Addis Amba College
Distance of Education
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Assignment for Communicative English Language Skills Skills I Course (40%)
I. Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow (15pts).
The Feast of the New Yam in Umuofia
The Feast of the New Yam was approaching. And Umuofia was in a festival mood. It was
an occasion for giving thanks to Ani, the earth goddess and the source of all fertility. Ani
played a greater part in the life of the people than any other deity. She was the ultimate judge
of mortality, and conduct. And what was more, she was in close communion with the
departed fathers of the clan whose bodies had been committed to earth.
The Feast of the New Yam was held every year before the harvest began, to honor the earth
goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. New yams could not be eaten until some had
first been offered to these powers. Men and women, young and old, looked forward to the
New Yam festival because it began the season of plenty-the new year.
On the last night before the festival, yams of the old year were all disposed by those who
still had them. The new year must begin with tasty, fresh yams and not the shriveled and
fibrous crop of the previous year. All cooking- pots, calabashes and wooden bowls were
thoroughly washed, especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded.
Yam foo- foo and vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration. So much of it was
cooked that, no matter how heavily the family ate or how many friends and relatives they
invited from neighboring villages, there was always a large quantity of food left over at the
end of the day. The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a
mound of foo-foo so high that those who sat on one side could not see what was happening
on the other, and it was not until late in the evening that one of them saw for the first time
his in-law who had arrived during the course of the meal and had fallen to one the opposite
side. It was only then that they exchanged greetings shook hands over what was left of the
food.
The New Yam Festival was thus an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia. And every man,
whose arm is strong, as the Ibo people say, was expected to invite large numbers of guests
from far and wide.
Taken from Things fall Apart, Chinua Achebe(1958:30-31)
i. Write the main idea of the above reading text using a maximum of 70-80 words (5pts).
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ii. Choose the correct answers for the following questions(5pts).
1. Why is the Feast of the New Yam celebrated?
A. To dispose of the old yams
B. To honor Ani.
C. To please the departed spirits
D. None
2. When is the Feast of the New Yam celebrated?
A. Every year C. a & b
B. Before the harvest of the New Yam begins D. None
3. Which of the following is not true?
A. On the last night before the festival, yams of the old year were all disposed by those
who still had them.
B. The new year must begin with the shriveled and fibrous crop of the previous year.
C. The feast is celebrated every year and new yams are not eaten before the
goddess and the departed ancestral spirits are given.
D. The old yams are disposed of before the harvest of the new ones.
4. Which of the following is true?
A. Yam foo- foo and vegetable soup was the only food in the celebration.
B. People cooked a reasonably small quantity for the feast.
C. There was always a large quantity of food left over at the end of the day.
D. None
5. What do the Ibo people say?
A. The Feast of the New Yam is a harmful practice.
B. A strong man is expected to invite to the feast large number of guests from
far and wide.
C. The New Yam Festival is an occasion for joy throughout Umuofia.
D. They do not say anything at all.
iii. Choose the appropriate references for the following words and phrases written in bold in the
above reading text(2.5pts).
1. What does ‘It’ (par. 1) refer to?
A. Umuofia B. The New Yam Feast C. Ani D. None
2. What does ‘these’ (par. 2) refer to?
A. The ancestral spirits of the clan B. New yams C. The earth goddess D, A & C
3. What does ‘those’ (par. 3) refer to?
A. Yams of the old year C. Tasty and fresh yams
B. People who had the old yams D. None
4. What does ‘they’ (par. 4) refer to?
A. Friends and relatives
B. Invitees from neighboring villages
C. People preparing the feasts
D. None
5. What does ‘whose’ (par. 5) refer to?
A. The Ibo people B. The guests C. Everyman D. None
iv. The following words written in bold are taken from the reading text. Work out their
meanings (2.5pts).
1. It was an occasion for giving thanks to Ani.
Meaning:
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2. Men and women, young and old, looked forward to the New Yam festival because it
began the season of plenty-the new year.
Meaning:
3. On the last night before the festival, yams of the old year were all disposed by those who
still had them.
Meaning:
4. The new year must begin with tasty, fresh yams and not the shriveled and fibrous crop of
the previous year.
Meaning:
5. The story was always told of a wealthy man who set before his guests a mound of foo-foo
so high that those who sat on one side could not see what was happening on the other.
Meaning:
II. Combine the following pairs of sentences using relative pronouns(5pts)
1. Fitawrari Gebriye was emperor Tewodros’s right hand man.
Fitawrari Gebriye fell at Arogie.
2. I found the wallet. The wallet was lost.
3. The statue fell down. The statue was poorly built.
4. The student was sick. The student was taken to the nearby clinic.
5. AIDS is still a serious health problem in Ethiopia. AIDS is a lethal disease.
III. Change the following active constructions into passive ones(5pts).
1. Aschilo ate the confection.
2. The vegetarian has taken the vegetables.
3. Gondar had staged the Seventh Ethiopian Cities Forum.
4. They are writing a booklet now
5. Many foreigners had visited the castle.
IV. Choose the best answer to complete following conditionals (5pts).
1. It will be a good opportunity for him to finish the actual work on time if the proposal
________now.
A. will be approved C. would be approved
B. is approved D. approves
2. If she _________ a doctor, she__________ treat her cousin in a better way.
A. will/is C. will be/is
B. would/were D. were/would
3. The woman said, “The man would have killed me if my husband had left me alone in the dark.”
This sentence is similar or almost similar in meaning to:
A. The woman was left alone but not killed.
B. The woman was left alone and killed.
C. The husband’s presence saved the girl.
D. The woman was left alone in the dark.
4. What ______to the guards if they hadn’t reported the robbery soon?
A. Would happen C. will happen
B. Would have happened. D. happen
5. You ______ if you ___ for finger.
A. Would bleed/ Cut C. bleed/will cut
B. Will bleed/cut D. bleed/cut
