REPUPLIC OF CAMEROON

REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Peace-Work-Fatherland

Paix-Travail-Patrie -------
------- MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
MINISTERE DE L’ENSEIGNEMENT SUPERIEURE -------
------- NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR THE
COMMISSION NATIONALE D’ORGANISATION DE ORGANIZATION OF THE HIGHER NATIONAL
L’EXAMEN DU HND DIPLOMA EXAM (HND)
------- -------

Higher National Diploma Exam – June-July 2023 Session

FIELD BUSINESS, FINANCE, AND MANAGEMENT
SPECIALTY ALL HND SPECIALTIES
PAPER ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PAPER CODE
CREDIT VALUE 01
DURATION 2 Hours
INSTRUCTIONS
1. This paper carries four sections. You are required to answer all questions.
2. You are reminded of the necessity for good English and orderly presentation in your answers.
3. Any student who attempt to fraud or caught cheating shall be penalized till further noticed.

MARKING GUIDE SETTING A

SECTION A: READING
READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE UESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
Struggle has taken an untold number of people around the world to greatness, financial
prosperity and comfort. It is a very important key to success. Unfortunately, many people do not
know this. Even the few, who know, do not use it well to their benefit. Often we hear people
complaining that they struggle so much, as if struggle were a bad thing. They cry and pity
themselves because they always have to struggle to get even the smallest things in life. This
makes it appear as if struggle were a terrible thing. Furthermore, some people even think that
they have to struggle to get even the smallest things in life because God has abandoned them.
Often, you hear people laughing at others for having to struggle before achieving their aims in
life. For this reason some people see struggle as something degrading. Hence, they do not want
others to know that they are struggling to get what they wish to get. The fact is that struggle is a
good thing depending on how we take it. It is truly said that struggle can make or break us. It can
lead to greatness just as it can bring about failure.
If we take a negative attitude towards struggle, it will become a burden to us, but if we take a
positive attitude, it can lead to tremendous benefit. It is negative to look at struggle as suffering
or to fear and complain about it. On the other hand it is positive to see it as a part of life and a
stepping stone to achievement. Taken this way, it will serve as a challenge and can therefore
become an asset. Nothing worthwhile comes without some amount of struggle. Struggle has
taken some people to great heights. Students will easily pass their exams, be they promotion or

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competitive, if they learn how to struggle. Whether you are a business man, a teacher or a leader,
your success will come from struggling.
In every calling, profession or walk of life, one needs to struggle in other to succeed. Hence we
struggle to get a sound education, good health, riches, and a rise in position, to gain recognition
or become great. We must struggle to get happiness in our homes, discipline ourselves, choose
our priorities, and modify our desires and ambitions, when we find that they conflict with those
of others. So you see that all circumstances of life demand that we struggle. In short, life from
birth to death is a struggle. We stop growing when we stop struggling.
Through struggling, we grow, we expand, we develop, we progress, and we become wiser and
stronger if we handle it rightly. Strength, be it physical or mental, can only be gotten through
struggle. For example, your muscles can only become strong if they are out to constant use. The
trees in the forest offer a great example of what struggle can do. In the thick forest where it is
hard to reach sunshine, the trees grow tall because they struggle to reach the sun. But because
they are heavily protected against wings, they are soft. Meanwhile, the trees or shrubs on the hill
tops are resistant since they face daily opposition from the wind and other adverse
effects of the weather. As they are twisted forwards and backwards, they develop resistance. This
is the same with man, the more man struggles, the more resistant he becomes.

Of course, no one can deny that there is pain in most forms of struggle, but life has thought us
that every pain comes along with seeds of something useful. Hence all your pains,
disappointment, hardships etc are an opportunity for you in disguise. Success is achieved by
those who try and those who struggle. Failure is a stranger to such people. In fact, a person only
fails in life when he stops struggling. A person, who knows the benefit that is derived from
struggling, considers what others will see as failure or suffering only as temporary defeats that
can be overcome by struggle. There are no barriers, no difficulties, and no obstacles that cannot
be overcome by struggle. Through struggle our minds are sharpened, through struggle, our
imaginations are quickened, through struggle even our faith in God is built and through struggle,
our will power is strengthened. Our imagination will remain dormant unless there is a necessity
to sharpen it and that necessity is provided by struggle.
The strength of our character can be known from the number of times we stand up and charge
forward despite how many times we have fallen before then. When there is a crisis, those who
have stood the test of struggle are usually chosen as leaders to take the rest of the people out of it.
History abounds with outstanding examples of men and women who have left their mark in this
world because of their ability to struggle.
One of Africa’s most illustrious sons, Kwame Nkrumah, struggled tremendously throughout his
life before he became prominent. As a student in the United States of America, he struggled very
much to survive. He had very little money and financial support to take him through his studies
but he had to work in order to satisfy his needs. He worked in the college library and served in
the dining hall during school time. During holidays, he sold fish in the streets of New York.
Often, he washed dishes in restaurant and served as waiter on ships. He also worked in factories.

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Once he did not have money for lodging, he took to the streets, until one day he almost died of
cold. It needed a man who could struggle like Nkrumah to make it. Even when he was in London,
Nkrumah remained poor; he could not afford money for food and lodging. He used to go to the
dustbins and pick up thrown away heads of fish to make food for himself and his friends.
Sometimes he survived because his landlord gave him food free of charge. Yet he never gave up
on his studies. He still obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology and two masters’ degrees in
Education and philosophy. Back in Ghana, he did not stop struggling.
He made use of the strength he had gained through struggle in the United States and Britain.
Hence he struggled for independence of his country. It was a hard struggle in the course of which
he was even imprisoned. But his struggle yielded fruit and he won independence for his country
and became the first president.
One thing to be noted about struggle is that it is a life-long process. It does not end with one
success or even with a few of them. Struggle comes day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute
and second by second. No one escapes struggles. The big and small, the rich and the poor, the
clever and the dull, the weak and the strong all have to struggle. We’re born to struggle.
Throughout life, struggle! Struggle to eat, Struggle to know, Struggle to get what you want, For
through struggle, man achieves his aims. As you struggle along, do not be afraid of anything like
failure, for, Life is a journey.
On your way, you may tumble once,
Rise and proceed;
You may even stumble again, rise and proceed,
You may yet stumble again the third time, rise and still proceed.
For in the course of a journey, a man may stumble and fall many times before he arrives. That’s
how life is made, that’s how life will remain. Therefore, fear not a fall, but struggle on and on
until you get to where you are going.
QUESTIONS:
1. According to the passage why do some people see struggling as something degrading? (2
marks) people laugh at them for having to struggle to get what they want
2. State four advantages of struggle mentioned in the passage. (4 marks)
Through struggle we succeed
We expand
We become wiser
We grow
We develop
We progress
3. According to the passage, what four things did Nkwame Nkrumah do, that identified him
as one who struggled? (4 marks)

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 He worked in the college library
he served in the dining hall
sold fish during holidays
washed plates in restaurants

Questions 4 – 6 are based on the extract below, taken from the passage (3 marks)

One of Africa’s most illustrious sons, NKwame Nkrumah, struggled tremendously throughout
his life before he became prominent.

4. The extract above is an example of,

a) Simile b) metaphor C) personification d) language
5. Tick the letter with the word that is opposite in meaning to illustrious in the extract
a) Memorable b) well known c) famous d) obscure
6. The word prominent as used in the extract is an example of,
a) Noun b) verb c) adjective d) adjunct
7. Write down two themes that are brought out in the passage (4 marks)
8. What kind of passage would you consider the above to be? (1 mark)
a) A lecture B) an article c) a debate d) an essay
9. Write two moral lessons learned from the passage (2 marks)

SECTION B: GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

I. use the correct form of the verbs in brackets to fill the blank spaces (5 marks)
a) I’m tired. I’m going to bed now. (go)
b) Angela has just started evening classes. She is learning German (learn)
c) The choir has just sung a beautiful song (sing)
d) Brian has drunk too much whiskey. He’s very tipsy now (drink)
e) The children drunk with us to the church (ride)
II. Use the correct form the adjectives in brackets to complete the following sentences. (5
marks)
a) James was the bigger of the twins (big)
b) The better team won the football match (good)
c) Of the three boys, I like George best (good)
d) He proved to be the most ignorant person in the group (ignorant)

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 e) John is the worst student I have ever known (bad)
III. Complete the following table by providing the noun and verb forms of the given
adjectives (10 marks)

Adjective Noun Verb

long Length Lengthen
Strong strength strengthen
Broad Breadth, broadness broaden
Glad gladness gladen
Wide Width widen
angry anger anger

IV. Place the correct words in the sentences best suited for their use. (5 marks)
(Closed, finished, stopped, completed, ended, concluded)
a) His watch stopped at six o’clock.
b) I remember how the story ended
c) I have completed the course.
d) The meeting closed with the National Anthem.
e) They have finished the alterations.
V. Use the correct relative pronoun to complete the following sentences (5 marks)
(who, whom, whose, which)
a) That is the boy who broke the window.
b) That is that stone which broke the glass.
c) That is the man whose window was broken.
d) That is the boy whom I saw breaking the widow.
e) That is the boy who told me that he broke the window.

SECTION C SPOKEN ENGLISH (20 marks)

A. Write down one name for each of the following groups. (5 marks)
a) Iron, lead, copper metals
b) Lion, bear, goat, mouse animals

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 c) Twelve, seven, twenty, ten numbers
d) Pen, stamp pad, paper, book stationery
e) Potato, carrot, tomatoes, beetroot vegetables
f) Water, milk, wine, paraffin liquid
B. Write the opposite of the underlined words in the spaces provided. (5 marks)
a) It was a beautiful dress. ugly
b) Tuesday was a very sunny day. rainy
c) James is a very lazy fellow. Energetic, hardworking,
d) He gave an intelligent answer. dull
e) The land is very fertile. infertile
C. Add appropriate question tags the following statements. (5 marks)
a) The boy didn’t give the right answer, did he?
b) The women always come early to church, don’t they?
c) It will rain today, won’t it?
d) The children are playing outside, aren’t they?
e) Dogs like meat, don’t they?

D. Change the following statements into passive voice. (5 MARKS)

a) John is washing dishes. Dishes are being washed by John
b) The teacher is teaching the students. The students are being taught by the teachers
c) Mary has written a letter to David. A letter has been written to David by Mary
d) The man had played soccer many years ago. Soccer had been played by the man many
years ago
e) He has bought a new car. A new car has been bought by him

SECTION D: WRITING (30 marks)

Choose any one of the following topic and write a composition

- Write a story which illustrates the expression, “Fire is a good servant, but a bad master@
- Describe and incident in your institution that led to the arrest of many student and say
how this incident has affected your life

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- The multiplicity of churches in our society has caused more harm than good. Do you
agree?
- Migration

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