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.
It is of no more use to give advice to the idle than top pour water into a sieve, but it strike me that lazy people ought to have a large looking glass hung up where they are bound to see themselves in it. For sure, if their eyes are at all like mine, they will never bear to look at themselves long or often. The ugliest sight in the world is one of those thorough-bred loafers, who would hardly hold up his basin if it were to rain with porridge: and for certain, would never hold up a bigger pot than he wanted to fill for himself.
Perhaps, if the shower should turn to beer, he might wake himself up a bit; but he will make up for it afterwards, since as a slothful man, he folds his hands in sleep and hates to get up even for his meals. Men like him ought to be treated with like the drone which the bees drive out of their hives for inactivity overdependence.
Every man ought to have patience and pity for poverty; but for laziness, a long whip might be better. This would be a healthy treatment for all sluggards, but there is no chance of some of them getting their full dose of this medicine, for they were born with silver spoons in their mouths, and like spoons will scarce stir their own tea unless somebody lends them a hand. They are like the proverbial dogs that leaned his head against the wall to bark and, like lazy sheep, it is too much trouble for them to carry their own wool. If they could see themselves, it might by chance do them a world of good; but perhaps it would be too much trouble for them to open their eyes even if the glass were hung for them.
If I seem to hit hard at the sluggards, it is because I know they can bear it, for if they were seed on the threshing floor, you will thresh many days to get them out of the straw, for laziness is in their bones, and will show itself in their idle flesh, no matter what you do with them.
Adapted from Spurgeon, C.H.: John Ploughman’s Talk
which of the following explains the point being made in the second paragraph? Options: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.
A prepared speech is not easy to deliver, especially if it is not written by the presenter. -11- [A. Quantum B. document C. free D. manuscript] delivery is one in which the speech has been written out word from word and is read to -12- [A. an audience B. a congregation C. a conference D. a gathering]. this kind of delivery is usually reserved for very -13-[A. genuine B. impromptu C. guaranteed D. formal] occasions when exact wording is -14-[A. reportive B. conclusive C. speculative D. critical] such as the State of the Union Address or speeches before the United Nations General -15-[A. Assembly B. Audience C. Organisation D. Negotiation]. The primary advantage is that the speech may be highly-16-[A. advanced B. analogous C. discreet D. polished] in terms of word choice, turns of phrase, and development of ideals. The main disadvantage is that this type of delivery is difficult to do well. Reading aloud with meaningful -17-[A. vocal B. bifocal C. anticipatory D. profuse] inflection requires the speaker to be very familiar with the text. If not, the words will come out in a choppy, expressionless way. Such poor delivery could destroy any -18-[A. decisive B. positive C. interactive D. restrictive] effects created by the carefully chosen -19-[A. dialect B. rhetoric C. slang D. language] . Lack of familiarity with the -20-[A. text B. context C. exchange D. note] could also prevent the speaker from maintaining eye contact with the people being addressed.
In question number 19 above, choose the best option from letters A - D that best completes the gap. Options:Setting up a news paper involves a lot of preparations. The __11__ has to employ a lot of people. Other people working with him are cartographers, editors, typesetters, readers, who work in various ways to produce the text of the newspaper, __12__, who go out and collect story and items of news, and __13__, who specialize in one kind of topic. Another important person who works closely with the Editor-in-Chief is the __14__, who has to choose the most important stories__15__ go through stories sent to them and make necessary adjustments.
The Editor-in-Chief could determine for instance, whether a particular journalist should write articles daily or weekly in a particular column. Such a journalist is known as __16__. The editorials of the news paper will be coordinated by __17__. The publisher could decide to establish __18__ which would be on sale weekly, fortnightly, or monthly,__19__ the eyes catching, screaming headlines and captions of newspapers on sale everyday from the __20__.
Choose the most appropriate option for the gap labelled 11. Options:Politics in pre-colonial times did not involve the partisan type of electioneering campaign that we now have. The society was ruled by a king or an emir and his traditional chiefs or by the council of elders or clan heads. Where there existed the hierarchical system as in the Yoruba and Hausa kingdoms, succession to throne was mainly patriarchal. A recorded exception was the case of queen Amina of the Zazzau Empire who ruled in the 15th century AD.
A host of unsung and unrecorded women regents and at the times women village rulers abound, especially the present Ondo state where some influential female chiefs and regents still exist. In Ibadan, the famous Efunsetan Aniwura held political as well as economic sway and it took a lot of drive, brain work and political engineering for the then King and his council chiefs to subdue her. The history of the various towns and villages of the period could boast of such women who were actively engaged in the running of government.
In the Igbo society, a rise to leadership position was through demonstrated ability in fostering societal survival rather than heritage. Women’s voice in the politics of each clan is given focus either through the guild of wives, the guild of daughters, or the market women’s guild. Women, through these organs, could make their feelings known on any issue affecting their community as a whole or females in particular, Thus, unpopular edict or ‘decrees’ could be revoked or revised as a result of mounted pressure from any of these female associations. No decision was usually taken by the man without prior consultation with the leaders of the women’s groups.
It must however be emphasized that the degree of women participation in politics was yet much limited when compared to that of men.
Which of the following is implied in the passage? Options:In the question below choose the word(s) or phrase(s) which best fill(s) the gap:
Now, i am used _____ bread without butter.
Options:Recgnizing the need for objectivity in their work, the early report writers to develop a writing style which 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 5than 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 the answer to the point on objectivity 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 substances. 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 lovely 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 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.
Her 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 a preference for impersonal style for like most human beings; businessman has 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 case with most reports, the conventional impersonal style is best.