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JAMB UTME Literature 2012 past questions and answers

This 2012 JAMB UTME Literature set has 40 practice questions. Try these 5 free sample questions, tap a question to reveal the answer and explanation. Then practise the whole 2012 set with instant marking.

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Sample JAMB UTME Literature 2012 questions

1. In the sentence, 'The courthouse swallowed the village's last hope,' which figure of speech is used?
  1. Simile
  2. Personification
  3. Metaphor
  4. Onomatopoeia

Answer: C. Metaphor

The courthouse is directly described as swallowing hope, making an implicit comparison without 'like' or 'as'.

2. Which sentence contains a simile?
  1. Her patience was as deep as the lagoon.
  2. Her patience outlasted the whole village.
  3. Her patience was a quiet harbour.
  4. Her patience smiled at the quarrel.

Answer: A. Her patience was as deep as the lagoon.

The explicit comparison using 'as' identifies the sentence as a simile.

3. In 'The old bridge groaned beneath the lorry,' which device gives a non-human thing a human action?
  1. Hyperbole
  2. Metonymy
  3. Apostrophe
  4. Personification

Answer: D. Personification

Groaning is presented as an action of the bridge, so the bridge is personified.

4. A speaker says, 'I waited a thousand years for the bus,' although only twenty minutes passed; this is an example of
  1. Understatement
  2. Hyperbole
  3. Euphemism
  4. Oxymoron

Answer: B. Hyperbole

The wildly exaggerated duration is used for emphasis and is therefore hyperbole.

5. Which situation is the clearest example of situational irony?
  1. A careful driver checks the brakes before a journey.
  2. A fire station is destroyed by a fire that its crew failed to notice.
  3. A child is frightened by a loud thunderclap.
  4. A farmer welcomes rain after a long drought.

Answer: B. A fire station is destroyed by a fire that its crew failed to notice.

The fire station's failure to prevent the very disaster it is meant to handle creates a striking reversal of expectation.

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