JAMB Use of English 2004

Question 5

We knew early in our life that the atmosphere in our home was different from that in many other homes, where husbands and wives quarrel and where there was drunkenness, laziness or indifference – things we never saw in our family. We chafed and grumbled at the strictness of my father’s regime. We went to hide whenever we broke the rules too visibly. We knew, nevertheless, that our parents wanted good things for us. Some of these, such as the insistence on our going to school and never missing a day, we accepted readily enough, although, like most other children, we occasionally yielded to the temptation to play truant. However, in other cases such as their effort to keep us out of contact with the difficult lifethe drinking and fighting and beerbrewing and gamblingtheir failure was inevitable. They could not keep us insulated. By the time we moved about, we were already seeing things with their eyes and judging things by the standards we had absorbed from them. It was borne in on me and my brothers at a very early age that our father was an uncommon man. For one thing, in most African families, work around the home was women’s work. So we were vastly impressed by the fact that whenever my mother was away, my father could and did do all her jobs-cooking, cleaning and looking after us. We lived in this way in a community in which housework was regarded as being beneath male dignity. Even in families which, like ours, produced boy after boy-our sister came fifth-it simply meant that the mother carried a greater and greater burden of work. In our family, nevertheless, the boys did girls’ work and my father did it with us. One of the prime chores of life in the family was fetching water from the pump down the street, some two hundred metres from our door. Since the pump was not unlocked until six in the morning and there was always crowding, a system had developed whereby you got out before dawn, placed your twenty-litre tin in line, and then went home, returning later to take your place. Often, of course, tins would be moved back in line, and others moved ahead. This could be corrected if none of those in front were too big a challenge. When taps were substituted for the pumps, the first one installed was nearly a kilometre away from our house and we had to make the trek with the water tins balanced on our heads – an indignity because this was the way girls, not proud males, carried their burdens. All the children in the neighbourhood knew we did women’s work and I can still hear their derisive laughter. We did our jobs doggedly, that notwithstanding, because our father and mother expected it of us. Out of choice, our father did everything we did, including fetching water on occasion, and commanded us by sheer force of his example.

Which of the following statements captures the family's approach to housework?

1. the boys were not allowed to do girls’ work
2. their mother did the cooking and cleaning willingly
3. no job was reserved for anyone on the basis of gender
4. the water needed was provided by everyone

Question 6

A wolf, seeing a lamb drinking from a river, wanted to find a pretext for devouring him. He stood higher up the stream and accused the lamb of muddying the water so that he could not drink. The lamb said that he drank only with the tip of his tongue, and that in any case he was standing lower down the river, and could not possibly disturb the water higher up. When this excuse failed him, the wolf said: ‘Well, last year you insulted my father.’ ‘I wasn’t even born then,’ replied the lamb. ‘You are good at finding answers, ‘said the wolf, ‘but what do you mean by taking up so much of the path where I am walking?’ The lamb, frightened at the wolf’s angry tone and terrible aspect, told him, with all due submission, that he could not conceive how his walking on such a wide path could occasion him inconvenience. ‘What!’ exclaimed the wolf, seemingly in great anger and indignation. ‘You are as impudent as your father who seized me by the throat last year, and caused me to be kept in a cage for three months.’ ‘If you will believe me,’ said the lamb, ‘my parents are poor simple creatures who live entirely by green stuff; we are none of us hunters of your species.’ ‘Ah! I see it’s no use talking to you, ‘said the wolf, drawing up close to him. ‘It runs in the blood of your family to hate us wolves, and therefore, as we have come so conveniently together, I’ll just pay off a few of your forefathers’ scores before we part. ‘So saying, he leapt at the lamb from behind and garroted him.

The expression when this excuse failed him suggests that the

1. wolf only made up the charges levelled against the lamb
2. lamb was more intelligent than the wolf
3. lamb was prepared for the charges levelled against him
4. wolf was uncertain of the charges levelled against the lamb

Question 7

A wolf, seeing a lamb drinking from a river, wanted to find a pretext for devouring him. He stood higher up the stream and accused the lamb of muddying the water so that he could not drink. The lamb said that he drank only with the tip of his tongue, and that in any case he was standing lower down the river, and could not possibly disturb the water higher up. When this excuse failed him, the wolf said: ‘Well, last year you insulted my father.’ ‘I wasn’t even born then,’ replied the lamb. ‘You are good at finding answers, ‘said the wolf, ‘but what do you mean by taking up so much of the path where I am walking?’ The lamb, frightened at the wolf’s angry tone and terrible aspect, told him, with all due submission, that he could not conceive how his walking on such a wide path could occasion him inconvenience. ‘What!’ exclaimed the wolf, seemingly in great anger and indignation. ‘You are as impudent as your father who seized me by the throat last year, and caused me to be kept in a cage for three months.’ ‘If you will believe me,’ said the lamb, ‘my parents are poor simple creatures who live entirely by green stuff; we are none of us hunters of your species.’ ‘Ah! I see it’s no use talking to you, ‘said the wolf, drawing up close to him. ‘It runs in the blood of your family to hate us wolves, and therefore, as we have come so conveniently together, I’ll just pay off a few of your forefathers’ scores before we part. ‘So saying, he leapt at the lamb from behind and garroted him.

The expression angry tone and terrible aspect refers to the wolf's

1. sonorous voice and overbearing attitude
2. towering size and thunderous voice
3. harsh voice and menacing posture
4. loud voice and fretting movement

Question 9

A wolf, seeing a lamb drinking from a river, wanted to find a pretext for devouring him. He stood higher up the stream and accused the lamb of muddying the water so that he could not drink. The lamb said that he drank only with the tip of his tongue, and that in any case he was standing lower down the river, and could not possibly disturb the water higher up. When this excuse failed him, the wolf said: ‘Well, last year you insulted my father.’ ‘I wasn’t even born then,’ replied the lamb. ‘You are good at finding answers, ‘said the wolf, ‘but what do you mean by taking up so much of the path where I am walking?’ The lamb, frightened at the wolf’s angry tone and terrible aspect, told him, with all due submission, that he could not conceive how his walking on such a wide path could occasion him inconvenience. ‘What!’ exclaimed the wolf, seemingly in great anger and indignation. ‘You are as impudent as your father who seized me by the throat last year, and caused me to be kept in a cage for three months.’ ‘If you will believe me,’ said the lamb, ‘my parents are poor simple creatures who live entirely by green stuff; we are none of us hunters of your species.’ ‘Ah! I see it’s no use talking to you, ‘said the wolf, drawing up close to him. ‘It runs in the blood of your family to hate us wolves, and therefore, as we have come so conveniently together, I’ll just pay off a few of your forefathers’ scores before we part. ‘So saying, he leapt at the lamb from behind and garroted him.

From the way the story ended, it can be concluded that the

1. lamb did not survive the encounter
2. wolf and the lamb parted amicably
3. wolf had encountered the lamb's parents
4. lamb offended the wolf quite seriously

Question 16

We knew early in our life that the atmosphere in our home was different from that in many other homes, where husbands and wives quarrel and where there was drunkenness, laziness or indifference – things we never saw in our family. We chafed and grumbled at the strictness of my father’s regime. We went to hide whenever we broke the rules too visibly. We knew, nevertheless, that our parents wanted good things for us. Some of these, such as the insistence on our going to school and never missing a day, we accepted readily enough, although, like most other children, we occasionally yielded to the temptation to play truant. However, in other cases such as their effort to keep us out of contact with the difficult lifethe drinking and fighting and beerbrewing and gamblingtheir failure was inevitable. They could not keep us insulated. By the time we moved about, we were already seeing things with their eyes and judging things by the standards we had absorbed from them. It was borne in on me and my brothers at a very early age that our father was an uncommon man. For one thing, in most African families, work around the home was women’s work. So we were vastly impressed by the fact that whenever my mother was away, my father could and did do all her jobs-cooking, cleaning and looking after us. We lived in this way in a community in which housework was regarded as being beneath male dignity. Even in families which, like ours, produced boy after boy-our sister came fifth-it simply meant that the mother carried a greater and greater burden of work. In our family, nevertheless, the boys did girls’ work and my father did it with us. One of the prime chores of life in the family was fetching water from the pump down the street, some two hundred metres from our door. Since the pump was not unlocked until six in the morning and there was always crowding, a system had developed whereby you got out before dawn, placed your twenty-litre tin in line, and then went home, returning later to take your place. Often, of course, tins would be moved back in line, and others moved ahead. This could be corrected if none of those in front were too big a challenge. When taps were substituted for the pumps, the first one installed was nearly a kilometre away from our house and we had to make the trek with the water tins balanced on our heads – an indignity because this was the way girls, not proud males, carried their burdens. All the children in the neighbourhood knew we did women’s work and I can still hear their derisive laughter. We did our jobs doggedly, that notwithstanding, because our father and mother expected it of us. Out of choice, our father did everything we did, including fetching water on occasion, and commanded us by sheer force of his example.

By describing his father as an uncommon man, the writer means that he is

1. amenable
2. remarkable
3. strict
4. kind

Question 17

We knew early in our life that the atmosphere in our home was different from that in many other homes, where husbands and wives quarrel and where there was drunkenness, laziness or indifference – things we never saw in our family. We chafed and grumbled at the strictness of my father’s regime. We went to hide whenever we broke the rules too visibly. We knew, nevertheless, that our parents wanted good things for us. Some of these, such as the insistence on our going to school and never missing a day, we accepted readily enough, although, like most other children, we occasionally yielded to the temptation to play truant. However, in other cases such as their effort to keep us out of contact with the difficult lifethe drinking and fighting and beerbrewing and gamblingtheir failure was inevitable. They could not keep us insulated. By the time we moved about, we were already seeing things with their eyes and judging things by the standards we had absorbed from them. It was borne in on me and my brothers at a very early age that our father was an uncommon man. For one thing, in most African families, work around the home was women’s work. So we were vastly impressed by the fact that whenever my mother was away, my father could and did do all her jobs-cooking, cleaning and looking after us. We lived in this way in a community in which housework was regarded as being beneath male dignity. Even in families which, like ours, produced boy after boy-our sister came fifth-it simply meant that the mother carried a greater and greater burden of work. In our family, nevertheless, the boys did girls’ work and my father did it with us. One of the prime chores of life in the family was fetching water from the pump down the street, some two hundred metres from our door. Since the pump was not unlocked until six in the morning and there was always crowding, a system had developed whereby you got out before dawn, placed your twenty-litre tin in line, and then went home, returning later to take your place. Often, of course, tins would be moved back in line, and others moved ahead. This could be corrected if none of those in front were too big a challenge. When taps were substituted for the pumps, the first one installed was nearly a kilometre away from our house and we had to make the trek with the water tins balanced on our heads – an indignity because this was the way girls, not proud males, carried their burdens. All the children in the neighbourhood knew we did women’s work and I can still hear their derisive laughter. We did our jobs doggedly, that notwithstanding, because our father and mother expected it of us. Out of choice, our father did everything we did, including fetching water on occasion, and commanded us by sheer force of his example.

Which of the following describes the father’s role in the family?

1. Being too hard on the children.
2. Usurping his wife’s role in the family.
3. Serving the children.
4. Leading by example.

Question 21

A wolf, seeing a lamb drinking from a river, wanted to find a pretext for devouring him. He stood higher up the stream and accused the lamb of muddying the water so that he could not drink. The lamb said that he drank only with the tip of his tongue, and that in any case he was standing lower down the river, and could not possibly disturb the water higher up. When this excuse failed him, the wolf said: ‘Well, last year you insulted my father.’ ‘I wasn’t even born then,’ replied the lamb. ‘You are good at finding answers, ‘said the wolf, ‘but what do you mean by taking up so much of the path where I am walking?’ The lamb, frightened at the wolf’s angry tone and terrible aspect, told him, with all due submission, that he could not conceive how his walking on such a wide path could occasion him inconvenience. ‘What!’ exclaimed the wolf, seemingly in great anger and indignation. ‘You are as impudent as your father who seized me by the throat last year, and caused me to be kept in a cage for three months.’ ‘If you will believe me,’ said the lamb, ‘my parents are poor simple creatures who live entirely by green stuff; we are none of us hunters of your species.’ ‘Ah! I see it’s no use talking to you, ‘said the wolf, drawing up close to him. ‘It runs in the blood of your family to hate us wolves, and therefore, as we have come so conveniently together, I’ll just pay off a few of your forefathers’ scores before we part. ‘So saying, he leapt at the lamb from behind and garroted him.

The charges levelled against the lamb are

1. pollution, insolence, obstruction and aggression.
2. exuberance, pollution, wickedness and stubbornness
3. garrulity, loquacity, pride and arrogance
4. greed, wandering, insolence and disrespect.

Question 23

A wolf, seeing a lamb drinking from a river, wanted to find a pretext for devouring him. He stood higher up the stream and accused the lamb of muddying the water so that he could not drink. The lamb said that he drank only with the tip of his tongue, and that in any case he was standing lower down the river, and could not possibly disturb the water higher up. When this excuse failed him, the wolf said: ‘Well, last year you insulted my father.’ ‘I wasn’t even born then,’ replied the lamb. ‘You are good at finding answers, ‘said the wolf, ‘but what do you mean by taking up so much of the path where I am walking?’ The lamb, frightened at the wolf’s angry tone and terrible aspect, told him, with all due submission, that he could not conceive how his walking on such a wide path could occasion him inconvenience. ‘What!’ exclaimed the wolf, seemingly in great anger and indignation. ‘You are as impudent as your father who seized me by the throat last year, and caused me to be kept in a cage for three months.’ ‘If you will believe me,’ said the lamb, ‘my parents are poor simple creatures who live entirely by green stuff; we are none of us hunters of your species.’ ‘Ah! I see it’s no use talking to you, ‘said the wolf, drawing up close to him. ‘It runs in the blood of your family to hate us wolves, and therefore, as we have come so conveniently together, I’ll just pay off a few of your forefathers’ scores before we part. ‘So saying, he leapt at the lamb from behind and garroted him.

Which of the following aptly describes the moral of the story?

1. No matter how highly placed he is in society, the unmindful lawbreaker will always meet his nemesis.
2. The law is weak in defence of the poor against the rich and mighty.
3. The sins of the forefathers are visited upon the children no matter how long it takes.
4. If you have made up your mind to hang your dog, any rope will do for the purpose.

Question 26

Choose the option that best completes the gaps: I shall find time for my _____ when I get _____ with this difficult assignment.

1. past-time / over
2. pass-time / over
3. passtime / through
4. pastime / through

Question 27

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: Agbo says he is not afraid of _____.

1. anybody
2. nothing
3. nobody
4. no one

Question 28

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: It is _____ responsibility to look after parents in old age.

1. theirs'
2. their
3. theirs
4. their's

Question 29

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: One needs to exemplify or _____ the aspect of the subject being discussed.

1. supply
2. declare
3. satisfy
4. demonstrate

Question 31

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: After so many trials, the experiment _____ .

1. paid up
2. paid for
3. paid out
4. paid off

Question 34

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: Actually, he forgot the one to _____ the job was given.

1. whom
2. who
3. whomever
4. whoever

Question 36

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: All God's prophets were given the great _____ to preach salvation to people.

1. commision
2. commition
3. comision
4. commission

Question 37

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: Ali goes to the stadium regularly, but he _____ to the church for months.

1. hasn't been
2. haven't been
3. didn't go
4. hadn't been

Question 38

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: Each of the houses _____ a new look.

1. have got
2. have
3. has
4. were given

Question 39

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The minister addressed the workers to boost their _____.

1. morale
2. morality
3. mural
4. moral

Question 40

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: He isn't coming home, is he? _____ he isn't

1. yes
2. no
3. why
4. now

Question 41

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The city _____ as a federal capital city only _____ the last 24 years

1. has existed/for
2. existed/over
3. was existing
4. is existing/in

Question 42

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: No teacher of honour would subject his student to any form of _____

1. harassement
2. harassment
3. harrassement
4. harrassment

Question 43

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: Each producer is able to place a price on his product by considering its _____ .

1. worth
2. choice
3. judgement
4. assessment

Question 44

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The police claim that a number of stolen cars _____ recovered.

1. has being
2. is being
3. has been
4. have been

Question 45

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The storm _____ havoc on several buildings in the village

1. wreaked
2. wrecked
3. made
4. did

Question 46

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The chairman refused to shake _____ with the secretary.

1. hand
2. his hand
3. hands
4. his hands

Question 47

Choose the option that best completes the sentence: The poor widow who could not buy the clothes was seen _____ her wool into _____ yesterday.

1. to spin / yards
2. spinning / yarn
3. making / tailoring
4. to spill / clothes

Question 55

Choose the most appropriate interpretation: Adamu's father is a key figure in that ministry.

1. The ministry trusts Adamu's father as a central figure
2. Adamu's father is a figurehead in the ministry
3. Adamu's father's position is essential in the ministry
4. Adamu's father keeps the key to the ministry

Question 57

Choose the most appropriate interpretation: In many countries, democracy is ostensibly being practiced.

1. democracy is indeed being practiced in many countries
2. many countries have effective democracy
3. many countries have democracy in practice
4. democracy is apparently practiced in many countries

Question 58

Choose the most appropriate interpretation: The investigators stated clearly that they had reached a dead end in their scrutiny of suspects in the murder case.

1. the investigator did not know what to do with the suspects' murder
2. the investigators had evidence to sentence the suspects to death in the end
3. There was no further progress in the investigation of the murder suspects
4. the end had come for the suspects in the murder case

Question 59

The word in capitals has emphatic stress. Choose the question to which the sentence responds: The teacher wants MY pen.

1. Does the teacher want your ruler?
2. Who wants my pen?
3. Does the teacher want his pen?
4. What does the teacher want?

Question 61

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “dauntless”: Sailors are unusually dauntless in their exploits

1. selfless
2. ruthless
3. excited
4. frightened

Question 62

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “potency”: The potency of the drug has been acknowledged.

1. action
2. loss
3. inefficacy
4. power

Question 63

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “tractable”: The dictator wanted tractable men in his cabinet.

1. reliable
2. intelligent
3. tough
4. unruly

Question 64

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “vindictive”: After the war, the visitors became increasingly vindictive

1. friendly
2. vociferous
3. arrogant
4. treacherous

Question 65

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “imperiled”: The ship was imperiled by high winds

1. piloted
2. destroyed
3. deceived
4. saved

Question 66

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “outlandish”: Beauty queens sometimes wear outlandish dresses.

1. beautiful
2. flashy
3. familiar
4. attractive

Question 67

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “freelance”: The journalist said he was working freelance.

1. tirelessly
2. without a pay
3. satisfactorily
4. dependently

Question 68

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “casual”: My father's presentation was rather casual

1. formal
2. vital
3. informal
4. divisive

Question 69

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “plucky”: The Flying Eagles put up a plucky defence against their opponents

1. strong
2. weak
3. careless
4. tactful

Question 70

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “deranged”: The man who scared the girl was a bit deranged

1. sane
2. amorous
3. crazy
4. dangerous

Question 71

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “get back at”: The injured man is determined to get back at his assailant

1. attack
2. identify
3. visit
4. forgive

Question 72

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “writhed”: The player writhed in pain after the fall

1. cried out
2. remained still
3. walked out
4. shook violently

Question 73

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “unnerved”: The noise of the fans unnerved the star player.

1. refreshed
2. confused
3. helped
4. calmed

Question 74

Choose the option opposite in meaning to “ecstatic”: The team got an ecstatic welcome from the crowd

1. an unexpected
2. a joyous
3. a cold
4. a thunderous

Question 77

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “insignia”: The school’s badge is the insignia of office for all the prefects in the school.

1. seal
2. recognition
3. power
4. symbol

Question 78

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “turmoil”: The town was in such a turmoil that the dance was called off.

1. state of darkness
2. state of confusion
3. rainy state
4. mourning state

Question 79

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “heritage”: The festivals create in the people a feeling of pride in their cultural heritage.

1. legacy
2. possession
3. history
4. heirloom

Question 80

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “Funnily enough”: Funnily enough, the priest prayed for the robber who shot him.

1. timidly
2. fearlessly
3. unexpectedly
4. disappointingly

Question 81

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “ill at ease”: The presence of the captain makes the sailors ill at ease.

1. impatient
2. easily ill
3. uncomfortable
4. sickly

Question 82

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “downturn”: There has been a downturn in the affairs of the company.

1. a turn-around
2. a massive increase
3. a decline
4. little progress.

Question 83

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “boomeranged”: His plans boomeranged on him.

1. catapulted
2. backfired
3. fell
4. bounced.

Question 85

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “liberality”: Ibro shows enough liberality with his meager income.

1. insensitivity
2. prodigality
3. frugality
4. generosity

Question 86

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “misnomer”: It is a misnomer to call three thousand naira a living wage.

1. a wrong description
2. an incontrovertible assertion
3. an appropriate term
4. a mishmash

Question 88

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “utmost”: The manager’s knowledge of the strike is of the utmost importance

1. basic
2. genuine
3. standard
4. paramount

Question 92

Choose the option nearest in meaning to “substantiate”: The prosecutor was fully able to substantiate the charge.

1. expatiate on
2. weaken
3. prove
4. dismiss

Question 94

The word in capitals has emphatic stress. Choose the question to which the sentence responds: The student BOUGHT the book.

1. Who bought the book?
2. What did the student buy?
3. How will the student get the book?
4. Did the student steal the book?