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Communication Skills : Question Paper May 2012 - First Year Engineering (Semester 2) | Mumbai University (MU)
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Communication Skills - May 2012

First Year Engineering (Semester 2)

TOTAL MARKS: 40
TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS
(1) Question 1 is compulsory.
(2) Attempt any three from the remaining questions.
(3) Figures to the right indicate full marks.


Answer any six of the following questions in one sentence:

1(a)(i) What is the first stage in the process of communication and who is responsible for it?(1 marks) 1(a)(ii) State two obstacles to faster reading.(1 marks) 1(a)(iii) What are identification marks ?(1 marks) 1(a)(iv) Mention two types of listening.(1 marks) 1(a)(v) Mention two "Dont's" of writing a business e-mail.(1 marks) 1(a)(vi) What does jargon mean?(1 marks) 1(a)(vii) State two ways in which one can show leadership qualities during a Group Discussion.(1 marks) 1(a)(viii) State two aspects of paralinguistic or non-verbal vocal cues.(1 marks) 1(b) Fill in the blanks:

  1. Halo and ________ effect is a kind of psychological barrier.
  2. An enquiry letter written in reply to an advertisement is called a ________ enquiry letter.
  3. Tall, hierarchical structures in organizations give rise to ________ barriers.
  4. The signature comes below the ________ in a business letter.
  5. Concern for the reader's needs in business correspondence is called ________ .
  6. ________ listening involves putting yourself in the speaker's shoes.
  7. Failure of the sound system during a public speech is a ________ barrier.
  8. The main parts of a definition are the term to be defined, the ________ to which the term belongs and the ________ .
  9. Chronemics is an aspect of non-verbal communication related to ________
(5 marks) 1(c) State whether the following statements are true or false:
  1. There would be no semantic barriers if all people spoke the same language
  2. Letterheads used for official letters should be colourful and decorative in order to be attractive
  3. The subject line in an e-mail is a crucial piece of your communication
  4. A technical description of an object must always include precautions
  5. The salutation in a business letter changes according to the inside address
  6. A summary is always written in the third person
  7. LSWR refers to a new form of layout
  8. “Assuring of our best services at all times” is a good closing sentence for a letter
(4 marks)
2(a) “The sender is largely responsible for the effective transmission of a message.”
--In the light of this statement explain what the sender of a message can do to minimize barriers in communication.

OR

What are the different types of Business Communication? Explain the significance of vertical communication in an organization.
(10 marks)
2(b) Identify the sender, receiver, channel, message and response in the following communication situations:
  1. A student sends an on-line application to ABC Company and receives a call for an interview.
  2. An artist displays his paintings on Unity in Diversity at the K.G. Exhibition and earns critical acclaim for his work.
(5 marks)
3(a) Gyanlal Textile Mills Ltd. Ahmedabad, have received an order for 1000 mts of dark grey woolen suiting. They are out of stock for this particular shade but can offer suiting of a lighter shade and of a better quality at the same price. Write a persuasive letter on their behalf. (use semi-block format)(9 marks) 3(b) Identify the communication barriers in the following situations:
  1. “It is quite tedious to manually work on students records, but I'm afraid to use the computer because it might corrupt all our records.”
  2. “This room is terrible to work in. I am able to hear everyone around and I can't concentrate.”
  3. “I don't agree with you. I ve specialized in this subject and have been frequently invited to deliver talks on this. I can't be wrong”
(6 marks)
4(a) Write technical description of a clinical thermometer OR a mini drafter.

OR

Write a technical description of the process of titration.
(9 marks)


State the differences between any three of the following: (State two differences each).

4(b)(i) Formal and informal communication. (2 marks) 4(b)(ii) Sign and signal.(2 marks) 4(b)(iii) Semi-block and complete block layout.(2 marks) 4(b)(iv) Connotation and denotation.(2 marks) 4(b)(v) Instructions and descriptions of a process.(2 marks) 5(a) As Sports Secretary of your college write a letter to a sports dealer making enquiries about prices of sports gear for cricket, badminton, tennis and chess. Give details of quality and quantity of goods required and set a deadline for the reply. (Use complete block form).(9 marks) 5(b) Do as directed:
(i) We cannot ship the electric clocks ordered till you inform us what designs and colours you want. (Rewrite this sentence making it positive in approach.)
(ii) We require more information to process your refund. (Use the You-attitude.)
(iii) We would appreciate receiving the goods as early as possible since arrangements have to be made for export so that they will reach our foreign customer within the required time. (Convey the message concisely, precisely & clearly).
(6 marks)
6(a) Write operating and maintenance instructions for use of a photocopier OR an overhead projector(7 marks)


Write short notes on two of the following:

6(b)(i) The importance of a courteous, helpful attitude in writing business letters.(4 marks) 6(b)(ii) Netiquette(4 marks) 6(b)(iii) Grapevine Communication(4 marks)


Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:

7(i) After inventing dynamite, Swedish -born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man. By 1865 his factory in Kriimmel near Hamburg, Germany, was exporting nitro-glycerine explosives to other countries in Europe, America and Australia. Over the years he founded factories and laboratories in some 90 different places in more than 20 countries. Although he lived in Paris much of his life he was constantly travelling. Victor Hugo at one time described him as "Europe s richest Vagabond . Intensive work and travel did not leave much time for a private life. At the age of 43 he was feeling like an old man. At this time he advertised in a newspaper Wealthy, highly-educated elderly gentleman seeks lady of mature age, versed in languages, as secretary and supervisor of household." The most qualified applicant turned out to be an Austrian woman, Countess Bertha Kinsky. After working a very short time for Nobel she decided to return to Austria to marry Count Arthur von Suttner. In spite of this Alfred Nobel and Bertha von Suttner remained friends and kept writing letters to each other for decades. Over the years Bertha von Suttner became increasingly critical of the arms race. She wrote a famous book, Lay Down Your Arms, and became a prominent figure in the peace movement. No doubt this influenced Alfred Nobel when he wrote his final will which was to include a Prize for persons or organizations who promoted peace.
Nobel foresaw the universally destructive powers of dynamite and preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of this explosive; so, in 1895, he created a fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile contributions to humanity. Originally, there were five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and peace. Economics was added in 1968, 67 years after the first awards ceremony.
Nobel's original legacy of nine million dollars was invested, and the interest on this sum is used for the awards, which varies from $30,000 to S 125,000. The executors of his will were two young engineers, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist. They set about forming the Nobel Foundation as an organization to take care of the financial assets left by Nobel for this purpose and to coordinate the work of the Prize-Awarding institutions. This was not without its difficulties since the will was contested by relatives and questioned by authorities in various countries.\ltbr\gtEvery year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma, and money) are presented to the winners. Several years after the death of Alfred Nobel, the Norwegian Storting (Parliament) decided to award the 1905 Nobel Peace Prize to Bertha von Suttner. Some people are of the opinion that politics plays an important role in the judges decisions. Many of the awards have come as surprises. Americans, who have won numerous science awards, have won relatively few literature prizes. Some people have won two prizes but this is rare; others have shared their prizes.\ltbr\gt\ltbr\gt (i) The word foresaw in line one of paragraph 2 is nearest in meaning to \ltbr\gta) Prevailed. b) Postponed. c) Prevented. d) Predicted.\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(ii)\lt/b\gt The Nobel Prize was established in order to\ltbr\gt a) Recognize worthwhile contributions to humanity b) Resolve political differences c) Honour the inventor of dynamite d) Spend money.\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(iii)\lt/b\gt In which area have the Americans received the most awards?\ltbr\gt a) Literature. b) Peace. c) Economics. d) Science.\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(iv)\lt/b\gt All of the following statements are true except:\ltbr\gta) Awards vary in monetary value.\ltbr\gtb) Ceremonies are held on December 10 to commemorate Nobel's invention.\ltbr\gtc) Politics plays an important role in selecting the winners.\ltbr\gtd) A few individuals have won two awards.\ltbr\gt\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(ix)\lt/b\gt The word legacy in line one of the third paragraph is closest in meaning to\ltbr\gta) Legend b) bequest c) prize d) debt\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(v)\lt/b\gt ln how many fields are prizes bestowed?\ltbr\gta) 2 b) 5 c) 6 d)10\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(vi)\lt/b\gt It is implied that Nobel's profession was in\ltbr\gta) Economics b) medicine c) literature d) science\lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-marks'\gt(1 marks)\lt/span\gt \lt/span\gt\ltspan class='paper-question'\gt\ltspan class='paper-ques-desc'\gt\ltb\gt7(vii)\lt/b\gt How much money did Nobel leave for the prizes?\ltbr\gta) $30,000 b) $155,000 c) $9,000,000 d) $125,000
(1 marks)
7(viii) What is the main idea of this passage?
a) Alfred Nobel became very rich when he invented dynamite
b) Alfred Nobel created awards in six categories for contributions to humanity
c) Alfred Nobel left all of his money to science.
d) Alfred Nobel made a lasting contribution to mankind.
(1 marks)
7(x) Summarize the above passage in about 150 words & give a suitable title to it.(6 marks)

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