From the words or group of words lettered A to D, below each of the following sentences, choose the word or group of words that is nearest in meaning to the underlined word as it is used in the sentence.

The doctor told his patient about all the things that couldimpair his health.

• A. attack
• B. terminate
• C. damage
• D. reduce

Fill each gap with the most appropriate option from the lists provided.

As election day draws near, the party looks ...... because many of its members have....... other parties?

• A. successful / decleared for
• B. vulnerable / defected to
• C. cheerful / moved to
• D. cheerless / cross-carpeted from

After each of the following sentences, a list of possible interpretations is given. Choose the interpretation that is most appropriate for each sentence.

Mother always tells me to keep my nose clean. This means that she tells me to

• A. stay healthy
• B. be focused
• C. do what pleases me
• D. stay out of trouble

In the following sentence, there is one underlined word and one gap. From the list of words lettered A to D, choose the one that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the underlined word and that will, at the same time, correctly fill the gap in the sentence.

The onceunknown musician became _____ in a very short time.

• A. popular
• B. accepted
• C. respected
• D. admirable

After each of the following sentences, a list of possible interpretations of the sentence is given. Choose the interpretation that you consider most appropriate for each sentence.

On a crucial issue like this, I am sure that Peter, as usual, will sit on the fence. This means that Peter will

• A. speak out his true feelings
• B. not commit himself to any side
• C. be relaxing in his house instead of speaking out
• D. sit on the wall between the two parties

Answer the following question below and choose the option opposite in meaning to the underlined word or phrase in. Bola always lookssober

• A. excited
• B. serious
• C. worried
• D. hapless

Dume .............. in Abraka for three years when i met her

• A. lived
• B. had lived
• C. would have lived
• D. was living

Choose the option nearest in meaning to the underlined word. The popularity of the military dictatorwaned after the war?

• A. increased
• B. changed
• C. declined
• D. skyrocketed

From the words lettered A toD, choose the word that contains the sound represented by the given phonetic symbol.

/k/

• A. champagne
• B. knife
• C. knit
• D. chorus

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.

Early in which month did the southwest moonsoon break?

• A. August
• B. May
• C. July
• D. June