WAEC 2013 English Language · Question 75

After the sentence below, a list of possible interpretations is given. Choose the interpretation that you…

Question

After the sentence below, a list of possible interpretations is given. Choose the interpretation that you consider most appropriate for the sentence. When the vice principal left the school, it became a bedlam. This means that

  1. A.every student attended school regularly
  2. B.punctuality was the order of the day
  3. C.many students boycotted classes
  4. D.there was noise and confusion in the school

Answer: D. there was noise and confusion in the school

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks what the sentence "When the vice principal left the school, it became a bedlam" means. The key word is bedlam.

Step 2: Explain the concept Bedlam is a noun meaning a scene of uproar, noise, and confusion. It comes from "Bethlehem Hospital," a London asylum for the mentally ill, known for its chaos. Whenever you see "bedlam," think chaos, disorder, uproar.

Step 3: Work through the options

  • A. Every student attended school regularly. This says nothing about disorder. It is wrong.
  • B. Punctuality was the order of the day. Punctuality means being on time, which is the opposite of chaos. It is wrong.
  • C. Many students boycotted classes. Boycotting means refusing to attend. The sentence says the school became a bedlam, so students were present and disorderly. It is wrong.
  • D. There was noise and confusion in the school. This matches the meaning of bedlam exactly. It is correct.

Step 4: Context check When the vice principal, who maintains discipline, left, the students were no longer controlled. The school then became noisy and disorderly. This fits option D.

Answer: D. There was noise and confusion in the school.

Exam tip: For vocabulary-in-context questions, first decide the word's meaning on its own, then eliminate options that give the opposite idea. Here A and B suggest orderliness, which is the opposite of bedlam. A quick memory trick: BEDLAM = BED-lam... nobody can sleep in all that noise!

Keep practicing, you're doing well!

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