OBJECTIVE TEST

PART I

SECTION A

COMPREHENSION

Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions that follow.

PASSAGE I

Where is the musical performance of songbirds held? It is not in any concert hall but rather on trees, fences and telephone wires. It is from these places that little feathered creatures blend their voices in some of the most melodious songs sung in the world.

Songbirds do not just make noise. The male voices in the choir, for instance, have two different messages. Firstly, it is a warning to other males not to come near their partners. Secondly, it is an invitation from the bachelors to the female birds. The most interesting songs which are sung with a lot of vigour are produced during the breeding season by the males to impress the lady birds.

Songbirds are very remarkable. They sing three or four notes at a time. To the human ear it sounds like one beat but the birds can identify the different notes because of their keen sense of hearing. At times, what is heard may not be a song of our winged friends but simply an instruction to keep the flock together. It may also be a warning of an approaching danger.

Just how birds compose their songs is an interesting subject. Some birds have their songs fixed in their brains at birth. Whilst some imitate others, other birds try to compose songs which are unique. They will never copy what they hear others sing.

PASSAGE II

"Locusts are descending" was joyfully chanted everywhere. Men, women and children left their work or their play and ran into the open to see the unfamiliar sight. The locusts had not come for many years, and only the old people had seen them before.

At first, a fairly small swarm came. And then, there appeared a slow-moving mass like a sheet of black cloud drifting towards the villages. Soon it covered half the sky. It was an amazing sight full of power and beauty.

Everyone was now about praying that the locust should stay in the village for the night. Although most people had never seen locusts before, they knew by instinct that they were good to eat. At last they descended. They settled on roofs and covered the bare ground. Tree branches broke under them and the whole village turned to brown earth colour with locusts.

Many people who went out with baskets trying to catch them were advised to wait until nightfall. And they were right. The locusts settled in the bushes for the night and their wings became wet with dew. Then all the village folks turned out, in spite of the cold harmattan, to fill their bags and pots with locusts. The next morning they were roasted and spread in the sun until they became dry. For many days after, this rare food was mixed with oil and eaten with relish.

SECTION B

Choose from the alternatives lettered A to D the one which is nearest in meaning to the underlined word in each sentence.

SECTION C

In each of the following sentences a word or group of words has been underlined. Choose from the alternatives lettered A to D the one that best explains the underlined word or group of words.

SECTION D

From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the word underlined in each sentence.

SECTION E

From the alternatives lettered A to D, choose the one which most suitably completes each sentence.

THEORY QUESTIONS