Jamb English Language Past Questions For Year 2002
Question 91
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.
It is business of the scientist to accumulate knowledge about the universe and all that is in it and to find if he is able, common……11…..[A. experiment B. instruments C. approaches D. factors] which underlie and account for the facts that he knows. He chooses when he can, the method of the controlled…….12…..[A. respondent B. experiment C. system D. data]. If he wants to find out the effect of light on growing plants, he takes many plants, as alike as possible. Some he stand in the sun, some in the shade, some in the dark, all the time keeping all other (temperature, moisture, nourishment) the same. In this way, by keeping other variables……..14……[A. constant B. good C. dark D. natural] and by varying the light only, the effect of light on plants can be clearly seen. This …….15…..[A. research B. method C. tool D. rationale] of using ‘controls’ can be applied to a variety of situation and can be used to find the answers to questions as widely different as ‘must moisture be present if…….16….[A. an alloy B. gold C. bar D. iron] is to rust?’ and which variety of beans give the greatest yield in one……17…..[A. climate B. period C. season D. weather]?
In the course of his……18…..[A. finding B. queries C. experiment D. inquiries], the scientist may find what he thinks is one common explanation for an increasing number of facts the explanation, if it seems consistently to fit the various facts, is called…….19……[A. an antithesis B. a principle C. a thesis D. a hypothesis]. If this continues to stand the test of numerous experiments and remains unshaken, it becomes a……20…..[A. deduction B. law C. notion D. thesis].
In question number 13 above, choose the best option from letters A-D that best completes the gap.
- A. studies
- B. procedures
- C. objects
- D. conditions
Question 92
If our thoughts is to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating it to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a usual traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which whatever is indicated by the term belongs and also other particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus we may define a whale as a ‘marine animal that spouts’. ‘Marine animals’ in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs and ‘spouts’ indicates the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fishes, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or a democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.
there are other ways, of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, as we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited usefulness. If we indicate our use of the word ‘animal’ as above, our hearers might for example be doubtful whether a sea-anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition if the definition itself id definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving as distinguishing mark one which either does not belong to all the things the definition id intended to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition is intended to exclude.
One of these summarizes the approaches to definition discussed in the passage
- A. mentioning the class of a word or object with its specific property
- B. indicating the class of a word and mentioning its general property with examples
- C. specifying clearly what distinguishes a particular word or object from its traditional group
- D. giving general and specific features followed by example of what the object or word includes
Question 93
If our thoughts is to be clear and we are to succeed in communicating it to other people, we must have some method of fixing the meaning of the words we use. When we use a word whose meaning is not certain, we may well be asked to define it. There is a usual traditional device for doing this by indicating the class to which whatever is indicated by the term belongs and also other particular property which distinguishes it from all other members of the same class. Thus we may define a whale as a ‘marine animal that spouts’. ‘Marine animals’ in this definition indicates the general class to which the whale belongs and ‘spouts’ indicates the particular property that distinguishes whales from other such marine animals as fishes, seals, jellyfish and lobsters. In the same way, we can define an even number as a finite integer divisible by two or a democracy as a system of government in which the people themselves rule.
there are other ways, of course of indicating the meaning of words. We may for example, find it hard to make a suitable definition of the word ‘animal’, as we say that an animal is such a thing as a rabbit, dog fish or goat. Similarly, we may say that religion is such a system as Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. This way of indicating the meaning of a term by enumerating examples of what it includes is obviously of limited usefulness. If we indicate our use of the word ‘animal’ as above, our hearers might for example be doubtful whether a sea-anemone or a slug was to be included in the class of animals. It is however, a useful way of supplementing a definition if the definition itself id definite without being easily understandable. Failure of an attempt at definition to serve its purpose may result from giving as distinguishing mark one which either does not belong to all the things the definition id intended to include, or does belong to some members of the same general class which the definition is intended to exclude.
the writer uses the expression 'fixing the meaning of the words we use' to mean
- A. using definition to help people communicate their thoughts and argue
- B. getting even with the people who always ask for definitions
- C. repair the damage done by inadequate definition during communication
- D. using definitionto help people build up their vocabulary
Question 94
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.
It is business of the scientist to accumulate knowledge about the universe and all that is in it and to find if he is able, common……11…..[A. experiment B. instruments C. approaches D. factors] which underlie and account for the facts that he knows. He chooses when he can, the method of the controlled…….12…..[A. respondent B. experiment C. system D. data]. If he wants to find out the effect of light on growing plants, he takes many plants, as alike as possible. Some he stand in the sun, some in the shade, some in the dark, all the time keeping all other (temperature, moisture, nourishment) the same. In this way, by keeping other variables……..14……[A. constant B. good C. dark D. natural] and by varying the light only, the effect of light on plants can be clearly seen. This …….15…..[A. research B. method C. tool D. rationale] of using ‘controls’ can be applied to a variety of situation and can be used to find the answers to questions as widely different as ‘must moisture be present if…….16….[A. an alloy B. gold C. bar D. iron] is to rust?’ and which variety of beans give the greatest yield in one……17…..[A. climate B. period C. season D. weather]?
In the course of his……18…..[A. finding B. queries C. experiment D. inquiries], the scientist may find what he thinks is one common explanation for an increasing number of facts the explanation, if it seems consistently to fit the various facts, is called…….19……[A. an antithesis B. a principle C. a thesis D. a hypothesis]. If this continues to stand the test of numerous experiments and remains unshaken, it becomes a……20…..[A. deduction B. law C. notion D. thesis].
In question number 20 above, choose the best option from letters A-D that best completes the gap.
- A. deduction
- B. law
- C. notion
- D. thesis
Question 95
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.
It is business of the scientist to accumulate knowledge about the universe and all that is in it and to find if he is able, common……11…..[A. experiment B. instruments C. approaches D. factors] which underlie and account for the facts that he knows. He chooses when he can, the method of the controlled…….12…..[A. respondent B. experiment C. system D. data]. If he wants to find out the effect of light on growing plants, he takes many plants, as alike as possible. Some he stand in the sun, some in the shade, some in the dark, all the time keeping all other (temperature, moisture, nourishment) the same. In this way, by keeping other variables……..14……[A. constant B. good C. dark D. natural] and by varying the light only, the effect of light on plants can be clearly seen. This …….15…..[A. research B. method C. tool D. rationale] of using ‘controls’ can be applied to a variety of situation and can be used to find the answers to questions as widely different as ‘must moisture be present if…….16….[A. an alloy B. gold C. bar D. iron] is to rust?’ and which variety of beans give the greatest yield in one……17…..[A. climate B. period C. season D. weather]?
In the course of his……18…..[A. finding B. queries C. experiment D. inquiries], the scientist may find what he thinks is one common explanation for an increasing number of facts the explanation, if it seems consistently to fit the various facts, is called…….19……[A. an antithesis B. a principle C. a thesis D. a hypothesis]. If this continues to stand the test of numerous experiments and remains unshaken, it becomes a……20…..[A. deduction B. law C. notion D. thesis].
In question number 19 above, choose the best option from letters A-D that best completes the gap.
- A. an antithesis
- B. a principle
- C. a thesis
- D. a hypothesis
