[BA 1st Sem Question Papers, Dibrugarh University, 2013, English, General]
1. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
As the human civilization moves on, new technologies have emerged to make life more comfortable and less physically straining. But what we call technology now has started long back with the discovery of fire and the invention of wheel by our primitive ancestors. With the advent of machines, Man now has to labour much less than what he used to. Think of the time some five hundred years back when the quickest mode of transportation available to Man was the bullock cart, horse and the horse-drawn chariot on the land and the boats with sails on sea. Flying in the sky was just beyond imagination for the Man in those days. These modes of transportation were much slower than what we have now. Some hundred and fifty years back came the vehicles with internal combustible engines and the steam engine trains. The former revolutionized personal transportation and the latter public and cargo movement. As civilization progressed, bullock carts, horses, horse-drawn chariots and sailed boats gave way to motor cars, trains and ships with engines. In the first decade of twentieth century, Man could fly and in a very short span of time could fly at the speed of sound in supersonic jets. There have been many inventions hailed as revolutionary at one point of time soon to be replaced by a better version of the same product. When radio was invented by the Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi, it was hailed as a revolutionary invention soon to be relegated to back stage by John Logie Baird’s television. Single-channel black and white television viewing underwent a change with the advent of multichannel colour television. Tape recorders have been a thing of the past. Nobody now remembers that there was an electronic product called ‘pager’ in which one can send a written message only. Mobile phones pushed the black stationary landline phones with harsh ringtone into oblivion. Mobile phones have not only overshadowed the landline phones but also brought about a sea change into the field of personal communication. Distance is now conquered. The good old days of receiving a letter from dear ones have gone. Letter writing as an art has been replaced by Short Messaging Service (SMS). The telegram has lost its pride place as the quickest mode of text transfer. Telegram lost its place to the electronic mail or what is in short called ‘e-mail’. Gone are the days when one has to stand in long queues in blanks to withdraw money. There are the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) at every nook and corner. Thanks to the Internet and computerized banking service. The incandescent electrical bulb has given way to more power-efficient Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) bulb; ungainly Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Television is now being replaced by slimmer flat screen ones, typewriters have been a thing of the past and so on so forth. But looking at the past records of these inventions and their replacements, one is never sure how long this so-called ‘new’ or ‘latest’ technology would last – definitely as long as it is not replaced by another ‘new’ or ‘latest’ technology. This is in true sense called scientific progress.
Questions:
- What does this passage primarily discuss? 2
- What are the two determining factors that set the ball of scientific inventions rolling? 2
- What were the modes of transportation available to Man in the past? 2
- What are the new modes of transportation available to Man now? 2
- How have banking services improved with the advent of the Internet? 2
2. Make a précis of the passage in about 80 words and add a suitable title to it: 10
What is the meaning of education? It simply means knowledge of letters. It is merely an instrument, and an instrument may be well used or abused. The same instrument that may be used to cure a patient may be sued to take his life, and so may knowledge of letters. We daily observe that many men abuse it and very few make good use of it; and if this is a correct statement, we have proved that more harm has been done by it than good.
The ordinary meaning of education is knowledge of letters. To teach boys reading, writing, and arithmetic is called primary education. A peasant earns his bread honestly. He has ordinary knowledge of the world. He knows fairly well how he should behave towards his parents, his wife, his children and his fellow villagers. He understands and observes the rules of morality. But he cannot write his own name. What do you propose to do by giving him knowledge of letters? Will you add an inch to his happiness? Do you wish to make his discontented with his cottage or his lot? And even if you want to do that, he will not need such an education. Carried away by the flood of western thought we came to the conclusion, without weighing pros and cons, that we should give this kind of education to the people.
Now let us take higher education. I have learned Geography, Astronomy, Algebra, Geometry, etc. What of that? In what way have I benefited myself or those around me? Why have I learned these things? Professor Huxley has thus defined education: “That man I think has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will and does with ease and pleasure all the work that as a mechanism it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine with all its parts of equal strength and in smooth working order ….whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the fundamental truths of nature …. Whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience….who has learnt to hate all vileness and to respect others as himself. Such a one and no other, I conceive, has had a liberal education, for he is in harmony with nature. He will make the best of her and she of him.”
UNIT – II
3. (a) Write a letter to the Editor of an English daily drawing the attention of the concerned authorities to bad road conditions in your area. (Do not mention your name or that of your college anywhere.) 7
Or
You have deposited a cheque with the local branch of a nationalized bank. Though a considerable time has lapsed, the amount has not been credited to your account. Write a letter to the Branch Manager of the concerned bank complaining against this delay. (Do not mention your name or that of your college anywhere.)
(b) You are the leader of an excursion party of students which is to visit Shillong during the summer vacation. Write a letter to the Manager of Assam House, Shillong, Meghalaya, requesting him to reserve rooms for your party in advance. (Do not mention your name or that of your college anywhere.) 8
Or
You are Ravi/Rina and you have completed Post Graduation in English in 2012. You are responding to an advertisement published in English daily for the post of a teacher of English in Ascent English Academy, Khaliamari, Dibrugarh. Write an application for the post with your Curricular Vitae (CV).
UNIT – III
4. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
Since the fossil fuel deposits all around the world are getting depleted fast, it has become imperative to look for an alternative source of energy. In this background of an impending energy crisis, the world is looking at solar energy as a viable alternative solution. Sophisticated research has been carried out all over the world so as to harness this inexhaustible source of energy. Solar energy is the process of generation of power from the heat radiated by the sun. It needs to be harnessed by suing very sophisticated technology. The sophisticated technologies used to generate power from the heat of the sun include solar heating, solar photovoltaic, solar thermal electricity, solar architecture and artificial photosynthesis, which can make considerable contributions in solving some of the most urgent energy problems the world now faces. Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include orienting a building to the sun, selecting materials with favourable thermal mass or light-dispersing properties, and designing spaces that naturally circulate air. In 2011, the International Energy Agency said that the development of affordable, inexhaustible and clean solar energy technologies will have huge longer-term benefits. It will increase countries’ energy security through reliance on an indigenous, inexhaustible and mostly import independent resources, enhance sustainability, reduce pollution, lower the costs of mitigating climate change, and keep fossil fuel price lower than otherwise. These advantages are global. Research on solar energy is an sophisticated and intensive in India as anywhere else in the world. India is a densely populated country and it gets high intensity and fairly uniform sunshine for six to eight hours a day for eight to ten months in a year which makes it an ideal place to harness solar energy. The Government of India has undertaken some large projects to generate sufficient solar power so that its energy needs can be fulfilled by 2020. Under the plan, the use of solar-powered equipment and applications would be made compulsory in all government buildings, as well as hospitals and hotels. On 18th November, 2009, it was reported that India was ready to launch its National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, with plans to generate 1000 MW of power by 2013. From August 2011 to July 2012, India went from 2.5 MW of grid-connected photovoltaics to over 1000 MW. The solar energy project needs to be constantly encouraged so that energy-deficient India can solve its power problem so vital for progress.
Questions:
- On the basis of reading of the passage, identify the important points discussed herein in a sequence. 5
- Summarize the passage in about 75 words. 5
Or
What is note-making? Lost the important points to be considered in the process of note-making 10
UNIT – IV
5. (a) Discuss the salient features of good report writing. 7
Or
Write a report on the visit of a VIP to your college on the occasion of the Establishment Day. (Do not mention the name of your college.)
(b) Write a paragraph from the outlines given below: 4
Good and bad effects of watching television – children remain glued to the television – bad effects on eyesight and general health – devote less time to studies – it has positive effects too – television is a source of information – it is rightly called ‘infotainment’ – children should watch television under parental guidance – as an instrument, television can be used for good as well as abused.
(c) What are the features of a good paragraph? 4
UNIT – V
6. (a) Here is a chart which gives a comparative statement of sex ratio (females per every 1000 males) of a few countries. Write a few sentences on the basis of the information you collect from this chart:
Sex ratio in 2001
|
Sex ratio in 2011
| |
World
|
986
|
984
|
China
|
944
|
926
|
India
|
933
|
940
|
USA
|
1029
|
1025
|
Indonesia
|
1004
|
988
|
Brazil
|
1025
|
1042
|
Pakistan
|
938
|
943
|
Russian Federation
|
1140
|
1167
|
Bangladesh
|
958
|
978
|
Japan
|
1041
|
1055
|
Nigeria
|
1016
|
987
|
(b) The table below shows the rural tele-density (percentage of people having telephone) of different States. Answer the questions that follow from your study of the table:
Name of the States
|
Percentage of rural tele-density as on 31.03.09
|
Percentage of rural tele-density as on 28.02.11
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
16.57
|
31.75
|
Assam
|
9.36
|
23.36
|
Bihar
|
9.17
|
26.41
|
Haryana
|
28.10
|
51.36
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
11.07
|
28.95
|
Odisha
|
12.55
|
28.07
|
Questions:
- Which State has the highest rural tele-density as on 28th February, 2011? 1
- Which State has the lowest tele-density as on 31st March, 2009? 1
- Which State has achieved the highest growth in rural tele-density between the period 31st March, 2009 to 28th February, 2011? 1
- Which State has the lowest growth in rural tele-density between the periods 31st March, 2009 to 28th February, 2011? 1
- What is the growth rate of rural tele-density of Assam between 31st March, 2009 to 28th February, 2011? 1
(c) Look at the pie chart which gives the information about the cost of printing and marketing a book. Write a few sentences on the basis of information you collect from it: 5
Diagram
(d) Look at the picture below and write a paragraph on it: 4
Picture
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