COMPREHENSION

You are advised to spend about 30 minutes on this section.

6.Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

Five decades ago, my classmates lured me into a trap that taught me the lesson of a lifetime. As the class monitor, I was informed that the class had decided not to do the homework given to us by the Geography teacher. The decision was based on three grounds. First, she had not taught us anything substantial since her arrival in the school. Second, we must let her know that in this all-male institution, a female should not push us around. Also, she seemed forever inaudible when teaching us.

So, my mates mandated me to convey the decision to her. Thus sent, I confronted her with our decision. All she said was, 'Noted'. I assumed we had won the day. Alas! How wrong I was. When she came to the class the following Monday, she demanded the homework. As I stood up to restate our stand, behold, all my mates took out their notebooks and submitted them. I was the odd one in the class of thirty-five boys! This act of betrayal left me speechless. Any protest now was out of the question.

The teacher led me to the overgrown part of the football field, measured out a large portion, and ordered me to clear it before returning to either the class or the dormitory. I realised I had been stabbed in the back, as I heard my mates laugh sarcastically in the classroom. I bent down with my sharpened cutlass, determined to finish the work within the day and regain my freedom in good time. How wrong I was!

My father had chosen that day of all days to pay a visit. He rarely did so, as the school in Tamale was far from Accra, his base. Not finding me in class, he asked after my whereabouts. My mates described to him my heinous crime and directed him to my punishment post. When he arrived, he took the cutlass from me, cut a big cane and gave me the flogging of my life. He then went to the bursar's office, paid the balance of my fees, and returned to Accra with all the provisions he had brought for me.

I finished the task just before the last school hour, went to the lady teacher, prostrated myself, and tearfully, apologised to her. But for the rest of the week, and indeed many more days, I stayed aloof from my mates.

a) How did the class betray their monitor?

b) State two forms of punishment the monitor received.

c)What coincidence is there in the narration?

d)In what two ways did the monitor show remorse?

e)What was the reaction of the monitor to his mates after the incident?

f)When she came to class the following Monday ...

i)What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage?

ii)What is its function?

g)...I had been stabbed in the back ...

i)What figure of speech is used in this expression?

ii)What does it mean?

h)For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage.

i)mandated;

ii)assumed;

iii)betrayal;

iv)sarcastically;

v)heinous;

vi)tearfully.