WorksheetsEnglish Language Entrance Examination
Total questions: 50
Worksheet time: 47mins
Critical Reading
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions (1-7) that follow. You will be given 15 minutes to read the passage to understanding in this first question. For questions 2-7, only 3 minutes will be given and the same passage provided alongside for reference purpose. Ensure you choose the answer that best reflects what is stated or implied in the passage.
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The comparison that the narrator makes between the streets and his mother’s eyes in the first paragraph suggests that he finds the streets on that day to be _________.
Passive
Comforting
Exciting
Indifferent
Dark
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there
QUESTION
As used in the second paragraph, “doggedly” means __________.
persistently
loudly
tiredly
fearfully
dreamily
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The narrator decides not to tell his mother his plans to run away because she would
be very angry with him
ignore them
ruin them
tell Sue
make him do gardening
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The description of Sue’s “black eyes snapping over the fights” in the books that their mother would read to them implies that Sue is _______.
afraid
mean
sad
unintelligent
feisty
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The narrator compares himself to Sue in order to highlight his __________.
sensitive nature
youth
indifference
easygoing disposition
sneakiness
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The narrator’s feelings about the “gory pirates” can best be described as ________.
angry but hopeful
scared but intrigued
thoughtful but careless
wary but disinterested
all of the above
READING PASSAGE
As I walked home from church with my mother that day, the streets seemed as quiet and safe as her eyes. How suddenly tempting it seemed to me, this quiet and this safety, compared to the place where I was going. For I had decided to run away from my home and my mother that afternoon, down to the harbor to see the world. What would become of me way down there? What would she do if I never came back? A lump rose in my throat at the thought of her in tears. It was terrible.
“All the same I am going to do it,” I kept thinking doggedly. And yet suddenly, as we reached our front steps, how near I came to telling her. But no, she would only spoil it all. She wanted me always up in the garden, she wanted me never to have any thrills.
My mother knew me so well. She had seen that when she read stories of fairies, witches and goblins out of my books to Sue and me, while Sue, though two years younger, would sit there like a little dark imp, her black eyes snapping over the fights, I would creep softly out of the room, ashamed and shaken, and would wait in the hall outside till the happy ending was in plain view. So, my mother had gradually toned down all the fights and the killings, the witches and the monsters, and much to my disappointment had wholly shut out the gory pirates who were for me the most frightfully fascinating of all. Sometimes I felt vaguely that for this she had her own reason, too—that my mother hated everything that had to do with the ocean, especially my father’s dock that made him so gloomy and silent. But of this I could never be quite sure. I would often watch her intently, with a sudden sharp anxiety, for I loved my mother with all my soul and I could not bear to see her unhappy.
“Never on any account,” I heard her say to Belle, “are the children to go down the street toward the docks.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Belle. “I’ll see to it.”
At once I wanted to go there. The street in front of our house sloped abruptly down at the next corner two blocks through poorer and smaller houses to a cobblestone space below, over which trucks clattered, plainly on their way to the docks. So, I could go down and around by that way. How tempting it all looked down there.
QUESTION
The passage suggests that the narrator’s father’s occupation is connected in some way with the ________.
church
police
sea
government
education system
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
Franca’s mother prepares very (palatable) dishes.
Expensive
Rich
Tasty
Colourful
Interesting
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
Sindi was (brought up) by a very strict woman.
saved
reared
born
taught
beaten
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
Janet promised to (attend to) her mother-in-law who was ill.
look after
look at
look into
look for
look on
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
The police Inspector asked all drivers to (obey) the speed-limit regulations
understand
notice
recognize
observe
answer
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
Students are not expected to use (foul) language in schools.
nice
elevated
figurative
foul
witty
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
He offered them (stale) food.
fresh
hot
tasty
tasteless
new
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
He tells (tall) tales.
real
interesting
true
exaggerated
fictional
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the word in brackets.
She is quite (pompous)
arrogant
meek
fiesty
uncultured
baneful
Choose the option that best explains the words in brackets.
It is very difficult for many workers to (make ends meet).
do two jobs at a time
make workers and managers come together
live within their means
feed two people
comfortably survive based on their income
Choose the option that best explains the words in brackets.
Since the thief came out of prison, he has (turned over a new leaf). This means he has
changed his style of stealing
started growing flowers
changed for the better
grown even more stubborn
got a new job
Choose the option that best explains the words in brackets.
When the army stormed the village, all the inhabitants (took to their heels). This means .......
the army came to the village in the storm
the inhabitants were frightened and stood still
the inhabitants had their shoes removed
the inhabitants danced around on their heels
the inhabitants were frightened and so fled
Choose the option that best explains the words in brackets.
Gabby is (in two minds) about resigning from his job. This means that Gabby has
not really decided to resign
written his resignation letter
decided not to resign
withdrawn his resignation letter
been advised not to resign
Choose the option that best explains the words in brackets.
The teacher advised Kofi not to beat about the bush. This means Kofi was asked to ………….
clear the bush
beat others in the bush
go straight to the point
waste time
stop clearing the bush
Choose the word(s) nearly opposite in meaning to the word(s) in brackets.
He (seldom) comes here.
never
often
rarely
nearly
always
Choose the word nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
The police officer was (harsh on) the criminal
soft to
lenient with
mild with
cruel to
rough on
Choose the word nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
25. Musa was arrested for printing (counterfeit) cedi notes.
correct
new
acceptable
genuine
fine
Choose the word nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
My father was a very (stout) man.
handsome
short
lean
muscular
weak
Choose the word nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
I (agreed to) everything Lucy said.
mocked at
stood by
interfered with
took in
objected to
Choose the word(s) nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
He (flouted) all rules.
kept to
broke
cancelled
disdained
skirted
Choose the word nearly opposite in meaning to the word in brackets.
They (loathe) corruption.
condone
hate
detest
love
dislike
28. Help him to pay his fees, …………?
will you
must you
can't you
won't you
wouldn't you
29. Kwasi, you are coming to see me tomorrow, ………….?
isn't you
aren't you
won't you
don't you
will you
30. If Mary had known, she wouldn’t have come, ……….?
wasn't it
hadn't she
was she
would she
has she
31. She dances so beautifully, …………..?
not so
can't she
doesn't she
isn't it
is she
32. Year 7 students work hard, ………?
don't they
shouldn't they
can't they
haven't they
should they
33. The chief with his linguists ………..coming to the durbar ground.
is
are
were
have been
has
34. Most people find it hard to live up ……….. their ideals.
by
to
for
with
on
35. The football match was put …….. until next week.
in
out
off
away
at
36. When the plane arrived Kofi ………nowhere to be found.
will be
had been
was
will had been
is
37. The boys swore that the books were ………..
his
theirs
their's
theres'
theirs'
38. Unless your father reports at the police station we …………all be whipped
shall
can
would
do
did
39. The man will arrive ……… the next ten minutes.
between
in
from within
of
to
40. The heavy rains have ………. early this year.
set in
set out
set up
set on
set
41. In great numbers; in abundance: a balloons ______.
gellore
galore
gaalore
gelore
gallore
42. Under a moral or legal obligation to someone.
Indetted
Indebted
Indicted
Indepted
Incepted
43. A lifting device for raising heavy objects.
Hoyst
Hoist
Host
Heist
Holder
44. Choose the definition that best describes this term - Correlate.
To determine the significance, worth, or condition of something, usually by careful appraisal and study.
To recognize or express a difference.
Have a mutual relationship or connection, in which one thing affects or depends on another.
To be unnecessarily affected by external stimulus.
To correctly state a fact.
Income that you receive once a year: _____
Anniversary
Biennial
Annuity
Centennial
Salary
Great or total devastation; doom: ______
Apology
Apogee
Apocalypze
Apocalogy
Apocalypse
To show off; display proudly: _______
Finite
Flaunt
Fiscal
Filament
Flout
Expressing regret or asking pardon for a fault or offense: ______.
Apogee
Apology
Apocalypse
Apostle
Sorriness
Leaping foot
Ceratosaurus
Saltopus
Heterodontosaurus
Velociraptor
Leptosaurus
The molecular force of attraction in the area of contact between unlike bodies that acts to hold them together: ______.
Hesitate
Adhesion
Inherent
Incoherent
Attraction
