SECTION A

CORRESPONDENCE
Business letters are a part of the everyday business. In other words, all and every business letter
that is sent out by a business is a business letter. They help the business to communicate with
other entities in a clear and recordable manner. Usually, business letters are sent from on
business to another. However, it can be sent to an individual, vendor or client. These letters can
be held as evidence in case disputes arise about a certain topic in the future. Business letters are
an important part of a business and should be written in utmost care. Mistakes in such letters
are costly and can damage the reputation of the business. There are various types of business
letter formats that a business must write in a day.

THREE (3) CATEGORIES OF BUSINESS LETTERS

In a broad sense, there are three types of business letters. The type of letter depends on the
purpose of writing the letter and the relationship with the receiver of the letter.
1. Formal: formal letters are usually written from one business to another. They are to point and
are usually short. Letters written between two companies are usually formal letters.
2. Informal: informal letters are letters are considered to be friendly and personal letters. They are
written when the writer has a non-professional relationship with the receiver. This type of letter
format is usually written for communication between two parties. Informal letters are usually
longer than formal letters.
3. Semi-formal: semi-formal letters are business letters that are written to someone that the
writer knows but isn’t close with. This letter balances between formal and informal tone.

TYPES OF BUSINESS LETTER

1. Sales Letters: sales letters are the most common types of letters formats in business. Letters are
written to prospective customer or the target audience to introduce your business and urge
them to action. This is why the sales letters should capture the audience’s attention in its first
line, making a bold claim or mentioning statistics is a good way to do that. Sales are usually used
to pitch a product or service to a new audience. Therefore, it is important to write the letter in
the right format.
Things to keep in mind while writing a sales letter:
 Make the introductory paragraph interesting.
 Include a strong CTA which mentions what you want the client to do.
 Keep it short and crisp.
2. Orders Letters: an order is a type of business letter format that is used to order products or
services from a vendor, manufacturer, retailer or a wholesaler. The order letter may or may not
include the payment. This is usually already discussed before sending the order letter across.
Things to keep in mind while writing an order letter:
 Clearly specify the products required.
 Mention the details of the product like the quantity, product, type, expected price, etc.
 Mention the expected delivery date.
3. Complaint Letters: as the name suggests, this type of letter of business letter is written to show
dissatisfaction with a product or a service. While complaining about bad service or product it is
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 easy to get carried away with emotions. However, it is important to write a complaint letter with
professionalism and clarity. This will make your complaint letter stand out and will help the
receiver to help you easily. Furthermore, if you can be empathetic to the receiver in your letter
then it is likely that they will want to help you more.
Things to keep in mind while writing a complaint letter:
 Write the letter with a clear goal in mind.
 Use a strong tone but do not be rude.
 Focus on the product or service. Do not throw personal attacks in the letter.
 Try being empathetic to the person, it will resolve your complaint faster.
4. Apology Letter: businesses are run by people and people tend to make mistakes. As a business,
it is important to acknowledge that mistake and move past it. Start the letter by acknowledging
the mistakes. Then sincerely ask for forgiveness and mention the changes your company will
make to avoid such mistakes. End the letter by asking for forgiveness again.
Things to keep in mind while writing an apology letter:
 Acknowledge your mistakes.
 Apologize in person apart from writing the letter.
 Sincerely apologize in the letter.
 Mention the rectification or improvements that will be made.
5. Inquiry Letter: as the name suggests, inquiry letters are needed to write to inquire about
something. It is usually written to seek certain information from the receiver of the letter.
Inquiry letters are short and work as a request for clarification.
Things to keep in mind while writing an inquiry letter:
 Keep the letter short and clear
 Include your address and contact details in the letter so that the reader can respond easily.
6. Letter of Resignation: the letter of resignation is a type of business letter form which an
employee submits to the company. It is an official notice that the employee gives to the
company about leaving his/her job. Usually, a resignation letter is submitted to the manager or
the HR department.
Things to keep in mind while writing a letter of resignation:
 Mention the last working date.
 Explain the cause of leaving
 Include your employee code
 Thank the company for the various opportunities
 Keep the letter short
7. Cover Letter: a cover letter is a business letter which has an attachment to it. The attachment
can be a package, a letter or a report. The purpose of a cove letter is to give instructions to the
receiver about what they should do with the package along with why the product has been sent.
Things to keep in mind while writing a cover letter:
 Mention what is attached with the letter
 Give instructions to the receiver about the attachment
 Mention if any action needs to be taken.

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8. Job Application Letter: a job application letter is sent by an aspiring candidate to the company
along with their resume. It provides information about the skills and the experience of a
candidate. The letter gives the candidate a chance to show the company that they are fit for the
role.
Things to keep in mind while writing a job application letter:
 Mention your strengths
 Mention experience that proves that you are fit job role. “sell yourself” to the receiver
 Make sure your application letter is a summary of your resume.
9. In-office Memorandum Letter: the in-office memorandum is an official letter sent to the
employees of a company. It is casually also called a memo. Memorandum is a reminder. It is
usually written to inform the company’s employees of a certain change, policy or a new decision.
However, it can also be written to call for a certain action.
Things to keep in mind while writing an in-office memorandum letter:
 Keep the tone of the letter formal
 Pay attention to the main subject of the letter
 Announce the purpose of the letter in the introductory line.
10. Recommendation Letter: the letter of recommendation is the type of letter that is given an
employee by the company. This helps the employee show proof of their background. If the
employee applies somewhere else, the letter of recommendation will help them add more
weight to their application. Having a strong letter of recommendation helps the employee while
applying for further studies, volunteering opportunities or other work positions.
Things to keep in mind while writing a recommendation letter:
 Mention how you know the candidate
 Mention the experience you had while working with them
 Mention the employee’s expertise
 Share your details in case someone would like to know more about the candidate.

Other business letters include:

Demand on delivery Letter
Adjustment Letter
Follow-up Letter
Networking Letter
Quotation Letter
Acknowledgement Letter
Circular Announcements
Interest
Commendation Letter

The General Format of a business letter goes as follows:

1. Date: mention the date you are writing the letter on the left side of the letter. Use the day,
month and year format. e.g. 2nd August, 2020

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2. Receiver’s Address: make sure the sender’s address is left aligned as well. It is a good idea to
include the sender’s email id or receiver’s phone number. When writing a physical letter, include
these details on the envelope.
3. Salutations: all business letters should start with a salutation and the name of the person the
salutation is addressed to. Use their full name and a comma.
4. Body text: state why you are writing the letter. It is appreciated when a business letters are
short and to the point. The body text will vary depending on the type of business letter format
one is writing.
5. Call to action: clearly mention the actions that the receiver should take after reading the letter.
This will increase the likelihood of them taking the action.
6. Signature block: sign off the letter with your name and signature. Ensure that the sign is either
in block or blue ink.
7. Enclosures: mention enclosures if the letter has any. Enclosures are the attachments to the
letter. This will give the receiver a clear idea about what to expect in the envelope.

FUNCTION OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH

The first paragraph which is the introductory part of any letter, introduces the subject matter as
to the aim of the letter. When you are writing a reply to a letter earlier received, the first
paragraph will certainly contain an acknowledgement of the previous correspondence, so as to
help the recipient recall issues dealt with and hence facilitate action. At the beginning of such
letter, one can say:
With reference to your letter of 25th June, 2012 ….
In official letters, the popular trend is to head the letter, immediately after salutation with a few
words, indicative of its subject and content. Thus, we can say:
Letter of request
Letter of enquiry
Application for the post of ….
FUNCTION OF THE BODY OF THE LETTER
The content here should relate to the prevailing circumstances already established, nevertheless,
some points are peculiar to business letters. Where the letter is short and deals with only one
issue, it follows that the body should be made up of a paragraph. If several issues are dealt with,
then assign one issue to one paragraph. Here, the paragraphs should be arranged logically. A
well-arranged letter is attractive in appearance and easy to read and so, the use of words must
conform to the subject and style.
FUNCTION OF THE LAST PARAGRAPH
This paragraph should be forceful and convincing as possible. In an official letter, this paragraph
may have one or two phrases of courteous form, either assuring the addressee of every
attention, or expressing the hope for a request to be granted.

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 SECTION B
COMPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION

Comprehension can be said to be the act of the reader of any piece of writing to understand the
central message or theme contained in the passage. Comprehension and interpretation simply
mean understanding and interpreting. It is a basic language skill of extracting meaning from
either speech or written language. In a typical examination situation for examples, the aim is to
test the candidate’s understanding and his/her ability to answer questions asked. In reading
comprehension passages, the reader will discover that some facts are stated while others are
implied. The reader’s ability to distinguish stated facts from these implied becomes a very
important art that would determine his success. Comprehension passages are meant to test the
reader’s mastery of English Language – parts of speech, tenses, phrases, clauses and sentences,
images, synonyms and figure of expression etc.

WAYS COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS ARE SET

a. Direct questions: these are questions which do not have to do with any technique. The answer to
a direct question is usually in the passage. A direct question will be any of the following: where
were the players before the match started? What type pf person is Stephen according to the
passage?
b. Mechanical questions: you may be asked to say what the functions or mechanical devices
(punctuations) are as they are used in the passage. You are expected to know the commonest
punctuations – full stop, comma, colon etc.
c. Word class questions: the third type of question method used is the part of speech question. You
may be asked to change certain underlined words from one class to another for example a noun
to adjective e.g. friend to friendly.
d. Quotation questions: under this type of question, you may be asked to quote a word, a phrase or
a clause. Do not quote a phrase when you are asked to quote a clause. When you quote, you are
expected to put a single inverted comma on top.
e. Figures of speech question: this type of question is to test your ability to recognize literary
devices as they are used. The common figures of expression are metaphor, simile, irony,
personification etc.
f. Contextual and substitution questions: the questions could be framed in two ways and there is
an approach for each. First, replacing each of the following with a similar word or phrase that
means the same and that can replace the one in the passage and or replace each of the
following with a similar word that means the same as the one in the passage.
g. Grammatical function questions: these questions could be in two ways: what is the grammatical
form or name of …? What is its function? First state the form, that is the grammatical name to
that statement: noun phrase/clause, adverbial phrase/clause etc. second, state the function it
performs in the place where it appears.

STEPS ON HOW TO ANSWER COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Read the passage first with speed to be able to understand or grasp the general view presented
by the writer in the passage.
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2. Read the passage the second time with a reduced speed to apprehend the central message of
the passage. Should you come across any unfamiliar word, you may need to note and ponder
over the meaning of such word or expressions.
3. At the end of the second reading, if the passage is not understood, you should try and read it the
third time and not beyond.
4. Having understood the passage, begin to answer the questions.
5. Consistency is required when attempting comprehension questions. This is regarding the use of
tenses.

COMPREHENSION PRACTICE
STREET TRADING
Barely literate Ugo Emmanuel did not have any relations in Lagos, but he had heard so
much about the city from those of his kinsmen who returned from their different stations to
celebrate the Yuletide back home in the East. Those from Lagos caught his fancy, what with the
exotic attire and cars they paraded on such occasions.
Emmanuel was fed up with the rustic life in the village. So, he gathered enough money
and headed for Lagos. He believed that the city must offer so much, given the lifestyle of his
kinsmen he saw each time they visited the village.
Being the commercial nerve centre of the country, Lagos, famed as a megacity, plays a
strategic role in offering endless opportunities to the residents. Some arrived Lagos from their
villages only to see the arduous task of survival stare them in the face. Again, the city throws up
other realities, where some breadwinners who hitherto were gainfully employed were sacked
due to one reason or another from their places of work. And for those in these categories, the
rat-race for survival begins. This becomes more excruciating if such people are not educated, as
there seems to be a limit to which they could go in search of white-collar jobs. Since survival is a
natural instinct to man, everybody wants to survive. So, they devise ways of surviving; and in the
process, many take to street trading.
During recent raids by the men of KAI (Kick Against Indiscipline), many of these traders
were arrested and prosecuted in the KAI court situated at Alausa. Some street traders who could
not pay the fines imposed on them had ended up in Kirikiri Prison. Besides, those arrested
usually have their goods confiscated.
Despite incessant raids, the culture of street trading has refused to die. However,
divergent views are being expressed about the phenomenon. While some believe that street
trading was a result of the failure of government to provide employment and introduce social
security for the unemployed, some have come to see it as an alternate market, where it satisfies
a need.

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1. Who heard so much about the city from his kinsmen?

a. The village girls
b. Ugo Emmanuel
c. The kinsmen
d. The village chiefs
2. According to the passage, one evidence of the robust lifestyle of Lagos is ___
a. The Yuletide
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b. The rickety cars
c. The exotic attire
d. The exotic cars
3. According to the passage, Emmanuel believed
a. He would also become wealthy in Lagos.
b. He would become a street trader in Lagos.
c. He would be sacked in Lagos.
d. He would never return to the village.
4. The Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) does the following except
a. Employ street traders
b. Arrest street traders
c. Prosecute street traders
d. Demand fines from street traders
5. What view of Lagos do people in the village have?
a. A place of great oceans
b. A place for street trading
c. A place to make easy money
d. A place of chaos
6. What realities are faced by residents of Lagos?
a. Life is full of enjoyment.
b. Loss of health
c. Loss of jobs
d. High population
7. How are street traders punished when arrested?
a. They are killed.
b. They are thrown into the lagoons.
c. They are given money.
d. They are sent to prison if they can’t pay fines.
8. How has the government contributed to street trading?
a. Government provides employments.
b. Government builds markets.
c. Government confiscate goods.
d. Government does not give social security to the unemployed.
9. What categories of people are affected by difficult job situations in Lagos?
a. Uneducated people
b. Emmanuel and his kinsmen
c. Literate people
d. Village people
10. ‘…the culture of street trading has refused to die.’ What figure of speech is contained in the
expression?
a. Personification
b. hyperbole
c. metaphor
d. simile
11. ‘…who could not pay the fines imposed on them…’ What grammatical name is given to this
expression as it is used on the passage?
a. Adverbial clause of reason
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 b.Adjectival clause
c. Noun clause
d.Adjectival phrase
12. ‘…who could not pay the fines imposed on them…’ What is its function?
a. It modifies ‘street.’
b. It qualifies ‘street people.’
c. It is the subject of the sentence.
d. It is the subject complement.
13. 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. Kinsmen
ii. Endless
iii. Yuletide
iv. Arduous
v. Excruciating
vi. Devise
vii. Confiscated
viii. Divergent

COMPREHENSION
Instruction: Read the passage carefully.
MONEY
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, summed up the four chief qualities of money some 2000
years ago. It must be lasting and easy to recognize, to divide, and to carry about. In other words,
it must be durable, distinct, divisible and portable. When we think about money today, we
picture it either as round, flat pieces of metal which we call coins, or as printed paper notes. But
there are still parts of the world today where coins and notes are of no use. They will buy
nothing, and a traveller might starve if he had none of the particular local money to exchange for
food.
Among isolated peoples, who are not often reached by traders from outside, commerce
usually means barter. There is a direct exchange of goods. Perhaps it is fish for vegetables, meat
for grain, or various kinds of food in exchange for pots, baskets, or other manufactured goods.
For this kind of simple trading, money is needed, but there is often something that everyone
wants and everyone can use, such as salt to flavour food, shells for ornaments, or iron and
copper to make into tools and vessels. These things – salt, shells and metals – are still used as
money in out-of-the-way parts of the world today.
Salt may seem rather a strange substance to use as money, but in countries where the
food of the people is mainly vegetable, it is often an absolute necessity. Cakes of salt, stamped to
show their value, were used as money in Tibet until recent times, and cakes of salt will still buy
goods in Borneo and parts of Africa.
Cowrie shells have been used as money at same time or another over the greater part of
the old world. These were collected mainly from beaches of the Maldive Islands in the Indian
Ocean and were traded in India and China. In Africa, cowries were traded right across the

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 continent from east to west. Four or five thousand went for one Maria Theresa dollar, an
Austrian silver coin which was once accepted as currency in many parts of Africa.
Metal, valued by weight, preceded coins in many parts of the world. Iron, in lumps, bars
or rings, is still used in many countries instead of money. It can either be exchanged for goods, or
more into tools, weapons, or ornaments. The early money of China, apart from shells, was of
bronze, often in flat, round pieces with a hole in the middle, called “cash”. The earliest of these
are between three thousand and four thousand years old – older than the earliest coins of the
eastern Mediterranean.
Nowadays, coins and notes have supplanted nearly all the more picturesque forms of
money, and although in one or two of the more remote countries, people still hoard it for future
use on ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals, examples of primitive money are
often found only in museums.
Questions:
Reading for Facts
1. The main qualities of money were summed up some
a. 1000 years
b. 2000 years
c. 200 years
d. 20000 years
2. Which of the following is not a quality of money a discussed in the passage?
a. It must be durable.
b. It must be easy to identify.
c. It must be fragile.
d. It must be portable.
3. The forms of money used in early China include
a. Iron and pots
b. Shells and cash
c. Salt and shells
d. Cowries and baskets
4. One Austrian silver coin equaled
a. One cowrie
b. One thousand cowries
c. Three thousand cowries
d. Four to five thousand cowries
5. Which of the following statements is false?
a. Primitive forms of money are preserved in museums.
b. Some people hoard primitive forms of money for ceremonial occasions.
c. Coins and notes have displaced cowrie shells.
d. Cowrie shells and other picturesque forms of money are still in vogue in many countries.
Reading for Details and Inference
1. Who summed up the main qualities of money?
2. State all the qualities of money discussed in paragraph one.
3. How do some goods or commodities come to be used as money?
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4. Which people accept barter as a normal way of trade?
5. Where was the major source of cowrie shells?
6. Mention two areas associated with the trade in cowrie shells.
7. State the advantages of metal money like iron.
8. Where do you find examples of primitive money?
9. Why do people still hoard the old forms of money?
10. A. what do you think would have happened to trade in your country if the present forms of
money had not evolved?
B. Why do different countries use different forms of paper money today?

Comprehension
Instruction: READ THE PASSAGE CAREFULLY AND NOTE THAT THIS SECTION IS COMPULSORY.
CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES
Psychologists tell us that childhood experiences endure for a long time. They also claim that
we learn most effectively by association. Actually, I do not need a psychologist to preach these
facts to me, because I learnt them from an unpleasant experience some fifty years ago, at seven
or so.
Father had come home from the city for a special purpose: to roof the house he was
building – a single-storey structure that was the talk of the town then because of its size. For
two days running, carpenters were busy were busy on the roof, sawing and fitting wood
together to construct the rafters on which the shiny galvanized roofing sheets would be nailed.
We youngsters were so excited (indeed mesmerized) that we spent our time dodging in and out
of the rooms, and running round the house.
Then it happened! As I was about to dash out of the building courtyard, something came
crashing down squarely on my head, knocking me out instantly. I do not remember anything
that followed, but when I came around, I found myself spread out on a mat some distance from
the building, and several people were trying frantically to revive me by fanning the air and
splashing water on my face. Gradually, I came to my senses and staggered to my feet, much to
the relief of everyone.
For years after the incident, I dreaded stepping out into any open space. In my childish
imagination, I had concluded that it was the sky that had fallen on me as I rushed out from the
secure confines of the house being built! Remember that whatever it was had hit me just at that
moment when I could see the sky. So, I had associated the falling object with the sky. It took me
several years to realise that I had actually been hit by a piece of wood that a carpenter had just
sawn off, and not by the sky, which in my childish imagination, I had assumed was solid. That
fact that all work had stopped, and everyone had abandoned what they were doing to attend to
me, had reinforced my erroneous conclusion. For I had presumed that it was only some rare
occurrence – such as the sky falling on someone – that could elicit such anxious concern.
So, we learn most effectively by association indeed, but that particular childhood
experience also taught me the important lesson that associations we make must be the right
ones, or we may draw wrong conclusions.
ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS. THIS SECTION IS COMPULSORY.
1. The narrator of the story is
a. The father who built the house
b. The child who fainted
c. One of the carpenters
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d. The carpenter who saw the wood off
2. Psychologists claim we learn by
a. Teaching
b. Association
c. Encouragement
d. Fainting
3. The childhood experience is something remembered for
a. While
b. Short time
c. Period of time
d. A long time
4. The narrator draws a wrong conclusion from the experience. He concludes that
a. A hammer fell on him
b. A nail fell on him
c. A wood fell on him
d. The sky fell on him
5. What evidence in the passage supports the idea that childhood experiences endure for a long
time?
a. The building of the house
b. The writer’s vivid narration
c. Psychologists conclusions
d. The roofing of the house
6. According to the writer, in what circumstances can association enhance learning?
a. A fainting circumstance
b. Childhood experiences
c. Fifty years ago
d. A roofing circumstances
7. Why did the writer dread stepping-out into an open space?
a. He thought the sky would fall on him.
b. He had a pleasant experience.
c. The sky fell on him.
d. He became a carpenter.
8. What was the attitude of people to the child who had fainted?
a. They tried to resuscitate the boy.
b. They left the boy.
c. They spanked the boy.
d. They were angry at the boy.
9. What does the writer mean by saying that his father’s house was ‘the talk of the town’?
a. The house was being built.
b. Everyone hated the house.
c. The house was being roof.
d. The house was one of its kind in the village.
10. ‘…when I could see the sky’ what grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the
passage?
a. Adjectival clause
b. Prepositional phrase
c. Adverbial clause of place
d. Adverbial clause of time
11. ‘…when I could see the sky’ what is its function?
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a. It describes the boy.
b. It is the subject of the sentence
c. It modifies the verb ‘had hit’.
d. It tells time.
12. ‘…that particular childhood experience also taught me the important lesson…’ what name is given
to the figure of speech contained in this expression?
a. Metaphor
b. Oxymoron
c. Personification
d. hyperbole
13. 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. Endure v. Associated
ii. Elicit vi. Presumed
iii. Excited vii. Rare
iv. Squarely vii. Revive

THE MACHINE AGE

If we liken technology to a mountain which mankind is climbing in order to reach the summit, it is
astonishing to see how long he has remained in the valley. Creatures to which the name ‘man’ has been
applied may have been living on the earth for 500,000 years, or even for more than a million years in the
view of scientists. But during the greater part of this period man relied on the power of his feeble arms,
on the speed of his legs, and, later, on the strength of the beasts he tamed and bred. It may be that homo
sapiens was capable of discovering and using machines very much earlier than he did start using them.
But perhaps because it had not seemed worth his while to think about inventing mechanical aids while
human labour, earning low wages, was still so cheap, he did not start using them early; so, the path from
the experiments of the early Greek scientists to the high-speed car and the rocket engine of the twentieth
century was long and marked by many ups and downs.
Machines were invented and built in a matter of just 200 years, from the steam engine and petrol
motor to the jet engine and rocket; what is more, the steam engine reigned unchallenged for almost 100
years until the coming of the internal combustion engine.
Man’s machines not only helped him to travel faster, they also made him stronger, which was far
more important. He was provided with a very large number of mechanical helpers. About the middle of
the twentieth century the machines of America were performing the work of nearly 25,000 million human
beings. This means that, at this period, each American worker had on the average about 400 ‘mechanical’
helpers, and the number was increasing year by year. Consequently, any man could manufacture 400
times as much as his ancestors, who worked with unaided hands, and he could therefore produce and
make use of a correspondingly greater quantity of goods.
However, although a few thousand men working together could in theory do as much as a large
steam engine, if we seriously tried to replace a steam engine by so many human beings, we would
discover that in practice the exchange would be neither convenient, nor effective. For one thing, you
couldn’t get a few thousand men into the space normally occupied by a steam engine. So, you couldn’t
ever have a ship driven by thousands of men in the place of one engine. Similarly, if you wished to provide
‘man-power’ equivalent to the propelling power of an aeroplane, the number of men needed to do the
work of the aeroplane engine would be so great that the aeroplane would not be big enough to contain
more than a small fraction of them, let alone lift the whole lot off the ground. If a plane was found big
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 enough to hold them all, it would be too heavy to be flown on the ‘man-power’ of the men who were
being substituted for the engine. Therefore, we must realise that progress in the field of technology has
given us not merely mechanical power equal to a great of ‘man-power’, but has also given us that power
in a very convenient, highly concentrated form. Machines are therefore an indispensable part of progress
as we know it today.
Answer all questions.
1. Creatures to which the name ‘man’ has been applied. This suggests
a. That man is not really a creature at all.
b. That man is not one creature but many.
c. That man developed very slowly from other creatures.
d. That man behaves like creatures
2. Which of these sayings fits the idea expressed in the second half of the paragraph 1 and why?
a. Necessity is the mother of invention.
b. Necessity knows no law.
c. Early to bed, early to rise.
d. A stitch in time saves nine.
3. Machines are an indispensable part of progress means
a. As machines go on, so progress also must go on.
b. As progress goes on, so also machines must go on.
c. Without machines, there could be no progress.
d. Without progress, there could be no machines.
4. From the passage, it is reasonable to conclude that, if all machines suddenly failed
a. Man would be unable to survive.
b. Man would be unable to keep up his present civilisation.
c. Man would soon find some other means to maintain his present standard of civilisation.
d. Man’s world would end.
5. “He was provided with a very large number of mechanical helpers.” What figure of speech is this?
a. Alliteration
b. Metaphor
c. Personification
d. Oxymoron
6. Which sentence in the passage implies that human labour has become more expensive than it used to be?
a. For one thing, you couldn’t get a few thousand men into the space normally occupied by a steam engine.
b. So, you couldn’t ever have a ship driven by thousands of men in the place of one engine.
c. If a plane was found big enough to hold them all, it would be too heavy to be flown on the ‘man-power’ of
the men who were being substituted for the engine.
d. All of the above
7. “Who worked with unaided hands”. What is the grammatical name of the underlined expression and
what is it function?
a. Relative clause, qualifies ‘man’.
b. Adverbial clause, modifies ‘ancestors’.
c. Relative clause, qualifies ‘man’.
d. Relative clause, qualifies ‘ancestors’.
8. Explain from paragraph 3 how machines have made man stronger?
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9. From the figures given in paragraph 3, work out what the number of American workers must have been
(approximately) in the middle of this century.
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10. In what way have machines made life more comfortable for modern man, according to the passage?
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11. Express the idea in paragraph 4 clearly in one sentence.
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12. From the passage, find a word that is synonymous to the underlined words and that will suitably replace
the word in the passage.
i. Astonishing _____________________________________
ii. Creatures _____________________________________
iii. Period _____________________________________
iv. Inventing _____________________________________
v. 200 years _____________________________________
vi. Performing _____________________________________
vii. Equivalent _____________________________________
viii. Indispensable _____________________________________

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