English-Language Exam Past Questions and Answers | JAMB, WAEC and NECO

English is the study of the English language. The goal is to improve communication skills by practicing listening, speaking, reading, writing, and understanding language rules like pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

• Question 2771:

  There are one or two things this country can teach others, one of them is the art of writing obituaries. One suspects that the reason why some of our newspapers still manage to break even is because of the great amount of revenue they derive from obituaries. It is not unusual for about one quarter of the volume of an average daily to be constituted of obituaries and in in memorial alone. One possible explanation for this, it has been argued, is that Nigerians value their dead greatly. And there is a saying amongst us that you do not say evil things against the dead. This is obviously the philosophy behind the large dose of encomiums with which our dead are bestowed. From evidences of these obituaries and in memorial, every dead Nigerian must have been something of a saint while alive. This would explain why the death of most Nigerians is attributed to the evil Machinations of the wicked. Only very few people in our country die natural death, and even when they do, the obituaries, etc always give the impression that such deaths constitute the saddest loss to befall the deceased family. And that is why writers of these obituaries and their allied advertisements are experts on ‘mortuary stylistics’. This ‘mortuary stylistics’ the study in the art of eulogizing the dead and making their loss sound so heart breaking, is one of the commodities we can export to other countries.

  'Mortuary stylistics' as used in the passage refers to the Options:
  A) art of writing obtuaries
  B) text of obtuaries
  C) study of obtuaries
  D) art of eulogizing the dead
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2772:

  Time was when boys used to point toy guns and say ‘Bang’. Now, they aim real guns and shoot one another. Nearly 4,200 teenagers were killed by firearms in 1990. Only motor vehicle accidents kill most teenagers than firearms and the firearms figures are rising. The chance that a black male between the ages of 15 and 19 will be killed by a gun has almost tripled since 1985 and almost double for white males, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics.

  Who could disagree with Health and Human services secretary, Donna Shalala, when she pronounced these statistics ‘frightening and intolerable?’. In the shameful light of this ‘waste of young lives’ in Ms Shalala’s words, an often-asked question seems urgently due to be raised again. Would less violence on television, the surrounding environment for most children and young adults make violence in actual life less normal, less accepted, less horrifying?

  It may be difficult to prove an exact correlation between the viewer of fantasized violence and the criminal who acts out violence after turning off the set. But if the premise of education is granted-that good models can influence the young-then it follows that bad models can have an equivalent harmful effects. This is the reasonable hypothesis held, by 80 per cent of the respondents to a recent Time Mirror [poll who think that violent entertainment is ‘harmful’ to the society. Witness enough mimed shootouts; see enough ‘corpses’ fall across the screen and the taking of a human life seems no big deal. Even if a simple causal relationship cannot be established between watching violence and acting it out, is not this numbed sensitivity reason enough for cutting back on the overkill in films and TV?

  The writer uses 'numbed sensitivity' to refer to Options:
  A) deadening of the capacity to feel
  B) objectiionable behaviour
  C) heartlessness on the part of actors
  D) unreasonable violence
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 2773: Choose the most appropriate option nearest in meaning to the underlined word(s).She said boxing is in fact her pet aversion? Options:
  A) something she likes very much
  B) somehing she dislikes very much
  C) a hobby she loves to pursue
  D) one thing she can't miss
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 2774:

  Choose the correct word to fill the space in the following sentences:

  The meeting starts _____ two o'clock. Please be punctual

  Options:
  A) about
  B) in
  C) on
  D) at
  E) around
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2775:

  In the question below select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence:

  The president of club said that he would cross the bridge on getting there

  Options:
  A) He was waiting for an opportunity to take a decision
  B) When he got to the river he would build a bridge across it
  C) He would take a decision at the appropriate time
  D) When he got to the river he would cross at the bridge
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 2776:

  In the question below choose the option opposite in meaning to the word(s) Underlined:

  The angry waves swallowed the boat

  Options:
  A) gentle
  B) unruffled
  C) cool
  D) serene
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 2777:

  Fill the blank spaces with the most appropriate of options A-E:

  There are puddles in the road. It _____

  Options:
  A) rains
  B) will be raining
  C) had to rain
  D) must rain
  E) must have been raining
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is E .
• Question 2778:

  Choose the best option that best completes the gap(s):

  Garba acquiesced _____ their decision.

  Options:
  A) for
  B) on
  C) in
  D) by
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 2779: Choose the option that best complete the gap. A bike must have found the very interesting movies quite _____. Options:
  A) Perverting.
  B) Absolving.
  C) Absorbing.
  D) Nauseating.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2780:

  Choose the option that has the same stress pattern as the given word.

  Student

  Options:
  A) Refuse(N)
  B) Propose
  C) Rebel(V)
  D) Superb
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .