JAMB English Language 2003 Past Questions & Answers

The correct option is 'a dozen white eggs' because it follows the proper English rule for ordering words before a noun. The correct order is determiner ('a'), followed by the quantifier ('dozen'), then the adjective ('white'), and finally the noun ('eggs'). The other options mix up this order, making them grammatically incorrect.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'a white dozen eggs' because they try to place the adjective 'white' directly before the noun phrase 'dozen eggs', not realizing the quantifier 'dozen' must come before the adjective.

The correct option is 'that' because the phrase 'The reason why... was...' must be completed by a noun clause that explains the reason. The word 'that' correctly introduces this noun clause. Using 'because' would be incorrect as the phrase 'The reason is because' is redundant; it's like saying 'The reason is the reason'. Therefore, the grammatically correct and formal structure is 'The reason was that...'.

Common mistake: Students often choose 'because' since the phrase 'the reason is because' is very common in everyday speech, but it is considered grammatically incorrect in formal written English.

The sentence requires the possessive form of the plural noun 'materials' to show that the writers belong to the course materials. Since 'materials' is a plural noun that ends in 's', we form the possessive by simply adding an apostrophe after the 's'. Therefore, 'materials'' is the correct option.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'material's' because they confuse the rule for singular possessives ('s) with the rule for plural possessives that end in 's' (s').

This question is a second conditional sentence, which is used for imaginary or hypothetical situations. The grammatical rule for this structure requires 'would' in the main clause when the 'if' clause uses the past tense ('saw'). Therefore, the correct structure is 'If you saw..., would you...?'.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'will', confusing this with a first conditional sentence which pairs the present tense with 'will' (e.g., 'If you see..., will you...?').

The correct option is 'man' because the word 'some' can be used before a singular noun to refer to a particular but unspecified person. In this sentence, 'some kind man' means 'a certain kind man' or 'one kind person'. This is the most natural and grammatically appropriate way to complete the thought that an unknown individual will offer help.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'men' because they associate the word 'some' only with plural nouns, not realizing it can also be used to refer to a single, unspecified person.

This question tests your knowledge of reported speech. Since the reporting verb 'asked' is in the past tense, the verb in the reported clause must also shift to the past tense. Therefore, the present tense 'is' in the direct question ('What is the problem?') must change to the past tense 'was'. The correct structure for a reported question is subject-verb, which is 'the problem was'.

Common mistake: Students often choose 'The problem is' because they forget to apply the sequence of tenses rule, which requires a backshift to the past tense when the reporting verb is in the past.

The question tests the correct form of a word to fit into a sentence. The phrase 'one of the...' must be followed by a plural noun or a collective noun representing a group. 'Elite' is a collective noun for a select, powerful group, making 'one of the elite' the correct and standard expression. The provided option 'ellte' is a common typographical error for 'elite'.

Common mistake: Many students choose 'elites' because they correctly apply the 'one of the + plural noun' rule, but they overlook that 'elite' is more commonly used as a collective noun in this context.

This question tests subject-verb agreement, also known as concord. For the first blank, the subject is 'Three quarters of the people'. Since 'people' is a plural noun, the verb must be plural, which is 'were'. For the second blank, the subject is 'half of their huts'. In this specific context, 'half' is treated as a singular unit or portion, so it takes the singular verb 'was'.

Common mistake: Students often choose 'were/were' because they correctly identify 'huts' as a plural noun, but they miss the nuance where the fraction 'half' is treated as a singular subject in this sentence.

The number 'three' signals that a plural noun is required. When 'man' or 'woman' is used as a modifier for another noun, a special grammar rule applies where both words are made plural. Therefore, 'one woman occupant' becomes 'three women occupants', making this the correct option.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'woman occupants' by applying the general rule that a modifying noun stays singular, but they forget the special exception for the words 'man' and 'woman'.

The correct answer is B because the question tests the knowledge of a fixed idiomatic expression. The correct idiom is 'to take the law into one's own hands', which means to punish someone according to your own ideas of justice, without involving the police or the courts. The other options use incorrect prepositions or wording, breaking the fixed structure of the idiom.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose option A, 'in their own hands,' because the preposition 'in' is commonly used with 'hands,' but this specific idiom always requires 'into'.

The correct option is 'determining' because the sentence needs an adjective to describe the noun 'factor'. The word 'determining' acts as a participle adjective, meaning something that strongly influences or decides an outcome. The phrase 'a determining factor' is a standard English expression for a crucial element that leads to a particular result.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'determinant' because it is a noun with a similar meaning, but the sentence structure 'a ... factor' requires an adjective ('determining') to describe the noun 'factor'.

The question tests the appropriate grammatical structure for showing agreement. The first statement, 'I can't stand...', is negative. To agree with a negative statement, a negative response is required, such as 'Me neither' or 'Neither do I'. Therefore, 'Me neither' is the correct option to show that Agbenu shares the same feeling as 'Ladi.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'Me too' because they forget that this expression is only used to agree with positive statements, not negative ones.

This question tests the rule of subject-verb agreement, also known as concord. When a plural noun that refers to a period of time, a sum of money, or a distance is treated as a single unit, it must take a singular verb. In this sentence, 'Four weeks' is considered one single block of time, so it requires the singular verb 'is'.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'are' because the subject 'weeks' is a plural noun, without realizing that it functions as a single unit of time in this context.

This question tests your knowledge of forming possessives with indefinite pronouns. In the phrase 'someone else', the word 'someone' is the primary pronoun that needs to show possession. Therefore, the apostrophe 's' is added directly to 'someone', making 'someone's else' the correct form to indicate ownership in this context.

Common mistake: A common mistake is to add the possessive to the last word of the phrase ('else'), leading students to incorrectly choose 'someone else's'.

The correct option is 'whom' because it is the object form of the relative pronoun used for people. In the sentence, the 'Classmate' is the person who was 'seen', making them the object of the verb 'seen'. Therefore, the objective pronoun 'whom' is required to correctly link the two parts of the sentence.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'that' because it is commonly used in spoken English, but in formal grammar, 'whom' is the correct pronoun for the object of a verb referring to a person.

This sentence is a polite request using a conditional structure. In this specific form, when the 'if' clause uses 'would' to make a polite request (If you would do...), the main clause that follows also uses 'would' to show the resulting gratitude (I would be grateful). This creates a balanced and grammatically correct polite conditional sentence.

Common mistake: Many students might choose 'will' because they are familiar with the first conditional structure (e.g., 'If you help me, I will be grateful'), but this question uses a more polite form that requires 'would' in both clauses.

This question tests the correct use of articles, which are a part of speech. When we talk about the ability or skill to play a musical instrument, the definite article 'the' is always used. Since the sentence describes Ali's skill with the violin, the correct phrase is 'plays the violin'.

Common mistake: Students may wrongly choose 'a', thinking of a single, non-specific violin, but this is incorrect as the context of playing an instrument as a skill requires the definite article 'the'.

This question tests your knowledge of correct spelling. The word 'privilege', which means a special right or advantage given to a person or group, is the only correctly spelt option. The other options are common but incorrect spellings of the same word.

Common mistake: Students often misspell 'privilege' as 'privelege' or 'previlege' because they confuse the placement of the vowels 'i' and 'e' in the middle of the word.

The correct option is 'coarse' because it is an adjective that means rough, rude, or impolite. The sentence describes the way a sergeant spoke, and a rough or rude manner is a fitting description in this context. The other words do not make sense: 'causal' relates to a cause, 'coerce' is a verb meaning to force, and 'course' is a noun.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'course' because it sounds exactly the same as 'coarse', but 'course' is a noun and does not fit the meaning of the sentence.

The word 'lest' is a special conjunction used to show that an action is taken to prevent something undesirable from happening. The correct grammatical rule is that 'lest' must be followed by the modal verb 'should'. Therefore, the only correct option to complete the sentence is 'lest he should'.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'lest he may' because 'may' expresses possibility, but the fixed grammatical rule requires 'should' to follow the conjunction 'lest'.

This question tests your knowledge of phrasal verbs. The correct phrasal verb used to ask about someone's progress in a task is 'to get on with something'. Therefore, 'getting' is the only option that correctly completes the sentence to mean 'How is the new editor progressing with his work?'.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'going' because the phrase 'going on' means 'happening', but it does not fit the context of progressing with a specific task in the structure '...on with his work'.

This question tests your ability to choose the correct word from a group of commonly confused words. The sentence requires a verb after 'not to'. The correct verb is 'lose', which means to misplace something. However, 'lose' is not an option, and the provided correct answer 'loss' is a noun. Assuming the question has a mistake and intended to test word forms, 'lose' would be the right answer. 'Loss' is a noun (the act of losing), 'loose' is an adjective (not tight), and 'lost' is the past tense of 'lose'.

Common mistake: Students often confuse 'lose' (the verb for misplacing something) with 'loose' (the adjective for something that is not tight) because their spellings and sounds are similar.

This question tests your knowledge of question tags. The rule for question tags is that a negative statement must be followed by a positive tag. Since the main sentence contains 'are not' (which is negative), the tag must be positive, using the same auxiliary verb 'are'. Therefore, the correct tag is 'are they?'.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'aren't they?' because they forget the rule that a negative statement requires a positive tag, not another negative one.

This question tests subject-verb agreement, which is also known as concord. The subject of the sentence is 'Adike', a singular noun. The adverb 'regularly' indicates a habitual action, which requires the simple present tense. For a third-person singular subject (like he, she, or Adike) in the simple present tense, the verb must end with an '-s'. Therefore, the grammatically correct word to complete the sentence is 'receives'.

Common mistake: A common mistake is to choose the base form of the verb, 'receive', forgetting that a singular subject like 'Adike' requires a singular verb ('receives') in the simple present tense.

The correct option is 'said/results'. The first blank requires the past participle 'said' because the sentence is in the passive voice ('It is said...'). The second blank needs the singular verb 'results' to agree with the singular subject 'inflation', following the rule of subject-verb agreement, also known as concord.

Common mistake: Students often choose option C, correctly identifying 'said', but they forget that the singular subject 'inflation' requires the singular verb 'results' and not 'result'.