20+ Sample WASSCE English Summary Questions and Answers

The sample WASSCE English summary questions and answers in this post will give you enough guidance and inspire you to confidently write your own summary answers.

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Read the following passages carefully and answer in your own words, as far as possible, the questions that follow.

Passage 1

Launched on November 30, 2022, by San Francisco-based OpenAI, a renowned artificial intelligence research organization, ChatGPT represents a milestone in the evolution of artificial intelligence. It is the descendant of the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series, each iteration refining the model’s capacity to understand and generate human-like text. ChatGPT, specifically designed for interactive conversations, quickly gained popularity for its ability to engage users in discussions and answer questions.

Since its inception, ChatGPT has become a significant tool in various fields, including education. Its ability to generate human-like text responses has sparked interest in its potential advantages and disadvantages when used for educational purposes.

One of the primary advantages of ChatGPT in education is its round-the-clock availability. Unlike human teachers who have limited working hours, ChatGPT is available anytime, anywhere. Students can seek clarification on concepts, get help with assignments, or engage in discussions at their convenience. This accessibility ensures continuous learning and support, catering to different learning paces and schedules.

Secondly, ChatGPT has the ability to tailor its responses based on individual student needs. Through interaction, it gathers information about the student’s learning style, strengths, and weaknesses. Armed with this data, it can provide customized explanations, practice questions, and learning materials. This personalized approach enhances student engagement and comprehension, making learning more effective and enjoyable.

With access to a vast repository of information, ChatGPT serves as an inexhaustible source of knowledge. It can provide up-to-date information on diverse subjects, ranging from history to science to literature. Students can delve deep into specific topics, explore related concepts, and broaden their understanding beyond what traditional textbooks offer. This breadth of knowledge encourages curiosity and fosters a holistic approach to learning.

For language learners, ChatGPT offers a valuable platform to practice and improve their skills. Through conversations and writing exercises, students can refine their grammar, vocabulary, and overall language proficiency. ChatGPT provides instant feedback, correcting errors and suggesting alternative phrasing. This real-time language practice accelerates learning, building confidence in communication skills.

Despite its numerous benefits, this AI tool presents many challenges to both students and teachers alike.

To begin with, while ChatGPT excels in generating text-based responses, it lacks emotional intelligence. Human teachers possess the ability to empathize, understand nuanced emotions, and provide emotional support when needed. In contrast, ChatGPT’s responses, though informative, may come across as impersonal or detached, especially in situations requiring empathy and encouragement.

Also, there is a concern that excessive reliance on ChatGPT could lead to student passivity and a lack of critical thinking. Students might become accustomed to receiving instant answers from eager robots without the effort of independent research or problem-solving. This dependency on an AI model for solutions might hinder the development of essential skills such as analysis, evaluation, and creativity.

Thirdly, despite its vast knowledge base, ChatGPT is not immune to errors or misinformation. When presented with complex or ambiguous queries, it might provide inaccurate responses, leading to confusion or misinterpretation of concepts. Without human oversight, therefore, there is a risk of students unknowingly absorbing incorrect information. This could be detrimental to their learning journey.

A fourth shortcoming of ChatGPT stems from the fact that as an AI system, it operates by processing and storing user interactions. This raises legitimate concerns about privacy and data security, particularly in educational settings. Schools and students must consider the implications of sharing sensitive information with an AI model. They must always ensure that proper safeguards are in place to protect confidential data from unauthorized access or misuse.

In conclusion, ChatGPT has emerged as a promising tool for enhancing educational experiences, offering accessibility, personalization, knowledge enrichment, and language skills development. However, its limitations, such as a lack of emotional intelligence, the danger of overdependence, risks of misinformation, and privacy concerns, highlight the need for a balanced approach to its use in education. Taking full advantage of ChatGPT’s strengths while addressing these challenges is possible. This way, educators can harness this AI tool’s full potential to empower students in their academic pursuits.

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Sample WAEC Summary Questions

a. In three sentences, one for each, state three benefits that ChatGPT offers the education sector.

b. In three sentences, one for each, state three potential disadvantages of ChatGPT in education.

Recommended Answers

a. i. Its accessibility promotes uninterrupted learning.

ii. It addresses the specific needs of each learner.

iii. ChatGPT has a huge knowledge base.

b. i. It cannot empathise with students the way human teachers do.

ii. It can make students incapable of thinking for themselves.

iii. ChatGPT may give inaccurate information.

PLEASE NOTE: You may have observed that there are four advantages and disadvantages each of ChatGPT mentioned in the passage. However, the questions demand three points only in each case. So this is what you must do. Ignore one advantage and one disadvantage in a situation of this nature.

Passage 2

There were certain underlying conditions that enabled department stores grow up when they did. From the start, they all catered for middle-class customers and set out to convey to them an air of luxury and solid comfort. Of necessity, they all arose in central positions where large numbers of people could reach them easily by means of public transport. Physically, they grew up in an era of big technical developments in building so that they could afford multi-storey palaces and could have enormous plate-glass windows for display, lighting and novelties like lifts.

Above all, the department stores rose with the rise of Victorian white-collar workers, the small-scale businessmen and professionals whose womenfolk had money to spare for a few luxuries and were gradually switching the emphasis of their housekeeping expenditure from food to other items.

Most of these stores drew enough customers to fill their huge shops by offering two new things. One was the new manufactures, particularly clothing, goods and accessories, household furnishings and equipment of all kinds that were coming out of the factories in increasing quantity. The specialist shops stocked these too, of course, but the department stores always made it a point to be the first in the field if they could with novelty of any kind. And the other special thing they offered the middle-class shoppers, many of whom were newly rich and a little experienced in luxury shopping, was a lavish display and wide choice of these goods.

The department stores, however, introduced into a respectable class trade the vulgar practice of openly marking or ticketing goods with their prices – a practice that had not even yet penetrated shops that could claim that they were really exclusive. But the department stores as a rule made a virtue not only of displaying their wares as openly as they could but also of boldly pricing them for all to see. Their large-scale purchases enabled them to sell cheaply and they were not ashamed in the early days to make price one of their selling points. ‘Store price’ was a by-word for cheapness.

The lines they concentrated on were fashion goods, things that shoppers were prepared to travel long distances for and to take some time and trouble in choosing. The department stores were at least partly responsible for the way the middle classes gradually became fashion conscious, and helped to mould their tastes. They were the first preachers of the modern creed that goods ought to be replaced when they are outdated rather than when they are outworn.

WASSCE Summary Questions

a) In four sentences, one for each, summarize why people were attracted to the department stores.

b) In two sentences, one for each, state the effects department stores had on their customers.

Recommended WASSCE Summary Answers

a) i) They were the first to sell the latest goods.

    ii) They offered different kinds of goods.

    iii) They openly displayed their prices.

    iv) Their prices were low.

b) i) They turned their customers into lovers of fashion.

    ii) They shaped their customers’ tastes.

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Passage 3

Read the following passage carefully and answer in your own words as far as possible, the questions that follow.

It has been the custom of historians to divide the factors for wars into immediate and underlying causes. Among these underlying causes, the economic factor is generally placed at the head of the list. Indeed, the most important of these was the industrial and commercial rivalry between Germany and Great Britain.

Germany, after its unification in 1871, went through a period of economic miracle. By 1914, she was producing more iron and steel than Britain and France combined. In chemicals, in dye, and in the manufacture of scientific equipment she led the world. The products of her industries were crowding British manufactures in nearly every market for continental Europe, in the Far East and in Britain itself.

There is evidence that certain interests in Great Britain were becoming seriously alarmed over the menace of German competition.

There seemed to be a strong conviction that Germany was waging deliberate and deadly economic warfare upon Britain to capture her market by unfair methods. Thus, for Britain to allow Germany to be victorious in this struggle would mean the destruction of her prosperity and a grave threat to her national existence.

There are indications that the French also were alarmed by the German industrial expansion. In 1870, France had lost possession of the expensive iron and coal deposit of Lorraine, which had gone to swell the industrial growth of Germany. To be sure, the French had plenty of iron left in the Briery Fields, but they were afraid that their enemy might eventually reach out and grab these too. Besides, France was under necessity of importing coal and this galled her pride almost as much as the loss of the iron.

In addition, the Russian ambition to gain control of Constantinople and other portions of Turkish territory conflicted with German plans for reserving the Turkish Empire as their happy hunting ground of commercial privilege. Then Russia and Austria a close ally of Germany were rivals for a monopoly of trade with the Balkan kingdoms of Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece.

• In two sentences, one for each, state two reasons why Britain considered Germany a threat.
• In two sentences, one for each, state two reasons why the French felt threatened by the Germans.
• In two sentences, one for each, state two factors responsible for Russian antagonism with Germany.

RECOMMENDED ANSWERS

a) i. Germany’s production level started rising higher than Britain’s

ii. Britain was finding it difficult to cope with German commercial competition.

b) i. Germany had taken over much of France’s iron and coal resources.

ii. There was the danger that Germany might take over the rest of France’s oil and coal resources.

c)  i. There was a scramble for the control of the Turkish  Empire by the two countries.

ii. Germany’s ally, Austria, was engaged in a bitter struggle with Russia over who gained control over trade in the Balkans.  

Passage 4

Read the passage below carefully and then answer in your own words as far as possible the questions on it.

Mining ranks among the world’s most destructive industries. Yet mineral extraction and processing are absent in most discussions of global environmental threats. Governmental and private analyses have focused only on increasing mineral supplies.

Each year, mining strips some 28 billion tons of material from the earth. This is more than what is removed by the natural erosion of all the earth’s rivers. Worldwide, mining and smelting generate an estimated 2.7 billion tons of processing waste each year, much of it hazardous dwarfing the more familiar municipal waste. Smelter pollution has created biological wastelands as large as 10, 000 hectares and pumped some eight percent of the total worldwide emissions of sulphur dioxide, a major contributor to acid rain, into the atmosphere.

Mining could also cause more damaging deforestation than bad farming practices in certain parts of the world. For example, smelters at a single iron mine in Brazil will require enough fuelwood to deforest 50,000 hectares of tropical forest each year.

Mining has been poorly regulated even in wealthy industrialized nations. While many governments subsidize mineral production, few enact or enforce strict environmental regulations for mining operations. As a result, not only are many mining activities more environmentally destructive than need be, but prices of minerals do not include their full environmental cost. Today’s low mineral prices reflect only the immediate economics of extraction and destruction. They fail to consider the full costs of eroded land, dammed or polluted rivers and displacement of people unlucky enough to live atop mineral deposits. In light of this, governments should remove subsidies provided for mining virgin minerals.

The devastating effects of the industry are particularly severe in the developing countries which have been producing a substantial portion of the world’s mineral supplies, although they use relatively little. This is because environmental controls tend to be weak or non-existent in these countries. What makes their situation more pathetic is that many of them are among the world’s poorest nations.

Contrary to popular belief, the people of most mineral–exporting countries gain little from mining. Expensive investment in equipment and infrastructure combined with falling world mineral prices, especially during the eighties, has made these countries some of the world’s most heavily indebted.

While the world appears in little danger of running out of most non-fuel minerals, it is obvious that the planet cannot afford the human and ecological price of its growing appetite for minerals. It will therefore be wise to satisfy human needs with smaller amounts of virgin minerals. It will also work for our good if we increase recycling of materials, and make metal-based products more durable and easier to repair.

a) In three sentences, one for each, state three reasons given by the writer to support his view that mining is a destructive industry.

b) In one sentence, state one effect of the poor regulation of mining operations.

c) In two sentences, one for each, state two suggestions made by the writer towards reducing the destructive effects of mining activities.

Recommended Answers

a) i. It causes erosion.

ii. It leads to environmental pollution.

iii. It encourages desertification.

b) Poor regulation of mining activities causes unnecessary damage to the environment.

        c) i. Lesser amounts of mineral products should be consumed.

           ii. Recycling of used products should be stepped up.

Passage 5

No. one can seriously pretend to remain unaffected by advertisement. It is impossible to turn a blind eye to the solicitors to buy this or that article that fills our streets, newspapers and magazines. Even in the sanctuary of our living rooms, advertisers are waiting to pounce on their helpless victims as they tune to their favourite radio or television programmes. In time, no matter how hard we resist, clever little tunes and catchphrases seep into our subconscious minds and stay there. Though they seem so varied, all these advertisements have one thing in common: they make strong appeals to our emotions.

Fear is the biggest weapon of all. The consumer is literally scared into spending his money when he is reminded that he may die tomorrow and leave his family unprovided for; his house may be burnt down while he is away on holiday; that mysterious pain he has in his stomach (which he innocently took to be indigestion) is really the first symptom of a serious nervous disorder. The bait dangled before his nose is security, and he is gripped with fear when he compares his miserable lot with that of the smiling, healthy-looking man in the advertisement, who was provident enough to do all the right things at the right times.

But we are not always dealt with so roughly. Sometimes, it is not our fears that are invoked, but our sense of comfort. Human ingenuity devised countless machines that take the drudgery out of our housework. All you need to do is press a button.

The softest spot of all is our vanity. No man wants the bald before he is thirty; no woman wants to lose her school-girl complexion.

We are flattered and coaxed until we almost believe that we have the makings of potential film stars, provided of course, that we use X or Y.

Sometimes the methods employed are even more subtle. They persuade us that we are superior to other people and it is time we realized it. The funny man in the poster established immediate contact with us by making us feel that we belong to the select few who have a sense of humor. Austere black type and profoundly serious statements confirm what we knew all along that we are highly intelligent.

No amount of logical argument can convince so much as this assault on our emotions. When a crunchy, honey-filled chocolate bar stares up at you from a page, what else can you do but rush and buy one?

a) In one sentence state the main characteristic of advertisement.

b) In the first paragraph, the writer says something unpleasant about advertising. Summarize this in one sentence.

c) In one sentence, state which senses advertising takes advantage of.

d) In two sentences, one for each, state the materials and techniques used in advertising.

Recommended Answers

   a)  Advertisements attract everybody’s attention by working on their feelings.

b) Advertising invades the individual’s privacy without warning

c) It takes advantage of the senses of fear, comfort, vanity, humour and taste.

d) i. Materials such as newspapers, magazines, radio and television are used in advertising.

ii. Attractive pictures, catchy phrases and music are techniques used to appeal to a person’s emotions.

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