May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute blue bottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun. The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectations.

But by early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through laterite banks and spilt across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars. And small fish appear in the puddles that fill the PWD potholes on the highways. It was raining when Rahel came back to Ayemenem.

Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, ploughing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives.In the undergrowth, a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf-strewn driveway. The house itself looked empty. The doors and windows were locked. The front verandah bare. Unfurnished.

But the sky blue Plymouth with chrome tail fins was still parked outside, and inside, Baby Kochamma was still alive. She was Rahel's baby grand aunt, her grandfather's younger sister. Her name was really Navomi, Navomi Ipe, but everybody called her Baby. She became Baby Kochamma when she was old enough to be an aunt. Rahel hadn't come to see her, though. Neither niece nor baby grandaunt laboured under any illusions on that account. Rahel had come to see her brother, Estha. They were two-egg twins. Dizygotic' doctors called them. Born from separate but simultaneously fertilized eggs. Estha Esthappen-was the older by 18 minutes.

What was Baby's real name?

• A. Navomi Ipe
• B. Estha
• C. Rachel
• D. Kochamma

The failure of the assimilation policy necessitated of the introduction of

• A. direct rule B. indirect rule
• D. association
• C. paternalism
• D. association

Regardless of the Egyptians' suffering, Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go because

• A. the Israelites gave them cheap labour
• B. Pharaoh wanted to challenge god
• C. god allowed the Israelites to suffer
• D. the Israelites refused to pray to God

When David and Abishai went to the camp of Saul ay Ziph, Saul and his men were fast asleep because

• A. they were tired due to hard day's work
• B. they wanted David to kill Saul and his men
• C. they were afraid of their enermies so they slept in cave
• D. the Lord allowed a deep sleep to fall on them

According to Quran 4:48, to set up partners with Allah is a great offense which Allah will not forgive

• A. except the Prophet (S.A.W) intercedes
• B. until He has forgiven all other sins
• C. except the offender repents
• D. even if He forgives all other sins.

Read the passage below and answer the question The killing of a whale at sea isn't pleasant to witness or even to contemplate. Hunted down through solar and other highly specialized equipment, the whale has no more chance of escape like a steer in a slaughterhouse. The manner of his death, however, is very different. A grenade-tipped harpoon explodes deep within his body, often causing prolonged suffering before the gentle-giant, whose intelligence may be second only to our own, is reduced to a carcass ready for processing into crayons, lipstick, shoe polish, fertilizer, margarine and pet food.

The inhumane manner of death, however, is the least part of the scandal known as the whaling industry. Much more important is the fact that the killing is quite unnecessary. Adeguate substitutes exist for every single use to which the whale carcasses are currently put, and although some 32,000 whales are killed every year, the sum of commodities are provide is insignificant in the world's economy.

The passage is

• A. descriptive
• B. narrative
• C. argumentative
• D. expository

Given that \( a = \begin{pmatrix} 2 \\ 3 \end{pmatrix}\) and \(b = \begin{pmatrix} -1 \\ 4 \end{pmatrix}\), evaluate \((2a - \frac{1}{4}b)\).

• A. \(\begin{pmatrix} \frac{17}{4} \\ 7 \end{pmatrix}\)
• B. \(\begin{pmatrix} \frac{17}{4} \\ 5 \end{pmatrix}\)
• C. \(\begin{pmatrix} \frac{17}{4} \\ 3 \end{pmatrix}\)
• D. \(\begin{pmatrix} \frac{17}{4} \\ 2 \end{pmatrix}\)

citizens can seek redress against injustice from the state through the?

• A. ombudsman
• B. head of civil service
• C. civil service commission
• D. titular executive

(a)(i) Explain briefly each of the following terms: I. anode; II. cathode.

(ii) Sodium and aluminium are extracted by the electrolysis of molten sodium chloride and alumina respectively. Write balanced equations for the reactions at the anode and cathode during the extraction of: I. sodium; II. aluminium.

(iii) Explain briefly why extraction of aluminium is considered environmentally friendly while that of sodium is not.

(b) Consider the reaction represented by the following equation:

K\(_2\)Cr\(_2\)O\(_7\) + HC1--> KCI + CrCl\(_3\) + H\(_2\)O + Cl\(_2\)

(i) Explain briefly why this reaction is redox.

(ii) Write balanced half equations for the reaction.

(iii) Write the over-all balanced reaction equation.

(c) During the electrolysis of molten Al\(_2\)O\(_3\), a current of 6A was passed through the electrolyte for 1 hr. 30 mins. Calculate the mass of aluminium deposited at the cathode.

In the diagram, O is the centre of the circle and PQRS is a cyclic quadrilateral. Find the value of x.

• A. 25°
• B. 65°
• C. 115°
• D. 130°