WAEC English 2018 Paper

Concept:The underlined letter in "tax" represents the consonant cluster $/ \mathrm{ks} /$.We need the option that contains this same final sound sequence.Explanation:The word "tax" is pronounced as $\text{/ t\ae ks /}$.The letter "x" produces two sounds: $/ \mathrm{k} /$ followed by $/ \mathrm{s} /$.Now examine each option.Option A, "ask", is $\text{/a:sk/}$. It ends with the reversed cluster $/ \mathrm{sk} /$, not $/ \mathrm{ks} /$.Option B, "ached", is $\text{/e\i kt/}$. It contains $/ \mathrm{kt} /$, so it does not match.Option C, "lacks", is $\text{/l\ae ks/}$. Its ending $/ \mathrm{ks} /$ exactly matches the sound in "tax".Option D, "kiss", is $/ \mathrm{kis} /$. It has a $/ \mathrm{k} /$ at the beginning and a separate $/ \mathrm{s} /$ at the end, not the cluster $/ \mathrm{ks} /$.Thus the word that shares the same consonant sound is "lacks".Answer:C. lacks