Focus: Lexical Competence & Word Choice | Level: Junior Secondary (JSS3)
Equip yourself with the essential vocabulary and register skills required to excel in the English Studies paper of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE / Junior WAEC). This module features 100 carefully constructed multiple-choice questions spanning key lexical domains to build language fluency and exam confidence.
Aims & Objectives:
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Read the sentence below and answer the question that follows:
The landlord decided to evict the tenants because they failed to pay their rent for six months.
In the sentence above, what does the word 'evict' mean?
force someone to leave a property
In the context of housing (Home), to 'evict' means to legally force a tenant to leave a property, usually for failing to pay rent.
Choose the most appropriate word to complete the sentence:
The principal warned the students against engaging in examination ________.
malpractice
In an educational context, cheating in exams is collocated with the word 'malpractice', making 'examination malpractice' the standard accepted phrase.
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the bolded word:
The priest addressed the congregation after the morning service.
worshippers
A 'congregation' specifically refers to a group of people gathered for religious worship. Therefore, 'worshippers' is the most accurate synonym in this context.
Read the sentence below and answer the question that follows:
My mother is very good at haggling over prices whenever we go to the market.
What does the word 'haggling' mean?
bargaining over the cost
To 'haggle' in a market setting means to dispute or negotiate over the price of something in order to get a better deal.
Choose the word most nearly opposite in meaning to the bolded word:
The doctor described the patient's illness as acute.
chronic
In a medical context, an 'acute' condition appears suddenly and worsens quickly, whereas a 'chronic' condition develops slowly and lasts for a long time. Thus, 'chronic' is the antonym.
Choose the most appropriate option to complete the sentence:
Due to severe financial difficulties, James had to ________ of school in his second year.
drop out
The phrasal verb 'drop out' means to abandon a course of study or leave school or university before completion.
Choose the most appropriate word to complete the sentence:
The constitution of the country was formally ________ by the newly elected lawmakers to include human rights protections.
amended
In government and legal contexts (formal register), official changes made to a constitution or law are referred to as 'amendments'; hence, the document is 'amended'.
Read the sentence and answer the question:
Since he lost his factory job, Mark has been doing menial tasks just to make ends meet.
The idiom 'make ends meet' means to:
earn just enough money to survive
'Make ends meet' is an idiom that means earning enough money to pay for one's basic living expenses.
Choose the most appropriate word to complete the sentence:
The speaker warned the youths about the serious dangers of consuming ________ drugs.
hard
The word 'drugs' naturally collocates with 'hard' to describe illegal, addictive substances like heroin or cocaine (i.e., 'hard drugs').
Choose the word nearest in meaning to the bolded word:
Denying citizens their freedom of speech is a clear infringement on their basic rights.
violation
An 'infringement' is an action that breaks a rule, law, or agreement. 'Violation' is its closest synonym in the context of human rights.
