NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

Instruction: Choose the option A–D that best answers the question or completes the sentence appropriately.

Section A: Vowel Sounds (1–10)

1. Which of the following has the same vowel sound as “seat”?
   A. sit
   B. beat
   C. set
   D. said
   Answer: B

2. Which word contains the vowel sound /æ/?
   A. cat
   B. cut
   C. cot
   D. coat
   Answer: A

3. Pick the word that contains a diphthong.
   A. man
   B. road
   C. pot
   D. bit
   Answer: B

4. Choose the word that has the same vowel sound as “bird”.
   A. beard
   B. heard
   C. head
   D. hard
   Answer: B

5. In which word is the vowel sound /ʌ/ found?
   A. put
   B. cut
   C. root
   D. boot
   Answer: B

6. The vowel sound in “call” is:
   A. /æ/
   B. /ɔː/
   C. /e/
   D. /ɪ/
   Answer: B

7. Choose the word with the same vowel sound as “day”.
   A. bed
   B. dye
   C. bay
   D. dare
   Answer: C

8. The word “now” contains the diphthong:
   A. /aʊ/
   B. /əʊ/
   C. /eɪ/
   D. /ɪə/
   Answer: A

9. Which of the following has the vowel sound /ɪ/?
   A. bead
   B. bird
   C. bit
   D. bat
   Answer: C

10. Which vowel sound is heard in the word “far”?
    A. /æ/
    B. /eə/
    C. /ɑː/
    D. /ɪə/
    Answer: C

NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

Section B: Consonant Sounds (11–20)

11. Which of these words has a silent letter?
    A. comb
    B. come
    C. coal
    D. cope
    Answer: A

12. Which of the following contains the /ʃ/ sound?
    A. pleasure
    B. genre
    C. ship
    D. jam
    Answer: C

13. The /θ/ sound is found in:
    A. bat
    B. that
    C. thank
    D. sank
    Answer: C

14. Choose the word that has the /dʒ/ sound.
    A. cheese
    B. ship
    C. jam
    D. sure
    Answer: C

15. The /ŋ/ sound is heard in:
    A. singer
    B. finger
    C. singe
    D. sink
    Answer: A

16. The initial sound in “zoo” is:
    A. /s/
    B. /z/
    C. /tʃ/
    D. /dʒ/
    Answer: B

17. Pick the word with the same initial sound as “charm”.
    A. jam
    B. character
    C. chip
    D. calm
    Answer: C

18. Which word ends with a voiceless plosive?
    A. big
    B. bag
    C. cap
    D. cab
    Answer: C

19. The word “judge” has how many consonant sounds?
    A. 2
    B. 3
    C. 4
    D. 5
    Answer: C

20. In the word “knight”, the /k/ sound is:
    A. voiced
    B. aspirated
    C. silent
    D. nasal
    Answer: C

NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

Section C: Stress Pattern (21–30)

21. The correct stress in “photography” is on the:
    A. first syllable
    B. second syllable
    C. third syllable
    D. fourth syllable
    Answer: C

22. The word “economy” is stressed on the:
    A. first syllable
    B. second syllable
    C. third syllable
    D. last syllable
    Answer: B

23. Choose the word that has a different stress pattern:
    A. admit
    B. allow
    C. punish
    D. request
    Answer: C

24. The stress in “environment” falls on the:
    A. first syllable
    B. second syllable
    C. third syllable
    D. last syllable
    Answer: A

25. “Present” as a verb is stressed on the:
    A. first syllable
    B. second syllable
    C. both syllables equally
    D. last syllable
    Answer: B

26. “Development” has primary stress on the:
    A. first
    B. second
    C. third
    D. fourth syllable
    Answer: C

27. Identify the odd stress pattern:
    A. biology
    B. democracy
    C. expensive
    D. geography
    Answer: C

28. The stress in the word “contribute” (as a verb) falls on the:
    A. first
    B. second
    C. third
    D. last
    Answer: B

29. The word “import” when used as a noun is stressed on the:
    A. first syllable
    B. second syllable
    C. third syllable
    D. none
    Answer: A

30. In which of these words is the stress on the first syllable?
    A. record (noun)
    B. refer
    C. confirm
    D. erase
    Answer: A

NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

 Section D: Rhymes and Intonation (31–40)

31. Which of these rhymes with “tough”?
    A. though
    B. cough
    C. rough
    D. through
    Answer: C

32. Which of the following words rhymes with “night”?
    A. knit
    B. neat
    C. right
    D. rate
    Answer: C

33. Which word rhymes with “stare”?
    A. stare
    B. scare
    C. pear
    D. care
    Answer: D

34. Rhyme with “bare”:
    A. tear
    B. fear
    C. dare
    D. where
    Answer: C

35. Which group of words rhyme?
    A. price, mice
    B. hat, hate
    C. toe, tow
    D. soul, soil
    Answer: A

36. In the sentence “You are coming, aren’t you?” – what is the intonation?
    A. Rising
    B. Falling
    C. Fall-rise
    D. Rise-fall
    Answer: A

37. Which sentence ends with a falling tone?
    A. What is your name?
    B. Are you going out?
    C. Where do you live?
    D. Come here.
    Answer: D

38. Which of the following sentences ends in a rising tone?
    A. We went to Lagos.
    B. Did he travel to Abuja?
    C. That’s your teacher.
    D. He’s gone to school.
    Answer: B

39. “He won the prize, didn’t he?” — the tag question should have:
    A. rising tone
    B. falling tone
    C. level tone
    D. rising-falling
    Answer: B

40. In “What a lovely dress!”, the exclamatory sentence ends with:
    A. rising tone
    B. falling tone
    C. level tone
    D. falling-rising
    Answer: B

NECO Oral English Questions and Answers for 2025

Section B: Theory

Instructions: Answer any four (4) of the following questions. Each question carries 10 marks. Use precise examples where necessary.

Question 1:

(a) Define consonant sounds and classify them according to:

• Place of articulation

• Manner of articulation

• Voicing

(b) Give two examples for each category.

Question 2:

(a) Explain the following phonetic terms with suitable examples:

• Monophthong

• Diphthong

• Triphthong

(b) Provide two examples of English diphthongs and use each in a word.

Question 3:

(a) Define stress in spoken English.
(b) With examples, differentiate between the stress pattern of the following noun–verb pairs:
i. record
ii. import
iii. present
iv. suspect

(c) Indicate where the primary stress falls in each.

Question 4:

(a) What is intonation?
(b) Identify and explain the two basic types of intonation in English.
(c) Write one sentence each that demonstrates:

• Rising intonation

• Falling intonation

Question 5:

(a) What are minimal pairs in phonetics?
(b) Write five pairs of minimal pair words and indicate the phonetic difference between them.
(e.g., ship /ʃɪp/ and sheep /ʃiːp/)

Question 6:

(a) Explain the role of silent letters in pronunciation.
(b) Provide five examples of English words with silent letters.
(c) Underline the silent letter in each word.

Question 7:

(a) Describe the three main types of syllable structure in English.
(b) Give two examples of each type.

• CV (Consonant-Vowel)

• CVC

• CCV

Marking Scheme Guide (Per Question)