Use Of English 2016 Jamb Examination

In English grammar, the word 'both' is used to refer to two people or things together. The sentence mentions 'Ola and her sister', which constitutes a pair. Using 'both' emphasizes that the possibility of being offered jobs applies to the two of them as a collective unit. While 'either' is used for one or the other of two, and 'neither' is used for not one nor the other, 'both' is the most natural fit when the conjunction 'and' is present to link the two subjects in this specific sentence structure. 'Each' would typically be used in a structure like 'each of the sisters', making 'both' the grammatically superior choice here.

Luggage (noun) - /ˈlʌɡ.ɪdʒ/
In United Kingdom English, 'luggage' is an uncountable (mass) noun. This means it does not have a plural form and cannot be used with the word 'many', which is reserved for countable nouns. Therefore, 'luggages' is always grammatically incorrect. To express a large quantity of an uncountable noun, we use determiners like 'much' or phrases like 'a lot of'. Option C, 'a lot of luggage', correctly follows the rules of English concord by treating 'luggage' as a singular uncountable entity while indicating a high volume. Options A, B, and D are incorrect either because they pluralize an uncountable noun or use a countable determiner ('many') with an uncountable noun.

This question tests the use of comparative structures. When comparing the number of lawyers from one period (last year) to another (this year), we use the comparative adjective 'more' followed by the conjunction 'than'. This creates a clear logical comparison between the two sets of data. Option A is incorrect because 'than' requires a comparative degree like 'more', not 'many'. Option B is incorrect because 'same' would require 'the same' and 'as' in a different configuration. Option D is incomplete and lacks the proper comparative markers. Thus, 'More... than' is the only option that correctly establishes a comparative relationship in the sentence.

This sentence requires a modal verb phrase that expresses a past obligation or an expectation that was not met. The phrase 'should have known' is used to indicate that something was expected or required of a person in the past, but they failed to realize it or act upon it. In the context of an officer talking to the press (likely a breach of protocol), the speaker is suggesting that the officer had a duty to be aware of the rules. 'Shall know' and 'will know' refer to future states, and 'could have known' suggests a mere possibility rather than the moral or professional obligation implied by the reprimanding tone of the sentence.

This question involves the rules of question tags in English. A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement. The rule is that if the main statement is negative, the tag must be positive. In the sentence 'We shouldn't do it', the auxiliary verb is 'should' and the statement is negative ('shouldn't'). Therefore, the tag must use the positive form of the same auxiliary verb ('should') followed by the subject pronoun ('we'). This results in the tag 'should we'. The other options fail to follow the rules of auxiliary matching and pronoun agreement necessary for a grammatically correct question tag.

A muscle cramp is a sudden, involuntary, and often painful shortening of a muscle. In physiological terms, this shortening is known as a contraction. While muscles normally contract and relax in a coordinated fashion to facilitate movement, a cramp occurs when a muscle or even a few fibres of a muscle contract forcefully without the person intending for it to happen and fail to relax. 'Restriction' refers to a limitation, 'conscription' is a term for compulsory enlistment in state service, and 'relaxation' is the opposite of what causes a cramp. Therefore, the painful state described is a direct result of involuntary muscle contraction.

reprieve - /rɪˈpriːv/
In the word 'reprieve', the underlined 'e' (specifically the 'ie' combination) produces the long /iː/ vowel sound. To find a match, we must look at the phonetic transcriptions of the options:
rich - /rɪtʃ/ (short /ɪ/ sound)
police - /pəˈliːs/ (long /iː/ sound)
queer - /kwɪə/ (diphthong /ɪə/)
probity - /ˈprəʊ.bə.ti/ (the final 'y' is a short /i/ or /ɪ/)
The 'i' in 'police' is pronounced as a long /iː/, which perfectly matches the vowel sound in 'reprieve'. Options like 'rich' and 'probity' use much shorter versions of the 'i' sound, while 'queer' involves a glide toward a neutral sound.

door - /dɔː/
The underlined 'oo' in 'door' represents the long /ɔː/ vowel sound in United Kingdom English. Let us examine the options:
food - /fuːd/ (long /uː/ sound)
cough - /kɒf/ (short /ɒ/ sound)
sure - /ʃɔː/ or /ʃʊə/ (Depending on the speaker, but 'board' is a more consistent match)
board - /bɔːd/ (long /ɔː/ sound)
The word 'board' contains the exact same long /ɔː/ sound as 'door'. While 'sure' can sometimes be pronounced with /ɔː/ in modern RP, 'board' is the classic and unequivocal match for the vowel sound found in 'door'.

famous - /ˈfeɪ.məs/
The underlined 'ou' in 'famous' occurs in an unstressed syllable and is pronounced as a schwa /ə/, which is the most common neutral vowel sound in English. Looking at the options:
soup - /suːp/ (long /uː/ sound)
cook - /kʊk/ (short /ʊ/ sound)
pilot - /ˈpaɪ.lət/ (contains the schwa /ə/ in the second syllable)
colonel - /ˈkɜː.nəl/ (the 'o' is silent or part of the /ɜː/ sound)
The second syllable of 'pilot' contains the neutral schwa sound /ə/, making it the correct phonetic match for the unstressed 'ou' in 'famous'.

choice - /tʃɔɪs/
The underlined 'ch' represents the voiceless palato-alveolar affricate consonant /tʃ/. Let us check the consonant sounds in the options:
schedule - /ˈʃed.juːl/ (starts with /ʃ/ in UK English or /sk/ in US)
teach - /tiːtʃ/ (ends with the /tʃ/ sound)
leisure - /ˈleʒ.ə/ (contains the voiced /ʒ/ sound)
machine - /məˈʃiːn/ (contains the voiceless /ʃ/ sound)
The word 'teach' ends with the exact /tʃ/ sound heard at the beginning of 'choice'. Even though the sound appears at the end of the word rather than the beginning, the consonant sound itself is identical.