The theme of religion in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the renowned Nigerian author is relevant in our society today. In this WAEC/WASSCE English Language mock test, you’re going to read an extract from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The passage dwells on the religious tensions that crop up in Umuofia with the arrival of the European Christian missionaries.
Now get ready to answer the comprehension test questions on this WAEC/NECO mock English Language test.
Remember that the more you practice, the better prepared and more confident you will be for the final examination.
Are you a tutor of High School English? You can use this comprehension mock test based on an extract from Things Fall Apart on the theme of religion in the novel.
Religion in Things Fall Apart – Start Work
Mr. Brown’s successor was the reverend James Smith, and he was a different kind of man. He condemned openly Mr. Brown’s policy of compromise and accommodation. He saw things as black and white. And black was evil. He saw the world as a battlefield in which the children of light were locked in mortal conflict with the sons of darkness. He spoke in his sermons about sheep and goats and about wheat and tares. He believed in slaying the prophets of Ball.
Mr. Smith was greatly distressed by the ignorance which many of his flock showed even in such things as the Trinity and the Sacraments. It only showed that they were seeds sown on a rocky soil. Mr. Brown had thought of nothing but numbers. He should have known that the kingdom of God did not depend on large crowds. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of fewness. Narrow is the way and few the number’. To fill the Lord’s holy temple with an idolatrous crowd clamouring for signs was a folly of everlasting consequence. Our Lord used the whip only once in His life – to drive the crowd away from His church.
Within a few weeks of his arrival in Umuofia Mr. Smith suspended a young woman from the church for pouring new wine into old bottles. This woman had allowed her heathen husband to mutilate her dead child. This child had been declared an ogbanje, plaguing its mother by dying and entering her womb to be born again. Four times this child had run its evil round. And so it was mutilated to discourage it from returning.
Mr. Smith was filled with wrath when he heard of this. He disbelieved the story which even some of the most faithful confirmed, the story of really evil children who were not deterred by mutilation, but came back with all the scars. He replied that such stories were spread in the world by the Devil to lead men astray. Those who believed such stories were unworthy of The Lord’s Table.
Comprehension Questions
It is now time for you to answer the questions based on the passage above. You will instantly see how well you’ve performed. Congratulations in advance.
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