Question

SECTION B - COMPREHENSION (20 marks). Answer ONE question only from this section.
Read the passage about Alani (his early life, education, career and eventual near-collapse of his business due to arrogance) and answer:
(a). What endeared Alani to his teacher?
(b). Mention two factors that accounted for Alani's success in business.
(c). Why did Alani's business almost collapse?
(d). What was ironical about Alani's blaming employees for the downturn in his business?
(e). What incident made Alani have a rethink?
(f). What is the meaning of the expression '...on the rocks'?
(g). What grammatical name is given to this expression as it is used in the passage: '...who was his pioneer staff'? (i) What grammatical name is it? (ii) What is its function?
(h). For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) laurels; (ii) sustenance; (iii) reputable; (iv) venture; (v) pompous; (vi) dwindled.

Accepted Answer

(a) Alani's intelligence and brilliant performance at school endeared him to his teachers.

(b) Two factors that accounted for Alani's success in business: (i) his hard work and dedication; (ii) the huge amount of money and time he invested in his venture (his knowledge and expertise, and the partnership he later formed with a business mogul, are also acceptable).

(c) Alani's business almost collapsed because he became pompous and arrogant after his early success. He refused to take advice from his employees, treated his clients shabbily, and became suspicious of his workers, which led him to lose clients and profits steadily declined.

(d) It was ironical that Alani blamed his employees for the downturn in his business, when in fact he himself — through his arrogance, refusal to listen to advice, and poor treatment of both staff and clients — was actually responsible for the decline.

(e) The resignation of five of his workers on the same day made Alani have a rethink about his attitude and business practices.

(f) 'On the rocks' means to be in serious difficulty, trouble, or on the verge of collapse (as used of a business or relationship).

(g)(i) The expression '...who was his pioneer staff' is an adjectival/relative clause. (ii) Its function is to modify or give more information about the noun phrase 'his secretary' that it refers to.

(h) (i) laurels — medals, prizes, awards, honours
(ii) sustenance — food, provisions
(iii) reputable — respectable, respected, prestigious, reputed
(iv) venture — enterprise, business, establishment
(v) pompous — arrogant, proud, haughty, full of himself, conceited
(vi) dwindled — decreased, reduced, became less, dropped, diminished, declined

NABTEB English Language 2022 Theory — Question 3

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