2021 WAEC (WASSCE) English Language Theory Past Questions

NOTE: The essay section of this paper is scored under the following aspects:

Answer one question only from this section. All questions carry equal marks. Your answer should not be less than 450 words.

You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this section.

1. Write a letter to your friend in another school telling him or her the valuable lessons you learnt during a recent excursion.

2. Several articles have been published on the alarming rate of indiscipline among the youth of your country. Write your contribution.

3. Cases of malaria have been on the increase in recent times in your country. Write a letter to the Minister of Health discussing your observation and suggesting at least three ways of curbing the disease.

4. You have just been awarded a scholarship by a local company. Write a speech you would deliver at the presentation ceremony stating the benefits of the scholarship.

5. Write a story which ends with the statement: Better late than never.

You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.

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

As I sat down to relax after a hard day’s work as a radio broadcaster, my attention was immediately arrested by what I saw on the television. There was my old classmate, Funke Jacobs, introduced as Mrs. Funke Ajayi. Evidently, she must have married since we parted some fifteen years earlier. She looked as smart as she did when we were both secondary school students, though age and childbearing had taken their toll.

As I watched and listened, I realized that Funke was still her old self. I recalled how several years ago, when we were directed by the English Language master to write an essay on “The Profession of My Dream”, each of us opted for and defended our choices as future teachers, doctors, engineers, accountants and the like. I chose to be a newscaster, and that was what I eventually became. Funke alone decided on a totally different direction. She opted to be a farmer. Shocked by her choice, the teacher summoned her to the front of the class to read her essay. Ever confident and charming, she did. As we listened, most of us laughed, believing that she must be joking. After her presentation, the teacher agreed, adding that it must be just an academic exercise. But Funke insisted she was as serious as any of us in our choices.

I thought of her academic brilliance; she was among the very best in most school subjects. She was from a well-to-do family, so her parent should have no problem seeing her through tertiary education to acquire one of the ‘noble’ professions. She had good looks, the type you would associate with an office chief executiveThe executive, also referred to as the executive branch or executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law and has overall responsibility... More, not with the farm. So, why farming? But farming was her choice, and into farming, she went. What I did not know, which the interviewer brought to light, was that she indeed studied Agriculture in the university, had three children, and secured the support of a bank that loaned her some money which she had since refunded.

Now, she has become a successful farmer, successful enough to have won the award for the most accomplished farmer of the year in the country. As the interviewer reveals, Funke is into crop farming, animal rearing and fruit cultivation. She is also into planting and processing of rice. Her plantations cover more than five hundred hectares, which are worked with several machines like planters, harrowers, harvesters and insecticide sprayers.

Here I am, struggling to keep my ageing car alive, while Farmer Funke has become an employer of three hundred hands. I am no longer laughing.

Questions:

a. What was the common link between Funke and the writer?

b. Why did the writer think that Funke would not go into farming?

c. Why did the writer put ‘noble’ in inverted commas?

d. What two factors helped Funke’s success?

e. How successful was Funke in her chosen profession?

f. What does the last sentence suggest about the writer?

g. …as serious as any of us in our choices.

h. … that she indeed studied Agriculture in the university …

i. 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.

You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this section.

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

Rarely can one find any African dish without tomato. It is an important ingredient in the preparation of rice, beans and many varieties of stews and soups. Although there are many types of tomatoes, the ones preferred by most people are thick, fleshy and virtually seedless. A few years ago, many homes could not buy this essential commodity because it was unaffordable. It became so scarce that, even when available, it was sold at an exorbitant price. Many had to resort to using the canned tomato paste. However, it was not tomato alone that was unaffordable, other food items were also out of reach of the common person. A number of reasons were identified as the cause of this disturbing situation.

Experts identified tuta absoluta as the disease that affected many tomato farms. This caused massive destruction to the crop and resulted in scarcity. Surprisingly, tomato was not the only crop that was plagued by disease; maize was also attacked by a disease caused by a ravaging army of moth-like flies that eat up the leaves and suck up the tender corn while still in the cob. They are called army worms. This disease also affected other grains like sorghum, millet and wheat resulting in widespread scarcity.

Farmers usually rely on wholesalers to buy off their farm produce. The wholesalers rely largely on private transporters who charge exorbitantly to render their services. The high cost of evacuating the farm produce continues to make it scarce and expensive. Transporters blame the exorbitant charges on high cost of fuel and vehicular maintenance due to bad roads. This cost is eventually transferred to the product and borne by the consumers, many of whom are unable to afford it.

Farmers do not have access to storage facilities, so they are unable to preserve their harvest while awaiting the arrival of buyers. Unfortunately, a lot of the farm produce is eventually trashed as it spoils on the farms. This is particularly disheartening, considering that not enough is produced for the consumption of the populace in the first place. Ultimately, the farmer calculates the total cost of planting for the year on whatever is left to be sold.

The problems are, however, not insurmountable especially because they have been identified. Governments have an important role to play which they cannot abdicate to the citizenry. For far too long, farming has depended on manual labour. In order to increase as well as guarantee greater harvest, governments must encourage and support mechanized farming. Waste would be reduced to the barest minimum if storage facilities were available; therefore, the provision of storage facilities is pertinent. Government should also educate farmers on modern farming practices including the use of necessary insecticides at the appropriate time. Certainly, these steps will bring some succour to the lingering food crisis on the continent.

Questions:

a. In three sentences, one for each, state three causes of food scarcity in Africa.

b. In three sentences, one for each, state three ways by which the problem of food scarcity can be tackled.