BECE Past Questions & Answers – 2006 (English)
April 2006
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PART 1
OBJECTIVE TEST
45 minutes
SECTION A COMPREHENSION
Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions which follow
PASSAGE I
“Amma, Amma, get up and sweep the compound!” Maa Tee shouted. However, Amma had decided she wasn‟t going to work that day.
“What do I do to escape these chores?” Amma asked.
“I‟ll pretend to be ill, then Mama can‟t insist that I do any work. This is a brilliant idea. I‟m not so daft
after all,” she thought.
When Amma told Maa Tee about her headache, MaaTee suspended everything she was doing and ordered her to get ready for the hospital. Poor Amma, her plan had backfired!
On their way to the hospital Amma prayed that the doctor would be absent, but she was out of luck that day. The doctor examined Amma and found her as fit as a fiddle. He then guessed that Amma had feigned illness because she wanted to dodge her usual Saturday morning chores.
“I‟m sorry MaaTee, Amma is very ill. Take her to the injection room for three injections. They will …”
Before the doctor could finish speaking, Amma rushed out of the consulting room with lightening speed and would not stop anywhere till she reached home. The doctor then looked at Maa Tee and burst out laughing as he asked MaaTee to go home. By the time MaaTee got home Amma had finished all the household chores.
1. Ma aTee suspended everything she was doing because
A. she did not believe what Amma said
B. Amma had annoyed her
C. she wanted to take Amma to the hospital
D. Amma wanted to go to the hospital
2. The word daft in the passage means
A. disobedient
B. good
C. strange
D. unintelligent
3. According to the passage Amma
A. was very ill
B. enjoyed sweeping
C. was ordered to go and sweep
D. was really not ill
4. From the passage it can be said that MaaTee was a ……….. mother
A. bad
B. caring C. strong D. weak
5. Amma rushed out of the consulting room because she
A. was afraid of the doctor
B. wanted to do her work at home
C. pitied her mother
D. was afraid of the injection
PASSAGE II
Grandpa is a robust centenarian. At his age, his eyesight is as clear as a child‟s and his memory as equally sharp. We have always wondered what has kept him going all these years. “I have a secret theory of life,” is the reply he gives to anyone who asks.
Grandpa‟s secret theory is, after all, quite simple when he explains it. He talks of a joyful attitude to life. He says that joy begets enthusiasm and a burning desire to encourage others. He never walks anyone away who needs help, even though Grandpa can never be described as rich.
Grandpa believes that as we see ourselves in a mirror, so do others see us. The mirror merely reflects what is before it. So if we are wicked, people will see us as wicked and if we are honest, we will not suspect others of being deceitful.
One part of Grandpa‟s secret theory that he holds dearest is his love for truth. He thinks that truth enables one to live a free life devoid of stress and worries. “Let your nay be nay,” he says, whenever he finds one of us telling a lie in order to avoid trouble. He believes that if we tell lies, we will have to create more lies to cover them. On the other hand truth never changes.
Grandpa never ends his explanation without rolling his eyes excitedly and advising us to be true to
ourselves so that we can‟t be false to others.
6. Which of the following is true?
Grandpa is ………………….man.
A. a poor B. a sick C. an old
D. a lonely
7. People ……………..Grandpa
A. fear
B. admire C. dislike D. tolerate
8. devoid of in the passage means
A. unless B. despite C. against D. without
9. According to the passage the mirror …………what a person is.
A. reproduces
B. changes C. enlarges D. extends
10. Grandpa advises us to be true to ourselves in order
A. not to be poor
B. to be a man C. to be kind D. not to lie