1998 WAEC English Comprehension and Summary

COMPREHENSION

Note Before: The comprehension section examines your grasp of communication in English Language using elements such as figures of speech, clauses, synonyms, amongst others. These three areas are always used so if you are able to master them, you will pass the WAEC English Language examination.

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

The most memorable experience of my life was an incident that occurred some thirty years ago when I was in the fourth form in the secondary school. In those days, the speech-making and prize-giving day was always a great event. It was always a day when the results of the promotion examinations were announced to the students after weeks of suspense. The afternoon commenced with all the students taking their seats in the large hall, and the members of staff, led by the principal, filing in. There were also three guests, each of them an important figure in the town. The principal and the dignitaries made speeches admonishing the students to work hard in order to attain their goal. Then the prize-giving commenced.

Soon, it was the turn of my class. For the overall best student, my name was called. This was not unexpected, the position having become almost identified with me. Amidst the clapping, I stood up and moved towards the principal whose outstretched hand held a fat book. I was already before him when he peered through his heavy spectacles, surveyed my figure and held back the book. There was a sudden silence. Students were amazed at this turn of events. Then he explained, “You’ll have your prize when you pay your outstanding fees.”

I stood there almost petrified. Had I been warned of this disgrace, I would simply not have stood up let alone bothering to go forward. There I was, the sorry focus of attention. I wished my legs would refuse their function but they did no such thing. On the other hand they refused to beat a retreat, at least, for those burning seconds. Then suddenly, spontaneously, the students started clapping and hailing me. Thus my return journey was more loudly cheered than the outward journey.

For the prize in English, my name was also called. Of course I sat still but the students hailed on. The prize was kept. For Mathematics, it was the same drama. Somehow the students’ behaviour saved the day for me.

Poorly clothed, in torn tennis shoes and being a debtor, I was the talk of the school. The little fee I had paid that year was earned through doing menial jobs at weekends, supplemented with donations from some school mates. Father’s financial difficulties had been aggravated by a protracted court case. He had not alternative but to ask me to withdraw from school and look for a job. This I had refused to do.

I had borne the cost gallantly until that day when the principal’s action threatened to kill whatever courage remained in me. I ordered the tears to gush out to flood my sad face, but the ovations forced the spring to remain dry. I had the loudest ovation that day; the students’ response to my plight was my own prize.

Questions and Answers

(a) Why were the students usually in suspense before the prize giving day?

Ans: The students were always in suspense before the prize-giving day because the results of the promotional examination will be announced to them on that day.

(b) Why was the announcement of the writer’s name as the winner of the best student prize not a surprise?

Ans: The announcement of the writer’s name as the winner of the best student was not a surprise because the position had become identified with him.

(c) What two proofs are there in the passage to show that the writer was liked by his school mates?

(i) The students cheered and clapped for him when the principal refused to give him the prize until he paid the outstanding fees.

(ii) Some students donated money towards paying his school fees.

(d) Why was his father unable to pay his school fees?

Ans: His father was unable to pay his school fees because of financial difficulties and a protracted court case.

(e) “whose outstretched hand held a fat book” What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage?

Ans: The grammatical name is relative clause

What is its function in the sentence?

Ans: The function is to qualify the noun principal.

(f) “I had borne the cost gallantly…” What figure of speech is this expression?

Ans: Metaphor

What does it mean as it is used in the passage?

Ans: It means that he had bravely undertaken the payment of his school fees

(g) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage.

(i) memorable – unforgettable

(ii) figure – character

(iii) amazed – astonished

(iv) menial – lowly

(v) protracted – long-drawn-out

(vi) plight – predicament

SUMMARY

NOTE BEFORE: The summary section checks your ability to identify the point of view or subject matter of a piece of writing. It is fairly easy to do when you know how to go about it.

When you read a question attached to a summary passage, go back to the body of the summary and check to see where any word in the question appears in the passage. From there, you can trace the answer to that particular question.

Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions on it.

We have often heard students making wild assertions that the public examining bodies are their worst enemies. Some, in fact, see the officials of these examining bodies as wicked souls scheming day and night to devise ways of failing them. How correct are these assertions? The facts will speak for themselves.

The task of setting an examination paper begins long before the examination day. Indeed, months or years before then, seasoned experts in the various subjects are given the teaching and examination syllabuses and requested to set questions. These are compiled for subsequent scrutiny. Then a second set of experts is invited to examine the questions critically, make necessary modifications and come up with questions that conform with acceptable standards. The result of this exercise is a set of polished and unambiguous questions that are very fair to those being examined. These questions are then securely stored.

The next stage is the registration of candidates. This stage involves not just the examining body but also the candidates, their parents, their teachers, principals and some other members of the public. This is so because apart from the candidate having to fill in the forms, his principal has to endorse them while the parents have to provide the registration fee. Any mistake or inaction on the part of any of these may ruin the candidate’s chances. If, for instance, the candidate makes a mistake in his choice of subjects or in completing his forms, or if the principal does not forward the registration fee at the right time, his chances in the examination may be jeopardized.

Next is the conduct of the examination itself. Again, more officials from outside the examining body than from within it are involved. Think of the supervisors, the invigilators, and even the security officials. They are definitely more in number than the staff of the examining body, and any one of them could take an action that might result in the failure of candidates. Take the invigilator for instance, if he is negligent candidates could swap answer scripts under his very nose, and when this is detected by the markers, as it often is, the results of the candidates may be cancelled.

Probably, the most hated person to the candidates is the marker whom they, in their ignorance, regard as a wicked drunkard who delights in failing candidates. What candidates do not realize is that an examiner is trained to score points strictly according to a carefully prepared marking scheme from which he must not deviate, it is his constitution. Besides, his work is consistently checked by his team leader and the chief examiner. Should he be discovered to have marked inaccurately, he could be removed. So, contrary to candidates’ opinion, the examiner is a seasoned teacher, a careful scorer, a person always on his guard.

The final stage comes with the collation of results. This stage is mainly computerized and computers do not make mistakes. A candidate’s results may not be processed if he is involved in a malpractice, has used a wrong examination number or no number at all, or if he fails to write all the papers that make up a subject. So, when a result is withheld, the fault is mostly that of the candidate.

How then should we view the activities of the public examining bodies? Definitely, we should view them with understanding, sympathy and appreciation.

Questions

(a) In one sentence, summarize the writer’s purpose in this passage.

Ans: The writer’s purpose in this passage is to explain the activities of public examination bodies with a view to changing the negative perception of it held by examination candidates.

(b) In two sentences, one for each, state how the actions of the candidate and the invigilator can jeopardize the candidate’s chances of success.

Ans: (i) A candidate’s chances of success can be jeopardized if the candidate makes a mistake in the choice of subjects or completing the form, or if he participates in exam malpractice.

(ii) The invigilator can ruin a candidates chances if he is not paying attention during the exam thereby allowing students to cheat which would cause the results of the candidates to be cancelled.

(c) In three sentences, one for each, summarize the steps taken by examining bodies to ensure that candidates are given a fair chance of success.

(i) Officials outside the examining body are used.

(ii) The marker is a seasoned teacher who is given a marking scheme from which he cannot deviate and is supervised by a chief examiner.

(iii) The collation of results is done with computers and computers cannot make mistakes.