A Summary Passage with Examiner’s Comments

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Read the following summary passage and carefully study the examiner’s comments, as well as useful model attempts on how to write correct and acceptable answers.

Global Warming

If man’s continued existence on earth is to be assured, then immediate and decisive measures, magical scale should be applied to avert disaster. The activities of man have led to a situation in which temperatures are rising, making the world to be hot, and this is what some people refer to as global warming.

There are many factors leading to this unfortunate state of affairs. There is no denying the fact that deforestation which is one of man’s reckless practices is causing havoc. The countries are cutting down forests for economic gain that the planting trees to replace them. Depleting the national forest without planting reforestation leads to global warming. It also causes serious damage because if forests are removed, the topsoil in the affected area is washed away and this does not allow crops to grow well.

This problem is further compounded by overpopulation. As more and more people arrive on Earth, more warming is experienced because human beings naturally generate heat. It is therefore advisable to guard against population explosion.

Apart from this, man’s action in burning chemicals like petroleum products and emitting used gases from numerous factories in the world has brought many problems. The most serious of which is global warming. The problem has been with man over the years but has quite recently been noticed because the damage has been gradual.

The damaging effects of global warming are now beginning to be felt, the most serious being, without doubt, climate change. In some places, the climate changes drastically. There has been a lower amount of rainfall leading to long spells of drought which make it impossible to practice farming. In other countries, flood occurs frequently, destroying croplands and building and making people homeless. These climate changes ought to be seriously addressed. More worrying is the fact that global warming is making sea levels rise and this could ultimately submerge coastal areas below sea levels.

Many international organizations have been formed to prescribe solutions to the problem of global warming. Such organizations have not achieved much. However, a beginning has been made and all have agreed that the use of substances which cause global warming should be stopped, and in time too, because it causes diseases like skin cancer, irritation, and contracts. Perhaps, connected to this is the fact that the food chain can be disturbed, causing hunger in the world.  

 Questions

  • In three sentences, one for each, state the causes of global warming.
  • In three sentences, one for each, state the effects of global warming.

  (NECO NOV., 2011)

Examiner’s Comments and Model Answers to the Questions Above

The first point to question (a) is located in the second sentence of the second paragraph which says: ‘There is no denying the fact that deforestation which is one of man’s reckless practices is causing havoc.’ Deforestation is the relevant point to the question. This is a model answer.

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      i. Deforestation causes global warming.

The second point to question (a) is located in the first sentence of the third paragraph which says: The problem is further compounded by overpopulation. That is, overpopulation is also the relevant point to question (a) but this is a model answer.

     ii. Overpopulation causes global warming.

The third point to question (a) is located in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph which says: ‘Apart from this, man’s action in burning chemicals like petroleum products and emitting used gases from…’ The burning chemicals are the relevant point to question (a) as well. But this is a model answer.

iii. Chemical burning (by man) causes global warming.

                              Or

Burning of chemicals (by man) causes global warming.

 

The first point to question (b) is located in the first sentence of the fifth paragraph which says: ‘The damaging effects of global warming are now beginning to be felt, the most  serious being, without doubt, climate change.’ Climate change underlined is the relevant point to question (b) but write your answer as:

I. Global warming changes climate change.

The second point question (b) is located in the third sentence of the fifth paragraph which says: ‘There have been lower amounts of rainfall leading to long spells of … ’Lower amounts of rainfall are also the relevant points to question (b) but write your answer as:

ii. Global warming reduces the amount of rainfall.

The third point to question (b) is located in the fourth sentence of the same paragraph which says: ‘In other countries, floods occur frequently, destroying crops, lands and buildings and making people homeless.’ The word floods underlined is the point relevant to the question (b) but write your answer as:

iii. Global warming helps the capacity of floods.

The six sentences required by the examiner have been given.

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Practice Work

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

In all school systems of the world, some schools are considered ‘better’ than others. Based on such judgment, parents often go to great lengths to have their children enrolled in one school rather than another. One yardstick for making this judgment is student achievement especially general performance in public examinations. Furthermore, among some education experts, opinions about schools are further narrowed down to subject areas. For example, one often hears that school A is better than school B in mathematics and science while the latter is better than the former in English language and the liberal Arts. Whatever the focus comparative statements, there remains the fact that schools do vary in terms of average student achievement.

 Why is it then that some schools have high average student achievement, while others have low average student achievement? The reasons are not farfetched.

 The first reason is that some schools are located in privileged areas in the sense that the students come from homes where parents care about their children’s education, ensure that their children are well fed, show interest in their school work and provide easy access to books in the home. On the other hand, some schools serve less-privileged communities, and whose students come from homes where parents are unable to provide the necessary support services for good academic work. Students in the first type of school would generally have a higher rate of achievement than those in the second type.

 Another reason for the difference in academic achievement between schools is how well the schools are equipped. Schools that have good laboratories and libraries, ample space, spaces to sit and write for every student, and optimum-space-size classrooms usually record a higher standard of student achievement than those where the students are crammed into inadequate spaces.

 The quality of the teachers also has to do with the differences in student achievement between schools. A teacher that does not have a good grasp of his subject matter nor is committed to his job cannot produce an outstanding student. On the other hand, students will generally attain a high standard where the teacher is an expert in his field, knows how to structure the material to be learned, demands a lot from his students, and motivates them. Also, school management has been found in a relationship with student achievement. Students perform better in schools where the leadership is enthusiastic and creative than in schools where the principals and teachers adopt a casual attitude to their job.

 Finally, discipline cannot be divorced from the learning process, and this is often seen from the perspective of general student behavior. When students show a disregard for the rules and regulations that guide good learning by disobeying their teachers, neglecting their homework, or playing truant, they cannot make any reasonable academic process. On the other hand, students who comport themselves well have laid a good foundation for academic success.

 Questions

  • In one sentence, summarise the yardstick to make a distinction between one school and another.
  • In five sentences, one for each, summarise the factors responsible for the different levels of achievement in schools.

     (WAEC JUNE, 2011)

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