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.
Fill in the gap(s) with the most appropriate option from the list following the gap(s).
The poor man was pleased to find _____ tyre?
Options: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 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 life- the drinking and fighting and beer-brewing and gambling- their failure was inevitable. They could not keep us insulated. By the time we move about, we were already seeing things with 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 latter 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 these 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 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.
It is normal in Nigeria to use proficiency in the use of English language as a barometer for evaluating the height of any person's educational attainment. Today, many teachers resort quite often to the use of vernacular in the teaching of their subjects. One is often dismayed at the incompetence of many teachers, even graduates in the use of English language. Throughout the colonial period, up to 1960, Nigerian formal education was patterned after the English system. The "accent" was on English and an educated Nigerian was one who was only African in colour but English in thought and culture. The ability to speak English fluently and if possible with an Oxford accent was the hallmark ofexcellence even if the speaker was empty of thought and ideas. In those days it was a serious offence for a secondary school boy or girl to "laugh in the vernacular". But we now swung to the other extreme. Nigeria would say they are not English people, some would say they did not specialise in English in the university. But thecountry has adopted the English language as its official, the language of instruction at schools, parliamentary proceedings, conduct of official business and indeed the lingua franca. If the language is to continue to be used, then it is imperative that we all agree on the pattern of correctness in the language so that communication can be effective.
During the colonial period, according to the passage, an educated Nigerian was one who
Options: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 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 life- the drinking and fighting and beer-brewing and gambling- their failure was inevitable. They could not keep us insulated. By the time we move about, we were already seeing things with 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 latter 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 these 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 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.
The financing of the university will always be a vexatious problem not only because of the need for it to maintain a level of independence that allows for the thriving of intellectual pursuit but also for the size of the funding that is required to maintain an acceptable level ofinfrastructurein a modern university. The experience of the Nigerian university in recent years has, in this regard, been almost alarming. The funding levels requited constitute sufficient reasons for diversifying the sources. Even if the government was in a position on its own to meet all of the university's financial requirements, I consider it desirable that every effort be made to reduce such contribution in the interest of university autonomy. I also hold the view that theuniversity should seek to become dependent, in a substantial way, on funds generated from within. In other words, the sources of funding the university should be diversified as much as possible. Based on this principle, ·we can identify four sources - government, industry, students, and individual philanthropists. I must add quickly that each source has its own set of problems in its continuous interaction with the university, which ought to be addressed here.
Of all the four major sourcesof financing university education mentioned above, contribution through fees from the students involves intricate issues of specialconcern If government gives as an expression of its obligation to promote the general welfare of society if industry gives in order to enhance its chances of procurement of needed human information and material resources, as well as enhance its social responsibility if the general public gives as an indication of voluntary support for a worthy social cause, students (and by inference, their parents) should give in order to purchase an economic good for meeting their own felt need in the expectation that they will be satisfied with the product purchased.
[Adapted from Onosode, GO: 'The politics of Managing People, Prospects and Poverty: The Role of the University, 1990 OAU Convocation}
It is important for university to be independent so that they can________
Options:In question below fill the gap with the appropriate option:
He keeps his _____ clean always
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.
Believe it or not, change is to human existence what the blood is to the human body. We live in era of amazing …. 16…. [A. well-defined B. fast-paced C. favourable D. social] change spawned by advancing technology and industrialization. However, man’s …17…. [A. knowledge of B. attitude to C. commitment to D. opinion of] promoting and defending change in a deliberate effort to establish…18… [A. customs B. companies C. trade-zones D. variations] that stimulate advancement for man’s concern is proving unfavourable to the climate with threatening ...19… [A. repercussions B. clouds C. pressure D. implication].
Human-induced climate change has awakened widespread concern across the globe. As a matter of fact, climate change is now 20 [A. an acceptable B. a foremost C. the only D. the last] global issue. It is a major test of Africa’s ….21…. [A. popularity B. energy C. ingenuity D. incapability] ! the fourth Assessment Report {AR4} of the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that human actions are changing the earth’s climate and creating maker disturbances in human ….22…[A. geography B. societies C. systems D life] and ecosystems. The IPCC reports that the world has warned by an average of 0.76oC since pre-industrial times. The rising global …23…. [A. command B. demand C. warming D. supply] for energy and the adverse changes in the climate put the earth and its inhabitants in a catch -22 situation.
Again, if the effects of climate change on each were commensurate with the level of greenhouse …24 …. [A. structure B. paints C. emulsion D. emissions] in spews out, perhaps Africa would have been spared and would probably be just an amused spectator. But it is, this is not the case. Here again, we see well-meaning global citizens appealing for the rest of the world to take responsibility for the problems of Africa, a strategy that cannot, thus far, termed ….25…. [A. notable B. liable C. credible D. flexible]
In question number 16 above, choose the best option from letters A - D that best completes the gap. Options: