BECE JHS English Language 2012 Past Questions

Practice each question, then open it to see the full details.

Question 4
```Read the following passage carefully and answer all the questions which follow.

Cholera is a very dangerous disease which can kill many people within a short time. Indeed, it has ruined several
communities particularly in developing countries. It must therefore be prevented at all costs.
The disease is generally spread by germs which thrive in filthy and unhygienic areas. There could be an outbreak of
cholera when drinking water becomes polluted by floods after a downpour. Human carriers also cause the disease to spread
from place to place. For example, a person carrying the cholera germs would vomit or pass frequent stools.
Flies would then carry the germs on their hairy legs and deposit them on exposed food

or in water. When a person eats this contaminated food or drinks the polluted water, he or she is likely to contract
the disease within a few days. The person would go about spreading the disease unknowingly.
On the whole, the main symptoms of cholera are severe diarrhoea and vomiting, which may result in loss of weight.
The stool tends to be watery. As a lot of fluid is lost from the body, the patient quickly becomes dehydrated, thin
and weak. The rapid loss of body fluid can soon result in death, unless the lost fluid is replaced immediately.

The first thing for the patient to do is to replenish as much fluid as is lost by taking, from time to time, boiled
water which has been allowed to cool and mixed with salt and sugar. Then, he should seek medical attention.

(a) Where do cholera germs usually breed?

(b) Mention the two main carriers of cholera germs.```

(c) (i) State the two signs of cholera
(ii) Give one effect of the disease.

(d) What advice does the writer give to the cholera patient?

(e) Explain the following expressions in your own words:
(i) it has ruined several communities;
(ii) at all costs;
(iii) after a downpour.

(f) For each of the following words, give another word or phrase that means the same and can fit into the passage:
(i) thrive
(ii) deposit
(iii) rapid
(iv) replenish
(v) seek
Theory