Foundation Studies Second Semester-1

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
FOURAH BAY COLLEGE

FOUNDATION STUDIES FOST 120
SECOND SEMESTER 2019
WORKBOOK FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS
WORKBOOK Prepared by KENNETH OSHO SENIOR LECTURER IN ENCLISH

APRIL 2019
NOT FOR SALE. PROPERTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

LANGUAGE STUDIES.
Copyright 2019 Kenneth Osho.
COURSE OUTLINE FOST 120

1. REVISION EXERCISES
2. REVISION OF VERB TENSES: Emphasis will be placed on the present tense
, the past tense, the future tense, and the sequence of tenses.
3. EFFECTIVE SENTENCES.
(i) Sentence fragments

(ii) Sentence building/construction
(iii) Subject & Predicate
(iv) Direct and Indirect objects
(v) Use of punctuation marks.
4. CLAUSES AND PHRASES
(i) Finite & Non-finite verbs

(ii) Differentiating between clauses and phrases
(iii) Phrases and their functions
(iv) Clauses kinds and their functions
5. THE SENTENCE
(a) Classification according to structure:-

• Simple sentence
• Complex sentence
• Compound sentence
• Compound-complex sentence
(b) Classification according to purpose:-

• Declarative
• Imperative
• Interrogative
• Exclamatory
6. READING COMPREHENSION (including written work) to improve

recognition and understanding, and develop an awareness of the importance of
structure, organization, rhetorical function and style in a text.
7. PUBLIC SPEAKING
Students will be taught the rudiments of public speaking, debates, conversational

skills, etc. and given the opportunity to develop self-confidence.
NOTE: Tutors will discuss the following in Tutorials during the course of the semester.
(i) Sentence fragments
(ii) Sentence building/construction
(iii) Subject & predicate
(iv) Direct & indirect object
(v) Use of punctuation marks
SECTION 1 - REVISION EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Copy out each of the following sentences choosing the correct options in the
brackets. NO HALF MARKS WILL BE AWARDED IN THIS QUESTION.
One mark will be awarded for each sentence in which ALL the options are
correctly chosen.
A.
(i) When Freda got home (their were/ there were/ their was/ there was) Margaret
and Aminata waiting for her.
(ii) Tastes in reading (of cause/ of course) (differ/ differs).
(iii) The police (is/ are) investigating an illegal shipment of cocaine and cannabis
which (was/were) believed to have taken place a (fort night/ forth night/ (
fortnight/ forthnignt) ago.
(iv) Everyone in the Foundation Studies class thoroughly (enjoy/ enjoys) the
Wednesday lectures.
(v) Did Millicent or Mariatu (loss/ lose/ lost) (their/ her) self-confidence?
(vi) Mr. James, for (who/whom) the party was given did not want to make a
speech.
(vii) The Chief Minister as well as several of the most important ministers in the
current government (has/have) declared war against indiscipline.
(viii) Please be sure to let Amara and (I/me) know when you are ready to deal with
us.
(ix) The opportunity to visit Britain next year which I have been offered is one of
the best (opportunity/opportunities) which (has/have) ever been offered to me.
(x) Between you and (I/me) there is a lot of work to be done if we must develop
this country.
B.
(i) Neither flogging nor continual scolding (affects/ affect) him.

(ii) While I (lie/laid/was lying/ was lieing) on my sofa (thought/ think/thinking)
about the party two hefty boys (comes/ come/ came/ have come) in.
(iii) She (has sung/ had sang/ has song/ had sung) that song before (haven’t she/
hadn’t she)?
(iv) The Sierra Leone Teachers Association (had opened/ have opened/ has opened
) a new office in Sefadu.
(v) She (has being/ was been/had being/ is being) difficult; that is why the
negotiations (have being/ are been/ are being) delayed.
(vi) One day a thief who (thinks/think/ thought) he (was/ is being/ had being/ was
been) clever went to a supermarket in Freetown (to steal/ to stealing/
stealing) some goods.
(vii) Did you (asked/ ask) for him when you (go/went) to his office?
(viii) Hadn’t we better (find/found ) out?
(ix) Indiscretion in our youth – our flagrant misbehaviour, truancies, and
womanizing – (come/comes) back to (hunt/haunt) us when we grow older.
(x) Mariam, Abdul, Kisma and (I/ me/ myself) were at the party.
(xi) The police (is/are) frequently criticized as being the most corrupt institution in
the country.
(xii) You shouldn’t need (tell/ told/ to tell/ telling) twice!
(xiii) Half of the crew (was/ were/ are) drunk before the boat (land/lands/landed) (
in/at} Freetown.
(xiv) A two-gallon can of petrol (are/is) missing.
(xv) John’s trousers (is/are) tight-fitting while the pair of shoes he has on (is/are)
much too big for his size.
(xvi) Which of these two (passport’s/ passports) (is/are) ( Bockarie’s/ Bockaries’)?
(xvii) Joan (is still doing/ still does/ still is doing) her homework while her sister
who always (work/ works) faster (is already playing/ already plays/
already played/ was already playing) in the garden.
C.
(i) I have known Gloria for ten years; we love (ourselves/ each other/ one another
) very much.
(ii) The jury members (has/have) been arguing for the past two weeks.
(iii) By this time tomorrow we (shall have been concluding/ shall be concluding/
shall have conclude/ will concluded) our discussions.
(iv) She asked me whether the programme (is proceeding/ is proceeded/ was
proceeding/ had proceeding) smoothly.
(v) By the time I arrived the fight (has end/ has ended/ had end/ had ended).
(vi) On my birthday last September I (woke/did woke/wake) up early in the
morning (sang/ to sung/ having sung/ singing) praises to God.
(vii) Not many women (were as difficult/ are as difficult/are more difficult/ were
more difficult) to deal with as Adama was.
(viii) The real reason why the students (are/was/is) protesting (was/is) that they (had
not received/ have not received) (their/there) allowances.
(ix) They (put/locks) him in prison because he (has break/has broken/ had broke/
has broke) the law three times..
(x) Neither praise nor criticism (affects/affect) him.
(xi) Hidden cameras which (invades/invade) the privacy of the unwary few, (
provides/provide) entertainment for thousands.
(xii) James (did see/ did saw/ didn’t saw) the Director yesterday and he (has been/
was been/had been/ was being) longing to see him for a long time.
(xiii) When the bell (was rang/ was rung/ ring) the pupils (returned back/ advanced
forward/ returned) to class.
Exercise 2
Each of the following sentences has at least one error and/or is poorly expressed.
Correct each sentence, producing an edited version. Do not change the meaning of
the sentence.
(a) Malaria as well as many other deadly diseases are on the increase in our
country.
(b) I told the driver that all my luggages have been placed in the booth of the car.
(c) Good evening to you all, I am kindly calling your attentions to a very
important issue’s about the creation of this group.
(d) The news that the flotilla of ships trying to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza
were attacked yesterday is one of the issues which is widely debated in the
media.
(e) The herd of elephants have caused a lot of damages to the newly ploughed
cornfield
(f) The Bo City Council has eyemarked plenty areas in the city for demolitions
within the next forthnight as it is always covered in dirts.
(g) The pair of ladies shoes in the wardrobe are old and worn-out.
(h) It is crystal clear that most of the lawlessness in this of our country is by
school going pupils, some students in Polytechnics, and Geto youths.
(i) The employers failed in an unsuccessful bid to persuade their employees to
return back to work without no written agreement.
(j) Jenneh borrowed Abdul and I some money.
SECTION 2 - PRACTICE EXERCISES IN COMPREHENSION (To be done in

tutorials.)
Here are some passages tested in previous examinations for practice.
Exercise 3
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions set on it using
your own words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score. You
have been warned!
It is a fact that English is very important in our country. It is the official language of Sierra
Leone. It is used in official communication – the language of parliament, the language of
government, the courts (though translations are allowed with their own problems!), churches,
schools and tertiary education. It earns one a lot of respect. Notices are still written in English
everywhere and if one cannot read English, one finds it difficult to survive in our situation.
For the student English is a vital tool. All courses are taught in English and examinations,
assignments and projects are written in English. We need therefore to pay a lot of attention to
our use of English. The question which comes to mind is “Are we putting too high a premium
on English to the disadvantage of our local languages?”
There are arguments developing among linguists on the real contribution of English to the
development of nations such as Sierra Leone. There are some who see the contribution of
English as salutary and that it has many roles. Others argue that the contribution of English in
our country is in fact negative, and too much attention is paid to competence in the use of
English in our society. Just over a week ago, many contestants of the Miss Sierra Leone
Beauty Pageant faced hostile criticism on social media because of their poor use of English.
Are we being fair to these brave young ladies?
The challenges of teaching and learning English in Sierra Leone are countless. The teacher’s
poor grasp of the subject and also inadequate methodology is often a factor. The nexus
between teacher performance and learner achievement has been proven. Other challenges are
related to teacher motivation and teacher integrity. Teachers’ connivance with students who
write exams is almost omnipresent. Another factor is that the teacher generally encourages
and pays more attention to the strong students and ignores the weaker ones. What the teacher
is doing here is to re-motivate the strong student while de-motivating the weaker.
The problems cannot be laid entirely on the doorstep of the teachers of English and the
institutions which train them. There is an almost embarrassing lack of support for the
teaching of English from the political elite.
Influence of the first language (Mother Tongue) on the non-native user of English is
important in determining the reasons for the poor use of English. Many speakers of English
think in their local language (maybe Krio, Temne, Limba, Mende) and translate directly into
English. This often leads to embarrassing situations in which a student will say “Is the class
going to right?” instead of “Is the class going to hold?” Also try translating “We wae dae ya
nar we dis” and you will get stuck after the first four words if you attempt a direct translation!
What about “Ya go do?” Try to translate this!
Wrong terminology often leads to comical situations. An almost bizarre situation occurred on
an occasion when I was editing a document for an organization. The first sentence of the
Executive Summary of the report read: “Our research reveals that regarding inflation goods
and services in the country are now priceless.” The body of the report went on to identify the
stable rate of inflation in Sierra Leone, concluding that the cost of goods was in fact falling!
There is obviously a misuse of the word ‘priceless’ here and such a report would have spelled
disaster if it had reached the international organization for which it was intended in that form.
In conclusion, the challenges of teaching, learning and using English in Sierra Leone are
immense.
(a) Give the passage a short, factual title. (2 MARKS)
(b) Find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace each of the
following in its context.
(i) premium (ii) salutary (iii) hostile (iv) omnipresent (v) bizarre
(5 MARKS)
(c) Why, according to the writer, do we need to pay a lot of attention to English? (3
MARKS)
(d) In your view, was the criticism levied against contestants of the Miss Sierra Leone
Beauty Pageant justified? Support your answer in two short sentences of not more
than ten words each. (8 MARKS)
(e) State in your own words four challenges which the writer identifies in the teaching
and learning of English in Sierra Leone. DO NOT QUOTE DIRECTLY FROM
THE PASSAGE. (8 MARKS)
(f) State in your own words two challenges which the writer identifies in the use of
English in Sierra Leone. DO NOT QUOTE DIRECTLY FROM THE PASSAGE.
(4 MARKS)
EXERCISE 4
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions set on it using your own
words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score unless you are
specifically asked to quote from the passage. You have been warned!
Cheating in examinations has become endemic. This has had an adverse effect on society.
Cheating starts from primary school on to tertiary level. Even as you write this examination
some of the candidates will have in the hall with them unauthorized material in the form of
class notes or mobile phones programmed to search out answers to questions. Some might
even have smuggled into the examination hall booklets pre-worked with what they suppose
are leaked questions. Presumably some crook has lied to them that the Foundation Studies
questions have been leaked.
At almost every examination in our country examination fraud is discovered. Public

examinations including the WASSCE are no exception. This begs the question “Why is
examination malpractice so rampant in our society?”
Maybe we have to think outside the box in proffering a solution to this menace. One school
of thought argues that examination cheating is merely a reflection of the general lack of
ethics and the endorsement of corrupt practices prevalent in our society. Proponents of this
theory argue that corruption has eaten into the very fabric of our society and that the line
between honesty and dishonesty, and integrity and baseness has become so blurred as to
become almost nonexistent. Children, therefore, grow up not knowing what is good and what
is bad. They are, therefore, not to blame if they indulge in examination fraud.
Others argue that parents are mostly to blame because they inculcate these habits into their
children from their formative years. The claim is that in fact it is parents who sometimes
procure leaked question papers for their children before the examination and encourage them
to prepare the answers. Some parents even offer bribes to teachers to inflate the grades of
their children. And the children know this!
The finger of blame is sometimes pointed at us teachers too. Some say that teachers
encourage examination fraud by soliciting bribes from students and their parents. There is
also the phenomenon called sex for grades in which students exchange sexual favours with
their teachers (especially male teachers) for grades. People point out that this is quite
common in tertiary institutions.
Yet others point to what they see as impunity in our society. They argue that cheats get
away without any sanction levied against them. Even in cases where some punishment is
meted out, it is only a slap on the wrist. This emboldens cheats and encourages copycats.
Attention is sometimes drawn to the difficulties which staff of tertiary institutions encounter
from both within and outside the institutions when they attempt to impose stiff sanctions on
examination fraudsters.
But what do students say? The attitude of many of them could be determined by their
response to attempts to curb cheating. A case in point is that of a student of a tertiary
institution who I overheard saying after an examination in one of our campuses: “If I fail that
paper it is the fault of that invigilator who kept watching me so I could not remove my crib
from my pocket.” He exclaimed with righteous indignation: “Did the lecturers all not cheat
when they were students that they should now try to prevent us from cheating?” When a
supposedly mature student advances this argument, it is easy to see where we are heading.
So what is the way out? First, impunity must be checked. This will serve as a deterrent. Then,
we need to go back to the basics. Ethics and integrity must be instilled in children at a very
young age. There are people who argue that sensitization is key to eradicating examination
cheating. But others counter by referring to the work of the Attitudinal and Behavioural
Change Secretariat and question the effectiveness of their work in curbing indiscipline in our
society. The jury is still out on this.
A section of our society points the finger of blame at politicians. The claim is that they
interfere in decisions relating to disciplinary action against all forms of indiscipline including
examination fraud in our institutions. The argument is that if they stop interfering it will be a
little easier to counter this menace. After considering all this one is left with the conclusion
that the solution to this will continue to elude us for a long time to come.
(a) In your own words briefly state in three short sentences three reasons advanced for the
prevalence of examination cheating in our institutions. (6 marks)
(b) In three sentences of your own, state three solutions which the writer proffers in the
passage. (6 marks)
(c) What is the attitude of many students to examination cheating according to the writer
? (3 marks)
(d) Explain the meaning in its context of each of the following expressions:
(i) …to think outside the box. ((2 marks)
(ii) ...a slap on the wrist. (2 marks)
(iii) The jury is still out on this. (2 marks)
(e) Give a word or phrase which means the same and which can replace each of the
following words/expressions in the passage:
(i) Endemic (1 mark) (ii) proponents (1 mark) (iii) formative (1 mark) (iv
) copycats. (1 mark) (v) indignation (1 mark)
(f) Does the writer suggest that the task of eliminating examination cheating is going to
be easy? (2 marks) Quote one sentence from the passage which supports your
answer. (2 marks)
Exercise 5
your own words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score
unless you are specifically asked to quote from the passage. You have been warned!
It was early in the morning of Friday 16th September 2016, when I first heard it on the news
bulletin on SLBC, but it was only when the bones of the devoured victims were found that
the true nature and power of these swarming black creatures with their razor sharp teeth and
their taste for human blood began to be realized by a panic-stricken city. Since time
immemorial men and rats had been natural enemies. But now the balance of power had
shifted.
As we watched helplessly, the rats became stronger, almost as if they had a burning desire for
revenge, and they wreaked havoc all over Freetown, leaving a trail of bloody slaughter
wherever they emerged from their lairs. Attacks were vicious: a cinema, a hospital, a lunatic
asylum, even a night club along the scenic Lumley Beach. I learnt that there had been mass
individual attacks, people living alone standing no chance against the overwhelming vermin.
A bus-load of people was attacked during the rush hour. One of my class mates in LLB 1was
among the passengers in the bus. Attacks occurred in bizarre ways : our Foundation Studies
lecturer who went to get his car out of the garage but found the place swarming with these
black creatures was only able to escape by showing a clean pair of heels down the slopes of
Mount Aureol; the unfortunate priest saying his morning devotion alone in a church in central
Freetown stood no chance against the creatures.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation, already reeling from the effects of the Ebola epidemic
launched a massive attack on these killers. Poisons proved ineffectual for the rats seemed to
feed mainly on live animals and human flesh. In any case the furry creatures were able to
mutate and survive whatever poisons they were infected with. So the bio-chemists in the
Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences at Fourah Bay College led by Professor
Tom Yormah and Professor Babatunde Karim came up with a virus that was highly infectious
and deadly to rats. The modus operandi consisted in infecting the virus into animals – dogs,
cats – which they set loose in the haunts of the black rats. The rats attacked these infected
animals, catching the contagious virus and spreading it among their own kind, destroying
themselves.
I was overjoyed when I heard of this development. As it was, many had been destroyed even
though some had yet to catch the destructive virus. As I stared through my window, however,
I saw hoards of rats, surrounding my compound. I opened my mouth wide and screamed. I
woke up suddenly and realized it was all a bad dream!
(a) Who specifically is telling the story? Quote one sentence from the passage to support
your answer. (2 marks)
(b) “But now the balance of power had shifted”.
(i) How had this happened? (2 marks)
(ii) What specific information is given in the second paragraph about this shift in
the balance of power? (3marks)
(c) Why does the writer use the singular form ‘was’ in “A bus-load of people was
attacked...”?(1 mark)
(d) How was ‘our Foundation Studies lecturer’ able to escape from the attackers? (2
marks)
(e) Were the attackers eventually destroyed? If they were, say in your own words how
they were destroyed. (4 marks)
(f) Give a single word or short phrase which means the same and which can replace the
(i) lairs (ii) vermin (iii) bizarre (iv) ineffectual
(v) mutate (vi) modus operandi (6 marks)
Exercise 6
marks. You have been warned!
When health workers first came to Binkolo and talked about family planning, no one took
them seriously, including Sorie, whose young wife, a beautiful Mende girl called Baindu, was
then pregnant with their first baby, Fatmata. Had their fathers before them not had as many
wives and children as they desired? And had they not been able to take care of their families?
So everyone ignored the workers, and their representative, Musa Sama, who was a native of
the village, was ostracized.
Ten years later, Sorie, now a messenger at Fourah Bay College in Freetown, lived with his
wife and eight children in a single room in Mayeba, on the hills of Mount Aureol, because he
could not afford larger quarters. For as long as he could remember, his large family had been
going through difficult times, which appeared to be worsening lately. Only last week he had
returned home from work to discover that his fourth child, Mabinty, had been sent home from
school earlier in the day because her parents could not afford to replace her old and torn
school uniform. In fact, last Sunday he had used his last two thousand Leones to pay the
entrance fee to watch the drab 0-0 draw between his team, Manchester United, and their great
rivals Manchester City on DSTV in the shed down the road from his house. To make matters
worse he had noticed that his second child, Musu, had suddenly developed morning sickness
and was apprehensive of what this might portend. Then, this morning, Pa Alhaji, their stern
landlord had announced his intention to increase the rent by January 2016. Of course, Sorie
cannot accommodate any increase in the rent!
Sorie found himself thinking about the days when he was himself a young child. His own
father, Pa Amadu, had two wives and sixteen children, yet as far as he could remember, the
family never faced anything similar to what he was enduring now. He suddenly realized that
this was because the times had changed and requirements of modern living put greater
pressure on larger family sizes. His father’s time and age had been different: he had been a
successful farmer in the village, had lived in his own house, employed members of his large
family as farm hands and fed everyone from the abundance of the farm. On the other hand,
Sorie and Baindu lived in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. Baindu was a housewife and
Sorie had to live on limited pecuniary resources. He had no farm land, nor even a vegetable
garden, and had to pay for everything, from his rented room to the smallest domestic need of
his family. And at four or five times what they cost a few years before!
It was then that he sadly remembered the health workers and what they had preached and he
was filled with remorse. How he wished he had listened to their advice! And what was even
more unfortunate was that millions in Sorie’s shoes became wiser only when it was too late.
a. What advice do you think the health workers gave to the people of Binkolo?
b. In your own words give two reasons why the villagers did not take the health
workers seriously.
c. In your own words mention any two differences between Sorie’s condition and
his father’s.
d. In your own words give two specific reasons why Sorie was unhappy.
e. “…his second child, Musu, had suddenly developed morning sickness. What did
Sorie suspect had happened and why was he worried?
f. For each of the following words, find another word or phrase that means the same
and which can replace it in the passage:
(i) ostracized
(ii) drab
(iii) apprehensive
(iv) stern
(v) hands
(vi) remorse
EXERCISE 7
except in the case in which you are asked to quote from the passage.
“Corruption, corruption”; so sings Daddy Saj in a popular release a couple of years ago.
Emerson calls the corrupt officials and businessmen ‘borbor belleh’ – alluding to their
protruding stomachs. Our musicians and dramatists have been lampooning our politicians
over the prevalence of corruption in Sierra Leone. But, one may ask, where do we stand?
Where do we turn to for support in our fight against corruption?
The church? The police? Forget it. It is not uncommon for donations even in church services
to mysteriously ‘disappear’ while offertory is being counted. After a recent church service in
one of our churches an invited worshipper claimed that she had made a donation of five
hundred thousand Leones in an envelope. The envelope was later found to have ‘disappeared’
. Maybe it developed wings and ‘flew’ away
The police? Now, you must be joking. Drive your car around without having the license
renewed, and without holding a valid driver’s permit. The police will stop you. Guess what?
There is a ‘negotiation’, something comes out of the pocket and you are on your way. I am
not being facetious. We are looking at the realities of the situation. Ask the ‘okada’ men, and
they will willingly tell you how to get around breaking the law.
Buy a second hand car and you want to have it registered and licensed. It should cost you
around seven hundred thousand Leones to do so officially, but you will need to take the car to
the depot of the relevant authorities. And to be sure, the vehicle examiner will surely find
fault with it. If you are ready to part with one million Leones an ‘agent’ will have it registered
and licensed for you – with the car not going anywhere, or undertaking any ‘examination’.
Go to schools and tertiary institutions. The situation here is as bad as everywhere else. Claims
are made by pupils even in primary schools that to score a high grade Mummy merely has to
‘grease the teacher’s palm’. Secondary school pupils claim that their teachers award marks
depending on the depth of the pockets of the pupils’ parents. Awarding marks for sexual
favours has also been widely alleged among male teachers. Tertiary institutions? Some say
these institutions are merely a carbon copy of the situation in schools. Investigations have
been carried out into alleged malpractices by lecturers on countless occasions. In several
cases, lecturers have been found not to be above board in their interactions with their students
.
Corruption has indeed become endemic in our society; so endemic has it become that one is
constrained to look for a reason for this. There is a school of thought which argues that
corruption results from the fact that salaries are low and poverty is always at the doorstep of
the ordinary man. They buttress their argument by postulating that the poor man, with no
means of survival is likely to give in to the temptation to engage in corrupt practices because
of the human instinct for survival. Is this really true? What about the alleged cases of fraud
among highly placed bank executives and rich businessmen now in the courts? No more on
this since the matter is sub judice.
Others argue that traditional practices in our society provide the backdrop to what the white
man has labeled ‘corruption’. They cite such a traditional practice as giving the village chief
‘kola’ when you are asking for some favour. This argument was bandied all over the place
when Transparency International gave a damning report on the state of corruption in our
country. There are certainly questions about how Transparency International obtained the
data on which it based its assumptions. But it is left to the ordinary Sierra Leonean to judge.
Let us not for one moment despair on the assumption that our country is the only one in the
world in which corruption is endemic. Take a West African neighbour of ours. Two football
teams (I shall not name them) were vying for promotion to a higher division. They both still
had one match to play. To forestall any match-fixing, the matches were scheduled to be
played simultaneously. This had no effect on the results. The two matches ended with 79-0
and 67-0 score-lines! To the credit of the authorities in that country, all four teams were
kicked out of the league, and an investigation by the nation’s police is now underway. But
this is Africa. Go to the developed world and you have incidences of corruption. Though this
is on a smaller scale, they are nevertheless there. So some relief here; we are not alone.
Take heart, all is not lost. More and more, authorities within our country are searching for
ways to rid our country of this menace – or at least, to minimize it. The formation of the Anti-
Corruption Commission by the Kabba government is a case in point. The Ernest Bai Koroma
government further strengthened the commission by giving it powers to prosecute, instead of
going through the office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice. Indeed, say what
you may, this commission has had some effect. Hitherto ‘untouchables’ are now being
constantly arraigned in court and government officials are now watching their step.
Efforts are also being made by the Inspector General of Police to clean up the force. One
good thing is that they now admit that that there are some bad eggs and these are being
disciplined for the most serious offences.
I also understand that there is a salary review for government workers going on. I am not sure
whether this is true, but I think it is about time the government thought of improving the
emoluments and conditions of service of its workers. You may point to the recent salary
increase of teachers and ask me whether this has changed anything.
So, efforts are being made to combat the scourge of corruption. But with the populace
becoming increasingly cynical, and money still illegally changing hands at border posts and
everywhere else in the country, and with top officials arraigned in court on thirty or more
counts by the ACC walking out of the courts free, one is left with a feeling of déjà vu.
a) Give a single word or expression which means the same and which can replace each
of the following words or expressions in the passage:
(i) lampooning (ii) facetious (iii) above board (iv) endemic (v) sub judice
b) Why does the writer think that support for the fight against corruption could not be
found in the church and the police?
c) In one sentence of your own give two examples of corruption in institutions other than
the church and the police.
d) Give two reasons that are advanced in the passage for the prevalence of corruption in
our society.
e) Does the writer think that the fight against corruption is succeeding? Quote one
phrase to support your answer.
(vii) apprehensive
(viii) stern
(ix) hands
(x) remorse
EXERCISE 8
your own words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score.
Brima Bangura – BB for short – was a very popular man in his village. Although the villagers
did not explain it in so many words, BB’s popularity was a measure of their gratitude to an
energetic and pragmatic young man who, unlike most of his fellows nowadays, had not
abandoned his village in order to seek work in the towns.
Everyone knew how he had spent two years as a driver’s mate on one of the mini-buses (
‘poda-poda’s’) plying the streets of Freetown and was learning how to drive, but had given
up of his own free will a bright future, to return to his people after the end of the brutal civil
war in Sierra Leone, to guide them in these political times. In fact, he had gone to school with
the dreaded rebel leader, General ‘Maskita’ and had been invited to join the invaders when
they had found him cowering in a cellar during the invasion of the capital. This invitation he
turned down without so much as giving it a thought. So he had returned home to his village
afterwards. Not that Magbolondo needed a lot of political guidance. The village already
belonged en masse to the People’s Alliance Party (PAP), and its illustrious son, Chief the
Honourable Marcus Winneba, the Minister of Oil Exploitation.
As was to be expected BB was in the service of the Honourable Minister for the elections in
2007 and 2012. He had really become an expert in electioneering campaigning and political
intrigue. He could tell the mood and temper of the electorate at any given time. For instance,
he had warned the Minister months ago of the radical change that had come into the thinking
of the people of Magbolondo since the last elections. They wondered. The villagers had had
five years in which to see how quickly and plentifully politics brought wealth, chieftaincy
titles, doctorate degrees and other honours to individuals like the Honourable Minister. Yet
no one had explained satisfactorily to them why even when the ebola disease broke out in
March this year, there had been no health workers in their village to take care of the sick; no
school for their children; no roads or markets in their area.
Recently the Minister had waded into the controversy in political circles about the presence
of the Ebola disease only being ascribed to one particular area of the country. This discussion
had become politically radioactive over the past few days especially after violent reactions by
youths against heath workers in this area of the country.
At the moment, however, these thoughts were far away from the thoughts of the politicians in
Magbolondo. Now the Minister’s brother was facing a bye election battle with a member of
the opposition following the death of their elder cousin who had been the MP for their
constituency for over thirty years.
Up to this moment everything had gone according to plan, as BB would put it. Then he had
received a bizarre visit from the leader of the opposition People’s Organization Party (POP).
Although he and BB were well known to each other, his visit was cold and businesslike. No
words were wasted. He had come to see BB for a particular purpose. He placed four million
Leones in ten Leone notes on the floor and said, “We want your vote and your support in the
coming bye-election.” BB got up from his chair, and went outside. The brief exercise gave
him time to weigh the proposition. As he spoke, his eyes never left the bundle of new notes
on the floor. He seemed mesmerized by them.
“You know I work for Marcus,” he said feebly.
“Marcus will not be there when you cast your vote.”
“It will not be heard outside this room? And my support will have to be clandestine?” BB
said, more of a statement than a question.
“We are after votes, not gossip.”
“All right,” said BB.
The man brought out an object covered with red cloth and proceeded to remove the cover. It
was a fearsome little clay pot with feathers stuck into it.
BB’s heart nearly flew out when he saw the object: for he knew the power of the fetish at
Mabene. Fail to do as sworn and the god will act fast. But he was a man of quick decision.
What would a single vote cast in secret for this man take away from Marcus’ brother’s
victory? Nothing. But as he swore, he sweated profusely.
a) Why was BB popular in his village?

b) Why was he considered a political expert?
c) What indications are given in the passage to show the change of attitude of the villagers?
d) Why did BB not reject the proposition from the opposition?
e) “This discussion had become politically radioactive over the past few days…” Explain
the meaning of this expression.
f) For each of the following words underlined in the passage, give another word or phrase
which means the same and can replace it in the passage:
(i) pragmatic
(ii) cowering
(iii) intrigue
(iv) bizarre
(v) mesmerized
(vi) clandestine
EXERCISE 9
Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions on it using your own words
as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score.
My travails teach the lesson that one should cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth. In the
early sixties, I was a senior official in the then Surveys and Lands Department. As a senior
official, I was entitled to a building loan seven times my annual salary. At that time, that
amount of money, with prudent management, was enough to build a modest bungalow. But
my wife would not hear of a bungalow and argued for a block of flats that would also
accommodate some tenants whose monthly rents would help in repaying the loan. Sound
economics it was. So, I decided on a one-storey structure with two flats (each of three
bedrooms) on each.
The construction began in earnest, and within the first month of obtaining the loan, the block
work for the ground floor was completed. A never-to-be-forgotten experience followed. After
the completion of the ground floor, there was hardly enough money left to continue the
project. Five months later, I strained myself to mould some blocks but could do no more. So,
these new blocks lay on the ground and were soon overgrown with weeds. Six months after I
had obtained the loan, the monthly repayment began. This meant a significant reduction in
the amount of money available for housekeeping. Henceforth, a period of belt-tightening
commenced. The tragedy was that, in spite of all the hardship the family had to undergo, the
building could not be completed.
My discomfiture was exacerbated by a very important event which happened at this time. To
compound my problems, my wife declared that she was at the end of her tether and packed
out of my home, taking the children along with her. After so many years of cohabitation she,
indeed, knew my Achilles’ heel. I grieved for months. I was also shocked that she who had
insisted on a big building should prove to be a fair-weather friend when the going got tough.
The uncompleted structure became a ready dumping ground for the neighbourhood. Passers-
by too converted it into a public convenience. Then, one day, some boys, believing that some
rodents inhabited the holes under the stacked up blocks, unpacked them, throwing them
roughly away and breaking more than half in the process. In the end, the only one they found
escaped. Each time I visited the structure, the stench that greeted me made me sick. The
trauma I went through nearly drove me crazy.
Ten years after it had all started, I managed to repay the loan. Now, I could obtain a further
loan to complete the building. Unfortunately, however, a reassessment showed that I required
a loan five times the first one! By the time I finished repaying that, that is, if I had the guts to
apply for a loan that big, I would be well past the age of retirement.
(a) Explain the irony in the passage.

(b) State three ways in which the uncompleted building was subjected to misuse. [Use
your own words. Direct lifting from the passage will not score.]
(c) In your view, did the writer finally complete the building? Give reasons for your
answer.
(d) From the paragraph beginning “The construction began in earnest…” select one
example of each of the following:
(i)a common adjective; (ii) a verb in the passive voice; (iii) a non-finite verb
(iv) a compound adjective (v) a complex sentence.
(e) What figure of speech is involved in the expression “… the stench that greeted me
made me sick.
EXERCISE 10
Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions on it using your own
words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score.
It happens in the streets of Freetown every day. There is a shout of “Thief! Thief!” and large
crowds chase a young man who has snatched a purse or a cell phone or some such other small
object from a passerby. More often than not, he is caught and beaten up mercilessly. He is
dragged on the ground, pelted with kicks and blows from all directions and his clothes are
torn, leaving him stark naked. The crowd drifts away as their anger dissipates and the
perpetrator now turned victim drags himself to his feet and saunters off to God- knows-
where.
But this is daytime. Night time is worse. The shouts of “Thief!” are much louder and more
threatening. If the thief is unlucky enough to get caught his fate is sealed. He is flogged with
sticks and pelted with rocks. Someone gouges out his eyes and his genitals are ripped off. In
the morning the body lies two streets away, in an awkward position, with flies swarming all
over it, the posture obscene as if mocking honest people going to their places of work. The
Freetown City Council soon arrives and it is carted off to the morgue. Any arrests? You can
bet your last Leone there will be none.
Sometimes one wonders why people take the law into their own hands. Why is there so much
violence in our society? Why did youths on “Bob Marley Night” a few years ago wreck
havoc around St. John roundabout and in Brookfields in the west of Freetown? Why did
school children in Kenema in the Eastern Province “capture” a commercial cyclist who had
knocked down one of their colleagues and stab him to death? Why did large crowds pound
on a group of robbers who robbed the Mercury International office in the east of Freetown
and lynch five of them? In all this, one asks, what the police are doing about the situation.
But that’s another question. Let’s concentrate on the first of the issues – members of the
public perpetrating violence. Is it right for people to abrogate the power of the police?
What is the genesis of mob violence? There are some who argue that it serves no purpose to
take thieves to the police. This is a very widespread argument. Those who subscribe to this
view claim that the police and the criminals are often in league. The police, of course, have
denied this. Their denial has not made any difference.
Psychologists will tell you that the basic instinct of self-preservation taken to extremes results
in mob violence. In a bid to protect himself, the individual will perpetrate heinous acts.
Members of the public in their ire look for the best way to protect their own interests. If this
means lynching the thief, so be it. The merits of this view are to say the least rather
questionable. But with the rising spate of armed robbery, it is worthy of consideration. Every
night thieves attack homes, cart away property, and sometimes inflict injuries on peaceful
people who are having their well-deserved night’s rest.
Still others see a link between mob violence and the rising violence among our youths. In fact
, they argue that a lot of those involved in beating up and sometimes killing thieves are
themselves thieves! Paradoxically, they argue, these perpetrators of violence are punishing
their kith and kin for allowing themselves to be caught. Again, one has to examine the
argument carefully to decide whether it has any merits.
Has mob violence curbed the armed robbery and mugging in the country? It does not seem to
have done so. You might well be asking what the role of the police has been in all this. It is
no secret that there is no love lost between members of the “force for good” and the general
populace. The action of the police over the past few weeks has exacerbated the situation. Just
a couple of weeks ago a commercial bike rider was gunned down at a check-point by a
policeman on the outskirts of Freetown. Just before that a neighbourhood watch at
Wellington was inadvertently attacked by a police patrol which thought the men were armed
robbers and two young men were shot dead. As the situation stands, the police are involved in
a campaign to win the hearts and minds of the civilian populace, but in the meantime, armed
robbers go about their daily routine. One is therefore left with a feeling of déjà vu.
(a) Give the passage a short factual title.

(b) Why, according to the passage, do members of the public take the law into their hands?
(c) Distinguish in one short sentence the differences between the treatments meted out to
alleged thieves during the day and at night.
(d) Give in your own words two instances of violence that have occurred over the past few
weeks.
(e) In your view, is the writer optimistic at the end of the passage? Support your answer in a
single sentence of your own.
(f) According to the passage, what is the relationship between the police and civilians?
(g) Give another word or short phrase which means the same and which can replace each of
the following words or expressions as used in the passage:
i. morgue
ii. genesis of
iii. ire
iv. mugging
v. exacerbated
vi. inadvertently
(h) Explain the following expressions using your own words:
i. The crowd drifts away as their anger dissipates and the perpetrator now
turned victim drags himself to his feet and saunters off to God- knows-
where.
ii. One is therefore left with a feeling of déjà vu.
SECTION 3 - WRITING A FORMAL LETTER (Including a letter of

application).
(a) READER AND PURPOSE

We should ask ourselves these questions before we begin:
FOR WHOM AM I WRITING?

•Who will my reader(s) be?
•What do my reader(s) need to know?
•What questions will my reader(s) have in mind?
WHY AM I WRITING?
•
Is it to give my reader(s) information?
•
Do I want my reader(s) to take action? If so what action do I want my reader
(s) to take?
Two other questions to ask are:

• Who has the time to read this?
• Who wants to read this?
Answering these questions will help us decide WHAT information to present and
HOW to present it. Since we have several groups of readers we must take all of them
into consideration. But the focus should be on our primary group of readers.
(b) FORMAL FEATURES
(a) Writer’s address - Top right hand corner

(b) Date - directly following the writer’s address
(c) Addressee’s (Recipient’s) address - Top left hand corner
(d) The Salutation - Dear Sir/ Dear Madam.
(e) Title of the letter
(f) The Complimentary close - Yours faithfully followed by a comma.
(g) Signature & Name (in that order) - immediately following the complimentary close.
The Body of the Letter (opening paragraph & subsequent paragraphs) follows the title of the
letter.
If the letter is an application, a resume must be included. This is also called curriculum vitae
and is a written account of one’s life comprising education, accomplishments, work
experience, publications, etc. please note that for examination purposes it must be brief.
You may wish to adopt the following format in writing an application:
(a) Start with a strong, positive sentence declaring the position for which you are
applying. PARAGRAPH 1
(b) State why you are attracted to the job. PARAGRAPH 1.
(c) State the benefits which your prospective employer will have by employing you.
PARAGRAPH 2
(d) State your qualifications and experience including your strong points – your
resume/CV. PARAGRAPH 3.
(e) State briefly the impact the institution/company has had on the society.
PARAGRAPH 4.
(f) Give the names and addresses of three referees PARAGRAPH 5.
(g) End by stating in summary why you think you should be employed; why you think
you are the best person for the job. End with a strong statement.
These features will be discussed in class.

(c) CLARITY OF EXPRESSION
To achieve clarity attention needs to be paid to the length of our sentences.
❖ Shorter sentences make greater impact.

❖ Shorter sentences also make the letter/essay easy to read..
❖ Sentence length must be kept at between 15 and 20 words. This does not mean that all
sentences must be short. The length should be varied, but the writer must avoid sentences
which are so long that the reader will find it difficult to understand what is being
communicated.
❖ Do not use contracted verb forms (e.g. can’t, won’t, don’t) in a formal letter.
❖ Of course, it cannot be overemphasized that clarity is attained through grammatically
correct sentences. Attention must be paid to subject-verb agreement, tenses, appropriate
vocabulary, and case of pronouns, among others. (See Pages 9 - 15 of First Semester
Handbook.)
Try your hand at the following exercise.
Each of the following passages was taken from actual letters written by some organisations in
Freetown. Examine each passage with a view to providing an edited version;
❖ Your letter dated 06 August 2010 refer. We are pleased to learn of your mutual concern
for the displaced children of the two districts.
❖ For your information the minutes of the Inter-Agency Meeting held on 02 August has
being prepared and states that, a Ministry Official announced that Government have
exempted for school fees and wearing uniforms for displaced children. I suggest you need
to pursue it to clarify the matter.
❖ I want to draw your attention towards an important aspect of essential drugs supplies in
the country. The country is presently running short of essential drugs and it will have
adverse impact on morbidity, mortality and production level if urgent supply of essential
drugs are not arrange. For your information deaths from pneumonia is on the increase.
The morbidity levels due to other most prevalent diseases is also going up. This of course
will have adverse effect on productivity and absenteeism from work.
SECTION 4 CLAUSES AND PHRASES
(a) Revision of finite & non-finite verbs –

POINTS TO NOTE:
❖ The finite verb denotes tense, aspect, number and person. E.g. I
asked her to wait for me after class. The verb ‘asked’ is finite
while ‘to wait’ is not. The finite verb ‘asked’ shows that the
sentence is in the past tense, for example.
❖ The non-finite verb, on the other, does not denote, tense, aspect,
number or person. Non-finite verbs are mostly infinitives with or
without ‘to’. E.g. I saw him eat two loaves of bread and drink a
cup of coffee.
(b) Differences between clauses and phrases – A major difference between a clause
and a phrase is that a clause has a finite verb while a phrase does not; another
difference is that while a clause is a sentence having a subject and a predicate, a
phrase is a group of words which does not have a subject and predicate..
E.g. Francess went to the hospital because she was sick. [There are two clauses
in this sentence, each having its own subject and predicate. ‘Francess’ (Subject)
went to the hospital (predicate); because (subordinating conjunction) she (subject)
was sick (predicate)].
CLAUSES
We can distinguish between a main clause and a subordinate clause. The main clause can
stand on its own and make sense. A subordinate clause can only make sense when attached to
a main clause. E.g. Because he did not work very hard, Albert has to repeat the year. [
‘Albert has to repeat the year’ is the main clause; ‘because he did not work very hard’ is the
subordinate clause.] Our focus in this discussion is on the subordinate clause.
There are two main types of subordinate clauses :- (i) ADVERBIAL CLAUSE; (ii)
ADJECTIVAL CLAUSE; the NOUN CLAUSE in a sentence cannot be said to be
subordinate even though it cannot usually stand on its own. (More on this presently).
i. The SUBORDINATE ADVERBIAL clause modifies a verb in the main
clause. E.g. Although Manchester United played very well they lost the match
against Everton 4-0. [ The underlined clause is a subordinate adverbial clause
of concession, modifying the verb ‘lost’.]
ii. The SUBORDINATE ADJECTIVAL clause qualifies (or describes) a noun in
the main clause. E.g. . The Presidential Election for F.B.C. students which
was scheduled for March this year. was postponed indefinitely.. [The
underlined clause is a subordinate adjectival clause qualifying ‘The
Presidential Election for F.B. C. students’]
iii. The NOUN clause cannot stand on its own and needs to be attached to another
clause or phrase in order to make complete sense. E.g. Mr. Osho thinks that
you are intelligent students. [The underlined clause serves as the object of the
sentence.]
The adverbial clause can be identified as place, manner, condition, concession, purpose
reason, etc.
EXERCISE 11
(TO BE DONE IN TUTORIALS)
The exercise which follows will help you identify clauses and their functions.
Study each of the sentences which follow and

(a) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;
AND
(b) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence.
i. The Inspector General of the Sierra Leone Police, Dr. Richard Moigbe, told students
that the law must be respected.
ii. Even though the Argentinians played their hearts out, they found the Germans too
strong for them in the World Cup Final.
iii. The Foundation Studies examination was postponed because the security of the
questions had been compromised.
iv. The radio programme Monologue, which had been critical of the government lately,
has been suspended by the IMC for three weeks.
v. Even though Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger has made an attractive offer for
Suarez, Liverpool Football club will not let the player go.
vi. Postponing a decision, that is, deciding not to decide, is not the same as indecision.
vii. The view from the 100th floor of The World Financial Centre in Shanghai, which is
the tallest building in China, is a very scary one.
viii. Because Aminata was late for the lecture she was not allowed into the lecture hall.
ix. Because there is a lot of tension, public demonstrations have been banned in the
country.
x. He told his students that they were very intelligent.
xi. Failure to take action against sexual harassment ,has led to its perpetuation.
PHRASES
Much of what has been said about the different types of clauses could also be said about
phrases. In addition to these there are participle phrases, infinitive phrases, verb phrases,
prepositional phrases, gerund phrases, absolute phrases. These will be discussed in tutorials
.
EXERCSE 12 (TO BE DONE IN TUTORIALS

(a) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;
AND
(b) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence.
i. Seeking the interest of its members is one of the main roles of a trade
union organization.
ii. The big boys in the front row are asked to kneel.
iii. The big boys are asked to kneel in the front row..
iv. Members of the Labour Congress are anxious to see the new English
Language programme upgraded.
v. Postponing a decision, that is, deciding not to decide, is not the same as
indecision.
vi. Regardless of its numerous challenges, the Anti-Corruption
Commission is striving to make an impact on reducing corruption in the
country.
vii. Failure to take action against sexual harassment ,has led to its
perpetuation.
viii. Because of the continued violence during elections on campus, the
college administration has proscribed all social activities on campus.
ix. Engaging in frequent protests is counterproductive in the current social
and political climate in the country.
x. The boy who is sitting in the car is the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Kamara.
xi. In spite of the challenges of teaching French without a functioning
laboratory, Dr. Moira Ferran and Mrs. Angela Tuboku-Metzger have
excelled over the years.
xii. Because of the continued violence during elections on campus, the
college administration has proscribed all social activities on campus.
xiii. Engaging in frequent protests is counterproductive in the current social
and political climate in the country.
xiv. The boy who is sitting in the car is the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Kamara.
xv. In spite of the challenges of teaching French without a functioning
laboratory, Dr. Moira Ferran and Mrs. Angela Tuboku-Metzger have
excelled over the years.
SECTION 5 DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
Direct speech refers to the actual words spoken. These are normally enclosed
in inverted commas in writing. Indirect speech (also called reported speech)
reports at a later time, the words spoken earlier.
Please note that in writing out direct speech:

• All spoken words are enclosed in inverted commas.
• Usually some sort of tag such as she told me, she said, he responded,
etc. is normally used in writing.
• Full stop becomes comma and is enclosed within the inverted commas.
• Other punctuation marks such as the question mark or semi-colon are
enclosed within the inverted commas.
It is important to note the following when direct is reported (indirect speech):

• Tense changes from present to past if the sentence was in the present
tense.
• Person of pronouns change.
• All inverted commas are dropped.
• Adverbs of time and place are modified.
• Direct questions become indirect questions.
EXERCISE 13 (To be done in tutorials.)
Change the following from direct to indirect speech:
(i) “Have you completed your short-listing of applicants to the LLB programme?”
Professor Lawrence Kamar asked the Dean of Social Sciences and Law. “No, I
haven’t,” the Dean replied.
(ii) “The new students’ forum initiated by the Acting Vice Chancellor and Principal of
University of Sierra Leone is a step in the right direction,” a student remarked this
morning.
(iii) “Have you found your phone which you told me you had misplaced?” her mum asked
Janette. “No Mum, I haven’t found it yet,” Janette responded.
(iv) “I have made arrangements for some of you to study in the United States of America
for one year, starting next August,” the lecturer informed his happy students.
(v) “Life on Fourah Bay College campus can be difficult at times,” William told Edwin.
“It depends on how to approach life,” Edwin replied.
(vi) “Will you be available for discussion on the Foundation Studies paper tonight?”
Jenneh asked Abu.
(vii) “The ongoing debate on the credibility of the voter register for next year’s general
elections is having an adverse effect on voter confidence,” the NEC boss affirmed
to newsmen this morning.
(viii) “Eight students have been rusticated for involvement in examination malpractices,”
Professor Ekundayo Thompson told USL Senate members last week.
(b) Change into direct speech:
(ix) The President told newsmen yesterday that since he came into office in 2007, one of
his main aims had been to make the fight against corruption a priority.
(x) Memuna asked Johnny whether he had heard of the suspension of four footballers
among others by the SLFA for match fixing and he replied that he had not.
(xi) The Chairman of the political party told the PPRC that he had informed the
membership of his party of the 30 thousand United States Dollars support from
the Nigerian Government immediately he received it.
(xii) Our Foundation Studies lecturer wished us all good luck and said that he hoped he
would not see us next year in his Year 1 class.
(xiii) Mr. Johnson told his staff that he was travelling to USA the following day.
(xiv) Mr.Osho assured his students that if they were diligent in their work they would pass
the Foundation Studies paper without any problems.
SECTION 6 - THE SENTENCE
THE SENTENCE
We may classify sentences in two ways: according to (a) PURPOSE; (b) STRUCTURE.
(a) PURPOSE Regarding purpose, the sentence may be Declarative (making a

statement); Interrogative (asking a question); Interrogative (expressing a command
, a plea or an entreaty); Exclamatory ( making an exclamation)
DECLARATIVE:
❖ Mariam is travelling to Bo next Friday.
❖ Last month ‘Okada’ riders clashed with the police in Freetown.
❖ The riots in Kabala have now ceased.
INTEROGATIVE
❖ Do you think that abortion should be legalized?
❖ Did the government do enough to control the spread of the Ebola disease in the
country?
❖ Are you prepared to work hard in order to pass the examination?
IMPERATIVE
❖ Please let me go.
❖ Get out!
❖ Please forgive me.
(b) STRUCTURE: simple sentence, complex sentence, compound sentence,

compound-complex sentence.
SIMPLE
The simple sentence has only one verb. It can usually be divided into subject and predicate.
❖ The new president of the English Language Students Association, Suricia Conteh,
has been making vigorous efforts to unite her colleagues. {Note: the only verb in
this sentence is has been making. This is a single verb comprising three parts. It is
in the present perfect continuous tense!}
❖ All students in Year 1 are satisfied with their first semester examination grades.
❖ Sleeping late at night is not a good habit.
COMPLEX
The complex sentence has more than one verb. There are usually two sentences joined
together by a subordinating conjunction (E.g. when, because, where, although, who, unless,
so that etc.)
❖ In spite of repeated warnings from the university administration students

misbehaved in the run-up to the Students Union elections.
❖ The student, who led the demonstration, has been suspended from school.
❖ Unless you work hard, you will not pass your examination.
{Note: the subordinating conjunctions are in italics. ‘Who’ is a relative pronoun but for the
purposes of this discussion it must be regarded as a subordinating junction since it carries out
that function.}
COMPOUND
Here at least two sentences are joined by a coordinating conjunction – and, but, however, so
, therefore, moreover, etc. Please note the differences between the coordinating conjunction
and the subordinating conjunction. Although, when, where and the others are subordinating
conjunctions while but, and, however and the others are coordinating conjunctions. The main
difference between the COMPLEX and the COMPOUND sentence lies in the fact that in the
complex sentence, one of the sentences is subordinate to the other (in other words, there is a
main clause and a subordinate clause), while in the compound sentence the two sentences are
of the same status.
❖ The Agenda for Prosperity is a useful document, but one wonders how
effective its implementation will be. [Note. There are two sentences here
joined by and.]
❖ Things are looking up in Sierra Leone; moreover the economy is rapidly
stabilizing.
❖ I am very competitive, and I cheer my players on.
❖ A new president of the Sierra Leone Football Association has been elected,
but the impasse continues
COMPOUND COMPLEX
Here, there are AT LEAST TWO COMPOUND SENTENCES COMPRISING A
COMBINATION OF COMPLEX SENTENCES.
❖ When I finished the exam, I jumped up and cheered aloud.
❖ Usain Bolt, who won the triple triple in the Rio Olympics, has announced that this
is his last Olympic Games, but we are heartened by the fact that he will take part in
the World Championships next year.
EXERCISE 14
(a) Classify the following sentences according to structure
i. Every summer we used to visit our aunt in London, but last year we were
disappointed to learn that she was relocating to Freetown.
ii. In spite of repeated warnings from the university administration students misbehaved
in the run-up to the Students Union elections.
iii. All students repeating the Foundation Studies module in Year IV only have
themselves to blame.
iv. Things are looking up in Sierra Leone after the eradication of Ebola; moreover the
economy is rapidly stabilizing.
v. Victims of the mudslide at Regent Village have been accommodated in a camp at the
‘Old School’ Complex.
vi. Foundation Studies students are always punctual in class; moreover, they are
intelligent students.
vii. Because Liverpool did not play well last Saturday, they were defeated five goals to nil
by Manchester City.
viii. As the flood waters rolled down the slope, a woman gathered her child protectively
into her arms, and a man further down the slope took to his heels.
ix. You must study hard for the examinations.
(b)Classify the following sentences according to purpose.

i. When does the British Prime Minister Mr.Cameron say he will step down?
ii. Thousands of migrants cross by sea to Europe every week.
iii. What a violent terrorist organization Boko Haram is!
iv. Please forgive me.
v. ISIS terrorists are always looking for ways to hurt innocent people.
vi. Bring me some water.
vii. I love you so much!
viii. What do you think must be done to prepare for a violence-free Students Union
election?
ix. ‘Okada’ riders are among the most reckless road users in the country.
x. How effective has the government’s response been to environmental emergencies
over the past years?
SECTION 7 - FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING:
SPEAKING IN FRONT OF OTHERS/ MAKING A SPEECH

o Note that in preparing your speech you must ask yourself two questions:
(i) Why am I giving this speech?

(ii) What outcomes do I expect?
This will help you to prepare your speech well.

Then you must keep in mind the following:
(i) Considering the needs of your listeners and planning your presentation to suit
these needs.
(ii)Mastering anxiety/nervousness;
(iii)Knowing your material thoroughly;
(iv)Familiarizing yourself with your venue before the speech – if this is possible.
(v)Preparing for hecklers (those who try to shout you down or destabilize you by making
cat-calls.)
(vi)Presenting the correct image.
(vii)Presenting the appropriate body language.
(viii)Speaking with conviction; if you make a mistake go on, don’t try to correct yourself;
others might not have noticed your mistake and you don’t want to draw attention
to it.
(ix)Maintaining eye contact;
(x)Speaking directly to your listeners rather than reading in a monotone;
(xi)Adding humour whenever appropriate and possible
(xii)Pausing after important statements.
(xiii)Timing yourself – you must know when to stop talking!
• STRUCTURING YOUR SPEECH.
Like an essay or a report, your speech must have

an OPENING (INTRODUCTION) - this introduces your subject.
a MAIN PART – this presents the material which will inform or persuade your
audience.
a CONCLUSION (ENDING) – this part summarizes (very briefly and succinctly)

the main points and ensures that you achieve the desired outcome.
An important aspect of public speaking is the accurate pronunciation of words and the ability
to speak with the correct intonation. An ability to achieve these helps to build your
confidence and to overcome anxiety.
Can you pronounce the words below accurately? Let us try them out.
aren’t, weren’t, pronunciation, president, precedent, south, southern, north, northern,

this, that, thing, architect, archeology, archbishop, leisure, zealous, mete, roar, loose,
lose, gigantic, teaching, fishing, morning, comb, bomb, shortage, search, country, busy.
CONDUCTING NEGOTIATIONS
Prepare
There are three things that are essential for good preparation.
Communicating effectively with those you are representing so they ‘share’ the negotiations
with you. Get their feelings and ideas but tell them what problems you might face.
Preparing yourself and your team if there is more than one person involved. Make sure
everybody knows what their job is, who will speak about what and so on. If it is a team
remind everybody of the golden rule ‘never disagree in front of management’.
Prepare your case. Have the facts you need and identify your strengths but be prepared to
defend your weaknesses. A good rule is to ‘put yourself in the other person’s shoes’.
Anticipate what they will say.
Propose
Remember that negotiations require listening as much as talking. What is the other team
proposing – are there any good points to take forward and what will be the ‘sticking points’?
Bargain
Remember to use adjournments or ‘time-outs’ if there are things you want to consider or feel
there may be a disagreement in the team. Adjournments are not a sign of weakness but an
opportunity to think about the best decision
Here are some past questions on this topic for practice. Your tutor might instruct you to
attempt some of them as part of your continuous assessment.
.EXERCISE 15
(i) Discuss the factors which you will consider if you are leading a team taking
part in negotiations with the Fourah College Administration on any issue of
students’ welfare.
(ii) Imagine that you have been invited to make the opening statement in a
discussion of a very controversial issue. State in brief not less than ten factors
which you will consider in the preparation of your statement and how you
will structure your speech. Do not write out the speech!
(iii) Write out an analysis of any speech which you listened to recently (speeches
by Sierra Leoneans not excluded), and say whether you find the speech
impressive. State the reasons for your judgment.
(iv) Imagine that an organization to which you belong is engaged in negations with
the owners of the building in which its offices are housed. Which factors will
you consider if you are leading these negotiations?
(v) Without writing out your speech discuss in some detail five factors which you
will consider when preparing to deliver a speech to a large audience. Also
state briefly how you will structure your speech.
(vi) “Great speakers like Martin Luther King Jnr., Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama
, Kwame Nkruma, John F. Kennedy, Jomo Kenyatta and Siaka Stevens are
renowned for their powerful rhetoric and their ability to appeal to the
emotions of their listeners.” Analyze any speech which you read or listened
to recently bringing out clearly what, in your view, makes it a good speech. (
You may choose to discuss a speech made by one of the statesmen mentioned
in the quotation, but it does not necessarily need to have been made by one of
them.)
(vii) “Public Speaking is an art.” Discuss the implications of this statement.
(viii) Discuss the importance of the factors which follow in delivering a speech to a
large audience
(a) . Mastering anxiety/nervousness;

(b) Knowing your material thoroughly;
(c) Presenting the appropriate body language.
(d) Speaking with conviction.
(e) Adding humour whenever appropriate and possible.
HERE ARE SAMPLE PAST QUESTION PAPERS AND THE MARKING SCHEME TO
GUIDE YOU IN YOUR PREPARATION FOR THE END OF SECOND SEMESTER
EXAMINATION. WE SHALL DISCUSS THIS WORKBOOK AND OTHER AREAS OF
THE COURSE OUTLINE DURING OUR WEDNESDAY LECTURES.
FOURAH BAY COLLEGE

UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE

EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF B.A., Bsc., B. Eng, etc
SECOND SEMESTER FEBRUARY 2016
FOST 120 FOUNDATION STUDIES TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
INSTRUCTION: ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM SECTION A, ALL QUESTIONS IN
SECTION B, ONE QUESTION FROM SECTION C AND THREE QUESTIONS FROM
SECTION D. YOU MUST ATTEMPT SIX QUESTIONS IN ALL.
PLEASE INDICATE YOUR FACULTY AND YEAR ON THE COVER OF YOUR
BOOKLET. YOUR ANSWER BOOKLET WILL NOT BE GRADED IF YOU FAIL
TO DO SO.
SECTION A - ESSAY/LETTER WRITING (40 MARKS)
ANSWER ONLY ONE QUESTION FROM THIS SECTION IN ABOUT 350 WORDS.
1. Many articles have appeared in local newspapers criticizing the action of the police
during the recent clashes with civilians – commercial motor bike (‘okada’) riders,
protesters in Kono and in Kabala, etc. Write a rejoinder for publication in a local
newspaper stating your views on this issue and suggesting ways in which these
clashes and the resulting casualties could be reduced..
2. Write a letter to the Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs
complaining about poor social services for the underprivileged including Ebola
survivors, physically and mentally challenged people, and street beggars. Make
suggestions as to how the situation could be improved.
3. EITHER
(a) Write a reply to the following advertisement:
“The Street Kids Foundation, a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in

Freetown, invites applications from suitably qualified Sierra Leoneans to fill the
post of programme manager in the organization. Applicants must hold a degree in
social sciences, social work or the humanities (Arts) from a recognized university.
The successful applicant will report directly to the Director of Programmes and
his/her duties will include planning, implementing and monitoring programmes
aimed at alleviating the suffering of street children. Applications including
personal details and the names and addresses of three referees should reach the
Director of Human Resources not later than close of work on Monday 17th
October, 2016. Only short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview.
Female candidates are especially encouraged to apply.”
OR
(b) “The Sierra Leone Police is inviting applications from suitably qualified Sierra
Leoneans, male and female, to fill the post of officer cadets in the force.
Applicants must hold at least a Bachelors’ degree in any field from a recognized
university and must be physically fit. The successful candidate will be offered the
opportunity to undergo further training in the UK. Applications including personal
details and the names and addresses of three referees must reach the Inspector
General not later than Monday 17th October, 2016.”
4. Write a story, or narrate an incident (real or imaginary) for publication in your college
magazine titled: “It is better to love than to hate.”
SECTION B - COMPREHENSION (20 MARKS)
5. Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions set on it using
unless you are specifically asked to quote from the passage. You have been warned!
It was early in the morning of Friday 16th September 2016, when I first heard it on the news
bulletin on SLBC, but it was only when the bones of the devoured victims were found that
the true nature and power of these swarming black creatures with their razor sharp teeth and
their taste for human blood began to be realized by a panic-stricken city. Since time
immemorial men and rats had been natural enemies. But now the balance of power had
shifted.
As we watched helplessly, the rats became stronger, almost as if they had a burning desire for
revenge, and they wreaked havoc all over Freetown, leaving a trail of bloody slaughter
wherever they emerged from their lairs. Attacks were vicious: a cinema, a hospital, a lunatic
asylum, even a night club along the scenic Lumley Beach. I learnt that there had been mass
individual attacks, people living alone standing no chance against the overwhelming vermin.
A bus-load of people was attacked during the rush hour. One of my class mates in LLB 1was
among the passengers in the bus. Attacks occurred in bizarre ways : our Foundation Studies
lecturer who went to get his car out of the garage but found the place swarming with these
black creatures was only able to escape by showing a clean pair of heels down the slopes of
Mount Aureol; the unfortunate priest saying his morning devotion alone in a church in central
Freetown stood no chance against the creatures.
The Ministry of Health and Sanitation, already reeling from the effects of the Ebola epidemic
launched a massive attack on these killers. Poisons proved ineffectual for the rats seemed to
feed mainly on live animals and human flesh. In any case the furry creatures were able to
mutate and survive whatever poisons they were infected with. So the bio-chemists in the
Departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences at Fourah Bay College led by Professor
Tom Yormah and Professor Babatunde Karim came up with a virus that was highly infectious
and deadly to rats. The modus operandi consisted in infecting the virus into animals – dogs,
cats – which they set loose in the haunts of the black rats. The rats attacked these infected
animals, catching the contagious virus and spreading it among their own kind, destroying
themselves.
I was overjoyed when I heard of this development. As it was, many had been destroyed even
though some had yet to catch the destructive virus. As I stared through my window, however,
I saw hoards of rats, surrounding my compound. I opened my mouth wide and screamed. I
woke up suddenly and realized it was all a bad dream!
(g) Who specifically is telling the story? Quote one sentence from the passage to support
your answer. (2 marks)
(h) “But now the balance of power had shifted”.
(iii) How had this happened? (2 marks)
(iv) What specific information is given in the second paragraph about this shift in
the balance of power? (3marks)
(i) Why does the writer use the singular form ‘was’ in “A bus-load of people was
attacked...”?(1 mark)
(j) How was ‘our Foundation Studies lecturer’ able to escape from the attackers? (2
marks)
(k) Were the attackers eventually destroyed? If they were, say in your own words how
they were destroyed. (4 marks)
(l) Give a single word or short phrase which means the same and which can replace the
(i) lairs (ii) vermin (iii) bizarre (iv) ineffectual
(v) mutate (vi) modus operandi (6 marks)
SECTION C - PUBLIC SPEAKING (10 MARKS)

ANSWER ONE QUESTION ONLY FROM THIS SECTION.
6. “And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up the day when all God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of
the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
(i) Identify the source of this excerpt; (ii) Analyze the qualities which make this such an
effective speech.
7. Imagine that you have been invited to address a group of ‘soweis’ (women involved
in female circumcision) on the widely debated issue of the benefits or otherwise of
their practice. Without writing your speech, discuss in some detail what you will
consider in the preparation of the speech.
8. Advise a young friend of yours on how to overcome public speaking anxiety as he/she
prepares to deliver a speech on the empowerment of young people to members of the
Parliament of Sierra Leone.
SECTION D – GRAMMAR (30 MARKS)

ANSWER THREE QUESTIONS FROM THIS SECTION. ALL QUESTIONS CARRY
EQUAL MARKS – 10 marks for each question.
9. (a) Classify the following sentences according to structure:
(i) Dr. Stephen Ney, who is our Foundation Studies tutor, prepared us well for the
examination.
(ii) Andrew Bangura is a clever student; moreover, he is very diligent in his duties
.
(iii) Last week we were invited to see the President, after we had protested
violently on campus, to put forward our complaints against the college
administration, but we were disappointed to discover that our meeting had
been cancelled.
(iv) Mr. Joseph Kamara, after preparing us well for the examination, wished us
good luck.
(v) Manchester City Football Club defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford.
(b) Classify the following sentences according to purpose:

(i) The president of the Sierra Leone Football association, SLFA, was arrested some time
ago.
(ii) What makes you think you cannot proceed to Year II without any problems?
(iii) Please let me go.
(iv) What a bright day today is!
(v) I am currently in Year I at Fourah Bay Colllege.
(c) Study each of the sentences which follow and

(d) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;
(e) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence.
(i) Workplace safety, which involves the formation and implementation of safety
programmes, is the responsibility of the company’s management.
(ii) The big boys in the front row are asked to kneel.
(iii) The big boys are asked to kneel in the front row.
(iv) Violent protests are sometimes necessary.
(v) Although Leone Stars played very well in the match against Ivory Coast, they were
unable to qualify for the Nations Cup.
(f) (a) Change the following from direct to indirect speech:

1. “Please allow me to submit the document for your attention by close of work today,”
the secretary pleaded with the manager. “Close of work today will be too late,” the
manager replied. “You will receive an official query from me if it isn’t on my desk in
an hour’s time”.
2. “Protesting students blocked the entrance to the building early this morning and I was
unable to come to the office,” Mrs. Lucy Okiako told Mr. Amadu Bangura.
3. “I have made arrangements for some students in my Foundation Studies class to
study in the United States of America for one year, starting August next year,” Mr.
Osho informed the class.
(b) Change the following from indirect to direct speech:

(i)The Chairman asked Bridget whether she had prepared the minutes for the meeting
, and she replied that she had done so.
(ii)The Local Director of Confucius Institute at the University of Sierra Leone wished
the students who were leaving for China the best of luck.
(g) CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION IN BRACKETS AND COPY OUT EACH
SENTENCE UNDERLINING THE OPTION WHICH YOU HAVE CHOSEN.
No half marks will be awarded in this question. NOTE: Your answer will not
be graded if you fail to follow instructions.
(i)Debris in our compounds (lead/leads) to deterioration in our (health/healths).

(ii)The perpetrators of the crime, Jane and (he/him) (have/has) (being/been)
prosecuted.
(iii)Parentheses (encloses/enclose) references and directions.
(iv)When Onike got home, there (was/were) Rachel, Elizabeth and Dowu waiting for
her.
(v)News of the death of Mr.Blyden Jenkins-Johnson, one of the most popular Sierra
Leonean (barrister/barristers) who (has/have) fought very hard to correct
the evils of our society (has/have) just reached us.
(vi)Either Prince or Momodu definitely (know/knows) the answer to my question.
(vii)I did (see/saw) Professor Thompson at the party last night, and I (have/had) (
been/being) wishing to meet him for a long time.
MARKING GUIDE
QUESTIONS 1,2,3, &4.

Candidates are required to answer only one question from this section in about 350 words.
MARK OUT OF A TOTAL OF 40 MARKS as follows:
CONTENT = 10 Reward relevance and attention to detail.
ORGANIZATION = 5 Reward the formal letter format in Questions 2, and 3. Penalize the
candidate if he/she writes a letter in response to Question 1. Question 4 requires a title; the
answer which does not have one should be penalized. Reward appropriate use of paragraphs
and the structure of the letter/essay generally.
EXPRESSION = 15 Reward clarity of expression and appropriate use of vocabulary.
MECHANICAL ACCURACY = 10 Please ring spelling, punctuation, grammatical and
other errors and deduct half a mark for each error from a total of 10 marks. A candidate who
has 20 rings in his/her answer should therefore score zero.

(a) A student in LLB 1 is telling the story. “One of my class mates in LLB 1 was
among the passengers in the bus”. (2 marks)
(b) Rats were now attacking human beings. (2 marks)
(c) A cinema, hospital, bus, etc. had been attacked and people had been killed. (
3marks)
(d) The subject of the verb ‘was’ is singular – ‘a bus-load’. (1 mark)
(e) He ran for his life. (2 marks)
(f) They were by and large destroyed. Bio-chemists from Fourah Bay College
produced a virus which eventually led to their destruction. (4 marks)
(m) (i) lairs – hiding places (1 mark)
(ii) vermin - pests/ rats (1 mark)
(iii) bizarre – strange (1 mark)
(iv) ineffectual – ineffective/ useless ( 1mark)
(v) mutate - change ( 1 mark)
(vi) modus operandi - method/ procedure ( 1 mark)
(Please reward any replacement which you consider suitable. If in doubt
please award the mark!)

Candidates must answer one question only from this section.
QUESTION 6. The excerpt is from Martin Luther King’s speech “I have a dream”.
Candidates are not expected to identify the occasion or date.
Candidates are expected to examine the speech carefully with a view to highlighting the
reasons for the speech’s effect on the listeners. They must be able to identify the Rhetoric -
devices of language used to persuade the audience; Logos – logical ideas to appeal to the
audience; Ethos - guiding rules that govern behaviour; Pathos – appeal to audience’s
emotions.
Important also, is the use of imagery including metaphor, simile, etc., and the use of
symbolism, and repetition. Candidates do not need to make a detailed analysis of all of
these; identification of the most important of these will suffice.
QUESTION 7 & 8. PLEASE REFER TO THE SECTION ON PUBLIC SPEAKING IN THE
HANDOUT PROVIDED FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS. (Mrs. Okiako will provide copies
of this.)
SECTION D – GRAMMAR (30 MARKS)
Candidates must answer three questions from this section. All questions carry equal marks –
10 marks for each question.
(i) Complex sentence.
(ii) Compound sentence.
(iii) Compound-complex sentence.
(iv) Simple sentence. (Note: ‘after preparing us well for the examination’ is a
phrase.)
(v) Simple sentence.

(i)Declarative.
(ii) Interrogative.
(iii) Imperative.
(iv) Exclamatory.
(v) Declarative.
10. Study each of the sentences which follow and

(a) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;(1 mark)
(b) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence. (1 mark)
(i)(a) Adjectival clause. (b) Qualifies ‘workplace safety. (Please reward if the
student writes only ‘safety’).
(ii) (a) Adjectival phrase. (b) Qualifies ‘The big boys’. Please reward ‘boys’.
(iii)(a) Adverbial phrase of place. (b) Modifies ‘are asked to kneel’.

(iv)(a) Noun Phrase. (b) Subject of ‘are’.
(v)Adverbial clause of concession (b) modifies ‘were unable to qualify’.
11. (a) Change the following from direct to indirect speech:

Please award 2 marks for each correct sentence. You may award 1 mark for a partly
correct sentence.
i. Change the following from indirect to direct speech:

(ii) Please award 2 marks for each correct sentence. You may award 1 mark for a
partly correct sentence.
12. Candidates should choose the correct option in brackets and copy out each sentence
underlining the option which they have chosen. No half marks should be awarded
in this question. NOTE: Their answer will not be graded if they fail to follow
instructions.
(i) Debris in our compounds leads to deterioration in our health.

(ii) The perpetrators of the crime, Jane and he have been prosecuted.
(iii) Parentheses enclose references and directions.
(iv) When Onike got home, there were Rachel, Elizabeth and Jenneh waiting for
her.
(v) News of the death of Mr.Blyden Jenkins-Johnson, one of the most popular
Sierra Leonean barristers who have fought very hard to correct the evils
of our society has just reached us.
(vi) Either Prince or Momodu definitely knows the answer to my question.
(vii) I did see Professor Thompson at the party last night, and I had been wishing
to meet him for a long time.
(viii) The judge could not read all the books in the library on the matter in court so
he made a judicious selection.
(ix) The bittersweet flavour of youth – its joys, its adventures, its challenges - is
soon forgotten.
(x) High levels of pollution causes damage to the respiratory tract.
13. Each of the sentences has at least one error and/or is poorly expressed. Candidates are
required to write out each sentence correctly producing an edited version. Please note
that there may be more than one error in the sentence. AWARD 2 MARKS FOR
EACH CORRECT SENTENCE. You may at your discretion award half marks
for each partly correct sentence.
(a) Its high time you throw away the mens’ shoes which are parked in the cupboard. [‘
It’s’ instead of ‘its’; ‘threw’ instead of ‘throw’; ‘men’s’ instead of ‘mens’.]
(b) Pushing and shoving are characteristic of African culture. [‘is’ instead of ‘are’.]
(c) Situation like this makes a person consider your options and wonders whether you are
taking the right cause in life. [ ‘Situations’ instead of ‘situation’;‘these’ instead of
‘this’; ‘their’ or ‘his/ her’ instead of ‘your’; etc.]
(d) I am annoyed at Koso and shocked with what she did. [Wrong use of the
prepositions ‘at’ and ‘with’.]
(e) The new office block comprises of two large rooms full with the most modern
equipments. [‘comprise’ instead of ‘comprise of’; ‘of’ instead of ‘with’.]
FOURAH BAY COLLEGE


SECOND SEMESTER SEPTEMBER 2017
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
INSTRUCTION: ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM SECTION A, ALL QUESTIONS IN
SECTION B, ONE QUESTION FROM SECTION C AND TWO QUESTIONS ONLY
FROM SECTION D.. YOU MUST ATTEMPT FIVE QUESTIONS IN ALL.
TO DO SO.
.
1. Imagine that the Presidential Candidate of a political party in Sierra Leone has made
disparaging comments about your course of study in the university and publicly
questioned the contribution of graduates in this field to the development of the
country. Write an official letter to his/her party complaining about the remarks and
justifying your course of study in the university.
2. Write a letter to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Republic of Sierra
Leone outlining what, in your view, are the shortcomings of the judiciary and
suggesting ways in which the justice system could be overhauled to make it more
effective and efficient.
3. Write out an application in response to the following advertisement:

“Applications are invited from suitably qualified Sierra Leoneans to fill the post
of Coordinator, Disaster Relief Secretariat in the Environmental Protection
Agency. Applicants must possess a degree in the social sciences, pure and applied
sciences, engineering, or Arts and must have served in a similar position or
worked in a non-governmental organization for at least three years. Applications
must be addressed to the Director, EPA and must include details of the
applicants’ qualifications and experience as well as the names and addresses of
three referees to reach him not later than Monday 18th September, 2017.”
4. “Christ the King College (CKC) Bo is inviting applications for the post of teacher in
Mathematics, English Language, Literature-in- English, History, Government,
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Financial Accounting, and Economics. Applications
including details of the qualifications and experience of applicants and the names and
addresses of three referees must be addressed to the Secretary Board of Governors,
Christ the King College, to reach him not later than noon on Monday 18th September,
2017.” Write out your application.

5. Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions set on it using your
own words as far as possible. Direct lifting from the passage will not score unless you are
specifically asked to quote from the passage. You have been warned!
Cheating in examinations has become endemic. This has had an adverse effect on society.
Cheating starts from primary school on to tertiary level. Even as you write this examination
some of the candidates will have in the hall with them unauthorized material in the form of
class notes or mobile phones programmed to search out answers to questions. Some might
even have smuggled into the examination hall booklets pre-worked with what they suppose
are leaked questions. Presumably some crook has lied to them that the Foundation Studies
questions have been leaked.
At almost every examination in our country examination fraud is discovered. Public
examinations including the WASSCE are no exception. This begs the question “Why is
examination malpractice so rampant in our society?”
Maybe we have to think outside the box in proffering a solution to this menace. One school
of thought argues that examination cheating is merely a reflection of the general lack of
ethics and the endorsement of corrupt practices prevalent in our society. Proponents of this
theory argue that corruption has eaten into the very fabric of our society and that the line
between honesty and dishonesty, and integrity and baseness has become so blurred as to
become almost nonexistent. Children, therefore, grow up not knowing what is good and what
is bad. They are, therefore, not to blame if they indulge in examination fraud.
Others argue that parents are mostly to blame because they inculcate these habits into their
children from their formative years. The claim is that in fact it is parents who sometimes
procure leaked question papers for their children before the examination and encourage them
to prepare the answers. Some parents even offer bribes to teachers to inflate the grades of
their children. And the children know this!
The finger of blame is sometimes pointed at us teachers too. Some say that teachers
encourage examination fraud by soliciting bribes from students and their parents. There is
also the phenomenon called sex for grades in which students exchange sexual favours with
their teachers (especially male teachers) for grades. People point out that this is quite
common in tertiary institutions.
Yet others point to what they see as impunity in our society. They argue that cheats get
away without any sanction levied against them. Even in cases where some punishment is
meted out, it is only a slap on the wrist. This emboldens cheats and encourages copycats.
Attention is sometimes drawn to the difficulties which staff of tertiary institutions encounter
from both within and outside the institutions when they attempt to impose stiff sanctions on
examination fraudsters.
But what do students say? The attitude of many of them could be determined by their
response to attempts to curb cheating. A case in point is that of a student of a tertiary
institution who I overheard saying after an examination in one of our campuses: “If I fail that
paper it is the fault of that invigilator who kept watching me so I could not remove my crib
from my pocket.” He exclaimed with righteous indignation: “Did the lecturers all not cheat
when they were students that they should now try to prevent us from cheating?” When a
supposedly mature student advances this argument, it is easy to see where we are heading.
So what is the way out? First, impunity must be checked. This will serve as a deterrent. Then,
we need to go back to the basics. Ethics and integrity must be instilled in children at a very
young age. There are people who argue that sensitization is key to eradicating examination
cheating. But others counter by referring to the work of the Attitudinal and Behavioural
Change Secretariat and question the effectiveness of their work in curbing indiscipline in our
society. The jury is still out on this.
A section of our society points the finger of blame at politicians. The claim is that they
interfere in decisions relating to disciplinary action against all forms of indiscipline including
examination fraud in our institutions. The argument is that if they stop interfering it will be a
little easier to counter this menace. After considering all this one is left with the conclusion
that the solution to this will continue to elude us for a long time to come.
(g) In your own words briefly state in three short sentences three reasons advanced for the
prevalence of examination cheating in our institutions. (6 marks)
(h) In three sentences of your own, state three solutions which the writer proffers in the
passage. (6 marks)
(i) What is the attitude of many students to examination cheating according to the writer
? (3 marks)
(j) Explain the meaning in its context of each of the following expressions:
(iv) …to think outside the box. ((2 marks)
(v) ...a slap on the wrist. (2 marks)
(vi) The jury is still out on this. (2 marks)
(k) Give a word or phrase which means the same and which can replace each of the
(ii) Endemic (1 mark) (ii) proponents (1 mark) (iii) formative (1 mark) (iv
) copycats. (1 mark) (v) indignation (1 mark)
(l) Does the writer suggest that the task of eliminating examination cheating is going to
be easy? (2 marks) Quote one sentence from the passage which supports your
answer. (2 marks)

ANSWER ONE QUESTION ONLY FROM THIS SECTION.
6. Imagine that you have been invited to lead your faculty in negotiations with the
college authorities on the way forward in ensuring free, fair, transparent and
violence-free Students Union elections at the end of this semester. Outline the
points which you will consider in preparing for these negotiations. Do not write
out your speech.
7. You have been invited by the Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Sierra
Leone to address members of Parliament on issues related to the upcoming
Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. Without writing out your speech outline
and briefly discuss five factors which you will consider in preparing your speech.
8. Briefly analyze Martin Luther King Jnr.’s speech ‘I have a Dream’ or any other
speech which you have listened to or read recently, bringing out clearly what, in
your view, makes it a good speech.
SECTION D – GRAMMAR ( 20 MARKS)

ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS ONLY FROM THIS SECTION. ALL QUESTIONS CARRY
EQUAL MARKS – 10 marks for each question.
(vi) Victims of the mudslide at Regent Village have been accommodated in a camp
at the ‘Old School’ Complex.
(vii) Foundation Studies students are always punctual in class; moreover, they are
intelligent students.
(viii) Because Liverpool did not play well last Saturday, they were defeated five
goals to nil by Manchester City.
(ix) As the flood waters rolled down the slope, a woman gathered her child
protectively into her arms, and a man further down the slope took to his heels.
(x) You must study hard for the examinations.
AND
(vi) Bring me some water.
(vii) I love you so much!
(viii) What do you think must be done to prepare for a violence-free Students Union
election?
(ix) ‘Okada’ riders are among the most reckless road users in the country.
(x) How effective has the government’s response been to environmental emergencies
over the past years?
10. Study each of the sentences which follow and

(c) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;
(d) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence.
(vi) Because of the continued violence during elections on campus, the college
administration has proscribed all social activities on campus.
(vii) Engaging in frequent protests is counterproductive in the current social and political
climate in the country.
(viii) The boy who is sitting in the car is the son of Mrs. Elizabeth Kamara.
(ix) In spite of the challenges of teaching French without a functioning laboratory, Dr.
Moira Ferran and Mrs. Angela Tuboku-Metzger have excelled over the years.
(x) Mr. Abdulai Jalloh told his students that the law must be respected.
11. (a) Change the following from direct to indirect speech:

(i) “Will you be available for discussion on the Foundation Studies paper tonight?
” Hawa asked Abu.
(ii) “The ongoing debate on the credibility of the voter register for next year’s
general elections is having an adverse effect on voter confidence, “ the NEC
boss affirmed to newsmen this morning.
(iii) “Eight students have been rusticated for involvement in examination
malpractices,” Professor Ekundayo Thompson told USL Senate members last
week.
AND
(b) Change the following from indirect to direct speech:
(i) Mr.Osho assured his students that if they were diligent in their work they
would pass the Foundation Studies paper without any problems.
(ii) Dr. Prince Harding was asked by the presenter on the SLBC “Morning
Coffee” programme whether he thought the SLPP convention would hold on the
15th and 16th of September.
12. CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION IN BRACKETS AND COPY OUT EACH
SENTENCE UNDERLINING THE OPTION WHICH YOU HAVE CHOSEN. No half
marks will be awarded in this question. NOTE: Your answer will not be graded if
you fail to follow instructions.
(viii)The police (is/are) investigating a series of burglaries on FBC campus.

(ix)Corruption is one of the factors which (has/have) led to the current state of our
economy.
(x)The jury (is//are) divided in (its/their) verdict.
(xi)Neither the striking teachers nor the Minister of Education, Science and
Technology (is/are) ready for a compromise.
(xii)A bus-load of passengers (was/were) attacked by rebels in the north of Somalia at
the weekend.
(xiii)Acrophobia is the abnormal fear of (heights/enclosed or narrow places).
(xiv)My niece is getting married to her (fiancée/ fiancé) early next year.
(xv)Mr. Issa Roberts ordered (we/us) students studying Linguistics to report to his
office immediately.
(xvi)A (rejoinder/ rebuttal) is a response refuting some claims made in an article earlier
published.
(xvii)Our two (deceased /diseased) colleagues, Mr. Pascal Egbenda and Mr. Nathaniel
Wellington, have been laid to rest.
13. Each of the following sentences has at least one error and/or is poorly expressed. Write
out each sentence correctly producing an edited version. Please note that there may be
more than one error in the sentence.
(f) Miss Suricia Conteh, as well as Mr. Abubakarr Thulla, and Mr. Sylvanus Gooding
teach well.
(g) The morbidity level owing to the prevalence of diseases are on the increase.
(h) Things are going from bad to worst in Sierra Leone.
(i) A fatal accident occurred yesterday but no one died.
(j) Ali borrowed his pen to someone but cannot remember who it is.
FOURAH BAY COLLEGE


SECOND SEMESTER SEPTEMBER 2017
MARKING GUIDE
………………………………………………………………………………………………..
INSTRUCTION: CANDIDATES ARE REQUIRED TO ANSWER ONE QUESTION
FROM SECTION A, ALL QUESTIONS IN SECTION B, ONE QUESTION FROM
SECTION C AND TWO QUESTIONS ONLY FROM SECTION D.. CNDIDATES MUST
ATTEMPT FIVE QUESTIONS IN ALL.
TO DO SO.
. QUESTIONS 1,2,3, &4.
Candidates are required to answer only one question from this section in about 350 words.
MARK OUT OF A TOTAL OF 40 MARKS as follows:
CONTENT = 10 Reward relevance and attention to detail.
ORGANIZATION = 5 Reward the formal letter format in Questions 1, 2, 3. & 4. . Reward
appropriate use of paragraphs and the structure of the letter generally.
EXPRESSION = 15 Reward clarity of expression and appropriate use of vocabulary.
MECHANICAL ACCURACY = 10 Please ring (circle) spelling, punctuation, grammatical
and other errors and deduct half a mark for each error from a total of 10 marks. A candidate
who has 20 rings in his/her answer should therefore score zero in Mechanical Accuracy.
SECTION B - COMPREHENSION (30 MARKS

5. Candidates must answer the questions set on the passage using their own words as far as
possible. Direct lifting should not score unless candidates are specifically asked to quote
from the passage.
(a) Candidates should give three of the following. A fourth should not score.
(i) Examination cheating reflects the general lack of ethics and integrity in our society. (
2 Marks)
(ii) Children learn this habit from their parents. (2 MARKS)
(iii) Teachers encourage examination fraud. (2 MARKS)
(iv) Exam cheats go unpunished. (2 MARKS)
(b) Candidates should give three of the following. A fourth should not score.
(i) Exam cheats must be adequately punished. (2 MARKS)
(ii) Children must be encouraged to be honest from a very young age. (2 MARKS)
(iii) Sensitizing children on the evils of the practice might be a solution. (2 MARKS)
(iv) Politicians should not interfere when disciplinary measures are taken against
examination cheats. (2 MARKS)
( c ) According to the writer students generally justify/ support examination cheating. (3
MARKS)
(d)
(i) …to find a new/ unconventional/ imaginative solution. (2 MARKS)
(ii) ….a very mild, almost insignificant punishment. (2 MARKS)
(iii) There is still not yet general agreement on whether or not this is true. (2 MARKS)
(e) (i) Prevalent/ common (1 MARK); (ii) advocates/ supporters (1 MARK); (iii
) early/ young (1 MARK) (iv) imitators (1 MARK) (v) anger/ outrage (1 MARK)
PLEASE USE YOUR DISCRETION. AWARD MARKS IF IN YOUR JUDGEMENT
THE ANSWER IS CORRECT.
(e) No. (2 MARKS) “After considering all this one is left with the conclusion that the
solution to this will continue to elude us for a long time to come.” (2 MARKS)
Candidates must answer one question only from this section. (AWARD TEN MARKS )
QUESTIONS 6 & 7. PLEASE REFER TO THE SECTION ON PUBLIC SPEAKING IN
THE HANDOUT PROVIDED FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS.
QUESTION 8. Candidates are expected to examine the selected speech carefully with a view
to highlighting the reasons for the speech’s effect on the listeners. They must be able to
identify the Rhetoric -devices of language used to persuade the audience; Logos – logical
ideas to appeal to the audience; Ethos - guiding rules that govern behaviour; Pathos – appeal
to audience’s emotions.
Important also, is the use of imagery including metaphor, simile, etc. Equally important is the
use of symbolism, and repetition. Candidates do not need to make a detailed analysis of all
of these; identification of the most important of these will suffice.
SECTION D – GRAMMAR ( 20 MARKS)

CANDIDATES SHOULD ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS ONLY FROM THIS SECTION.
ALL QUESTIONS CARRY EQUAL MARKS – 10 marks for each question.
10. AWARD 1 MARK FOR EACH CORRECT CLASSIFICATION.
(a) Classify the following sentences according to structure:

(xi) Victims of the mudslide at Regent Village have been accommodated in a camp
at the ‘Old School’ Complex. (Simple)
(xii) Foundation Studies students are always punctual in class; moreover, they are
intelligent students. (Compound)
(xiii) Because Liverpool did not play well last Saturday, they were defeated five
goals to nil by Manchester City. (Complex)
(xiv) As the flood waters rolled down the slope, a woman gathered her child
protectively into her arms, and a man further down the slope took to his heels.
(Compound – Complex)
(xv) You must study hard for the examinations. (Simple)
AND
(xi) Bring me some water. (Imperative)
(xii) I love you so much! (Exclamatory)
(xiii) What do you think must be done to prepare for a violence-free Students Union
election? (Interrogative)
(xiv) ‘Okada’ riders are among the most reckless road users in the country. (Declarative)
(xv) How effective has the government’s response been to environmental emergencies
over the past years? (Interrogative)
14.
(e) give a grammatical name for the underlined expression in each sentence;
(f) state the function of the underlined expression in each sentence.
(xi) (a) Adverbial clause of Reason (1 mark); (b) modifying has proscribed (1 mark)
(xii) (a) Noun Phrase (1 mark); (b) subject of is. (1 mark)
(xiii) (a) Adjectival Clause (1 mark); (b) qualifying boy/ The boy ( 1 mark). [Please
accept either of the two].
(xiv) (a) Adverbial clause of Concession (1 mark); (b) modifying have excelled (1 mark)
(xv) (a) Noun Clause; (1 mark); (b) subject of must be respected ( 1 mark).
15. AWARD 2 MARKS FOR EACH SENTENCE CORRECTLY CONVERTED IN (a)

& (b). YOU MAY AWARD HALF MARKS FOR PARTLY CORRECT ANSWERS
.
16. CANDIDATES MUST CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION IN BRACKETS AND

COPY OUT EACH SENTENCE UNDERLINING THE OPTION WHICH THEY
HAVE CHOSEN. No half marks should be awarded in this question. NOTE: They
have been warned that their answers will not be graded if they fail to follow
instructions.
(xviii)The police are investigating a series of burglaries on FBC campus.

(xix)Corruption is one of the factors which (have) led to the current state of our
economy.
(xx)The jury are divided in their verdict.
(xxi)Neither the striking teachers nor the Minister of Education, Science and
Technology is ready for a compromise.
(xxii)A bus-load of passengers was attacked by rebels in the north of Somalia at the
weekend.
(xxiii)Acrophobia is the abnormal fear of heights.
(xxiv)My niece is getting married to her fiancé early next year.
(xxv) Mr. Issa Roberts ordered us students studying Linguistics to report to his
office immediately.
(xxvi)A rebuttal is a response refuting some claims made in an article earlier published.
(xxvii)Our two deceased colleagues, Mr. Pascal Egbenda and Mr. Nathaniel Wellington,
have been laid to rest.
17. Each of the following sentences has at least one error and/or is poorly expressed.
Candidates are required to write out each sentence correctly producing an edited version.
AWARD 2 MARKS FOR EACH CORRECT SENTENCE. YOU MAY AWARD HALF
MARKS FOR PARTLY CORRECT SENTENCES.
(k) Miss Suricia Conteh, as well as Mr. Abubakarr Thulla, and Mr. Sylvanus Gooding
teach well. [teaches]
(l) The morbidity level owing to the prevalence of diseases are on the increase. [is]
(m) Things are going from bad to worst in Sierra Leone. [worse]
(n) A fatal accident occurred yesterday but no one died. [The word ‘fatal’ could either
be left out and the article changed to ‘an’, or the sentence corrected to indicate that
there was at least one fatality]
(o) Ali borrowed his pen to someone but cannot remember who it is. [ lent; could not;
was.]
THE END
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DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE STUDIES

FOURAH BAY COLLEGE

WORKBOOK FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS

WORKBOOK Prepared by KENNETH OSHO SENIOR LECTURER IN ENCLISH

NOT FOR SALE. PROPERTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF

Copyright 2019 Kenneth Osho.

COURSE OUTLINE FOST 120

(i) Sentence fragments

4. CLAUSES AND PHRASES

(i) Finite & Non-finite verbs

(a) Classification according to structure:-

(b) Classification according to purpose:-

6. READING COMPREHENSION (including written work) to improve

Students will be taught the rudiments of public speaking, debates, conversational

SECTION 1 - REVISION EXERCISES

(i) Neither flogging nor continual scolding (affects/ affect) him.

SECTION 2 - PRACTICE EXERCISES IN COMPREHENSION (To be done in

Here are some passages tested in previous examinations for practice.

At almost every examination in our country examination fraud is discovered. Public

“You know I work for Marcus,” he said feebly.

“Marcus will not be there when you cast your vote.”

“We are after votes, not gossip.”

“All right,” said BB.

a) Why was BB popular in his village?

(a) Explain the irony in the passage.

(a) Give the passage a short factual title.

(h) Explain the following expressions using your own words:

SECTION 3 - WRITING A FORMAL LETTER (Including a letter of

(a) READER AND PURPOSE

FOR WHOM AM I WRITING?

Two other questions to ask are:

(b) FORMAL FEATURES

(a) Writer’s address - Top right hand corner

You may wish to adopt the following format in writing an application:

These features will be discussed in class.

To achieve clarity attention needs to be paid to the length of our sentences.

❖ Shorter sentences make greater impact.

Try your hand at the following exercise.

(a) Revision of finite & non-finite verbs –

(TO BE DONE IN TUTORIALS)

Study each of the sentences which follow and

Study each of the sentences which follow and

Please note that in writing out direct speech:

It is important to note the following when direct is reported (indirect speech):

EXERCISE 13 (To be done in tutorials.)

Change the following from direct to indirect speech:

(b) Change into direct speech:

SECTION 6 - THE SENTENCE

(a) PURPOSE Regarding purpose, the sentence may be Declarative (making a

(b) STRUCTURE: simple sentence, complex sentence, compound sentence,

❖ In spite of repeated warnings from the university administration students

(a) Classify the following sentences according to structure

(b)Classify the following sentences according to purpose.

SECTION 7 - FUNDAMENTALS OF PUBLIC SPEAKING:

SPEAKING IN FRONT OF OTHERS/ MAKING A SPEECH

(i) Why am I giving this speech?

This will help you to prepare your speech well.

• STRUCTURING YOUR SPEECH.

Like an essay or a report, your speech must have

a CONCLUSION (ENDING) – this part summarizes (very briefly and succinctly)

aren’t, weren’t, pronunciation, president, precedent, south, southern, north, northern,

(vii) “Public Speaking is an art.” Discuss the implications of this statement.

(a) . Mastering anxiety/nervousness;