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B.A. (General) 2nd Semester
Functional English 
Paper-Writing: Communication Skills and Study Skills

 

Time Allowed: Three Hours] [Maximum Marks: 90 

Note: - All questions are compulsory. 

1. Make a precis of the following passage and give a suitable title: 

The habit of idleness once firmly fixed cannot be suddenly thrown be off. The man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed time finds that he cannot really harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by medicine, but lost time is gone forever. In the long list of excuses for the neglect of duty, there is none which drops oftener from men's lips and which is founded more on self-delusion than the want of leisure. People are always cheating themselves with the idea that they would do this or that desirable thing if only they had time. It is thus that the lazy and the selfish excuse themselves from the thousands of things which conscience dictates to be done. Remember that the men who have done the most for their own and for the general good are not the wealthy, leisurely people who have an abundance of time to themselves and nothing to do. They are the men who are in ceaseless activity from January to December-when however, pressed with business are always found capable of doing a little more you may rely on them in their fullest season with ten times more assurance than an idle man.

OR

Read the following passage and prepare notes with headings and sub-headings:

Kalpana Chawla was finally informed by NASA that she was to appear for an interview and medical evaluation that could lead her to the job of an astronaut. It was the finest of achievements in itself because she was among the 122 aspiring astronauts chosen from a total of 2962 applicants.

Kalpana, never one to rest on her laurels or take success for granted, worked hard to prepare herself for the interview. In doing this, she paid special attention to improving her public speaking skills, an area where she thought that she may be found wanting, Eventually Kalpana Chawla became one of the nineteen candidates selected to be members of NASA's fifteenth batch of astronauts. It was an honour that would have been beyond the wildest dreams of a person coming from a small town in distant India. However, for Kalpana, the selection was not a chance happening but a logical culmination to years of taking tiny, measured steps -and focusing intently on just one at a time - in a steep climb that took her to the very summit of her long-time goal. The young woman was the pride of her family and nation for Kalpana had indeed travelled a great distance, both literally and figuratively, and she took the glory with astounding calm and humility.

In March 1995, Kalpana moved to Houston with Jean-Pierre, who had proved to be a supportive co-voyager in the course of her difficult journey, to begin her tough training programme at the NASA Center. The training comprised an introduction to all NASA centres, instruction in land and sea survival as well as in operating aircraft. Further, there were months spent in high-fidelity simulators and under zero-gravity conditions. At the end of a year, Kalpana was selected as a crew representative in the NASA Astronaut Office Extra-vehicular Activity and Computer Branches where her work included testing space shuttle control software.

In November 1997, Kalpana was given the chance she had dreamed about and lived for all her life. She was to go into space as one of the six crew members onboard the Columbia shuttle's STS-87 mission. As a mission specialist, Kalpana represented the diverse scientific disciplines of physics, chemistry, astrophysics, aerospace engineering, geology, space sciences and computer science. Kalpana was also assigned the job of the prime robotic arm operator, which required her to operate the manipulator arm for launching and retrieving satellites. Being a mission specialist further meant that she had to monitor experiments conducted onboard and perform extra Vehicular Activities.

2. Write a report to be printed in a newspaper on the future of India-Pakistan relations.

OR 

Prepare a report on the Pollution problem in your city.

3. Write a letter to the editor of a newspaper about an increase in domestic violence and family breakups these days.

OR 

Write a letter to your friend abroad inviting him/her to visit some places of religious importance in India.

4. Arrange the following words in groups :

(a) according to the similarity in meaning 

(b) alphabetical order and grammatical function 

(C) use them in sentences : 

(i) Sibling

(ii) Pardon 

(iii) Flower

(iv) Lovely 

(v) Apology

(vi) Young 

(vii) Communicate 

(viii) Desolate 

(ix) Speech

(x) Blossom

5. (a) Send an email message to your boss explaining the delay in joining after taking three days' to leave. 

(b) Transcribe the dialogue into a simple para: 

Uncle:- Hello, Seema. It's nice to have your back. How were your holidays? 

Seema:- It was wonderful. Kanyakumari was lovely in December.

Uncle:- What was the weather like? 

Seema:- It wasn't hot, there was no rain even, but in the last two days it was rainy.

Uncle:- That must have kept you in your hotel. 

Seema:- It was only light showers. We visited an old palace and a local art museum. 

Uncle:- What else did you see there! 

Seema:- We went to the temple of Kanyakumari. There was also Gandhi Smarak and famous Vivekanand Rock Memorial. 

Uncle: No shopping? 

Seema:- Yes Uncle, we did but we had limited money. We enjoyed a lot there. 

Uncle:- Good, God bless you.

6. Rewrite the following information in a dictionary entry :

(i) It is an entry about the word 'fiction'. 

(ii) It is a noun.

(iii) It means a type of literature that describes imaginary people and events. 

(iv) Its objective is 'fictional'. 

7. Classify the following books (1) subjectwise (2) alphabetically: 

(i) Rama Krishan Rao, "Learning English : A Communicative

Approach", 2008 edition, Hyderabad, Orient Black Swan. 

(ii) Sharda Kaushik, "Script to Screen : An Introduction to T.V.

Journalism" Macmillan Publishers India Ltd., 2010. 

(iii) Maltin, Leonard, ed. Movie and Video Guide 2002 edition

New York : New American 2001.

(iv) Aggarwal, R.L. "Effective Communication in English"; Arya

Book Depot, New Delhi, 1998. 

(v) Gandhi M.K. "My Experiments with Truth", Navjivan

Publishing House, Ahmedabad, 1927.

8. Other Studies the above pie-chart. Write a paragraph on the means of transport used by people in India.