Jamb English Language Past Questions For Year 2014
Question 71
Like all reptiles, snakes are cold blooded, or more correctly, ectothermic - they cannot produce their own body heat; instead, they rely on the sun to heat their bodies. Because they do not rely on energy from food to generate body heat, snakes can survive on an extremely meager diet. some wait for months between successive meals, and a few survive by eating a large meal just once or twice a year. When they do eat, snakes swallow their prey whole rather than biting off small piece. Many snakes have specialized jaws that enable them to swallow animals that are far larger than their own heads. Although uncommon, some snakes, such as the African rock python, have been observed eating animals as large as an antelope or a small cow.
With over two thousand five hundred species belonging to more than ten families, snakes are a large and successful groups. They owe much of this success to their versatility - snakes occupy habitat ranging from underground burrows to the top of the tree, to ocean depths as great as one hundred and fifty meters. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and although they are most abundant in tropical areas, many survive in regions marked by extreme cold. The only places without snakes are parts of the polar regions and isolated islands, such as the Republic of Ireland and New-Zealand as opposed to places in Nigeria like Plateau and Gombe States in the Northern part where there is a large population of snakes.
The most notable thing about snakes, according to the passage, is that they
- A. Exist in families
- B. Abound in Gombe and Plateau States
- C. Are versatile in reproduction
- D. Eat big but seldom
Question 72
Like all reptiles, snakes are cold blooded, or more correctly, ectothermic - they cannot produce their own body heat; instead, they rely on the sun to heat their bodies. Because they do not rely on energy from food to generate body heat, snakes can survive on an extremely meager diet. some wait for months between successive meals, and a few survive by eating a large meal just once or twice a year. When they do eat, snakes swallow their prey whole rather than biting off small piece. Many snakes have specialized jaws that enable them to swallow animals that are far larger than their own heads. Although uncommon, some snakes, such as the African rock python, have been observed eating animals as large as an antelope or a small cow.
With over two thousand five hundred species belonging to more than ten families, snakes are a large and successful groups. They owe much of this success to their versatility - snakes occupy habitat ranging from underground burrows to the top of the tree, to ocean depths as great as one hundred and fifty meters. They are found on every continent except Antarctica, and although they are most abundant in tropical areas, many survive in regions marked by extreme cold. The only places without snakes are parts of the polar regions and isolated islands, such as the Republic of Ireland and New-Zealand as opposed to places in Nigeria like Plateau and Gombe States in the Northern part where there is a large population of snakes.
It can be inferred from the passage that snakes are
- A. Homogeneous reptiles
- B. Heterogeneous creatures
- C. Voracious cow eaters
- D. Great insect eaters
Question 73
Political change and social transformation in the form of revolutions have radically altered the course of human civilization and history. Today, the world is witnessing political and social changes arising from the desire of people all over the globe for greater freedom and a voice in the way they are governed and a better standard of living. Pan of these struggles and processes have become more pronounced in the Third World since the end of the East-West cold War in the late 1980's, and in the face of the challenges being posed by the ongoing process of globalization.
While political and social changes may appear to be distinct phenomena, they are analytically inseparable. Political and social changes refer to alteration or transformations in human behavior, norms and politico-social institutions. Such changes are often a collective response to the need to change, or as a tacit recognition of a shift in the prevalent power relations in the society. Therefore, the coming to power of a new set of rulers, or the establishment of new structure and processes of governance broadly typifies socio-political changes.
It is important to note that changes can either be positive or negative. In most cases, political and social changes are caused by certain factors or reasons. This push people to collectively organize themselves to struggle for a change in the existing power relations. Another reason is to capture political power in the hope of making life better for the generality of the people. If politics is defined as who gels what, when and how; It then implies that political change refers to an alteration in the form of power and the identity of the group or class which controls the wields states power.
The word alteration, as used in the passage, means
- A. Complication
- B. Multiplication
- C. Recognition
- D. Modification
Question 74
Setting up a news paper involves a lot of preparations. The __11__ has to employ a lot of people. Other people working with him are cartographers, editors, typesetters, readers, who work in various ways to produce the text of the newspaper, __12__, who go out and collect story and items of news, and __13__, who specialize in one kind of topic. Another important person who works closely with the Editor-in-Chief is the __14__, who has to choose the most important stories__15__ go through stories sent to them and make necessary adjustments.
The Editor-in-Chief could determine for instance, whether a particular journalist should write articles daily or weekly in a particular column. Such a journalist is known as __16__. The editorials of the news paper will be coordinated by __17__. The publisher could decide to establish __18__ which would be on sale weekly, fortnightly, or monthly,__19__ the eyes catching, screaming headlines and captions of newspapers on sale everyday from the __20__.
Choose the most appropriate option for the gap labelled 14.
- A. reporter
- B. anouncer
- C. news editor
- D. proof reader
Question 75
Setting up a news paper involves a lot of preparations. The __11__ has to employ a lot of people. Other people working with him are cartographers, editors, typesetters, readers, who work in various ways to produce the text of the newspaper, __12__, who go out and collect story and items of news, and __13__, who specialize in one kind of topic. Another important person who works closely with the Editor-in-Chief is the __14__, who has to choose the most important stories__15__ go through stories sent to them and make necessary adjustments.
The Editor-in-Chief could determine for instance, whether a particular journalist should write articles daily or weekly in a particular column. Such a journalist is known as __16__. The editorials of the news paper will be coordinated by __17__. The publisher could decide to establish __18__ which would be on sale weekly, fortnightly, or monthly,__19__ the eyes catching, screaming headlines and captions of newspapers on sale everyday from the __20__.
Choose the most appropriate option for the gap labelled 13.
- A. newscasters
- B. correspondents
- C. distributors
- D. listeners
