Use Of English 2021 Jamb Examination

The correct spelling is Accommodation. This word is a classic 'spelling trap' in English exams because it requires a double 'c' (cc) and a double 'm' (mm). Many people mistakenly drop one of the 'm's. A helpful mnemonic to remember this is: 'Large ccommodations have room for ccats and mmice.'

In English, words ending in the suffix -graphy (such as photography, geography, biography) always have the primary stress on the antepenultimate syllable (the third syllable from the end). In the word bi-og-ra-phy, the second syllable 'og' carries the stress. Therefore, the correct pronunciation is /baɪˈɒɡrəfi/.

For the word successful, the primary stress is on the second syllable. The root word is 'success' /səkˈses/, where the stress falls on the 'cess'. Adding the suffix '-ful' does not change the stress position of the root. Thus, the word is pronounced /səkˈsesfl̩/ with the emphasis on the second syllable.

Words ending in the suffix -cracy (like democracy, autocracy, aristocracy) follow the rule where the stress falls on the syllable immediately preceding the suffix. In the word de-moc-ra-cy, the second syllable 'moc' is the one that is stressed. This is a consistent pattern for four-syllable words ending in '-acy'.

Words ending in the suffix -ional or -tion usually have the primary stress on the syllable just before the suffix. For con-ven-tion-al, the stress is placed on the second syllable 'ven'. This follows the general rule for multisyllabic words where the suffix influences the stress to shift toward the middle of the word.

In English grammar, reciprocal pronouns are used when two or more people carry out the same action toward one another. 'Each other' is traditionally used when referring to two people, while 'one another' is used for more than two. Since the sentence specifies 'two friends', 'each other' is the grammatically correct choice. 'Themselves' would imply they made promises to their own persons, not to each other.

The correct word to use here is 'whose', which is the possessive form of 'who'. It is used to ask or show to whom something belongs or who initiated something. The phrase 'at whose instance' is a formal way of saying 'at the request of whom'. 'Whose' already indicates possession, so adding an apostrophe and 's' (as in options B and D) is grammatically incorrect.

The prepositional phrase meaning 'notwithstanding' or 'regardless of' is written as three separate words: 'in spite of'. Option B is incorrect because 'inspite' is not a word in English. 'Despite' (without 'of') could also work, but since 'despite that' requires a clause following it, and here we have a noun phrase ('his poor health'), 'in spite of' is the only correct construction.

This question tests the Order of Adjectives. In English, multiple adjectives must follow a specific sequence: Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose. 1. Good-looking (Opinion) 2. Tall (Size/Physical quality) 3. Dark (Colour) 4. American (Origin) Following this rule, Option B is the only sequence that sounds natural and follows standard grammatical rules.

The word 'head' is transcribed as /hed/, featuring the short front mid-vowel /e/. In this word, the digraph 'ea' represents this short sound. Examining the options, we find that 'red' /red/ contains the exact same short /e/ vowel sound. In contrast, 'bead' /biːd/ contains the long /iː/ sound, 'rear' /rɪə/ uses a centering diphthong, and 'stir' /stɜː/ uses the long central vowel /ɜː/. Therefore, the vowel in 'red' is the phonological match for the one found in 'head'.