JAMB Use Of English 2018
Questions & Answers

Options like popular or regular might seem like plausible opposites due to everyday associations with temporary status. 'Temporary' means lasting for a short time, so the opposite is 'permanent', meaning lasting indefinitely. In the context of accommodation, 'permanent' fits best, as it implies a long-term arrangement, unlike 'popular' (well-liked), 'recognized' (acknowledged), or 'regular' (consistent). Common mistake: Choosing a word that relates to frequency or approval rather than duration.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'guests' because they are present at the concert, or 'judges' since they also sit and watch, but neither category represents a direct opposition to an audience member. 2) Reasoning to the answer: An event's attendees are described as 'spectators' because they merely watch, making the direct opposite 'performers', who take an active role by presenting the concert itself. Meanwhile, 'ushers' serve to guide attendees, leaving 'performers' as the true antithesis to passive watching. Common mistake: Confusing active participants of an event with its attendees.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'responsible' because it is a synonym rather than an antonym, or 'unquestionable' due to the prefix 'un-', but neither represents the true opposite in meaning. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Because the target word denotes legal obligation and responsibility, the direct antonym is 'unanswerable', which signifies being free from liability or accountability. The words 'responsible' and 'accountable' function as synonyms of the term, whereas 'unquestionable' simply means undeniable and fails to fit the financial obligation context. Common mistake: Selecting a synonym instead of an antonym.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'reflection' because it involves light bouncing off a surface near the sun, but this refers to a mirrored image rather than the illumination itself. 2) Reasoning to the answer: A 'shadow' is created when an object blocks light, leaving a dark area, whereas 'rays' represent the actual beams of light emitted by the sun. Therefore, 'rays' provide the direct opposite phenomenon by supplying the light that creates the shadow, while 'resemblance' and 'substance' remain completely unrelated to light physics. Common mistake: Choosing a related visual concept like a reflection instead of the light source responsible for the shadow.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'indiscreetly' because it is an adverb ending similarly, but carelessness does not imply bravery. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Acting with bravery translates to behaving 'courageously', which finds its closest synonym in 'fearlessly' since both terms express boldness when confronting attackers. Conversely, 'shyly' and 'timidly' denote fear and hesitation, making them opposites of the intended meaning rather than synonyms. Common mistake: Confusing boldness with carelessness or timidity.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'give in' because it relates to yielding, or 'give away' due to the transfer of items, but these phrasal verbs do not mean handing something over to authorities. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The verb 'surrender' means to hand something over under compulsion, which matches 'give up' in its sense of relinquishing possession of the illicit loot. Other phrasal options like 'give out' signify distribution rather than forfeiture to officials. Common mistake: Confusing yielding to pressure with distributing or donating items.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'beggarly' because of the association with wealth and poverty, or 'pompous' because wealthy people can be arrogant, but neither addresses stinginess. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The adjective 'niggardly' describes a person who is stingy and unwilling to spend money, making 'miserly' the exact synonym that matches the citizens' tightfisted behavior. Words like 'sordid' relate to being dirty or ignoble rather than financially withholding. Common mistake: Associating wealth with arrogance or poverty instead of financial stinginess.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'take care of' because it shares a sense of personal involvement, or 'visit' because of meeting someone in town, but neither captures the act of visually searching for a person. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The phrase 'look out for' means to keep a watchful eye out for someone, meaning 'watch for' is the closest match as it implies Olu will actively seek her arrival. General actions like greeting or meeting lack the component of scanning the environment for the individual. Common mistake: Confusing general social interactions with the act of keeping a watchful eye.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select literal options like 'turned white' or 'turned into snow' by taking the idiom too literally, but the context requires a figurative interpretation. 2) Reasoning to the answer: When earnings have 'snowballed', they undergo a rapid increase much like a rolling snowball gathers mass, which means 'grew' serves as the proper contextual equivalent. Literal translations involving weather or frozen water are entirely out of place in a discussion about increasing income. Common mistake: Interpreting idiomatic expressions literally instead of looking at their figurative growth.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'abided by' because it sounds formal, but obeying rules is distinct from executing a commitment. 2) Reasoning to the answer: To have 'made good' on a pledge means to successfully carry it out, making 'fulfilled' the exact synonym that shows the preacher kept his word. Options such as 'seen to' or 'accepted' deal with handling tasks or agreeing rather than successfully honoring a prior commitment. Common mistake: Confusing the execution of a promise with general agreement or rule-following.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'suspicious marks' because battering involves crime, but suspiciousness does not inherently mean the marks clearly demonstrate physical abuse. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The compound adjective 'tell-tale' denotes something that makes a fact clearly evident, meaning 'revealing marks' fits best as it points to visible, undeniable evidence of physical battering. Terms like confirming or signifying lack that specific emphasis on disclosing hidden truths. Common mistake: Confusing marks that look suspicious with those that actively reveal the truth.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'got themselves burned accidentally' by connecting the furnace literal heat to the worker's fate, but the context relies on a figurative use of the word. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Being 'fired' in an occupational setting indicates termination of employment, meaning 'were sacked from their jobs' accurately reflects the misfortune that befell the workers following the accident. Voluntary leaps into fire or accidental burns ignore the professional context of the sentence entirely. Common mistake: Taking professional job termination literally as physical burning.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'resumed' because an educational term restarts after a break, but a brand-new system is being initiated rather than re-started. 2) Reasoning to the answer: When something 'took off', it experienced a successful launch, which aligns with 'began' to describe the initiation of the new educational framework. Words like 'went off' or 'continued' fail to convey the initial launch point of a newly introduced entity. Common mistake: Confusing the continuation or resumption of an old schedule with the initial launch of a new system.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'plenty' because it implies abundance, but plenty does not inherently mean an excess over what is required. 2) Reasoning to the answer: A 'surplus' specifically denotes an amount that exceeds actual requirements, pointing directly to 'more than enough' as the precise equivalent for the harvest yield. Words like 'limitless' exaggerate the quantity, and 'enough for need' describes sufficiency rather than an excess. Common mistake: Confusing a simple abundance with an excess that goes beyond actual needs.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'not taped' because recording devices are common in interviews, but confidentiality extends beyond audio equipment. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The phrase 'off the record' is a journalistic term for information shared with the agreement that it will not be published, making 'not intended for publication' the correct contextual meaning. Physical government record books or audio tapes miss the broader confidentiality agreement meant by the speaker. Common mistake: Limiting a confidentiality agreement to the physical absence of recording tapes or written documents.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'anxious' because seeing an authority figure causes nervousness, but anxiety is not the same as delaying action. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Being 'hesitant' implies a state of being unwilling, unsure, or slow to act out of caution, making 'reluctant' the closest match for the driver's cautious pause before the warden. Physical inability or slow speed fails to capture the psychological reluctance of the driver. Common mistake: Confusing nervousness or anxiety with unwillingness to act.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'became dumb' by interpreting the idiom with extreme literalness regarding speech loss. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The idiomatic expression 'lost her tongue' describes someone who temporarily cannot speak due to acute shyness or stage fright, perfectly aligning with Binta saying nothing because she was shy. Literal medical conditions like becoming deaf and dumb are completely outside the intended figurative scope. Common mistake: Interpreting idiomatic expressions of nervousness as permanent medical conditions.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'related to Hercules' because of the root word, but this is a literal distraction rather than a contextual synonym. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Something described as 'herculean' requires immense strength or effort, which makes 'demanding' the appropriate synonym for a difficult task. Stimulating or irregular qualities do not communicate the extreme effort associated with the mythological hero's trials. Common mistake: Choosing the literal mythological reference instead of the contextual meaning of difficulty.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'accidentally' because breaking a mallet sounds unintentional, but the context involves a deceptive show of keeping order. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The word 'ostensibly' indicates a stated or apparent reason that may mask true motives, making 'apparently' the ideal fit for his outwardly declared intent to keep order. Words like angrily or carelessly describe emotional states or execution rather than the surface-level deception implied. Common mistake: Confusing a deceptive outward appearance with an accidental action.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'break into' because it describes unauthorized entry, but it is grammatically ill-suited to serve as the noun object following 'report the'. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Jibril went to the police to report a crime incident, which uses the phrasal noun form 'break in' to denote the burglary itself. Other phrasal verbs like 'break out' or 'break up' describe escaping or dissolving relationships rather than a residential burglary. Common mistake: Using the verb phrase 'break into' instead of the noun form 'break in' after a direct article.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick one of the alternative spellings due to phonetic confusion, but those are invalid strings. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Illegal movement of funds across borders is termed 'currency trafficking', which requires the correct double-'f' spelling found in option A. The other options fail standard English orthography rules for this specific criminal enterprise. Common mistake: Misspelling words containing double consonants such as 'trafficking'.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'few' because oranges are countable nouns, overlooking the fact that the speaker has run out entirely. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The speaker states an apology for not sharing any oranges because none are left, making 'little' the quantifier that aligns with the available options to express near-total scarcity. Although oranges are technically countable, the phrasing in the options relies on 'little' to signify the depleted supply. Common mistake: Applying strict countability rules while ignoring the contextual implication of having nothing left.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'deal with' because it handles a problem, but it lacks the strong connotation of enduring persistent annoyance. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The husband wants the children sent to bed because he cannot endure their disturbance any longer, which matches the phrasal verb 'put up with'. Expressions like 'make do with' imply resourcefulness rather than tolerating a nuisance. Common mistake: Confusing general problem-solving with the tolerance of an ongoing annoyance.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'Are there any news' because 'news' sounds plural, but grammatical number requires singular treatment. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Because the noun 'news' is strictly uncountable and takes a singular verb, the correct interrogative form is 'Is there any news'. Options using plural verbs like 'are' violate basic subject-verb agreement rules for uncountable terms. Common mistake: Treating words that end in 's' as plural nouns regardless of their uncountable status.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly pick 'off hand' because it sounds similar, but it means acting casually or without preparation rather than reciting from memory. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Reciting the National Anthem from memory without looking at a text corresponds precisely to the idiom 'off by heart'. Other expressions like 'at hand' imply physical proximity rather than internal memorization. Common mistake: Confusing the idiom 'off by heart' with the unrelated phrase 'off hand'.

1) Distractor check: A student might mistakenly select 'would' or 'could' because they are past-tense modals, but they do not convey past habitual states as effectively as the correct choice. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The phrase 'Gone are the days when' establishes a nostalgic reflection on former routines, making 'used to' the ideal choice to indicate a discontinued past habit. Modal verbs like 'will' or 'conditional would' fail to capture the habitual continuity of the bygone era. Common mistake: Using generic past modals instead of the specific phrase for habitual past actions.

1) Distractor check: Students might mistakenly select 'cease' because it sounds phonetically similar, or 'sieze' due to common spelling confusion, while 'sease' is completely fabricated. 2) Reasoning to the answer: An officer taking property into custody is confiscating it, which matches the definition of 'seize' in this legal and enforcement context. 3) Common mistake: Confusing the spelling and meaning with 'cease', which means to stop.

1) Distractor check: A student might choose 'moral' or 'morals' thinking they relate to personal ethics or goodness, or 'morality' representing the overarching principle, rather than group mindset. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The sentence refers to a group advantage stemming from collective confidence and high spirits, making 'morale' the correct term for group psychological climate. 3) Common mistake: Mixing up 'morale' (group spirit) with 'moral' (ethical).

1) Distractor check: Test-takers might lean towards 'in front' focusing on literal position, 'for' indicating purpose, or 'to' showing direction of movement. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Presenting suspects for visual identification uses the standard prepositional pairing, rendering 'paraded before the victim' the natural choice. 3) Common mistake: Choosing 'in front' based on physical space rather than the proper idiom.

1) Distractor check: Candidates might mistakenly pick 'have persevered', 'persevered', or 'would persevere' by overlooking the specific requirements of third conditional structures. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Expressing a retroactive regret for an action left undone requires the past perfect tense within an unreal conditional, meaning 'had persevered' correctly aligns with the subsequent clause. 3) Common mistake: Failing to match the conditional clause tense to the past possibility result.

1) Distractor check: A student might incorrectly choose 'leaped' or 'leapt' as simple past forms, or 'leap' as the base infinitive form. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Because the sentence describes witnessing an ongoing action at the exact moment the police approached, the present participle 'leaping' must be used to show the continuous nature of the movement. 3) Common mistake: Selecting a past tense verb instead of a participle for an ongoing observed action.

1) Distractor check: Students could mistakenly pick 'are', 'were', or 'have' by incorrectly looking at the plural noun 'loudspeakers' instead of the head noun. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The grammatical subject is the singular entity 'The only set', meaning the singular verb 'is' must be selected to agree properly with the head noun rather than the modifying prepositional phrase. 3) Common mistake: Matching the verb to the closest noun ('loudspeakers') instead of the true singular subject ('set').

1) Distractor check: Candidates may select 'too many luggage', 'many luggages', or 'plenty luggages' assuming the noun is countable and can take plural suffixes. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Since the word 'luggage' is strictly uncountable in English, quantities must be expressed using 'a lot of luggage' instead of modifying it with direct pluralizations. 3) Common mistake: Treating the uncountable noun 'luggage' as countable.

1) Distractor check: A learner might select 'was taken away' thinking of physical removal, 'came off' for detachment, or 'quenched' for extinguishing fires. 2) Reasoning to the answer: When electrical power fails unexpectedly during an activity like studying, the standard phrasal verb used for a sudden outage is that the light 'went off'. 3) Common mistake: Confusing physical removal phrasal verbs with electrical failures.

1) Distractor check: Test-takers might choose 'follow you' implying literal trailing, 'come by you' meaning visiting, or 'come as your second' referencing historical duels. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Asking to accompany someone traveling to the market requires the standard idiomatic request phrase 'come with you'. 3) Common mistake: Selecting literal translations like 'follow you' instead of standard accompaniment idioms.

1) Distractor check: Students might pick 'layed' as a false spelling, 'lied' meaning to tell falsehoods, or 'lain' as an incorrect participle form. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The production of eggs by chickens requires the past tense form of the verb 'lay', which is 'laid'. 3) Common mistake: Confusing the verb 'lay' (to produce eggs) with 'lie' (to recline or deceive).

1) Distractor check: Students might select positive outcomes like improved diagnostics or enhanced efficiency, mistaking general advantages for negative issues. 2) Reasoning to the answer: The passage explicitly outlines that training data can carry hidden prejudices that carry over into algorithmic decision-making, which means 'bias in algorithms' is the correct ethical concern. 3) Common mistake: Confusing the technological benefits of AI with its ethical warnings.

1) Distractor check: Candidates might pick 'agreed' as a synonym, 'partial' meaning incomplete, or 'conditional' implying restrictions. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Because 'unanimous' indicates complete harmony and total agreement, the direct semantic opposite is 'divided', reflecting fracture and disagreement. 3) Common mistake: Choosing a word related to partial completion instead of direct opposition in agreement.

1) Distractor check: A student might choose 'forced', 'pushed', or 'driven' by assuming physical or external coercion rather than emotional impact. 2) Reasoning to the answer: Emotional reactions triggered by tragic news are idiomatically described by saying someone was 'moved' to tears. 3) Common mistake: Confusing physical force verbs with emotional response idioms.

1) Distractor check: Test-takers could select 'calming' as an antonym, 'factual' as an unrelated descriptive trait, or 'uninspiring' as an opposite tone. 2) Reasoning to the answer: An 'inflammatory' speech provokes and incites an audience, making 'provocative' the closest synonym among the choices provided. 3) Common mistake: Selecting an uninspiring descriptor instead of capturing the inciting nature of the speech.