EN1CC01 – Fine-tune Your English

Mahatma Gandhi University Model Question Paper First Semester B.A./ B.Sc. Common Course : English EN1CC01 – Fine-tune Your English

Time: 3 hours

Marks: 80 Section A Attempt any ten of the following. following. Each Ea ch question carries 2 marks

1. a. If you adopted a more systematic systematic method of study, you you would get higher marks. (Rewrite this sentence so as to express impossible impossible condition, that is, co ndition type 3.)  b. I ............... to the College; the Principal paid me a visit. ( Fill in the blanks with with the more appropriate phrase-- need not have gone or gone or did not need to go.) go.) 2. a. In the following following list there are six are six words  words having having silent silent letters. Identify them. a. Knowledge b. salmon c. environs d. almond e. geography f. mountain g. asthma h. umbrella umbrella i. psychology j. Hyperbole Hyperbole k. bomb  b. How do you ask somebody politely to repeat something he has said? Write a three sentence conversation between A and B to present pr esent such a situation. 3. a. One of the two two sentences that follow follow is incorrect. Identify and correct it. it. i. The speaker made a reference to a novel of Hardy’s. ii. More than one student have complained to the Principal Principal about that problem.  b. Break the following following sentence into constituent clauses: It would seem that while he was building up India, Go d gathered all the stones that were unwanted and left them at Cape Comorin so hat the waves could play with them. 4. a. What kind of reading is skimming? Answer Answer in a sentence or two.  b. What do the letters in the call number of a library library book indicate? 5. Turn the following conversation into indirect speech: “What is your Christian name?,” the judge sa id. “Winkle, my Lord.” “Do you spell it with a V or o r a W?” “That depends on the will w ill and fancy of the speller, my Lord.” 6. a. Fill in the blanks by arranging the adjectives in in the proper order: He has bought a-------, ------, ------, -----, ----- carpet. (Persian, dark brown, wonderful, hand-woven)  b.  b. Five words Five words in the following following list are misspelt. Identify and correct them. a. burried b. grammar c. reminiscences reminiscences d. liquify e. ecstacy f. committee committee g. liason h. Issac Newton 7. Rewrite the following following sentences putting the verbs in in brackets in the correct tense form. form. a. He usually usua lly (sell) magazines magazines but today he (sell) newspapers.  b. I (be) not hungry now because I (have) my lunch. 8. a. By adding suitable words enlarge the subject and extend the predicate to form a ten word sentence, Children played.  b. Rewrite the sentence turning all the nouns into the plural form. A deer and a sheep, along with a goose and an ox went to visit an oasis. 9. Using the following following information prepare a bibliographical bibliographical entry for an academic assignment. assignment.

 Name of the author: Edward Carter and R.A.F. Mears. Title of the book: A History of Britain. Date of Publication: 1949. Place of Publication: London, Publisher: Oxford University Press. 10. a. Turn into passive voice: The storm has partially or completely destroyed all the hou ses in the area.  b. Turn into the negative form: He has already arrived. 11. Insert, remove or change the articles wherever necessary in the following passage. Homer’s The Iliad   is greatest epic of European languages just as the Everest is greatest  peak of Himalayas. I bought a copy of it when I visited the Hague an year ago in the company of a European friend. Homer is Kalidasa of India. 12. a. Write eight different nouns so as to illustrate eight different suffixes used to form nouns.  b. What is Spoonerism? Explain with examples. (10 x 2= 20 Marks) Section B Attempt any six of the following. Each question carries 5 marks

13. Write a paragraph of about 100 words stating your arguments against capital punishment. 14. Write a paragraph of about 100 words explaining how quotations are inserted in an academic assignment. 15. Write an invitation in which the parents of the bride invite their friends to the marriage of their daughter. Invent all the details. 16. Write a telephonic conversation between Hari and Rafi in which they discuss the details of their class excursion. 17. Rewrite the following sentences as directed: a. As soon as the thunderstorm started, people rushed towards the shops for shelter. (Rewrite using no sooner than)  b. Goethe is one of the greatest poets of Germany. (Rewrite in the comparative degree.) c.  Nowadays I seldom go there. (Begin the sentence with seldom.) d. Write two sentences illustrating two different uses of the reflexive pronoun ‘himself . e. Jumping into a train he saw the t hief escape from the place. (Rewrite the sentence removing the ambiguity.) 18. Rewrite the following sentences bringing them into co nformity with accepted usage. a. I am living in that small house since 2015.  b. His father called him back from the University when he started enjoying too much. c. Hardly had we settled the dispute than a new one arose. d. He does things so slovenly that nobody likes him. e. A few more trains were introduced by the Railway with a view to increase cargo handling capacity, 19. Mention some of the important differences between American and British English. 20. Punctuate the following passage:

The leader said to his followers March on When they started to march he reminded them that with the help of God they would certainly win the war. He told them again You have nothing to fear March on The country will be proud of you 21. Write a paragraph portraying a person with special reference to his/her physical appearance. (6 x 5 = 30 Marks) Section C Attempt any two of the following. Each question carries 15 marks

22. Write an essay on the to pic: ‘Were our ancestors happier than we?’ 23. Write a job application in the modified blocked letter format. You are Abdul Aziz or Nidi Ravindran. Invent the details. The letter should be accompanied by a resume showing your qualifications,experience etc. 24. Write an essay on the to pic: ‘The Book that Influenced Me Most’. 25. Write an essay on the influence of mobile phones on the youth of today. (2 x 15= 30 Marks)