WAEC Commerce 1989 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 23 October 2026

Ten questions from the 1989 WAEC Commerce paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 85 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

WAEC Commerce 1989 questions and answers

1.A clean bill of lading is so-called because?
1. A
  It confirms that the freight charges on the goods have been paid in full
2. B
  It has been cleared and stamped by customs officials before loading
3. C
  It is drafted in plain, non-technical language that any trader can understand
4. D
  It shows that the goods were received by the shipping company in good order and condition
  Correct
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Answer: D
A clean bill of lading is so called because the shipping company (the carrier) has added no clause or remark on it stating that the goods, or their packaging, were damaged, short in quantity, or otherwise not in good condition when they were received for shipment. By issuing a "clean" bill, the carrier is certifying that the goods were received in apparent good order and condition. This matters a great deal in trade: banks will usually not accept shipping documents under a letter of credit unless the bill of lading is clean.
2.The last link in the chain of distribution is the?
1. A
  Producer
2. B
  Wholesaler
3. C
  Retailer
4. D
  Consumer
  Correct
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Answer: D
The chain of distribution is the route goods travel from where they are made to where they are finally used: Producer → Wholesaler → Retailer → Consumer.
Each business in that chain hands the goods on to the next link, but the consumer is the one who actually buys the goods for personal use and does not pass them on to anyone else. That makes the consumer the final, last link in the chain — the chain ends there.
3.Which of the following functions is performed by the stock exchange markets?
1. A
  Provision of short-term loans to finance government budget deficits
2. B
  Storage and warehousing of goods awaiting sale to the public
3. C
  Issuing brand new shares directly to members of the public on behalf of a company
4. D
  Dealing in the buying and selling of existing shares and stocks of public companies
  Correct
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Answer: D
The stock exchange is a market for second-hand (already-issued) securities. Investors who hold shares or stocks of public companies and government bonds come there to resell them to other investors, and buyers come there to purchase existing holdings. This buying and selling of existing shares and stocks is the core function of the stock exchange.
4.A bill holder wishing to dispose of his bills before maturity would be paid?
1. A
  The face value of the bill less a discount charge
  Correct
2. B
  Only the cost price of the goods for which the bill was originally drawn
3. C
  The face value of the bill plus an added interest charge
4. D
  The full face value of the bill, exactly as if it had run to maturity
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Answer: A
A bill of exchange is a document promising payment of a fixed sum on a future date (maturity). If the holder needs cash before that date, he cannot wait — he takes the bill to a bank or discount house to have it "discounted."
5.The main disadvantage of rail transport to traders is that?
1. A
  It is slower than water transport when carrying bulky goods over long distances
2. B
  It is more frequently disrupted by bad weather than road transport
3. C
  It does not offer door-to-door delivery, so goods must still be moved by road to and from the stations
  Correct
4. D
  It requires a huge capital outlay to construct and maintain the rail lines
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Answer: C
Rail transport runs only on fixed tracks between fixed stations, so it can never deliver goods right to a trader's shop, warehouse or farm gate the way a lorry can.
6.A deficit in balance of trade occurs when?
1. A
  the value of visible exports exceeds the value of visible imports
2. B
  the value of invisible imports (services bought) exceeds the value of invisible exports (services sold)
3. C
  the total value of all imports, visible and invisible, exceeds total exports in the balance of payments
4. D
  the value of visible imports exceeds the value of visible exports
  Correct
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Answer: D
Balance of trade deals only with visible trade — the import and export of tangible goods (merchandise) — unlike the balance of payments, which also covers invisible items such as services, interest and dividends.
7.The body controlling the installation and maintenance of telephone in Nigeria is?
1. A
  Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)
2. B
  National Electric Power Authority (NEPA)
3. C
  Posts and Telecommunications Department (P&T)
4. D
  Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL)
  Correct
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Answer: D
Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) is correct. NITEL was formed in 1985 by merging the telecommunications arm of the old Posts and Telecommunications Department (P&T) with the Nigerian External Telecommunications Limited (NET). From that point, NITEL was the body charged with installing, running and maintaining telephone services across Nigeria, including the trunk lines and exchanges that connected homes, offices and the public call centres of the time.
8.The receipt issued by a warehouse keeper for goods taken into the store is called?
1. A
  Dock warrant
2. B
  Warehouse warrant
  Correct
3. C
  Delivery order
4. D
  Bill of lading
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Answer: B
Warehouse warrant is correct. When goods are deposited in a warehouse (a public or bonded store), the warehouse keeper issues the owner a document acknowledging that the goods have been received into the store. This document is called a warehouse warrant (also known as a warehouse receipt). It is a document of title, meaning the holder can use it to claim the goods, sell them, or pledge them to a bank as security for a loan while the goods remain safely in storage.
9.A teleprinter is used to transmit?
1. A
  Written messages which are typed at one end and automatically printed out at the receiving end
  Correct
2. B
  Exact copies of photographs, maps and signed documents between two offices
3. C
  Coded dots-and-dashes signals sent along a telegraph line
4. D
  Spoken conversations between two telephone subscribers in different towns
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Answer: A
A teleprinter (teletypewriter) is an office communication machine used to send written messages. A message is typed on its keyboard, and this is converted into electrical signals which travel along the wire network to the receiving machine, where the message is automatically typed/printed out in full, without a human operator at that end retyping it.
So the correct description of a teleprinter's job is that it transmits written messages, typed at one end and automatically printed at the other.
10.A telephone call within a town is called?
1. A
  Transferred charge call
2. B
  International call
3. C
  Trunk call
4. D
  Local call
  Correct
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Answer: D
In telephone communication, calls are classified by the distance between the caller and the receiver.
A call made within the same town (that is, within one telephone exchange area) is called a local call. It is the cheapest and simplest type of call because it does not need to be routed through another exchange.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

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WAEC Commerce 1989 past questions

WAEC Commerce 1989 questions and answers

Practise all 85 questions we hold from the 1989 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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