2012 English Language Theory Past Questions

You have spent about six weeks in your new school. Write a letter to your father telling him about your experiences so far.

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Write an article for publication in your school on the dangers of keeping bad company in school.

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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.

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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.

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Write a story to illustrate the-saying: Where there’s is a will, there’s away

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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 must be the usual seekers of financial assistance or job. 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 Kapita town 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 signalled to his driver. There, in a 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 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 chitchat 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, their conferment ceremony began with the others. Each took about fifteen minutes so before Bademos’s turn, all 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 a 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 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.

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Read the following passage carefully and answer the question on it

Part of my one-year study programme iii Britain involved visiting several places of historical importance, especially, those related to pre-colonial 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 slave’s indifferent 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 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, fie 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 he had thought I was one of the statues and had 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 one of the statues looked exactly like me. Whoever did the wax model perhaps had my picture; It 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) Why had the man assumed that the writer was a statue that had come alive?

(h) “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.

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

The number of people living in slums worldwide is estimated to be more than a billion. Experts in urbanization fear that the ever-growing slums in the world will soon become more populous than the cities. Findings like these, however, do not show clearly the devastating effect which substandard living conditions have on the poor. The situation is more serious in developing countries, where many people lack basic amenities, adequate housing and modern health care services.

It is an irony that while some of the richest nations want to build colonies on the moon and explore Mars, growing numbers of their poorest citizens cannot afford a decent place to live here on earth. It might be easy to conclude that the poor could remedy their situation if they showed more initiative, but factors involved in the housing crisis are beyond their control. The world’s population is increasing at an alarming rate, such that millions of houses are needed to keep pace with this development.

It is a fact that cities provide more facilities than in rural areas. It is easier to get electricity and good water supply, pursue one’s education and secure well-paid jobs in cities than villages. Very often those in the villages hanker for such opportunity to reside in the cities. They do not mind going away from the villages to reside in congested cities, thereby contributing to over-population in the cities.

In troubled areas of the world, political disasters, civil wars and suicide bombing are common. Poor people, women and children run away from such troubled areas to preserve their lives. They seek refuge in whatever shelter they can find when existing buildings are completely destroyed. The relationship between housing and poverty cannot be ignored. People, who cannot afford basic necessities like food and clothing, may not be able to rent or build decent houses. These and other factors have forced millions of people to settle for substandard housing. They live in abandoned buses, shipping containers, cardboard boxes and other unthinkable places.

The housing problems, just like many other problems facing the world, should be tackled with urgency. However, the cost of land for the erection of houses is high. Even when land is secured, the high cost of building materials is another problem to contend with. One must not, therefore, blame building agencies which employ methods that enable them to build inexpensive houses.

(a) In five sentences, one for each, stale the causes of the worldwide housing problems.

(b) In one sentence, summarise the measures that poor people have adopted to solve their housing problem.

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