Bece Past Questions & Answers – 2016 (English)
JUNE 2016
ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2
1 hour
This paper consists of two parts: A and B. Answer two questions in all; one question from Part A and all the questions in Part B.
Your composition should be about 250 words long.
Credit will be given for clarity of expression and orderly presentation of material.
PART A
ESSAY WRITING
[30 MARKS]
Answer one question only from this part
1. Write a letter to your friend describing how you saved a child who was in danger.
2. Write an article for publication in your school magazine on the topic:
The relationship between parents and their children should be cordial.
3. Write a story which ends with the sentence, We were lucky that night.
PART B
COMPREHENSION
[30 marks]
4. Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions which follow
One major cause of environmental degradation in Ghana is gold mining. In the name of natural resource development, land is given to mining companies owned by foreigners. These foreigners milk the country dry and destroy the heritage of the people.
From the vast concessions granted them by the government, they extract the gold, destroy the rivers and other water bodies in the communities before going home, leaving the land worthless. Yet, their operations are legal.
Approved mining is, however, not the sole gold mining activity. There is also what is regarded as unauthorized mining, called galamsey. In this enterprise, adventurous Ghanaians set out to do private mining as a livelihood. They dig up the earth with tools that are not as sophisticated as those of foreigners who also dig for the precious metal.
Mining activities destroy the environment. So far, it appears that nothing can be done to reclaim the land degraded by miners; the damage is irreversible. Vast tracts of arable land have become desolate mounds because of gold digging. Nothing can grow where galamsey has taken place.
Besides, the main water sources of communities have been polluted by the activities of both legal and illegal miners. The gold extracted from dirt requires cleaning with chemicals and rinsing in water. By the time the gold searchers succeed in producing a glittering handful, large stretches of rivers, ponds of water and some lakes have been poisoned.
Pollution leaves little drinking water for man and beast. Fishes die and humans contract various diseases.
(a) Name the types of mining activities discussed in the passage.
(b) (i) Which groups of people engage in mining?
(ii) Why does the government give licences to miners?
(c) How are the people and the land affected by the mining activities?
(d) (i) How does the writer feel about mining?
(ii) Why does the writer think that nothing can be done about the effects of mining?
(e) Explain the following expressions in your own words:
(i) milk the country dry;
(ii) leaving the land worthless.
(f) For each of the following words, give another word or phrase, that means the same, and can fit into the passage:
(i) vast;
(ii) sole
(iii) reclaim
(iv) mounds
(v) glittering
END OF ESSAY TEST CLICK TO VIEW ANSWERS TO PART 2
ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2
PART B – COMPREHENSION
ANSWERS
4.
(a) Name the types of mining activities discussed in the passage.
Approved mining and Unauthorised mining
(b) (i) Which groups of people engage in mining?
The groups of people engaged in mining are foreigners and Ghanaians
(ii) Why does the government give licences to miners?
Government gives licences to miners to make their operations legal.
(or for development of natural resource)
(c) How are the people and the land affected by the mining activities?
The people are left with little or no drinking water and they contract various diseases while the lands become desolate mounds on which nothing can grow.
(d) (i) How does the writer feel about mining?
The writer is concerned / worried /disturbed / unhappy / upset / bothered / troubled /vexed/ sad / discontented, etc about the mining.
(ii) Why does the writer think that nothing can be done about the effects of mining?
The writer thinks nothing can be done about the effects of mining because the damage caused by mining is irreversible.
(e) Explain the following expressions in your own words:
(i) milk the country dry;
-exploit the country’s natural resources;
-drain the country of its natural resources (or any suitable answer)
(ii) leaving the land worthless.
making the land lose its value (or any suitable answer)
(f) For each of the following words, give another word or phrase, that means the same, and can fit into the passage:
(i) vast; – very large / very wide /enormous / great
(ii) sole – only / one and only / lone
(iii) reclaim – restore / recover / salvage / regain
(iv) mounds – heaps / piles / hills / banks, knolls
(v) glittering – shiny /shining, sparkling, gleaming / shimmering