ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SS1
Answer three questions in all: one question from section A and all questions in sections B and C
SECTION A: ESSAY
Answer one question from this section, all questions carry equal marks, and your essay should
not be less than 450 words
1. Your elder sister has written to tell you that she plans to learn a trade. Write a letter giving at least
three reasons why she should rather further her education up to the university level.
2. You have noticed a general decline in the level of discipline and morality in your society. Write a
letter to the editor of a national newspaper, discussing some instances of this decline and its
probable causes, and suggest ways in which the tread can be revased.
3. Write an article suitable for publication in a cultural magazine on the advantages and disadvantages
of the extended family system.
4. You are a speaker in a debate on the topic: “City life is more exciting than village life” write your
speech for or against the motion.
5. Write a story, real or imagined, which illustrates the saying: those who live in Glass House should
not throw stones
SECTION B: COMPREHENSION
I quite remember my first close encounter with our principal known to us as “the Lion
of Aye Hill”, he was a most feared human being. The popular saying was that no other lion
ever roared on Aye Hill on which the school was situated. So, when the senior prefect
informed me that the principal wanted to see me, I was particularly terrified my friends too
were concerned, for few students were ever sent for unless they had committed some serious
offence. Indeed, some had had their dismissal or suspension announced to turn in the
principal’s office without the virtual of investigation and defense.
As I trudged along toward the principal’s office, I tried to remember what I had done
wrong. In the process, I assured myself that he must have seen me stealing out of the
dormitory two days before. I had crept out stealthily early in the evening to see my uncle
who, as my only guardian in the town, always had some money for me. I had got some
money from him and hurried back as just before the “light out” bell. It was uneventful and I
had assumed that nobody saw me. But now, here I was, sent for!
I knocked feebly and the principal answered from within, “come in” I entered on
shaking legs and greeted him. He answered without looking up from the paper on which he
was writing. Without looking up still, he motioned me to sit down. This surprised me, for
available reports had it that he never allowed students such a luxury. I sat down and waited
for the storm to break. For long minutes, I waited.
Finally, he finished the task and looked up “my boy”, he said what were you doing in
town so late in the evening two days ago? I told him the truth, for I knew the futility of
trying to tell a lie. “I knew” he said calmly “I am aware you’ve lost your father and that your
uncle is all you have in this town. You were to take some money, I knew. However, in
future, just come over to me and you’ll have all you need. That way you’ll not have break
school regulation and mar your good records.
Before I could recover from the shock, he took out some currency note and put them in
my hand. Smiling calmly, he bade me good afternoon. I was speechless and hot tears rolled
down my cheeks.
QUESTIONS.
a. Why was the boy afraid when he was told that the principal wanted to see him?
b. What offence had the boy apparently committed?
c. Why was he surprised when the principal told him to sit down?
d. Why do you think the principal treated the boy the way he did?
e. (i) Does your impression of the principal at the end of the passage agree with the impression at the
beginning?
(ii) Mention one point in support of your answer
 f. For each of the following words, find another word or phrase that means the same and can replace
it as it is used in the passage (i) encounter (ii) terrified (iii) trudged (iv) stealthily (e) futility

SECTION C
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
When fire is under control, it is a useful servant. But when it rages uncontrolled, it can be a
destructive giant that consumes everything in its path. Man, beast and vegetation.
In 1983, a bush fire in Australia devastated the states of South Australia and Victoria. Over
70 persons were killed along with destruction of 36,000 cattle, 320,000 sheep, and over 2,000
homes.
In the same year, bush fires in Ghana resulted in the devastation of 72 percent of the country’s
92,100 square miles. At least 29 persons died and 34 others were injured. Similar bush fires
were reported in other parts of the world.
A small proportion of bush fires is the result of natural processes, such as lightning. Most are
man-made. In Ghana, the number one cause of bush fires is palm-wine tapping. Tappers light
bundles of sticks to heat up palm trees, allowing the palm sap to flow. Often though, the fire
accidentally spreads and a bush fire results
In some African lands, it is common for a group of hunters to surround a thicket and set it on
fire to flush out game that may be in it. Those hunting for wild bee honey use fire to drive
bees away from their hives. At times they make no effort to put out the fires they started. In
tropical Africa many farmers use the slash and burn method of farming. They cut down the
bush in an area they intend to farm and burn the debris. If not controlled, the fire can spread
quickly. In some areas, herdsmen burn the dry grass in the belief that with the coming of the
rains, the land will be rejuvenated, and there will be better pasture for their animals. When
those fires are left to burn themselves out as is often the case, they can easily spread. Campers
are likewise guilty at times of starting conflagrations by falling to put out campfires. Clearly,
then, negligence is the cause of most bush fires.
Some believe that the government, in its part, should impose tough penalties on perpetrators
to deter carelessness. Others argue that the best way to prevent bush fires is for the
government to educate the people on the dangers of fire. We should treat fire with respect. By
exercising reasonable care, we can avoid provoking this useful servant into becoming a
destructive giant.
QUESTIONS
a. In four sentences, one for each, summarize any four ways in which man is responsible for fire
outbreaks
b. In two sentences, one for each, summarize what (i) the individual and (ii) the government should do
to prevent the spread of fires
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE
SS2
SECTION A: ESSAY WRITING
Answer one questions from this section. All questions carry equal marks. Your answer should not be less than 450
words. You are advised to spend about 50 minutes on this section.
1. Your school fees have been increased astronomically and your father has threatened to transfer you to
another school. Write a letter to him giving, at least, three reasons why you would like to remain in your
present school.
2. Write an article for publication in your school magazine on the dangers of keeping bad company in school
3. Your country’s public transport system is not functioning properly. Write a letter to the Minister of
Transport, highlighting the causes and suggesting, at least two measures to remedy the situation.
4. You are one of the speakers in a debate on the topic: Women should not be in paid employment while they
are still bearing children. Write your contribution for or against the proposition.
5. Write a story to illustrated the saying: A stitch in time saves nine.

SECTION B: COMPREHENSION
6. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

When Eze was invited to spend his Easter holidays with Uncle Chike in Lagos, he jumped for joy! He
had always pictured Lagos as a wonder land of bright lights, paved roads, elegant people riding by in
their expensive cars and beautiful residential quarters. This invitation was the wonderful opportunity
for him to leave his small village for the first time and experience first-hand the good life of the city
that he had imagined so much about!

The fateful day came and Eze, happy as a lark, bid an excited good-bye to his family. The first leg of
his trip started modestly in the back of the rickety lorry that plied the dirt road linking to his village to
the rest of the world, but Eze was sure that he would later ride triumphantly into Lagos on one of those
legendary luxury buses that he admired so much. This was also an experience to look forward to!

When he arrived in Lagos, it was almost dark, the first things that struck him as he alighted from the
bus were the teeming crowd with their desperate unsmiling faces, the deafening noise of the ceaseless
traffic, the polluted air with its acid smell of exhaust fumes and decay, the endless rows of dirty and
crumbling concrete buildings, and the filth everywhere. What a sharp contrast with the city he had
built up in his imagination! But surely there must still be much to look forward to. Back in the village,
Uncle Chike was regarded as a well-to-do trader. So Eze was further surprised and disappointed to find
that he lived in a single room in a sleezy part of the city. At night, it got hot and stuffy, but they dared
not open the windows as this would bring an invasion of mosquitoes.

Eze woke up the next morning feeling clammy, but he could still not have a bath. As his uncle took
him to a shack across the street for a hurried breakfast of thin tea and mouldy bread, explained that
they usually bought water from a mobile tanker that had not come around for some time. Eze was still
recovering from his surprise at this information when they rushed off for his uncle’s market stall, and
he had his first unpleasant ride in one of the notorious molue buses of the city.

As they struggled down from the bus, shoving against the solid mass of desperate, bad-tempered
commuters, Eze thought of his village, and the city suddenly lost whatever was left of its attraction for
him. Ture, the village was small, life there was monotonous, and it lacked some essential amenities.
But it was peaceful; you drank clean water and ate what you wanted fresh; you moved about freely and
breathed clean air; and everyone was friendly and helpful. Greatly disillusioned with the city, Eze
longed to return to his beloved village.
(a) State two experiences that Eze looked forward to
(b) Mention any two features of the city that Eze noticed at once
(c) What two discoveries surprised and disappointed Eze when he arrived in the city?
(d) Mention any two experiences in the city that Eze found unpleasant
(e) What conclusion did Eze draw from his experiences in the city?
(f) “…happy as a lark…” what figure of speck is contained in this expression?
(g) When he arrived in Lagos,… (i) what grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the
passage? (ii) what is its function?
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace
it as it is used in the passage (i) pictured (ii) stuffy (iii) invasion (iv) hurried (v) attraction (vi) monotonous.

SECTION C: SUMMARY
7. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
People are usually unwilling to make changes in their lives after being accustomed to a certain style
of life. However, this can cause a lot of problems, as changing circumstances often make a change in
lifestyle inevitable. Take for example, people who leave their country and go abroad for various
reasons. Such people will inevitably face many challenges. First, they have to adapt to a new culture
and habits thar are completely different from what they were used to in their own country. They will
also have to adapt to the weather and may need to learn a new language, or now, communicate
regularly in a language other than their mother tongue, which they used more frequently before their
relocation.

Again, at some point in their lives, some people may have cause to change their career. The reasons
for this may be varied and need not concern us here. But career changes inevitable necessitate the
acquisition of a different set of skills and experience in the new job, a new routine and adaptation to
new friends and colleagues at work. In the face of economic recession and related circumstances,
people may lose their jobs as the organisations they work for try to adjust to the adverse situation by
retrenching many of their workers. (Terms such as “down-sizing” and “restructuring” are the
modern-day euphemisms for this phenomenon!) A worker who suddenly loses his or her job
obviously has to adjust to a new lifestyle-at least until a new job comes along.

Closely related to job loss is retirement. Many people carry on at their jobs as if they will remain at
such jobs forever. But retirement is inevitable not only for the paid worker but also the self-
employed. Retirement in most cases means a change from one active working life to more sedentary
lifestyle. It often requires giving up official property such as accommodation and vehicles and the
replacement of a regular salary with a modest pension, which may not be regular. Because of these,
the prospect of retirement is often viewed with apprehension by many, as they are not prepared for it.

Outside the work domain, other changes inevitably continue to take place. For example, at some
point in their lives, young men and women come together and get married and start their own
families. The transition from bachelorhood or spinsterhood of course means adaptation to a spouse,
raising children, and discarding many of the habits, often reckless and impulsive of unmarried life.

Finally, as painful and undesirable as it is, death is inevitable. The untimely loss of a loved one-a
wife, a husband, a parent-often turns people’s lives upside down, and necessitates a drastic change in
lifestyle. Many people never anticipate such a loss, as if unfortunately it does occur, it can be quite
devastating. In conclusion, people have to be ready for any changes that may occur in their lives, as
change is inevitable and there is not guarantee for anyone that life will be stable forever.

(a) In six sentences, one for each, summarize the six factors that can cause a change in lifestyle as
discussed in the passage.
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE SS3
1. CONTINUOUS WRITING
You are required to answer only one question from this section. Your answer should not be less than
450 words
(a) Write a story to illustrate the saying: Prevention is better than cure.
(b) Write an article suitable for publication in your school magazine on ways of improving reading
culture among students
(c) You are a chief speaker in a debate on the topic: Our Forefathers Upheld our Cultural Values more
than this Generation. Write your argument for or against the motion
(d) Your best friend has just been suspended from school for truancy. Write a letter to him/her
expressing your displeasure and advising him/her to turn a new leaf

2. COMPREHENSION
Read the passage below carefully and answer the questions on it.
“Water Meandering”! The mention of this topic usually takes me retrospectively to my
secondary school days. It also reminds me of our geography class. We were a set of three
streams: A, B and C, and I see myself in our class with my classmates well seated. The subject
we never liked was geography. This was quite surprising to our Guidance Counsellor who
worked hard to ensure that most of us offered geography up to the School Certificate Level. Not
only our Guidance Counsellor, our school Principal was also surprised at our attitude towards
geography. He had always encouraged us to choose geography as one of our subjects for the
Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). He once boasted: “In the near future, I shall
travel by air with one of you seated as my pilot”. We had received this encouragement with
thunderous ovation, but our old geography teacher became the spoiler.
Our old geography teacher killed in us the zeal of becoming future pilots, or, would I say, he
destroyed our urge of becoming useful citizens of our fatherland.
When this teacher left and Mr. Udenkwo was posted to our school to handle geography, we
realized that “Water Meandering” was not the topic in geography. In fact. We discovered that
“Water Meandering” was not even a topic on its own. But before this time, the only topic we
knew in geography but which we could not really explain, was “Water Meandering”.
Also, with the coming of Mr. Udenkwo, as young boys and girls, we began to ask questions
about the competence of our old geography teacher. From these questions, we realized that our
old geography teacher was not a subject specialist after all. We realized too that this teacher only
had the Teacher’s Grade II Certificate. Whether he studied geography at the Teacher’s Training
College (TTC) or not, was another thing we could not uncover. On the other hand, we discovered
that Mr. Udenkwo had a bachelor’s degree in geography.
But before Mr. Udenkwo was posted to our school, much harm had already been done. So, all his
efforts to bring us back to the subject proved abortive. Only one of us heeded his entreaties. To
demonstrate his ingenuity in the subject, Mr. Udenkwo took his only ‘apostle’ from the scratch.
When we finally took the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), surprisingly, this
student made a distinction in geography. Today, this same student is a professor of geography.
Our story is typical of what obtains in most secondary schools in Nigeria; many teachers are
made to handle subjects they do not major in, thereby “killing” the morale of their students. This
practice should be discouraged by school administrators. Therefore, subject specialists should be
made to handle their areas of specialty, especially at the School Certificate Level.
(a) According to the passage, why did the students hate geography?
(b) Why was the school Guidance Counsellor astonished at the behavior of the students?
(c) What did the students receive with thunderous ovation?
(d) What is ironic about the principal’s statement?
(e) “…who had worked hard…” (i) What grammatical name is given to this expression? (ii)
What is its function in the sentence?
(f) Why were the students compelled to investigate the old geography teacher?
(g) How, according to the writing, could students’ performance be enhanced in subject areas?
 (h) Find one word or phrase which is nearest in meaning to and can at the same time replace
each of the following words as used in the passage.
(i) retrospectively
(ii) thunderous
(iii)zeal
(iv) specialist
(v) entreaties
(vi) scratch
SECTION C
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
When fire is under control, it is a useful servant. But when it rages uncontrolled, it can be a
destructive giant that consumes everything in its path. Man, beast and vegetation.
In 1983, a bush fire in Australia devastated the states of South Australia and Victoria. Over
70 persons were killed along with destruction of 36,000 cattle, 320,000 sheep, and over 2,000
homes.
In the same year, bush fires in Ghana resulted in the devastation of 72 percent of the country’s
92,100 square miles. At least 29 persons died and 34 others were injured. Similar bush fires
were reported in other parts of the world.
A small proportion of bush fires is the result of natural processes, such as lightning. Most are
man-made. In Ghana, the number one cause of bush fires is palm-wine tapping. Tappers light
bundles of sticks to heat up palm trees, allowing the palm sap to flow. Often though, the fire
accidentally spreads and a bush fire results
In some African lands, it is common for a group of hunters to surround a thicket and set it on
fire to flush out game that may be in it. Those hunting for wild bee honey use fire to drive
bees away from their hives. At times they make no effort to put out the fires they started. In
tropical Africa many farmers use the slash and burn method of farming. They cut down the
bush in an area they intend to farm and burn the debris. If not controlled, the fire can spread
quickly. In some areas, herdsmen burn the dry grass in the belief that with the coming of the
rains, the land will be rejuvenated, and there will be better pasture for their animals. When
those fires are left to burn themselves out as is often the case, they can easily spread. Campers
are likewise guilty at times of starting conflagrations by falling to put out campfires. Clearly,
then, negligence is the cause of most bush fires.
Some believe that the government, in its part, should impose tough penalties on perpetrators
to deter carelessness. Others argue that the best way to prevent bush fires is for the
government to educate the people on the dangers of fire. We should treat fire with respect. By
exercising reasonable care, we can avoid provoking this useful servant into becoming a
destructive giant.
QUESTIONS
a. In four sentences, one for each, summarize any four ways in which man is responsible for fire
outbreaks
b. In two sentences, one for each, summarize what (i) the individual and (ii) the government should do
to prevent the spread of fires