English Language Past Questions

Study and practice English Language past questions with answers and detailed explanations. Then test your knowledge using our interactive CBT practice platform and prepare confidently for your upcoming examinations.

229 questions JAMB 4668 WAEC 4078 NECO 271 CUSTOM 10
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Past Questions

229 questions
Question 1 of 20 229 total questions
Question 61
waec 2001

The pastor addressed his..............in a sonorous voice.

Instructions for this question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
 

Aaudience
Bmasses
Cspectators
Dcongregation
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Question 62
waec 2001

I was advised to open a..........account with the bank if I wanted to pay in cheques.

Instructions for this question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
 

Asavings
Bdeposit
Cloans
Dcurrent
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Question 63
waec 2001

The doctor's .................was that the patient was suffering from cancer.

Instructions for this question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
 

Aprediction
Bverdict
Cdiagnosis
Danalysis
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Question 64
waec 2001

The accused stated ..........that he was innocent of the crime.

Instructions for this question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
 

Aunequivocally
Bfeebly
Cashamedly
Dexcitedly
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Question 65
waec 2001

The ...........programme against childhood diseases has ended.

Instructions for this question

From the words or group of words lettered A to D, choose the word or group of words that best completes each of the following sentences.
 

Ainjection
Bvaccination
Cimmunization
Dharmonization
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Question 66
waec 2001

The manager who was sacked last month has been .............

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Aretired
Bsuspended
Creinstated
Dpromoted
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Question 67
waec 2001

The school authorities expected the contributions to be ..............rather than compulsory.

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Awilful
Bvoluntary
Cdeliberate
Doutright
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Question 68
waec 2001

You should be ......so as not to be caught unawares.

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Aserious
Bsober
Cready
Dalert
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Question 69
waec 2001

Okon's business is flourishing while his father's is...........

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Adeclining
Bprogressing
Cwithering
Dvanishing
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Question 70
waec 2001

He was promoted for his efficiency while his colleague was demoted for..........

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Aability
Blateness
Cincompetence
Dcapability
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Question 71
waec 2001

We were asked to reach a compromise and not start another.............

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Aaccusation
Bconcession
Ccontroversy
Dissue
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Question 72
waec 2001

People enjoy stories with ........settings rather than those with far-fetched backgrounds.

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Apractical
Brealistic
Cartificial
Dundefined
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Question 73
waec 2001

Taiwo's flamboyance and Kehinde's.....often keep people wondering if they are really twins.

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Amodesty
Barrogance
Ctimidity
Dpretention
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Question 74
waec 2001

Musa is very frugal whereas his friend Audu is ........

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Amiserly
Bthrifty
Cprecocious
Dextravagant
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Question 75
waec 2001

The leader of the delegation was commended for the manner in which he handled the matter, while their hosts were.........

Instructions for this question

In each of the following sentences, there is one word underlined and one gap. From the list of words lettered A - D, choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentences.

Aapplauded
Bpraised
Ccriticized
Dsanctioned
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Question 76
jamb 2001

Members of a language community control at least two dialects because

Read the passage below

The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of a foreign language. With time, however, those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise, they could seriously impair intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallised in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardised.

 

Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua franca amongst them.

 

Athere is little demand for the indigenous dialects
Bthe convergence of people from disparate regions results in the pressure of communication
Cthey want a lingua franca which is produced by mutual intelligibility
Dthey are made up of both rural and urban dwellers
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Question 77
jamb 2001

An appropriate title for this passage is

Read the passage below

The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of a foreign language. With time, however, those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise, they could seriously impair intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallised in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardised.

 

Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua franca amongst them.

 

Athe quest for a lingua franca
Bthe emergence of a standard language
Cthe phenomenon of accent
Dmembers of a language community
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Question 78
jamb 2001

According to the passage

Read the passage below

The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of a foreign language. With time, however, those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise, they could seriously impair intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallised in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardised.

 

Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua franca amongst them.

 

Aa lingua franca is the consequence of a standard dialect
Ba foreign language produces the transference of the correct patterns of dialect features
Cmutual intelligibility is the consequence of the pressure of communication
Dspeech organs are shaped by indigenous languages
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Question 79
jamb 2001

Phonetic patterns allow for intelligibility tolerance because

Read the passage below

The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of a foreign language. With time, however, those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise, they could seriously impair intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallised in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardised.

 

Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua franca amongst them.

 

Athey are involved and difficult to avoid
Bthey involve muscular patterns which later crystalize
Cthey give rise to the phenomenon of accent which is easy to tolerate
Dtransference is both difficult to avoid and easy to tolerate
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 80
jamb 2001

The word 'those' as used in the passage refers to

Read the passage below

The emergence of a standard dialect produces the phenomenon known as ‘accent’ which is quite different from dialect. In the process of learning a foreign language, it is normal to transfer the patterns of an indigenous language to those of a foreign language. With time, however, those of form and most of orthography and phonology gradually get eliminated. This is because these can easily be identified and corrected. They are easy to correct because they do not involve patterns of muscular movement. It is necessary to correct them because otherwise, they could seriously impair intelligibility.

With phonetic patterns, on the other hand, there is a great deal of intelligibility tolerance because muscular patterns are involved thus making correction difficult when observed. Besides, phonetic patterns do not impair intelligibility much. Hence the transference of phonetic habits from one language to another is both easier to tolerate and more difficult to avoid than transference at the lexico-grammatical level. It follows that a speaker who is learning a second dialect does so with an accent since the muscles of his speech organs would have crystallised in response to the phonetics of his native language which he learnt first. The speaker therefore speaks the second dialect with the phonetic features of his native dialect. The learning of a standard language is simply the learning of a second dialect- that which has been standardised.

 

Members of a language community control at least two dialects and use both dialects in different situations. In the rural areas, the native dialect is used in most situations since there is less movement. Therefore, rural dwellers tend to be parochial and maintain the homogeneity of their dialect. In the urban community, on the other hand, there is more demand on the standard dialect than on the rural one. This is because people from different regions converge here. In order to ensure mutual intelligibility resulting from the pressure of communication, a great deal of demand is made on the standard dialect which now becomes the lingua franca amongst them.

 

Aforms of orthography and phonology
Bpatterns of an indigenous language
Cforeign languages
Dindigenous languages
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