JAMB UTME - Yoruba Language - 2025

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The passage explains that although the villagers first suspected wild animals, the village hunter, who is skilled at tracking animals, examined the scene and reported that he could find no animal footprints at all to support the idea that an animal was responsible.

No garden being eaten is not what the passage says; the garden was in fact being damaged, which is precisely the problem being investigated. The passage never mentions that an animal was actually caught, so that cannot be the reason the villagers changed their thinking. Absence of animal noise is also not stated anywhere in the passage as evidence.

Because it was specifically the hunter's report of finding no animal footprints that undermined the idea of an animal being responsible, that report is what made the villagers realise it was not an animal.

Examination tip: when a comprehension question asks what made a character realise something, search the passage for the specific piece of evidence given, here the hunter's statement about footprints, rather than assuming a general explanation.

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"Ídàbí" comes from the verb "dàbí", which means "to resemble" or "to seem like". When used to introduce a comparison, this idea is expressed in everyday speech as "bí ẹni pé", meaning "as if" or "as though", the phrase used whenever something is described as appearing or seeming a certain way without actually being so.

This matches the tested word closely, since both "dàbí" and "bí ẹni pé" carry the sense of likeness or apparent resemblance, making it the correct option.

A house, various kinds of something, and something that was made are all unrelated concepts that do not carry any sense of resemblance or comparison. When a Yoruba vocabulary question tests a word built on "dà" or "bí", it is worth checking whether the correct option expresses similarity or seeming, since these roots consistently signal comparison in the language.

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Ìjálá is a chant traditionally performed by hunters and devotees of Ògún, the Yoruba god of iron and war. Its verses celebrate courage, skill in the hunt, and the strength of the hunter, so a typical example of ìjálá is a chant that praises a valiant, courageous person, matching ìyìn akíkanjú.

Ìjálá is not the same as an entertainment song sung purely for fun, a story told about a masquerade festival, or ordinary speech used while working; those describe other kinds of oral performance. What sets ìjálá apart is its focus on bravery and hunting prowess, delivered in a distinctive chanting style with its own vocabulary.

When identifying ìjálá in an exam question, listen for the theme of valour and hunting; that theme is the surest marker of the genre.

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Yoruba oral literature separates historical accounts believed to be factual from stories that are imaginative or embellished. "Ìtàn aláwọ̀pupa" describes a story coloured with invention and exaggeration rather than a strictly factual record, placing it in the category of fiction. The Yoruba term for this kind of imaginative prose narrative is àròsọ, a story built from the writer's or narrator's imagination rather than verified fact.

This makes àròsọ the correct example of the kind of embellished story the question describes.

A play (eré) is a performed dramatic form rather than a narrated story, an explanation (àlàyé) is a factual account meant to clarify something, and praise poetry (oríkì) is a chanted tribute to a person or lineage, none of which match the description of an imaginative, coloured narrative. Distinguishing genres by their purpose, entertainment through invention versus factual clarification versus tribute, is the key to this kind of classification question.

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This question tests the ability to complete a sentence with the clause that follows logically from what has already been stated.

The sentence begins by stating that the speaker is going to the hospital. A hospital is a place people visit specifically for medical reasons, so the continuation that makes sense is one that gives a medical reason for the visit, namely that the speaker is unwell. This connects cause to effect directly: being unwell is the reason for going to a hospital, in the same way going to a place of worship would logically follow a statement about wanting to pray, not about visiting a hospital.

The other options either describe an unrelated destination, an unrelated intention to turn back, or an unrelated errand to buy herbs, none of which follows naturally from the specific statement about heading to a hospital.

For sentence-completion questions, test each option by asking whether it gives a reason, result, or detail that a listener would naturally expect to follow the opening statement, rather than one that is merely grammatically possible.

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In the sentence "Mo ń lọ sí ilé" (I am going home), the particle "ń" placed before the verb "lọ" signals that the action is ongoing at the moment of speaking. This particle functions as a tense or aspect marker, showing the listener that the movement is happening right now rather than having been completed in the past or planned for the future.

The option identifying "ń" as a tense marker (àmì àsíkò) correctly names this grammatical role, which is why it is the correct answer.

"ń" is neither an example, a noun, nor a communication device; it carries no meaning of its own outside of the grammatical signal it gives about when an action takes place. Whenever a short particle like "ń" or "yóò" appears directly before a Yoruba verb, checking what it tells the listener about timing is the fastest way to identify its grammatical function.

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This question asks for the overall consequence of everything described in the passage, which means looking at how the story ends rather than at any single incident within it.

The narrative moves from suspicion and a night watch, to the discovery that hungry children from a nearby village had been taking food because a flood had ruined their own farmland, to the elders responding with generosity instead of punishment. The passage's final sentence states directly that from that day onward, a cordial relationship and cooperation developed between the two villages.

That closing statement is the outcome the question is asking about. The events did not lead to lasting sadness, further food damage, or continued theft; they led to reconciliation and a stronger bond between the communities, which is the resolution the whole story builds toward.

When a comprehension question asks for a story's outcome, always check the final lines of the passage, since narratives are usually structured to resolve their central conflict there.

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This question is loosely worded, but it is asking for something in Yoruba speech that people habitually point to or refer back to when making an argument, described here as an àtọ́ka (a pointer or reference). In Yoruba oral tradition, that role belongs to àwọn òwe, proverbs.

Yoruba speech leans heavily on proverbs as ready-made points of reference: a speaker cites a proverb the way a writer cites a source, to point to accepted wisdom and strengthen an argument. This function is captured in the well known saying that a proverb is the horse used to trace and recover a lost line of speech.

Application, complex sentence structure, and machinery do not serve this referencing function in everyday speech, while proverbs are specifically kept and reused as fixed points that a speaker points back to; that is why proverbs are the best fit here, even though the question's phrasing is not fully precise.

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The opening lines of the passage state that Yoruba culture and practice are built on good relationships, the blessing of elders, family contentment (ìtẹ́lọrun ídílé), and advice grounded in the wisdom of the ancestors. The question asks specifically what culture did for the family at the beginning of the passage, so the answer must come straight from that opening sentence rather than from later parts about children's attitudes toward culture.

The option describing culture as something that shows contentment and blessing (ó fi ìtẹ́lọrun àti íbùkún hàn) restates exactly what the passage says: family satisfaction and the blessing that comes from elders. This is why it is the correct answer.

The other options either introduce ideas the passage never mentions, such as going to church or causing arguments, or describe something too vague, such as "bringing enjoyment", that is not the specific benefit the writer names for the family. When answering a comprehension question about what a text says at the beginning, always trace the exact sentence being tested rather than a general impression of the whole passage.

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In Yoruba grammar, names fall into different categories depending on how they function. A name that is attached specifically to one particular person, place, or thing, distinguishing it from every other member of its class, is called a proper noun, or orúkọ àtọ̀kànwá in Yoruba, meaning a name that "points directly" at a specific referent.

This matches the question precisely, since it asks for the name given to identify one particular place or one particular person, which is exactly what a proper noun does.

The other terms describe different categories entirely, such as a descriptive or explanatory name, or an insulting name, none of which refer to the grammatical function of uniquely identifying a specific referent. When a Yoruba grammar question asks about naming a specific entity, the key clue is the word "specific" or "particular", which should point directly to orúkọ àtọ̀kànwá.

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"Tálákà" is a Yoruba word describing a person who lacks material wealth or resources, someone who is poor or in need. The word carries the same sense as aláìní, which literally means "one who lacks" or "one in need", making it the correct match for the meaning being tested.

A student who confuses "tálákà" with its opposite, ọlọ́rọ̀ (a wealthy person), has reversed the meaning entirely, since the two words describe opposite economic conditions. The remaining options, referring to rebellion and to a child, describe unrelated concepts that share no connection with poverty or need.

When learning paired opposites in vocabulary such as tálákà and ọlọ́rọ̀, it helps to memorise them together so that an exam question testing one cannot be mistaken for its opposite.

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This question tests knowledge of the specific Yoruba term for a well-known cultural rite, the ceremony held to welcome and name a newborn child.

In Yoruba tradition, a newborn is formally given a name during a dedicated ceremony that usually takes place about a week after birth, attended by family and community elders who bless the child and confer names chosen for their meaning. The Yoruba term for this specific rite, literally "naming a child," is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from a burial rite, from an ordinary story-telling occasion, and from a general discussion or meeting, none of which refers to a newborn-child ceremony.

A useful way to recognise this vocabulary is to notice how the word is built from "so," to make or turn something into, "ọmọ," child, and "orúkọ," name, so that the whole word literally means "to make the child into a name-bearer."

When a Yoruba vocabulary question describes a life-stage ritual, break the compound word into its parts to confirm what activity it names before choosing an answer.

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This question tests knowledge of the standard layout used for a Yoruba informal letter, specifically what the second address in the letter refers to.

A properly structured Yoruba letter opens with the writer's own address and the date, placed at the top. Beneath the salutation, a second address identifies the person the letter is being written to, that is, the recipient, so that the letter is clearly directed at a specific individual. This is why the second address corresponds to the person addressed, rather than to the writer, the location the letter was written from, which is already covered by the first address, or an unrelated person such as a child mentioned only within the body of the letter.

Keeping the two addresses distinct, one for where the letter comes from and one for who it is going to, mirrors the structure expected in formal correspondence generally and is a detail JAMB checks directly in letter-writing questions.

When answering questions on letter format, work through the layout in order, writer's address and date first, then salutation, then who the letter is addressed to, so that each address is matched to its correct role.

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This question tests understanding of how marriage is traditionally regarded within Yoruba culture, specifically whose approval and involvement a marriage requires.

In Yoruba tradition, marriage is not treated as a private arrangement between two individuals alone; it is a union that involves and must be approved by the families of both the bride and the groom. Elders from each family are consulted, rites such as introduction visits and bride price negotiations are carried out between the families, and the marriage is considered properly sanctioned only once both families have given their consent. This is why family, rather than a title such as "mister," a leadership role, or the idea of just two individuals in isolation, is what Yoruba tradition holds as the party whose approval validates a marriage.

This family-centred view of marriage reflects a broader value in Yoruba culture, which treats major life events as matters affecting the wider kin group rather than individuals alone.

When Yoruba culture questions ask who approves or is involved in a traditional practice such as marriage, look for the answer that reflects the communal, family-based structure of Yoruba society rather than an individual-centred one.

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This question tests knowledge of the Yoruba term for the celebration held to mark a birthday.

In Yoruba culture, a birthday is marked with a festive gathering involving family, friends, food, music, and well-wishes for the celebrant, and the general Yoruba word for this kind of celebration or party is the one that correctly answers the question. It is distinct from the words for a town, a story or historical account, and an unrelated term that does not refer to a festive occasion, none of which describes a celebratory gathering of this kind.

This term applies broadly to festive occasions in Yoruba culture beyond birthdays as well, covering celebrations held for a range of joyful events, which is why it is the word most directly associated with marking an occasion such as a birthday with festivity.

When a Yoruba culture question asks for the term describing a celebration or party, look for the vocabulary specifically tied to festivity and joyful gathering rather than words describing places, records, or unrelated customs.

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This question tests recognition of which Yoruba word is a standard, correctly formed term as opposed to unfamiliar or non-standard combinations.

"Àkọ́lé," meaning a title or heading, is a well-established, single unit of Yoruba vocabulary that is used consistently across written and spoken Yoruba, for example as the heading placed at the top of a letter, essay, or newspaper article. It has a fixed, recognisable form and a clear, stable meaning, which is what makes it the word that reads as genuinely well-formed among the options presented.

The other options combine or modify related word parts in ways that either alter the core meaning, as with a word suggesting unification of separate things into one, or produce a less commonly attested form, which makes them less secure choices when a question is testing familiarity with standard vocabulary rather than word-building rules in the abstract.

When a Yoruba vocabulary question asks which word is correct or fitting among similar-looking options, favour the option you can confidently recall being used in ordinary written or spoken Yoruba, since JAMB vocabulary questions often include one authentic, frequently used word alongside less common variants.

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Oríkì kì í șe àtọkànwá àṣeyọrí nìkan, ó tún fi ibi tí ọmọ ti wá hàn.

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A correctly formed Yoruba compound sentence joins two related clauses smoothly, often with a connector such as sì (and/also), as seen in sentences like they arrived and they left, he went and bought it, and he worked and slept. Each of those reads as a natural, grammatically sound coordination of two actions.

Ó lọ s'òun òun does not follow this pattern; the phrase repeats òun awkwardly and lacks the coherent structure a proper compound sentence needs, making it the example of faulty coordination among the choices given.

When asked to spot an incorrectly joined sentence, check whether the coordinating word links two complete, sensible clauses; a sentence that repeats or garbles a pronoun without adding a second clause is a sign of faulty construction.

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This question tests knowledge of the term used in Yoruba culture for an indigenous, traditionally worshipped being or deity.

Yoruba traditional religion recognises a pantheon of indigenous deities, each associated with particular forces of nature or aspects of life, such as thunder, iron, or rivers, and worshipped through dedicated rites and priesthoods. The general term for such an indigenous deity or divine being is the one that correctly answers this question. It is distinct from a riverbank, from blood, and from a masquerade or ancestral spirit figure, each of which names something else entirely within Yoruba culture.

Recognising this term matters because Yoruba culture questions frequently distinguish between related but separate concepts, such as an ancestral masquerade, a deity, and a natural feature, and JAMB tests whether a candidate keeps these categories distinct.

When asked to identify an indigenous Yoruba spiritual being, look for the term specifically associated with worship and divine attributes, rather than terms describing physical places or unrelated cultural objects.

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Traditional Yoruba family life (ẹbí) is organised around close kinship ties, and one of the most basic units within an extended family is the group of children born to the same mother, referred to as ọmọ-ìyá. This bond of shared maternal descent is a defining feature of how a Yoruba family is structured and understood.

A decision, a system of government, and a story are not kinship categories; they describe entirely different aspects of life and cannot define how family membership is organised. Family structure in Yoruba culture is built on blood and marriage ties, and ọmọ-ìyá names exactly one such tie.

When a question asks what a Yoruba family is built with or organised around, look for the option that names a kinship relationship rather than an abstract idea like decision-making or governance.

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As with any question on this genre, oríkì is Yoruba oral poetry composed to praise a person, family, town, or object by celebrating its qualities and achievements. That core purpose is captured in ìyìn ẹni, the praising of a person.

Oríkì should not be confused with pleading or begging, with a formal accusation, or with a picture-based story; those describe entirely different kinds of speech or narrative, none of which share oríkì's function of celebrating and honouring its subject.

Whenever oríkì appears in a question, anchor your answer to the idea of praise; every correct description of the genre will point back to that single function.

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Alárìnjó is the name of the traditional Yoruba travelling theatre troupe that moved from town to town staging masquerade performances. Their shows combined spoken drama, mime, and satire with drumming and singing, which is why their defining activity is correctly described as eré pẹ̀lú orin, drama performed with music.

Alárìnjó performances were not simply climbing plants, dance on its own without spoken drama, or poetry set to song; their hallmark was theatrical scenes, often comic or satirical, carried along by live musical accompaniment.

Associate Alárìnjó with travelling masquerade theatre powered by music, and you will not confuse it with genres that involve only dance or only chanted poetry.

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The passage lists the foundations of Yoruba culture and practice in one sentence: good relationships (íbáṣepọ̀ rere), the blessing of elders, family contentment (ìtẹ́lọrun ídílé), and advice built on the wisdom of the ancestors (ọgbọ́n àwọn baba-nlá wa). The question asks which areas or branches Yoruba culture brings together, so the correct option must match this list.

The option naming relationship, contentment, and the application of wisdom (íbáṣepọ̀, ìtẹ́lọrun, ímúlò ọgbọ́n) directly mirrors these three pillars named in the passage, making it the correct answer.

The other options introduce items the passage never groups together under culture, such as song, fighting, and medicine, or religion, evil, and prayer. These sound like they could belong to a general discussion of Yoruba life, but none of them appear in the specific sentence the question is testing, so they must be rejected.

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When the night watchers ran towards the sound near the yam barn, the passage says they found some boys and girls from the neighbouring village who were fleeing with food they had stolen.

The passage does not describe the hunter behaving strangely on that night, nor does it mention the lantern catching fire. It also makes clear, through the earlier report of no animal footprints and this later discovery, that the culprits were not animals eating the garden but children taking food.

Because the passage explicitly states that the watchers found boys and girls running away with stolen food, that is what they saw that night.

Examination tip: comprehension questions about the climax of a story want the concrete detail the passage gives, here the identity of the culprits caught in the act, not an inferred or general description.

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Gbolohun àșe máa ń bẹ̀rẹ̀ pẹ̀lú àsọyé tí ó fún ní ìtọ́sọ́nà tàbí àṣẹ.

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This question tests recognition of a collective or plural noun, a word used to refer to a group of people together, as opposed to individual family terms.

The words for father, mother, and child each refer to a single, specific individual within a family. The remaining option combines the plural marker "àwọn" with the word for kinsmen or community members, producing a term that refers to a group of people considered together rather than to any one person. That is precisely what a collective noun does: it names a body of people as a unit rather than naming an individual role within a family.

The prefix "àwọn" is the standard Yoruba marker of plurality when attached to a noun referring to people, and recognising it is a reliable way to identify collective or group nouns in Yoruba sentences.

When asked to identify a word showing a group of people, look for the plural marker attached to a noun, since individual kinship terms such as father, mother, and child will never by themselves indicate a collective group.

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Ìlà yìí fi ìmọ̀ràn hàn. Kì í se oro lásán, ṣùgbọ́n àlàyé ẹ̀kọ́ àti ìmúlò rere. O je owe igbani niyanju.

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The passage says that the members of the night-watch group sat in the dark for many nights without anything happening. It specifically states that it was on the fifth night, while the moon was shining in the sky, that they heard a rustling sound near the village head's yam barn and rushed to investigate.

The passage does not mention a third or sixth night at all, and it explicitly contrasts the fifth night, when the discovery happened, with the earlier nights, including the first night, when the watchers saw nothing.

Because the passage names the fifth night as the specific night the watchers heard the sound and discovered what was happening, that is the correct night.

Examination tip: for questions asking when an event happened in a narrative, locate the exact time marker the passage gives, here the fifth night, rather than assuming the event happened as soon as the watch began.

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The question Asa ayeye omode ni ...? asks: "What is the cultural celebration for a child?" This tests knowledge of Yoruba traditional customs and ceremonies.

The correct answer is Iko omo, which refers to the naming ceremony in Yoruba culture. The naming ceremony is the traditional celebration held for a newborn child, typically on the seventh or eighth day after birth. It is one of the most important cultural rites associated with children in Yoruba society. During this ceremony, the child is formally given a name, prayers and blessings are offered, and symbolic items such as honey, kola nut, water, palm oil, and salt are used to express wishes for the child's future.

The other options refer to different cultural events:

• Ikave refers to a reading or educational ceremony
• Ikore is the harvest festival, a celebration of agricultural abundance
• Ipeya refers to a different type of cultural gathering, not specifically associated with children

The naming ceremony (Iko omo) is the defining cultural celebration directly tied to the arrival of a new child.

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The passage opens by describing what the villagers discovered every morning: their farmland kept getting damaged and their food supply kept reducing without any clear cause. This was the very first problem the village faced, before any suspects, hunters, or vigilante groups are mentioned.

Wild animals entering the village is only the villagers' first guess about the cause of the problem, not the problem itself, and the passage goes on to say the hunter found no footprints to support that idea. An epidemic disease and a shortage of water are not mentioned anywhere in the passage; neither illness nor lack of water is described as affecting the villagers.

Because the passage explicitly states that the villagers woke to find their farmland ruined and their food reduced without measure, the initial problem they faced was the destruction of their farmland together with the ongoing disappearance of their food.

Examination tip: in a comprehension passage, distinguish the actual event described from characters' guesses about its cause, since a question asking what problem occurred wants the event itself, not the suspected cause.

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This question tests recognition of the pronoun that refers back to the subject already introduced earlier in the sentence, maintaining grammatical agreement across the clauses of the proverb.

The proverb begins by naming the subject, a child, in the phrase describing a child who is literate but does not know the ways of elders. In the clause that follows, advising that such a person should show respect by prostrating, the sentence no longer repeats the word for child; instead it uses a short pronoun standing in for that same subject. That pronoun is the word that ties the second clause back to the person introduced in the first, which is exactly what grammatical concord requires: a later reference must match, in person and number, the subject it stands for.

The remaining options are not concord words at all: one is the phrase describing the elders' ways, one is a subjunctive marker introducing what should happen, and one is the verb for being literate, so none of them performs the pronoun's job of referring back to the subject.

When asked to find a concord or agreement word in a Yoruba sentence, look specifically for the short pronoun that stands in for a noun already mentioned, rather than for descriptive phrases or verbs nearby.

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Ewì oníròyìn (epic) ni ewì tí ó sọ ìtàn ayé tabi ìṣe eniyan.

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"Jẹ" jẹ́ àsọyé tí ó fi ișe tí ẹni náà șe hàn (eating - verb).

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Describing something by likening it to the sound or behaviour of an animal is a form of illustration, using one thing to stand in for and clarify another. In Yoruba, an illustrative comparison of this kind is named àpẹẹrẹ, an example.

Àfihàn refers to a display or manifestation in a broader sense, àròkọ refers to a written composition or letter, and ìsàlẹ̀ refers to the bottom or foundation of something; none of these names the specific technique of using an animal's sound or trait as an illustrative comparison.

When a question asks for the name of a technique that likens something to an animal for effect, look for the option describing an illustrative example, since that is the general term Yoruba uses for this kind of comparison.

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"Yọjú" is formed from "yọ" (to emerge or come out) and "ojú" (face), and in everyday Yoruba usage it describes the act of appearing, coming into view, or showing oneself, for example when someone peeps out of a window or steps briefly into sight. The closest match among the choices is the phrase meaning "to show oneself" (fi ara hàn), since this captures the sense of becoming visible or making an appearance.

A common mix-up is to treat "yọjú" as simply "to see a face" (rí ojú), but that phrase describes the act of viewing someone else, not the act of making oneself visible. "Yọjú" is about the subject appearing, not about an onlooker seeing them, which is why "fi ara hàn" is the better match.

The remaining options, relating to speaking through the mouth or walking, describe unrelated actions that share no root or meaning with "yọjú". When a vocabulary question tests a compound word, breaking it into its component parts, as with "yọ" and "ojú" here, usually reveals which option fits the underlying sense.

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The proverb "Bí iná kò bá tàn, ẹ̀fúfù ò lè mú un lọ" (If the fire does not catch, the wind cannot carry it away) uses fire as a picture of trouble that a person themselves must first start, and wind as a picture of outside forces or people that only make an existing problem worse. The proverb's real message is that outside forces cannot create trouble out of nothing; there must already be an opening or spark from the person involved.

The option stating that if a person does not give room for trouble, they will not experience trouble (bí ẹnìyàn kò bá fi àyè fún wàhálà, kò ní ṣe wàhálà) expresses this figurative meaning correctly: without an initial cause from the person, external pressure has nothing to act on.

Restating the proverb literally, that fire spreads once lit and wind fans it, only repeats the surface image without explaining its figurative lesson, while claiming that wind never carries anything contradicts the proverb's own words. Yoruba proverbs almost always carry a figurative lesson about human behaviour, so the correct interpretation should explain the underlying moral, not restate the literal scene.

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The proverb "Ìyàwó tí kò mọ ibi tí ọkọ rẹ̀ ti ń ra ẹran, yóò jẹ ẹran ẹlẹ́dẹ̀" (a wife who does not know where her husband buys meat will end up eating pork) uses the risk of unknowingly eating a forbidden meat as a warning image. The point is not literally about meat; it is about the danger of staying ignorant of a husband's dealings and affairs.

The lesson the proverb teaches is that a wife must make it her business to know what her husband does, so that she is not caught off guard or led into something she would not have accepted knowingly. This matches the idea that a woman must know what her husband is doing.

The other statements about home training, eating together, or a boy helping out do not connect to the specific image of being tricked through ignorance that the proverb builds around the meat.

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The passage states the consequence directly: "àìmọ̀ àṣà lórí àwọn ọmọde ń fa ìjìyà àti ìtànkálẹ̀ ìbànújẹ́ nínú awujọ" (children's ignorance of culture causes suffering and the spread of sadness in society). Suffering and sadness are named as the outcome of cultural ignorance among the young.

Love of festivals, devotion, and the general development of a town are not mentioned as effects of ignoring culture; the passage links ignorance specifically to social suffering and unhappiness, not to these unrelated outcomes.

For cause-and-effect comprehension questions, locate the sentence that names the result directly, the word fa meaning causes, and match the answer to that stated result.

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Before the arrival of Christianity, the Yoruba people practised a traditional belief system centred on the worship of the òrìṣà, the various deities associated with natural forces, ancestors, and specific areas of life such as Ṣàngó, Ògún, and Ỏyá. This indigenous religious practice is known as ìjọ́sin Òrìṣà, meaning the worship of the deities.

The option naming worship of the Òrìṣà (ìjọ́sin Òrìṣà) correctly identifies this pre-Christian faith, which existed long before missionaries introduced Christianity to Yorubaland.

Teaching, hearing from God in the Christian sense, and naming ceremonies are not religions in themselves; hearing from God in particular reflects a Christian framework rather than the traditional practice the question is asking about. A useful way to check this kind of question is to ask which option names an actual belief system rather than an activity or ritual that could exist within several different belief systems.

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After discovering the damage to their farmland, the villagers' first reaction, before any investigation, was to assume that wild animals from the forest were responsible for eating their crops and food.

The passage names the village hunter separately, as the person who later examined the scene and reported that there were no animal footprints to support the accusation, meaning the hunter was not himself accused. The children from the second village are only discovered later, on the fifth night, and are not the group the villagers first suspected. Town thugs are never mentioned anywhere in the passage.

Because the text states plainly that the villagers first blamed wild animals for the damage before the hunter's investigation raised doubt, the group first accused is the wild animals.

Examination tip: comprehension questions asking who was first accused want the earliest suspicion mentioned in the passage, even if later evidence in the story proves it wrong.