BACCALAUREAT A4

SECTION I: GRAMMAR
I. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the words in the brackets.
a) Coffee prevents many from ___________________. (to sleep)
b) Had the mother bought a mosquito net, her child _____________________ malaria. (not to get)
c) City dwellers are used to ____________ to bed very late. (to go)
d) I saw him after I _________________ the shop. (to leave)
e) She used to _______________, but now she plays tennis. (to play)

II. Join each pair of sentences into one. Use the appropriate connective from the box. Each word
should be used once: since, for, unless, by, provided that, being, which, whose.
i) Your child needs some books. Go to the bookshop and buy some books.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
ii) You will not be allowed to vote. You have a voting card and your name is on the register.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
iii) You will start using the new drug. Researchers have provided that it is effective.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
iv) These are orphans. Their parents died from AIDS.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
v) My father was a careful driver. He never had an accident during his driving career.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

III. Insert the correct prepositions.

1. Do not look down ____________ the needy.
2. It is left __________ you to decide to go or not.
3. God’s mercy is ________________ measure.
4. I don’t take pleasure ______________ cheating others.
5. When I came home, my father was still _____________ work.

SECTION II: VOCABULARY

I. In each case, choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word.
a) Martha got a good wage working with the new British firm. (earned/took/owned)
b) It wasn’t until 1960 that Cameroon became an independent state. (turned out/transformed
into/changed as)
c) Abortion should not be legalized. (officially permitted/authorized/okay)
d) There was a huge mob in town before elections. (rebellion/crowd/fog)
e) There was a bouquet of flowers on the floor. (bunch/team/package)

II. Complete the passage with appropriate words so that it makes sense.
On June 5th 2007, the 26th ___________________ of the first published case of what we later identified
as AIDS was celebrated worldwide. An estimated 50 million people around the world carried the human

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_______________ virus that causes AIDS. That’s more than twice the number of people
______________ in 1985, despite millions of dollars spent fighting the disease each year. In sub-Saharan
Africa, most people _______________ with AIDS cannot get anti-retroviral drugs. AIDS is gutting Africa
of its most active _______________ and the effect will be disastrous in the long run.

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
Homosexuality is sexual activity between individuals of the same sex. Both men and women may
be considered homosexuals. Female homosexuals often call themselves as lesbians, whereas male
homosexuals often refer to themselves as gays.
Some homosexual malpractice may result from occult malpractices or simply from the
unavailability of the opposite sex and become available. Thus, a person who spends a long period
separated from the opposite sex may turn to members of his or her own sex for sexual gratification. For
example, such situations may occur in prisons.
Society today is depraving. One does not need a pair of glasses to see this. For various reasons,
some people are no longer able to distinguish right from left. To some extent, it is not exaggeration to
say that animals are becoming more civilized, more dignified than human beings. In the name of
freedom and liberty, homosexuality, that is, the sexual perversion that brings people of the same gender
to have sex is increasingly gaining grounds.
Some researchers believe that homosexuality results from a specific gene affecting the brain.
Other researchers think homosexuality is associated with psychological disorder. From the religious
point of view, homosexuality is considered an abomination, another form of rebellion against god. From
the moral standpoint, homosexuality is degrading, debasing, antisocial and immoral.
‘’Homosexuality is a moral and psychological disease’’, said an African notable. ‘’Homosexuals
are civilization patients who need to be taken care of as a matter of urgency’’, he continued. ‘’the
European culture is no longer a model today’’, he added.
‘’if the parents of homosexuals had been homosexuals, then how would the present
homosexuals have been born? ‘’, asked a young university graduate. ‘’homosexuals want to have
children and I don’t understand why’’, he continued. ‘’if one is antisocial, why try to eat the fruit of the
society? Why do they want to harvest where they don’t want to sow?’’
‘’the family is the oldest and most basis institution’’, said an old woman, ‘’and it is made of a
father and a mother, who legally have sex within the context of marriage and bear children. Two
homosexuals who live together cannot form a family. Instead, such people advocate the destruction of
the family institution. Can this be part of human rights? Nobody has the right to destroy the foundation
of society in the name of a so-called liberty.
‘’marriage is a legal union between a husband (a married man) and his wife (a married
woman)’’, said a tall man. ‘’how can a man become the ‘wife’ of another man, or a woman become the
‘husband’ of another woman? Isn’t it madness? Only the devil can suggest such ideas’’.
Today, many people in most western countries consider homosexuals immoral and natural.
Most states of the United States prohibit homosexuality.

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 The African civilization did not know homosexuality. This was brought to the continent during
colonization, and the people who were involved in it were doing it in hiding. Today in Africa, it is
unfortunate that the people are trying to vulgarise homosexuality, which is practised among the people
involved in occultism, witchcraft and sorcery. Homosexuals are recruited mainly among the poor, needy,
jobless students and people who want to have success to easy riches.
‘’we must resist homosexuality in Africa’’, says a young lady. ‘’It is not all that come from Europe
that is good. Let’s borrow science and technology from Europeans, preserve our social values which are:
a sense of belonging, respectful companionship, moral integrity, social dignity, work with a good heart,
mutual help and protection.

QUESTIONS:
1. Who are said to be homosexual? Give the dichotomy between from the passage.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Why does the author refer to homosexuality as sexual perversion?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What do partisans of homosexuality seem to advocate? Explain.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What is the general attitude in Africa concerning homosexuality?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. How do you thing this malpractice can be stopped?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION IV: WRITING (10 marks)

Write an essay of 25-30 lines on any one of the following topics:
1. Some people claim that marriage is a private affair. Discuss.
2. Suppose you meet a homosexual (lesbian or gay). Write the conversation in which you are trying
to convince him/her to change.
3. Write an article in a magazine encouraging to opt for sexual abstinence as the best way to
prevent AIDS and other STDs. Your magazine is called Students’ Voice and your address is P.O.
BOX 500, Ndikinimeki.

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 BACCALAUREAT A4 2010
SECTION I: GRAMMAR
IV. Fill in the blanks with the right alternative chosen from the brackets.
1. Mark was very relaxed ______________ he has just come back from holidays.
(as/because/when)
2. Ghana _____________ the 2008 African Nations Cup. (hosted/hoisted/host)
3. I ________________ had any fun at the party. I had nothing to eat or to drink.
(always/never/sometimes)
4. There are lots of animals in Cameroon, _________________? (are they/were they/aren’t they)
5. I will not do the work ______________ you pay me. (while/if/unless)

V. Fill the blanks spaces with the appropriate word chosen below: although, shorter, expiry, will,
information.
i) We have been given any _________________ about his arrival.
ii) I’m afraid you ______________ be late for school.
iii) There was _______________ date on the tin of margarine.
iv) ________________ Cameroon played better, Egypt won the match.
v) Martin is ______________ than Andrew by 5cm words.

VI. Complete the following sentences with your own words.

a) Our teacher was not feeling well this morning. He was ___________________.
b) Have you ever witnessed ________________________________________?
c) There isn’t any ________________________________________________.
d) If it doesn’t rain, _____________________________________________?
e) Anna asked me ___________________________________________.

SECTION II: VOCABULARY

I. Fill the blank spaces with the right word chosen from the brackets.
1. We cannot ___________ down because there are no chairs. (stand/sit/sit/run)
2. The cook has put _______________ salt in the food and no one can eat it. (very much/a
little/too much/enough)
3. ‘’Laura, don’t touch those __________________, they can shock you’’. (rubber balls/wooden
masks/electric cables)
4. You _______________ take a break, you have been working too hard. (ought to/wanted to/are
going to)
5. The man gave me two __________________. (slices of yam/slice of yam/sliced yam)

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 II. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the word on brackets.
i) Many ________________ have been lost in road accidents. (life)
ii) Cassava is _______________ all over Cameroon. (grow)
iii) Mrs. Adeson is the most ________________ artist I’ve ever seen. (live)
iv) Many students have found a ________________ to the problem. (solve)
v) How many _______________ have you taken so far? (inject)

III. Write the opposite of the underlined words or phrases.

a) When there is a special occasion, most people put on their worst clothes. _________________
b) Agnes is a very hardworking girl. _________________
c) The mayor is a young man with many bright ideas. ______________________
d) There are a few guests who have arrived. __________________
e) Zach is unwilling to take the children home while we go shopping. ___________________

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
MALARIA
Malaria is an infectious disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Worldwide, malaria affects between
300 and 500 million people every year. About 1000 of cases of malaria occur every year in the United
States. Thousands of people die every day from malaria in Africa. Many tourists coming to Africa are
warned in advance of this deadly disease so that they can take anti-malaria treatment before they make
their journey. Malaria is treatable and should be taken very seriously. If left untreated, the infected
person can develop infection in the brain so called cerebral malaria, and result with fever and coma.
Malaria is also called Biduoterian fever, black water fever, falciparum malaria; plasmodium;
Quartan malaria; tertian malaria. These are many symptoms of malaria, but not every individual
experiences all the symptoms. The symptoms are divided into three distinct states.
 The first stage is called the cold stage. Symptoms of this state are sudden chills and sometime
violent shaking.
 The second state is called the hot state. The state is characterized by a high fever and rapid
breathing. The fever may reach 107 F.
 The third state is called the wet state. The state is characterized by excessive sweating. One of
the two killers of African children. Yet unlike AIDS, malaria is largely treatable. So why are more
Africans dying of it?
The disease was wiped out largely by the lavish use if the insecticide known as DDT in many
European and American countries in the 1950s. It was thought mistakenly to have been brought under
control in the poorer countries by the drug Chloroquine. Today malaria is spreading at an alarming rate.
There are several reasons why malaria is on the increase again. This parasite keeps on developing
resistance to the medicine like Chloroquine designed to combat the disease becomes resistant is that it
is very adaptable. There are very different forms of it and if one form head a natural resistance to a
particular drug, it will survive and then increase in number. Another reason is because some malaria
sufferers do not treat the disease properly: they may not have enough money to pay for the full
treatment; they may not know which quantity of the drug to take and how; they may buy diluted drugs.

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In such cases, the parasite may become more resistant and harder to treat in the future. In the past,
whenever a parasite may become more resistant to a drug, a new one was often becoming available to
fight it; but now there is less interest in Europe and America in producing new drugs as there is for AIDS;
malaria does not come as a sudden epidemic; it is a slow but sure killer. Because it is dramatic and does
not appear on TV screens, less attention is given to it.
Hopes that the disease could be eradicated by such measures as spraying houses with DDT or
draining stagnant water have faded with the growing power of organizations concerned with protecting
the environment. They argue that those methods harm the environment.
Health workers now focus more on protecting people, less on destroying mosquitoes. While waiting
for a vaccine to be found, African health workers are going back to some old-fashioned methods like the
use of mosquito-nets dipped in an insecticide solution and which can repel mosquitoes for up to six
months.
(Culled from the Internet, February 2008)

QUESTIONS:
1. Tick the correct answer. according to the text, malaria kills:
a) As much as AIDS does; b) more than AIDS;
b) Three times each year; d) less than AIDS does.
2. Give two main reasons why malaria becomes resistant to some drugs.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. According to the text, give two reasons why the western countries are no longer interested in
malaria.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. What two differences does the author make in the text between malaria and AIDS?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. Why did the authorities stop the use of DDT to eradicate malaria?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Give the synonym of wiped out?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION IV: WRITING (10 marks)

Write an essay of 25-30 lines on any one of the following topics:
1. Imagine you are the Director of Preventive Medicine in Yaoundé. Propose to the Minister of
Health a plan to eradicate malaria in Cameroon.
2. Tell your father a story in which you helped your friend who was very ill.

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 3. Traditional healers are better than medical doctors. Put your arguments for or against this
argument.

BACCALAUREAT A4 2011
SECTION I: GRAMMAR
I. Rewrite the following sentences as indicated without changing their meanings.
a) I arrived. I had a new problem to cope with.
Hardly _________________________________________________________________________
b) ‘Please don’t make such noise, boys’, she said.
She asked _____________________________________________________________________
c) It is most unlikely that he has gone.
He is __________________________________________________________________________
d) The boy felt he had been treated unfairly.
The boy’s ______________________________________________________________________
e) I wanted to know the answer, I did not look it up.
Although ______________________________________________________________________

II. Choose one of the suggested alternatives in brackets to fill in the blanks in each sentence.
i) He was no friend of ___________________. (me/us/mine/we)
ii) He had a quarrel with anybody, ______________________ his sudden departure came as a
great surprise. (although/when/as/because)
iii) _________________ certain that she was in agony, I took her to the hospital. (be/been/being)
iv) I came to live here ______________ and don’t know yet many people. (lately/of
recently/later/recently)
v) It was a peaceful afternoon and everyone ________________________. (had slept/has
slept/slept/was sleeping)

SECTION II: VOCABULARY

I. In each of the following sentences, a word has been underlined. Transform it as requires and
write the new word in the space provided.
a) Family planning and birth control mean almost the same thing. (form a verb) _______________
b) Humans are increasingly able to intervene in their own reproduction. (form an adjective)
______________________
c) A little old man came into the shop. (form the superlative) ____________________
d) Three soldiers were killed by friendly fire when a mortar bomb hit their track. (form an adverb)
___________________
e) Watch the bizarre ritual of him eating a carefully prepared last meal. (form the antonym)
_____________________

II. Choose from the four words or phrases given after each sentence the one which most
appropriately completes it.

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 1. The prisoner _________________ under intense questioning and refused to talk. (held on/held
over/held to/held out)
2. When ______________ has been arranged, the accused person is allowed to go free until the
trial. (bell/bail/ball/belt)
3. The game was a 10-0 _______________ for our national soccer team, the Indomitable Lions.
(killing/genocide/massacre/defection)
4. From the hotel roof, you enjoy a ________________ of the all city.
(view/scenery/landscape/panorama)
5. Once cockroaches get into buildings, it is very difficult to ____________________ them.
(eradicate/exterminate/wipe out/expose)

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions below it. Use your own words as far as
possible.
BONES OF CONTENTION
One of the world’s most famous human ancestor is a box-office sensation un the United States,
sent by the Ethiopian government on a six-year goodwill tour of the U.S, museums, the 3.2 million-year-
old fossil skeleton of Lucy had her late august debut at the Museum of natural Science in Houston,
Texas.
More than 125,000 visitors have already visited the travelling exhibit that highlights not only the
fossil discoveries to be made in Ethiopia, but also the nation’s unique role throughout human history.
This is echoed by Ethiopia ambassador to the U.S. Samuel Assefa, at the launch of the exhibition who
said, ‘’it offers two evolutions of man and Ethiopia- the evolution of man and Ethiopia as the cradle of
civilization’’.
But not everyone is singing the praises if the exhibition.
Discovered more than 30 years ago in Afar, the northern-most extension of Africa’s Rift Valley,
by paleoanthropologists Donald Johansen and Thomas Gray, Lucy’s discovery remains remarkable
because of the completeness of her skeleton. To this day most hominid species are known only from a
few bones, by Lucy skeleton contains about 40% of her skeleton major bones although she lacks fragile
hand and foot bones which are seldom found , says science journalist Ann gibbons.
In Ethiopia, Lucy is known as Dikenshi, an Ahmaric phrase that leans ‘’you are beautiful’’. Her
popular English name is a tribute to the Beatles ‘’Lucy in the sky with Diamonds’’, a song that was played
continuously at the researcher’s field camp after her discovery.
However, some scientists have expressed their dismay at the tour and have said it had set a bad
precedent for sending priceless specimens overseas. ‘’all of the paleoanthropologists who actually look
for fossils in Africa and reconstruct them were totally opposed to this. It is too hard to find fossils of this
calibre –why risk damaging Lucy or worse, losing her?’’, asks gibbons whose recent book The First
Human: The Race to discover our Earliest Ancestors’’ described the efforts of evaluation teams dong
field work in Africa.
Gibbons adds that some paleoanthropologists have said Lucy should have remained in Ethiopia
because scientists have not finished with investigating the fossil. ‘’New methods are being invented that

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allow researchers to study fossils in new ways. If she is damaged now, we don’t know what the loss is to
history’’.
Kenyan palaeontologist Richard Leakey has called the tour ‘’a form of prostitution’’. He is not
understated in explaining his point of view: ‘’ it is largely for money and the promotion of tourism in
Ethiopia. Lucy should not be committed to commercial travelling. It is grossly irresponsible’’.
Dirk von Tuerenhout, the Houston museum curator of anthropology, has responded by saying
that those scientists who have expressed their concerns are not speaking for all palaeontologists and
that some of his professional colleagues who have very supportive e of the tour have, in turn, criticized
opponents of the tour as being elitist. David Morrison, the director of archaeology at the Canadian
museum of civilization told the Toronto Globe and Mail: ‘’ there is an aspect of elitism here, that only
scholars should be able to see Lucy.
Supporters of the tour also include the British Museum Jill Cook who heads her institution‘s
department of prehistory and Europe. She believes that fossils displayed in a museum environment
actually undergo less stress than in a scientific laboratory.
‘’Changes in temperature and humidity, as well as the measuring sampling and replication by
scientists can have damaging effects on a fossil than a benign museum display that is safe, stable and
secure’’, says cook.
Johansen, Lucy’s co-discoverer, says he is also concerned about the U.S. tour, but adds that he
believes the Ethiopian government has taken all the proper precautions to ensure her safety.
‘’Lucy is a one kind fragile and invaluable to the science of palaeoanthropology’’.
(Culled from B.B.C focus on Africa, April-June 2008)

QUESTIONS:
1. What is a museum?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Who is a paleoanthropologist?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Lucy has visited the American museum. Which other popularly African craft has once visited the
museum? Write the country and the name of craft only.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why did the Ethiopian decide to send Lucy to the U.S. museum? Give two reasons.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. If Lucy belongs to the hominid species known as Australopithecus aphaeresis, human beings
belong to a species known as __________________________________________________.
6. Why is the passage entitled bones of contention?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

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 7. What is anthropology?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION IV: WRITING (10 marks)

Write an essay of 25-30 lines on any one of the following topics:
1. Tourism has become one of the most expanding industries in Africa in general and in Cameroon
in particular. What is tourism and what are its merits and demerits in relation to the natural and
man-made sites in Cameroon?
2. On the occasion of the National Day for School Guidance and Counselling you listened to the
various speakers on the panel. You are the president of the student government of your school,
write a speech about the cause of the indiscipline leading to failure in exams and suggest ways
to ameliorate the situation. The name of your school is Government Bilingual High School
Bamukumbit and your speech should begin: ‘’Ladies and Gentlemen’’.
3. There is much violence in the world today. What are the causes of this violence and what
different forms it may take? Also consider the consequences of such violence.

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 BACCALAUREAT A4 2012

SECTION I: GRAMMAR
I. Choose the correct answer in the brackets below each sentence and write it in the space
provided to complete each sentence.
1. Mother asked me why I ______________ waited for her. (haven’t/hadn’t/wouldn’t)
2. We are _________________ our in-laws next. (visit/ visiting/visited)
3. You ____________________ put on your shoes. We’re not going very far.
(mustn’t/shouldn’t/needn’t)
4. It is very stuffy in here. How about _______________ on the verandah? (sit/to sit/sitting)
5. The dish is empty; John ___________________ eaten all the food in it. (must be/must
have/must have been)

II. Link each pair of sentences below with the word or expression in brackets. Then write the
complete sentences in the spaces provided.(5mks)
i. He went to the university. He never graduated from the university. (even though)
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
ii. Mrs. Moupe takes a rest in her room. Mrs. Moupe’s children watched television. (while)
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
iii. Ambe saw his teachers coming. Ambe went to welcome his teachers. (as soon as)
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
iv. Don’t dance. Do your homework. (instead of)
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
v. We did not meet Angela. We did not also meet her sister. (nether... nor)
__________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

III. Complete the blank spaces in the sentences below with the appropriate words or expressions.
(2.5mks)
1. A long time ____________, the First and Second World Wars were fought.
2. We drove _____________ the Wouri Bridge.
3. She used to work _______________ dawn to dusk.
4. Stella sits _______________ me in class.
5. I have been writing ______________ several minutes now.

SECTION II: VOCABULARY

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 I. Give the antonyms of the underlined words. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
a) Abega always plays football on Sunday mornings. __________________
b) Every teacher likes an active class. __________________
c) It is rare to find younger persons today in the administration bossing older ones.
________________
d) The new office building was demolished in April last year. __________________
e) She made a mistake and switched on the parlour lights instead. ______________

II. Fill the gaps with the correct forms of the words in brackets.
1. Tight ___________________ were put in place before the arrival of the
president. (secure)
2. Europeans took advantage of millions of Africans and ________________ them.
(slave)
3. ____________________ the forest and its resources is vital for a friendly
environment. (conserve)
4. Losers in elections in Africa most often complain about __________________
malpractices. (elections)
5. Racial _________________ is a terrible form of human right abuse. (segregate)

III. Fill in the blank spaces in the following sentences with the most appropriate words chosen
from the list in brackets.
i) The workman came to do the repairs, but he brought no ___________________, so he couldn’t
work. (utility/tools/furniture)
ii) We had to call a __________________ because the kitchen tap was leaking.
(cook/plumber/builder)
iii) The children complained that they had not slept well because the _______________ was too
narrow and the mattress was very hard. (toilet/bed/window)
iv) A vacancy has been advertised by the manager of AES. Have you submitted
_______________________ at the head office? (a demand/an application/a request)
v) I want to iron some clothes, but I don’t know where the socket is. Could you
____________________ this electric iron for me? (plug in/branch in/light on)

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION

Read the text carefully and answer the questions in a simple sentence.

PROFILE OF A SUCCESSFUL WOMAN

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 Mammy Takor is celebrating three decades of selling fufu and eru in the nation’s capital this
year (2007). She has succeeded in carving a niche for herself with this delicacy and other spicy and
palatable dishes such as fufu and okra soup, koki beans, plantains and ekwang.
The story of her trip to Yaounde can only be told by herself; the young Eyong Lidwina had a
pitiful debut. She still remembers how her late father forced her into early marriage. In fact, her father’s
position was option less. The old man promised to disown her if she failed to marry Mathias Takor.
Mammy Takor’s early marriage compromised her education and an early ambition of becoming
a senior police officer. However, she is quick to point out that the marriage later turned to be very
romantic and successful following the tons of love showered on her by Mathias Takor Eta and their six
blessed off springs. Upon her arrival in Yaounde in 1979, Mammy Tako began trading loin clothes which
she bought from the South West province. She had many regular customers who usually borrowed
materials and would promise to pay later on. Some paid their debts while others pleaded for the
payments to be delayed. Her line of debtors failed to honr their financial obligations and this was not
only annoying, but discouraging to which she had to give it a second thought.
After discussing with her husband, the idea of selling food floated as a replacement for the
unprofitable sale of African fabrics. Like all great ideas would roll out, she began in a small scale selling
food to her husband and his colleagues of the U.S. Embassy during break.
The experiment turned out to be very successful, especially as her fufu and eru was described as
most delicious. Such motivating feedback was a catalyst for embarking on a worthwhile project, a
restaurant. She finally opened a private restaurant business in 1987. This restaurant that began opposite
the U.S. Embassy later moved to the make-shift site behind the Ministry of Commerce in 1995. Here, she
became the most popular Anglophone food sales woman in town. The delicious nature of her meals
earned her the brand name of Mammy Takor, originating from name “Takor”, shared by her husband
and son.
Her joint became a meeting place for Anglophones and serves as a post office and directory for
them in Yaounde.
Mammy Takor is frank to reveal that her business is very flourishing. In fact, she comfortably
sells about a thousand plates a day of the assorted meals, even thou some clients borrow and never
settle their debt.

QUESTIONS:
1. Why for how many years has Mammy Takor been trading in water fufu and eru?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. What was Mammy Takor’s original dream growing up as a young woman?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
3. Why did Mammy Takor and her husband decide to change her line of business?

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_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
4. Briefly explain the penultimate paragraph of this passage. “Her joint .... Anglophones in
Yaounde”.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
5. Prove with evidence from the text that Mammy Takor from the onset did not like to be married
to Mathias Takor Eta.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

SECTION IV: WRITING (10 marks)

Write an essay of 25-30 lines on one of the following topics:
1. Students are not responsible for their failures in examinations. How far do you agree with this
view?
2. Describe how your most favourite food is prepared, served and eaten.
3. You have read an article on Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. In a reply to
the article, carefully examine Africa’s chances in grabbing the most prestigious football trophy.
Your name is Massa Andrew, and you are writing from Douala, Cameroon.

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 BACCALAUREAT A4 2013

SECTION I: GRAMMAR
Put each sentence in the desired form. Follow the instructions in brackets.
i) Samuel Eto’o brilliantly scored two goals, _____________________? (use a question tag)
ii) ‘’These trousers are too large for me’’, he says. (Put in reported speech)
__________________________________________________________________________________
iii) If I didn’t see the doctor, maybe I ____________________ by now. (put ‘’to die’’ in the correct
tense)
iv) Please, can you put on the light? It is getting _______________ and ______________. (dark,
comparative form)
v) Tina was staring fearfully at the lion. (passive form)
__________________________________________________________________________________
vi) Please, bring him some water; he __________ choke, as he is eating too fast. (may/always/likes)
vii) Alexander Song is one of the best footballers Cameroon ___________________ had. (will
never/has ever/has never)
viii) Normally, only well-behaved/faithful and respectful ladies ____________ married.
(must/should/get)
ix) I am your best friend, _________________? (am I not/aren’t/am I/not so)
x) ___________ of you has ever given me a piece of cake. (no one/no person/none/no ones)

SECTION II: VOCABULARY

A. Complete the dialogue with appropriate responses.
Father: Good afternoon, sir. I’ve come for information about my child.
Headmaster: ______________________________________________________________________?
Father: Jane ASONG. She is in Form three.
Headmaster: ______________________________________________________________________?
Father: She has complained to me that her teacher is too rude to her.
Headmaster: Why don’t you _________________________________________________________?
Father: OK, sir. I’ll let you handle that. After all, you’re the headmaster.
Headmaster: Let me check the ______________________________. Jane is a brilliant girl. I know her
very well, but it seems she is a little bit undisciplined. See the record. It is ____________________ here.
Father: I didn’t know my little daughter was unruly at school.

B. Select one word from those suggested in the brackets; the one which is nearest in meaning to
the underlined item.

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 1) Will you be able to look after this baby? (take care/care for/ be careful with) ________________
2) He is so good-humoured that everybody likes him. (cheerful/well-behaved/humble)
___________________
3) Sex before marriage is socially untimely and ungodly. (inappropriate/dangerous/unruly)
___________________
4) Advertently, I took Moffo’s cap home instead of mine. (wilfully/accidentally/occasionally)
_________________
5) Mary spoke to her boss in a low but discourteous tone. (disobedient/disrespectful/dishonoured)
____________________

SECTION III: READING COMPREHENSION

Read the text carefully and answer the questions in a simple sentence.

The history of warfare reveals that man has come a long way. In the beginning, man contented
himself with simple-hurdled missiles. Man threw the stone at animals and in warfare, at enemies.
Destruction was as minimal as this was determined by the size and roughness of the stone and the
energy of the thrower. Even when later man invented the catapult; destruction was only slightly higher.
The primitive catapult was made out of a huge rope at one end of which was tied a big stone. Its most
limiting factor was that such missile, no matter how strong the force behind it, could hit only one person
at a time.
Things were relatively easier for the assailant with the invention of the bow and arrow. For the
first time, man utilised very little strength to bring down his enemy at a very distant position. The size of
the bow, the elasticity of its string and the sharpness of the arrow, much more than the crude energy of
the thrower determined how far the arrow travelled. The weapon became more significant when man
learnt to fix a sharp metal at the tip of the arrow. And when the metal was dyed in highly lethal poison it
became more effective in killing the enemy.
With the coming of metals, farm implements were developed but man soon turned some of
these, especially the machetes, into weapons of combat. The sword is thus a close cousin of the
machete. Used in combat, the sword, especially when carried by a skilful fighter on a horse, could wreck
far more havoc than the bow and arrow. It is hence understandable that the foremost conquerors of the
classical period, from Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar, using the simple scabbard, reigned for
centuries.
Things took a dramatic turn with the invention of the gun and the bullet. The arrival of the gun,
even the rudimentary one, included destruction of human lives at an unprecedented rate. In the hands
of foot soldiers, it became possible to count casualties in hundreds in a single encounter. With radically
no effect apart from the movement of a finger on the trigger, the highly lethal bullet is sent through the
barrel at a speed much faster than the sound. The enemy at a considerable distance was thus to be
brought down without even hearing the sound of the shooting or seeing the assailant.
The development of grenades, bombs, missiles, nuclear and chemical war-heads made previous
weapons appear little more than toys. With bombs delivered by fast-flying aeroplanes, and nuclear or
chemical war-heads borne to their distant destinations by unmanned missiles, destruction of cities and

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in fact, of whole countries within a matter id hours is now a great possibility today, man does not need
to be physically present to haul the stone or throw the stone or spear the arrow. The missile has now
replaced the previous weapons and it does not need to be physically sent by an individual. Electronics
and computers do the launching and men die in hundreds of thousands.

QUESTIONS:
1. How many types of weapons are mentioned in the passage?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which 3 factors initially determine damage?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is a catapult and why was its impact limited?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
4. Apart from making weapons, what else were metals used for?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
5. What is a century? In which century are we today?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Was the invention of the gun a revolution in warfare? Why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Which weapons are today linked to toys? Why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Which is the most dangerous weapon today? Do you agree with the author that it is
development?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION IV: WRITING (10 marks)

Write an essay of 250-300 words on one of the following topics:
1. The internet is a source of destruction in family life. Discuss.
2. You have been assigned by the Ministry of Health to go to your village and talk about cleanliness in
order to fight diseases. Write your speech, the name of your village is Ekomo.
3. Write about an important competition you watched live and which taught you a lesson. Say what it
was, the end of it, how you felt, and the lesson you learnt.

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