Jamb Literature in English 1990 Past Questions and Answers

Question 46:

• JAMB 1990

This question is based on General Literature Principles and Literary Appreciation
'A slight breeze murmured in the air. Grasses swayed as if in resentment. Over in the horizon, just beneath the spectrum of the ascending sun, horizontal brands of red cloud hung menacingly above the tips of the trees and morning air smelled of burnt clay. The Victims by Isidore Okpewho
Effect in the above passage is achieved through the use of

A. Subdued tone
B. Visual images
C. Detailed description
D. Adequate punctuation

Question 47:

• JAMB 1990

This question is based on General Literature Principles and Literary Appreciation
'America! there it lay, handy and tantalizing, allheat and scurry. All morning they had kept catching glimpses of it beyond the potholes as they stood in long lines, waiting to reach the tables where the immigration men in dacrion shirts checked their visas, inspected the X-ray pictures of their lungs that they held in their hands, decided whether to admit them or not. Getting into America was, it seemed, quite as hard as getting into heaven; and the trouble was... that as with heaven one couldn't know whether one would like it when one got there'.
The picture of America presented in this passage is that of a place

A. Of unknown and uncertain qualities
B. Choked with red tape
C. As inviting as heaven itself
D. Off-putting on account of the heat

Question 48:

• JAMB 1990

This question is based on General Literature Principles and Literary Appreciation
'Having finished the paper, a second cup of coffee and a roll and butter, he rose; shook a crumb or two from his waist coat, and expanding his broad chest, smiled happily, not because he felt particularly light-hearted his happy smile was simply the result of a good digestion.
The character referred to in this passage

A. Is excited by the news in the paper
B. Is lonely and unhappy
C. Has spent a long time over his food
D. Is pleased with himself after a good meal

Question 49:

• JAMB 1990

This question is based on George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man.
'That is a photograph of the gentleman - the patriot and hero - to whom I am betrothed',. The gentleman referred to in this passage is

A. Bluntschli
B. Sergius
C. Petkoff
D. Don Quixote

Question 50:

• JAMB 1990

This question is based on selected poems from Wole Soyinka (ed.) Poems of Black Africa and D.I. Nwoga (ed.) West African Verse.
.......Their eyes recede from tomorrow.
No sense of mission sustains them.'
These lines from Odia Of Ofeimun's 'The Prodigals express

A. A longing for the past
B. A lack of grogress
C. The weight of tradition
D. An impatient attitude