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NECO SSCE Literature 2025 past questions and answers

This 2025 NECO SSCE 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 2025 set with instant marking.

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Sample NECO SSCE Literature 2025 questions

1. A reader argues that the repeated image of a locked gate in a poem represents the speaker's exclusion from opportunity. Which aspect of literary appreciation is the reader chiefly applying?
  1. Interpretation of symbolism
  2. Biographical criticism
  3. Scanning the metre
  4. Identifying the stanza form

Answer: A. Interpretation of symbolism

The reader interprets the gate as a symbol whose meaning extends beyond its literal function.

2. In a play, a pompous official announces a campaign against waste while secretly ordering a gold-plated desk for his office. The episode most clearly uses which device?
  1. Elegy
  2. Satire
  3. Pastoral
  4. Euphemism

Answer: B. Satire

The scene ridicules hypocrisy by exposing the contradiction between the official's public message and private conduct.

3. A speaker describes a reckless young man as 'another Icarus, ignoring every warning'. The reference to Icarus is an example of
  1. A refrain
  2. A pun
  3. An allusion
  4. An oxymoron

Answer: C. An allusion

The speaker indirectly invokes the well-known myth of Icarus to suggest reckless overreaching.

4. In the sentence 'Ama watched the man with the telescope', what feature makes the sentence ambiguous?
  1. It contains a simile
  2. It uses a regional dialect
  3. It has an impossible event
  4. The phrase 'with the telescope' can describe either Ama's instrument or the man

Answer: D. The phrase 'with the telescope' can describe either Ama's instrument or the man

The modifying phrase can attach to either the act of watching or the man, producing two possible meanings.

5. A narrator calls a corrupt leader 'our wonderfully honest champion' immediately after describing his theft of public funds. What is the narrator's tone?
  1. Sarcastic
  2. Reverent
  3. Indifferent
  4. Mournful

Answer: A. Sarcastic

The exaggerated praise contradicts the leader's actions and therefore conveys sarcasm.

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