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.
Gossip! Yes gossip is universal. In some language, it may have an outright negative connotation but in English, it basically means ‘idle talk’, chat about trivial things or matter. When moderated and kind, ‘casual talk’ may serve to exchange useful information as a means of updating one’s knowledge. The whole neighborhood may grow gossipy with who got married, pregnant, died, or it may just be a humorous chi-chat devoid of malicious intent.
However, idle talk more often than not, degenerates beyond the bounds of property and good taste. Facts get embellish, exaggerated or deliberately distorted. Humiliation is made the source of humor. Privacy is violated, confidence betrayed and reputations injured or ruined. Condemnation takes the place of commendation, murmuring and fault finding are extolled. The end result is like the mud thrown on a clean piece of white cloth. It does not stick but it leaves a dirty and sometimes permanent stain behind.
Gossip has been blamed for sleepless nights, headache and indigestion. Certainly, it must have caused you some personal anguish at one time or the other that is someone must at some times have tried getting a knife between your shoulder blades. Negative gossip is almost universally frowned upon. Among the Indians in the United States, gossiping about someone is classified with lying and stealing. Among the Yoruba of Nigeria, the tale bearer is detested and often avoided. Indeed, throughout history, measures have been taken to curb this ‘deadly’ disease. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, the ducking stool was popularly used in England and Germany and later in the United States.
The gossip was tied to a chair and repeatedly ducked in water. In modern times, the war against gossiping has also been fought. Rumor control centers have been established to even respond to rumors that were potentially harmful to government activities. Law have been passed to curb gossip. Nicknames have been given to those who peddle the trade. Ever heard of ‘Amebo’!
Such efforts notwithstanding, gossip survives. It is alive and flourishing. Gossip is everywhere. There is neighborhood gossip, office gossip, party gossip, family gossip and funnily enough, religious gossip. Gossip transcends all cultures, race and civilizations, and it has flourished and it is still flourishing at every level of the society. Gossip is deeply a part of human nature. Yet gossip is not inherently evil. There is a positive side to casual talk. Knowing where to draw harmless and harmful gossip is the key to avoiding victimizing others and being victim yourself.
‘Grow gossipy’ as used in the passage, means the area Options:Select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence.
The officer has discussed the vexed issue of incessant power failure?
Options:Fill each gap with the most appropriate option from the list following the gap.
Kunle was annoyed for arriving late _____ put him out of temper?
Options:Choose the option that best completes the gap(s).
Uncle Ochai now has enough money to completes his ______ building?
Options:In question below fill the gap with the appropriate option:
A number of students _____ missed the opportunity to re-register
Options:The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks.
Drought is a word that invokes strong emotions. This is not surprising as the...16...[A. ideology B. phenomenon C. idea D. component] is usually accompanied by a number of unpleasant developments. These developments have ……..17…..[A. feedback B. results C. implication D. outcomes] for all citizens, starting from the peasant farmers to the state and federal governments which may be plunged into emergency and crisis situation which, if not successfully ……18…..[A. managed B. manipulated C. examined D. studied] could result in social unrest.
The timeliness of the onset of the rains in various regions of the country and their adequate distribution thereafter have become…..19…..[A. objects B. subjects C. issues D. topics] of considerable anxiety to all people. The fact, however, is that periodic reduction in the normal…..20…..[A. amount B. supply C. size D. flood] of rainfall in the country is not new.
Since large areas of the country are drought prone, the consequence are ……21…..[A. effective B. disastrous C. evident D. inevitable]. Dry spells could be very severe. There are two aspects of coping with drought. One has to do with emergency measures and the other with ……22…..[A. routine B. organized C. urgent D. delayed] measures. An immediate consequence of any drought would be famine. In addition, where whole populations are forced to abandon their lands or pastures in search of food, there are bound to be other lasting and…..23…..[A. longitudinal B. objective C. simultaneous D. parallel] consequences such as distress, sales of cattle by livestock owners in order to buy food.
Government should provide farmers with agricultural inputs and ensure that they have easy access to these inputs under the relief…..24…..[A. action B. process C. scheme D. plan]. Emergency measures will be much more……25…..[A. normal B. correct C. idealistic D. effective] if a mechanism is established to ensure adequate preparedness and defence against the occurrence of drought.
In question number 20 above, choose the best option from letters A-D that best completes the gap. Options:In the question below choose the option nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase(s) underlined:
Statesmen are revered for their objectivity
Options:The passage below has gaps numbered 16 to 25. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate for each gap. Each question carries 2 marks.
Publishing is the fast growing business in Nigeria and there are therefore, many publishing houses all over the country. When ……..16……..[A. an article B. an essay C. a book D. a manuscript]. is submitted by an author, the publisher sends it to ……..17……..[A. an assessor B. an evaluator C. a checker D. an examiner] to know if it is actually publishable. This is important because the publisher wants to make sure that the book catches the ……18…..[A. market B. audience C. students D. shops] when it is eventually published. In a good publishing house, there is …….19……[A. an error-proof B. an editor C. a lithographic D. an evaluation] section which is concerned with……..20……[A. proof-reading B. reading over C. scanning over D. skimming over] the manuscript and correcting both the spelling and typing errors. After this, the manuscript is ………21…….[A. typewritten B. typeset C. double-spaced D. single-spaced] in readiness for …….22…..[A. photocopying B. Xeroxing C. filming D. printing].
The printed ……..23……[A. items B. bulletin C. copies D. specimen] are then stored in the warehouse and a few of them may be sent to the author as ……..24……[A. complementary B. complimentary C. acknowledgement D. sample] copies. Since it is not just the aim of the publisher to offset the cost of production but also to make some gains, there is a strong marketing division which promotes sales. A certain percentage of the cover price of the book is paid to the author as ……..25……[A. royalty B. honorarium C. dividend D. interest].
Select the correct option for the space numbered 22 in the above passage Options:In the question below choose the word(s) or phrase which best fills the gap:
I can quickly recite the National Anthem _____ now.
Options: