JAMB English Language 2024 Past Questions & Answers

This question tests your understanding of the recommended literature text, 'The Life Changer'. In the story, the 'Note of Salvation' was the specific cheat note that Kolawole Abdul passed to Salma during the examination. Salma believed this note would 'save' her from failing, but it was the evidence that got her caught for examination malpractice.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose option A because they remember that Salma initially lied and tried to blame Tomiwa for giving her the note.

The question asks to identify the option with the same consonant sound as the underlined 'ch' in 'archbishop'. In 'archbishop', 'ch' is pronounced with a /k/ sound. Among the options, 'christian' also has the 'ch' pronounced as /k/, making it the correct answer. This tests knowledge of different pronunciations of consonant clusters.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly assume that 'ch' always makes the /tʃ/ sound, leading them to choose options like 'archangel' or 'sachet' where 'ch' is pronounced differently.

Rhyming words are words that have the same ending sound, especially from the stressed syllable onwards. The word 'permit' (/pəˈmɪt/) has its stress on the second syllable, which sounds like '-mit'. The word 'commit' (/kəˈmɪt/) also has its stress on the second syllable with the exact same sound, making them perfect rhymes.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'profit' because it also ends with the /ɪt/ sound, but they fail to notice that the stress in 'profit' is on the first syllable, while the stress in 'permit' is on the second, which is a key difference.

The question tests the ability to identify rhyming words, which relies on recognizing similar vowel and consonant sounds at the end of words. 'Boys' and 'noise' share the same final vowel and consonant sounds (/ɔɪz/), making them rhymes. This falls directly under the study of speech sounds.

Common mistake: Students might incorrectly choose options like 'moist' or 'elbows' due to visual similarity in spelling ('oi' or 'ows') rather than focusing on the actual spoken sound.

The question tests knowledge of word stress, specifically for words ending in '-ity'. A common rule in English is that words ending in '-ity' are stressed on the syllable immediately preceding this suffix. For 'productivity', the syllable before '-ity' is 'tiv', making 'producTIVity' the correct stress pattern.

Common mistake: Students often incorrectly stress the first or second syllable (e.g., PROductivity or proDUCtivity) if they are not familiar with the specific stress rules for words with the '-ity' suffix.

The 'u' in 'busy' is pronounced with the short 'i' sound, represented phonetically as /ɪ/. Among the given options, the word 'vineyard' contains the same short 'i' sound, /ɪ/, in its first syllable. Therefore, 'vineyard' is the correct option as it shares the identical vowel sound with 'busy'.

Common mistake: Students often confuse the sound of the letter 'u' in 'busy' with other 'u' sounds or with the long 'i' sound, leading them to choose options like 'twilight' or 'island' which have the /aɪ/ sound.

This question tests your detailed knowledge of the recommended literature text, 'The Life Changer'. In the opening chapter, the narrator and her children move outside because their room was too hot and stuffy. The book specifically states that they sat under the mango tree to get some fresh air, which is where the storytelling begins.

Common mistake: Students who haven't read the book carefully might guess another outdoor location like 'under the baobab tree', confusing it with the correct setting mentioned in the text.

The question tests your ability to identify consonant sounds. The underlined 'th' in 'clothe' represents a voiced sound, symbolized as /ð/, where your vocal cords vibrate. The word 'smooth' is the correct option because its 'th' also produces the same voiced /ð/ sound.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'cloth' because it also has 'th', but they fail to notice that the 'th' in 'cloth' is a voiceless sound (/θ/), unlike the voiced sound (/ð/) in 'clothe'.

This question tests your understanding and recall of character traits from the prescribed JAMB text, 'The Life Changer'. Talle is consistently depicted as the quiet and reserved character throughout the novel. To answer this correctly, you need to have read and comprehended the details of the story and its characters.

Common mistake: Students often choose other prominent characters like Salma or Tomiwa if they haven't thoroughly read the novel or paid attention to character descriptions.

The question tests your knowledge of vowel sounds. The 'ur' in 'urn' represents the /ɜː/ vowel sound, which is a long central vowel. Among the options, 'hearse' also contains this same /ɜː/ sound, making it the correct choice. This sound is often found in words like 'bird', 'nurse', and 'learn'.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'corn' because of the 'or' spelling, but 'corn' has the /ɔː/ sound, which is different from the /ɜː/ sound in 'urn'.