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JAMB Use of English 2015 past questions and answers

23 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.

Question 1

Comprehension
JAMB 2015 Passage I: Mr. Anokye's school
The passage, as printed

Mr. Anokye would shout 'Eureka!'

  1. A.after he had drank methylated spirit
  2. B.to show that he knew Archimedes' principle
  3. C.whenever he caught a boy cheating during examination
  4. D.in order to frighten the boys.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C (whenever he caught a boy cheating during examination)

Explanation

The passage says that when he shouted 'Eureka! Eureka!' during terminal examinations, he had caught someone cheating.

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Question 3

Comprehension

Which of the following statements about Mr. Anokye is false?

  1. A.He supported the teaching of science
  2. B.He abstained from drinking alcohol
  3. C.He never condoned cheating during examinations
  4. D.His parents were educated Christians.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B (He abstained from drinking alcohol)

Explanation

Mr. Anokye's voice 'squeaked with akpeteshie' (a local gin) and he drank methylated spirit, so the claim that he abstained from alcohol is false.

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Question 5

Comprehension

We know that St. Alban's College was in the pioneering state because

  1. A.It did not even have a playing field
  2. B.only pupils of poor homes were admitted into it
  3. C.All students were day boys
  4. D.Mr. Anokye owned it.
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A (It did not even have a playing field)

Explanation

The school only hoped to 'one day get its own playing field' and held classes in a converted house, which shows it was still just starting out.

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Question 6

Comprehension
JAMB 2015 Passage II: The safe at the post office
It was on a Sunday afternoon that I saw the lorry standing in front of the post office. I had seen it long before my brother saw it, but it was he who said to me, “Don't you think it odd that the post office should be open this afternoon? What do you think is happening? 'Come round the corner, out of sight, and let's watch', I answered. My brother Michael was younger than me, so I kept him behind me, and peering round the corner told him what I saw. 'There are four men coming out, carrying a very heavy iron box' 'Oh!' I exclaimed. 'It's a safe, 'I think they're burglars, said my brother, who was full of suspicion. 'One of them has fallen over' I said: 'the safe is too heavy for them'. 'You go and fetch the police, said my brother, 'and I'll stay here and watch: 'No you go and get them', I replied, because I wanted to see what was going to happen. My brother ran off and then, suddenly a man came running out of the post office. shouting 'Hurry, hurry! Get on the lorry! He joined the first four and they managed to get the safe up on to the back of the lorry. When they had done this, the man who shouted got into the driver's seat, but the lorry would not start. Just then my brother came back with three policemen. To cut a long story short, the men were all arrested and my brother and I had to go and give evidence before a magistrate. The men went to prison, of course, in the end, but you should have seen the face of the leader — it was contorted with rage — when he learned that the safe they had managed to steal was empty, and all the money was in the bank

The brothers decided to call the police because

  1. A.they thought they were burglars
  2. B.policemen are required on such occasions
  3. C.calling the policemen was the only thing they could have done
  4. D.they were cowardly
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A (they thought they were burglars)

Explanation

Michael says 'I think they're burglars' and then tells his brother to fetch the police.

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Question 7

Comprehension

The leader of the robbers was angry because

  1. A.his gang was arrested
  2. B.the safe was empty
  3. C.they were all going to prison
  4. D.spending their loot would be impossible
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: B (the safe was empty)

Explanation

The leader's face was 'contorted with rage' when he learned that the safe they had stolen was empty.

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Question 8

Comprehension

The brothers thought it was odd for the post office to be open because

  1. A.nobody works on Sundays
  2. B.people should be in church
  3. C.post offices should open only five days in the week
  4. D.they were ignorant
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A (nobody works on Sundays)

Explanation

It was a Sunday afternoon, a day when the post office is normally closed because people do not work.

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Question 9

Comprehension

The robbers could not escape because

  1. A.the safe was too heavy
  2. B.they were sinners who deserved punishment
  3. C.the engine of their lorry failed
  4. D.they were not smart enough
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C (the engine of their lorry failed)

Explanation

After loading the safe, the driver got in 'but the lorry would not start', so the police arrived in time.

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Question 10

Comprehension

The narrator kept his younger brother behind him because

  1. A.big brothers must protect their younger ones
  2. B.he wanted to relay all that was happening to him
  3. C.he was very brave
  4. D.younger brothers are not easily frightened
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A (big brothers must protect their younger ones)

Explanation

The narrator says Michael 'was younger than me, so I kept him behind me': he was shielding his little brother.

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Question 11

Synonyms

Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word or words: Mary is jealous of her sisters success

  1. A.suspicious
  2. B.envious
  3. C.careful
  4. D.mindful
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Answer: B (envious)

Explanation

To be jealous of someone's success is to be envious of it.

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Question 15

Synonyms

Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word or words: For a priest to be successful, he should from time to time review his actions

  1. A.inspect
  2. B.examine
  3. C.stare at
  4. D.visualize
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Answer: B (examine)

Explanation

To review one's actions is to examine them again carefully.

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Question 18

Synonyms

Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word or words: The woman acted courageously when she was attacked by thieves

  1. A.slowly
  2. B.fearlessly
  3. C.timidly
  4. D.carelessly
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Answer: B (fearlessly)

Explanation

To act courageously is to act bravely, without fear.

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Question 27

Antonyms

Choose the option opposite in meaning to the underlined word(s): Such measures end up exacebrating the pain

  1. A.aggravating
  2. B.increasing
  3. C.eliminating
  4. D.alleviating
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D (alleviating)

Explanation

To exacerbate pain is to make it worse; to alleviate pain is to make it less severe.

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Question 41

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: Before any detailed analysis begins, the first thing to do with the raw data is to check through the field record books and questionnaires for any ________ (41), inconsistences and incompetence,

  1. A.records
  2. B.events
  3. C.odds
  4. D.mistakes
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D (mistakes)

Explanation

Checking raw data is done to find errors, so 'mistakes' fits alongside 'inconsistences'.

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Question 42

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: When it is not possible to carry out these. ________ (42).

  1. A.Plans
  2. B.Possibilities
  3. C.Corrections
  4. D.Expectations
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Answer: C (Corrections)

Explanation

The previous sentence talks about correcting shortcomings, so the thing that sometimes cannot be done is 'corrections'.

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Question 43

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: In most scientific ________ (43) such revisits are clearly impossible.

  1. A.experiments
  2. B.data
  3. C.conclusion
  4. D.questionnaires
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Answer: A (experiments)

Explanation

'Scientific experiments' cannot be revisited exactly once done, which matches 'such revisits are clearly impossible'.

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Question 44

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: A road traffic survey ________ (44) to find out the amount and frequency of daily traffic between two towns

  1. A.conducted
  2. B.experimented
  3. C.classified
  4. D.precoded
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Answer: A (conducted)

Explanation

A survey is 'conducted' (carried out).

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Question 45

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: A road traffic survey conducted to find out the amount and frequency of daily traffic between two towns cannot be expected to be ________ (45).

  1. A.reproducible
  2. B.undertaken
  3. C.observed
  4. D.produced
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Answer: A (reproducible)

Explanation

The point is that the same traffic cannot be counted again, so the survey cannot be repeated with the same result: it is not reproducible.

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Question 46

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: With open-ended questions the ________ (46) have to be classified into relatively small number of groups.

  1. A.methods
  2. B.responses
  3. C.errors
  4. D.conclusions
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Answer: B (responses)

Explanation

Open-ended questions produce varied answers (responses), and these are what get grouped.

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Question 47

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: The process of classifying answers and of sometimes identifying them by number and letter is called. ________ (47).

  1. A.recording
  2. B.recoding
  3. C.encoding
  4. D.coding
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: D (coding)

Explanation

In survey work, sorting answers into groups and giving them numbers or letters is called coding.

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Question 48

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: When closed-ended questions are used, it is possible to code all the possible answers before they are actually received. This is called..... ________ (48).

  1. A.precoding
  2. B.coding
  3. C.encoding
  4. D.recoding
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: A (precoding)

Explanation

Coding done before the answers are received is 'pre-coding'.

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Question 49

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: This whole process of checking through questionaires and notebooks is called ________ (49).

  1. A.editing
  2. B.posting
  3. C.listing
  4. D.auditing.
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Answer: A (editing)

Explanation

Checking through data to find and correct mistakes is called editing.

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Question 50

Cloze Passage

Choose the most appropriate option for the gap: Collected data will eventually have to be used in drawing ________ (50) and writing a report about the population from which it came.

  1. A.reference
  2. B.examples
  3. C.conclusions
  4. D.analogies
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Answer: C (conclusions)

Explanation

Data is analysed to 'draw conclusions', a fixed expression.

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Question 57

Word Stress

Choose the option that has the same stress pattern as the given word: Honour

  1. A.hotel
  2. B.hyena
  3. C.human
  4. D.humane
Show the answer and explanation

Answer: C (human)

Explanation

HO-nour has two syllables stressed on the first, like HU-man; ho-TEL and hu-MANE are stressed on the second, and hy-E-na has three syllables.

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