JAMB UTME - Use of English - 1998

Choose the most appropriate option nearest in meaning to the underlined word(s).

When the chips are down, we will know those who have the courage to stand?

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In answer to the question as to how life is treating him, the stranger said 'it never rains but it pours?

Choose the most appropriate option opposite in meaning to the word underlined word(s).

Those were the days of the fallacy that some languages are primitive while others are not?

Select the option that best explains the information conveyed in the sentence.Ade: Do you mind if i sit down here?

Bola: Well, yes I do actually.

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One significant characteristic of the jet is that it encourage people to cut corners?

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Any student found guilty of examination malpractice should be allowed to stew in his juice?

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The lady who won the beauty contest had a good gait?

Choose the most appropriate option opposite in meaning to the word or phrase underlined.

The climate of Nigeria is an enervating one

Choose the most appropriate option opposite in meaning to the word underlined word(s).

She is immune to the flattery of young men?

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This time, she will be competing with a dark horse?

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Mrs. Kofi is very provocative in her style of dressing?

COMPREHENSION:

Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

PASSAGE I:

Those who have visited the city of Jos in Nigeria attest to its uniqueness. The first striking thing to notice, perhaps, is the benevolence of the climate. It will be no exaggeration to say that in no other Nigerian city does one feel so much at peace, so relaxed, with the climate as in Jos. When people say that Jos is cool, the remark is always a compliment, referring to the cool, serene feeling of being at peace with nature, which one experiences in the city. This feeling is topographically symbolized by the surrounding rocky hills, which adorn the horizon from
every angle of the city. These hills remind you of castles, except that whereas castles are man-made, the hills of Jos are natural edifices in which the master mason who had delicately laid those stones one upon another is no other than God Himself. The sun of Jos shines without malice, and even in February and March, when it is scorching hot in most parts of Nigeria, the heat of Jos dances charmingly on the surface of the skin, as if afraid of hurting the organs beneath. It is as if from above a soft protective layer of blanket intercedes between the heat of the sun and the inhabitants of the city.

Compared to what obtains in most other Nigerian cities, the inhabitants of Jos are openly warm. They are relaxed, and there is the absence of that suffocating feeling, with which a place likes Lagos is associated, of a people madly rushing to their graves. The groceries operating at all nooks and crannies of the city give the impression of a great abundance of a variety of food items. It is almost as if some unseen hands are responsible for the presence of these varieties of edible items. The truth of course is that, in Jos, people - civil servants, farmers and traders
– are socially well-disposed to the influx of the new settlers and novel ideas and this ensures an apparent high degree of self sufficiency. You may be hungry in Jos, but you need not be angry.

If other parts of Nigeria had been like Jos, surely the colonialists would never have left the country without a good fight. Many monuments abound in the city, which tell tales of the Whiteman’s love for this city of solid minerals.

The presence of a wide variety of edible items in Jos suggests that

COMPREHENSION:

Read each passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

PASSAGE I:

Those who have visited the city of Jos in Nigeria attest to its uniqueness. The first striking thing to notice, perhaps, is the benevolence of the climate. It will be no exaggeration to say that in no other Nigerian city does one feel so much at peace, so relaxed, with the climate as in Jos. When people say that Jos is cool, the remark is always a compliment, referring to the cool, serene feeling of being at peace with nature, which one experiences in the city. This feeling is topographically symbolized by the surrounding rocky hills, which adorn the horizon from
every angle of the city. These hills remind you of castles, except that whereas castles are man-made, the hills of Jos are natural edifices in which the master mason who had delicately laid those stones one upon another is no other than God Himself. The sun of Jos shines without malice, and even in February and March, when it is scorching hot in most parts of Nigeria, the heat of Jos dances charmingly on the surface of the skin, as if afraid of hurting the organs beneath. It is as if from above a soft protective layer of blanket intercedes between the heat of the sun and the inhabitants of the city.

Compared to what obtains in most other Nigerian cities, the inhabitants of Jos are openly warm. They are relaxed, and there is the absence of that suffocating feeling, with which a place likes Lagos is associated, of a people madly rushing to their graves. The groceries operating at all nooks and crannies of the city give the impression of a great abundance of a variety of food items. It is almost as if some unseen hands are responsible for the presence of these varieties of edible items. The truth of course is that, in Jos, people - civil servants, farmers and traders
– are socially well-disposed to the influx of the new settlers and novel ideas and this ensures an apparent high degree of self sufficiency. You may be hungry in Jos, but you need not be angry.

If other parts of Nigeria had been like Jos, surely the colonialists would never have left the country without a good fight. Many monuments abound in the city, which tell tales of the Whiteman’s love for this city of solid minerals.

The benevolence of Jos climate is reflected in the