9. Read the passage below carefully and then answer questions:
Harvests came and went. They had been good; people rejoiced. Such rich harvests had not been seen for years. Old men came sighed and with inner fear as they witnessed the hubbub of excitement throbbing through the ridges, making things tremble. Had they not seen such happenings before in their days of youth? The elders then offered many burnt sacrifices to God. Who did not know what such unusual harvests portended? Who could not remember the great famine that swept through the hills after the great harvest.
The sacrifices went hand in hand with preparations for the coming circumcision. Everywhere candidates for the initiation were gathering. They went from house to house, singing and dancing the ritual songs, the same that had been sung from the old times, when Demi and Mathathi were on the land.
Loli was one of the candidates. He was now a young man with long straight limbs. He did not like the dances very much mainly because he could not do them as well as his fellow candidates, who had been practicing them for years. After all, it was soon after his second birth that he had gone to Namulungu, and he had lived there for all those years, although he normally came home during the holidays. Loli was often surprised at his father, who in some way seemed to defy age. His voice, however, thin and tremulous betrayed him. Loli often remembered by he was sent to Namulungu. But with years, the dream had grown less vivid and less real. He saw it mainly as an illusion, an old man's dream. Yet he worked hard in school. He was now in the senior class in Namulungu Secondary School and he was able to meet boys from all over Kenya.
Loli's absence from the hills had kept him out of touch with those things that most mattered to the tribe. Besides, however he resisted it, he could not help gathering and absorbing ideas and notions that prevented him from responding spontaneously to the dances and celebrations. But he knew that he had to go through the initiation. And he did not want to disappoint his father. For Loli knew that the old man would die in that dream of the future which had probably been a real, essential part of his life. Not that Loli disliked the idea of circumcision, on the contrary, he looked forward to it. It was every boy's ambition to test his courage at the ceremony. In fact, he considered the missionary a little dense in attacking a custom whose real significance in the tribe he did not understand and probably would never understand.
Above the beating of drums and jingles, shouts rose from hill to hill to keep awake those who might want to go sleep. Tonight was the eve of the initiation day; it would see the biggest of all dances.
Fill in the answer gap with 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' corresponding to the correct answer:
After a good harvest, the elders always
A. trembled with fear
B. offered sacrifices
C. joined in the frenzy
D. prayed for rain
Answer:
Fill in the answer gap with 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' corresponding to the correct answer:The elders' fear was as a result of
A. the wastage that followed great harvests
B. a previous famine
C. the likely famine that was proceeded by good harvests
D. the happenings in their useful days
Answer:
Fill in the answer gap with 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' corresponding to the correct answer:The word 'portended' as used in the passage could mean
A. implicated
B. wanted
C. showed
D. referred
Answer:
Fill in the answer gap with 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' corresponding to the correct answer:Sacrifices were offered as
A. the initiates got over the experience
B. circumcision plans were underway
C. circumcision was being carried out
D. harvesting went on
Answer:
Fill in the answer gap with 'A', 'B', 'C' or 'D' corresponding to the correct answer:Ritual songs
A. changed with time
B. had been composed by Demi and Mathathi
C. Were sung by the would-be initiates
D. Were particular ones, sang over and over
Answer:
