Use Of English 2021 Jamb Examination

The word 'moon' is transcribed as /muːn/, which contains the long close back rounded vowel /uː/. When looking for a match among the options, 'loop' /luːp/ clearly shares this same long /uː/ sound. The other options provided contain the short /ʊ/ sound: 'cook' /kʊk/, 'pull' /pʊl/, and 'look' /lʊk/. Consequently, 'loop' is the only word that replicates the vowel length and quality found in 'moon'.

The word 'creep' /kriːp/ features the long close front unrounded vowel /iː/. To find the same sound, we look at 'beep' /biːp/, which also uses the long /iː/ sound. The other options represent different vowel qualities: 'bring' /brɪŋ/ has the short /ɪ/ sound, 'tread' /tred/ has the short /e/ sound, and 'credit' /ˈkredɪt/ also uses the short /e/ in its primary syllable. Thus, 'beep' is the correct match for 'creep'.

The underlined letter in 'King' /kɪŋ/ represents the voiceless velar plosive consonant sound /k/. In English phonology, the 'ng' at the end of 'King' and 'tongue' represents the velar nasal /ŋ/. However, focusing on the initial sound /k/, we must look for a similar velar articulation. 'Tongue' /tʌŋ/ ends with the same velar nasal /ŋ/ as 'King'. In most JAMB contexts for this specific question, 'tongue' is the expected answer because of the shared velar nasal /ŋ/ sound at the end of both words, despite the underlining of the initial 'K'.

The word 'teach' /tiːtʃ/ begins with the voiceless alveolar plosive /t/. In the list of options, the word 'deviate' /ˈdiːvieɪt/ contains the voiceless alveolar plosive /t/ at the end of the word. The other options focus on the 'th' digraph sounds: 'through' /θruː/, 'wrath' /rɒθ/, and 'both' /bəʊθ/ all feature the voiceless dental fricative /θ/. Therefore, the sound /t/ present in 'deviate' matches the initial consonant sound of 'teach'.

The word 'bark' /bɑːk/ begins with the voiced bilabial plosive /b/. This question tests your knowledge of silent letters. In English, the letter 'b' is silent when it follows 'm' at the end of a word (climb, tomb) or comes before 't' (doubt). In 'climb' /klaɪm/, 'tomb' /tuːm/, and 'doubt' /daʊt/, the 'b' is not pronounced. However, in 'curb' /kɜːb/, the 'b' is fully articulated. Thus, 'curb' is the only word that contains the voiced bilabial plosive /b/ sound.

This question tests the concept of Emphatic Stress. In English, the word in capital letters carries the emphasis, which means it provides the specific piece of new information that answers a question. For the statement 'The Parents Teachers Association promised to build a CAFETERIA', the focus is on what was promised. To identify the correct question, we look for one that keeps every part of the sentence the same except for the emphasised word. Therefore, the question 'Did the parents teachers association promise to build a library?' is correct because the answer provides the specific correction: No, not a library, but a CAFETERIA.

The word SLAPPED is the point of emphasis in this sentence. Emphatic stress functions by contrasting the stressed word with an alternative action or item. To find the appropriate question, we need a query that disputes the action performed while keeping the subject (He) and the object (the teacher) consistent. The question 'Did he greet the teacher?' is the perfect match because it questions the specific action taken, allowing the statement to provide the correction: He didn't greet her, he SLAPPED her.

In the statement 'He travels every WEEKEND', the stress is placed on the time frequency 'WEEKEND'. In emphatic stress patterns, the statement serves as a response that corrects a specific part of a question. The correct question must keep the subject (He) and the verb (travels) the same, but provide a different time frame to be corrected. 'Does he travel every month?' is the correct question because it allows the speaker to contrast 'every month' with the correct information: 'every WEEKEND'.