English Exercises 002

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.

Dele groaned and got out of bed. There was no

clock on the mantel piece and the room was still

dark, but he knew that he was already late for

work, probably by an hour. He was a

commercial bus driver and had to get started as

early as 5.00a.m. and go almost non-stop till

about 9.00 p.m. to be able to make the daily

returns that the bus owner demanded.

On the previous day, he had attended an allnight

party – a late uncle’s burial ceremony –

where he had drunk himself almost senseless

before crawling home in the early hours of the

morning. Now, he got up shakily, splashed water

on his face and hurried off to work, but not

before carefully fastening on his upper left arm

the amulet he had always worn for protection

against accidents. A similar amulet hung

concealed under the steering column of his bus.

On his way, still feeling groggy, he caught his

left toe against a stump and had some misgiving.

It was a bad sign, and he was supposed to go

back home and then set out again. But there was

no time for that now, so he hurried on.

At the bus station, Dele quickly loaded his bus

and sped off without any of the necessary checks

on the vehicle. He had to make up for lost time.

It was the rush hour, so the bus was overloaded

as it often was, with many passengers hanging

on to the doors. The tyres were threadbare, the

brakes were faulty and the road was wet, but,

still feeling a little sleepy, Dele sped on. Many

passengers protested about his reckless driving,

but he would not listen. After all, didn’t he have

protection against accident?

As the vehicle took the last turn before its

destination, Dele saw a broken-down truck

blocking his side of the road. Under normal

circumstances, he could have brought the bus

safely to a halt, bur the circumstances were far

from normal. The careering bus hit the parked

vehicle, swerved wildly across the road and

plunged into a ditch.

Dele’s surprise before he sank into oblivion was

the failure of his supposedly protective amulets.

(a) Why did Dele wake up late?

(b) …he caught his left toe against a stump and

had some misgivings. What does this tell us

about Dele?

(c) Give two reasons why Dele drove

recklessly.

(d) Why was Dele unable to stop his faulty

vehicle?

(e) What was Dele’s condition after the

accident?

(f) After all, didn’t he have protection against

accident? What literary device is used in this

expression?

(g) …wildly across the road…

(i) What grammatical name is given to the

expression as it is used in the passage?

(ii) What is its function?

(h) For each of the following words, find

another word or phrase which means the same

and can replace it in the passage:

i. probably;

ii. returns;

iii. groggy;

iv. misgiving

v. threadbare

vi. reckless.

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