Question 18
ComprehensionJAMB 1994 Passage IV: Children and their mothers (cloze)
Two thirds of children in ________ (16) societies no longer have family life. They are virtually abandoned to child-minders from a very tender age. The ________ (17) from their mothers brings suffering and makes it impossible for them to achieve a healthy social life. The ________ (18) in the number of suicides, the rates of drug addiction and ________ (19) among young people may be to a large extent, due to these premature separations which take place before sufficient time has ________ (20) for attachment to develop. 'This is one of the causes of psychosis in children today' says a psychiatrist who believes that breast-feeding is one of the basic cares which many children of this age are ________ (21). This psychiatrist argues that breast-feeding extends into the world outside the womb, a liquid bond with the inside of the mother's body; a bond ________ (22) that which the baby had with the placenta inside the uterus. Rhythmic rocking to and fro is ________ (23) of the movement that the child experienced before it was born. As for the baby's ________ (24) its mother's body, it reminds the child of the ________ (25) pressure of the uterus, and enables it to ________ (26) the rhythms of its mother's breathing and heartbeat.
Passage IV, gap 18: The ________ (18) in the number of suicides, the rates of drug addiction and ...... among young people may be to a large extent, due to these premature separations
- A.development
- B.increase
- C.appreciation
- D.inflation
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: B (increase)
Explanation
The writer is blaming separation for a rise in suicides, so 'increase in the number' is the natural phrase.