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 blank spaces in the following sentences making use of the best of the five options:
It is time we _____ this irresponsible member
Options:No journey can be quite soothing as a voyage on the Nile from Cairo to Philae. Day after day as you sails upstream nothing in the general pattern changes. Tonight’s incredibly bright stars are the same as last night’s and tomorrow’s. Each new bend in the river discloses the same buffalo circling his waterwheel, the same pigeon-lofts on the houses, the same dark Egyptian faces swathed in white.
The banks are surprisingly green, a patchwork of rice fields and sugarcane, of palms and eucalyptus, and then beyond them, like a frame set around a picture; one sees the desert and the hills. There is always s a movement somewhere, but it is of a gentle, ambulatory, kind and one feels oneself going along in a rhythm with the processions of camels and donkeys on the bank, and the feluccas gliding by, and the buffalo, released at last from his wheel, sliding to the blessed coolness of the water in the evening. Occasionally a whiff of humanity comes out from the mud-hut villages on the shore, and it contains traces of the smoke of cooking forest, of dried cow-dung and of Turkish coffee, of some sweet and heavy scent, jasmine perhaps, and of water sprinkled on the dust. It is not unpleasant.
Lying on deck, one idly observes the flight of birds, one dream one lets the hours go by, and nothing can be more satisfying than the sight of the brown pillars of a ruined temple that has been standing alone on the edge of the desert for the last two thousand years. This is the past joining the present in a comfortably deceptive glow, and the traveller, like a spectator in a theater, remains detached from the both, he would not for the world live in the dust and squalor of these villages he finds so picturesque, and the ancient ruins he has come to see do not really evoke the early civilization of the Egyptians.
Which of the following statement is true of the buffaloes? 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 23 above, choose the best option from letters A-D that best completes the gap. Options:Millons of people today are in serious ‘debt’. This can be a major factor in wrecking their cars, damaging their careers and even ruining their marriages. It can adversely affect their health and lifespan. It is a deficit that contributes to immune suppression, creating susceptibility to various infections. Conditions as different as diabetes, heart diseases, and extreme obesity, as well as other health problems have been linked to it. Yet, most victims are oblivious of this debt. The debtor is the one who does not have enough sleep needed for well-being. This can be caused by voluntary sleep deprivation resulting from a person’s life-style or by involuntary sleep deprivation because of illness and other causes. Medical researchers estimate that the earth’s population is now getting on the average an hour less sleep per into both the variety of sleep-related illnesses and their impact on the quality of life.
The medical world once viewed the chronic inability to sleep as just one disorder, commonly called insomnia. However, a commission created by the U.S. Congress recognized 17 distinct sleep disorders. At any rate, insomnia has so many causes that it is often considered to be a sympt5om of other problems, much as fever suggests some sort of infection. Even occasional deprivation of sleep can be disastrous. Consider the case of Tom, although an experienced truck driver, he plunged his 18-wheel vehicle over an embankment, spilling 400 litres of sulphuric acid onto a major highway. Tom admits: ‘I fell asleep.’ Students of two U.S. highways estimated that drowsy drivers caused some 50 per cent of the fatal crashes.
With hundreds of thousands of sleep-related auto and other accidents happening annually, the worldwide coast to productivity and family is enormous. What factors may contribute to lack of sleep? ‘One is the social phenomenon often called 24/7- operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The newspaper, USA Today, described this as a cultural earthquake that is changing the way we live, noting that a new wave of round-the-clock retailers and services is profiting by mocking the clock. In many lands, people watch all-night television programmes and access the internet when they should be sleeping. Then there is the toll taken by emotional disorders, often involving anxieties heightened by stress occasioned by the pace of life. Also, there are a variety of physical diseases that can contribute to lack of sleep.
Many doctors note how difficult it is to get their patients to take sleep seriously. One doctor complained that chronic fatigue is even considered ‘a status symbol’ by some. And because their condition often worsens very gradually, victims of sleep deprivation may not recognize that they suffer from a serious sleep disorder. Many of them reason, ‘I’m just getting old’ or I’ can’t cope with life, so I tend to shut down’ or ‘I’m tired all the time because I can never get the long rest I need.’ Reversing this sleep debt is a complex challenge. But understanding how a healthful sleep cycle works and learning to identify the signs of sleep debt can provide the motivation to change. Recognizing the symptoms of a serious sleep disorder can save lives and this should be a warning to many Nigerians, particularly those who engage in long night journeys.
The -passage suggests that Options:Select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence.
If he were here, could be more fun.
Options:Choose the option that best completes the gap.
The young man looked carefully at the long document, but he couldn't make __________ what it meant.
Options:Choose the most appropriate option nearest in meaning to the underlined words.
He is bound to expose himself by his nefarious activities?
Options:Choose the word/expression which best completes each sentence :
He played the piano _____ an hour or two
Options: