Jamb English Language Past Questions For Year 1989
Question 91
His eyes widened as they fell upon something strange. Something was moving slowly and cautiously along the gutter. The pale yellow and brown of the snake’s body glistened like a stream of flowing metal. By what mistake had the creature strayed into this unlikely place? Impossible to say. Yet there it was and its slow movements betrayed uneasiness and confusion.
As he watched it, his instinctive antipathy melted away. He could understand so well what the snake was feeling. He entered into the cold, narrow intelligence and shared its angry perplexity. Its movement were cramped, its advance difficulty and it was in constant danger of slipping over the edge. Now and then it lay still in dull reflection, nursing a cold anger that could find no vent.
Meanwhile the little plant bent downward by every puff of wind was beating its thin twings against the gutter like a birch. The snake seemed not to see the plant. It moved forward until a light touch from the twings fell upon its head. At this, it stopped and lifted its neck; the plant was now doing no more than lightly sway and dip. The snake, its head still reared, waited, flickering tongue. One could feel the angry heaving and straining in the sluggish brain-the dull red anger waiting to explode. Then came a strong gust sweeping along the wall and at once the twings thrashed down upon the furious head-thrashed down and beat it with a movement that seemed to osun both comic and dreadful. In a flash, the head reared itself higher, the neck drew back and there was a lunge at the twings and the empty air. O fatal act! To strike, the snake had been obliged to coil and its coiled body could not support itself upon the narrow ledge. No recovery was possible; it overbalanced and fell with a thud upon a small flat roof fifty feet below. There, osun saw the creature begin to writhe in agony. It could do no more than twist and turn upon the same spot
Osun was trembling but beneath his agitation there was a deep trouble wonder. Here was the little plants now waving with kind of jaunty cynicism and here was the snake writhing in agony. The world unquestionably was a place of mystery and horror. This was revealed in the writhing of the crippled snake in the jaunty waving of the innocent plant in the wind.
The act of the snake was described as 'fatal' because the snake's attack was going to
- A. be fatal to the plant
- B. make the coiled body not to support itself upon the narrow ledge
- C. result in the crippling of the snake
- D. result in no possible recovery
Question 92
The evidence given so far demonstrates that a nuclear exchange in the Northern Hemisphere would have an unavoidable global aftermath making the continued existence of mankind impossible anywhere. It is also very improbable that a nuclear exchange would be confined exclusively to the vicinity of the industrialized developments indicate that a nuclear disaster would be carried into the territories of the developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. These developments include the preparations being made by aggressive forces for the armed seizure of the Middle East oil fields, the nuclear missile deployment in the south of Western Europe, the establishment of military bases for the rapid deployment of forces in North Africa and the Indian Ocean and the tensions in the south Atlantic and the Caribbean.
A suitable tittle for this passage is
- A. preparation for nuckear war on the third world countries
- B. possible effects of nuclear war on third world countries
- C. strategies for a nuclear confrontation
- D. the merits and demerits of nuclear exchange
Question 93
In the past, famine, various types of diseases and natural disasters checked population growth in many countries. At that time, man had not learnt to till the soil sufficiently to improve and increase her yield. Man was unable to do much to conquer these diseases and natural disasters were regarded as a curse of the gods for which man had no answer. Thus famine, diseases and natural disasters remained a nightmare to mankind.
With the present development in technology and modern agriculture, one would have thought that the problem of starvation should have been solved. But starvation still stares man in the face. The increase in population now accounts for the consequent scarcity of food experienced in many parts of the world. However, in some countries, man’s advancement in technology and medicine has rapidly increased the population while improved methods of agriculture and food preservation have caused steady rise in food production. Also, man can now effectively prevent and cure most diseases in the world.
Unfortunately, the working population engaged in agriculture is so small that it cannot produce enough to satisfy the gaping mouths to be fed. In various parts of the world, man has engaged himself in various jobs in order to adjust the food production to match the growing population so his zone, but population growth continues to outstrip food production measures. Incidentally, the source of food and food preservation measures can be limited unlike population growth which may not be effectively checked. Perhaps the only effective checks to population explosion may be the drastic birth control measures. But many religious sects the world over are opposed to many to these birth control measures.
Drastic birth control measures may not be effective checks to population explosion since many religious sects
- A. are disinclined to oppose their use
- B. object to the use of many of them
- C. are disinclined to accept them for use
- D. want the control measures applied
Question 94
In the past, famine, various types of diseases and natural disasters checked population growth in many countries. At that time, man had not learnt to till the soil sufficiently to improve and increase her yield. Man was unable to do much to conquer these diseases and natural disasters were regarded as a curse of the gods for which man had no answer. Thus famine, diseases and natural disasters remained a nightmare to mankind.
With the present development in technology and modern agriculture, one would have thought that the problem of starvation should have been solved. But starvation still stares man in the face. The increase in population now accounts for the consequent scarcity of food experienced in many parts of the world. However, in some countries, man’s advancement in technology and medicine has rapidly increased the population while improved methods of agriculture and food preservation have caused steady rise in food production. Also, man can now effectively prevent and cure most diseases in the world.
Unfortunately, the working population engaged in agriculture is so small that it cannot produce enough to satisfy the gaping mouths to be fed. In various parts of the world, man has engaged himself in various jobs in order to adjust the food production to match the growing population so his zone, but population growth continues to outstrip food production measures. Incidentally, the source of food and food preservation measures can be limited unlike population growth which may not be effectively checked. Perhaps the only effective checks to population explosion may be the drastic birth control measures. But many religious sects the world over are opposed to many to these birth control measures.
The working population engaged in agriculture cannot feed the teeming population sufficiently because
- A. there are gaping mouths to be fed
- B. they do not produce what they like to eat
- C. there are not enough people engaged in tilling the soil
- D. improved methods of agriculture have not brought about a significant increase in food production
Question 95
In the past, famine, various types of diseases and natural disasters checked population growth in many countries. At that time, man had not learnt to till the soil sufficiently to improve and increase her yield. Man was unable to do much to conquer these diseases and natural disasters were regarded as a curse of the gods for which man had no answer. Thus famine, diseases and natural disasters remained a nightmare to mankind.
With the present development in technology and modern agriculture, one would have thought that the problem of starvation should have been solved. But starvation still stares man in the face. The increase in population now accounts for the consequent scarcity of food experienced in many parts of the world. However, in some countries, man’s advancement in technology and medicine has rapidly increased the population while improved methods of agriculture and food preservation have caused steady rise in food production. Also, man can now effectively prevent and cure most diseases in the world.
Unfortunately, the working population engaged in agriculture is so small that it cannot produce enough to satisfy the gaping mouths to be fed. In various parts of the world, man has engaged himself in various jobs in order to adjust the food production to match the growing population so his zone, but population growth continues to outstrip food production measures. Incidentally, the source of food and food preservation measures can be limited unlike population growth which may not be effectively checked. Perhaps the only effective checks to population explosion may be the drastic birth control measures. But many religious sects the world over are opposed to many to these birth control measures.
'But starvation still stares man in the face' means starvation
- A. looks at the face of man
- B. is inevitable to man
- C. flies in the face of man
- D. stil afflicts man
