JAMB Use of English 2024 practice collection

B: Kolawole Abdul

Kolawole was the student beside Salma who passed her the notes during the examination. 'Notes of Salvation' was Salma's name for those notes.

C: Noise

Boys and noise both end in /ɔɪz/. Moist ends in /ɔɪst/, while elbows and stays have different vowel sounds.

C: Third syllable: producTIvity

The main stress falls on the syllable 'tiv': produc-TIV-i-ty. The earlier 'prod' has only secondary stress.

A: Vineyard

The first vowel in busy is /ɪ/, as in the first syllable of vineyard. Twilight and island begin with /aɪ/ instead.

C: Under the courtyard mango tree

Jamila suggested moving outside to the mango tree in the courtyard, and the family went there.

B: Smooth

Clothe and smooth end in /ð/. Cloth and thesis use /θ/, while good ends in /d/.

B: His mother died shortly after his birth

The novel links Talle's name to his mother's death soon after he was born. His reticent behaviour explains his later nickname, 'the quiet one'.

A: Speaker

The nameplate identifying Habib Lawal gives his office as Speaker of the House of Assembly.

B: The mix of roommates

Salma was unhappy with the composition of the roommates assigned to her room.

B: ₦100,000

He asked for ₦200,000, but Salma offered ₦100,000 and then gave him that amount.

B: Meddlesome

The narrator describes Bint's Social Studies teacher as meddlesome because he intrudes into the children's affairs.

B: Imagining an unlikely success

A castle in the air is an attractive but impractical plan or daydream.

B: Argue the less popular side to test an idea

A devil's advocate argues for a less accepted position for the sake of discussion, even if it is not their own view.

A: Person everyone notices

A cynosure is the centre of attention, so people are noticing Titi.

B: Postponed

To stand over can mean to be postponed or deferred until a later time.

B: Innocent

Innocent means not guilty of wrongdoing; the other choices suggest responsibility or fault.

C: Poor

Prosperous describes someone who is financially successful or thriving; poor gives the opposite sense here.

C: Authentic

An authentic document is genuine; fake, imitation, counterfeit and forged suggest the reverse.

B: Tidy

Messy means untidy or disordered, so tidy is its opposite.

B: Leaves it to her in a will

To bequeath property is to leave it to someone by a will.

B: Fruitless

A futile effort achieves no useful result; fruitless has the same sense.

A: Completely absorbed

Rapt means wholly absorbed or deeply attentive.

A: very first party dress

Very intensifies first; the ordinal phrase very first comes before party dress.

B: would have been

'But for' means 'if it had not been for'. A past unreal result takes 'would have been' followed by the past participle 'injured'.

C: up

To bring up a memory is to mention or call it to mind in conversation.

A: adorn

Adorn means decorate oneself, which fits beautiful clothing. Mar means spoil; trim means cut/neaten; garnish normally concerns decorating food, not dressing oneself.

C: In spite

'In spite of' expresses the intended contrast. The word 'of' is already in the sentence, so 'despite of' would be ungrammatical.

C: diminished

Diminished means decreased; his reduced power is explained by declining influence.

D: scarcely

Scarcely know means hardly know at all, explaining the refusal to lend books.

D: pain

The underlined final p in gap is /p/, the initial consonant in pain.

D: handicap

The initial P in public represents /p/. Handicap contains the same sound at its end. Trophy and pharmacy use /f/, while the written initial p in psychology is silent.

C: He completely severed from his old friend

Neck and crop conveys completeness or thoroughness. Here it means Tayo completely broke off the friendship, rather than becoming frightened or suspicious or forgiving the friend.

A: needs to study late into the night

To burn the midnight oil means to work or study late into the night. Here the question tests the meaning of the idiom: it does not mean literal burning, staying awake all day, or studying at any chosen time. The idiom itself does not establish late-night study as a requirement for examination success.

A: clear

Vague instructions lack clarity; clear is their direct opposite. Obscure and hazy have similar meanings to vague; sure expresses certainty rather than clarity of instructions.

D: garrulous

Taciturn means habitually quiet; garrulous means excessively talkative.

D: forthcoming

Reticent about the past means unwilling to reveal it; forthcoming means willing to supply information.

D: extensive

Epidemic proportions figuratively means a widespread, extensive scale of unemployment.

D: admires

Cherishes means values highly or holds dear. In this context admires is the nearest of the four choices because it expresses approval; condemns, abhors, and despises express negative attitudes.

A: were

The plural subject the touts takes were in this passive sentence. Were arrested is a past passive construction. Was and is are singular forms, while where is a word about place rather than a form of be.

D: reach

Beyond someone’s reach means too far away for that person to touch or get. Reach fits this distance expression; touch, catch, and pluck do not form the ordinary expression here.

D: theirs

Theirs is an independent possessive pronoun standing for their share, and it has no apostrophe. There indicates a place; there’s abbreviates there is or there has; their’s is not the standard possessive form.

D: geese

Geese is the irregular plural of goose. The sentence describes living birds being chased, so it needs the plural geese rather than singular goose or the nonstandard forms gooses and geeses.

C: along

Along the corridor describes movement following its length. Under means beneath; among is used for surrounding distinct members; around would mean circling rather than going through the corridor.

D: calls for

The infinitive clause To be alive after such a serious accident functions as a singular subject. Calls for agrees with it and means warrants or deserves a celebration. Call for lacks singular agreement, while the passive options change the required meaning.

C: right

Light and right share /aɪt/, so their stressed vowel and following consonants rhyme.

B: hymn

The underlined e in market is /ɪ/ in standard British /ˈmɑːkɪt/; hymn also has /ɪ/.

A: rake

Bathe has /eɪ/; rake has the same vowel. Bath has /ɑː/ in standard British English and care has /eə/. Tear can mean ripping (/teə/) or a drop from the eye (/tɪə/); neither has the /eɪ/ vowel in bathe.

A: iMMUnity

Immunity has primary stress on its second syllable, mu: /ɪˈmjuːnəti/.

C: radioACtive

Radioactive has primary stress on ac: /ˌreɪdiəʊˈæktɪv/. The earlier radio portion has secondary stress.

A: It is highly unlikely that it will snow in June

Highly improbable means highly unlikely, without asserting absolute impossibility.

C: He cheated on his wife with his mistress

Play someone false means betray or deceive them; presenting a mistress as a cousin describes cheating on his wife.