Question 13
ComprehensionJAMB 1989 Passage III: Osun, the snake and the plant
His eyes widened as they fell upon something strange. Something was moving slowly and cautiously along the gutter. The pale yellow and brown of the snake's body glistened like a stream of flowing metal. By what mistake had the creature strayed into this unlikely place? Impossible to say. Yet there it was; and its slow movements betrayed uneasiness and confusion.
As he watched it, his instinctive antipathy melted away. He could understand so well what the snake was feeling. He entered into its cold, narrow intelligence and shared its angry perplexity. Its movements were cramped, its advance difficult, and it was in constant danger of slipping over the edge. Now and then it lay still in dull reflection, nursing a cold anger that could find no vent.
Meanwhile, the little plant bent downwards by every puff of wind, was beating its thin twigs against the gutter like a birch. The snake seemed not to see the plant. It moved forward until a light touch from the twigs fell upon its head. At this, it stopped and lifted its neck. The little plant was now doing no more than lightly sway and dip. The snake, its head still reared, waited, flickering tongue. One could feel the angry heaving and straining in the sluggish brain — the dull red anger waiting to explode. Then came a strong gust sweeping along the wall, and at once the twigs thrashed down upon the furious head — thrashed down and beat it with a movement that seemed to Osun both comic and dreadful: In a flash, the head reared itself higher, the neck drew back, and there was a lunge at the twigs and the empty air. O fatal act! To strike, the snake had been obliged to coil, and its coiled body could not support itself upon the narrow ledge. No recovery was possible; it overbalanced and fell with a thud upon a small flat roof fifty feet below. There, Osun saw the creature begin to writhe in agony. It could do no more than twist and turn upon the same spot.
Osun was trembling, but beneath his agitation there was a deep, trouble wonder. Here was the little plants now waving with kind of jaunty cynicism. And there was the snake writhing in agony. The world, unquestionably, was a place of mystery and horror. This was revealed in the writhing of the crippled snake and in the jaunty waving of the innocent plant in the wind.
As he watched it, his instinctive antipathy melted away. He could understand so well what the snake was feeling. He entered into its cold, narrow intelligence and shared its angry perplexity. Its movements were cramped, its advance difficult, and it was in constant danger of slipping over the edge. Now and then it lay still in dull reflection, nursing a cold anger that could find no vent.
Meanwhile, the little plant bent downwards by every puff of wind, was beating its thin twigs against the gutter like a birch. The snake seemed not to see the plant. It moved forward until a light touch from the twigs fell upon its head. At this, it stopped and lifted its neck. The little plant was now doing no more than lightly sway and dip. The snake, its head still reared, waited, flickering tongue. One could feel the angry heaving and straining in the sluggish brain — the dull red anger waiting to explode. Then came a strong gust sweeping along the wall, and at once the twigs thrashed down upon the furious head — thrashed down and beat it with a movement that seemed to Osun both comic and dreadful: In a flash, the head reared itself higher, the neck drew back, and there was a lunge at the twigs and the empty air. O fatal act! To strike, the snake had been obliged to coil, and its coiled body could not support itself upon the narrow ledge. No recovery was possible; it overbalanced and fell with a thud upon a small flat roof fifty feet below. There, Osun saw the creature begin to writhe in agony. It could do no more than twist and turn upon the same spot.
Osun was trembling, but beneath his agitation there was a deep, trouble wonder. Here was the little plants now waving with kind of jaunty cynicism. And there was the snake writhing in agony. The world, unquestionably, was a place of mystery and horror. This was revealed in the writhing of the crippled snake and in the jaunty waving of the innocent plant in the wind.
The act of the snake was described as 'fatal' because the snake's attack was going to
- A.be fatal to the plant
- B.make the coiled body not to support itself upon the narrow ledge
- C.result in the crippling of the snake
- D.result in no possible recovery
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: D (result in no possible recovery)
Explanation
Once the snake coiled to strike, it lost its balance and fell; 'No recovery was possible', which is why the act was fatal.