Jamb English Language Past Questions For Year 1987

Question 101

Developments in electronic science have transformed the art of record keeping to the modern age. Traditionally, records of events were kept only in people’s minds. It depends very much on the retentive power of the human memory. This was extremely dangerous as people either forgot events wholly or in part or deliberately falsified details to suit their various interests. Interminable arguments were thus order of the day. Even writing which replaced mental recording was not entirely free from these shortcomings as untruths could be written as true either willingly or inadvertently. With the advent of the electronic memory, however these dangers have been largely overcome. Recording on audio and video cassettes now show not what happened, but also who did or said what including how and when

From the passage, we gather that writings were almost

jamb 1987

  • A. as unreliable as human memory
  • B. as reliable as electronic memory
  • C. more reliable than electronic recording
  • D. not to be compared to any recording system
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Question 102

Developments in electronic science have transformed the art of record keeping to the modern age. Traditionally, records of events were kept only in people’s minds. It depends very much on the retentive power of the human memory. This was extremely dangerous as people either forgot events wholly or in part or deliberately falsified details to suit their various interests. Interminable arguments were thus order of the day. Even writing which replaced mental recording was not entirely free from these shortcomings as untruths could be written as true either willingly or inadvertently. With the advent of the electronic memory, however these dangers have been largely overcome. Recording on audio and video cassettes now show not what happened, but also who did or said what including how and when

According to the author, human memory is unreliable because people

jamb 1987

  • A. die and we forget what they said
  • B. forget events or tell lies
  • C. do not always know when events happen
  • D. do not always know who did what and when
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Question 103

Developments in electronic science have transformed the art of record keeping to the modern age. Traditionally, records of events were kept only in people’s minds. It depends very much on the retentive power of the human memory. This was extremely dangerous as people either forgot events wholly or in part or deliberately falsified details to suit their various interests. Interminable arguments were thus order of the day. Even writing which replaced mental recording was not entirely free from these shortcomings as untruths could be written as true either willingly or inadvertently. With the advent of the electronic memory, however these dangers have been largely overcome. Recording on audio and video cassettes now show not what happened, but also who did or said what including how and when

How many stages of development did the writer mention while discussing the art of record keeping?

jamb 1987

  • A. two
  • B. three
  • C. four
  • D. five
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Question 104

Developments in electronic science have transformed the art of record keeping to the modern age. Traditionally, records of events were kept only in people’s minds. It depends very much on the retentive power of the human memory. This was extremely dangerous as people either forgot events wholly or in part or deliberately falsified details to suit their various interests. Interminable arguments were thus order of the day. Even writing which replaced mental recording was not entirely free from these shortcomings as untruths could be written as true either willingly or inadvertently. With the advent of the electronic memory, however these dangers have been largely overcome. Recording on audio and video cassettes now show not what happened, but also who did or said what including how and when

The writer believes that the art of record keeping has

jamb 1987

  • A. improved over the years
  • B. endangered the art of writing
  • C. changed human memory
  • D. overcome all the problems facing it
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Question 105

These two factors the altitude and the weather, tend separately and together to defeat the climber. The height weakens, slows him down; it forces him to spend days and nights in the courses of his assault on the summit; the weather, besides adding to the demand of his energy and moral fortitude, conspires to deny him the time he needs to complete his mission. Whereas in lower mountains and on easy ground the weather may be no more than a handicap, in the high Himalayas it is decisive, regardless of terrain.

The deduction to be drawn from these two factors is was clear enough. We must either so fortify ourselves that we could continue, without detriment, to live and have our being above the limit of natural acclimatization, or, better still, we must solve the problem of speed. It was desirable; in fact, that we must meet both these requirements and thus give to those chosen to attempt the summit and to their supporting teams some measures of insurance against the vagaries of the weather, for safety in mountain climbing is as much a matter of swiftness as of sureness of foot. Either or both could be achieved only by the administration of oxygen in sufficient quantities to make up for the deficiency in the air, and for the duration of the upward journey above the limit of successful acclimatization

'conspires' (line 3)means

jamb 1987

  • A. ruins
  • B. makes secret plans
  • C. takes a wicked action
  • D. comines
  • E. aggravates
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