SS 2 English language Third Term Examination
THIRD TERM
Examination malpractices may lead to a repeat of the subject or suspensions don’t be involved.
SUBJECT ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CLASS: S. S. S TWO
DURATION:1HR 30MINS
PAPER 1
ESSAY
Answer one questions in all.
- The topic of an essay competition organized by the literary and debate Club for final year students is:Female children are more useful at home doing chores more than male children . Write your entry for or against the topic:
- You were one of those arrested by the police at the scene of a crime in your street . Write a letter to the Commissioner of Police giving details of the crime, pleading your innocence and requesting to be released.
- You witnessed the campaigns that preceded a local government election in your area in which the favourite candidate was defeated. Give a vivid account of the events before, during and after the election to your friends, explaining why you think the candidate lost.
- You have changed school and after a few months, you discover that your present school is not as good as the former. Write a letter to a friend of yours in your former school giving at least three areas in which the new school does not measure up to the old one.
- Write an article for publication in the science magazine on the topic: Science and Technology in National Development.
- Write a story in which you were personally involved, ending with, ‘If I knew he was kind of person. I wouldn’t have gone out with him.’
COMPREHENSION
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Malnutrition has been described as a tragedy of great magnitude. WHO declares that it is an
accomplice in at least half of the 10.4 million child deaths each year. Malnutrition covers a wide range of illnesses from undernourishment due to a lack of one or more nutrients such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies – to obesity and other diet related chronic diseases.
However, Protein-Energy Mal-nutrition (PEM) is by far the most lethal form of
malnutrition. Malnutrition is not restricted to children. It cast long shadows in the
developing world according to WHO.
Industrialised countries are not free from the scourge of malnutrition as about 11 million people suffer from it.
Malnutriton is caused by a deficiency in the intake of nutrients by the cells of the body
and it is usually triggered by a combination of factors ,an insufficient intake of proteins,
calories, vitamins and minerals and frequent infections
Illnesses such as diarrhoea, measles, malaria and respiratory diseases tax the body heavily and cause loss of nutrients. They reduce appetite and food intake thus contributing to
malnutrition.
Children are at a greater risk of suffering malnutrition. This is because they are in a
period of rapid growth that increases the demand for calories and protein. For
similar reasons pregnant and nursing women are easily prone to malnutrition.
Frequently, the baby’s problem begins even before birth. If a mother is undernourished or malnourished before and during pregnancy, the baby will have a low weight. Then early
weaning, poor feeding habits and lack of hygiene can bring on malnutrition.
Malnutrition wreaks havoc on the body particularly that of a child and various studies
have shown that poor growth in a child is associated with impaired mental development
and poor scholastic and intellectual performance. A report from United Nations calls
these effects the most serious long-term results of malnutrition. For children who survive malnutrition, the aftermath can linger on into adulthood.
QUESTIONS
- Why is malnutrition described as a tragedy of great magnitude?
- What, according to the passage, are the immediate causes of malnutrition?
- Why are pregnant women and nursing women easily vulnerable to malnutrition?
- How can a child’s problem begin before birth?
- What according to the passage are the long-term results of malnutrition?
- ‘…the scourge of malnutrition’ What figure of speech is this?
- ‘…who survive malnutrition’ (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression? (ii) What is its function?
- For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and can replace it as used in the passage
- Magnitude (ii) lethal (iii) restricted (iv) industrialised (v) risk (vi) havoc
Summary
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
Apart from bringing forth children, a mother has also to cater for their emotional welfare. She plays a vital role in helping a child learn about love and affection-lessons that may be just as important as the satisfaction of his physical needs. In order to develop into a well-balanced adult, a child needs a warm, secure environment while growing up. Here again, a mother’s role is crucial. So, whatever else a woman might do, this is her primary function in society. Besides looking after her children, the mother is often their principal teacher. It is mainly the mother or grandmother who patiently teaches the child to speak, to walk, and to do household chores and countless other things. Little wonder then that one’s language the world over is referred to as one’s ‘mother tongue’ rather than ‘father tongue.’
Today more women than ever have to work outside the home to help support their families. Millions of women work on the land, or care for livestock. This labour, usually underpaid or unpaid, feeds half the world. In Africa, 70 per cent of the food is grown by women, in Asia the figure is 50-60 per cent and in Latin America 30 per cent.
In the Western world, most women leave home daily to work in offices, schools and factories. Many of them are indeed getting into top positions, although they are still outnumbered by men at this level. Although, they generally earn less than men, simply because they are women, they nonetheless provide very essential services that keep many factories and institutions running. Indeed, in many countries of the world, most nurses, midwives, doctors and teachers are women. One of the greatest gift that women can give their families is compassion. When a family member falls sick, the mother takes on the role of a nurse, while still shouldering all her other responsibilities. A woman’s compassion may even motivate her to eat less than herself so that her children do not go without food. Researchers have found that some women consider their food intake as sufficient even though they are malnourished. They are so accustomed to giving the larger share to their husbands and children that as long as they can still work, they consider themselves adequately fed.
Sometimes, a woman’s compassion is expressed in her concern for the local environment. That environment matters to her, since she also suffers when drought, desertification, and deforestation impoverish the land. In one town in India, women were outraged when they learnt that a lumber company was going to cut down about 2,500 trees in a nearby forest. When the loggers arrived, the women were already in place, hands joined, protectively encircling the trees. ‘You will have to cut us down as well if you want to cut down the trees, ‘they told the loggers. The forest was saved.
Perhaps because of her biological role as provider of succor and compassion, a woman is hardly ever a soldier. However, if need be, she can take arms to save her children and her community. And when a woman does that, oh, she can be terrible! The Dahomey warriors who tormented the ancient Egba for ages were women in arms. However, it is perhaps best to save women the abominable role of killers and reserve them for what they are best at: bringing forth and bringing up the young ones.
QUESTIONS:
In six sentences, one for each, state the functions of women is stated in paragraph one, two important functions are identifiable in paragraph two, one function is stated in paragraph three, one function is stated in paragraph four and one is expressed in paragraph five.
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