Taken straight from the papers below — one from each of the most recent years, with the answer marked and the reasoning written out.
JAMB Use of English 2026 · Question 1
COMPREHENSION
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
In the world over, almost without exceptions, the bane of development is inconsistency in policy formulations. Usually, the frequent or occasional but inevitable changes in government often times results in the death knell of existing policies. Successive government don't, most times, align with preceding development trends hence, the colossal waste of public funds on the one hand and the loss of developmental traction on the other.
The recent razzmatazz around a viral post with regard to government's decision to expunge mathematics from the requisite requirements for students seeking admission to the faculties of Arts, Management and the Humanities in general has yet to abate.
In fact, it has propelled mixed reactions in the public domain. While a number of the populace, apparently judging from an internet partipris, that the subject in question is irrelevant to non-science students, has applauded this as a step in the right direction, many an unbiased analyst has subjected this move to acerbic criticism, claiming that it is not only an insensitive decision but also will be counter-productive in the end. It is with the latter I pitch my tent based on the views expressed below.
First, Mathematics should be viewed not from a narrow scientific angle but from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Yes, the core sciences need it more but every discipline requires some competence in calculations. How on earth will a zero stint with simple mathematics produce quality data analysis which remains ubiquitous across the disciplines?
If this absurd decision is not rescinded, then, the plague of unemployability looms much deeper than it had ever been. Apart from being a disservice to the quality of thought process, it will in no small measure retrogress the quality of the after-service delivery of the graduates.
I belong to the Art faculty and well aware of my deficiencies in calculations but at every point in my career, I've always seen the need for deeper knowledge of mathematics and so, I see this as an absurdity borne out of administrative ineptitude on the part of our policy makers. It is incontrovertible that our world is fast becoming data-driven.
Which of these suggests the best title for the passage?
- aPeople's opinions are divided
- bThe need for policy stability — correct answer
- cThe beauty of Mathematics
- dThe challenges of Mathematics
Worked solution
The passage centres on the recurring problem of inconsistent policy-making in government, making 'The need for policy stability' the most fitting title.
JAMB Use of English 2025 · Question 1
COMPREHENSION
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
As a veteran pedagogue of language and communication with experience spanning over three decades, I've never been unintrigued by the symbiotic relationship among the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. So intriguing is it that I always tend to go "overboard" when in a discourse regarding them.
This effort is nevertheless going to be limited in scope to the primal of the four which is one of the two not acquired by learning but by natural acquisition as a gift of providence to mankind. It is crucial to point out here that listening, by its natural configuration is the only one that can never come in excess as a virtue. Who then is a listener? It turns out that the one whose listening acumen is top-notch is the gainer and never the loser. Children who listen to parents end up succeeding and by extension, satisfy the desire of their Maker. A government that listens to the yearnings of the governed remains eternally popular even long after its tenure has ended.
In candour, good listeners never miss anything good because effective listening is an unmistakable tool for excellence. In my curiosity, I discovered that good listeners are winners as students, government workers, servants in God's vineyard and in all spheres of human endeavour they find themselves. The one who listens raptly is the best arbiter. How will one arbitrate in a controversy involving two or more parties and one is benefit of effective listening skills? This is almost impossible lest judgement becomes lopsided.
A good listener easily identifies problems and is able to proffer appropriate and timely solutions to the issues raised.
It seems unarguable that effective listening is that which enhances knowledge acquisition in a way that is devoid of doubts and fear of contradictions. Equally worthy of note is that good listeners are trusted and easily build relationships with people around them.
The high point of this virtue is that it can never be held against the one who exercises it unlike the others which can result in one negativity or the other if exercised out of moderation.
Suffice to round off by asserting that the effective listener is the true leader and the real leader indeed.
The style of the passage is
- aexpository — correct answer
- bargumentative
- cnarrative
- ddescription
Worked solution
The passage explains and clarifies the value of listening through reasoned exposition — an EXPOSITORY style.
JAMB Use of English 2024 · Question 1
COMPREHENSION
Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
With regard to legitimacy, it has no place when lucrative "enterprises" are being catalogued, none, as it were, ranks next to abduction in Nigeria. It remains unarguably the most financially rewarding; heinous as it is.
In a number of cases, some superrich captured double, triple and sometimes quadruple the captors' demands usually to coax the latter to release them, the former, unscathed.
A cursory assessment of the modus operandi of this dastardly vocation immediately reveals the fact that some level of physical strength, meanness, callousness, bravery, audacity, ruthlessness, usually propelled by drug addiction and certainly, expertise in handling all kinds of destructive weapons is required for enlistment into this ungodly trade.
Giving the snowballing yet unbridled sad phase of human labour in our beloved country, many schools of thought have ventured into finding out the whys and hows of this nefarious endeavour and quite interestingly, top on the list is ostentation. Yes, the mercantile disposition of some of the victims make them easy targets. Many a kidnappee flouts the ethics of moderation and flaunts their wealth, the sources of which are often times questionable. Sadder is the realization that these criminals operate on a high level network of intelligence gathering, which, as it has shown, does not exclude friends, family members and business associates. What a world!
Worst of all is the self-induced abduction in which one arranges the abduction of oneself all for nothing but pecuniary interest. One is at this juncture inclined to ask: "Where is the fear of God in the affairs of man?" Husbands, wives, children and most disparagingly, clerics have organised themselves to be kidnapped.
In view of the foregoing, is there any way out of this devastating development, that seems insurmountable? I opine, in unequivocal terms, that culprits should henceforth face death penalty, administered in the most gruesome manner. This alone and only this can serve as a deterrent to aspiring perpetrators, who covet the gains accruing from the pains of others.
Which of these is not true of the passage?
- aIt claims that kidnapping is licit — correct answer
- bIt claims that kidnapping is profitable
- cIt claims that physical stability is required to be a kidnapper
- dIt claims that no other business produces more profit than kidnapping
Worked solution
The passage never claims kidnapping is LICIT (legal) — in fact it calls it 'heinous' and advocates the death penalty for it.
JAMB Use of English 2023 · Question 1
COMPREHENSION
Read the passage carefully and answer the underlisted questions.
The boarding school in which i have studied more than a decade ago was noteworthy by one particular graduate - a famous astronaut. His photo, portraying a handsome young man in a shinning space suit, was hung in the foyer, right in front of the entrance and i used to glance at his bright, confident smile each morning as i passed the doorstep.
Lying in my bed, in the small dormitory room, i have often thought about his personality, habits and things that have inspired him to become an astronaut. I thought the world of him. He was a real hero, lionhearted, strong-willed man who was fearless in his desire to uncover the limitless dark space above our heads. I imagined this very moment when he, wearing a heavy and cumbersome costume, was strictly fastened with a belt to a slanted seat of the space shuttle. I asked myself what thoughts he was engrossed in at the moment when a rumbling noise came announcing the beginning of a journey of no return.
Although the astronaut lived in our city, he has never paid a visit to his former school. However, one day his sister did as a response to the request of our astronomy teacher. She told us many things about her brother's extraordinary biography. He used to be a hooligan, she told us but never rode roughshod over girls or those who were weaker than him. While inquisitive and restless in his nature, he had many hobbies and got easily carried away by books. She also showed us the desk in a chemistry classroom where he used to sit throughout his hey days of youth.
On the next day, I came to school earlier than usual. I sneaked into the chemistry class, which was unused at that time of the day and sat by his desk. Minutes passed by but I could not feel anything. I stared at the shabby, green wooden plate, covered with vulgar writings. I also stared at the roughly painted wall on my right and the ceiling above me with gray spots of peeling stucco. None of this helped me to understand him, none of it let me feel the chilling immenseness of the cosmic space.
What do the author and the astronaut both have in common?
- aThey are both astronauts
- bThey both attended the same school — correct answer
- cThey are from the same family
- dThey both have the same personality
Worked solution
Both the author and the astronaut attended the SAME BOARDING SCHOOL, as stated at the start of the passage.
JAMB Use of English 2022 · Question 1
COMPREHENSION
Read the passage carefully and answer the underlisted questions.
When man evolved a conscience, his basic relationship with other animals began to change. Until then, they were broadly divided into those which ate him when they got the chance, those which he ate when he got the chance, and a third group which competed with him for food, or was otherwise a nuisance to him in the business of keeping alive.
In the primitive situation, man was, therefore basically against nature but as the battle was progressively won, conscience crept in: the awareness of responsibility and a failure to meet it, produced feelings of guilt. Those who live in cities and need no longer do battle against Nature are nowadays most actively for Nature.
At this time, something like a thousand kinds of animals (vertebrate animals) can be said to be in danger of extinction. A few of them have been reduced to this precarious position by extensive killing but the majority are disappearing only as fast as the particular kind of country they need for existence is itself disappearing and all this is at the hands of man, as often is not by mistake.
There are three species of turtles whose future survival is menaced by the demand for turtle soup, which would hardly justify the extermination of a giant reptile whose family has existed for 200 million years. Leopards are in jeopardy because of the fashion for their skins. As they get rarer, the prices rise and, as leopard skin coats become expensive, the demand increase. No species can long survive the price ₦60,000 which a half grown baby leopard now carries on its skin. And crocodiles, the longest surviving reptiles, are now dwindling alarmingly as a result of the fashion in crocodile skin for ladies' handbags and men's shoes.
The human population explosion spreads mankind across the land surface of the earth at an alarming rate. There will be twice as many of us before most of us are dead. Does this mean no room for wild animals? Of course not. With ingenuity and forethought, a place can be kept for them. To destroy their habitat is as unnecessary as it would be to pull down a great cathedral in order to grow potatoes on the site. A campaign to save what remains is the concern of a new kind of Noah's Ark the World Wildlife Fund. It does not believe that all is lost.
Adapted from Peter Scott's article in Sunday Times
The basic causes of the elimination of certain animals from the earth include
- aman's decision to live in cities amid the development of large farmlands
- bextensive killing of animals and the fast disappearance of their favourable habitats — correct answer
- cman's penchant for meat and the sale of animals for meat and hides
- da deliberate battle against Nature amid quest for leopard skin
Worked solution
The passage cites both extensive killing (e.g. for skins) and the disappearance of habitats as the basic causes of animal elimination.