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No expanded working has been attached for this question yet. The verified answer is Option B.

choose: [ tʃuːz ] tool: [ tuːl ] book: [ bʊk ] scoop: [ skuːp ]

beer - /bɪə/ says - /sez/ isle - /aɪl/ raid - /reɪd/

coy: [ kɔɪ ] law: [ lɔː ] cot: [ kɒt ] plow: [ plaʊ ]

bugle: [ ˈbjuː.ɡl̩ ] doubt: [ daʊt ] subtle: [ ˈsʌt.əl ] lamb: [ læm ]

alone: [ əˈləʊn ] greet: [ ɡriːt ] height: [ haɪt ] neigh: [ neɪ ]

dear: [ dɪə(r) ] chair: [ tʃeə(r) ] night: [ naɪt ] reign: [ reɪn ]

smooth: [ smuːð ]

knock: [ nɒk ]

Cue: [ kjuː ]

Babs Fatunwa Senior Secondary School, P.O Box 226, Ojodu 27th May, 2018. Dear Kingsley, I read your last letter with a great delight. It is indeed delightful to know that schools do share some similarities which may be positive ones or negative as it is in our case. In my own school too, there are some practices which have made my school to be notorious and which I would want to express my disapproval about. Just as you were disgusted about such practices in your school, I want to express dissatisfaction with some similar practices in my school. The first nauseating practice is incessant fighting bordering on thuggery among students. It is a common practice even within my school compound to see two students fighting each other and other students would gather around them hailing and thus causing mayhem. In most cases, the fighters are inseparable and they would fight until one draws blood on the other. This intolerable habit at times is taken too far when the students in my school engage some unscrupulous ones from a nearby sister school. The in-house fighting practice is thereby exhibited outside in what has become thuggery for which my school has now become known. My school does not organise inter-house sport competitions because similar ones ended in violent thuggery. Bullying as a practice common among students in my school has also become so prevalent that it has become a source of worry for peace-loving students like me. There is no day passing without one or two cases of bullying being reported to the school authorities. Junior students and those who have diminutive stature are at the great risk of being bullied and harassed within the school premises. They are extorted and forced to part with their money and belongings. In some cases, such extortions border on robbing the younger ones. Within the school premises, the junior students have become an endangered species as they are picked up for bullying by the senior students who are supposed to protect them. Similar to this, gambling, as a practice, is common among the students. This cuts across all the classes in the school as there are gamblers in junior classes as well as in the senior classes. Another worrisome practice in my school is the lackadaisical attitude of teachers to their duties. All the practices I told you about earlier on are the results of the poor attitude of our teachers. They are negligent of their duties as many of them turn their faces from students' misbehaviours instead of correcting them. Their attitude to their main job of coming to teach in the class is not different. They sit down in their staffrooms during their lesson periods waiting for students to come and call them. There is an urgent need for improvement because the school cannot make progress until there is a change. Kingsley, I am not happy that my school is notorious for all these objectionable practices of fighting, thuggery, gambling and unproductive attitude of teachers. I seriously desire an improvement with which the school can move forward. How are you and your studies? I hope you are trying to cope with all the challenges that are coming your way. I trust you. Don't ever try join in those practices you discussed in your last letter but be one of t the agents of change and improvement as I am trying to be here. I know that we are going to succeed in the end. Yours sincerely, Christopher.

HIGH COST OF LIVING IN MY COUNTRY Undoubtedly, there is every need to improve the standard of living of citizens of this country. The cost of living is too high in Nigeria and many Nigerians are groaning under the heavy yoke of high cost of living. The bad economy which has engineered exorbitant cost of living has affected Nigerians, particularly the poor. There is high cost of feeding, accommodation, transportation, education and so on to the extent that every facet of life is affected. This pitiable condition is made worse by the crippling effects of unemployment in the country. This has multiplying effects on the standard of living of Nigerians which makes it imperative for the government to rise to the occasion and tackle the problem. The first way of tackling the problem of high cost of living is government having interest in promoting agriculture in the Country. The first priority need of people is survival by feeding well. The cost of food items is too high and this is as a result of low production of food in the country. The farm has been abandoned to the old people by the youths who are not interested in farming. Therefore, the government should make farming attractive to the youths, thereby increasing food production which will bring about a drastic reduction in the prices of food items. This can be achieved if the government establishes farm settlements across the count,' and provides modern farming equipment like tractors plough and harvesters which will allow for high production of food in the country. When foodstuffs are cheap and affordable, Nigerians will be able to feed themselves and remain healthy. Another way of improving the standard of living of Nigerians and reducing the high cost of living is empowering the youths to become self-reliant, productive and entrepreneurial. This will prevent them from becoming job seekers but job creators If the government establishes skill acquisition centres where the youths can acquire skills that can make them go into the production of essential goods and manufacturing of items like shoes, bags, machines and so on, the high cost of these items will come down and become affordable to Nigerians. By encouraging manufacturing, government can create wealth in the country and reduce the high cost of living. The high cost of living in the country is an indication of the poor economy. In order to improve the economy of the country, the government has to do the needful by diversifying the economy. The government should invest in agriculture and manufacturing so that the country will become a great exporting one and not a dependant on imported goods. This will definitely improve the foreign earnings of the country and it will have positive effects on the standard of living of Nigerians. Moreover, the locally-made goods either in the agro-called sector or manufacturing sector should be protected by government by banning imported goods. This will encourage local production and manufacturing and Nigerians should be sensitised towards patronising foods and goods made in Nigeria If our locally-produced food and goods are patronised by Nigerians, it will bring about a large production and their prices will be cheap and affordable. This will thereby reduce the high cost of living in the country. lgwe Progress.

Babs Fafunwa Senior Secondary School P.0 Box 226 Ojodu Lagos 27th May, 2018. The Chairman, Environmental Protection Agency, Abuja. Dear Sir, EFFECTS OF ILLEGAL FELLING OF TREES As the agency charged with the responsibility of promoting environmental protection in Nigeria, I would like to draw your attention to the depletion of our forests through illegal felling of trees and the devastating effects it has on our environment, otherwise we will continue to live in very unsafe surroundings which cannot continue to support our lives. Illegal felling of trees has many effects on our environment with its dire consequences. First and foremost, illegal felling of trees is responsible for the sudden and erratic changes in our weather which in some cases has led to serious drought. Nowadays, there has been change in the rainfall pattern which has made it difficult for our farmers to plan their farming schedules This has made farming risky for farmers as they often plan their crops at the drop of rain only to get stuck midway when the rain suddenly stops. Besides, trees have a great influence on rainfall which illegal felling of these trees destroys. Similarly, trees conserve soil and prevent soil erosion. The soil surface covered by the leaves and branches of trees is protected from heavy rain which could wash it away Apart from this, the roots of trees have binding effects on soil particles and help in soil aeration and water absorption With the rampant illegal felling of trees, the soil loses its fertility and ability to produce bountiful harvest. Soil erosion results in a rapid decline in the productivity of soil. Thus, illegal felling of trees often leads to low food production Moreover, illegal felling of trees denies us the productive uses of trees. Trees like 'obeche' and 'iroko' can be sawn into planks and used to produce furniture, canoes, particle boards, fuelwood and paper. With the depletion of these trees illegally, we are denied of their productive uses. We are also denied of the medicinal substances obtainable from trees. The tree roots, barks and leaves are medicinal and with illegal felling of trees, humanity is denied the opportunity to enjoy the medicinal values of trees. Undoubtedly, illegal felling of trees has done more harm than good to our environment with the depletion of oxygen, destruction of shades and even the depletion of the ozone and it should not be allowed to continue. Your agency has to do something urgent to remedy the situation. First, your agency should encourage afforestation. More trees need to be planted so as to replace those that have been illegally felled. Nigerians should be encouraged to plant trees, at least one in a day. A day should be popularised to be a tree-planting day when Nigerians would be sensitised to set aside as the day they have to plant trees. Furthermore, Nigerians should be educated on the importance of trees to their environment. They should be told that trees could help to make the climate more comfortable for them and make the environment more habitable. Lastly, stiffer penalties should be meted out to anybody caught engaging in illegal felling of trees. It this is done, it will serve as deterrent to others. Yours faithfully, Signature Eniafe Esther.

CHILDREN OF LITERATE PARENTS PERFORM BETTER IN SCHOOL THAN OF ILLITERATE PARENTS. Chairman, Panel of Judges, Co-debaters, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am here to speak in support of the motion "Children of literate parents perform better in school than those of illiterate parents". When we say that children of literate parents perform better in school, what this means is that they do well academically than those of illiterate parents. Of course, children from literate homes perform better in their school work than those from illiterate homes. Intelligence is innate and it is often inherited or passed down from parents to children. A literate parent passes down intelligent quotient to his or her child. Definitely, literate parents have the tendency of having children with high intelligent quotient. The reverse is the case with illiterate parents who are not likely to produce children with high intelligent quotient going by simple biological law of genes transfer. Secondly, literate parents are more concerned and passionate about education. They are the ones that are always ready to send their children to school and back it up with all necessary academic equipment like books and educative software even with Internet facilities in their homes, all to make their children perform well in school. They often employ lesson teachers to give extra lesson to their children at home after school. Tell me why children from such homes won't perform better than those from illiterate homes? Illiterate parents are mostly not passionate about education. All they know is that their children are attending schools and they stop at that. Their children are not supported at home with lesson teachers, and educative facilities like the Internet. Some of them don't even bother about the progress of their children unlike literate parents who, apart from supporting their children, find time to sit down with their children to ascertain their progress in school. When their children have problem on their assignments or need some explanations, literate parents can offer assistance even when the lesson teacher is not around. An illiterate parent cannot offer such assistance because he or she is not educated. Moreover, children from literate homes usually have examples of educated predecessors to follow and emulate. Their parents are educated and so they cannot afford not to do well in school so that they can equal or even surpass their parents' academic achievements. Children from illiterate homes, on the other hand, have no such opportunity. They often think highly of themselves because they are presumed to have been better educated than their illiterate parents. This is further worsened by the fact that their illiterate parents always think highly of them and so tolerate their excesses. A child from an illiterate home can easily deceive his or her illiterate parents about his or her academic performance because the parents could not read and write. This is unthinkable in literate homes where the parents can analyse academic results and know whether their children are doing well in school or not. Chairman, Panel of Judges, Ladies and Gentlemen, you will all agree with me that a child performs better in school when he or she can be appropriately monitored and supported with academic facilities both in school and at home and when such child comes from a literate home where he or she has somebody with a greater education qualifications to emulate and even surpass. I hope that I have been able to convince you with my well-articulated points that children of literate Parents perform better in school those of illiterate parents.

The import of the saying: 'a bird in hand is worth two in the bush" was lost on me until after my secondary school education. The reality of the saying dawned on me fully when I had this terrible experience of losing an admission into a university in Nigeria simply because I was trying to get a better one. I had my secondary education with a relative ease. Throughout my secondary school days, I was rated the best. I always led other students in my class and at the end of every school year, I won awards and laurels. remembered our last social event in the school, our valedictory service; I was announced the best in almost all the subjects. When our WASSCE results were released, I had nine distinctions and was then ready for university admission. I wrote and passed the examination for admission into the university and I was offered admission to study medicine in one of the prestigious universities in the country. It was at this point in my life that I had an encounter with Mr Davies. Mr Davies happened to be an acquaintance of my father and known to own a travel agency-cum-tutorial school in our neighborhood. Before his plans for me were known to me, he had met and talked with my parents to persuade them to let him help me to study abroad My father in particular gave in to his sugar-coated persuasive talk and the process began. Few days after meeting with Mr Davies, my father called me to his sitting room where my mother had set down to await the beginning of the family meeting. "Koye, I want you to study abroad. It is good that you have been offered admission into a university here but I think you should travel abroad to study" I shifted on my seat and sat very well probably to hear correctly what my father was saying. Before I could say anything, my mother interrupted: "There won't be any problem about that. Your father had discussed the plans with Mr Davies who had assured the two of us that he would assist to make it work out. In fact, It was Mr Davies' idea since he knows your brilliant performance in your examinations." I sat well on the chair and was almost lost in my thought. Then I came around and asked: "Do you think this will be possible? Where will the money come from or Mr Davies will assist for free?" All I could get as answers to my questions was that they had considered everything and had come to the conclusion that studying abroad was the best for me. At first, I was thrilled by this sudden change in fortune. "So I would have the opportunity to study abroad!" I sometimes uttered to myself. For the time being, I disregarded the admission offered to study here in Nigeria and longed for when I would travel abroad. Mr Davies helped me to secure admission into a university in America though I knew that with my good result, that would not be a problem. The other processes should follow and my parents struggled so hard to get money to pay for each of the processes. I became worried after eight months into the plans and nothing positive came from Mr Davies. When it was one year after admission had been given to me and our plan to travel abroad fell through, I went to the university that gave me admission to see if I could resume schooling there but I was turned down. If I still had interest in the university, I should write another examination the following year. Everything stood at a standstill. I was disappointed and furious at the same time. When I got home, I made my feelings known to my parents who only worsened my situation by telling me that about two million Naira had been collected by Mr Davies and he was at large. This news multiplied my woes and with bile in my mouth, I said to my parents: "You made me forfeit my already obtained university admission. If I had insisted that I didn't want your plan, you would have called me a disobedient son. You can see now that "a bird in hand is worth two in the bush."