BECE Past Questions & Answers – 1991 (English)
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
PART 1
OBJECTIVE TEST
45 minutes
SECTION A COMPREHENSION
Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions which follow
PASSAGE I
When Mr Appiah looked at the two happy faces of his nephews, he forgot about his aching feet and smiled. He had spent the whole day showing Asare and Attah, who came from the village, around Accra. He was satisfied that they were happy. It was not until they were seated on a bench in the public garden that he realized how hot, tired and dusty he was.
It was a long time since he had walked so much. Like many other successful men, Mr Appiah had acquired the habit of going everywhere in his car, so that day‟s sight-seeing expedition had worn him out.
„Well, what do you think of Accra?‟ He asked the boys.
„Oh!‟ exclaimed Attah. „it‟s a wonderful place!‟
„I didn‟t imagine any place could be like this, Uncle‟ said Asare, „Everything is so splendid. The roads are very wide and the buildings magnificent‟.
„Boys, don‟t get the wrong impression. Today you‟ve seen the best parts of our city, but there are bad areas with buildings falling apart, narrow streets and insanitary conditions. However, these buildings are being demolished, said Mr. Appiah.
1. Mr Appiah was hot, tired and dusty because ………..
A. he had gone to bring his nephews from the village. B. he had taken his nephews to the high buildings
C. he had shown the boys around the city of Accra.
D. he had helped them to demolish the buildings
E. he had been satisfied that the boys were happy
2. Where were the boys living before visiting Accra?
A. In the high buildings
B. In the village
C. In the big houses
D. In the public gardens
E. In the building falling apart.
3. Everything is so splendid means everything is …………..
A. satisfactory B. magnificent C. important
D. brilliant
E. special
4. According to the passage many successful men are used to ………..
A. walking around Accra
B. bringing their nephews from the village to Accra
C. going on sight-seeing in the city of Accra
D. talking with boys in the public gardens
E. riding in cars wherever they go
5. Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
A. Every part of the city is wonderful and splendid
B. Mr Appiah normally rides in his car
C. Asare and Attah are in Accra for the first time
D. The boys rested in the public gardens
E. The boys as well as Mr Appiah must have been hot, tired and dusty
6. Insanitary conditions in the last paragraph means ………….
A. some people in Accra are insane
B. some places in Accra are dirty and unclean C. insanitary is seen in all conditions in the city D. unsatisfactory reports about the city
E. there are many sanitary inspectors in Accra
7. Demolished as used in the passage means
A. replaced B. repaired C. painted
D. pulled down
E. hire out
PASSAGE II
The Akosombo Dam and the great Volta Lake are famous over the world. The two main reasons for building the dam were, to generate electricity and to use the electricity for the production of aluminium from bauxite.
Aluminium is used throughout the world; so both the production of electricity and the production of aluminium are of great value to Ghana.
It may seem strange to talk about producing electricity by building a dam, but in fact a lot of dams have been built all over the world for this purpose. What happens is that a concrete wall, called a dam, is constructed across a river at a narrow point. A large lake then develops behind the wall. Tunnels are made in the dam so that water from the lake can rush fiercely through them. This powerful flow of water is used to drive huge machines called turbines, to generate electricity. All that the engineers need is the water rushing down from the lake, and all this costs them nothing! But of course the building of the dam and the fixing of the machines cost a great
deal of money.
Big dams have been built in many parts of the world. The Akosombo Dam is one of the biggest. However, the lake, which has been formed, is in fact the biggest man-made lake in the world.
8. The main reasons why Akosombo Dam was built were ……….
A. to produce electricity to manufacture aluminium
B. to produce electricity from aluminium and bauxite
C. to find the mineral called bauxite and use it
D. to use aluminium and electricity
E. to make aluminium, bauxite and electricity
9. Aluminium is produced from …………
A. dams
B. electricity
C. bauxite D. machine E. tunnels
10. From the passage, dams are built all over the world mainly to ……….
A. produce aluminium from bauxite
B. provide water for the generation of electricity
C. extract bauxite from lakes D. provide water for drinking E. make electricity cheap