John's father was PROMOTED yesterday.

Analyze the question

The word PROMOTED is in capital letters. In WASSCE English, this signals emphasis and contrast. The question is testing which question the given sentence would answer, meaning what the speaker is stressing.

Explain the concept

When a word is capitalized for emphasis, the sentence is usually correcting or answering a question about that specific word. The stressed word is the new or contrasting information. The rest of the sentence is already known or assumed.

So "John's father was PROMOTED yesterday" suggests:

• It is known that John's father had something happen to him yesterday.
• The point being made is that it was a promotion, and not something else, such as being sacked, demoted, or transferred.

Step-by-step solution

Check each option to see which question the emphasized sentence answers:

• A. Was Peter's father promoted yesterday? This would be answered by stressing JOHN'S, not PROMOTED.
• B. Was John's mother promoted yesterday? This would be answered by stressing FATHER.
• C. Was John's father sacked yesterday? This would be answered by stressing PROMOTED ("No, he was PROMOTED"). This matches.
• D. Was John's father promoted last year? This would be answered by stressing YESTERDAY.

Answer: The stressed word PROMOTED contrasts with "sacked", so option C is correct.

Exam tip

Find the capitalized word, then ask: "Which option changes only that word and keeps everything else the same?" That option is the answer. In this question, only C changes the action (sacked) while keeping John's father and yesterday unchanged.