Mock Test Use of English

1. Theatre in the recent past used to be a very popular art in traditional African society. It used to be a point of intersection where members of the community not only come to entertain themselves, 'but join heads together'. In the traditional context of African drama, therefore, theatre was popular and respectable institution which preserved the people's culture and tradition. Theatre was popular with the people because it emphasized community participation, peace and progress. The presentations focused on the people's lives, their aspirations, fears, and hopes. But today, the situation is different. Theatre is becoming very unpopular.

Africa of the present age is pre-occupied with many problems yearning for immediate solutions. The continent is facing hydra-head challenges - challenges on the political, social, and economic scenes. In a world where Science and Technology are seen as the solutions to these problems, little attention is paid to the arts. Literature generally, and drama in particular is often rated very low on the utility-scale. Many Africa today look at drama and theatre as a mere thing of fun, a joke so to say.

Elitism is another barrier that militates against the appreciation of theatre as a communal art. Folk theatre is appreciated by a negligible number of people, contemporary focus is on literary theatre. Unfortunately, literary theatre only pretends to serve the interest of its society while in reality, it has a foreign audience in mind. The use of European and American theatrical conventions by our academic playwrights can bear witness to this anomaly.

The popularity of the literary African theatre is further marred by the medium of communication as most literary dramas in Africa are written in foreign languages which are not understood by many Africans. The question often asked is whether the artist should climb down to the level of his community of stay at his exalted height and wait for the community to gradually move up to him.

Theatre was popular in Africa because__________

2. Use the passage in question 1 to answer this question.

One of the reasons why theatre is unpopular in modern Africa is that it_________

3. Use the passage in question 1 to answer this question.

In the passage, the term "theatre" and "drama" are used _______

4. Use the passage in question 1 to answer this question.

One of the arguments in the passage is that academic playwrights_______

5. Use the passage in question 1 to answer this question.

By the expression "climb down", the author implies that modern playwrights should _______

6. From the novel;

How much did Tomiwa give her roommates?

7. From the novel;

What was Omar's JAMB exam?

8. From the novel;

Who introduced the snail delicacy?

9. May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute blue bottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun. The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectations.

But by early June the southwest moonsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spilt across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways. It was raining when Rahel came
back to Ayemenem.

Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives.In the undergrowth, a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway. The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished.

But the sky blue Plymouth with chrome tail fins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive. She was Rahel's baby grand aunt, her grandfather's younger sister. Her name was really Navomi, Navomi Ipe, but everybody called her Baby. She became Baby Kochamma when she was old enough to be an aunt. Rahel hadn't come to see her, though.
Neither niece nor baby grandaunt laboured under any illusions on that account. Rahel had come to see her brother, Estha. They were two-egg twins. "Dizygotic' doctors called them. Born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs. Estha Esthappen-was the older by 18 minutes.
Early in which month did the southwest monsoon break?

10. May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute blue bottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun. The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectations.

But by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spilt across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways. It was raining when Rahel came back to Ayemenem.

Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives.In the undergrowth, a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway. The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished.

But the sky blue Plymouth with chrome tail fins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive. She was Rahel's baby grand aunt, her grandfather's younger sister. Her name was really Navomi, Navomi Ipe, but everybody called her Baby. She became Baby Kochamma when she was old enough to be an aunt. Rahel hadn't come to see her, though.
Neither niece nor baby grandaunt laboured under any illusions on that account. Rahel had come to see her brother, Estha. They were two-egg twins. "Dizygotic' doctors called them. Born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs. Estha Esthappen-was the older by 18 minutes.
What rubbed itself against a glistening stone?

11. May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute blue bottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun. The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectations.

But by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spilt across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways. It was raining when Rahel came
back to Ayemenem.

Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives.In the undergrowth, a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway. The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished.

But the sky blue Plymouth with chrome tail fins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive. She was Rahel's baby grand aunt, her grandfather's younger sister. Her name was really Navomi, Navomi Ipe, but everybody called her Baby. She became Baby Kochamma when she was old enough to be an aunt. Rahel hadn't come to see her, though.
Neither niece nor baby grandaunt laboured under any illusions on that account. Rahel had come to see her brother, Estha. They were two-egg twins. "Dizygotic' doctors called them. Born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs. Estha Esthappen-was the older by 18 minutes.
Rachel had come to see_______.

12. May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute blue bottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun. The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectations.

But by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spilt across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways. It was raining when Rahel came
back to Ayemenem.

Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives.In the undergrowth, a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway. The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished.

But the sky blue Plymouth with chrome tail fins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive. She was Rahel's baby grand aunt, her grandfather's younger sister. Her name was really Navomi, Navomi Ipe, but everybody called her Baby. She became Baby Kochamma when she was old enough to be an aunt. Rahel hadn't come to see her, though.
Neither niece nor baby grandaunt laboured under any illusions on that account. Rahel had come to see her brother, Estha. They were two-egg twins. "Dizygotic' doctors called them. Born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs. Estha Esthappen-was the older by 18 minutes.
What was Baby's real name?

13. From the novel;

What is the full name of Salma?

14. From the novel;

How old is Bint ?

15. Read the passages below and answer the questions that follow:

Everyone is tired or fatigued at some time. The major cycle in your life is work, fatigue and rest in that order. Fatigue is characteristic of your body. It does not occur in a man-made machine which operates as long as its parts are intact and it has fuel. But your body, a living machine, has a definite limitation - its work continues, it gradually loses its responsiveness, becomes less irritable, turns out less work and finally may not respond at all. The feeling of fatigue usually expresses itself in three ways: first, there is a feeling of tiredness and a marked desire for rest. Second, efficiency is greatly reduced. Third, there may be definite physiological changes in your body, low blood pressure, loss of muscle tone, tremors, and poor muscular coordination, and in other ways. Fatigue, however, may express itself in many ways for there are many different forms of it. The fatigue of a student. for example, who has worked all evening on a difficult lesson, is different from that of a labourer who has worked all day at a back-breaking task, or that of a business executive who worries with the stress and strain of organisation.

It is advisable that one should rest once_____

16. In the following options lettered A to D, all the words except one have the same stress pattern.

Choose the one with the different stress pattern

17. In the following options lettered A to D, all the words except one have the same stress pattern.

Choose the one with the different stress pattern

18. In the following options lettered A to D, all the words except one have the same stress pattern.

Choose the one with the different stress pattern

19. In each of the following questions, the main or primary stress is indicated by writing the syllable on which it occurs in capital letters.

From the words lettered A to D, choose the one that has the correct stress
Calculator

20. In each of the following questions, the main or primary stress is indicated by writing the syllable on which it occurs in capital letters.

From the words lettered A to D, choose the one that has the correct stress

Criticism

21. Choose the option that best completes the gap. Mrs. Okoro __________ in this school since 1975

22. Choose the option that best completes the gap. Wherever the leader went people struggled to catch a __________ of him

23. Choose the option that best completes the gap. The chairman refused to shake __________ with the secretary

24.

25. Choose the option that best completes the gap, hall find time for my _________ when I get _________with this difficult assignment.

26. Choose the word that has a different stress pattern

27. Choose the option that has the same consonant sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined.

Watched

28. I only visited Chidi. This means that

29. From the options lettered A-D, choose the option that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word.

My father is parsimonious

30. Read the passages below and answer the questions that follow:

Everyone is tired or fatigued at some time. The major cycle in your life is work, fatigue and rest in that order. Fatigue is characteristic of your body. It does not occur in a man-made machine which operates as long as its parts are intact and it has fuel. But your body, a living machine, has a definite limitation - its work continues, it gradually loses its responsiveness, becomes less irritable, turns out less work and finally may not respond at all. The feeling of fatigue usually expresses itself in three ways: first, there is a feeling of tiredness and a marked desire for rest. Second, efficiency is greatly reduced. Third, there may be definite physiological changes in your body, low blood pressure, loss of muscle tone, tremors, and poor muscular coordination, and in other ways. Fatigue, however, may express itself in many ways for there are many different forms of it. The fatigue of a student. for example, who has worked all evening on a difficult lesson, is different from that of a labourer who has worked all day at a back-breaking task, or that of a business executive who worries with the stress and strain of organisation.

According to the passage, the worst stage of fatigue is_____

31. The word in capital letters has the emphatic stress. Choose the option to which the given relates.

EMEKA finished his home work yesterday.

32. Choose the most appropriate stress pattern from the options. The stressed syllable are written in capital letters(s).

captivity?

33. Choose the most appropriate stress pattern from the options. The stressed syllable are written in capital letters(s).

satisfactory?

34. Choose the most appropriate stress pattern from the options. The stressed syllable are written in capital letters(s).

political

35. Choose the option that rhymes with the given word.

Seer?

36. Choose the option that has the same consonant sound as the one represented by the underlined letters.

Of course?

37. Choose the option that has the same consonant sound as the one represented by the underlined letters.

Sheath

38. Choose the option that has the same consonant sound as the one represented by the underlined letters.

High?

39. Choose the option that rhymes with the given word.

Boys?

40. Choose the option that rhymes with the given word.

Shine?

41. choose the option with the correct spelling from the options

42. choose the option with the correct spelling from the options

43. choose the option with the correct spelling from the options

44.

45. choose the option with the correct emphatic stress indicated in capital letters from the options lettered A-D

Successful

46. choose the option with the correct emphatic stress indicated in capital letters from the options lettered A-D

Democracy

47. choose the option with the correct emphatic stress indicated in capital letters from the options lettered A-D

Conventional

48. complete the statement from the options lettered A-D

The meeting was organised at _______ instance ?

49. complete the statement from the options lettered A-D

Mr. Jude made it to the meeting _____his poor health

50.

51. Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined world(S).

Even though there is no obvious riot on the campus, the atmosphere is restive?

52. to the underlined world(S).

Mr. Dzokoto plays the piano with great dexterity

53. Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined world(S).

The government is not opening up to the unions in the negotiations; it must have something up its sleeve?

54. Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined world(S).

Adamu woke up with a start a took to his heels, claiming that something was on his trail

55. Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined world(S).

They have tried circumvent the restriction on the importation of the commodities?

56. The word in capital letters has an emphatic stress, Choose the option that best fits the expression in the sentence?

The accused hasn't even been TRIED yet?

57. The word in capital letters has an emphatic stress, Choose the option that best fits the expression in the sentence?

The accused hasn't even been TRIED yet?

58. The word in capital letters has an emphatic stress, Choose the option that best fits the expression in the sentence?

The fire destroyed MANY lives?

59. The word in capital letters has an emphatic stress, Choose the option that best fits the expression in the sentence?

The electricity in OUR premises comes from a generator?

60.