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Pregunta 1 Informe
Write a letter to your father who has been on a long course abroad, telling him how the family has been faring in his absence.
Model answer: Informal letter to a father on a long course abroad.
This is an informal (family) letter. It carries the writer's address and date, an affectionate salutation, a warm chatty body, and an informal close.
10 Awolowo Avenue,
Ibadan.
10 July, 2026.
My dear Daddy,
How are you enjoying your studies abroad? We received your last letter with great joy and read it over and over again. We are all well and pray daily for your good health and success in your course. I am writing to tell you how the family has been faring since you left.
Mummy has been a pillar of strength in your absence. She rises early, sees us off to school, runs her little business in the evenings and still finds time to help us with our homework. Though she misses you dearly, she has kept the home running smoothly and reminds us every night to say our prayers for you.
As for us children, we are doing our best to make you proud. I came second in my class last term and have been made a prefect. Junior is improving in his mathematics, and little Nkechi has started primary one and can now recite the alphabet. We share the house chores among ourselves so that Mummy is not overworked.
Life has not been without its challenges. Prices in the market have risen sharply, and there was a week when there was no electricity at all. All the same, we have managed well, and Uncle Emeka checks on us regularly to make sure we lack nothing.
We count the days until your return. Please take good care of yourself, eat well and dress warmly against the cold weather over there. Do write to us again soon; your letters give us so much happiness.
Mummy and the children send their warmest love.
Your loving child,
Tunde
Detalles de la respuesta
Model answer: Informal letter to a father on a long course abroad.
This is an informal (family) letter. It carries the writer's address and date, an affectionate salutation, a warm chatty body, and an informal close.
10 Awolowo Avenue,
Ibadan.
10 July, 2026.
My dear Daddy,
How are you enjoying your studies abroad? We received your last letter with great joy and read it over and over again. We are all well and pray daily for your good health and success in your course. I am writing to tell you how the family has been faring since you left.
Mummy has been a pillar of strength in your absence. She rises early, sees us off to school, runs her little business in the evenings and still finds time to help us with our homework. Though she misses you dearly, she has kept the home running smoothly and reminds us every night to say our prayers for you.
As for us children, we are doing our best to make you proud. I came second in my class last term and have been made a prefect. Junior is improving in his mathematics, and little Nkechi has started primary one and can now recite the alphabet. We share the house chores among ourselves so that Mummy is not overworked.
Life has not been without its challenges. Prices in the market have risen sharply, and there was a week when there was no electricity at all. All the same, we have managed well, and Uncle Emeka checks on us regularly to make sure we lack nothing.
We count the days until your return. Please take good care of yourself, eat well and dress warmly against the cold weather over there. Do write to us again soon; your letters give us so much happiness.
Mummy and the children send their warmest love.
Your loving child,
Tunde
Pregunta 2 Informe
Write a story, real or imagined, which illustrates the saying "Make hay while the sun shines."
Model answer: Story illustrating 'Make hay while the sun shines.'
The saying means that one should seize a favourable opportunity while it lasts, because it may not come again. A good story must show a character who either uses or wastes such an opportunity, and end with a clear moral that fits the proverb.
THE SCHOLARSHIP
Emeka and Bala sat side by side in the final year of Government College. They were equally gifted, but they were as different as day and night in the way they used their time.
Halfway through the year, the principal announced wonderful news. A generous company had offered full university scholarships to the three students who topped the coming promotion examination. The whole school buzzed with excitement, for such a chance had never come before and might never come again.
Emeka understood at once that this was his moment. From that very evening he drew up a strict timetable. While others played football or gossiped under the mango tree, he was bent over his books in the library. He woke before dawn to revise, formed a study group, and pestered his teachers with questions. "The sun is shining now," he told himself, "and I must gather my hay."
Bala, however, kept postponing. "There is plenty of time," he laughed whenever Emeka urged him to read. He spent his evenings watching films and his weekends wandering about town, promising to start serious work "next week." Next week never came.
The examination arrived like a thief in the night. Emeka wrote paper after paper with quiet confidence, for he had prepared thoroughly. Bala stared at the questions in cold panic, wishing he had used the long, idle weeks that were now gone forever.
When the results were pasted on the notice board, Emeka's name stood proudly at the top of the list, and he was awarded one of the coveted scholarships. Bala's name languished near the bottom. As he watched his friend celebrated by the whole school, Bala finally understood, too late, the wisdom of the old saying.
From that day he never forgot the lesson: when opportunity smiles, one must act, for it is folly to leave the hay in the field while the sun still shines.
Detalles de la respuesta
Model answer: Story illustrating 'Make hay while the sun shines.'
The saying means that one should seize a favourable opportunity while it lasts, because it may not come again. A good story must show a character who either uses or wastes such an opportunity, and end with a clear moral that fits the proverb.
THE SCHOLARSHIP
Emeka and Bala sat side by side in the final year of Government College. They were equally gifted, but they were as different as day and night in the way they used their time.
Halfway through the year, the principal announced wonderful news. A generous company had offered full university scholarships to the three students who topped the coming promotion examination. The whole school buzzed with excitement, for such a chance had never come before and might never come again.
Emeka understood at once that this was his moment. From that very evening he drew up a strict timetable. While others played football or gossiped under the mango tree, he was bent over his books in the library. He woke before dawn to revise, formed a study group, and pestered his teachers with questions. "The sun is shining now," he told himself, "and I must gather my hay."
Bala, however, kept postponing. "There is plenty of time," he laughed whenever Emeka urged him to read. He spent his evenings watching films and his weekends wandering about town, promising to start serious work "next week." Next week never came.
The examination arrived like a thief in the night. Emeka wrote paper after paper with quiet confidence, for he had prepared thoroughly. Bala stared at the questions in cold panic, wishing he had used the long, idle weeks that were now gone forever.
When the results were pasted on the notice board, Emeka's name stood proudly at the top of the list, and he was awarded one of the coveted scholarships. Bala's name languished near the bottom. As he watched his friend celebrated by the whole school, Bala finally understood, too late, the wisdom of the old saying.
From that day he never forgot the lesson: when opportunity smiles, one must act, for it is folly to leave the hay in the field while the sun still shines.
Pregunta 3 Informe
Write an article for publication in a cultural magazine on the advantages and disadvantages of the extended family system.
Model answer: Magazine article on the advantages and disadvantages of the extended family system.
This is an article for a cultural magazine. It requires a title and a by-line and should balance advantages against disadvantages.
THE EXTENDED FAMILY: BLESSING AND BURDEN
by a Cultural Enthusiast
The extended family, in which grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and other relations live together or maintain close bonds, is one of the most treasured features of African society. Like every human institution, however, it has both its bright and its dark sides.
The advantages are considerable. First, the extended family is a source of great security. In times of sickness, unemployment or bereavement, a member never stands alone, for the family rallies round with money, food and comfort. Secondly, it provides free care for children and the aged; grandparents mind the young while parents work, and no elderly person is abandoned to a lonely old age. Thirdly, it is a powerful school of morality and culture. Children learn respect, discipline, proverbs, customs and the history of their people from the many relatives around them. Finally, it fosters unity and cooperation, so that big tasks such as farming, building or funerals are shared and lightened.
Yet the system has its disadvantages. It can place a heavy financial burden on the successful few, who are expected to train and feed a host of relatives, sometimes at the expense of their own children. It can breed laziness and over-dependence, as some members refuse to work, knowing that others will provide. It often erodes privacy and encourages unwelcome interference in the affairs of couples. It can also give rise to jealousy, quarrels over inheritance and endless disputes among relations.
On balance, the extended family remains a valuable heritage that offers warmth and support unknown in more individualistic societies. What is needed is moderation: members should contribute their fair share, respect one another's privacy, and enjoy the strength of the system without abusing it.
Detalles de la respuesta
Model answer: Magazine article on the advantages and disadvantages of the extended family system.
This is an article for a cultural magazine. It requires a title and a by-line and should balance advantages against disadvantages.
THE EXTENDED FAMILY: BLESSING AND BURDEN
by a Cultural Enthusiast
The extended family, in which grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and other relations live together or maintain close bonds, is one of the most treasured features of African society. Like every human institution, however, it has both its bright and its dark sides.
The advantages are considerable. First, the extended family is a source of great security. In times of sickness, unemployment or bereavement, a member never stands alone, for the family rallies round with money, food and comfort. Secondly, it provides free care for children and the aged; grandparents mind the young while parents work, and no elderly person is abandoned to a lonely old age. Thirdly, it is a powerful school of morality and culture. Children learn respect, discipline, proverbs, customs and the history of their people from the many relatives around them. Finally, it fosters unity and cooperation, so that big tasks such as farming, building or funerals are shared and lightened.
Yet the system has its disadvantages. It can place a heavy financial burden on the successful few, who are expected to train and feed a host of relatives, sometimes at the expense of their own children. It can breed laziness and over-dependence, as some members refuse to work, knowing that others will provide. It often erodes privacy and encourages unwelcome interference in the affairs of couples. It can also give rise to jealousy, quarrels over inheritance and endless disputes among relations.
On balance, the extended family remains a valuable heritage that offers warmth and support unknown in more individualistic societies. What is needed is moderation: members should contribute their fair share, respect one another's privacy, and enjoy the strength of the system without abusing it.
Pregunta 4 Informe
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Bitrus, a middle-aged man, was speeding along the hot tarmac one afternoon, oblivious of the countryside. By his side, reading a magazine was his first son, a twenty-year old university computer science student. On the man’s mind was the contract he was pursuing in the capital city. It was worth several million dollars. Although he had handled bigger contracts before, Bitrus was preoccupied with this new challenge, his mind far away from the road before him. His son was also buried in the magazine he was reading. So neither saw the goat crossing the road early enough. Like automation, Bitrus jammed on the brakes. In a flash, there was a skid and a somersault. The villagers worked for almost an hour on the huge Mercedes before rescuing the two.
There, in the casualty ward, the duo lay on the stretchers. Bitrus was soon in a fairly stable, but anybody would know that the son needed prompt specialist medical attention. The doctor was sent for, a surgeon who regularly handled such cases. Soon enough, the doctor came. The nurses heaved a sigh of relief. But then... “Oh no, I can’t handle this case. He’s my son!” Everyone was shocked. One of the nurses pleaded. “But doctor, you must do something otherwise,... “No, he’s my son. I’ll have to transfer this case.” And so tearfully, more agitated than anybody around, the doctor hurried away to call a colleague.
Here was Bitrus, with multiple injuries, but not in danger. In the adjoining room was his son, still comatose. How then could a doctor come in and say, “This is my son”? Wasn’t Bitrus the father after all? Most people would reason that the doctor was truly the secret biological father. Others, reasoning hard, would conclude that the doctor was Bitrus’s father and thus was right in describing him as his son. But for how long would people continue to think that all doctors must be male? Couldn’t the doctor have simply been Mrs. Bitrus?
(a) (i) What was the remote cause of the accident? (ii) What was the immediate cause?
(b) What does the passage suggest about doctors’ attitude to the cases they handle?
(c) Describe the conditions of Mr. Bitrus and his son at the hospital.
(d) What assumption about doctors does the passage illustrate?
(e) His son was also buried in the magazine he was reading.
(i) What type of figurative expression is this? (ii) What is its function as it is used in the sentence?
(f) ...that the doctor was truly the secret biological father.
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression? (ii) What is its function as it is used in the sentence?
(g) For each of the following, find a word or phrase that means the same and can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) oblivious (ii) prompt (iii) regularly (iv) pleaded (v) agitated (vi) adjoining
Comprehension answers: The Bitrus accident passage.
(a)(i) The remote cause of the accident: The remote cause was the inattention of the two occupants of the car: Bitrus was preoccupied with the multi-million dollar contract he was pursuing, his mind far from the road, while his son was buried in the magazine he was reading, so that neither was watching the road.
(a)(ii) The immediate cause: The immediate cause was the sudden appearance of a goat crossing the road, which neither of them saw in time, causing Bitrus to jam on the brakes so that the car skidded and somersaulted.
(b) What the passage suggests about doctors' attitude to the cases they handle: It suggests that doctors are expected to be, and normally are, calm and objective, but that they may become too emotionally involved to operate when the patient is a close relation; a doctor is reluctant to handle a case in which personal feelings could impair professional judgement.
(c) The conditions of Mr. Bitrus and his son at the hospital: Mr. Bitrus, though he had multiple injuries, was in a fairly stable condition and was not in danger. His son, on the other hand, was in a critical state, still comatose (unconscious), and clearly needed prompt specialist medical attention.
(d) The assumption about doctors that the passage illustrates: It illustrates the wrong assumption that all doctors are male, so that people could not imagine that the surgeon who called the injured youth 'my son' might in fact be his mother, Mrs. Bitrus.
(e)(i) Type of figurative expression in 'His son was also buried in the magazine he was reading': It is a metaphor (the son is figuratively spoken of as being 'buried' in the magazine).
(e)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It vividly emphasises how deeply absorbed and engrossed the son was in the magazine, so that he paid no attention to the road, thereby helping to explain the cause of the accident.
(f)(i) Grammatical name for 'that the doctor was truly the secret biological father': It is a noun clause (a subordinate/dependent clause).
(f)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It functions as the object of the verb 'reason' (it is the direct object stating what most people would reason/conclude).
(g) Words and their replacements as used in the passage:
Detalles de la respuesta
Comprehension answers: The Bitrus accident passage.
(a)(i) The remote cause of the accident: The remote cause was the inattention of the two occupants of the car: Bitrus was preoccupied with the multi-million dollar contract he was pursuing, his mind far from the road, while his son was buried in the magazine he was reading, so that neither was watching the road.
(a)(ii) The immediate cause: The immediate cause was the sudden appearance of a goat crossing the road, which neither of them saw in time, causing Bitrus to jam on the brakes so that the car skidded and somersaulted.
(b) What the passage suggests about doctors' attitude to the cases they handle: It suggests that doctors are expected to be, and normally are, calm and objective, but that they may become too emotionally involved to operate when the patient is a close relation; a doctor is reluctant to handle a case in which personal feelings could impair professional judgement.
(c) The conditions of Mr. Bitrus and his son at the hospital: Mr. Bitrus, though he had multiple injuries, was in a fairly stable condition and was not in danger. His son, on the other hand, was in a critical state, still comatose (unconscious), and clearly needed prompt specialist medical attention.
(d) The assumption about doctors that the passage illustrates: It illustrates the wrong assumption that all doctors are male, so that people could not imagine that the surgeon who called the injured youth 'my son' might in fact be his mother, Mrs. Bitrus.
(e)(i) Type of figurative expression in 'His son was also buried in the magazine he was reading': It is a metaphor (the son is figuratively spoken of as being 'buried' in the magazine).
(e)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It vividly emphasises how deeply absorbed and engrossed the son was in the magazine, so that he paid no attention to the road, thereby helping to explain the cause of the accident.
(f)(i) Grammatical name for 'that the doctor was truly the secret biological father': It is a noun clause (a subordinate/dependent clause).
(f)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It functions as the object of the verb 'reason' (it is the direct object stating what most people would reason/conclude).
(g) Words and their replacements as used in the passage:
Pregunta 5 Informe
The last nation-wide strike by secondary school teachers affected your school adversely. Write a letter to the Minister of Education suggesting at least three ways of preventing future strike actions.
Model answer: Formal letter to the Minister of Education suggesting ways to prevent future strikes.
This is a formal letter. It requires the writer's address, date, the recipient's designation and address, a salutation, a heading, the body, and a formal close.
St. Andrew's College,
P.M.B. 1021,
Kaduna.
10 July, 2026.
The Honourable Minister of Education,
Federal Ministry of Education,
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
SUGGESTIONS FOR PREVENTING FUTURE TEACHERS' STRIKES
I write, as a concerned student, to draw your attention to the harmful effects of the recent nationwide strike by secondary school teachers and to suggest ways of preventing such actions in the future.
The strike affected my school and many others very badly. For several weeks classes were suspended, the syllabus fell behind schedule, and final year students who were preparing for external examinations were thrown into confusion. The loss of learning time can never be fully recovered, and the morale of both teachers and students was seriously damaged.
In order to prevent a recurrence, I respectfully offer the following suggestions. First, teachers' salaries and allowances should be reviewed regularly and paid promptly, since delayed and inadequate pay is the commonest cause of strikes. Secondly, government should establish a permanent joint negotiating council on which teachers' unions and the ministry meet regularly, so that grievances are discussed and settled before they degenerate into strikes. Thirdly, all agreements reached with teachers should be honoured faithfully and on time, for broken promises destroy trust and provoke fresh industrial action. In addition, the working conditions of teachers, including classrooms, teaching materials and welfare packages, should be improved so that the profession is respected and attractive.
I am confident that if these measures are taken, teachers will be motivated to remain in the classroom, and students will no longer suffer the disruption of their education. I look forward to a favourable consideration of these suggestions.
Yours faithfully,
Musa Abubakar
Detalles de la respuesta
Model answer: Formal letter to the Minister of Education suggesting ways to prevent future strikes.
This is a formal letter. It requires the writer's address, date, the recipient's designation and address, a salutation, a heading, the body, and a formal close.
St. Andrew's College,
P.M.B. 1021,
Kaduna.
10 July, 2026.
The Honourable Minister of Education,
Federal Ministry of Education,
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
SUGGESTIONS FOR PREVENTING FUTURE TEACHERS' STRIKES
I write, as a concerned student, to draw your attention to the harmful effects of the recent nationwide strike by secondary school teachers and to suggest ways of preventing such actions in the future.
The strike affected my school and many others very badly. For several weeks classes were suspended, the syllabus fell behind schedule, and final year students who were preparing for external examinations were thrown into confusion. The loss of learning time can never be fully recovered, and the morale of both teachers and students was seriously damaged.
In order to prevent a recurrence, I respectfully offer the following suggestions. First, teachers' salaries and allowances should be reviewed regularly and paid promptly, since delayed and inadequate pay is the commonest cause of strikes. Secondly, government should establish a permanent joint negotiating council on which teachers' unions and the ministry meet regularly, so that grievances are discussed and settled before they degenerate into strikes. Thirdly, all agreements reached with teachers should be honoured faithfully and on time, for broken promises destroy trust and provoke fresh industrial action. In addition, the working conditions of teachers, including classrooms, teaching materials and welfare packages, should be improved so that the profession is respected and attractive.
I am confident that if these measures are taken, teachers will be motivated to remain in the classroom, and students will no longer suffer the disruption of their education. I look forward to a favourable consideration of these suggestions.
Yours faithfully,
Musa Abubakar
Pregunta 6 Informe
You are a speaker in a debate on the topic “Civilian rule is better than military." Write your contribution for or against the motion.
Model debate speech (arguing FOR the motion): 'Civilian rule is better than military rule.'
Mr. Chairman, accurate timekeeper, distinguished judges, co-debaters, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I rise with confidence to support the motion that civilian rule is better than military rule, and by the time I resume my seat, I trust that no honest listener will remain in doubt.
My first and strongest point is that civilian rule is founded on the will of the people. Under a civilian government, leaders are chosen through free elections, and the people can vote out any government that fails them. Military rule, on the contrary, is imposed by force; it silences the ballot box and rules by the barrel of the gun.
Secondly, civilian rule guarantees fundamental human rights and the rule of law. Under it, citizens enjoy freedom of speech, of the press and of association, and the courts protect the weak against the strong. Military regimes, however, suspend the constitution, muzzle the press, detain critics without trial and rule by decree.
Thirdly, civilian rule provides for accountability and separation of powers. The legislature makes the laws, the executive carries them out, and the judiciary interprets them, so that no single person becomes a tyrant. Military rule fuses all these powers in one hand and breeds dictatorship.
Finally, civilian rule enjoys international respect and attracts investment and cooperation. The community of nations shuns governments that seize power unconstitutionally, and this isolation harms the economy and the ordinary citizen.
I concede that some military regimes have claimed to fight corruption and disorder. But history shows that force cannot cure the ills of society; it only postpones and worsens them, while destroying the very freedoms it pretends to protect.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, government of the people, by the people and for the people is superior to government by the gun. On these grounds, I urge this house to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the motion. Thank you all.
Detalles de la respuesta
Model debate speech (arguing FOR the motion): 'Civilian rule is better than military rule.'
Mr. Chairman, accurate timekeeper, distinguished judges, co-debaters, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I rise with confidence to support the motion that civilian rule is better than military rule, and by the time I resume my seat, I trust that no honest listener will remain in doubt.
My first and strongest point is that civilian rule is founded on the will of the people. Under a civilian government, leaders are chosen through free elections, and the people can vote out any government that fails them. Military rule, on the contrary, is imposed by force; it silences the ballot box and rules by the barrel of the gun.
Secondly, civilian rule guarantees fundamental human rights and the rule of law. Under it, citizens enjoy freedom of speech, of the press and of association, and the courts protect the weak against the strong. Military regimes, however, suspend the constitution, muzzle the press, detain critics without trial and rule by decree.
Thirdly, civilian rule provides for accountability and separation of powers. The legislature makes the laws, the executive carries them out, and the judiciary interprets them, so that no single person becomes a tyrant. Military rule fuses all these powers in one hand and breeds dictatorship.
Finally, civilian rule enjoys international respect and attracts investment and cooperation. The community of nations shuns governments that seize power unconstitutionally, and this isolation harms the economy and the ordinary citizen.
I concede that some military regimes have claimed to fight corruption and disorder. But history shows that force cannot cure the ills of society; it only postpones and worsens them, while destroying the very freedoms it pretends to protect.
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, government of the people, by the people and for the people is superior to government by the gun. On these grounds, I urge this house to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the motion. Thank you all.
Pregunta 7 Informe
Read the following passage carefully and answer, in your own words as far as possible, the question that follows.
Poverty! Can anyone who has not really been poor know what poverty is? I really doubt it. How can anyone who enjoys three square meals a day explain what poverty means? Indeed can someone who has two full meals a day claim to know poverty? Perhaps, one begins to grasp the full meaning of poverty when one struggles really hard to have one miserable meal in twenty-four hours. Poverty and hunger are cousins, the former always dragging along the latter wherever he chooses to go.
If you were wearing a suit, or a complete traditional attire, and you look naturally rotund in your apparel, you cannot understand what poverty entails. Nor can you have a true feel of poverty if you have some good shirts and pairs of trousers, never mind that all these are casual wear. Indeed, if you can change one dress into another, and these are all you can boast of, you are not really poor. A person begins to have a true feel of what poverty means when, apart from the tattered clothes on his body, he doesn’t have any other; not even calico to keep away the cold at night.
Let us face it, can anyone who has never slept outside, in the open, appreciate the full, harsh import of homelessness? Yet that is what real, naked poverty is. He who can lay claim to a house, however humble, cannot claim to be poor. Indeed, if he can afford to rent a flat, or a room in town or city, without the landlord having cause to eject him, he cannot honestly claim to be poor. The really poor man has no roof over his head, and this is why you find him under a bridge, in a tent or simply in the vast open air.
But that is hardly all. The poor man faces the world as a hopeless underdog. In every bargain, every discussion, every event involving him and others, the poor man is constantly reminded of his failure in life. Nobody listens attentively when he makes a point, nobody accepts that his opinion merits consideration. So in most cases, he learns to accept that he has neither wisdom nor opinion.
The pauper’s lot naturally rubs off on his child who is subject not only to hunger of the body but also of the mind. The pauper lacks the resources to send his child to school. And even in communities where education is free, the pauper’s child still faces an uphill task because the hunger of the body impedes the proper nourishment of the mind. Denied access to modern communications media, the poor child has very little opportunity to understand the concepts taught him. His mind is rocky soil on which the teacher’s seeds cannot easily germinate. Thus embattled at home and then at school, the pauper’s child soon has very little option but to drop out of school.
That is still not all. Weakened by hunger, embattled by cold and exposure to the elements, feeding on poor water and poor food, the pauper is an easy target for diseases. This is precisely why the poorest countries have the shortest life expectancy while the longest life expectancy are recorded among the richest countries. Poverty is really a disease that shortens life!
(a)In six sentences, one for each, summarize the problems of the poor man.
Summary answers: The poverty passage.
Detalles de la respuesta
Summary answers: The poverty passage.
Pregunta 8 Informe
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
In the 1960s and 1970s undergraduates did not need to apply for employment. Employees usually wooed them by depositing offers of jobs in their halls of residence for those interested to pick and choose from as soon as they finished writing their degree examinations. How things have changed! We have since “progressed” from this age of abundance in which unemployment was hardly heard of to one of economic recession and widespread unemployment. The problem is so acute that one finds unemployment even among engineers and doctors.
What are the causes of this phenomenon? For one thing, our educational system does not train its products for self-employment. Everybody expects the government or the private sector to provide them with a job at the end of their studies. As we have now realized, the government and the private sector combined cannot create enough jobs to go round the army of graduates turned out annually by our universities. For another, many parents encourage their children to enroll in courses leading to prestigious and lucrative professions for which they may be intellectually unsuited. They end up obtaining poor degrees or none at all. Such graduates cannot compete on the job market, so they swell the ranks of the unemployable and the unemployed.
Perhaps the most important single cause of unemployment is economic recession. During periods of boom, economic activities are generated in abundance and these make plenty of jobs available. But the reverse is the case in times of economic recession.
There is no simple solution to the problem. Everyone in the society has a role to play here. The government has a duty to ensure that the economy is buoyant, thus providing the right environment for the creation of jobs. The educational authorities have to orientate the process of education towards the production of job creators rather than job seekers. Guidance and counseling services should be made available in all secondary institutions. Parents, too, should stop misdirecting their children into choosing careers for which they are ill-suited.
(a)(i) What was the employment situation like in the 1960s and 1970s?
(ii) What is the situation now?
(b) In what ways do the education systems, the parents and the students contribute to the unemployment situation?
(c) Mention three suggestions given in the last paragraph for solving the problem.
(d) Why does the writer enclose the word progressed (First paragraph) in quotation marks?
(e) ........for which they may be intellectually unsuited.
(i) What grammatical name is given to this expression?
(ii)What is its function as it is used in the sentence?
(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) recession
(ii) acute
(iii) army
(iv) lucrative
(v) boom
(vi) orientate
Comprehension answers: Unemployment passage.
(a)(i) The employment situation in the 1960s and 1970s: It was a period of abundance: undergraduates did not even need to apply for jobs, because employers wooed them by leaving offers of employment in their halls of residence for them to pick and choose from, and unemployment was hardly heard of.
(a)(ii) The situation now: The situation now is one of economic recession and widespread unemployment, so acute that even engineers and doctors are unemployed.
(b) How the education system, parents and students contribute to the unemployment situation: The education system contributes by not training its products for self-employment, so that everyone expects the government or private sector to provide jobs. Parents contribute by pushing their children into prestigious, lucrative courses for which they may be intellectually unsuited. The students contribute by ending up with poor degrees or none at all, so that they cannot compete on the job market and swell the ranks of the unemployable.
(c) Three suggestions in the last paragraph for solving the problem:
(d) Why the writer encloses 'progressed' in quotation marks: The writer uses the quotation marks ironically, to show that the word is not meant literally: society has actually moved backward, from an age of plenty and full employment to one of recession and unemployment, so the so-called 'progress' is really the opposite of progress.
(e)(i) Grammatical name for 'for which they may be intellectually unsuited': It is a relative clause (an adjectival/adjective clause).
(e)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It qualifies (describes) the noun 'professions' (the prestigious and lucrative professions), functioning adjectivally to modify that noun.
(f) Words and their replacements as used in the passage:
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Comprehension answers: Unemployment passage.
(a)(i) The employment situation in the 1960s and 1970s: It was a period of abundance: undergraduates did not even need to apply for jobs, because employers wooed them by leaving offers of employment in their halls of residence for them to pick and choose from, and unemployment was hardly heard of.
(a)(ii) The situation now: The situation now is one of economic recession and widespread unemployment, so acute that even engineers and doctors are unemployed.
(b) How the education system, parents and students contribute to the unemployment situation: The education system contributes by not training its products for self-employment, so that everyone expects the government or private sector to provide jobs. Parents contribute by pushing their children into prestigious, lucrative courses for which they may be intellectually unsuited. The students contribute by ending up with poor degrees or none at all, so that they cannot compete on the job market and swell the ranks of the unemployable.
(c) Three suggestions in the last paragraph for solving the problem:
(d) Why the writer encloses 'progressed' in quotation marks: The writer uses the quotation marks ironically, to show that the word is not meant literally: society has actually moved backward, from an age of plenty and full employment to one of recession and unemployment, so the so-called 'progress' is really the opposite of progress.
(e)(i) Grammatical name for 'for which they may be intellectually unsuited': It is a relative clause (an adjectival/adjective clause).
(e)(ii) Its function as used in the sentence: It qualifies (describes) the noun 'professions' (the prestigious and lucrative professions), functioning adjectivally to modify that noun.
(f) Words and their replacements as used in the passage:
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