Question

6. Read the passage (about a magician performing a bullet-catching act before a crowd, watched by an American tourist couple who attempt to expose the trick) and answer the questions on it.
(a) What suggests that the show was free?
(b) What evidence is there that the performance was not a one-man show?
(c) Why was the magician confident to receive the shots from his aides?
(d) What did the American tourist set out to prove?
(e) What might have happened if the American had completed his contemplated action?
(f) '...he showed a clean pair of heels.' What does this expression mean?
(g) '...which went along with hilarious drumming.' (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (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) feats (ii) aides (iii) steadied (iv) mystified (v) unscathed (vi) hasty

Accepted Answer

(a) The show was held in an open place, under the Iroko tree, suggesting that it was free (no gate/entry structure implied).
(b) Aside from the magician, the drummers and the magician's three aides were involved in the show, showing it was a collaborative performance.
(c) He was sure that the guns had no bullets — only gunpowder.
(d) He wanted to prove that the magician was not actually bulletproof.
(e) The magician would have been dead / the American would likely have been shot or killed attempting the act himself.
(f) It means that the magician ran away (fled quickly).
(g)(i) It is a relative clause. (ii) It qualifies the noun 'feats'.
(h)(i) feats — stunts, acts. (ii) aides — assistants, supporters. (iii) steadied — positioned, prepared. (iv) mystified — bewildered, astonished. (v) unscathed — unhurt, unharmed, uninjured. (vi) hasty — sudden, unexpected, quick.

WAEC English Language 2018 Theory — Question 6

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