Read the passage carefully and answer the questions on it.
When the principal introduced Mr. Njobe as our new Mathematics teacher, we did not think much of him. He did not look very likeable nor did he appear to be an achiever. Nothing was spectacular about him apart from the fact that he was a South African. Most of us who knew the goings-on in his country regarded him as one of the luckless refugees from the apartheid regime. After the mild clapping, we forgot about the man with gaunt, hungry looks.
During his first lesson in our class, it struck me that not once did he consult the textbook. Rather, to teach the properties of the square and rectangle, he made us measure the top of our tables, the classroom doors and other objects around. From there, we discovered that these objects had opposite equal sides, and all the angles were equal. We did not have to learn these from books; he made us find out. When later I consulted my textbook, what
Durell, the great mathematician, wrote came very much alive. I started to see Mr. Njobe as equal to Durrell.
With time, we began to like his teaching. He taught with zeal and usually through playlike methods. His class was always lively and full of jokes. For instance, to teach us the properties of a circle, he instructed us to bring out the bowls which we used for the midday meal. During the lesson, he made each one measure the distance round his bowl. Incidentally almost every bowl was different in size. We laughed at the sizes of different bowls while we meticulously measured them. Throughout the lesson, there was much laughter. Finally, he told each student to divide the distance round the bowl by the distance through the centre. Imagine our amazement when we discovered that, whatever the size of bowl, all the answers were the same. This he explained is the base in all computations regarding the circle. That was the fifty years ago and I have not forgotten. He actually tamed Mathematics for us, terrifying as it was.
Then, one day, we learnt that Mr. Njobe was on admission in Wesley Guild Hospital. Our representatives sent to convey our good wishes were refused entry into the intensive care unit: they were told that his condition was critical.
We virtually went into mourning for weeks. But just as ‘we were writing him off our mind, one hot afternoon, his car crawled into the school compound. As he stepped out, students swarmed out, carried him shoulder-high and danced round the school, chanting spontaneously, “Njobe, welcome! Mathematics welcome!”.
Questions
(a) Describe the appearance of Mr. Njobe on his first day in the school
(b) With what concept of South Africa did the writer associate Mr. Njobe?
(c) What did the students’ mild clapping suggest?
(d) What impressed the writer about the new teacher during the first lesson?
(e) What is unique about the new teacher’s method’ of teaching?
(f) “… that these objects had opposite equal sides…” (i) What is the grammatical name given to this expression as it is used in the passage? (ii) What is its function?
(g) “He actually tamed Mathematics for us….” What figure of speech is used in this expression?
(h) For each of the following words, find another word or phrase which means the same and which can replace it as it is used in the passage: (i) luckless;, (li) consult (iii) meticulously; (iv) amazement; (v) terrifying; (vi) critical.
