SS1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Section A Objectives. Instruction: Answer all questions from this section. Choose the word or group of words that best contains the most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word or group of words 1. The posh cars were SANDWICHED between two _____ ones.
Choose the word or group of words that best contains the most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word or group of words. 2. If one thing IRRITATES you, it might _____ another.
Choose the word or group of words that best contains the meaning nearest to the underlined word or group of words. 3. The aggrieved faction held a CLANDESTINE meeting.
Choose the word or group of words that best contains the meaning nearest to the underlined word or group of words. 4. Police officers holding batons IMPOUNDED the banker’s car.
Choose the word or group of words that best completes these sentences (best interpretation). 5. Mother always tells me (to keep my nose clean). This means that she tells me to
Choose the word or group of words that best completes these sentences (best interpretation). 6. Immediately the truth was revealed, Ngozi )flew into a rage). This means that Ngozi
Choose the word or group of words that best completes the sentence below: 7. The accused was brought before the jury for a court _____.
Choose the word or group of words that best completes the sentence below: 8. The footballers have been practicing _____.
Choose the word or group of words that best completes the question tag. 9. John should be through with his work, _____?
10. We were lucky our driver didn’t die in the accident, _____?
Choose the word or group of words that best contains the same vowel or consonant sound as the focus letter(s). 11. Lynch → choose the word with the same vowel sound as the y
12. Said → choose the word with the same vowel sound as the ai
13. Joy → choose the word with the same consonant sound as the j
14. Pressure → choose the word with the same consonant sound as the ss
Choose the word or group of words that best rhymes with the underlined part of the word. 15. Roam → choose the word that rhymes with oam
16. Hatch → choose the word that rhymes with atch
Choose the word or group of words that best shows the correct stress. 17. Spectacular → choose the correct stress
Affidavit → choose the correct stress
Choose the word or group of words that best shows the correct emphatic stress / intonation. 19. His cousin is usually HOSPITABLE to strangers.
Choose the word or group of words that best contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbols. 20. /k/ → choose the word that contains the /k/ sound
Choose the word or group of words that best completes the passage (Lexis and Structure). The farmer – 21 – the nation and can be said to be the most important professional. But how many people would make farming their first choice of profession? The arduous task of turning a virgin rainforest into a farmland, of battling the land until – 22– are carved out and crops are –23, – of fighting off the weeds and -24– the tender crops from pests, and of preparing the harvested crops in –25– for long months, could scare off the lily-livered. Farming is really not for the faint-hearted who are easily defeated by the –26 –of the weather and the uncertainties of the soil. But the fruits of farming are sweet. Farmers are assured of the –27– yields of their farms. A farmer worth his salt can never go hungry, never mind that the dishes may not be –28– in a palatial mansion. Besides, the physical rigours demanded of him ensure that he is constantly kept –29–, that his muscles are forever well-shaped. The clean air surrounding him ensures that his eyes remain sharp, that his breath is pure, and that his immunity level is always high. Finally, good and –30- harvests, especially in these days of mechanized farming, do ensure that a good farmer is immune to poverty.
SECTION B: COMPREHENSION. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. Work can be an essential part of children’s education and a means of transmitting vital skills from parent to offspring. In later life in other countries, moral and social development without interference is often under conditions… In some countries, children are often involved in workshops and small-scale services, and gradually become full-fledged workers. …Child labour, on the other hand, is about children who work long hours for low wages. By and large, most child workers harm their health. This type of work is destructive and exploitative. Child labour takes different forms. Children are in domestic service; their masters set the terms and conditions of their work entirely to their whim. They are deprived of affection. This type of domestic service need not be hazardous, but it often is. Children are poorly paid, deprived of schooling, play and social activity. They are also vulnerable to physical abuse. Poverty is a powerful force driving children into hazardous labour. Efforts of children are underutilized or underemployed. They are desperate for a secure income. In developing countries, for example, classrooms do not have…child’s income at stake. It is not surprising children in such schools abandon schooling for work. This situation is aggravated by a modern society that is preoccupied with the demand for low-priced products. Few people seem to care that these may have been produced by millions of anonymous, exploited children. The effects of child labour on the psychological, emotional and intellectual growth of the victims are grave. Such children are deprived of affection. Beatings, punishments and deprivation of food are very common. Ultimately, most child labourers are condemned to lifelong poverty, misery, sickness and illiteracy. Questions (a) Identify two types of work that are beneficial to children. (b) According to the passage, what is child labour? (c) Give two causes of child labour. (d) In one word, describe the effect of child labour on the child. (e) According to the passage, why do children drop out of school? (f) “…who work long hours for low wages…” (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (ii) What is its function? (g) “…most child labourers are condemned to lifelong poverty…” What is the meaning of this expression in the passage? (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) transmitting (ii) enhances (iii) vulnerable (iv) preoccupied
SECTION C: SUMMARY Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. Many cities in the world have now become overcrowded because everyday people migrate to them from the countryside in search of work and better living conditions. This problem is far worse in Third World countries, where the harsh living conditions and the lack of gainful employment opportunities in rural areas usually compel a ceaseless and massive rural-urban drift. This desperate state of affairs is not without its dire consequences for the cities. Facilities like accommodation, schools, hospitals, water supply and public transport cannot cope with the demands on them from increased numbers of people, and so they are under severe strain. House rents soar astronomically, and too many tenants crowd into inadequate spaces. Markets, streets and motorways are congested with people and vehicles. And as the garbage disposal is inefficient, the garbage piles up everywhere, contributing to environmental pollution. Many of the migrants come to the big cities in the hope of finding employment. However, because a majority of them are unskilled workers or fresh school-leavers not equipped in any way for gainful self-employment, they simply end up swelling the ranks of the desperate unemployed in the city. The devil, they say, makes work for idle hands. With no means of livelihood in the relatively expensive cities, many of these disillusioned young people resort to prostitution, fraud and crime in order to survive. No wonder the crime rate in the cities is ever rising, and there are daily reports of victims who lose their money, possessions or even their lives to dare-devil robbers. How can this deplorable state of affairs in the cities be reversed? Since the search for jobs accounts for much of the rural-urban drift, one way is to encourage the creation of jobs outside the cities. For example, certain businesses such as banks and manufacturing industries could be encouraged to set up branches in rural areas. If rural dwellers have ready access to the same jobs they go to look for in the city, the need for migrating will be reduced. Schools and hospitals is just not good enough. Many rural dwellers are lured to the cities because of the lack of amenities, so providing them in these rural communities will not only contribute to stemming the tide of migration but also create a favourable environment for investment. It has also been argued that rural farming is gradually being abandoned to the aged. The primitive, labour-intensive methods and the relatively low yields have made it unattractive to the youth, who would rather seek their fortune in the cities. If farming is made attractive, for example, through mechanization, it will become another source of employment for rural dwellers and thus reduce the necessity to migrate to the city. Rural-urban migration causes a serious population imbalance, and has all sorts of attendant problems that can get worse if not tackled effectively. So the sooner a solution is sought the better. Questions: (a) In three sentences, one for each, summarize the three negative consequences of rural-urban migration discussed in the passage. (b) In one sentences, summarize the writer’s suggestions for tackling the problem.
