1. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Road Safety Measures

The numbers of killed and injured made 1968 the worst year on records for road crashes. Despite all the publicity, the warnings and the repeated appeals for greater care, it looks as though this year is going to be even worse.

The police have announced that 173 people were killed in motor accidents during the second quarter, one more than corresponding period of1968. The figures are higher all rounds: there were 1,626 accidents against 1,343; 437 people sustained serious injury against 307; and the slightly injured numbered 1,016 against 864.

Road fatalities are running at the rate of two day as the Secretary General of the Automobile Association of East Africa graphically pointed out yesterday. Wing- commander Francombe welcomed the new rules published in Kenya Gazette requiring, among other things, reflective chevrons or number plates to be fitted to the rear light (as well as, at present, heavy) commercial vehicles. Heavy vehicles will have to be fitted with white reflecting strips stretching across the full width in front.

Cyclists are a serious danger to themselves and other road users at night because so few carry effective front and rear lights and, therefore, are not easily distinguishable in the darkness on the long stretches of unlighted roads. The new rules provide that the rear mud-guards of bicycles must carry reflectors.

A suggestion made to the police and the Ministry of Education, since the effect would be in the interest of school children in particular, is that people who go out walking at night should wear some form of white reflective material. The orange-coloured reflecting uniforms worn by some road workers are great help to motorists in picking them out so that preventive action can be taken.

At last, under the new rule the double "thou shall not cross lines are to be introduced". Single white lines are no deterrent to many motorists, who badly ignore the restriction the lines ought to impose, but rows only suggest.

Light commercial vehicles have been required to display reflective chevrons for some time in Uganda. Bringing Kenya into line illustration of East African complexion of road safety and traffic problems. It would be great service if road safety and allied measures could be integrated as wing-commander Francombe said, on East African basis. Probably this is too much to expect at present, but there is no doubt Kenya should tackle these problems on a national basis.

The establishment of national organisation for road safety has long been advocated uniting the work of the police, The Automobile association, and other interested people in campaigning against death on the roads. Determined and sustained education in road sense is needed in the school as well as among road users which means everybody, not solely motorists.

Road safety and traffic offences are national problems not confined to provincial compartments. Organised centrally, it should be possible to provide highway patrol with radio cars.

They would be trained not only to hunt down speeding, dangerous and drunken drivers, drivers of defective vehicles, but to give expert help when accidents occur.

Obviously, such a fleet could be big enough at the outset to cover every road; but the patrols could concentrate at first on major routes radiating from Nairobi to Nakuru, Thika and Mombasa, absorbing more areas as they increase in the strength. Moreover, such a central organisations would enable training to be co-ordinated effectively.

The limiting factor is the availability of cars and policemen. Both cost money and demands are rising from every side on the treasury's restricted resources. However, if money so spent saved lives, it would be money well spent on a rewarding branch of police work.

Source; Radford W.L Junior Secondary English

Question:

In not more than 120 words, explain the measures that could be used to maintain road safety.

 

2. Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

In spite of what has recently been done to combat the threat of the locusts, they remain a menace to the entire food supply of quarter of the world. One trouble with them is the speed with which they breed. And the more they breed, the more they eat; and the more they eat, the more they breed. Sometimes in a breeding area there are as many as five thousand eggs to the square yard. And if you remember that a breeding area may cover nearly two hundred thousand acres, you will begin to see the size of the problem. A large swarm, migrating from one of these breeding grounds, may number five hundred million and be capable of destroying an area of two hundred square miles. The destruction caused by a swarm of locusts has to be seen to be believed. A small dark cloud appears on the horizon; it grows in size until the sun is darkened by the flying insects. if the swarm settles, the sky is no longer blotted out, but instead the field, which a moment ago was green, is thick with brown crawling locusts. They eat slowly, hut thoroughly. Before long every sign of green has vanished from the field and it has vanished from the field and it has become a desert. A swarm may take hours to pass a given point, may be as much as sixty miles wide. It flies slowly, about nine miles per hour, but can cover immense distances. A swarm has been found four thousand miles from its breeding ground, another has been sent at sea, over a thousand miles from land, another has been known to cross a range of mountains fifteen thousand feet high. No wonder that men find it difficult and costly to deal with the threat of the locust. But that it can be dealt with is shown by the fact that, but for the campaign waged in America, farming would have been virtually impossible in six states where the locusts is no longer a menace.

(Adapted from: "The Facts about Locust" by Walter C. Lowedermilk)

 

Questions:

1) Give two reasons why it has been difficult to deal with the threat for locust.

2) What threat do locusts pose to the world?

3) Briefly explain the meaning of the following words or phrases as used in the passage.

i. 'menace'

ii. "...may take hours to pass a given point."

iii. 'migrating'

iv. blotted out

4) What facts can clearly explain the slow speed of the locusts?

5) What shows that the menace of locusts can be dealt with?

 

3. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Science has made a great difference to our lives. New products, new materials, new knowledge, have changed our attitude to the world and everything that is in it , including ourselves. Who can these days look at the moon on a clear night without remembering that men have been there and back? Can anyone these days hear the word "Hiroshima" without remembering the destruction of the atomic bomb? Not everything that science has brought has been good of mankind; but it has greatly enriched our lives, given us freedom from hunger, greater leisure, and a deeper awareness of the wonder and complexity of life.

As science has become a more and more important element in our lives, religion has become less and less so. We live in a time when many call themselves atheist or agnostic when the religious basis of morals is everywhere under attack; and the number of active Christians or devout Moslems seem to be in the minority in society. The question to ask is: Has the rise in science caused the decline in Faith? One is hesitant to say "yes".

Science and faith are not trying to do the same thing. Perhaps we can illustrate this. You may go into the kitchen and seeing steam coming from the kettle, ask, "Why is the kettle boiling?" Your brother who has just done a course in physics replies, "It is because vapour pressure of water is equal to atmospheric pressure." You might get quite another answer from your mother, "Because I want a cup of tea."

Source: Science, the Past and the Present by Sherwood Taylor.

 

Questions:

1) An alternative title for this passage is:

A. The contribution of science and religion.

B. How science has changed our lives.

C. The decline of religion.

D. How science opposes religion.

2) "Many call themselves atheist or agnostic" means many people are

A. ungodly

B. attacked because of religion

C. not believers in God

D. more interested in religion than science

3) According to the author, science has

A. brought a lot happiness to man

B. given us the new word 'Hiroshima'

C. been partially useful to man

D. barely benefitted mankind

4) The decline in faith

A. is not related to advancement in science

B. is not entirely the result of advancement in science

C. can be illustrated scientifically

D. has been caused by the number of devout Christians and Moslems

5) The kettle and steam illustration suggests that

A. scientists are cleverer than religious people.

B. science and faith are difficult to understand

C. faith asks better questions tan science

D. faith and science do different things

 

4. Rewrite the following sentences according to the instructions given in brackets without changing the meaning.

1) Women had never had greater opportunities for following careers at any time in history.

(Begin: At...)

2) "Did I close the gate?" he wondered.

(Begin: He wondered...)

3) Such foolishness wouldn't be tolerated anywhere.

(Rewrite to finish......... tolerated)

4) Although he was sick, he went to the meeting to protest against the chairman's cruelty.

(Begin: Sick......)

5) The problem may be difficult but one should not lose heart.

(Begin: No matter.....)

6) My brother gave detailed instructions. His purpose was to help us avoid contracting the AIDS disease. AIDS could kill us.

(Join into one sentence without using; and, but, so or therefore)

7) Simon has not visited Gulu for the last six months.

(Rewrite using; ago)

8) The brother in-law complained that he had very many relatives to look after.

(Begin: The brother in-law complained....)

9) It is surprising the man bit his dog and it died.

(Rewrite ending.........surprising.)

10) The young boy ran to the stranger because he thought he was his father.

(Rewrite omitting "Because")

 

5. Complete the sentences with the most suitable answer among the given alternatives.

1) She stood by the door hoping he would notice her, but he intentionally............her

A. dismissed

B. abandoned

C. forget

D. ignored

2) They all wanted to be rude to each other but they kept up a show of being............

A. polite

B. brave

C. gallant

D. mild

3) The treasure had been ...........corporation funds for some weeks before he was found out.

A. cheating

B. defrauding

C. per taking

D. embezzling

4) The speaker was accused of .......... the crowd to violence.

A. luring

B. enticing

C. inciting

D. tantalising

5) They wrote their answers ................ that they had finished well before the end of the examination.

A. quite quickly

B. so quickly

C. more quickly

D. very quickly

6) "I am sorry I spoke to you so rudely over the phone. I took you............ someone else."

A. to

B. were

C. for

D. as

7) We found it difficult to get a suitable flat because no............ houses are being built in this area.

A. any

B. enough

C. further

D. more

8) The body was found in the grave where it had.............for centuries.

A. lain

B. laid

C. been laid

D. lay

9) In a modern state, everybody from the highest to the lowest ....................obey the law.

A. have to

B. has to

C. were to

D. are to

10) The two of them were looking into.................eyes, whispering words of love.

A. each other

B. their

C. each of the other's

D. the other's