This assignment has 8 questions. Answer all questions. Please go through the guidelines regarding assignments given in the Programme Guide for the format of presentation of assignment.

Q1. This passage is part of the speech that Oprah Winfrey (a famous American television personality, actress, and entrepreneur) gave at the convocation in Harvard University, USA. Read the passage carefully and answer the questions given below:

This is what I want to share. It doesn’t matter how far you might rise. At some point you are bound to stumble because if you’re constantly doing what we do, raising the bar. If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher and higher, the law of averages predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do I want you to know this, remember this: there is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. Now when you’re down there in the hole, it looks like failure. And when you’re down in the hole, when that moment comes, it’s really okay to feel bad for a little while. Give yourself time to mourn what you think you may have lost but then here’s the key, learn from every mistake because every experience, encounter, and particularly your mistakes are there to teach you and force you into being more who you are. And then figure out what is the next right move. And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go. Because now and forever more when you Google yourself, your search results will read “Harvard, 2013”. And in a very competitive world that really is a calling card because I can tell you as one who employs a lot of people when I see “Harvard” I sit up a little straighter and say, “Where is he or she? Bring them in.” It’s an impressive calling card that can lead to even more impressive bullets in the years ahead: lawyer, senator, C.E.O., scientist, physicist, winners of Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes or late night talk show host.

But the challenge of life I have found is to build a résumé that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be but it’s a story about who you want to be. It’s a résumé that doesn’t just tell a story about what you want to accomplish but why. A story that’s not just a collection of titles and positions but a story that’s really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble and find yourself stuck in a hole, that is the story that will get you out. What is your true calling? What is your dharma? What is your purpose? For me that discovery came in 1994 when I interviewed a little girl who had decided to collect pocket money in order to help other people in need. She raised a thousand dollars all by herself and I thought, well if that little 9-year-old girl with a box and a big heart could do that, I wonder what I could do? So I asked for our viewers to take up their own change 14 collection and in one month, just from pennies and nickels and dimes, we raised more than three million dollars that we used to send one student from every State in the United States to college. That was the beginning of the Angel Network.

1a Why does Oprah feel that everyone no matter what their qualifications or competences will encounter failure? Pick out the line.

1b What should a student/person do when faced with failure?

1c What does the speaker mean by “And the key to life is to develop an internal moral, emotional G.P.S. that can tell you which way to go”?

1d What have the former Harvard graduates achieved according to the passage?

1e What is the “true” resume that the students should build in their lives?

1f What have you learnt from this passage and how would you implement it in your own life?

1g Give a title to the passage.

1h Use the following words/phrases from the passage in sentences of your own:

share, rise, stumble, raising the bar, the law of averages, down in the hole, challenge, accomplish, a big heart, wonder

Q2. Insert responses in the following conversation:

You: …………………………………………………….

Caller: My name is Chetan Bhatia and I’m the debating secretary of Modern School. I wanted to invite Dr. Pandit to be the judge at our Annual Debate.

You: …………………………………………………….

Caller: Monday, the fourteenth. You: …………………………………………………….

Caller: We would want her to be at our school from 9:30 in the morning and to stay till about noon.

You: …………………………………………………….

Caller: Could you tell her about it and find out if she will be able to accept our invitation? I’ll ring again in about an hour to find out.

You: …………………………………………………….

Caller: Thank you very much. I’ll speak to you later. Bye!

Q3. Imagine you are at the interview and were asked the following questions. What would your answers be:

i What do you know about our company?

ii Why do you want to work with us?

iii Why should we hire you?

iv Can we offer you a career path?

v What are your greatest weaknesses?

vi What do you think this job requires?

vii What is important to you in a job?

viii How do you spend your spare time?

ix How has what you have accomplished outside the classroom added to your qualifications/abilities?

x What are your salary expectations?

Q4. Select a nationally advertised product or service that you want to know more about and write a letter that requests the information you would need if you were to purchase this product or service. You may write on behalf of yourself or your company.

Q5. Modals can be used in multiple ways in different kinds of sentences to express different things. Look at the sentences below and complete them using appropriate modals given below. One modal can be used in more than one place. You may use the shortened forms wherever required.

will would should shall won’t could

i …………you give me your mobile number, please?

ii You ……………. allow the machine to cool down before you start it again.

iii I need help. The car …………. start. ……………..you send someone to look at it?

iv ………..you listen to me?

v I assure you, the engineer ……….come to your house within twenty-four hours.

vi I have been sending mails to have the error in the policy rectified. I wish someone in your office ……………..do the needful. vii I’m sorry to hear about your inconvenience. ………… I send the mechanic to look at it? viii I …………..rather go for a double door refrigerator.

ix I think you …………….check your product well before delivery.

x You have been most unhelpful! I……..write a complaint to your manager.

xi I promise you ……..get the delivery before 5 p.m. tomorrow.

xii Looking at the volume of your work, I think you ……………….go for a good quality laser printer.

Q6. Select appropriate adjectives for the sentences below.

i The Lara XV has a more …………………(efficient/effective) engine. Its petrol consumption is less. Moreover, it is less (loud/noisy).

ii We offer you the package at a ……………(discounted/depreciated) price.

iii I feel that Clause 14a in your agreement is ……………. (needless/ redundant) as the point has been covered at Clause 11.

iv You may rest assured. We use only ……………. (washed/sterilized) cotton in our clinic.

v The company will provide you ……………… (maintenance/ maintaining) support for 12 months after the purchase of the machine.

vi The ……………………(estimated/ guessed) expenditure for providing media support during the function would be Rs.35,000/-

vii The mistake committed is indeed ………………(regrettable/deplorable).

viii We only make …………..(massive/bulk) deliveries to institutes.

Q7. Form Wh-questions from the statement given below using the question words given in the bracket. Do not forget to put the question mark.

i The novel was written in 1964. (when)

ii His house was destroyed in an earthquake. (how)

iii You have selected this book. (which)

iv The servant let out the secret. (who)

v The suitcase was lost at the airport. (where)

Q8. Complete the sentences using suitable adverbial clauses from the box. There are three extra clauses:

If I had the money…

…before the police could arrive on the scene.

…whenever there is a holiday.

… if the occasion demands it.

Since you’re late ……

…while their wives play bridge.

If you watch a movie every night…

whenever I get hold of ….

 

i The mob created havoc …………………………………………..

ii ……………………………………….you’ll have to eat cold food.

iii ………………………………….you will soon need glasses.

iv The gym is packed ………………………………………………

v ………………………………I would eat out every week.