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As a rule the Emopa are very brave indeed and are among the few Africans who still hunt lion with the spear. They also kill elephants, not for food but for spear blooding or to prove their manhood. When elephants are located, there is great excitement and fierce competition among the young men. Each tries to be first to blood his spear, the one who does so claims the trophy. No young man is looked upon with favour by the girls until he has won his spurs by killing a dangerous animal.
But as brave as the Emopa are, two fierce man-eaters completely overawed them. This was partly due to the cunning and boldness of the lions, partly to the fact that when hunted, they would always retreat into dense riverine and undergrowth, where it was impossible for man to poise and throw a spear. Superstition had also added its quota to the fear with which they were regarded. It was said that before starting off on a raid the lions would retire to an open sandy place and there make two rows of depressions in the sand with their paws. Then, using twings as counters, they would play the ancient game of ‘baw’ (a game of unknown antiquity, which resembles draughts and is played all over Africa). If the omens were good they would raid a village and claim a victim, if not, they would wait. Another story had it that the lions were the spirits of two ‘holy men’ who had now come back in this shape to seek their revenge. So strongly was this view held that the local Emopa had petitioned a practising ‘holy man’ to come from a great distance to exorcise the spirits. He came with book, bell and candle and charged a fee of a hundred goats but the lions continued their depredations. To add to the legend of the lions invulnerability many hunters had tried on previous occasions to kill them and had failed owing to lack of time. This confirmed the Emopa’s opinion that lions were supernatural beings and that it was useless to hunt them.
The lions played the game of 'baw' because Options:The passage below has gaps numbered 11 to 20. Immediately following each gap, four options are provided. Choose the most appropriate option for each gap.
Capitalism is an economic system which is founded on the principle of free enterprise and the private ownership of the means of production and distribution. The - 11 – [A. protagonists B. antagonists C. determiners D. attorneys] of capitalism claim that its essential characteristic is economic - 12- [A. exploitation B. manipulation C. manoeuvring D. freedom]. The producer is free to produce whatever goods he – 13 - [A. sells B. buys C. fancies D. manufactures]. but the - 14 – [ A. customer B. consumer C. controller D. marketer]. is equally free to buy what he wants. There is a market mechanism under this system, which brings the producer and consumer together and tends to equate the supplies of the one to the demands of the other, and -15 – [A. neutralize B. harmonize C. settle D. decide] the whims and caprice of both. It is this same - 16 – [A. market B. controlling C. operational D. production] mechanism which determines what prices the consumers pay to the producers, as what share of the total - 17- [ A. dividends B. interest C. output D. profit], in cash or kind, goes to each of the four recognized -18 – [ A. managers B. agents C. methods D. factors] of production – land, labour capital and organization. It is further claimed for this system that every person is capable of watching his or her own interest, and that whatever injustice is done by the - 19 – [A. pricing B. operations C. managers D. buyers and sellers] of the market mechanism, this mechanism tends to bring about a state of - 20 – [ A. conflict B. equidistance C. equilibrium D. opprobrium] between the producers and the consumers.
Choose the option that has the same vowel sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined.
Country?
Options:In many places in the world today, the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer, and the programmes of development planning and foreign aid appear to be unable to reverse this trend. Nearly all the developing countries have a modern sector, where the patterns of living and working are similar to those in developed countries. But they also have a non-modern sector, where the pattern of living and working are not only unsatisfactory, but in many cases is even getting worse.
What is the typical condition of the poor in developing countries? Their work opportunities are so limited that they cannot find occasional workout of their situation. They are under-employed, or totally unemployed. When they do find occasional work their productivity is extremely low. Some of them have land, but often too little land. Many have no land, and no prospect of ever getting any. There is no hope for them in the rural areas, and so they drift into the big cities. But there is no work for them in the big cities either – and of course no housing. All the same, they flock into the cities because their chances of finding work appear to be greater there than in the villages – where chances are nil. Rural unemployment, then, produces mass migration into the cities. Rural unemployment becomes urban unemployment.
The problem can be stated quite simply: what can be done to promote economic growth in the small towns and villages which still contain about eighty to ninety per cent of the population? The primary need is work places, literally millions of work places. No one, of course, would suggest that output per worker is unimportant. Bu t the primary aim cannot be to maximize output per worker, it must be to maximize wok opportunities for the unemployed and the under-employed. The poor man’s greatest need is the chance to work. Even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than no work at all. It is therefore more important that everybody should produce something, than that a few should each produce a great deal. And in most developing countries, this can only be achieved by using an appropriate intermediate technology.
Which of the following statements best explains the meaning of the phrase ‘reverse this trend’ as used in the text Options:Choose the option that best completes the gap(s).
Please sit on the _____ ?
Options:Choose the option nearest in meaning to the italicized words or expressions.
The coach invited me to his office having found me mettlesome.
Options: