Waec English language 2010 Past Questions and Answers

Question 81:

• WAEC 2010

Your country's public transport system is not functioning properly. Write a letter to the Minister of Transport, highlighting the causes and suggesting at least two measures to remedy the situation.

Question 82:

• WAEC 2010

You are the Chief Speaker in a debate on the topic: The youths of today are more interested in the pursuit of pleasure than in academic work. Write your speech for or against the topic.

Question 83:

• WAEC 2010

Write a story to illustrate the saying: A good name is better than riches.

Question 84:

• WAEC 2010

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

It was a little past 10 a.m. but the medium-sized hall that served as a prayer house was already brimming with people from different parts of the metropolis, who had come to seek cure or answers to their problems. The majority of this lot were those with seemingly intractable mental health conditions. The superintendent of the prayer house in question was often spoken of in whispers as possessing uncanny spiritual powers to exorcise evil spirits. it was also believed that he had answers to numerous illnesses that defied orthodox medication. Wednesday of each week was set aside for these healing sessions.
On this particular Wednesday, noisy supplications to the Most High and ceaseless invocation of His name to free those supposedly held captive by alleged evil spirits had reached fever pitch. Suddenly, a middle-aged man broke loose from the crowd and ran as fast as his wobbly legs could permit. Some male workers from the prayer house gave him a hot chase.
At first, bemused by-standers rained curses on the fleeing man, wondering why a man in his right senses would in broad daylight rob a house of God. They obviously mistook the man for a robber fleeing from the scene of his crime. But he was not. Minutes later, he was caught and chained hands and feet, despite his struggle against his captors who intermittently lashed him with horse-whip. As he was being violently dragged along the street, the man ceaselessly muttered incomprehensible words that sounded like the muttering of a colony of baboons. Then, a clear picture of the situation dawned on the on-lookers. The man, after all, was not a thief and had stolen nothing; rather, his ability to think and reason properly had taken flight of him. Simply put, he was mentally deranged.
The above incident is a common occurrence in many parts of the country. It aptly underscores the devastating mental health conditions plaguing a sizeable number of people in recent times. It also points to the unspeakable and inhuman treatment which people with such health disorders suffer at the hands of self-styled spiritualists. This is the usual lot of mental patients whose family members refuse to take advantage of orthodox treatment.
(a) What brought the people to the prayer house?
(b) State the functions of the superintendent of the prayer house.
(c) What was wrong with the on-lookers' assessment of the run-away man?
(d) Mention two instances of inhuman treatment in the passage.
(e) What is the writer's attitude towards the treatment of lunatics at prayer house?
(f)"... like the muttering of a colony of baboons." What figure of speech is contained in this expression?
(g) "... Whose family member refuse to take advantage of orthodox treatment." (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) intractable ; (ii) supplications; (iii) wobbly; (iv) bemused; (v) intermittently (vi) deranged.

Question 85:

• WAEC 2010

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Miss Williamson announced in class one day that she wanted one of us to live with her to help her with her domestic work after school. There was a rush to volunteer which took her completely by surprise. When she recovered and had quietened our excited shouting, there was a moment during which none of us dared breathe, as she scanned the eager faces. What made her choose me i had never found out, but i had noticed before that she was partial to me. "All right Karimu," she said. "You can come, but first run along and get your father's consent"
My parents were only too glad to have one mouth fewer to feed and my brothers and sisters to see the back of one who inevitably, had begun to assume an air of superiority in talking to them. Miss Williamson's bungalow was a stone's throw from school. That very evening saw me installed on a mat in a corner of her back veranda. I was unable to sleep, excited at the thought of the good fortune that had come my way. To be within earshot of Miss Williamson's English all day, to have access to her books, to nurse the possibility, overwhelming even in thought, of going with her frequently of Rofunkti - all these visions kept my eyes wide open and my brain racing until very late that night. With my "lapa" pulled right over my head and happy beyond all description in my heart, I smiled myself to sleep.
I learnt a very great deal in Miss Williamson's bungalow. Apart from improving my English, I learnt about the world outside and began to sense that were barriers much higher and much less easily gauged than those of mere language and colour, between my own people and those from whom she sprang. The smiling teacher in the daytime often became the brooding restless, ill-tempered spinster in the evening. Her bungalow was shared by another lady, a doctor, also a Scot, who traveled to and fro between the villages on a bicycle. I noticed that when not at their work or talking about it, these women showed no signs of being happy. As I grew up with them, i found myself wondering what had made them leave their country and come to live among a people whose ways were totally different from theirs.

(a) Why was Miss Williamson completely surprised?
(b) Why was Karimu's family happy to see him go to stay at the bungalow?
(C) State the overwhelming thought that kept Karimu awake.
(d) What did Karimu find difficult to understand about the two ladies?
(e) Mention the identical trait in these two ladies behaviour.
(f) "What made her choose me. ."
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage? ;
(ii) What is its function?
(g) "I smiled myself to sleep."What is the meaning of this expression?
(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) scanned; (ii) inevitably; (iii) nurse; (iv) vision; (v)gauged; (vi) brooding.