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.
In time past in Nigeria, being a secretary was perceived with utter disdain by many people. Other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, engineers, surveyors, estate officers and architects were revered. Many issues readily come to mind concerning the old perspective of secretaries as professionals.
One, they were regarded as people with little or no education. Indeed, many of them were said to be mere typists who learnt how to punch keys on the typewriter. They hardly had any formal education but obtained doubtful certificates. This was made possible because anyone could easily learn to be a typist under the shade of a tree or in a personal office of a retired secretary or a chief typist from any business organization. As long as a short piece of work could be typed almost accurately and in record time, one then became a secretary. This unrealistic practice – to call an unqualified person a secretary – might have been introduced and sustained by people who did not know who a secretary was. The educated secretaries obtained a minimum of the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) or its equivalent from institutions in and outside Nigeria, particularly Great Britain, Canada or the United States of America.
Two, they were mostly women and very few male secretaries, who suffered more humiliation than their female counterparts. They were regarded as men who did not succeed in life and did the work that normally women were supposed to do.
Three, and deriving from the second reason, secretaries were, as a matter of fact, very close to their bosses. Most people, including husbands of secretaries, regarded such a mode of interaction as tempting – a kind of constant closeness which might engender a deliberation or unintentional amorous relationship between superior and subordinate officer. Quite often, such a situation could not be ruled out when body contacts was established inadvertently or deliberately between two people of opposite sex especially when either one or both people were attractive and attracted to each other.
Moreover, we often talk of the devil and the havoc he is capable of causing in the lives of people, particularly the unguarded ones.
In today’s world, these points of view concerning secretaries are fading fast. Now, there is a clear distinction between a typist and a secretary. Modern secretaries are trained in polytechnics and universities. Gone are the days when secretaries were taught only the art of punching the typewriters and various filling systems. They are also encouraged to take training courses other than secretarial duty. Many secretaries have had their training in faculties of business administration, law, art and mass communications of universities. They take relevant courses in administration and other social science departments that enhance their personality, carriage, interpersonal relations and office management.
Obviously, secretaries, including the male ones, are more important and well respected today than in the past.
the writer seems to suggest that Options:Fill each gap with the most appropriate option from the list provided.
Course ______ writers are to reflect local colour?
Options:READ THE PASSAGE CAREFULLY AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.With its radiant color and plant-like shape, the sea anemone looks more like a flower than animal. More specifically, the sea anemone is formed quite like a flower for which is named, with body like a stem and tentacles like petals in brilliant shades; blue, pink, green and red. Its diameters vary from about six millimeters in some species to more than ninety centimeters in the giant verities of Australia. Like corals, hydras and jelly fish, sea anemones are coelenterates. They can move slowly, but more often they attach the lower part of their cylindrical bodies to rocks, shells or wharf pilings.
The upper and end of the sea anemone has a mouth surrounded by tentacles which the animal uses to capture its food. Stinging cells in the tentacles throw out tiny poison threads that paralyze other small sea animals. The tentacles then drag this prey into the sea anemone's mouth.The food is digested in the large inner body cavity. When disturbed, a sea anemone retracts its lump on a rock. Anemones may reproduce by forming eggs. dividing in half or developing buds that grow and break off as independent animals.
The word 'shapes' in line 1 is closest meaning to
Options:choose the option that has the same consonant sound as the letter(s) underlined from the options lettered A-E
Bark
Options:Use the passage to answer the questions below
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
The victory of the small Greek democracy of Athens over the mighty Persian Empire was furious because Athens had interceded for the other Greek city-states in revolt against Persian domination. In anger, the king sent an enormous army to defeat Athens. He thought it would take drastic steps to pacify the rebellious part of the empire.
Persia was ruled by one man. In Athens, however, all citiens helped to rule. Emboldenedby this participation, Athenians were prepared to die for their city-state. Perhaps this was the secret of the remarkable victory at the marathon, the Persians tried to fool some Greek city-states by claiming to have come in peace. The frightened city of Delos refused to believe this. Not wanting to abet the conquest of Greece, they fled from their city and did not return until the Persians had left. They were wise, for the president next conquered the city of Eritrea and captured its people.
TinyAthens stood alone against Persia. The Athenian people to their sanctuaries. There they prayed for deliverance. They asked their gods to expedite their victory. The Athenians refurbished their weapons and moved to the plan of Marathon where their little band would meet the Persians. At the last moment, soldiers from Plataea reinforced the Athenian troops.
The Athenian army attacked and Greek citizens fought bravely. The power of the mighty Persians was offset by the love that the Athenians had for their city. Athenians defeated the Persians in both archery and combat. Greek soldiers seized Persian sheepand burned them and the Persians fled in terror. Herodotus, a famous historian, reports that 6400 Persians died, compared to only 192 Athenians.
Darius took drastic steps to __________ the rebellious Athenians.
Options:Fill the blank spaces with the most appropriate of options A-E:
The evidence of all the accused persons _____ by the judge sitting at No 2 Assizes last week.
Options:In 1973 a Japanese sericulturist arrives in Malawi with a batch of 40,000 silkworm eggs. They were taken to the Bvumbwe Agricultural Research Station in Thyolo District. In this station, work is being done to determine favourable silkworm rearing conditions and areas where mulberry trees, leaves the worms feed on, could grow well. According to researchers, the silkworms- which eventually develop into cocoons from which raw silk is produced – do well with warm climatic conditions.
Silk is one of the strongest of fibers. Infect, for thousands of years, silk fabrics have been regarded as the most beautiful and durable materials woven by man. Many people call silk the cloth of kings and queens’.
The weaving of silk originated in china. An old Chinese book believed to be written by Confucius, tells us that the wife of Emperor Huang ti was the first person fabrics of silk. Around 2640 B.C Emperor Huang ti asked his wife His Ling-shih to study the worms that were destroying the mulberry trees in his garden. The Empress took some of the cocoons into the palace to see what they were made of. She dropped one of the cocoons into a bowl of boiling water and was amazed to see a cobweb-like tangle separate itself from the cocoon. She picked up the gauzy mass and found that one of the threads could be unwound almost without end from the cocoon. His Ling-shih had discovered silk. She was delighted with the discovery and even wove a ceremonial robe for the Emperor out of the cocoon threads. After that, the officials in the Emperor’s court wore brightly dyed silk robes on important occasions.
People in other countries regarded the new fibers as something rare and beautiful. A few traders went to China to learn about making cloth from silk, but the Chines kept their silkworm a closely guarded secret.
Choose the meaning which best fits the underlined phrase from the passage. Closely guarded secret Options:In the question below choose the option nearest in meaning to the word(s) or phrase underlined:
The driver, on seeing the traffic warden, was hesitant to start the engine.
Options:In the question below choose the most appropriate option opposite in meaning to the word(s) underlined:
The governor's action is out of tune with the declarations of his party
Options: