Waec English language 2004 Past Questions and Answers

Question 106:

• WAEC 2004

Write an article suitable for publication in a national newspaper on the benefits that will be derived from the government showing interest in agriculture.

Question 107:

• WAEC 2004

The poor state of the facilities in your school is causing the studens freat concern. As the Senior Prefect, write a letter to the chairman of the Board of Governors highlighting the problems and requesting him to come to the aid of the school.

Question 108:

• WAEC 2004

You are the chief speaker in a debate on the topic "Wealth is more important than health," Write your speech for or against the topic.

Question 109:

• WAEC 2004

Write a story on the topic: "An experience I'd love to have again."

Question 110:

• WAEC 2004

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

When Eze was invited to spend his Easter holidays with Uncle Chike in Lagos, he jumped for joy! He had always pictured Lagos as a wonderland of bright lights, paved roads, elegant people riding by in their expensive cars, and beautiful residential quarters. This invitation was the wonderful opportunity for him to leave his small village for the first time and experience first-hand the good life of the city that he had imagined so much about!
The fateful day came and Eze, happy as a lark, bid an excited good-bye to his family. The first leg of his trip started modestly in the back of the rickety lorry that plied the dirt road linking his village to the rest of the world, but Eze was sure that he would later ride triumphantly into Lagos on one of those legendary luxury buses that he admired so much. This was also an experience to look forward to!
When he arrived in Lagos, it was almost dark. The first things that struck him as he alighted from the bus were the teeming crowd with their desperate unsmiling faces, the deafening noise of the ceaseless traffic, the polluted air with its acrid smell of exhaust fumes and decay, the endless rows of dirty and crumbling concrete buildings, and the filth everywhere. What a sharp contrast with the city he had built up in his imagination! But surely there must still be much to look forward to. Back in the village, Uncle Chike was regarded as a well-to-do trader. So Eze was further surprised and disappointed to find that he lived in a single room in a sleazy part of the city. At night, it got hot and stuffy, but they dared not open the windows as this would bring an invasion of mosquitoes.
Eze woke up the next morning feeling clammy, but he could still not have a bath. As his uncle took him to a shack across the street for a hurried breakfast of thin tea and mouldy bread, he explained that they usually bought water from a mobile tanker that had not come for some time. Eze was still recovering from his surprise at this information when they rushed off for his uncle s market stall, and he had his first unpleasant ride in one of the notorious molue buses of the city.
As they struggled down from the bus, shoving against the solid mass of desperate, bad-tempered commuters, Eze thought of his village, and the city suddenly lost whatever was left of its attraction for him. True, the village was small; life there was monotonous, and it lacked some essential amenities_ But it was peaceful; you drank clean water and ate what you wanted fresh; you moved about freely and breathed clean air; and everyone was friendly and helpful. Greatly disillusioned with the city, Eze longed to return to his beloved village!
(a) State two experiences that Eze looked forward to.
(b) Mention any two features of the city that Eze noticed at once
(c) What two discoveries surprised and disappointed Eze when he arrived in the city?
(d) Mention any two experiences in the city that Eze found unpleasant.
(e) What conclusion did Eze draw from his experiences in. the city?
(f) " as a lark ..." What figure of speech is contained in this expression?
(g) "When he arrived. in Lagos,..." (i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function? .
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage. (i) pictured; (ii) stuffy; (iii) invasion; (iv) hurried; (v) attraction; (vi) monotonous.