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Difficulty: Very hardLiteral Comprehension and Fact Retrieval

Read the passage below and evaluate the truth of the statement that follows:

Established in 1939 as an oil palm research station under the Department of Agriculture in Nigeria, the facility situated near Benin City was expanded in 1951 to serve British West African colonies under the name West African Institute for Oil Palm Research (WAIFOR). Following national independence and the subsequent dissolution of inter-territorial regional bodies, Nigeria assumed exclusive ownership of the center in 1964, renaming it the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR). Although initially focused solely on oil palm yield and processing, NIFOR's statutory mandate was formally broadened in 1992 to encompass coconut, date palm, raffia palm, and ornamental palms.

Statement: The research facility near Benin City was officially mandated to conduct research on coconut and date palms prior to Nigeria's national independence.

Answer: Answer

Answer

The statement is False. According to the passage, research on coconut and date palms was formally added to the institute's mandate in 1992, whereas national independence led to exclusive Nigerian control in 1964.
The claim is false because the passage explicitly documents that the institute focused solely on oil palm during its colonial and early post-independence years, and its statutory mandate was broadened to include coconut and date palms only in 1992.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the key temporal and factual claim in the statement
The statement asserts that coconut and date palm research was part of the facility's official mandate before Nigeria gained independence.
Literal comprehension requires isolating specific dates, events, and mandates directly stated in the passage.
2
Locate the chronological facts in the passage regarding independence and research mandates
The text states that national independence led to Nigerian control in 1964 (renaming it NIFOR), while research on coconut, date palm, raffia palm, and ornamental palms was added in 1992.
Cross-referencing the explicit timeline provided in the text determines whether the statement matches the passage facts.
3
Evaluate the statement against explicit text evidence
Because 1992 occurred decades after national independence and the 1964 takeover, the claim that coconut and date palms were mandated prior to independence is directly contradicted by the passage.
Literal fact retrieval requires strict adherence to stated timeline details without assuming unstated historic overlaps.

Key Concept

Literal Fact Retrieval and Chronological Comparison
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Topics

Literal Comprehension and Fact Retrieval

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