WAEC Literature in English 2012 Past Questions

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

Question 20
UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the poem and answer the question

I wonder how long, you awful parasite
Shall share me this little bed,
And make me, from sweet dreams be lost
By sucking blood from my poor head.

I should but say man has much
Blood, which you and your families do feed
on; for supper, dinner, and lunch,
And besides, you do in my bed breed.

Clever thou art, tiny creature;
You attend me when I am deep asleep;
When thou art sure, I cant you capture,
Just as the time I snore deep.

''Tis so strange that before twilight,
The bed clear of you would seem;
For not one you is in my sight
As if your presence was in a dream.

The poem is about a
  • A.nightmare
  • B.dream
  • C.raid of bugs
  • D.raid of mosquitoes
Objective
Question 21
UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the poem and answer the question

I wonder how long, you awful parasite
Shall share me this little bed,
And make me, from sweet dreams be lost
By sucking blood from my poor head.

I should but say man has much
Blood, which you and your families do feed
on; for supper, dinner, and lunch,
And besides, you do in my bed breed.

Clever thou art, tiny creature;
You attend me when I am deep asleep;
When thou art sure, I cant you capture,
Just as the time I snore deep.

''Tis so strange that before twilight,
The bed clear of you would seem;
For not one you is in my sight
As if your presence was in a dream.

The poem is generally made up of
  • A.rhyming couplets
  • B.heroic couplets
  • C.end-stopped lines
  • D.run-on lines
Objective
Question 22
UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the poem and answer the question

I wonder how long, you awful parasite
Shall share me this little bed,
And make me, from sweet dreams be lost
By sucking blood from my poor head.

I should but say man has much
Blood, which you and your families do feed
on; for supper, dinner, and lunch,
And besides, you do in my bed breed.

Clever thou art, tiny creature;
You attend me when I am deep asleep;
When thou art sure, I cant you capture,
Just as the time I snore deep.

''Tis so strange that before twilight,
The bed clear of you would seem;
For not one you is in my sight
As if your presence was in a dream.

The poem is a/an
  • A.monologue
  • B.dialogue
  • C.epilogue
  • D.prologue
Objective
Question 23
UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the poem and answer the question

I wonder how long, you awful parasite
Shall share me this little bed,
And make me, from sweet dreams be lost
By sucking blood from my poor head.

I should but say man has much
Blood, which you and your families do feed
on; for supper, dinner, and lunch,
And besides, you do in my bed breed.

Clever thou art, tiny creature;
You attend me when I am deep asleep;
When thou art sure, I cant you capture,
Just as the time I snore deep.

''Tis so strange that before twilight,
The bed clear of you would seem;
For not one you is in my sight
As if your presence was in a dream.

The poet's mood is one of
  • A.sarcasm
  • B.indifference
  • C.joy
  • D.despair
Objective
Question 24
UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the poem and answer the question

I wonder how long, you awful parasite
Shall share me this little bed,
And make me, from sweet dreams be lost
By sucking blood from my poor head.

I should but say man has much
Blood, which you and your families do feed
on; for supper, dinner, and lunch,
And besides, you do in my bed breed.

Clever thou art, tiny creature;
You attend me when I am deep asleep;
When thou art sure, I cant you capture,
Just as the time I snore deep.

''Tis so strange that before twilight,
The bed clear of you would seem;
For not one you is in my sight
As if your presence was in a dream.

The dominant attitude of the poet is one of
  • A.amazement
  • B.pity
  • C.regret
  • D.nonchalance
Objective
Question 25
Read the passage and answer the question

The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment.
Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular
had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school coupled with the physical misfortune which he suffered when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger, constituted a serious setback but Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap; every fool can afford of fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success.
And so it was for was for Andrew ever since he finished his university education; it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his prospects seemed bright. The habitual Thomases in his family found it very hard to believe. At forty he had a good car and had already built a house of his own.The world was at his feet.

''Orphan of storm'' implies that Andrew
  • A.had a good life
  • B.was orphaned at birth
  • C.had a difficult early life
  • D.was not afriad of storms
Objective
Question 26
Read the passage and answer the question

The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment.
Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular
had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school coupled with the physical misfortune which he suffered when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger, constituted a serious setback but Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap; every fool can afford of fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success.
And so it was for was for Andrew ever since he finished his university education; it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his prospects seemed bright. The habitual Thomases in his family found it very hard to believe. At forty he had a good car and had already built a house of his own.The world was at his feet.

The passage is an example of a/an
  • A.autobiography
  • B.expository passage
  • C.descriptive passage
  • D.biography
Objective
Question 27
Read the passage and answer the question

The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment.
Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular
had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school coupled with the physical misfortune which he suffered when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger, constituted a serious setback but Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap; every fool can afford of fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success.
And so it was for was for Andrew ever since he finished his university education; it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his prospects seemed bright. The habitual Thomases in his family found it very hard to believe. At forty he had a good car and had already built a house of his own.The world was at his feet.

The mood of the extract is one of
  • A.love
  • B.admiration
  • C.hatred
  • D.resignation
Objective
Question 28
Read the passage and answer the question

The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment.
Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular
had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school coupled with the physical misfortune which he suffered when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger, constituted a serious setback but Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap; every fool can afford of fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success.
And so it was for was for Andrew ever since he finished his university education; it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his prospects seemed bright. The habitual Thomases in his family found it very hard to believe. At forty he had a good car and had already built a house of his own.The world was at his feet.

''The world was at his feet'' implies that Andrew
  • A.was loving
  • B.was standing on the world
  • C.was arrogant
  • D.achieved result easily
Objective
Question 29
Read the passage and answer the question

The bright sun continued to smile. Andrew's face beamed with pleasure with every passing moment.
Very few of his contemporaries have so succeeded in reaching the top of the ladder. Andrew in particular
had been an orphan of storm. His father's death during his third year in the secondary school coupled with the physical misfortune which he suffered when a stockfish machine severed his left middle finger, constituted a serious setback but Andrew did not despair.
The courage to fail is very cheap; every fool can afford of fail. But it raises one above the herd of cowards and never-do-wells to be up and struggling. The reward of forbearance in the end is resounding success.
And so it was for was for Andrew ever since he finished his university education; it had been success galore. He had got a good job in one of the country's insurance companies. His pay was good, his prospects seemed bright. The habitual Thomases in his family found it very hard to believe. At forty he had a good car and had already built a house of his own.The world was at his feet.

''habitual Thomases'' is an example of an
  • A.allegory
  • B.aphorism
  • C.allusion
  • D.apostrophe
Objective