Jamb Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 586:

• JAMB 1983

'Then suddenly her heart was whipped up, she now rode on strange waves: alone defying the wind and the rain; alone, fighting hunger and thirst in the desert; alone, struggling with strange demons in the forest, bringing glad tidings to her people'.
The mood of the lady in this passage is one of

A. Defeat
B. Depression
C. Triumphant defiance
D. Simple elation
E. Sorrow.

Question 587:

• JAMB 1983

'I breathed a sigh of relief when i was twenty-six, determined that from then on my life will take a turn for the better. To make sure this happened I did two things which made sure it never could: i got a job, and I got married'.
The quality which this passage displays is

A. Inaccessibility
B. Seriousness
C. Humour
D. Gloom
E. Nervousness.

Question 588:

• JAMB 1983

'All was quiet in this park
Until the wind, like a gasping messenger, announced
The tyrant's coming
Then did the branches talk in agony'.
There is in line 2 ('like a gasping messenger...') an example of

A. Oxymoron
B. Metonymy
C. Alliteration
D. Simile
E. Personification.

Question 589:

• JAMB 1983

'I have wandered on the wilderness
The great wilderness men call life
The rain has beaten me,
And the sharp stumps cut as keen as knives'
For the writer of these lines, living in an experience to be described as

A. Pleasant
B. Difficult
C. Rewarding
D. Exicting
E. Bracing.

Question 590:

• JAMB 1983

'A clear, frosty night. Unusual brilliance and perfection of everything visible. Earth, sky, moon, and stars, all seem cemented, riveted together by the first. Shadows of trees be across the paths, so sharp that they seemed carved in relief. You keep thinking you see dark figures endlessly cross the road at various places'.
This passage achieves its beautiful effect partly because of its repeated appeal to the sense of

A. Taste
B. Touch
C. Sight
D. Smell
E. Hearing