WAEC SSCE WASSCE 1999 Comprehension passages
COMPREHENSION PASSAGE I
Read the passage below carefully and answer the questions on it.
One would they expect a teacher to command respect from the children of his small town. But when this teacher walked the aisles of our local supermarket, even the mothers stopped their idling and tended their business. If the truth were known, our mothers probably had felt the whack of Mrs. Frost paddle on many occasions.
If it's possible for one woman to mould the character of a whole town, then surely, Mrs. Frost did. No one left his standard six class sketchy on mathematics or sentence construction. Likewise, she left no question on our minds as to the meaning of honesty, charity, or other virtues we were inclined to misinterpret. And if we didn't get the message from Monday to Friday, she also taught our Sunday school class.
My day of reckoning came early in the year. We sat for a class test period. she took her seat behind the desk. While we seated, she immersed herself in a poetry, grinning while she read.
I was only halfway down the first page and running low on steam when my friend Elizabeth shoved a piece of paper into my hands. A quick glance at the desk confirmed that the transaction had gone unnoticed. Carefully, I unfolded the paper.
My eyes read the scrawling and my blood ran cold. The secret note contained answers to the test. My heart throbbing in my fingertips, I began writing my test. Elizabeth and I were the first to finish and sat quietly until the bell rang.
The longest weekend in life followed. On Friday night I woke up with the ultimate nightmare. I couldn't sleep period I saw her face in all my dolls. I decided at the safest choice of a sinner was to stay awake. Not wanting to be miserable alone, I crept out of the window clearly stop his house where I found her in much the same condition.
Things got steadily worse. On Saturday morning Mrs. frost phoned to ask me to help with her Sunday school lesson. The next day, Elizabeth received an assignment for Mrs. frost to read a scripture lesson on honesty for the Sunday school class. Thus, our plans to ditch Sunday school were thwarted so there we sat, face-to-face with our would-be accuser.
Everybody cheered when the bell rang on Monday afternoon, signaling freedom, but the sound held dread for the two of us. The room cleared and we were alone Cologne Mrs frost and the sinners, Elizabeth and I. “we cheated on the test”, I blurted out, “we felt very bad, we are so sorry, we will never do anything like that again for the rest of our lives, that is if we are allowed to live the rest of...” Elizabeth stepped on my foot. “Please forgive us!” she said.
Mrs. frost was slow to answer. Finally, she said; “I'm glad you came to me come on girls. That took courage and shows a great deal of integrity. But you have made a sad mistake and must suffer the consequences.”
Questions
a) For each of the following word underlined in the passage, give another word or phrase that means the same and which can replace it in the passage:
(i) mould
(ii) immersed
(iii) steadily
(iv) thwarted
(v) dread
b) Give two reasons why Mrs. frost command respecting the whole town.
c) (i) How did the two friends feel after the offence?
(iii) Give two reasons for your answer.
d) Mention in your own words, two events that worsened their plight during the weekend.
e) …a sad mistake.
(i) What is the grammatical name given to this construction?
(ii) What is its function?
f) My heart throbbing in my fingertips
What figure of speech is illustrated by the above expression?
COMPREHENSION PASSAGE II
Read the passage below carefully and answer the questions on it.
“Eat your fish” my mother would say, “It’s brainfood.” She was not of course a nutritionist. She was merely citing an item of food folklore that has been around for ages.
Some researchers have measured the reaction of the brain to different foods. That food affects the mind in powerful and surprising ways. What you put in your mouth can change your mood, alertness, memory, and clarity of thought. What scientists have learned about it can be of great value to us.
First start, the first thing in the morning several people feast on carbohydrates such as rolls, bread and sweetened cereals. These sugars and starches increase the presence in the brain of the soothing neurotransmitter serotonin. As a result, we might not reach our normal morning energy peak. Bacon and egg contain high fat, which is slow to digest, diverting blood from the brain and thereby reducing mental sharpness.
Scientists believe, therefore that a good breakfast should feature food low in fat. This means choosing lean meat instead of egg or fried sausage and fresh fruit juice instead of sugary foods.
What about caffeine? After one or two cups of coffee or tea at breakfast, you be more alert, have better reaction type, and score better on some performance tests. After three or so cups of coffee, however caffeine overstimulation can begin to make you less sharp and clearheaded. most people recognize the dangers of the beer-filled lunch and its ability to dull the mind. But few were aware of the effect of a carbohydrate lunch. One researcher found out that such a meal makes women sleepy and men calmer and lethargic. In addition, both men and women are less able to keep their mind focused on work for up to four hours.
So, dieticians recommend a high protein meal. Protein rich meal of fish or poultry, for example, charge your bloodstream with amino acid some of which convert into alertness chemicals. Another chemical found in fish, meat and soya products plays a major role in memory.
Unless unless you need stimulation and energy to work or study through the night, avoid proteins such as meat and fish at supper instead choose carbohydrates.
Question
a) For each of the following words underlined in the passage, give another word or phrase that means the same and which can replace it in the passage:
(i) measured
(ii) peak
(iii) sharp
(iv) lethargic
(v) convert
b) State in your own words the two effects of eating a breakfast of carbohydrates and high fat.
c) What is the writer’s view about the use of caffeine?
d) Why does the writer recommend that high protein foods be avoided sometimes?
e) Why does the writer recommend the eating of carbohydrates?
f) According to the passage was how food folklore and scientific finding established?
g) What you put in your mouth...
(i) What is the grammatical name for this construction?
(ii) What is its grammatical function in the passage?
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