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.
The appearance of comparative peace which Max’s house presented to me that morning proved quite deceptive. Oh perhaps some of Chief Nanga’s ‘queen bee’ characteristics had rubbed off on me and transformed me into an independent little nucleus of activity which I brought with me into this new place. That first night I not only heard of the new political party about to be born but got myself enrolled as a foundation member. Max and some of his friends having watched with deepening disillusion the use to which our hard-won freedom was being put by corrupt, mediocre politicians had decided to come together and launch the Common People’s Convention.
There were eight young people in his room that evening. All but one were citizens of our country, mostly professional types. The only lady was a very beautiful lawyer who, I learnt afterwards, was engaged to Max whom she had first met at the London School of Economics. There was a trade-unionist, a doctor, another lawyer, a teacher and a newspaper columnist
Max introduced me without any previous consultation as a ‘trustworthy comrade who had only the other day had his girlfriend snatched from him by minister who shall remain nameless’. Naturally I did not care for that kind of image reputation. So I promptly intervened to point out that the woman in question was not strictly speaking my girlfriend but a casual acquaintance who both Chief Nanga and I knew.
‘So it was Chief Nanga, yes?’ said the European and everyone burst out laughing.
‘Who else could it be?’ said one of the others.
The Whiteman was apparently from one of the Eastern Bioc countries. He did not neglect to stress to me in an aside that he was there only as a friend of Max’s. He told me a lot of things quietly while the others were discussing some obscure details about the launching. I was as much interested in what he said as the way in which he said it. His English had an exotic quality occasionally – as when he said that it was good to see intellectuals like Max, myself and the rest coming out of their ‘tower or elephant tusk’ into active politics. And he often punctuated whatever he was saying with ‘yes’ spoken with the accent of a question.
Would you say that Chief Nanga, according to the peolpe in that gathering was Options:Where does Adahail from?
Options:It is customary nowadays among fashionable ladies and gentlemen to acquire strange and sometimes quaint cloths which are scarcely ever used. Sometimes it may be an approaching festival; sometimes a two hour ceremony and sometimes to honour a dead colleague – something triggers off the modern craze to sew new materials whose use does not outlast the moment of craze. And so, people who just occupy small apartments in their parents’ homes, or have rented one room in a densely – peopled house find that more than two- thirds of their rooms are filled with bongo trousers which they cannot wear, worn out jeans which stinks, or specially made clothes for occasions that are not recurrent.
Although plagued by the problem of school fees for their children, parents have had to swallow their own phlegm and humour their children who need special clothes for important events. Newly employed youths soon find that their comrades getting married, and a new and special attire must be used to grace the occasion. University students see matriculation ceremonies or induction ceremonies into club membership as special reasons to make new attire which – you may be sure they would not wear on another occasion that parallels the one for which these clothes were made.
Medical doctors may soon find another cause for the incidence of high blood pressure among the youth. The desire to acquire new clothes is one strong possible cause, but a more subtle one which haunts like a ghost is the problem of choice of what to wear. The youths have so stuffed their apartments, wardrobes, drawers and trunks with so many clothes that the greatest problem they face is the choice of what to wear.
In this passage we learn that parents Options:The coach has asked the Bright Rangers to be paid their --6-- salaries and --7-- so as to --8-- them to victory against Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in Saturday'sall-importantCAF Champions League Match. Bright Rangers are the third in group B with four points --9-- many matches and need to --10-- defeat at second-placed Al - Ahly to stay in the --11-- for a place in the semi-final of Africa's most prestigious club competition. The Coach told MTN Football.com that the team would be better motivated if they at leastreceive their August salaries before the Al-Ahly --12--. We have to make sure that they are paid their salaries --13-- so that they can play the game of their lives. The government has done very well, but it will be a big morale --14-- to get paid for them to go out there and play. The Coach informed MTN Football.com that the Bright Rangers plan to employ the counter --15-- to get a result in Cario.
--7--
Options:Choose the option opposite in meaning to the word or phrase in italics:
The students received a mild reproof from the teacher.
Options:Choose the appropriate stress pattern from the options. The syllables are written in capital letters.
melodramatic?
Options:Choose the option opposite in meaning to the underlined word(s).
He gave himself up by his plebeian tastes?
Options:One day, Alan, a friend of mine, who likes country life, was fishing in a river, when he caught a trout. He tried to put fish in but it slipped off the hook, flew over his head and landed in a field behind him.
Alan put down his rod, went through the gate and started searching for his trout. Some people, obviously from the city were having a picnic in the field. One of the men shouted. ‘What on earth are you doing? Thinking that it was a silly question because they could see how hews dressed, Alan replied ‘Fishing’.
‘Don’t be silly, the fish are down in the river’, answered the man, ‘Fish don’t live fields! He turned to his friends, laughing, thinking that he had made a good joke.
Oh, but they do, ‘said Alan, They jump out of the river to look for flies and I catch them with my hands. At that moment he found his trout in the grass and picked it up and showed it to the picnickers. He put it in his basket and bent down, as if he was hunting for another one. The picnickers, no longer laughing, spent the rest of the day searching the field.
Why did the fish land in the field? Options:Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word(s).
The uniform makes the guards look absurd.
Options:By the time a child reached the age of two years, the psychologist says he is ‘self-conscious’. This is not the same as the lay use of the term, although there is a connection. The psychologist means that the child is aware that he is a self and not an extension of his mother. This awareness is shown in such behavioural acts as disobedience and the use of the word ‘no’ with emphasis, because the child is aware that he does not have to obey parental commands. Parental commands (moral imperative) are given throughout these two years first for the child’s own safety e.g. ‘Don’t touch the fire and secondly, so that he begins to develop some sense of right and wrong. An adult is able to weigh the consequence of his actions, partly because he has developed a concept of idea of time. The young child lacks this concept and is governed by immediate desires which must be fulfilled. Thus, in some situations, he can be excused for not behaving morally, i.e. making the choice which is ‘good’ for himself and others. In other situations, he knows what is right and chooses not to do it. Immature adults can also behave in this self-centred way.
The immature adult is like the child because Options: