Question 10
ComprehensionJAMB 1993 Passage II: The women of NAM
ADUKE: Listen, my fellow women. The issue has little to do with being literate or not. It is true that most members of NAM (New Awareness Movement) are literate, but this does not make all of us enlightened. We must be able to draw a line between the two. You may be literate and yet possess a consciousness that is decadent and servile. On the other hand, you may not have received any formal education and yet may be the greatest exponent of progressive ideas.
HASANA: I agree with what our sister has said. Let us not allow ourselves to be divided by a greedy and an inflated notion of the certificates we possess. In this century, as we march towards the year 2000, our primary concern should be how best to improve the lot of womanhood in our society. Let us not forget that for each woman who is beaten up by her man for flimsy reasons the status of all of us here is downgraded. For each woman who is insulted for no other reason than that of her sex, every one of us here is spat on in the face. For each woman who is denied opportunities in the society simply because she is a woman, the whole lot of us here are dehumanized. Each widow in this society is an Everywoman, and the lot of each of us should be viewed as collective. Each rotten egg that is thrown at any one of us is an eternal splash of dirt on our faces. Each decayed tomato that is cast at her is a collective curse on our fecundity: each pebble thrown at her, a missile against our very womanhood. This is an age of awareness, and it is the duty of NAM to collectively rise in defence of the rights of women.
IME: We can no longer allow ourselves to be fried alive. We are going to squeeze ourselves into tight-fitting trousers, register into judo classes, and then file out into the street and punch the face of every man we behold.
HASANA: I agree with what our sister has said. Let us not allow ourselves to be divided by a greedy and an inflated notion of the certificates we possess. In this century, as we march towards the year 2000, our primary concern should be how best to improve the lot of womanhood in our society. Let us not forget that for each woman who is beaten up by her man for flimsy reasons the status of all of us here is downgraded. For each woman who is insulted for no other reason than that of her sex, every one of us here is spat on in the face. For each woman who is denied opportunities in the society simply because she is a woman, the whole lot of us here are dehumanized. Each widow in this society is an Everywoman, and the lot of each of us should be viewed as collective. Each rotten egg that is thrown at any one of us is an eternal splash of dirt on our faces. Each decayed tomato that is cast at her is a collective curse on our fecundity: each pebble thrown at her, a missile against our very womanhood. This is an age of awareness, and it is the duty of NAM to collectively rise in defence of the rights of women.
IME: We can no longer allow ourselves to be fried alive. We are going to squeeze ourselves into tight-fitting trousers, register into judo classes, and then file out into the street and punch the face of every man we behold.
From the speech by Ime, it is clear that the women
- A.intend to do a real battle with the menfolk in defence of their rights
- B.will no longer perform their traditional duties
- C.are henceforth prepared to adopt a policy of confrontation with the men
- D.can do anything that a man can do and sometimes even better
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: C (are henceforth prepared to adopt a policy of confrontation with the men)
Explanation
Ime talks of judo classes and punching every man they see, which shows they are now ready to confront men rather than accept their treatment.