practice use of english

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UTME 2001 Questions - Type U

Comprehension

Passage I

By 1910, the motor car was plainly conquering the

highway. The private car was now part of every

rich man’s establishment, although its price made

it as yet an impossible luxury for most of the

middle class. But for the adventuresome youth,

there was the motor cycle, a fearsome invention

producing accidents and ear-splitting noises.

Already, the dignified carriages and smart pony-

traps were beginning to disappear from the roads,

and coachmen and grooms, unless mechanically

minded, were finding it more difficult to make a

living.

The roads, which had gone to sleep since the

coming of the railway, now awoke to feverish

activity. Cars and motorcycles dashed along them

at speeds which rivalled those of the express

trains, and the lorry began to appear. Therefore,

the road system was compelled to adapt itself to

a volume and speed of traffic for which it had

never been intended. Its complete adaptation

was impossible; but the road surface was easily

transformed and during the early years of the

century, the dustiness and greasiness of the

highways were lessened by tar-spraying. To widen

and straighten the roads and get rid of blind

corners and every steep gradient were tasks

which had scarcely been tackled before 1914. The

situation was worst of all in towns where not only

was any large scheme of road widening usually

out of the question, but also where crowding and

danger were all too frequently increased by the

short-sighted eagerness of town authorities in

laying down tramlines.

Yet it was not only the road system that was

in need of readjustment; the nervous system of

those who used and dwelt by the roads suffered.

The noises caused by the conversion of the roads

into speedways called for a corresponding

tightening up of the nerves, and, especially in the

towns, the pedestrian who wished to preserve life

and limb was compelled to keep his attention

continually on the stretch, to practice himself in

estimates of the speed of approaching vehicles

and to run or jump for his life if he ventured off

the pavement.

1. One of the following statements can be

deduced from the passage.

A. People no longer used trains with the

advent of cars and lorries.

B. Significant improvement occurred in

road transport since the advent of

motor cars, lorries and motor cycles.

C. Human society was static without the

express speed of cars and motor cycles.

D. Society would be better off without the

chaotic volume and speed of motor cars,

lorries and motor cycles.

2. From the passage, it is obvious that

A. motor cars were mere luxuries which any

people tried desperately to acquire.

B. the motor car was invented before

the express trains.

C. the train was the fastest means of

transport before the motor car and

the lorry.

D. the motor car and the lorry came to

displace the train traffic.

3. The writer seems to suggest that

A. the roads that existed were dormant.

B. coachmen and grooms were not

mechanically minded.

C. there were no roads before the advent of

cars and motor cycles and so people had

to be mechanically minded.

D. the volume and speed of traffic on the

roads increased with advent of cars,

motor cycles and lorries.

4. The writer uses the expression unless

mechanically minded to refer to

A. coachmen and grooms adaptable to the

new technology.

B. coachmen and grooms who chose to

become mechanics.

C. town authorities laying down tramlines.

D. those amenable to change and

development.

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5. The statement: By 1910, the motor car was

plainly conquering the highway means that

A. by 1910, many people knew how to

drive motor cars.

B. the motor car was invented in 1910.

C. highway codes for motor cars came into

effect by 1910.

D. by 1910, motor cars became a common

sight on the highways.

Passage II

The passage below has gaps numbered 6 to 15.

Immediately following each gap, four options are

provided. Choose the most appropriate option for

each gap.

Before any detailed analysis begins, the first

thing to do with the raw data is to check through

the field record books and questionnaires for any

…6… [A. records

B. events C. odds D. mistakes] inconsistencies

and incompleteness. In some cases, it may be

possible to correct any discovered shortcomings.

When it is not possible to carry out these …7…

[A. plans B. possibilities C. corrections

D. expectations] a visit to the field may even be

necessary. It should however be realized that it is

not very often that a revisit is possible.

In most scientific …8… [A. experiments

B. data C. conclusion D. questionnaires] such

revisits are clearly impossible. This is true of many

surveys too. A road traffic survey …9…

[A. conducted B. experimented

C. classified D. precoded] to find out the amount

and frequency of daily traffic between two towns

cannot be expected to be …10…

[A. reproducible B. undertaken

C. observed D. produced]. There is no way of

going back to check whether the number of

vehicles reported for any particular hour is correct

or not. With open-ended questions, the …11…

[A. methods B responses C. errors

D. conclusions] have to be classified into

relatively small number of groups. The process of

classifying answers and of sometimes identifying

them by number and letter is called …12…

[A. recording B. recoding C. encoding

D. coding]. When close-ended questions are used,

it is possible to code all the possible answers

before they are actually received. This is called

…13… [A. precoding B. coding

C. coding D. recoding]. What is done, a check

through the answers for proper classification,

numbering and letterings is still called for at this

stage. This whole process of checking through

questionnaires and notebooks is called … 14…

[A. editing B. posting C. listing

D. auditing]. Collected data will eventually have

to be used in drawing …15… [A. references

B. examples C. conclusions D. analogies] and

writing a report about the population from which

it came.

Adapted from Rachel Carson:

The Advent of the Motor Car.

Passage III

It is possible to have a glimpse of life after death.

Man has always believed in an afterlife, but only

today do we have scientific reports of people who

seem to have experienced the sensation of dying

but lived to tell about it. On-going research is

documenting hundreds of cases each year of the

near-death experience (NDE), and scientists think

they are finding a clearly identifiable pattern;

usually a man is dying and, as he reaches the point

of greatest physical distress, he hears himself

pronounced dead by his doctor. He begins to hear

an uncomfortable noise, a loud ringing or buzzing,

and at the same time feels himself moving very

rapidly through a long dark tunnel. After this, he

suddenly finds himself outside of his own physical

body, but still in the immediate physical

environment, and he sees his own body from a

distance, as though he is a spectator. He watches

the resuscitation attempt from this unusual

vantage point and is in a state of emotional

upheaval.

After a while, he collects himself and

becomes more accustomed to his odd condition.

He notices that he still has a ‘body’ but one of a

very different nature and with very different

powers from the physical body he has left behind.

Soon after, things begin to happen. Others come

to meet and to help him. He glimpses the spirits

of relatives and friends who have already died,

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and a loving, warm spirit of a kind he has never

encountered before – a being of light – appears

before him. This being asks him a question,

nonverbally – to make him evaluate his life – and

helps him along by showing him a panoramic

instantaneous playback of the major events of his

life. Then he finds that he must go back to the

earth, that the time for his death has not yet

come. At this point he resists, for by now he is

taken up with his experiences in the afterlife and

does not want to return. He is overwhelmed by

intense feelings of joy, love and peace. Despite his

attitude, though, he somehow reunites with his

physical body and lives.

Adapted from Moody, R. A. (1975):

Life after Life.

16. That the man was shown a panoramic

instantaneous playback of the major events of

his life suggests that

A. he has to assess his deeds in life.

B. there are video machines in the world

beyond.

C. he needs to see the difference between

his past life and his new life.

D. he needs to be entertained to take his

mind away from the noise around him.

17. The NDE man appears to be a spectator in

the flurry of activities around him because

A. he is moving rapidly through a long

dark tunnel.

B. his new ‘body’ would not allow him to

participate.

C. he can only watch as the events unfold.

D. he is now a dead man.

18. According to the passage, scientific evidence

has made it possible

A. for the dead to return and tell their

experiences.

B. to make conjectures about what

happens after death.

C. to know a little about what happens in

the world of the dead.

D. for one to experience the sensation of

dying and living again.

19. A suitable title for the passage is

A. A Glimpse into the World of the Dead.

B. The sensation of Death and the

Afterlife.

C. Research into the Lives of the Dead.

D. Visions of an Afterlife.

20. The expression as he reaches the point of

greatest physical distress as used in the

passage, means, when

A. the man’s system finally collapses.

B. his condition seems to get worse.

C. his doctor is ready to pronounce him

dead.

D. the sick man finally stops breathing.

Passage IV

The emergence of a standard dialect

produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’

which is quite different from dialect. In the

process of learning a foreign language, it is

normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous

language to those of the foreign language. With

time, however, those of form, and most of those

of orthography and phonology gradually get

eliminated. This is because these can easily be

identified and corrected. They are easy to correct

because, they do not involve patterns of muscular

movement. It is also necessary to correct them

because otherwise they could seriously impair

intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand,

there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance

because muscular patterns are involved, thus

making corrections difficult when observed.

Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair

intelligibility much. Hence, the transference of

phonetic habits from one language to another is

both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid

than transference at the lexico-grammatical level.

It follows that a speaker who is learning a second

dialect does so with an accent since the muscles

of his speech organs would have crystallized in

response to the phonetics of his native language

which he learnt first. The speaker therefore

speaks the second dialect with the phonetic

features of his native dialect. The learning of a

standard language is simply the learning of a

second dialect – that which has been

standardized.

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Members of a language community control at

least two dialects and use both dialects in

different situations. In the rural areas, the native

dialect is used in most situations since there is

less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to

be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of

their dialect. In the urban community, on the

other hand, there is more demand on the

standard dialect than on the rural one. This is

because people from different regions converge

here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility

resulting from the pressure of communication, a

great deal of demand is made on the standard

dialect which now becomes the lingua franca

amongst them.

21. The word those, as used in the passage,

refers to

A. forms of orthography and phonology.

B. patterns of an indigenous language.

C. foreign languages.

D. indigenous languages.

22. Phonetic patterns allow for intelligibility

tolerance because

A. they are involved and difficult to avoid.

B. they involve muscular patterns which

later crystallize.

C. they give rise to the phenomenon of

accent which is easy to tolerate.

D. transference is both difficult to avoid

and easy to tolerate.

23. According to the passage,

A. a lingua franca is the consequence of a

standard dialect.

B. a foreign language produces the

transference of the correct patterns of

dialect features.

C. mutual intelligibility is the

consequence of the pressure of

communication.

D. speech organs are shaped by

indigenous languages.

24. An appropriate title for this passage is

A. The Quest for a Lingua Franca.

B. The emergence of a Standard Language.

C. The Phenomenon of Accent.

D. Members of a Language Community.

25. Members of a language community control at

least two dialects because

A. there is little demand for the

indigenous dialects.

B. the convergence of people from disparate

regions results in the pressure of

communication

C. they want a lingua franca which is

produced by mutual intelligibility.

D. they are made up of both rural and

urban dwellers.

Lexis, Structure and Oral Forms

In each of questions 26 to 40, choose the option

nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase in

Italics.

26. I cannot understand why Ali should serve in

that moribund administration.

A. oppressive B. prodigal

C. crumbling D. purposeless

27 The Conference Centre caters for transients

only.

A. temporary guests B. professionals

C. permanent guests D. novices

28. The coalescence of the groups created

additional problems.

A. proscription B. fighting

C. disbandment D. union

29. As the triumphant rebels were returning to

their base, they met with a serious reverse.

A. a defeat B. an enemy

C. an army D. a victory

30. The village girl wore sumptuous clothes.

A. faded-looking B. cheap

C. expensive D. loose-fitting

31. Any Chief Executive of an organization

would find radical changes blocked at

every turn.

A. developments B. ideas

C. suggestions D. innovations

32. Ugo has often been described as belligerent.

A. attractive B. patient

C. innocent D. combative

33. The men were tardy in offering help.

A. brave B. generous

C. slow D. quick

34. Funmi is just being facetious about her

marrying a soldier.

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A. unserious B. crazy

C. serious D. unfaithful

35. The professor discussed a number of

abstruse topics.

A. esoteric B. relevant

C. irrelevant D. useful

36. Bose was angry because her friend called

her a pilferer.

A. hypocrite B. thief

C. criminal D. lair

37. While the hooligans exchanged blows, we

looked complacently.

A. dejectedly B. sorrowfully

C. questioningly D. contentedly

38. Tade became timorous when she was asked

to give the valedictory speech.

A. excited B. nervous

C. aggressive D. happy

39. The player kept on gamely to the end of the

match.

A. amateurishly B. skilfully

C. courageously D. stubbornly

40. Art lies in cherishing the initiative and

creative power of each person.

A. potential B. strength

C. gift D. mind

In each of questions 41 to 45, select the option

that best explains the information conveyed in

the sentence.

41. Oche’s chief idiosyncrasy is a passion for

pounded yam.

A. Oche’s chief hates pounded yam.

B. Oche hates pounded yam.

C. Oche has a penchant for pounded

yam.

D. Oche’s chief likes pounded yam.

42. You must not attend the end-of-year party

A. It is not necessary that you attend the

party.

B. It is necessary that you do not attend

the party.

C. You do not have to decide whether to

attend the party or not.

D. You have to decide whether to attend

the party or not.

43. The man reasoned that there ought to be a

limit to sycophancy.

A. There can be no favour beyond a

reasonable point.

B. Sycophants need not talk all the time.

C. People should know when not to use

flattery.

D. Sycophants should know when to grant

people’s requests.

44. Adawo is an imp.

A. Adawo behaves queerly.

B. Adawo behaves decently.

C. Adawo behaves differently.

D. Adawo behaves badly.

45. The solution lies in choosing between

various negative alternatives.

A. The solution can be found in one of the

negative options.

B. The solution lies in choosing between

the positive and the negative.

C. The solutions are many.

D. The solution is a negative one.

In questions 46 and 47, identify the word that has

the stress on the first syllable.

46. A. resist B. salon

C. confirm D. intact

47. A. competent B. misread

C. resign D. compel

In each of questions 48 to 51, choose the word

that does not have the same vowel sound as the

others.

48. A. toil B. rejoice

C. enjoy D. log

49. A. key B. wind

C. even D. people

50. A. granite B. die

C. rice D. fight

51. A. bale B. saint

C. plait D. gate

In each of questions 52 to 66, choose the option

opposite in meaning to the word(s) or phrase in

italics.

52. The lecture seemed interminable.

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A. unending B. boring

C . interesting D. brief

53. Had I known about their plan much earlier, I

would have nipped it in the bud.

A. stopped it B. initiated it

C. squashed it D. promoted it

54. What a harmless thought he has!

A. pernicious B. pertinent

C. pleasant D. perfect

55. The town was all agog at his unexpected

return.

A. on fire B. excited

C. unexcited D. surprised

56. The teacher taught the rudiments of

Chemistry to the first grade.

A. elements B. theories

C. fundamentals D. basics

57. In his naivety, he believed all the stories his

friend told him.

A. artlessness B. stupidity

C. friendliness D. incredulity

58. The journalist’s write-up contained a

plethora of detail.

A. shortage B. simplicity

C. complexity D. spectrum

59. Amina’s performance in the examination

surpassed my expectations.

A. was disappointing

B. lacked merit

C. was extraordinarily good

D. amazed everyone

60. As these boys never act in public, the

police are now worried about their covert

activities.

A. ignoble B. evil

C. open D cryptic

61. It is inconceivable that the rat devoured

the cat.

A. contestable B. incomprehensible

C. credible D. unimaginable

62. In the latter part of his life, the famous

soldier showed signs of youthfulness.

A. energy B. senility

C. bravery D. vitality

63. There is much apathy towards reading

among students nowadays.

A. enthusiasm B. indecision

C. disinclination D. indifference

64. Some equatorial areas have a sultry climate.

A. a hot B. an inclement

C. a temperate D. a stable

65. Ali wondered why the principal was

ambivalent about the students’ future.

A. anxious B. inconsiderate

C. ambitious D. decisive

66. Updating the Board’s brochure is an

arduous task.

A. an easy B. an annual

C. a regular D. a difficult

In questions 67 and 68, identify the word that has

a different stress pattern from the others.

67. A. classroom B. programme

C. July D. brother

68. A. temperamental B. administrative

C. circulation D. consideration

In each of questions 69 to 72, choose from the

options the word that has the same constant

sound as the one represented by the letter(s)

underlined.

69. Church

A. feature B. chauffeur

C. ocean D. machine

70. Sure

A. cheer B. cheap

C. charlatan D. church

71. Past

A. wrestle B. preached

C. castle D. pasture

72. Thank

A. though B. thought

C. Thames D. Thomas

In each of questions 73 to 75, the word in capital

letters has an emphatic stress. Choose the option

that best fits the expression in the sentence.

73. YOUR sister should come with us tomorrow.

A. Should your brother come with us

tomorrow?

B. Should our brother come with us

tomorrow?

C. Should Ado’s sister come with us

tomorrow?

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D. Should my sister come with us tomorrow?

74. My neighbour BRUISED his thigh while playing

football.

A. Did your neighbour break his leg while

playing tennis?

B. Did your neighbour fracture his thigh

while playing football?

C. Was your neighbour involved in an

accident?

D. Did your neighbour play football

yesterday?

75. They FLEW to Abuja.

A. Did they go to Abuja by road?

B. Did they fly to Jos?

C. How will they get to Abuja?

D. Where did they fly to?

In each of questions 76 to 100, fill each gap with

the most appropriate option from the list

provided.

76. I do not think any sane person would have

acted in such a [A. rational B. composed

C. secret D. cruel] manner.

77. Neither Agbo nor his parents ..

[A. attended B. attend C. has attended

D. attends] the meetings now.

78. Modern dancing has become rather scientific

and so requires … [A. bizarre costuming

B. some choreographic skill

C. immense instrumentation

D. a rapping voice].

79. Had he considered his public image carefully,

he .. [A. might have stood aside B. would

have stepped aside C. should have stepped

down D. would have stood down] for his

opponent in the election.

80. The government which … recruiting …

[A. are/its B. was/its C. is/their

D. were/their] workers suddenly stopped

doing so.

81. Of course we all saw the culprit …

[A. approached B. approaching

C. approach D. approaches] and hit the man

on the head.

82. A child that shows mature characteristics at

an early age may be described as

[A. preconceived B. premature

C. ingenuous D. precocious].

83. The Company Director showed the contractor

a …[A. prototype B. photograph C. microfilm

D. photocopy] of the proposed office

complex.

84. … [A. While B. By chance C. Should

D. Should in case] you come early to the new

house, clean up my flat.

85. This imposing edifice … [A. had costed

B. have cost C. costed D. cost] a fortune to

build.

86. They let him go in … [A. respect B. regard C.

disregard D. consideration] to his age.

87. Some scientists are trying to …

[A. imitate B. replicate C. implicate

D. fabricate] human beings in their

laboratories.

88. He does not seem to know how to solve the

problem … [A. does not he B. does he not

C. does he D. doesn’t he]?

89. These villagers … [A. used B. are used

C. were used D. use] to grow rice.

90. Ado tried to … [A. recall B. obstruct

C. obliterate D. eulogize] all memory of his

dead father.

91. The weather is probably appealing for ...

people who live in Jos … [A. as much/as

B. more/as C. no less/than D. at least

as/but] for foreigners.

92. The meeting was called to …[A. reconcile

B. recommend C. re-present

D. reconstitute] divergent views on the

subject of a national conference.

93. The police came early enough to …

[A. diffuse B. insulate C. detonate

D. defuse] the bomb planted by the rioters.

94. … [A. Have being B. Having been

C. Have I been D. Having being] told of his

impending arrival, I worked hard to make his

short stay very comfortable.

95. More … [A. power B. effort C. grease

D. energy] to your elbow as you campaign for

press freedom!

96. When Ajike met her … [A. estranged

B. strange C. caring D. loving] husband at

the party, she felt like reconciling with him.

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97. They had to … [A. light up B. fall back on C.

switch on D. resort to] the generator when

the electricity failed.

98. The editor was not happy that the Nigerian

press was hemmed … [A. up B. over

C. across D. in].

99. Three quarters of the hostel … been painted

and three quarters of the students … [A.

has/has B. has/have C. have/has D.

have/have] moved in.

100. A wide range of options … [A. are

B. were C. was D. is] made available to the

political parties during the recently concluded

elections.

2001 Answers - Type U

Passage I

1. Option B.

2. Option C.

3. Option D.

4. Option A.

5. Option D.

Passage II

6. Option D.

7. Option C.

8. Option B.

9. Option A.

10. Option A.

11. Option B.

12. Option D.

13. Option A.

14. Option A.

15. Option C.

Passage III

16. Option A.

17. Option C.

18. Option B.

19. Option D.

20. Option B.

Passage IV

21. Option B.

22. Option D.

23. Option C.

24. Option B.

25. Option B.

26. Option C.

27. Option A.

28. Option D.

29. Option A.

30. Option C.

31. Option D.

32. Option D.

33. Option C.

34. Option A.

35. Option A.

36. Option B.

37. Option D.

38. Option B.

39. Option C.

40. Option A.

41. Option C.

42. Option B.

43. Option C.

44. Option D.

45. Option A.

46. Option D.

47. Option A.

48. Option D.

49. Option B.

50. Option A.

51. Option C.

52. Option D.

53. Option B.

54. Option A.

55. Option C.

56. Option B.

57. Option D.

58. Option A.

59. Option A.

60. Option C.

61. Option C.

62. Option B.

63. Option A.

64. Option C.

65. Option D.

66. Option A.

67. Option C.

68. Option B.

69. Option A.

70. Option C.

71. Option B.

72. Option B.

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73. Option C.

74. Option B.

75. Option A.

76. Option D.

77. Option B.

78. Option B.

79. Option D.

80. Option B.

81. Option C.

82. Option D.

83. Option A.

84. Option C.

85. Option D.

86. Option D.

87. Option B.

88. Option C.

89. Option A.

90. Option C.

91. Option C.

92. Option A.

93. Option D.

94. Option B.

95. Option C.

96. Option A.

97. Option B.

98. Option D.

99. Option B.

100 . Option C.

UTME 2002 Questions - Type 2

Read passages I and II carefully and answer the

questions that follow.

Passage I

Those who have been following the

arguments for and against the deregulation of the

oil industry in Nigeria may have got the

impression that deregulation connotes lack of

control or indifference on the part of the

Government. But there is nothing so far from

official quarters to suggest that deregulation will

cause the Government to relinquish its control of

the oil industry because the absence of direct

control does not mean that it will surrender all its

rights to the entrepreneurs who may want to

participate in the industry. Yet the opposition

expressed so far against deregulation stems from

the fear that the Government would leave

Nigerians at the mercy of a heartless cartel who

would command the heights of the oil industry

and cause the pump price of fuel to rise above the

means of most Nigerians.

As a result of such fears, many Nigerians have

become resentful of deregulation and, in fact, the

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to

‘deregulate’ the Government if it should go ahead

with the deregulation plan. But Nigerians have

not fared any better with the economy totally in

the Government control. Until recently, the most

important sectors of the economy were in the

hands of the Government. Today, the

deregulation of some of these sectors has broken

its monopoly and introduced healthy competition

to make things a little easier for Nigerians. A good

example is the breaking of the stifling monopoly

of Nigeria Airways. Today, the traveller is king at

the domestic airports as opposed to the struggle

that air travels used to be under Nigeria Airways

monopoly. Before, it was almost easier for a

camel to pass through the eye of a needle than

for travellers to board a plane.

Following from this, the apostles of

deregulation rightly heap all the blame for the

problems associated with petroleum products

distribution in this country squarely on the

Government, which owns all the refineries and

which sells fuel to local consumers through its

agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum

Corporation (NNPC). In the same way, the

Government argues that if the current NNPC

monopoly were broken with the introduction of

entrepreneurs to the refining and sale of

petroleum products in the country, the Nigerian

people would be all the better for it. It stands to

reason that once the Government continues to fix

maximum prices for petroleum products in this

country, the deregulation of the oil sector should

bring some relief to the people by ensuring that

wastage, corruption and inefficiency are reduced

to the minimum. Consumers will also have the

last laugh because competition will result in the

availability of the products at reasonable prices.

This appears to be the sense in deregulation.

10

1. Which of these correctly summarises the

arguments adduced by the advocates of

deregulation?

A. Deregulating the economy will make

the NNPC more efficient and less

wasteful.

B. The Government should deregulate every

aspect of the Nigerian economy.

C. Competition in the oil industry will be

beneficial to several Nigerians.

D. Competition should be allowed in the

production and distribution of

petroleum products.

2. Which of the following conclusions can be

reached from the passage?

A. The deregulation of the economy will

solve all the problems of petroleum

products distribution.

B. The Government is hell-bent on

leaving Nigerians at the mercy of a

heartless cartel

C. Nigerians cannot buy fuel at

exorbitant prices.

D. The deregulation of the oil industry

does not preclude the Government

from exerting its influence.

3. An appropriate title for this passage is

A. The Advantages of a Deregulated

Economy.

B. Making a Case for Deregulation.

C. Highlighting the Dangers of

Deregulation.

D. The problems of the NNPC.

4. Which of the following statements is true

according to the passage?

A. The Nigeria Labour Congress has been

able to prevent the Government from

deregulating the economy.

B. The introduction of entrepreneurs to the

oil industry will make life easy only for a

few Nigerians.

C. The opposition to the deregulation of

the oil industry is not unanimous.

D. A better life for all Nigerians is

conditional upon the deregulation of

the economy.

5. The writer seems to suggest that

A. Nigerians do not understand the

sense in deregulation.

B. the anxiety caused by the

deregulation question is groundless.

C. a deregulated economy will cause the

Government to be indifferent to the

plight of ordinary Nigerians.

D. only a heartless cartel will benefit by

the deregulation of the oil industry.

Passage II

Recognizing the need for objectivity in their

work, the early report writers worked to develop

a writing style which would convey this attitude.

They reasoned that the source of the subjective

quality in a report is the human being. And they

reasoned that objectivity is best attained by

emphasizing the factual material of a report

rather than the personalities involved. So they

worked to remove the human being from their

writing. Impersonal writing style was the result.

By impersonal writing is meant writing in the third

person - without I’s, we’s or you’s.

In recent years, impersonal writing has been

strenuously questioned by many writers. These

writers point out that personal writing is more

forceful and direct than is impersonal writing;

they contend that writing which brings both

reader and writer into the picture is more like

conversation and therefore more interesting. And

they answer to the point on objectivity with a

reply that objectivity is an attitude of mind and

not a matter of person. A report, they say, can be

just as objective when written in personal style as

when in impersonal style. Frequently, they

counter with the argument that impersonal

writing leads to an overuse of passive voice and a

generally dull writing style. This last argument,

however, lacks substance. Impersonal writing can

and should be interesting. Any dullness it may

have is wholly the fault of the writer. As proof,

one has only to look at the lively styles used by

the writers for newspapers, news magazines and

journals. Most of this writing is impersonal and,

usually it is not dull.

As in most cases of controversy, there is some

merit to the arguments on both sides. There are

situations in which personal writing is best. There

11

are situations in which impersonal writing is best.

And there are situations in which either style is

appropriate. The writer must decide at the outset

of his work which style is best for his own

situation.

His decision should be based on the

circumstances of each report situation. First, he

should consider the expectations or desires of

those for whom he is preparing the report. More

than likely, he will find it a preference for

impersonal style, for, like most human beings,

businessmen have been slow to break tradition.

Next, the writer should consider the formality of

the report situation. If the situation is informal as

when the report is really a personal

communication of information between business

associates, personal writing is appropriate. But if

the situation is formal, as is the case with most

reports, the conventional impersonal style is best.

Lesikar, R. V: Report writing for Business

6. Which of the following statements is true

according to the passage?

A. Most report writing is characterized by

the sparing use of the impersonal style.

B. The impersonal style helps to achieve a

measure of objectivity in report writing.

C. The impersonal style has been widely

acclaimed.

D. Most writers use the impersonal style

to achieve objectivity in their reports.

7. One argument given in support of personal

writing is that it

A. makes writers more focused and less

boring.

B. can be more objective than

impersonal writing.

C. is the style to use in all situations

involving businessmen.

D. has informal features which make it more

diverting than impersonal writing.

8. From the passage, what determines the

appropriateness of a style is the

A. situation B. reader

C. writer D. theme

9. According to the passage, most of the writing

in the newspapers, news magazines and

journals.

A. impersonal and interesting.

B. impersonal and uninteresting.

C. personal and interesting.

D. personal and uninteresting.

10. Which of the following best describes the

writer of the passage?

A. He cannot be said to be objective.

B. He is completely non-committal.

C. He recognizes the need to be critical of

report writing.

D. He is being unnecessarily analytic.

Passage III

The passage below has gaps numbered 11 to 20.

Immediately following each gap, four options are

provided. Choose the most appropriate option for

each gap.

It is the business of the scientist to

accumulate knowledge about the universe and all

that is in it, and to find, if he is able, common

…11… [A. experiments

B. instruments C. approaches D. factors] which

underlie and account for the facts that he knows.

He chooses when he can, the method of the

controlled ..12.. [A. respondent B. experiment C.

system D. data]. If he wants to find out the effect

of light on growing plants, he takes many plants,

as alike as possible. Some he stands in the sun,

some in the shade, some in the dark and all the

time keeping all other …13… [A. studies B.

procedures C. objects

D. conditions] (temperature, moisture,

nourishment) the same. In this way, by keeping

other variables …14… [A. constant B. good C.

dark

D. natural), and by varying the light only, the

effect of light on plants can be clearly seen. This

…15… [A. research B. method C. tool

D. rationale] of using ‘controls’ can be applied to

a variety of situations, and can be used to find the

answers to questions as widely different as ‘must

moisture be present if …16… [A. an alloy B. gold

C. bar D. iron] is to rust? And ‘which variety of

beans gives the greatest yield in one …17… n

[A. climate B. period

C. season D. weather]?

In the course of his …18… [A. findings

12

B. queries C. experiment D. inquiries], the

scientist may find what he thinks is one common

explanation for an increasing number of facts. The

explanation, if it seems consistently to fit the

various facts, is called …19… [A. an antithesis B. a

principle

C. a thesis D. a hypothesis]. If this continues to

stand the test of numerous experiments and

remains unshaken, it becomes a …20…

[A. deduction B. law C. notion D thesis].

Passage IV

Read the passage below carefully and answer the

questions that follow.

If our thought is to be clear and we are to

succeed in communicating it to other people, we

must have some method of fixing the meaning of

the words we use. When we use a word whose

meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to

define it. There is a useful traditional device for

doing this by indicating the class to which

whatever is indicated by the term belongs, and

also the particular property which distinguishes it

from all other members of the same class. Thus,

we may define a whale as a ‘marine animal that

spouts’. ‘Marine animal’ in this definition

indicates the general class to which the whale

belongs, and ‘spouts’ indicates the particular

property that distinguishes whales from other

such marine animals as fishes, seals, jellyfish and

lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even

number as a finite integer divisible by two, or a

democracy as a system of government in which

the people themselves rule.

There are other ways, of course, of indicating

the meanings of words. We may, for example,

find it hard to make a suitable definition of the

word ‘animal’, so we say that an animal is such a

thing as a rabbit, dog, fish or goat. Similarly, we

may say that religion is such a system as

Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This

way of indicating the meaning of a term by

enumerating examples of what it includes is

obviously of limited usefulness. If we indicated

our use of the word ‘animal’ as above, our

hearers might, for example, be doubtful whether

a sea-anemone or a slug was to be included in the

class of animals. It is however, a useful way of

supplementing a definition if the definition itself

is definite without being easily understandable.

Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its

purpose may result from giving as distinguishing

mark one which either does not belong to all the

things the definition is intended to include, or

does belong to some members of the same

general class which the definition is intended to

exclude.

[Adapted from Straight and Crooked

Thinking by R. H. Thonless]

21. The writer uses the expression fixing the

meaning of the words we use to mean

A. using definitions to help people

communicate their thoughts and

argue logically.

B. getting even with the people who

always ask for definitions.

C. repairing the damage done by

inadequate definition during

communication.

D. using definitions to help people build

up their vocabulary.

22. One of these summarizes the approaches to

definition discussed in the passage.

A. Mentioning the class of a word or

object with its specific property.

B. Indicating the class of a word and

mentioning its general property with

examples.

C. Specifying clearly what distinguishes a

particular word or object from its

traditional groups.

D. Giving general and specific features

followed by examples of what the

object or word includes.

23. The expression we may well be asked as

used in the passage means

A. we cannot escape being asked.

B. the listener is always justified to ask

questions.

C. it is inconceivable that we will be

asked.

D. it is quite likely that we will be asked.

24. Which of the following statements can be

deduced from the passage?

13

A. Definitions aid communication when

enumeration is accurately handled.

B. Accurate definition is invaluable to

communication but difficult to achieve.

C. Every speaker or writer has a method of

defining words.

D. There are both traditional and modern

methods of defining words.

25. From the passage, which of these is a

disadvantage of defining by enumerating?

A. Enumeration always leaves doubts in

the mind of the speaker.

B. The words or objects listed may not

all share similar characteristics.

C. The property and examples enumerated

may not be all-inclusive.

D. Many important members of the

group may be left out of the

enumeration.

Lexis, Structure and Oral Forms

In each of questions 26 to 40, choose the option

opposite in meaning to the word(s) or phrase in

italics.

26. The witness averred that she had seen

Dosun at the scene of the crime.

A. argued B. confirmed

C. denied D. affirmed

27. The high cost of living these days calls for a

lot of frugality.

A. extravagance B. economy

C. recklessness D. prudence

28. Tunde’s reaction underscores the point I

was making.

A. justifies B. emphasizes

C. summarizes D. contradicts

29. Everyone admired the manager’s adroit

handling of the crises in the company.

A. clever B. tactless

C. skilful D. clumsy

30. The principal took exception to the ignoble

role the teacher played in the matter.

A. embarrassing B. honourable

C. extraordinary D. dishonourable

31. He is notorious for his drunkenness.

A. popular B. known

C. well known D. renowned

32. The chairman’s conduct redounds to the

image of the company.

A. assists in B. reflects on

C. contributes D. detracts from

33. Her phlegmatic temperament endears her to

her friends.

A. stoic B. irritable

C. lively D. cold

34. The workers suddenly became restive.

A. fidgety B. disorderly

C. submissive D. calm

35. The Governor’s visit is an unprecedented

event in the history of the social club.

A. a perfect B. a momentous

C. an insignificant D. an unnecessary

36. The athlete has unexpectedly become

indomitable.

A. weak B. disoriented

C. unruly D. unconquerable

37. The evidence the leader gave was

incontrovertible.

A. indubitable B. contestable

C. practicable D. logical

38. He gave an unsatisfactory excuse but the

boos swallowed it hook, line and sinker.

A. with a pinch of salt

B. completely C. entirely

D. without mincing words

39. The hardline posture of the labour leader

had not helped matters.

A. compromising B. imposing

C. uncompromising D. difficult

40. The Present gave another extemporaneous

speech last Friday.

A. unprepared B. fascinating

C. planned D. unfavourable

In each of questions 41 and 42, choose the word

that has a different stress from the others.

41. A. convenient B. madam

C. embarrass D. contribute

42. A. success B. suffer

C. blackboard D. calendar

14

In each of questions 43 to 57, choose the option

nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase in

italics.

43. Practising medicine is not as lucrative as

many people think.

A. know B. understand

C. consider D. assume

44. He is a stringer for a newspaper.

A. a financier of B. an editor of

C. a freelancer for D. a reporter for

45. I wish the commander were less adamant

about his proposed reprisal attack on

the enemy.

A. sentimental about/rehearsed

B. unyielding about/retaliatory

C. supportive of/retributive

D. tolerant of/surprise

46. Tortoises need cool climates and must have

places where they can hibernate.

A. reproduce B. hide at night

C. sleep deeply D. relax

47. The manager made disparaging remarks

about the retiring officer.

A. rude B. derogatory

C. parochial D. cynical

48. The man outran his wife when they heard

the eerie sound.

A. scary B. hissing

C. harsh D. loud

49. Teachers of music believe in its therape