1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Traffic congestion in the peak hours is already creating havoc in the main transport route and bottlenecks between Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri. The Ministry of Energy and Mining was estimated that some 50,000 "bakasi",(converted light weight Japanese pickup trucks) operate in the capital.

Undoubtedly, fewer vehicles on the road and elimination of the unsafe 'bakasi' would reduce accidents. an alleviation of daily rush for transport would mean less dependence on 'bakasi' whose capacity is only eight passengers, but which carry up to fifteen, some hanging from the rest with only an arm's hold on the speeding vehicle. "This is the easiest way of killing many people at one go", remarked Mark Simon a self-employed laborer. With no alternative, thousands of workers each day make their way home.

Since 1977- according to government statistics- traffic accidents, unlicensed drivers, death and severe injuries caused by cars, have actually decreased. In 1977, 204 people were reported killed in Khartoum in traffic accidents. In 1982, only 136 perished.

Unfortunately, the fewer numbers are likely more a reflection of the reduced monitoring capacity of the traffic department than safer driving.

In addition to the absence of safety regulations for public transport the current state being one of survival of the fittest, and he who does not push and shove does not get home-traffic regulations are largely ignored.

With the installation of traffic lights, the work-load of the traffic policeman might be thought to have been reduced. However, more often than not, traffic lights are out order, creating not only confusion for drivers are often than not, traffic lights are out of order, creating not only confusion for drivers, but also the need for the posting of police on traffic duty.

More acute is the danger to pedestrians. With most of the white lined Zebra crossings faded, drivers are unaware of the pedestrians' right of way. Unfortunately, there average driver simply ignores the waiting pedestrians and merely swerves to miss the pedestrians who characteristically walk into the traffic anyway.

The men and women behind the wheel are very inconsiderate. The rule of driving is often, the bigger the car the fastest one must go. Rather than their horns to intimidate the road users, for the Khartoum drivers, excessive hooting has replaced the users of turn indicators, rear view mirrors or a simple caution.

To obtain a road license in Sudan, it is said that one may need to do nothing more than fill out forms and pay the standard fee. One Khartoumer remarked, "You could be away in Europe and return to find a relative has got you a perfectly legal license for a car which has no wheels and no engine."

The men behind the wheels of 'bakasi' and Lorries which everyday more thousands through the city are traditionally migrants from the country side with a notorious disregard for basic safety. Learners often pick up bad driving habits from their inexperienced tutors.

Law enforcement is also ineffective because of ridiculously low fines; for example, the tine of failing to renew a license is $5, the same as it was two decade ago.

The majority of accidents according to Dr. Zein occur on public holidays. This is because most drivers involved in accidents are under the influence of alcohol. Between 50 to 60 per cent of those examined are found to be drunk.

(Adapted from Sudanew, LSI, Vol. 8 NO. 2 Feb 1982)

Question:

In not more than 100 words, explain what, according to the write are the cause of road accidents?

 

2. Read this passage and answer the questions that follow.

There can be few more depressing stories in the entire history of man's exploration of nature than the destruction of the unfortunate great whales. The whales have not only suffered untold cruelty but now face total extermination. Already entire population s have been wiped out, and the only reason why no species has yet been finished off id due to the vastness and inaccessibility of the oceans, a pocket or two somewhere has always managed to escape. How ironic if biological extinction were to complete the job.

The basic rule of extinction is very simple: It occurs when a species' mortality is continually greater than its recruitment. There are, though, some very special additional factors in the case of whales.

Man does not actually have to kill the last whales of a species with his own hands, as it were, to cause its disappearance. Biological extinction will quickly follow the end of commercial whaling should that end be due to a shortage of raw materials i.e. of whales. Whales have long sought to defend their wretched trade by insisting that whales are automatically protected as soon as they become rare, and therefore uneconomic to purse, man will have no choice but to stop the hunting. That is a very nice theory, but it is the theory of an accountant and not of a biologist: only an accountant could apply commercial economics to complex biological systems. The reason s for its absurdity are many and varied. In the case of whaling it can he summed up in the following way. When the stock has been reduced below critical level, a natural, possibility unstoppable downward spiral begins because of three main factors. First, the animals lucky enough to survive the slaughter will be too scattered to locate one another owing to the vastness of the oceans. Secondly whales being sociable animals probably need the stimulus of sizeable gatherings to induce reproductive behavior (which has social; inferences as well as sexual). It is quite likely that two individuals meeting through chance will not be compatible. (They can hardly be expected to be aware of their own rarity or to realize any need for adjusting their natural inclinations). This is especially so with polygamous species like the sperm whale.

Thirdly, and perhaps most important in the long term, even allowing that the whales might still be able to band together in socially acceptable groups (thanks to their undeniably excellent communicative systems there is a real danger, possibly even a probability , that the whales gene pools would by then have sunk so low as to be biologically unviable. That is to say, the characteristics possessed by the original population in total would be whittled down by those characters possessed by the few remaining individuals. The result of such a biological calamity is in-breeding; less ability to adapt to new conditions and less individual variety, three words can sum it up: protracted biological extinction.

(From Mammals of seals by Richard M. Martin, published by Nicholas Enterprises Ltd)

Questions:

1) Give four words from the passage that suggests what whales have a problem.

2) Briefly explain the meaning of the following words and expression as used in the passage:

i) vastness

ii) species

iii) not compatible

iv) white down

3) When, according to the writer, is it possible for extinction to occur?

4) What reasons do the whales give to argue that the whales cannot become extinct?

5) Give one reason why the numbers of whales could never recover even when whaling has stopped.

 

3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Some of the ways of the British students did appear to me distinctly odd, as no doubt mine did to them. I found, for example, their refusal to admit the necessity for a daily bath, even in higher summer, a little godliness and also lie next to the skin. Whenever I would hear students in Britain referring to that curious institution of theirs, the 'bath-night', as though it were a special and very welcome weekly recurrence. I would think of the little scream which splashed under the bridge in Lokko. It was temperamental stream; during the dry season it would shrink to a mere trickle, and at the height of the rains it would swell to a boiling, pounding cataract which could sweep grown-up men away. But every day, rainy season or dry, it would be the scene of busy laundry and toilet activity for a large number of people. What better and more sensible time to wash your clothes than when you yourself are having your bath? The water vasa soft and cool, and the rocks, hard and smooth, were perfect for beating clothes against. There was only one unwritten law about this admirable practice- no mixed bathing: and a good beating and cursing for any peeping Tom. And throughout history, conquered good habits The British in Africa also bathe assiduously whatever the weather.

I found in contrast to the casual attitude of many British students towards personal cleanliness, the concern of the British generally over the tidiness of their homes, streets, gardens and parks was limitless. Here I believed they could teach us much. Everywhere you went, you sensed a tradition of providing a place for everything and making sure that the place was used as intended. Surface water, sewage waste paper, old rags, bottles and bones, even smoke: everything must be properly disposed of. The proper conservation and controlled use of all national resources if necessary in a relatively wealthy country such as this. I thought, must be thousand times more so for us.

I could not help noticing, too, the individualism of the British, and the looseness of this family ties and obligations, as compared with ours. We were brought up to have an intense pride in our family, and an intense loyalty to it; and to feel that that pride and loyalty must extend to most distant relative known to us. The word 'family' means more to an African than it does to a European; and many of us smile quietly when we hear British people talking about family life in their country. How little of it there really is! I remember how no one either in Lokko or in Sageresa, old or young, took any important decision without first discussing the pros and cons with every available relative. A wedding, christening, funeral or initiation ceremony not attended by every member of the family who was not overseas would be unthinkable.

In times of adversity, there were literally scores and scores of relatives to console one; in times of prosperity a similar number turned up o share both your joy and your material wealth. A man who merely disliked you cursed you; a man who hated you cursed your family. It was all really an elaborate and most effective system of social security; and through it the very great extremes of wealth and poverty which have brought suffering and injustice into the social life of so many European countries (and revolution and bloodshed to some) have thus far been avoided in Africa. We had a joke amongst ourselves in the hostel in Newcastle that the Englishman treats his dog as he should his nephew, and his nephew as merely another man's son.

(From; 'The African' by William Conton)

Questions;

1) Which of the following statements is true?

A. British students bathed as often as the author.

B. British students treated the 'bath-night' as if it were a welcome weekly reoccurrence.

C. British students believed it unnecessary to bath more often in summer.

D. British students had the same habits as the author.

2) The word 'temperamental' in paragraph one means;

A. that one was never certain how it would behave

B. that it did not flow very often.

C. that it was angry.

D. that one could tell the time by it.

3) The average British is more individualistic:

A. because he has more obligations to meet.

B. because his family ties are not as strong.

C. because he is disloyal to his family.

D. because he is never a part of a large family.

4) "A man who hated you cursed your family" because

A. this was the worst thing he could say to you.

B. such a remark would never cause bloodshed.

C. the family is a very central element to an individual's existence.

D. it was safer to do this.

5) The concluding sentence of the passage " We had a joke amongst ourselves in the hostel in Newcastle that the Englishman treats his dog as he should his nephew as merely another man's son." This implies

A. that an Englishman treats his nephews in the same way as he treats animals.

B. that an Englishman treats animals better than he treats relatives.

C. that an Englishman treats other children better than he treats his own sons.

D. that an Englishman treats his nephew better than he treats his own sons.

4. Rewrite as instructed and do not change the meaning.

1) Do you know the departure time of the Arusha train?

(Replace: "departure" with depart)

2) The teachers are not responsible for the pupils' poor performance in anyway.

(Begin: In......)

3) The Hilton is the most expensive hotel in Nairobi.

(Use......as....as...)

4) That was the worst storm they had ever seen.

(Begin: Never......)

5) He recovered from his cold quickly. There was no need for him to see a doctor. (Rewrite as one sentence. Use..........so.....needn't...........)

6) "Will William be able to come home at Christmas?" asked his youngest sister.

(Rewrite without inverted commas.)

7) Mukasa's mother said he will be back from school soon.

(Punctuate the sentence)

8) Our teacher said he was pleased we had corrected out composition so carefully.

(Use: congratulated)

9) The second cake she baked was even less successful than the first when it came out of the oven.

(Rewrite to finish...............as the first.)

10) It rained at lunch time but Sports Day was a great success.

(Begin: In spite of ......)

 

5. Choose the Best among the alternative.

1) It was his most.....................deed, to dive into the water and save the child.

A. heroic

B. silly

C. daring

D. extraordinary

2) The water was very................and we couldn't swim easily.

A. shallow

B. space

C. deep

D. infectious

3) In no time people get fed...................a tyrant ruler.

A. down with

B. up with

C. across with

D. fully with

4) While crossing the railway line, his car broke....................

A. up

B. down

C. off

D. apart

5) When he reached the station, the train...............already.

A. left

B. has left

C. had left

D. was leaving

6) Never...............so hilariously.

A. they laughed

B. they would laugh

C. they have laughed

D. had they laughed

7) The building collapsed as its..................was weak.

A. bottom

B. base

C. floor

D. foundation

8) The police force is always alert in..................crime

A. shutting

B. prohibiting

C. preventing

D. arresting

9) He..........................in the school for the last three years.

A. was working

B. is working

C. had work

D. had been working

10) Being tired, Grace....................on the way.

A. laid down

B. had lain

C. lay down

D. lied down