English Language 2012 Waec Past Questions and Answers

Question 106 :

• WAEC 2012

Activities such as debates, drama and excursions are now rare in schools in your country. As the Senior Prefect, write a letter to your principal suggesting the revival of these activities and pointing out what students stand to gain from taking part in them.

Question 107 :

• WAEC 2012

You are the Chief Speaker in a debate on the topic: Violent video games should be banned. Write your argument for or against the topic.

Question 108 :

• WAEC 2012

Write a story to illustrate the saying: Where there's is a will there s a way.

Question 109 :

• WAEC 2012

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
When Bademosi heard that he had some visitors from Ireti, his hometown, he concluded immediately that they a must be the usual seekers of financial assistance. or jobs. He decided that this time, he would give them the rough edge of his tongue. They had come because earlier callers had not reported what he had stressed: that he was not in Kapitatown for anyone's sake.
He took his time to put his office and workshop in order. determined not to leave in a hurry just because of some stubborn fortune-seekers. He made sure that all his seventy-two workers had signed out before he signaled to his driver. There, in the huge limousine, he thought of the new multi-million dollar contract for his construction company and how he would get a helicopter from the profit. That would be the ultimate solution to the persistent problem of the traffic congestion which he faced in Kapitatown.
The five-kilometre distance to his mansion was covered in about two hours. On arrival, his youngest wife informed i him that his visitors were chiefs from Ireti. He felt a revulsion as he imagined that they must have come with a king-size request. As he entered the house. he steeled his mind. However. the three chiefs disarmed him with their cheerful smiles. Each met him in the doorway with a bear hug. As soon as the chit-chat ended, they announced that the Ireti ruling council had decided to confer on him the highest traditional title of the land and that a date had been set for the great event. He was flabbergasted; so they had come with an offer. He immediately accepted.
Thereafter, things moved very fast. He contacted all the great names in the country, among them his state governor, the top politicians in the land and his business associates from far and near. However, he did not even pay a preparatory visit to Ireti. He took everything for granted.
The great day came. Hundreds of limousines from far and near streamed into Ireti. As he was not the only awardee, the conferment ceremony began with the others Each took about fifteen minutes; so before Bademosi's turn, all his invited guests had arrived Just as he was called some heavily-built youngsters appeared Shouting into the microphone, their leader announced "Bademosi doesn't deserve this conferment and cannot have the title. A man who has deserted his community for more than thirty years who did not think it proper to return home to care for his ailing parents before they died, and who has consistently turned deaf ears to the calls of our youths, cannot have the title. Good day. everybody!"
With that, the youths continued to appear in their hundreds, angry and fierce, wielding all forms of weapons, warning everybody to disappear immediately otherwise heads would roll including theirs if the police wanted it so. Within minutes the whole arena was deserted
(a) How had Bademosi treated visitors from his Bademosi is wealthy?
(b) Why has Bademosi planned to buy a helicopter?
(d) What should Bademos have done before the day of the conferment of the title?
(e) Give two reasons why the youths objected to Bademosi s installation?
(f) ''As soon as the chit-chat ended
(i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage?
(ii) What is its function?
(g) "... give them the rough edge of his tongue
(i) What figure of speech is used in this expression?
(ii) What does it mean?
(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) stressed (ii) ultimate, (iii) flabbergasted (iv) deserted (v) disappear.

Question 110 :

• WAEC 2012

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Part of my one-year study programme in Britain involved visiting several places of historical importance, especially those related to precolonial African history on which I was researching One was the home of William Wilberforce, the 19th century anti-slave trade statesman. The house had been turned into a museum by one of the several organizations that fought the scourge Among the most outstanding features of the museum were the several statues of slaves in different postures black slaves being captured in their native homes, being chained together, being led to the port for sale, on the slave ship and being forced to work on plantations The sculptures were particularly remarkable in that they illustrated very movingly the bane which Wilberforce threw himself against.
As a black man I could not help shedding tears when going from room to room on the two floors. Then, there was a period of pandemonium which I. unwittingly, caused. I was on the first floor, about to cross the lobby, when I came face to face with another visitor. a white man. When he saw me, a wave of fright swept through him. His eyes were immediately bloodshot. He shouted out of fright and ran back. Quickly, he made for the staircase, sped down to the ground floor, and took to his heels.
All this while. I remained still, at a loss as to the cause of his action. He stopped shouting only when he got into the bus that brought his group. Meanwhile. others around him. realizing the cause of his fright, came to tell me that I was
the cause. They laughed it off when they told me that he had thought I was one of the statues and. had left suddenly turned into a human being. I discovered the reason for his fright when I entered the room which he had just left and found that It one of the statues looked exactly like me. Whoever did the wax model perhaps had my picture. was my height, my shape, my complexion, indeed the exact replica of me.
I realized what had happened. I was the only black present in the building. The man had not expected a live black person to be in the museum. Thus, the sudden sight of a black person moving around, with the stature and face of one of the statues, should certainly frighten him. I wondered what could have happened if I had pursued him down the staircase.
(a) In what capacity did the writer visit the museum?
(b) For what was William Wilberforce famous?
(c) Why did the writer stand out among the visitors in the museum at that hour?
(d) Why was the other man frightened?
(e) by had the man assumed that the writer was a statue that had come alive?
(f) "a wave of fright swept through him..." (i) What figure of speech is contained in the expression above? (ii) What does it mean?
(g) "...that brought his group..."
(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) organizations; (ii) remarkable; (iii) pandemonium; (iv) replica; (v) pursued.