ENGLISH EXAM QUESTIONS FOR SS3
FIRST TERM
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SS3 ENGLISH EXAMINATION
QUESTIONS FIRST TERM
FIRST TERM EXAMINATION
Examination malpractices may lead to a repeat of the subject or
suspensions don’t be involved.
SUBJECT: ENGLISH LANGUAGE PAPER 1
TIME: 2hrs
CLASS: SS 3
SECTION A
ESSAY (50 marks)
Instruction: Answer ONE question ONLY from this section. All questions
carry equal marks. Your answer should not be less than 450 words.
You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this section.
1. You have recently moved into a new neighbourhood with your
parents. Write a letter to your sister who is studying overseas giving, at
least three reasons for disliking the new place.
2. Write an article for publication in a national newspaper on the
topic: Vocational Training is the answer to unemployment among the
youths.
3. Your country’s Public Transport System is not functioning
properly. Write a letter to the Minister of Transport highlighting the
causes and suggesting, at least, two measures to remedy the situation.
4. You are the Chief Speaker in a debate on the topic: “The youths of
today are more interested in the pursuit of pleasure than in academic
work”. Write your speech for or against the topic.
5. Write a story to illustrate the saying: A good name is better than
riches.
SECTION B
COMPREHENSION PASSAGE I (40 marks)
6. Read the following passage and answer the questions on it.
It was a little past 10a.m but the medium-sized hall that served as a
prayer house was already brimming with people from different parts of
the metropolis, who had come to seek cure or answers to their
problems. The majority of this lot were those with seemingly intractable
mental health conditions. The superintendent of the prayer house in
questions was often spoken of in whispers as possessing uncanny
spiritual powers to exercise evil spirits. It was also believed that he had
answers to numerous illnesses that defied orthodox medication.
Wednesday of each week was set aside for these healing sessions.
On this particular Wednesday, noisy supplications to the Most High and
ceaseless invocation of His name to free those supposedly held captive
by alleged evil spirits had reached fever pitch. Suddenly, a middle-aged
man broke loose from the crowd and ran as fast as his wobbly legs
could permit. Some male workers from the prayer house gave him a hot
chase.
At first, bemused by-standers rained curses on the fleeing man,
wondering why a man in his right senses would in broad daylight rob a
house of God. They obviously mistook the man for a robber fleeing from
the scene of his crime. But he was not. Minutes later, he was caught and
chained hands and feet, despite his struggle against his captors who
intermittently lashed him with horse-whip. As he was being violently
dragged along the street, the man ceaselessly muttered
incomprehensible words that sounded like the muttering of a colony of
baboons. Then, a clear picture of the situation dawned on the onlookers. The man, after all, was not a thief and has stolen nothing;
rather, his ability to think and reason properly had taken flight of him.
Simply put, he was mentally deranged.
The above incident is a common occurrence in many parts of the
country. it aptly underscores the devastating mental health conditions
plaguing a sizeable number of people in recent times. It also points to
the unspeakable and inhuman treatment which people with such health
disorders suffer at the hands of self-styled spiritualists. This is the usual
lot of mental patients whose family members refuse to take advantage
of orthodox treatment.
Questions
What brought the people to the prayer house?
State the functions of the superintendent of the prayer house.
What was wrong with the on-lookers’ assessment of the run-away man?
Mention two instances of inhuman treatment in the passage.
What is the writer’s attitude towards the treatment of lunatics at prayer
house?
“… like the muttering of a colony of baboons.”
What figure of speech is contained in this expression?
“… Whose family member refuse to take advantage of orthodox
treatment”
i. What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in
the passage?
ii. What is its function?
For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which
means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage.
i. intractable ii. supplications
iii. wobbly iv. intermittently
v. deranged
“… Whose family member refuse to take advantage of orthodox
treatment”
i. What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in
the passage?
ii. What is its function?
For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which
means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage.
i. intractable ii. supplications
iii. wobbly iv. intermittently
v. deranged
SECTION C
SUMMARY (30 marks)
You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this section.
It is now fashionable to hear discussions centring on the
disproportionate representation of males and females in the population.
It is indeed not uncommon to hear people say that for every man, there
are about two or three women; so, every man can marry more than one
woman. This theory is, of course popular among adherents who favour
the seeming glamour of the polygamous way of life. The big question is:
‘How correct is this theory?’ And, what are the facts?
The stark reality is that in any normal population, out of every
one hundred conceptions, about fifty-three to fifty-five are for boys, and
about forty-five to forty-seven are for girls. So, there are potentially
more boys than girls in any normal population. However, because of
many factors, some of which are not fully clear, the foetus of a boy is far
more fragile than that of a girl. So, there are more miscarriage of male
children than female ones. So, by the time the children are born, the
ratio between boys and girls have been reduced to about fifty-two boys
to forty-eight girls.
As infants, boys are more delicate than girls. Boys are less
resistant to certain killer diseases and girls thus have a higher chance of
survival. The result is that before adolescene, at about the age of
between nine and eleven years, boys and girls are virtually at par in the
population.
Throughout adolescence, from the age of twelve to nineteen
years, boys continue to fall victim of many ailments at a much higher
degree than girls do. Besides, boys’ tendency to be more adventurous,
more daring and more risk-taking expose them far more to mishaps.
Some of these do reduce their representation in the population.
So, by the end of the age of adolescence, there are slightly more
girls than boys. The reduction, thereafter, in the number of males
continues progressively. Men are the bread-winners, the soldiers and
the travelers. It is during their middle age that very many men die
tragically, as soldiers in their boots, so to say. The net result of this is
that by the time they are in the mid-thirties, there are more women than
men.
Finally, in their forties and fifties, far more men than women die
of cardiac diseases like hypertension, heart-attack and anxiety. This is
the period when there are clearly more widows than widowers.
On the whole, therefore, there are more females than males but
certainly not in the proportion claimed by adherents of polygamy.
During their marriageable years, there are about eleven wives to ten
husbands – that is, husbands and wives of the same age. That in some
communities one man could marry as many as fifteen wives is a result of
the fact that men normally marry from among the ladies younger than
they are.
This, more than any other factor, allows some men who are
inclined to polygamy to have their way.
a. In five sentences, one for each factor, summarize the factors
responsible for the progressive reduction in the number of males as
against females from conception to adulthood.
a. In five sentences, one for each factor, summarize the factors
responsible for the progressive reduction in the number of males as
against females from conception to adulthood
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