Vocabulary Topics Coming Out at SSCE and IGCSE Examinations

Vocabulary can be realized under the language register. Language registers are technical or specialized terms and fields of disciplines or professions in different variations. Registers commonly come out at different examinations. This lesson addresses ample lessons and how to solve the problems in registers.

Government Administration

 Study the meanings of the following registered words very carefully:

 Three organs of government: Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary

Legislature: Makes or enacts laws.

Judiciary: Interprets laws.

Executive: Implements or executes laws.

Authoritarian: Legislating by degrees

Source of revenue: The money which a government receives from taxes

Taxation: Money that has to be paid as tax

Tax: It is the money you have to pay to the government or any organization to pay for public services

Budget: An official statement by the government of a country’s income from taxes and how it will be spent

Borrow: To take money from a person or a bank and agree to pay it back to the person at a later time

Practice Question

 Use your dictionary and suggest the meanings of the following registered terms:

revenue, capital, planning, investment, salary, surplus, resources, services, supply, royalties, gratuities, grants, economy, subsidy

 Evaluation

 Choose the words that are most suitable to fill the number gaps in the passage below.

The main source of __1__ to the government is __2__ which can be direct or indirect. While the former is based on one’s __3__, the latter is imposed on goods and __4__ and is paid only when these are __5__. Other sources include __6__, such as those paid by mining companies and the sale of __7__ for dogs, guns, hotels, etc. Another major source is __8___, which is different from others because it has to be repaid from these and other sources. Government can raise __9___ with which it carries out its __10__ which includes administration and the __11__ of social services.

Besides, it can control the country’s __12__ by imposing taxes sometimes to prevent __13___ or by altering patterns of __14__ through the raising of __15__ against certain foreign goods.

WAEC June 1993

Aircraft and Air Travel

 Study the following registered words very carefully:

 Navigator: A person who navigates, for example, on a ship or aircraft. Navigation is the process of planning a route for a ship or other vehicle and taking it there or the movement of ships or aircraft

Captain: He or she is the person that is in charge of a ship or commercial aircraft

Crew: All the people working on a ship, plane, etc except the officers who are in charge

Steward and stewardess: He or she is a man/woman whose job is to take care of passengers on a ship, an aircraft, or a train and who brings them meals

Take off: The starting movement of aircraft, ships, vehicles, etc.

Landing: To come down through the air onto the ground or another surface to bring a plane down to the ground in a controlled way

Co-pilot: A second pilot who helps the main pilot in an aircraft

Crash land: To land an aircraft suddenly because it is damaged and cannot land normally. Crash landing means to make a crash land.

The tarmac: An area with a tarmac surface, especially at an airport

Departure lounge: This is a room for waiting at an airport

Boarding pass or card: A card that you show before you get on a plane or boat

A terminal building: This is a boarding which contains officers for airport workers and facilities for passengers who embark or disembark the aircraft

Freight: Goods that are transported by ships, planes, trains, or lorries/trunks

Practice Questions

 Use your dictionary and suggest the meanings of the following registered terms:

airship, airlifted, corridor, air hostess

Evaluation

 Choose the words that are the most suitable to fill the number gaps in the passage below.

The airport had a big tarmac and a wide __1__. The departure time of our flight was announced and all the passengers’ __2__ to __3__ the plane. Soon, the aircraft began to __4__ for __5__ and in a few moments, we were __6___ . In no time, we were lost in the __7__. A beautiful young __8__ was meanwhile standing in the ___9___, close to the cockpit, demonstrating security __10__ in the event of an emergency. All along, the engines of the plane __11__ and provided a background of sinister __12__.

(WAEC June 2002)

Animal Husbandry

 Study the following registered words very carefully:

A herd: A group of animals, especially a herd of cattle

Pen: A small piece of land surrounded by a fence in which animals are kept, e.g. a sheep pen

Cattle rearer: A person who rears or takes care of cattle

Veterinary doctor: A doctor caring for the health of animals

Rinderpest: An infectious disease that affects cows and similar animals

Dairy cattle: Dairy cattle are cattle that are reared mainly to produce milk.

Farrowing: The act of parturition in pigs

Barrow: A castrated male pig

Fodder: Food for horses and farm animals

Poultry: Chicken, ducks, and geese are kept for their meat or eggs. It also refers to a group of herds reared for food and other purposes.

Piglet: The young or baby pig but a piggery is a place where pigs are kept or bred.

Practice Question

 Use your dictionary and provide the meanings of the following words:

pasture, rudder, broiler, cage, rooster, buck, animal feed, feed mill, director.

 Evaluation

 Choose the words that are the most suitable to fill the numbered gaps in the passage below.

In the northern part of Nigeria, it is quite common to see __1___ of cattle. The __2__ moves from place to place in search of __3___. The modern method of animal __4__ is to put the cowherds in an enclosure known as a __5__. In this cattle ranch, the farmer provides __6__ for the cattle and ensures that they are well cared for. The __7__ comes in regularly to ensure that there are no infections. Diseases like __8__ can wipe out a whole herd.

(Source: NOSEC Upplc 2007, pp 34)

The Military

 Study the following registered words very carefully:

Armoury: A place where weapons and armor are kept or all the weapons and military equipment that a country has.

Arms: Weapons, especially as used by the army

Armour: Special metal clothing that soldiers wore in the past to protect their bodies while fighting

Battle: A fight between armies, ships, or planes especially during the war; a violent fight between groups of people

Field marshal: He or she is an officer of the highest rank in the British army

Artillery: It is large, heavy guns that are often moved on wheels. The artillery means the section of an army trained to use these guns.

Shelling: This is the firing of shells from large guns; a shell means a metal case filled with explosives to be fired from a large gun

Brigadier General: An official of high rank in the United States Army, air force

Commander: A person who is in charge of something, especially an office in charge of a particular group of soldiers or a military operation

Commando: A soldier or a group of soldiers who are trained to make quick attacks in an enemy area

Bombarding: Attacking a place by firing large guns at it or dropping bombs on it continuously

Guerrilla: A member of a small group of soldiers who are not part of an official army and who fights against official soldiers, usually to change the government.