problems that concern everybody

Question 269 :

• JAMB 2020

Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society.
It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves,
'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution
which preserved the people's culture and tradition.
Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress.
The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes.
But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.


Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions.
The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes.
In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts.
Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale.
Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.


Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art.
Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre.
Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind.
The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.


The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as
most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans.
The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at
his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.


The word "diversified" as used in the passage means ____________

A. Differentiated
B. Varied
C. Diffused
D. Widened

Question 270 :

• JAMB 2020

Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society.
It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves,
'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution
which preserved the people's culture and tradition.
Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress.
The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes.
But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.


Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions.
The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes.
In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts.
Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale.
Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.


Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art.
Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre.
Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind.
The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.


The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as
most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans.
The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at
his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.


The source of the university funding emphasized in the passage is ____________

A. Government
B. Industry
C. The general public
D. Students