JAMB UTME - Use of English - 2025

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Irony occurs when there is a gap between expectation and reality. In The Lekki Headmaster, the novel uses situational irony to critique migration by showing how the anticipation and excitement surrounding the decision to move abroad contrasts sharply with the actual hardships migrants face upon arrival.

Characters in the novel look forward to leaving Nigeria with great optimism, imagining that life overseas will be better in every way. However, the reality they encounter - or that is reported back to them - involves difficult working conditions, social isolation, discrimination, and the loss of professional status. This gap between the hopeful departure and the harsh reality is the irony the novel highlights.

The novel does not argue that migration is always a failure, nor does it suggest that people universally regret leaving Nigeria. It also does not claim that Nigerian schools are superior to foreign institutions. Instead, it takes a more nuanced position by using irony to reveal that the dream of migration often does not match the lived experience, prompting readers to question the assumptions behind the desire to leave.

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This question tests comprehension of the events leading to the closure of the school that Bepo founded after leaving Beesway.

After departing from Beesway Group of School, Bepo took the initiative to start his own school. However, the school could not sustain itself and eventually closed. The reason for the closure was poor road conditions in the neighbourhood where the school was located. The bad roads made it difficult for parents to bring their children to school regularly and discouraged prospective families from enrolling, leading to a decline in attendance and ultimately forcing the school to shut down.

The closure was not caused by parental dissatisfaction with the curriculum, a failed spiritual ritual, or mismanagement of funds. It was an infrastructure challenge beyond Bepo's control, highlighting how environmental and logistical factors can undermine even well-intentioned educational initiatives in Nigeria.

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In The Lekki Headmaster, the statement "It's like hanging a snake in the roof and going to bed" is a vivid proverb used to describe the danger of ignoring a known threat. A snake hanging in the roof poses an immediate risk to anyone sleeping below, so going to bed without dealing with it would be reckless.

This statement is made by the Chairman during a discussion about a pressing issue. The Chairman uses this proverbial language to convey urgency and to argue that the matter at hand cannot be left unresolved. The use of proverbs and figurative language is characteristic of dialogue among senior figures in the novel, and this particular statement reflects the Chairman's concern and authority in pressing for action.

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Pernicious means having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way. It describes something that causes serious damage or injury, often without being immediately obvious.

The word nearest in meaning is noxious, which means harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant. Both pernicious and noxious describe something that causes harm or damage.

The other options are antonyms of pernicious:

• beneficial means producing good results or helpful effects - the direct opposite of harmful.
• harmless means not able or likely to cause damage or injury - the direct opposite of pernicious.
• benign means gentle, kindly, or (of a medical condition) not harmful - again the opposite.

Note that pernicious carries a stronger connotation than simply "bad"; it implies insidious, creeping harm. Among the options, noxious captures this harmful quality most accurately.

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This can be found on page 58 of the novel.

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"Foot-dragging" is an idiomatic expression that means deliberately delaying action or being slow and reluctant to do something that needs to be done. It comes from the image of someone literally dragging their feet while walking, moving as slowly as possible because they do not want to reach their destination.

In the sentence, the character's foot-dragging "pushed his marriage to the brink." This means his reluctance to act promptly on an important matter caused so much damage that his marriage was nearly destroyed. The context makes it clear that the delay was harmful, not thoughtful or productive.

The other options are the opposite of what the idiom means:

• "Quick decision making" is the direct opposite of foot-dragging.
• "Unnecessary excitement" has no connection to delay or reluctance.
• "Thoughtful consideration" might sound similar to taking one's time, but foot-dragging implies unhelpful stalling, not careful reflection. The negative consequence (pushing marriage to the brink) confirms that this was irresponsible delay, not wise caution.

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In The Lekki Headmaster, the board of Stardom Schools is composed of the MD's family members. This is a critical detail in the novel because it reveals that the school, despite its outward appearance as a professional educational institution, is essentially a family-run enterprise.

The fact that the board is made up of relatives rather than independent education experts, parents, or a diverse mix of educators and investors means that decisions are driven by the family's financial interests rather than educational excellence. This governance structure explains many of the problems at the school, including low teacher pay, resistance to progressive educational ideas, and the prioritisation of profit over student and staff welfare.

Bepo's frustration with this arrangement is part of what drives the novel's plot. His ambition to rise within the institution is ultimately limited by the family-controlled power structure, and his progressive teaching ideas are often overruled by a board that does not share his educational vision. The nepotistic composition of the board serves as the novel's critique of how some private schools in Nigeria operate.

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Personification is a figure of speech that gives human qualities, emotions, or behaviours to something that is not human. In the expression "Tears trickled out of his eyes... More tears streamed from both eyes, competitively," the word competitively is the key indicator of personification. Tears are not sentient beings; they cannot compete with one another. By describing the tears as streaming "competitively," the writer gives them the human quality of rivalry - as though the tears from each eye are racing against each other to flow faster.

This device intensifies the emotional impact of the scene. Rather than simply stating that the character cried heavily, the personification creates a vivid, almost physical image of overwhelming grief pouring out uncontrollably.

This is not a simile because there is no comparison using "like" or "as." It is not a metaphor because the tears are not being described as something else entirely. It is not hyperbole because the description does not exaggerate the amount of crying in an unrealistic way - rather, it gives the tears a human characteristic.

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This comprehension question tests recall of a specific financial detail from the passage. The passage mentions the boarding house fee at Stardom School and notes that it was later reduced.

Before the reduction, the boarding house fee per session was two hundred and fifty thousand naira. This was the original amount parents were required to pay for boarding facilities each session. The fact that it was subsequently reduced is a significant detail in the narrative, as it reflects the school management's response to concerns about affordability or other pressures.

The other amounts listed serve as distractors. The figures one hundred and sixty three thousand naira and one hundred and sixty thousand naira are close enough to each other to create confusion, while ninety three thousand naira is a distinctly lower figure. Careful reading of the passage is needed to recall the specific fee that was in place before the reduction took effect.

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The word "beer" is pronounced /bɪə/ in Received Pronunciation. The underlined vowel combination "ee" followed by "r" produces the diphthong /ɪə/, known as the NEAR vowel. This is the same sound heard in words like here, fear, dear, and near.

Examining each option:

• bare is pronounced /beə/, with the SQUARE diphthong /eə/ - a different vowel from /ɪə/.
• their is pronounced /ðeə/, also with /eə/ - not a match.
• swear is pronounced /sweə/, again with /eə/ - not a match.
• serious is pronounced /ˈsɪəriəs/. The first vowel is /ɪə/, matching the vowel in "beer" exactly.

The correct answer is serious, because the "e" in its first syllable produces the same /ɪə/ diphthong as the "ee" in "beer".

Exam tip: The NEAR vowel /ɪə/ and the SQUARE vowel /eə/ are often confused because both involve an "r" in the spelling. Remember that "beer", "here", and "serious" share /ɪə/, while "bare", "their", and "swear" share /eə/. Practise distinguishing these two diphthongs.

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The sentence "Cinema, tonight?" he asked. "Maybe another time", she replied is a brief conversational exchange. The man poses an informal suggestion about going to the cinema that evening. The woman's reply, "maybe another time", is a polite, non-committal way of declining the specific invitation without firmly shutting the door on a future outing.

The key word is "maybe", which signals uncertainty rather than agreement or forceful refusal. She does not accept the invitation, so any option stating she agreed or accepted is wrong. Equally, she does not refuse vehemently; her tone is gentle and diplomatic, leaving open the possibility of another occasion.

The option that most accurately captures the exchange is the one stating he suggested taking her to a cinema tonight and she said probably another time. This mirrors both the casual nature of the suggestion and the soft, tentative quality of her decline.

Exam tip: In comprehension questions about dialogue, pay close attention to the tone and strength of the language used. Words like "maybe" and "perhaps" indicate hesitation or a soft refusal, not outright rejection or acceptance.

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This cloze test question requires the word that correctly fills gap 11. The passage discusses the United Nations and its institutional framework.

The correct word is charter. The UN Charter is the founding treaty of the United Nations, signed in 1945. It establishes the purposes, principles, structure, and operating procedures of the organisation. When discussing the legal basis for UN actions, particularly those of the Security Council, the Charter is the authoritative document that is referenced. It is the constitution of the United Nations.

The other options do not fit the context:

• "League" refers to the League of Nations, the predecessor to the UN that was dissolved in 1946. It is not a document but an organisation.
• "Unit" is too vague and does not refer to any specific founding document or framework of the UN.
• "Directorate" refers to a governing body or administrative division, not to a founding treaty or document.

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This question tests the student's understanding of a specific grammatical issue raised by Bepo in the novel.

Bepo, being an English teacher with a keen eye for language, noticed that the school's name contained a grammatical error. The name "Beesway Group of School" uses the singular "School" where the plural "Schools" is required. Since the institution comprises a group (i.e., more than one school), the correct form should be "Beesway Group of Schools." The preposition "of" followed by a countable noun referring to multiple entities demands the plural form.

The issue was not about the spelling of "Beesway," the absence of a hyphen, or the use of capital letters. It was specifically about number agreement: the word "School" should be "Schools" to reflect the fact that a group necessarily consists of more than one unit.

This is a common grammatical error in Nigerian English usage, where singular forms are sometimes used where plural forms are required after collective nouns.

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This question tests comprehension of a biographical detail about the novel's protagonist. Bepo attended the University of Benin (UNIBEN), one of Nigeria's established federal universities.

He studied English/History Education, a combined Bachelor of Education programme that qualified him to teach both English Language and History at the secondary school level. This dual-subject education degree is a common offering at Nigerian universities and is designed specifically to produce qualified classroom teachers. His educational background is consistent with his career trajectory as a dedicated teacher at Stardom Schools and helps explain his deep professional attachment to teaching, which underlies his initial reluctance to leave Nigeria.

The other options do not match the text. A pure English Language degree or History and Political Science degree would not carry the education component. Educational Management focuses on school administration rather than classroom instruction, which does not align with Bepo's role as a practising teacher.

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The proverb Bepo recalls from his Idoma co-tenant states that the sugarcane and the bitter leaf get different tastes from the same rain. This is a traditional African saying that illustrates how the same circumstances or experiences can produce very different outcomes depending on the nature of the recipient.

In the context of the novel, this proverb reflects one of its central themes: that migration and life's challenges affect different people in different ways. Some characters thrive when they relocate abroad, while others face hardship or ruin. The rain (representing shared circumstances such as the desire to emigrate) nourishes the sugarcane into sweetness but leaves the bitter leaf bitter. The proverb is a reminder that identical opportunities do not guarantee identical results.

The Idoma are an ethnic group from Benue State in Nigeria, and this proverb carries the cultural wisdom of that community. The other options either state generic platitudes or do not match the specific proverb attributed to the Idoma co-tenant in the novel.

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Mr Audu, the Fina Arts teacher, is known for his well-timed witty remark. In chapter 1 of the novel, he refers to the MD as "a witch and a wizard rolled into one". He is also the one who coined the name "The Lekki Headmaster" for Mr Bepo.

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Personification is a figure of speech that attributes human characteristics, actions, or qualities to non-human things. In the expression "a rock carrying three other rocks on its head," the rock is described as though it were a person: it "carries" objects and has a "head." Rocks are inanimate geological formations that do not possess heads and cannot carry things in the way people do.

This description draws on the distinctive granite formations of Jos, in Nigeria's Plateau State, where large boulders naturally rest atop one another in seemingly impossible configurations. By describing these formations using human imagery, the writer brings the landscape to life and makes the scene vivid and engaging for the reader.

This is not a simile because no comparison is made using "like" or "as." It is not hyperbole because the description does not exaggerate - the rock formations in Jos genuinely do sit atop one another. It is not irony because there is no contradiction between what is said and what is meant.

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This question tests the student's understanding of the idiomatic expression "in cahoots" as used in the context of the novel.

The phrase "in cahoots" means secretly collaborating with someone, typically for a dishonest or improper purpose. In the novel, the expression describes the relationship between Tai (the middleman) and the immigration staff. It implies that they are working together behind the scenes to exploit passport applicants. The immigration staff deliberately create obstacles or slow down the official process, while Tai offers to "help" applicants for a fee, and they share the proceeds.

The phrase does not mean being in conflict with someone, being officially associated, or unknowingly assisting. The key element of "in cahoots" is the secrecy and dishonesty of the collaboration. It always carries a negative connotation, suggesting conspiracy or collusion for mutual benefit at others' expense.

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Banky and Tosh are SSS2 students who have a rivalry that dates back to JSS 3. Both students clashed in the Best Dancer category at the end-of-year party but Banky was crowned winner. This led Tosh's to threaten a lawsuit because they felt slighted. This can be found on page 42 of the novel.

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During the prefect election speech at Stardom Schools, the conflict erupted because Banky insulted Tosh's father. This personal attack during what should have been a formal school event escalated tensions between the two students and led to a confrontation that disrupted the election process.

Banky's decision to target Tosh's father rather than focusing on his own qualifications for the prefect position reveals the depth of personal animosity among the students. The incident demonstrates how rivalries and personal grudges can spill over into public events, and it gives the school administration, particularly Bepo, a disciplinary situation to manage. The episode also highlights the responsibilities that come with leadership positions and the importance of maintaining respect and decorum during competitive processes, a lesson that resonates with the novel's broader themes of leadership and integrity.

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The boarding fee at Stardom Schools was reduced in order to reduce student lateness. The school administration observed that many students were chronically late to school because of Lagos's notorious traffic congestion. By making the boarding option more affordable, the school aimed to encourage more students to board on the premises rather than commute daily through heavy traffic.

This decision reflects a practical, problem-solving approach to school management. Rather than simply punishing lateness, Bepo and the administration addressed the root cause by removing the financial barrier that prevented families from choosing the boarding option. This detail illustrates Bepo's thoughtful leadership style and his concern for both the academic performance and well-being of his students. It also highlights the everyday operational challenges of running a school in a megacity like Lagos, where traffic can consume hours of a student's day.

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This question tests the use of inversion with negative adverbs. When an adverb with a negative or restrictive meaning (such as scarcely, hardly, no sooner, seldom, rarely) begins a sentence, the subject and auxiliary verb are inverted.

The correlative pattern for scarcely is: Scarcely had + subject + past participle ... when ...

The sentence describes two completed past actions - entering the room and the phone ringing - where one happened immediately before the other. This calls for the past perfect tense (with had) in the scarcely clause, because the past perfect marks the earlier of two past events.

The correct sentence reads: "Scarcely had she entered the room when the phone rang."

The other options fail:

• did would require the base form of the verb ("Scarcely did she enter"), which mismatches the past participle "entered" already present in the sentence.
• has uses the present perfect, but both events are clearly in the past.
• does uses the simple present, which is wrong for narrating completed past events.

Remember: Scarcely...when and Hardly...when always take had + past participle, while No sooner...than follows the same pattern.

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A "slave driver" is an idiom for a person in authority who demands excessive work from those under them. The term originally referred to someone who forced enslaved people to work, and in modern usage it describes any boss or supervisor who overworks their employees.

The sentence reinforces this meaning: the speaker had to work two weekends in a row, indicating an unreasonable workload imposed by the boss. This directly matches the description of a taskmaster who overworks employees.

Being "very rich" describes wealth, not management style. Being "considerate" or "friendly" are positive traits that contradict the negative connotation of "slave driver." The idiom specifically criticises the boss for demanding too much labour.

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In The Lekki Headmaster, the students explored the Yankari Games Reserve during their visit to Bauchi State. Yankari is one of Nigeria's premier wildlife reserves and a major tourist destination, known for its diverse animal population, warm springs, and natural landscapes.

The visit to Yankari Games Reserve is part of the novel's broader use of school excursions to showcase Nigeria's rich natural and cultural heritage. By taking the students to experience the country's wildlife and natural beauty firsthand, the school reinforces a sense of national pride and belonging. This excursion, like the Badagry trip, serves to highlight what makes Nigeria unique and worth staying for, subtly reinforcing the novel's thematic argument about the costs of mass emigration. The other options listed, such as Ikogosi Warm Springs, Erin Ijesha Waterfalls, and Arinta Waterfalls, are located in southwestern Nigeria (Ekiti and Osun states), not in Bauchi.

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Students gave Mr. Ayesoro the nickname "Mr Owala" because of his tribal marks. In Yoruba, "Owala" is a term used to describe a person with deep or prominent facial scarification. Mr. Ayesoro's tribal marks are described as being particularly deep and striking, and the students coined this nickname based on his appearance.

The nickname reflects how children can be direct and sometimes unkind in their observations about physical appearance. In the novel, Mr. Ayesoro's tribal marks become a defining feature of how others perceive him, eventually contributing to his transfer from the classroom when a younger student is frightened by his appearance.

The other nicknames (Mr Ologbo, Mr Egun, and Mr Omole) are not the ones used in the novel. "Owala" specifically relates to facial marks in Yoruba culture, making it the most fitting and the one the text attributes to Mr. Ayesoro.

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The expression "a load of crap" is an informal idiom meaning something is nonsensical, worthless, or of extremely poor quality. When the students felt the lecture was "a load of crap," they judged its content to be foolish and without value.

The closest option is that the students thought the lecture was stupid - meaning they found its content to be of no intellectual worth.

Believing the lecture was "too long" addresses duration, not quality. Refusing to listen or not attending the lecture describes actions the students might take, but the idiom specifically expresses their opinion about the quality of the lecture's content, not what they did in response.

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A flashback is a narrative technique in which the story interrupts the present timeline to revisit events that occurred earlier. In The Lekki Headmaster, this device is used extensively. Bepo frequently recalls past experiences - his early days at Stardom Schools, key encounters with colleagues, and formative events that shaped his outlook on education and migration. These recollections provide background and emotional depth, helping the reader understand how Bepo arrived at his present circumstances and why he makes the decisions he does.

Foreshadowing (hinting at future events) is a different technique and is not the dominant narrative strategy of this novel. Myth (the use of traditional or legendary stories) does not describe the novel's primary storytelling method. First-person narration would mean the story is told from Bepo's own voice using "I" - the novel is not structured this way.

Flashback is central to the novel's structure because it allows the author to weave together past and present, showing how Bepo's history as a teacher and his accumulated frustrations drive his eventual decision to consider leaving Nigeria.

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The guidance counsellor accompanied Mr Bepo home on the day of the crying incident, as instructed by the MD. This can be found on page 9 of the novel.

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The Ignatius family's relocation plans were disrupted when a DNA test revealed that Mr. Ignatius was not Favour's biological father. Favour is their fifteen-year-old daughter, and this discovery shattered the family. The revelation led to a severe domestic crisis in which Mr. Ignatius (also referred to as Mr. Ibe in the narrative) told Mrs. Ignatius and Favour to leave the house.

This plot development is one of the novel's most dramatic moments. The family had been preparing for emigration, with Mrs. Ignatius even learning new vocational skills. However, the DNA result brought everything to a halt, as the personal turmoil it caused made relocation impossible. The incident illustrates how unforeseen personal crises can derail even the most carefully laid plans.

The other options do not reflect what happened in the novel. Mr. Ignatius did not lose his job, Mrs. Ignatius did not simply change her mind, and their visa application was not denied. The disruption was entirely personal in nature, arising from the DNA test result.

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Although Mr Fafore lives quite far away, he always prepares his day so that he arrives very early. He wakes up as early as 4:00 am and sets out for school at 4:30 am. He would get to the school premises around 6:00 am, rest his head on his desk and snooze for about an hour before his colleagues arrived. This can be found on page 30 of the novel. 

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This comprehension question tests recall of a specific event in the passage where the school administration held teachers accountable for their students' academic performance. The passage describes a situation in which teachers whose students performed poorly were reprimanded.

The teachers who were reprimanded because two of their candidates had Ds in their subjects were Mr Obong Ukake and Miss Taye Kareem. These two teachers were singled out because their students' grades fell below the standard the school considered acceptable. The reprimand reflected the school's policy of holding teachers directly responsible for their students' examination outcomes.

The other pairs of teachers listed were not the ones reprimanded for this specific reason. The passage names particular teachers in connection with particular events, and matching the correct names to the correct events is a key comprehension skill being tested here.

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This question asks about the location where the confrontational statement "So, you have taken your madness to this level?" was made in The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba.

In the novel, this statement was made at Beesway School. The accusatory tone of the statement, referring to someone's actions as "madness" that has escalated to a new level, reflects a confrontation between characters at this location. Beesway is a school that features prominently in the novel alongside Bepo's own school (Stardom), and tensions between characters connected to these institutions drive several key scenes.

The other locations do not match the context of this particular confrontation:

• Bepo's house is a domestic setting, whereas this statement carries the tone of a professional or institutional confrontation.
• The airport, while a location in the novel, is not where this specific exchange takes place.
• Stardom School is Bepo's own institution, and the accusatory nature of the statement suggests it was directed at him in a setting outside his own school.

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The idiom "tightening his belt" (or "tighten one's belt") means to reduce spending and live more frugally. The image is of someone who has less to eat and must tighten their belt because they have lost weight - it metaphorically represents cutting back on expenses.

The sentence highlights a contrast: despite his wealth, Mr Oluboye is known for being economical. This means he is very careful with his spending even though he could afford to be more extravagant.

"Helping the poor" describes generosity, not personal frugality. "Refusing to wear a belt" and "wearing fashionable belts" take the idiom literally rather than figuratively, which misses the point entirely.

The correct interpretation is that Mr Oluboye is very careful with his spending.

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The word grammarian has four syllables: gram-MA-ri-an. The primary stress falls on the second syllable: /ɡrəˈmeəriən/.

This follows the common English stress rule for words ending in the suffix "-arian" (like "librarian," "vegetarian," "humanitarian"). In these words, the stress typically falls on the syllable immediately before "-arian" - but since "-arian" itself starts with a stressed syllable in some patterns, the result for "grammarian" is stress on "-MA-."

Stressing the first syllable (GRAmmarian), the third (grammaRIan), or the fourth (grammariAN) would produce unnatural pronunciations that do not match standard English.

The correct stress pattern is graMMArian.

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The Chairman uses the simile that having such a large cooperative fund is like hanging a snake in the roof and going to bed. This vivid image conveys the idea of living with a hidden danger: a snake suspended overhead could drop down at any time, making sleep reckless and unsafe.

Applied to the cooperative funds, the simile means that allowing such a large sum of money to accumulate in a staff-run cooperative, with limited oversight, creates a lurking risk for the school. The money could be misused, embezzled, or cause division among staff. Just as a sensible person would not sleep beneath a suspended snake, the Chairman argues that the school should not ignore the potential dangers posed by an inadequately supervised cooperative holding N95 million.

The other similes are not the one used by the Chairman in the novel. Building castles in the air, lighting a fire in a haystack, and giving a sword to your enemy are all different expressions with different meanings. The snake-in-the-roof image is the specific one the Chairman employs to describe the situation.

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"Owala" is a derogatory Yoruba appellation for a person with wild facial marks. Mr. Ayesoro was popular for the deep tribal marks he flaunted on his face. This can be found on page 22 of the novel. 

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This cloze test question requires the word that correctly fills gap 12. The passage discusses the United Nations Security Council and its powers to respond to situations that endanger international peace.

The correct word is threat. Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council is empowered to act when there is a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression. "Threat to peace" is the precise legal formulation used in Article 39 of the Charter, which is the gateway to the Council's enforcement powers.

The other options do not match the standard UN terminology:

• "Agitation" means restlessness or disturbance but is not the formal term used in the Charter for situations that trigger Security Council action.
• "Violence" describes physical force, but the Charter uses the broader and more precise term "threat" because the Council can act even before violence erupts.
• "Fear" is a subjective emotion and not a legal criterion used in international law for authorising collective security measures.

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Mr Meko references the story of a hawker who plucked vegetables from a filthy dumpsite, and when a buyer calls to her, having no intention to probe the source of the product, immediately begins to assure the value of feigned quality. The hawker then retorts: "These vegetables are not from any dumpsite". With this proverb, Mr Meko is trying to hint at how people who feel guilty often defend what wasn't questioned. 

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In the novel, Mr Bepo's wife is deeply attached to her Nigerian culinary heritage and insists that he pack traditional food items for his trip to the UK. She specifically demands that he take locust beans (iru), egusi (melon seeds), ground crayfish, and dry snail. These are staple ingredients in Nigerian cooking and are not easily obtained abroad.

This detail serves a thematic purpose beyond mere domestic comedy. It reflects the cultural ties that Nigerian migrants carry with them and the anxiety of leaving behind familiar tastes and traditions. Bepo's wife, by insisting on these items, symbolises the desire to preserve Nigerian identity even in a foreign land. This moment also illustrates the practical, everyday dimension of migration that the novel explores alongside its larger social and emotional themes.

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This question tests knowledge of collective nouns - special words used to describe groups of specific animals, people, or things.

The collective noun for sheep is flock. A flock is the standard term for a group of sheep (as well as birds and goats).

The other options are incorrect for these reasons:

• multitude means a very large number of people or things. It is not the specific collective noun for sheep and sounds unnatural in this context.
• herd is the collective noun for cattle, elephants, horses, and similar large animals, not sheep.
• swine is not a collective noun at all; it is another word for pigs.

Common collective nouns tested in examinations include: a flock of sheep or birds, a herd of cattle, a pack of wolves, a swarm of bees, a school of fish, and a pride of lions.

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The underlined letters in knot are kn. In English, when a word begins with "kn," the "k" is silent and only the /n/ sound (voiced alveolar nasal) is pronounced. So "knot" is pronounced /nɒt/, beginning with the same sound as "not."

Now consider each option:

• church - begins with /tʃ/ (the "ch" affricate), not /n/.
• norm - begins with /n/, the same consonant sound represented by "kn" in "knot."
• keep - begins with /k/, which is actually the letter that is silent in "knot."
• cease - begins with /s/, not /n/.

The correct answer is norm, because the "n" in "norm" produces the same /n/ sound as the "kn" combination in "knot."

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Natives means people who were born in or originally belong to a particular place. They are the indigenous or original inhabitants of a region.

The word opposite in meaning is foreigners, which means people who come from or belong to another country or place. While natives are people of the land, foreigners are people from elsewhere - a direct contrast.

The other options are not the best antonyms:

• immigrants are people who come to live permanently in a foreign country. While immigrants are not natives, the word specifically refers to permanent relocation, making it narrower than foreigners.
• indigenes means the same thing as natives - original inhabitants. It is a synonym, not an antonym.
• visitors are people who come to a place temporarily. While visitors are not natives, the word focuses on the temporary nature of a stay rather than foreign origin.

Foreigners is the most direct and general antonym of natives because it simply means people who belong to another place.

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Emphatic stress marks the word that carries the key piece of contrasting or corrective information. The stressed word answers the part of the preceding question that was wrong.

In the sentence "The woman was delivered of a baby BOY," the stress falls on BOY. This means the speaker is emphasising the gender of the baby - it was a boy, not something else. The stress corrects a mistaken assumption about the baby's gender.

The question that would prompt this emphasis must be one that gets the gender wrong. The question "Was the woman delivered of a baby girl?" suggests the baby was a girl, and the speaker's stressed response corrects this to BOY. The other options change the subject ("the girl" instead of "the woman") or the number ("two baby boys"), which would require stress on different words.

The correct answer is the question that asks whether the woman was delivered of a baby girl.

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According to The Lekki Headmaster, the first storey building in Nigeria was built by Henry Townsend. This historical detail is mentioned during the school excursion to Badagry, where students learn about Nigeria's early contact with European missionaries and the legacy of the colonial era.

Henry Townsend was a Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionary who arrived in Nigeria in the 19th century. He is historically associated with early missionary activity in Western Nigeria, including the establishment of churches and other structures. The first storey building, located in Badagry, Lagos State, is a significant historical landmark that represents one of the earliest examples of European-style architecture in Nigeria.

The other figures listed are notable historical personalities but are not credited with building the first storey building in Nigeria according to the novel. Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther was the first African Anglican bishop. Lord Lugard was a colonial administrator known for the amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria. Lord Bernard Shaw is not a figure associated with this achievement.

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In The Lekki Headmaster, as Bepo travels to Ibadan to renew his passport, the poem that comes to his mind is "Ibadan" by J.P. Clark. This is a well-known West African poem that vividly describes the city of Ibadan with striking imagery - its rusted rooftops, sprawling landscape, and chaotic beauty.

The connection is natural and direct: Bepo is literally on his way to Ibadan, and the city's distinctive appearance triggers his recollection of the poem he knows from his education. This detail also reinforces Bepo's identity as a well-read and culturally aware teacher who carries literary knowledge with him even in everyday situations. The poem's imagery of Ibadan's rustic, crowded landscape may also mirror Bepo's mixed feelings about Nigeria - a place of both beauty and frustration.

The other poems listed - "Night Rain" by J.P. Clark, "Abiku" by Wole Soyinka, and "Vanity" by Birago Diop - are all significant works of African poetry, but none of them is the poem the novel associates with Bepo's journey to Ibadan.

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The emergency meeting of the board of Directors was called because the MD was concerned that the Cooperative allowed the teachers to be financially independent. She believes that the staff could rebel and jointly establish their own school with the money and steal the school's band ideal. This can be found on page 26 of the novel. 

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The school no longer allows students to copy notes from the Class Prefect because a parent sued the school for this practice. The incident involving Mr. Guta and Mr. Fafore is directly connected to this policy change. Students had been copying notes dictated by or written by the Class Prefect, and when Mr. Guta found what he believed was a grammatical error in his son's notes, the resulting confrontation and legal action forced the school to discontinue the practice.

The lawsuit demonstrated the legal liability the school could face when students copy notes that may contain errors. If a parent can hold the school legally accountable for mistakes in notes that students copy from one another, the school's safest course of action is to stop the practice entirely and ensure that all instructional materials come directly from teachers.

The other options are not the reason given in the novel. Classroom management disruption, copying errors by students, and teachers believing it wastes time are not what prompted the policy change. It was specifically the legal action taken by a parent that led the school to ban the practice.

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This question comes from a comprehension passage about birdwatching and bird identification. The passage contrasts how beginners (children) notice birds primarily by sight with how experienced observers identify species in environments where visibility is limited.

In a wood, dense foliage and tree cover make it difficult to spot birds visually. Colour, beak shape, and feeding behaviour are hard to observe when the bird is hidden among leaves and branches. Under these conditions, the most reliable way to identify a species is by its characteristic call. Each bird species produces distinctive songs and calls, and with practice, an observer can learn to recognise which species is present simply by listening.

The key phrase is "with practice" - learning to identify birds by their calls requires time and repeated exposure, but once mastered, it becomes the most effective method for identifying species in wooded habitats where direct sighting is difficult.

The correct answer is their characteristic calls with practice.

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This comprehension question tests recall of Mr Bepo's views on the hourly payment system, which is common in the United Kingdom and other Western countries but differs from the typical monthly salary structure in Nigeria.

According to Bepo, the hourly payment system is beneficial because it enables employees to change jobs easily. Under an hourly pay structure, workers are not locked into rigid long-term contracts in the same way they might be under a monthly salary arrangement. They can move between employers more freely, pick up additional shifts at different workplaces, or transition to new roles without the bureaucratic complexity that often accompanies monthly salaried positions. This flexibility is one of the advantages Bepo identifies when discussing the differences between the Nigerian and British employment systems.

The passage does not have Bepo arguing that hourly pay allows employees to earn more (it can, but that is not the point he makes), that it reduces workload, or that it enables more holidays. His specific observation is about the mobility and flexibility that hourly employment affords workers.

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This cloze test question requires the word that correctly fills gap 10. The passage discusses the United Nations Security Council and how decisions are made within it.

The correct word is vote. In the UN Security Council, each member state has one vote. This is stated in Article 27 of the UN Charter: decisions on procedural matters are made by an affirmative vote of nine members, and decisions on substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine members including the concurring votes of the five permanent members (the veto power). "Vote" is the precise legal and procedural term for how member states express their position on resolutions.

The other options are less precise:

• "Assent" means agreement or approval, but it is not the standard procedural term used in UN decision-making.
• "Consent" means permission or agreement, but UN decisions are determined by votes, not by consent of individual members.
• "Voice" can mean the right to express an opinion, but the formal mechanism of decision-making in the Security Council is specifically through voting.

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The underlined letters in shadow are sh, which produce the voiceless postalveolar fricative /ʃ/. This is the "shushing" sound heard in words like "ship," "shoe," and "shout."

Now consider each option:

• sure - the "s" in "sure" is pronounced /ʃ/, exactly the same sound as "sh" in "shadow."
• match - the "tch" produces /tʃ/ (an affricate), which combines a stop with a fricative and is a different sound from /ʃ/.
• chemistry - the "ch" is pronounced /k/, not /ʃ/.
• scheme - the "sch" is pronounced /sk/, not /ʃ/.

The correct answer is sure, because the "s" in "sure" produces the same /ʃ/ sound as "sh" in "shadow."

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The Canoe dance is a dance of the Badagry people. The performance reminds him of his time at the Heritage Museum in Badagry and he his reminded of the brutal treatment of slaves by the white men. This makes him emotional. This can be found on page 55-56 of the novel. 

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The Managing Director (MD) of Stardom Schools discovers that the land the school acquired two years earlier is being used as a car park by teachers and staff. When the MD inspects the land near the back gate, she finds approximately seventeen vehicles of various types parked there, many bearing Stardom Schools stickers, indicating they belong to staff members.

This discovery is significant because the land was acquired for the school's development purposes, not as a private parking lot for employees. The MD is surprised both by the unauthorised use of school property and by the fact that so many staff members own cars. This leads her to investigate how the staff are able to afford vehicles, which in turn uncovers the scale of the school's cooperative society and its lending activities.

The land was not being used for illegal activities, it had not been sold without the MD's knowledge, and it was not being developed into a new building. The straightforward reality was that staff had quietly converted it into their personal car park.

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The school's Invention Club was working on a phone-making initiative. This can be found on page 43 of the novel. 

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This question tests the student's recall of which Nigerian festivals the students attended during their excursions in the novel.

According to the novel, the students attended the Calabar Carnival, the Osun Oshogbo Festival, and the Argungu Festival. These three festivals are among the most prominent cultural celebrations in Nigeria: the Calabar Carnival is a major annual event in Cross River State, the Osun Oshogbo Festival is a UNESCO-recognised cultural celebration in Osun State, and the Argungu Festival is a famous fishing and cultural festival in Kebbi State.

The Abuja Carnival is not mentioned among the festivals the students attended. The correct combination is therefore the first three festivals only (Calabar Carnival, Osun Oshogbo Festival, and Argungu Festival), not all four.

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This question asks about Bepo's motivation for considering the establishment of a school in The Lekki Headmaster by Kabir Alabi Garba.

Bepo considered establishing a school because of his passion for education. Throughout the novel, Bepo is portrayed as someone who genuinely believes in the transformative power of education. His decision to start Stardom School was not driven by financial calculation, peer pressure, or family tradition, but by a deep personal conviction that education can change lives. This passion is a defining trait of his character and shapes many of the novel's central conflicts.

The other options do not accurately represent Bepo's motivation:

• "He considers it lucrative" suggests a profit motive, but the novel shows that Bepo's primary drive was idealistic rather than commercial. He faced many financial hardships precisely because education, not profit, was his priority.
• "His friends advised him to" implies external influence rather than internal motivation. Bepo's decision came from within.
• "His father was a headmaster" would suggest inherited profession, but the novel does not present family tradition as Bepo's reason for starting a school.

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The word hospitality has five syllables: hos-pi-TA-li-ty. The primary stress falls on the third syllable: /ˌhɒspɪˈtælɪti/.

This follows the common English stress rule for words ending in "-ity." The suffix "-ity" pulls the primary stress to the syllable immediately before it. Since the syllable before "-ity" is "-li-" (which is weak), the stress lands on "-TA-," the antepenultimate (third-from-last) syllable. Compare similar words: "electricity" (e-lec-TRI-ci-ty), "personality" (per-so-NA-li-ty).

Stressing the first syllable (HOSpitality), the second (hosPItality), or the fourth (hospitaLIty) would produce incorrect pronunciations.

The correct stress pattern is hospiTAlity.

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In The Lekki Headmaster, the Black Heritage Museum in Badagry serves as a point of deep psychological conflict for Bepo. The museum preserves the history of the transatlantic slave trade, including the holding cells, chains, and departure points where enslaved Africans were forcibly taken from the continent.

When Bepo visits this museum during the school excursion, he is forced to confront the painful legacy of slavery. This experience takes on a personal dimension because Bepo himself is at a crossroads: he is considering migrating abroad to seek better opportunities. The museum forces him to grapple with the uncomfortable parallel between the historical forced removal of Africans and the modern voluntary exodus of skilled professionals from the country. The visit stirs up guilt, confusion, and deep reflection about whether choosing to leave Nigeria is, in some way, a repetition of the same tragic pattern of departure that the museum documents.

The other settings listed do not generate this level of psychological turmoil. Bepo's home in Ikeja, the school assembly hall, and the Vice Principal's office are familiar, everyday environments. It is the confrontation with historical trauma at the Black Heritage Museum that triggers a genuinely unsettling internal conflict about identity, duty, and the meaning of migration.

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The word "boot" contains the vowel sound /uː/, a long close back rounded vowel. This is the same prolonged "oo" sound heard in words like moon, tool, and food.

Examining each option:

• cold contains the diphthong /əʊ/ (as in "go"), which is entirely different from /uː/.
• food contains /uː/, the same long vowel as in "boot". Both words share the identical vowel quality and length.
• top contains the short vowel /ɒ/ (as in "hot"), a short open back vowel - not a match.
• book contains /ʊ/, a short close back vowel. Although "oo" appears in the spelling, the sound in "book" is shorter and more lax than the /uː/ in "boot".

The correct answer is food, because its vowel sound /uː/ is identical to that in "boot".

Exam tip: Do not rely on spelling to match vowel sounds. "Book" and "boot" share the same vowel letters but have different pronunciations. Always sound the words out to compare the actual vowel quality.

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Bepo jovially told his students that his big eyes will always catch whoever was cheating. He claimed he was "created to be a principal" and would tell students, "If you beat my height, you can't beat my eyes" during exams. This can be found on page 19 of the novel.