ENGLISH ENGLISH

MALLA REDDY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

(An Autonomous Institution – UGC, Govt. of India)
Recognized under 2(f) and 12(B) of UGC ACT 1956
(Affiliated to JNTUH, Hyderabad, Approved by AICTE –Accredited by NBA &
NAAC-“A” Grade-ISO 9001:2015 Certified)

ENGLISH

B. Tech – I Year – I Semester

DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES

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Preface

English is one of those courses that is essential for all students and professionals as the world
is shrinking into a global village. Therefore, the need for effective communication in English
is becoming even more essential.

This textbook is designed for use by engineering first year students. The primary aim of any
textbook is to ignite curiosity and interest in students in the subject. The primary objective of
this book is to develop interest in English language and to prepare learners to use English
effectively and communicate confidently, especially in the context of engineering courses.
This textbook is not an end but a mean to achieve proficiency in the language. Overall, the
approach is a skill based one where all the four skills are integrated. Integrating the four skills
presents a holistic view of language and prepares students for the use of language in the real
world.

The main strength of the book is its audience- central approach, which we hope will make for
an enjoyable reading. It directly addresses the students by giving real life examples and
orienting the strategies to practical application. As the title of the book English indicates the
book is comprehensive study of skills like listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

The five units chosen in the textbook deals with varied themes.

The first unit entitled The Road not taken By Robert Frost explains to the readers about the
journey of life. The roads symbolize choices presented to human beings in life. The second
unit is “Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to His Son’s Teacher”, in which Abraham Lincoln asks the
teacher to teach his son the values and virtues that required for one to become the human
being in the society. The third unit Satya Nadella`s email to His Employees on his First day
as CEO of Microsoft is entirely about how Nadella has encouraged Microsoft employees to
be learn it all instead of knowing it all. The fourth unit of this book focuses on 'The Fringe
Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination' from J.K. Rowling`s Convocation
Speech at Harvard. Finally, the fifth unit is a condensed version of a motivational biography
of our beloved President and Missile Man of India, Late Dr. Abdul Kalam: The Man Who
Taught Us to Be Human First!!

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To make learning more complete each chapter has been divided into the following sections

[Link]: The attention is on effectual revision of useful grammar concepts both for
technical and professional purposes .The focus of this section is on Tenses and Punctuation
(Sequence of Tenses ), Direct and Indirect speech, Voices, Articles, Misplaced modifiers,
Subject Verb Agreement and Noun Pronoun Agreement .

2. Vocabulary: This section introduces them to Word Formation, Prefixes and Suffixes,
Synonyms, Antonyms, One Word substitutes, Standard Abbreviations, Phrasal Verbs,
Commonly Confused Words etc.

[Link]: This section includes both general and technical writing starting from paragraph
writing focusing on tenses and punctuations, Essay writing, Email writing Letter writing,
Précis writing and Memo writing.

4. Reading: This section provides a wide exposure on the Art of Skimming and Scanning,
Comprehending the context, reading comprehensions of different types like cloze test,
identifying errors etc.

The preponderance of communication in the academic and professional arena motivated us to

take up this assignment of writing a book on English. We hope that this book with
comprehensive coverage of all aspects will prove to be relevant and useful for the reader. We
would like to extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. VSK Reddy, Principal, Malla Reddy College
of Engineering and Technology (autonomous) under whose patronage we were able to write
this book we are also indebted to our Dr. V Madhusudhana Reddy, Head of the Department,
Humanities & Sciences for constantly motivating us. With great pleasure we acknowledge
the compatible environment shared by our colleagues.

English Team

MRCET

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MALLAREDDY COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

B. TECH I YEAR I SEM (ECE, CSE, IT, EEE, MECH, AERO) L T/P/D /C
2/ - / - / - / 2

(R20A0001) ENGLISH
INTRODUCTION
English is a global language which is a means to correspond globally. Keeping in
account of its vital role in the global market, emphasis is given to train the students to acquire
language and communication skills. The syllabus is designed to develop and attain the
competency in communicative skills.
The lectures focus on the communication skills and the selectedexcerptssupport as
resources for the teachers to develop the relevant skills in the students. The lessons stimulate
discussions and help in comprehending the content effectively. The focus is on skill
development, nurturing ideas and practicingpractising the skills.

OBJECTIVES

 To enable students to enhance their lexical, grammatical and communicative

competence
 To equip the students to study the academic subjects with better perspective through
theoretical and practical components of the designed syllabus
 Tofamiliarize students with the principles of writing and to ensure error-free
writing.

SYLLABUS
Reading Skills:
Objectives
1. To develop an awareness in the students about the significance of silent reading and
comprehension.
2. To augment the ability of students to guess the meanings of words from context and
grasp the overall message of the text, draw inferences etc.
Skimming the text
• Understanding the gist of an argument• Identifying the topic sentence

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• Inferring lexical and contextual meaning• Understanding discourse features•

Recognizing coherence/sequencing of sentences • Scanning the text

NOTE:
The students will be trained in reading skills using the prescribed text for detailed study. They
will be examined in reading and answering questions using ‘unseen’ passages which may be
taken from authentic texts, such as magazines/newspaper articles.

Writing Skills:
Objectives
1. To develop an awareness in the students about basic formal writing skills.
2. To equip students with the components of different forms of writing, beginning with
the required ones:
• Writing sentences
• Use of appropriate vocabulary
• Coherence and cohesiveness
• Formal and informal letter writing

Unit –I
“The Road not taken”by Robert Frost
Grammar –Tenses and Punctuation(Sequences of Tenses)
Vocabulary –Word Formation - Prefixes and Suffixes
Writing –Paragraph Writing (Focusing on Tenses and Punctuations)
Reading –The art of skimming and scanning -Reading Exercise Type 1
(Match the statements to the text they refer to)

Unit – II
“Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to His Son’s Teacher”
Grammar –Direct and Indirect Speech
Vocabulary– Synonyms, Antonyms
Writing –Essay Writing (Introduction, body and conclusion)
Reading –Comprehending the context– Reading Exercise Type 2
(Place the missing statement)

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Unit – III
Satya Nadella’s Email to His Employees on his First Day as CEO of Microsoft
Grammar – Voices
Vocabulary –One-Word Substitutes, Standard Abbreviations
Writing –E-mail Writing, Letter Writing (complaints, requisitions, apologies).
Reading –Reading Comprehension- Reading Exercise Type 3
(Reading between the lines)

Unit – IV
J K Rowling’s Convocation Speech at Harvard
Grammar – Articles, Misplaced Modifiers
Vocabulary –Phrasal Verbs
Writing – Précis Writing
Reading –Reading Exercise Type 4
(Cloze test)

Unit –V
Abdul Kalam’s Biography
Grammar – Subject-Verb Agreement, Noun-Pronoun Agreement
Vocabulary – Commonly Confused Words
Writing – Memo Writing
Reading –Reading Exercise Type 5
(Identifying errors)

* Exercises apart from the textbook shall also be used for classroom tasks.

REFERENCE BOOKS
1. Practical English Usage. Michael Swan. OUP. 1995.
2. Remedial English Grammar. F.T. Wood. Macmillan.2007
3. On Writing Well. William Zinsser. Harper Resource Book. 2001
4. Study Writing. Liz Hamp-Lyons and Ben Heasly. Cambridge University Press. 2006.
5. Communication Skills. Sanjay Kumar and PushpaLata. Oxford University Press. 2011.
6. Exercises in Spoken English. Parts. I-III. CIEFL, Hyderabad. Oxford University Press

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OUTCOMES

Students will be able to:

 Gain competence and proficiency in‘productive’skills, i.e.,writing and speaking with

the recognition of the need for life-long learning of the same
 Hone their language abilities in terms of comprehending complex technical texts with
a potential to review literature
 Present ideasclearly and logically to analyze data and provide valid conclusions in
written communication
 Enrich their grammatical accuracy and fluency to be adept at both the active and
passive skills
 Represent old conventions with a set of the new by professional verbal
communicative ability

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INDEX
TOPICS Pg. No

UNIT I
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost 1
Tenses 4
Punctuation 11
Prefix and Suffix 13
Paragraph Writing 15
Reading Comprehension Type 1 18

UNIT 2
Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to His Son’s Teacher 20
Direct and Indirect Speech 25
Synonyms and Antonyms 31
Essay writing 32
Reading Compression Type 2 35

UNIT 3
Satya Nadella’s Email to His Employees on his First Day
as CEO of Microsoft 77
Voices 43
One Word Substitute 46
Standard Abbreviations 47
E-mail Writing, 49
Letter Writing 53
Reading Comprehension Type 3 59

UNIT 4
J.K. Rowling’s Harvard Speech 62
Articles 70
Modifiers 74
Phrasal verbs 76
Précis Writing 78
Reading Comprehension Type 4 81

UNIT 5
Abdul Kalam’s Biography 82
Subject Verb Agreement, Noun-Pronoun Agreement 85
Commonly confused words 92
Memo writing 95
Reading Comprehension Type 5 97

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UNIT-I

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

---by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

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SUMMARY:

Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” is taken from “Mountain Intervals” - a famous
volume of poems published in 1916, the year which was also significant for introduction of
cars and motor vehicles. This poem is characterized by Frosts usual simple style that is
marked by ordinary, straightforward language, great emotional restraint and understatement.

Many interpretations have been made of this poem, but Frost himself claimed the inspiration
came from his dear friend Edward Thomas, a welsh poet whom he had met in England. It was
said that Thomas was never content with the choices he made, and whenever walking with
Frost in England, would always regret for the path they had chosen. The poem is a gentle
teasing of not only his friend’s constant regret and curiosity, but also that of human behavior

The poem consists of four stanzas. The first stanza presents the poets dilemma to choose the
right path. In the second stanza, he resolves his dilemma by choosing the less frequented
road, which is grassy and less trodden and hence difficult. The pot justifies his choice in the
last stanza.

The poet while travelling on foot in the woods reaches a junction where two roads diverge
and he has to choose one of them (On the road of life) and the speaker arrives at a point
where he must decide which of two equally appealing (or equally intimidating) choices is the
better one. He examines one choice as best he can, but the future prevents him from seeing
where it leads.

The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less
traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow
the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn.

Leaves cover both roads equally. No one on this morning has yet taken either road, for the
leaves lie undisturbed. The speaker remains committed to his decision to take the road he had
previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes,
however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an
opportunity to take the other road.

In years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While
doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he

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made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant
impact on his life because he had chosen the path for himself and so he is the responsible for
whatever falls on his way.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

1. Describe the two roads that the author comes across.

A) The author comes across a fork in his travel. He stands and looks at the both roads which
are equally lay with grass. One was much traveled and the other was less traveled.

2. Which road does the speaker choose? Why?

A) The speaker has chosen the road less traveled because there are two reasons. One is that
he has left the other road for another day anticipating that he may come back in future and the
other is that he wants to prove his adventurous nature and to show the world that his brave
decision has led to the success attained by him.

3. Which road would you choose? Why?

A) I would choose the road less travelled because, the entire world is running on a theme
'me'. If I follow somebody's footsteps, I cannot be identified as an individual. The life is too
short, whether you choose or do not choose you must die. I don't want to die as
unrecognized fearing the short ditches on my way. Face the problem, become tough, reach
destination is my philosophy.

4. Does the poet seem happy about his decision?

Ans. No, He is not happy about his decision. Because the title is "The Road not
taken" not "The Road Less Traveled". Though the last word of the poem 'difference' suggests
a positive note/ expression, the word is said with deep grief, according to the word 'sigh' used
in the first line of the stanza.

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GRAMMAR

TENSES

SIMPLE TENSES

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

It is used to express daily actions, hobbies and universal truths.

Structure: - Sub + V1 + Obj + Time
If the subject is third person singular in simple present tense we must add ‘ S ‘ or ‘es’ to the
main verb.
Ex: - I go to temple every day.
He reads news paper every day.
She watches T.V regularly.
Ram always makes noise.
The adverbs of time Every day, Regularly, Always, Often, Usually, Every month, Every
year and Every week are used in simple present tense to show the time of the action.
DO and DOES are used as helping verbs to write negative and question forms in simple
present tense.
o Positive form: - He reads news paper every day.
o Negative form: - He does not read news paper every day.
o Question form: - Does he read news paper every day?

PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE

To express an action which is going on at present.
Structure: - Sub + Am / Is / Are + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
I - Am
He,She, It, Ram - is They
He
She is We ----- Are
It You
Ram
Ex: - He is reading news paper now.
I am watching T.V at present.

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She is drinking milk at present.

Now we are going to Hyderabad.
Look! He is limping.
Listen! Someone is making noise there.
They are playing cricket now.
The time of adverbs Now, At present, and the expressions Look, Listen and See are used in
present continuous tense to show the time of the action.
Positive form: - They are playing cricket now.
Negative form: - They are not playing cricket now.
Question form: - Are the playing cricket now?
PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
To express an action which has completed just now.
Structure: - Sub + Has / Have + V3 + Obj + Time
I He
We She ---------- Has
They------ Have It
You Ram
Ex: - She has prepared food.
I have written a letter to my friend just now.
He has completed his home work.
They have left from here just now.
Ram has just drunk milk.
The adverbs of time Just and Just now, so far and yet are used in present perfect tense to
show the time of the action.
Positive form: - He has just completed his home work.
Negative form: - He has not just completed his home work.
Question form: - Has he just completed his home work?
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
To express an action which was started in the past and still it is going on.
Structure: - Sub + Have Been / Has Been + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
I He
We She----------- Has Been
You -------- Have Been It

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They Ram

“FOR” is used to show period of time.

“SINCE” is used to show point of time.
Ex: - I have been studying in this college for two years.
He has been building the house since 2011.
She has been preparing for the exams for 5 months.
The students have been playing cricket since this morning.
Ram has been reading news paper since 9 am.
He has been working in this company since 2008.
They have been staying in Hyderabad for 10 years.
Positive form: - She has been playing tennis for two days.
Negative form: - She has not been playing tennis for two days.
Question form: - Has she been playing tennis for two days?

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

It is used to express an action which happened yesterday or in the past.
Structure: - Sub + V2 + Obj + Time
Ex: - He played Kabaddi yesterday.
She gave him a chocolate 2 days ago.
I went to Tirupathi last year.
Sita prepared chapathi for breakfast yesterday.
They distributed note books to the poor students 3 months ago.
The adverbs of time Yesterday, Ago, Last week, Last year and Last month are used to show
the time of the action in simple past tense.
DID is used as helping verb to write negative and question forms in simple past tense. When
we use DID as helping verb we should use V1 form. DID + V1
Positive form: - She played tennis yesterday.
Negative form: - She did not play tennis yesterday.
Question form: - Did she play tennis yesterday?

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PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

To express an action which was going on yesterday at this time or in the past.
Structure: - Sub + Was / Were + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
I They
He You --- Were
She ------Was We
It
Ram
Ex:- I was watching cinema yesterday at this time.
She was playing tennis yesterday in this time.
She heard a noise while she was cooking food.
When the teacher entered the class room, the students were making noise.
They were playing cricket yesterday at this time.
I went to him while he was reading news paper.
The time of adverbs Yesterday at this time, When and While are used to show the time of
the action in past continuous tense.
Positive form: - He was reading news paper yesterday at this time.
Negative form: - He was not reading news paper yesterday at this time.
Question form: - Was he reading news paper yesterday at this time?

PAST PERFECT TENSE

To express an action which was completed in past perfect followed by simple past.
Structure: - Sub + Had + V3 + Obj + When / Before/ After + Sub + V2 + Obj
Ex: - I had completed my home work before my friend came to me.
He had reached the station before the train left.
She had eaten the mango when Ram went to her.
They had prepared food after I left from there.
Positive form: - He had reached the station before the train left.
Negative form: - He had not reached the station before the train left.
Question form: - Had he reached the station before the train left?

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PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

To express an action that was lasted for some particular time in the past.
Structure: - Sub + Had Been + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
Ex:- I had been working in Narasaraopet Engineering College for two years by 2012.
He had been building the house for a year by 2010.
They had been working in this company for five years by 2009.
She had been learning the computer course for 3 months by 30 th may, 2013
Positive form: - He had been building the house for a year by 2010.
Negative form: - He had not been building the house for a year by 2010.
Question form: - Had he been building the house for a year by 2010?

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

It is used to express an action which will happen tomorrow.
Structure: - Sub + Shall / Will + V1 + Obj + Time
I He
We------- Shall She
You---------- Will
It
Ram
Ex: - I shall go to Guntur tomorrow.
She will write a letter to her friend tomorrow.
You will participate in the dance competition tomorrow.
We shall go to temple tomorrow.
Ram will buy the book tomorrow.
The time of adverb Tomorrow is used to show the time of the action in simple future tense.
Positive form: - We shall go to temple tomorrow.
Negative form: - We shall not go to temple tomorrow.
Question form: - Shall we go to temple tomorrow?
FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE
To express an action which will be going on tomorrow at this time.
Structure: - Sub + Shall Be / Will Be + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
I ----- Shall Be
He

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We
She
It ------- Will Be
You
They
Ex:- I shall be writing a novel tomorrow at this time.
She will be preparing food tomorrow in this time.
We shall be swimming in the river tomorrow in this time.
Ram will be writing the exam tomorrow at this time.
They will be conducting a meeting tomorrow in this time.
The adverbs of time tomorrow, in, this, time is used to show the time of the action in future
continuous tense.
Positive form: - They will be playing tennis tomorrow in this time.
Negative form: - They will not be playing tennis tomorrow in this time.
Question form: - Will they be playing tennis tomorrow in this time.
FUTURE PERFECT TENSE
To express an action which will be completed in the future at a particular time.
Structure: - Sub + Shall Have / Will Have + V3 + Obj + Time
I --------- Shall Have They
We You
He ----------- Will Have
She
It
Ex: - He will have gone to Tirupathi on this month 28th.
She will have participated in tennis competition on November 18 th.
We shall have conducted exams to the students on August 10th.
Positive form: - He will have gone to Tirupathi on this month 28th.
Negative form: - He will not have gone to Thirupathi on this month 28th.
Question form: - Will he have gone to Tirupathi on this month 28th ?
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
To express an action which will be lasted for some time in the future.
Structure: - Sub + Shall Have Been / Will Have Been + V1 + Ing + Obj + Time
Ex: - I shall have been doing this job for five years by 2015.

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He will have been working in this company for three years by 2014.
She will have been studying [Link] for four years by 2016.
Positive form: - She will have been doing this job for five years by 2015.
Negative form: - She will not have been doing this job for five years by 2015.
Question form: - Will she have been doing this work for five years by 2015.
EXERCISE:
1. If I __________ (find) a good job, I’ll move to New Delhi.
2. He met his wife when he ___________________ (work) in Bhuvaneswar.
3. You can turn off the radio. I _________________ (not listen) to it.
4. Where ___________ (you / have) dinner yesterday?
5. This exercise is difficult. I __________ (help) you doing it.
6. What ____________ (you / cook) tonight?
7. ____________ (you / complete) your homework yet?
8. My father ___________ (go) to the bank tomorrow.
9. What __________ (they / do) at 9.00 last night?
10. It __________ (snow) when we _________ (leave) the library.
11. I usually __________ (listen) to the news in the car.
12. I _____________________(receive) many complaints since yesterday.
13. Be careful! The baby _______________ (put) those coins in its mouth!
14. When ___________________________(Ram Nath Kovind / become) president of India?
15. My students _______________________ (not listen) when I gave the instructions.
16. Greeshma is thirsty! I ___________ (get) her a glass of water!
17. If it ___________ (not rain) we’d lie on the beach.
18. A: It’s my birthday next week.
B: Don’t worry! I ___________________(not forget) it.
19. I think it ___________ (rain) this afternoon.
20. John _________ (speak) to Susan a minute ago.
21. If you ask him nicely, he _________ (help) you.
22. A: Would you like to have a cup of coffee?
B: No, thank you. I _________________ (already / have) two times.
23. ___________________ (you /ever / have) an argument with your parents about clothes?
24. I’m sure they _________________ (lose) the match.

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PUNCTUATIONS
You may possess good language skills and know how to express yourself in the language but
without the knowledge of punctuation marks, your skills, especially written, is incomplete. A
piece of writing which does include punctuation marks is difficult to read as compared to a
piece of writing which carries proper punctuation marks at the right places. To make an
impact on the reader, it is important for you to take care of these little marks, to come across
as a serious and professional writer.

1. COMMA (,)
The comma is used to indicate a short pause. It is used:
a. for words, phrases, and clauses in a series.
For example, "Gandhiji, the Father of the Nation, died on 30th January, 1948.
"Apples, Mangoes and Bananas are my favourites."

b. when you address a person.

For example, "Yes, Sir."

c. to separate numbers, dates and address.

For example, I was born on 9th August, 1990 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

d. When two persons, things or other elements are contrasted, the two are separated by a
comma.
For example, I meant Raj, not Robin.

e. Direct quotations are marked by comma.

For example, She said, "I'm sorry."

2. SEMICOLON (;)
The semicolon represents a stronger pause than a comma. It is used to stress the close
relationship between one sentence and another.
For example, Today we love what tomorrow we hate;today we seek what tomorrow we shun;
today we desire what tomorrow we fear.

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3. COLON (:)
The colon is used to show that something is to follow.
For example, The principle parts of a verb in English are: the present tense, the past tense,
and the past participle.

4. DASH (-)
The dash is used to make an abrupt stop or change of thought.
For example, If my husband were alive-but why lament the past?
He has-you may not believe it-failed.

5. EXCLAMATION MARK (!)

The exclamation mark is used after interjections and after phrases and sentences expressing
sudden emotion or wish.
For example, Alas! Oh dear!

6. INVERTED COMMAS (")

Inverted Commas are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker, or a quotation.
For example, "I would rather die," he exclaimed, "than join the oppressors of my country."

7. QUESTION MARK (?)

Question Mark is used, instead of the Full Stop, after a direct question.
For example, Have you finished writing?

8. FULL STOP (.)

The full stop is used to mark the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence. It represents
the greatest pause.
For example, Rohan, Vinay and Sabay are best friends.

Punctuate the following sentences.

a. i like playing with my friends sandy sunny and sameer

b. we went through the smoky mountains, near shimla on our way to leh

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c. myfavourite soap is pears and my favourite toothpaste is pepsodent

d. i’m a catholic and that’s why i go to [Link]’s school

e. my friend priya speaks german and she is teaching me some words

f. he was honest sincere hard working

g. hindus muslims Sikhs christians live together in India

h. long ago in a town in Switzerland there lived a famous man called william

i. akbar the greatest of the mughal emperors ruled wisely

j. tanya said to ila rahul is a nice guy

VOCABULARY
WORD FORMATION: PREFIX AND SUFFIX
Prefixes and suffixes are sets of letters that are added to the beginning or end of another
word. They are not words in their own right and cannot stand on their own in a sentence.

Prefixes

A prefix is a group of letters placed before the root of a word. For example, the word
“unhappy” consists of the prefix “un-” [which means “not”] combined with the root (or stem)
word “happy”; the word “unhappy” means “not happy.”

A short list of prefixes:

Prefix Meaning Examples

de- from, down, away, reverse, opposite decode, decrease
dis- not, opposite, reverse, away disagree, disappear
ex- out of, away from, lacking, former exhale, explosion

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Prefix Meaning Examples

il- not illegal, illogical
im- not, without impossible, improper
in- not, without inaction, invisible
mis- bad, wrong mislead, misplace
non- not nonfiction, nonsense
pre- before prefix, prehistory
pro- for, forward, before proactive, profess, program
re- again, back react, reappear
un- against, not, opposite undo, unequal, unusual

Suffixes

A suffix is a group of letters placed after the root of a word. For example, the word flavorless
consists of the root word “flavor” combined with the suffix “-less” [which means “without”];
the word “flavorless” means “having no flavor.”

A short list of suffixes:

Suffix Meaning Examples

-able able to, having the quality of comfortable, portable
-al relating to annual comical
-er comparative bigger, stronger
-est superlative strongest, tiniest
-ful full of beautiful, grateful
-ible forming an adjective reversible, terrible
-ily forming an adverb eerily, happily, lazily
-ing denoting an action, a material, or a gerund acting, showing
-less without, not affected by friendless, tireless
-ly forming an adjective clearly, hourly

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Suffix Meaning Examples

-ness denoting a state or condition kindness, wilderness
-y full of, denoting a condition, or a diminutive glory, messy, victory

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with the correct form.

i. It's always _______ (use-) to carry some cash on you, in case of an

emergency.
ii. Planning a holiday can be just as ________( excite-)as going on
holiday.
iii. I found that this medicine is the most _______ (effect-) for cold.
iv. She speaks ________ ( arab-)very well.
v. You must not be _________ (-polite) to your boss.
vi. The CEO has been responsible for many _______(-popular) decisions.
vii. I'm ____ (- happy )to work on weekends.
viii. He was __(-liked) by the female employees.
ix. I don't want to get into an ______( argue-) with you about this.
x. Living close to the station is ________ (conven-) for me.

PARAGRAPH WRITING

A paragraph is a group of sentences that share the same idea. We use paragraphs to structure
our writing and to make it easier for the reader to follow. Write down information and ideas
relating to that topic. Once you have a clearer idea of what you want to address in your
paragraph, you can start organizing your thoughts by writing down your ideas on a notepad or
word document. Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of information. Regardless of
the kind of information they contain, all paragraphs share certain characteristics. One of the
most important of these is a topic sentence.

Topic Sentence: The first sentence of your paragraph needs to be the topic sentence. A topic
sentence is an introductory line that addresses what the main idea or thesis of the paragraph is

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going to be. It should contain the most important and relevant point you wish to make
regarding your topic, thus summarizing the paragraph as a whole.

Supporting Sentences: Once you have written and are happy with your topic sentence, you
can start to fill in the rest of your paragraph. This is where the detailed, well-structured notes
you wrote earlier will come in handy. Make sure that your paragraph is coherent, which
means that it is easy to read and understand, that each sentence connects with the next and
that everything flows nicely as a whole. To achieve this, try to write clear, simple sentences
that express exactly what you want to say.

Concluding Sentence: The concluding sentence of your paragraph should tie everything
together. A good concluding sentence will reinforce the idea outlined in your topic sentence,
but now it has all the weight of the evidence or arguments contained in your supporting
sentences behind it. After reading the concluding sentence, the reader should have no doubt
as to the accuracy or relevance of the paragraph as a whole.

Note: Paragraphs should never contain more than one central idea. If a given idea has
multiple points or facets, then each individual aspect of the idea should be given its own
paragraph. A new paragraph is also used each time you are contrasting two points or
presenting each side of an argument.

Sample - Pros and cons of Social networking sites

Topic sentence:
The benefits of social networking sites have the potential to outweigh the dangers of such
websites.

Supporting Sentences:
While social networking does curb Real life interaction with one’s peers, it also provides shy,
introverted, or socially awkward youth with a new avenue of communication that often
makes it easier to connect and form relationships.
Concluding Sentence:

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Even though there are large number of risks and downfalls associated with social networking,
when the tool is used correctly and the youth are instructed on correct usage, it offers
considerable positives.

Some useful Phrases:

To show addition: again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second, etc.), further,
furthermore, in addition, in the first place, moreover, next, too

To give examples: for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to illustrate

To compare: also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly

To contrast: although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though, however, in
contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other hand, still, though, yet

To summarize or conclude: all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short, in summary,

on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up

To show time: after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before, during, earlier,
finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since, shortly, subsequently, then,
thereafter, until, when, while

To show place or direction: above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther on, here,
nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)

To indicate logical relationship: Accordingly, as a result, because, consequently, for this

reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore, thus…..

Exercise

Write a paragraph on “An invention that has changed the world”.

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READING COMPREHENSION: TYPE 1

In this section, you read a text with some sentences missing.
You are going to read an article about customer service in banks. Six sentences have
been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits
each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
A Although people do not expect much from the internet these days, this will change
in the future.
B The managers recognize that customers find them impersonal and unnatural.
C First National is also preparing to adopt this personal approach to its internet
banking.
D They have the attitude that some skills, such as keyboard skills and so on, can be
taught, but a member of staff can’t be taught to be a nice person.
E Telephones are very personal because staff are speaking to people on their own
territory.
F And if customers try to contact the bank by telephone, they are put through to a call
centre in another country where they have to speak slowly in order to be understood.
G Not everyone wants a chatty, friendly service.

Customer Service in Banks

The banking profession doesn’t have a very good reputation for customer service at
the moment, and it’s not just due to loss of savings. High street branches are shutting
down and where banks are available, their opening hours are inconvenient. Staff at
the desks are surly, increasingly under-qualified and often unable to answer
questions.(1) ---------. Astonishingly, however, 86% of the customers at one bank are
either ‘extremely satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the service they receive. And what
is even more surprising is that the bank in question has no High Street outlets at all.
First National bank is run entirely through the telephone and the internet. And its
success shows that customer service is just about face-to-face contact with
clients. The primary concern of the bank is recruiting the right people.(2) ---------. So
they only recruit people who already exhibit good communication skills.
And unlike other services that operate primarily over the telephone, the staff at First
National do not use scripts.(3) --------. What this bank asks for is that staff be
themselves and establish a rapport with their customers. Part of this is recognizing

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people’s needs.(4) ------. Some want the process to be swift and efficient. The
member of staff has to pick up on the caller’s mood and react accordingly.
(5)--------. The idea that customer service can be improved on a medium where there
is no actual contact with a member of staff may seem strange at first. However, the
website designers at First National spend a great deal of time understanding their
customers and offering services which meet their needs. (6)---------. First National is
already taking steps to fill this demand. They already offer a service in which
customers receive a text when funds are received or when their account falls below a
certain level. In the future, online systems may pre-empt customers’ needs in even
more sophisticated ways.

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UNIT II

ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S LETTER TO HIS SON’S TEACHER

My son starts school today. It is all going to be strange and new to him for a while and I wish
you would treat him gently. It is an adventure that might take him across continents. All
adventures that probably include wars, tragedy and sorrow. To live this life will require faith,
love and courage.

So dear Teacher, will you please take him by his hand and teach him things he will have to
know, teaching him – but gently, if you can, Teach him that for every enemy, there is a
friend. He will have to know that all men are not just, that all men are not true. But teach him
also that for every scoundrel there is a hero that for every crooked politician, there is a
dedicated leader.

Teach him if you can that 10 cents earned is of far more value than a dollar found. In school,
teacher, it is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him to learn how to gracefully
lose, and enjoy winning when he does win.

Teach him to be gentle with people, tough with tough people. Steer him away from envy if
you can and teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Teach him if you can – how to laugh when
he is sad, teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him there can be glory in failure and
despair in success. Teach him to scoff at cynics.

Teach him if you can the wonders of books, but also give time to ponder the extreme mystery
of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hill. Teach him to have faith in his
own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone else is doing it. Teach
him to listen to everyone, but teach him also to filter all that he hears on a screen of truth and
take only the good that comes through.

Teach him to sell his talents and brains to the highest bidder but never to put a price tag on
his heart and soul. Let him have the courage to be impatient, let him have the patient to be

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brave. Teach him to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will always have sublime
faith in mankind, in God.

This is the order, teacher but see what best you can do. He is such a nice little boy and he is
my son.

Glossary:
Scoundrel : a dishonest or unscrupulous person; a rogue.
Crooked : dishonest; illegal.
Gracefully : in a respectful and dignified way.
Scoff : speak to someone or about something in a scornfully derisive or
mocking way.
Cynics : a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest
rather than acting for honourable or unselfish reasons.
Ponder : think about (something) carefully.
Bidder : a person or organization making a formal offer for something,
especially at an auction.
Sublime : of very great excellence or beauty.

Questions:
1. What is the ultimate teaching Lincoln recommends and to what end?
2. Why is it essential for someone to have “sublime faith in mankind”?
3. What does the line, “This is a big order” mean?
4. What are the major skills that Lincoln wanted his son to possess?

SUMMARY
From time to time we get people who glorify the human civilization through their knowledge,
intellect, dedication and leadership. Abraham Lincoln was such a great person. He was the
16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April
1865. Abraham Lincoln successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military
and moral crisis – the American Civil war – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and
promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western
frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated.

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Letters were means of communication in olden days. Some letters written by great people are
capable of standing as guideposts to guide us forward in current generation also and to say
more intensely than before. Abraham Lincoln has also written many such letters being the
president of USA but a letter which he wrote to his son’s teacher on his first day of schooling
in order to just send a gentle reminder of what he wants the teacher to teach his son so that he
can be a good person in the future. This letter is full of his optimism and values he believed
in; this letter reflects his greatness and ideals he always held close to his heart. In this letter
he urges his son’s headmaster to instill in him these values to make him a great human being.

Lincoln asks him to teach his son faith in humanity. He should teach him not to be
discouraged by scoundrels, selfish politicians, and enemies as there are heroes, dedicated
leaders, and friends too. He asks him to teach him the value of labour and hard-work; the
necessity of going through failures in order to appreciate success or victory. He asks him to
teach him to stay away from envy and to enjoy quiet laughter. He requests him to teach him
that bullies accept defeat quickly. He also urges the headmaster to teach his son the wonders
of reading books and deep quiet reflection on the beautiful mysteries of nature.

Lincoln continues by saying that the headmaster should teach him the value of honesty and
integrity, his unique individuality, and self-belief and conviction in a trying situation. He
appeals to the headmaster to teach his son the art of being gentle and polite with good people;
and tough with the tough ones. He also requests the headmaster to teach his son to be strong
enough and have the courage to be different, truthful, and always focus on the good. He
insists on him to teach him the secrets of keeping away sadness with laughter; lightening his
heart’s burden with sincere tears; not to mind too much the cynics’ ideas; and beware of
people who are excessively sweet.

Lincoln also appeals to the headmaster to always endorse and support to the best people in
physical strength and intelligence; he must never ever compromise on issues related to heart
and spirituality. He wants the headmaster to teach him how to become deaf to the howling of
irrational mob and always believe in himself and fight for what he thinks is right.

At the end of the letter he advises the headmaster neither to be too gentle with him nor treat
him harshly. He requests him to teach him to develop courage to be patient, and have
patience to be brave. He winds up the letter by asking him have sublime faith in himself
because only then he can have faith in himself.

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Questions and Answers

1. What is the ultimate teaching that Lincoln recommends and to what end?

A). Lincoln believes, instilling moral values in his son’s mind is the ultimate teaching his son
can get. So that when he grows up he will be son of whom he can be proud of and be a good
citizen. The father wants his son to think and act and not do something that everyone is doing
without using his own thinking. He wants his son to be independent and take his own
decisions because acting on the basis of our thinking leads to having confidence on our
actions. This further leads to developing faith in oneself and less dependence on others.
Lincoln wants his son to earn his living by hard work using his brawn or his brain.

He does not want his son to sell his moral values for money and do something wrong. It is
important for the child to know that just as there are bad people on the earth, good people too
exist and good balances the bad. The child should not be disheartened that only bad exist in
this world and get swayed away. He should remember that one cannot win every time in life.
Sometimes we have to accept defeat and lose gracefully. Learning to lose is as important as
learning to win. We have to learn from our losses and correct our mistakes so that we can win
the next time. Cheating and passing an exam is easy but it does not teach anything in life. It is
far more honorable in life to fail and learn once again and pass. By this we don’t lose our self
respect and we become independent and self reliant.

2. Why is it essential for someone to have “sublime faith in mankind”?

A) All are not cheaters but there are people who are good and helpful. One can be the good
person to lead the mankind rather than following the mob. We live in a society where we
interact and depend on each other. For us to depend on others we need to have trust and faith
in them. Its only when we have faith in ourselves we can have faith in others. But that does
not mean that one should submit before the bullies or become envious about others success.
He says the child should learn to be tough when situation demands and hence stand for his
respect. He also cautions to ‘beware of people who are excessively sweet’ because they talk
sweetly only to please but do not mean what they say. Such sweet talk cannot be believed and
one should be careful while dealing with such people. He also requests the headmaster to
teach his son to be strong enough and have the courage to be different, truthful, and always
focus on the good. And hence his conviction, courage and truthfulness are the weapons to
face the negativities and have “sublime faith in mankind”

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3. What does the line, “This is a big order” mean?

A) This refers to the task of instilling confidence in the mind of the boy to have sublime
confidence in himself and in mankind. And big order here means it’s a difficult task. It means
that the task of teaching such values is too difficult for any teacher or school. Lincoln
continues by saying that the headmaster should teach him the value of honesty and integrity,
his unique individuality, and self-belief and conviction in a trying situation. He appeals to the
teacher to teach his son the art of being gentle and polite with good people; and tough with
the tough ones. He also requests the teacher to teach his son to be strong enough and have the
courage to be different, truthful, and always focus on the good. He insists on him to teach him
the secrets of keeping away sadness with laughter; lightening his heart’s burden with sincere
tears; not to mind too much the cynics’ ideas; and beware of people who are excessively
sweet.

4. What are the major skills that Lincoln wanted his son to possess?

A) In this letter he urges his son’s headmaster to instill in him these values to make him a
great human being. Lincoln asks him to teach his son faith in humanity. The world is full of
good and bad people and he should learn to recognize the best in good people. Hard work and
failure is the key to success. He asks him to teach him to stay away from envy and to enjoy
quiet laughter. He requests him to teach him that bullies accept defeat quickly. He also urges
the headmaster to teach his son the wonders of reading books and deep quiet reflection on the
beautiful mysteries of nature. He tells him that
hard earned money will allow him to focus on how he earns the money & not
on how much he earns. So he should focus on earning money by hard work. And every time
he fails he should never cheat instead he should enjoy and learn from it. Then only he will be
able to win with dignity. And he should be careful that his success should never overpower
him with pride instead he should just enjoy his success. Honesty, integrity, self-belief and
conviction help the individual to be unique. These inner values keep him strong in tough
situations and mold him to be a gentle person to the gentle ones and know where to be tough.
Thus he becomes strong enough and has the courage to be different, truthful, and always
focus on the good. He also insists to smile during critical times and listen to others to take the
best decision. He cautions him of the excessively sweet people. He wants the headmaster to
teach him how to become deaf to the howling of irrational mob and always believe in himself

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and fight for what he thinks is right. He requests him to teach him to develop courage to be
patient, and have patience to be brave. He ends by saying that he should have sublime faith in
himself.
DIRECT SPEECH AND INDIRECT SPEECH

Tip 1: Conversion rules as per the Reporting Verb

When the reporting or principal verb is in the Past Tense, all Present tenses of the direct are
changed into the corresponding Past Tenses.
Direct: He said, “I am unwell.”
Indirect: He said that he was unwell.

If the reporting verb is in the Present or Future Tense, the tenses of the Direct Speech do not
change.
Direct: He says/will say, “I am unwell.”
Indirect: He says/will say that he is unwell.

The Tense in Indirect Speech is NOT CHANGED if the words within the quotation marks
talk of a universal truth or habitual action.
Direct: They said, “We cannot live without water.”
Indirect: They said that we cannot live without water.

Tip 2: Conversion rules of Present Tense in Direct Speech

Simple Present Changes to Simple Past

Direct: "I am happy", she said.
Indirect: She said that she was happy.

Present Continuous Changes to Past Continuous

Direct: "I am reading a book", he explained.
Indirect: He explained that he was reading a book.

Present Perfect Changes to Past Perfect

Direct: She said, "He has finished his food“.

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Indirect: She said that he had finished his food.

Present Perfect Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: "I have been to Gujarat", he told me.
Indirect: He told me that he had been to Gujarat.

Tip 3: Conversion Rules of Past & Future Tense

Simple Past Changes to Past Perfect
Direct: He said, “Ira arrived on Monday."
Indirect: He said that Ira had arrived on Monday.

Past Continuous Changes to Past Perfect Continuous

Direct: "We were living in Goa", they told me.
Indirect: They told me that they had been living in Goa.

Future Changes to Present Conditional

Direct: He said, "I will be in Kolkata tomorrow."
Indirect: He said that he would be in Kolkata the next day.

Future Continuous Changes to Conditional Continuous

Direct: She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday.”
Indirect: She said that she would be using the car following Friday.

Tip 4: Changes in Modals

CAN changes into COULD

Direct: He said, "I can swim."
Indirect: He said that he could swim.

MAY changes into MIGHT

Direct: He said, "I may buy a house.”
Indirect: He said that he might buy a house.

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MUST changes into HAD TO/WOULD HAVE TO

Direct: He said, "I must work hard.”
Indirect: He said that he had to work hard.

Modals that DO NOT Change: Would, Could, Might, Should, Ought to.
Direct: He said, "I should face the challenge.”
Indirect: He said that he should face the challenge.

Tip 5: Conversion of Interrogative

Reporting Verb like ‘said/ said to’ changes to asked, enquired or demanded
Direct: He said to me, “What are you doing?”
Indirect: He asked me what I was doing.

If sentence begins with auxiliary verb, the joining clause should be if or whether.
Direct: He said, “Will you come for the meeting?”
Indirect: He asked them whether they would come for the meeting.

If sentence begins with ‘wh’ questions then no conjunction is used as the "question-word"
itself act as joining clause.
Direct: “Where do you live?” asked the girl.
Indirect: The girl enquired where I lived.

Tip 6: Command, Request, Exclamation, Wish

Commands and Requests

Indirect Speech is introduced by some verbs like ordered, requested, advised and suggested.
Forbid(s)/ forbade is used for the negative sentences. The imperative mood is changed into
the Infinitive.

a) Direct: Rafique said to Ahmed, “Go away.”

Indirect: Rafique ordered Ahmed to go away.
b) Direct: He said to her, “Please wait.”
Indirect: He requested her to wait.

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Exclamations and Wishes

Indirect Speech is introduced by some words like grief, sorrow, happiness, applaud.
Exclamatory sentence changes into assertive sentence and Interjections are removed.

Direct: He said, “Alas! I am undone.”

Indirect: He exclaimed sadly that he was broke.

Tip 7: Change of Pronouns

The first person of the reported speech changes according to the subject of reporting speech.

Direct: She said, “I am in ninth class.”

Indirect: She says that she was in ninth class.

The second person of reported speech changes according to the object of reporting speech.
Direct: He says to them, "You have completed your job.”
Indirect: He tells them that they have completed their job.

The third person of the reported speech doesn't change.

Direct: He says, "She is in tenth class.”
Indirect: He says that she is in tenth class.

Tip 8: Change of Place and Time

Words expressing nearness in time or place in Direct Speech are generally changed into
words expressing distance in Indirect Speech.

Now -- then ; Here – there ; Ago -- before ; Thus – so ; Today -- that day ; Tomorrow --
the next day ; This -- that ; Yesterday -- the day before ; These -- those ; Hither—thither ;
Come – go ; Hence – thence ; Next week/month -- following week/month

Examples

Direct: She said, “My father came yesterday.”

Indirect: She said that her father had come the day before.

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Direct: She says/will say, “My father came yesterday.”

Indirect: She says/will say that her father had come yesterday.
(Here the reporting verb ‘says’ is in the present tense OR ‘will say’ is in future tense; hence
the time expression ‘yesterday’ won’t change.

Tip 9: Punctuation

The words that are actually spoken should be enclosed in quotes and begin with a capital
letter
Example: He said, “You are right.”

Comma, full stop, question mark, or exclamation mark must be present at the end of reported
sentences and are placed inside the closing inverted comma or commas.
Example: He asked, “Can I come with you?”

If direct speech comes after the information about who is speaking, comma is used to
introduce the piece of speech, placed before the first inverted comma.
Example: She shouted, “Stop talking!”

Example: “Thinking back,” she said, “he didn't expect to win.” (Comma is used to
separate the two reported speech and no capital letter to begin the second sentence).

Tip 10: Conversion of Indirect to Direct Speech

1. Use the reporting verb, "say" or "said to" in its correct tense.
2. Remove the conjunctions "that, to, if or whether etc" wherever necessary.
3. Insert quotation marks, question mark, exclamation and full stop, as per the mood of the
sentence.
4. Put a comma before the statement.
5. Write the first word of the statement with capital letter.
6. Change the past tense into present tense wherever the reporting verb is in the past tense.
7. Convert the past perfect either into past tense or present perfect as found necessary.

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Example

Indirect: He asked whether he is coming.

Direct: He said to him, “Are you coming?”

Spot the Errors:

Correct the following speeches where it is necessary.

 Direct: The boy said, “I’m happy with my results.”

 Indirect: The boy said that he is happy with his results.

 Direct: She said, “I have baked a cake.”

 Indirect: She said (that) she baked a cake.

 Direct: He said, “All people have equal rights.”

 Indirect: He said that all people had equal rights.

 Direct: Roshni said, “I may meet him here”.

 Indirect: Roshni said that she may meet him here.

 Direct: She says, “I will go to school tomorrow.”

 Indirect: She says that she would go to school the day after.

 Direct: He said, “She is coming this week to discuss this.”

 Indirect: He said that she was coming this week to discuss this.

 Direct: He said to them, “Will you come for dinner?”

 Indirect: He said to them will they come for dinner?

 Direct: The teacher said, “Be quiet and listen to my words.”

 Indirect: The teacher said them to be quiet and listen to my words.

 Direct: The old man said, “Ah! I am ruined.”

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 Indirect: The old man said that Ah he was ruined!

 Indirect: The policeman enquired where we were going.

 Direct: The policeman enquired where are you going.

VOCABULARY: SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS

Synonyms: a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase
in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close.
Antonyms: a word opposite in meaning to another (e.g. bad and good).

Word Synonyms Antonyms

1. Ambitious Aspiring Unmotivated
2. Accelerate Quicken Decelerate
3. Brave Valiant Timid
4. Credible Trustworthy Untrustworthy
5. Enhance Boost Discourage
6. Hampered Obstruct Permit
7. Approachable Amicable Unapproachable
8. Articulate Communicative Unclear
9. Charismatic Captivating Boring
10. Diligent Hard-working Inactive
11. Pliable Adaptable Inflexible
12. Eloquent Vivid Dispassionate
13. Meticulous Accurate Imprecise
14. Brief Concise Lengthy
15. Responsible Accountable Irresponsible

A. Fill in the blanks with antonyms of the underlined words.

1. No one wants to listen to an ignorant man but everybody listens to a ________ man.
2. My application was accepted but his was ________________
3. The teacher tried to make the student confident but he still looked very __________
4. He often visits me but I ________________ go to his house.

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5. Tigers are very common in Kerala but lions are ________________

B. Write the synonym of the underlined words.

1. The committee decided to expel the new member.
2. The teacher berated his students.
3. When the leadership changed, his position in the organization became precarious.
4. Her silence was taken as tacit agreement.
5. The swindler tried to evade the law.

WRITING SKILLS: ESSAY WRITING

An essay is a short piece of non-fiction about a particular topic. Essays can take many
different forms. Narrative essays tell a story, Persuasive essays make an argument and
exploratory essays pursue an idea. No matter what kind of essay you’re writing, the principles
below will help you connect with your readers.

Tips for effective essay writing

1. Know your purpose:
It’s important to understand your goals. Whether you want to share information or an
experience or get readers to change their minds, your purpose will determine the choices you
make in your essay.

2. Understand your audience:

The more you know about who will be reading your essay, the better. Readers who are
experts on your topic will already have some background knowledge. Readers who are your
age will be familiar with the same films and songs you’re likely to mention. The less you
know about your audience, the more you’ll need to define your terms and provide context for
your examples.

3. Brainstorm:
Jot down everything you can think of related to the subject you’re going to write about. Some
people make lists, while others draw diagrams or maps. The point is to quickly note lots of
ideas in order to get started.

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4. Decide on a thesis:
Your thesis is the claim you’re going to make about your topic. Consult the notes you made
when you brainstormed to figure out what you want to say. Turn that idea into a complete
sentence that makes a claim and includes your explanation or reason for that claim which is
claimed as thesis statement . Be prepared to change your thesis a bit as you work out your
reasons and ideas.

5. Develop your essay:

Now that you have a thesis, you need evidence to support your claim. Start by listing your
reasons for believing what you do. Research what you need to; statistics and quotations will
help you make your point. Whether you like or disagree with, try every idea, opinion and
argument, as everything to be questioned, tested and challenged.
.
6. Create an essay structure:
Organize your essay according to your purpose. If you’re writing a narrative, you’ll probably
arrange your material in chronological order. Consider using flashbacks to create tension. For
an argument, you might list your reasons in order of importance. Every essay has a
beginning, middle, and end, but not every essay requires a formal introduction or conclusion.

7. Connect your ideas:

Readers need a road map through your essay. Employ transitions to help them move from one
idea to the next. Transitions are often individual words such as ‘then’, ‘but’, or ‘therefore’.

8. Choose memorable language:

Use concrete, specific words. Although complex ideas need specialist language , avoid using
complicated language.

9. Invent a strong title:

Write a title that makes readers want to read it. You can get readers’ attention with an
intriguing question or clever phrase, but make sure your title clearly conveys your essay
topic. A simple subtitle will help you do this. Your title should also be searchable, since so
many publications now appear online.

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10. Edit and proofread your essay:

Carefully check your work for errors. First, read your essay aloud. If anything sounds
awkward, revise until you like the way it sounds. Second, make sure
your grammar, punctuation, and spelling are all correct. When you think your essay is
perfect, have a friend check it again.

SAMPLE ESSAY

Using a computer every day can have more negative than positive effects on children. Do
you agree or disagree?

In today's modern world, computers became essential part of daily life. Around the globe,
children often use computers from a very young age. Although it is important for children to
participate in various well-balanced activities, in my opinion, children who use the computer
daily are actually developing a critical skill for future success. The bases for my views are
personal, academic, and professional.

From a personal point of view, computers are an invaluable resource to help young people
explore the world around them. For example, children who use Internet to satisfy their
curiosity about diverse topics are already becoming independent learners. By starting early in
their lives, children feel totally at ease with computers; they are also able to take advantage of
the wide range of services computers provide.

From an academic viewpoint, children have no choice but to master this technological
invention. For instance, when I was in university, students brought their laptops to class to
take notes, do research and exchange information. They wrote assignments, created
presentations and developed databases. Children who build early confidence and experience
in these abilities are at a distinct advantage over those who have not.

From a professional perspective, the computer has found a permanent place in the workplace.
Today, employers still pay to provide computer training to their employees. Tomorrow,
corporations will expect prospective job applicants to already possess these critical job skills.
Consequently, parents who encourage their child to use the computer for a reasonable period
of time daily are in fact investing in the child's future career.

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In conclusion, there is no doubt that the computer as a technological tool is here to stay. The
sooner children become computer-literate, the better for many aspects of their future lives.
Exercises
1. Facebook is not a safe book. ( write an opinion-based essay in not less than 300 words )
2. Brain drain. ( write an analytical essay in not less than 300 words )
3. Collect 30 connecting words that are to be used in effective essay writing.

READING COMPREHENSION: TYPE 2

 Look at the statements below the given paragraph about branding.

 Which section (A,B,C,D) does each statement (1-7) refer to ?
 For each statement (1-7) mark one letter (A,B,C or D)
 You will need to use some of these letters more than once.

BRANDING: A MARKETING STRATEGY

A
Having a good brand identity is critical. It can not only position a company above its
competitors, but it also communicates to your customers the reason why they should choose
you instead of your competitors. But developing a strong brand image takes time, money and
effort, and it involves much more than redesigning a logo or developing a new tagline. Your
new brand identity should evolve from your previous identity. Be careful not to start from
scratch and come up with something completely new, as you may end up losing loyal
customers who have forged emotion ties with your product.

B
It’s important to understand that changing the visual aspects of your company, your logo,
your packaging and so forth, you are not actually changing your brand identity. Your brand
identity is the promise a company makes to its customers – its features, quality, values and
service support. Just modernizing visual image does not entail a change in brand
values. Many companies, sadly, are led to believe by branding agencies that visual changes
will alter customer’s perception of their products. But such changes only inform consumers
that a company is concerned about how it looks. At best, they will assume the company is
modern; at worst they will accuse the company of unnecessary extravagance.

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C
Successful branding may not be actually connected with the product at all, but may represent
a greater sense of purpose or a more satisfying experience. They may affirm that drinking a
cup of coffee can really make a difference, or that exercising may bring about a sense of
challenge and personal achievement. Many successful brands study emerging societal ideals
and trends, so that they can take advantage of how customers wish they could be. Then they
push forward the message that by using their product, their dreams can be fulfilled, and the
customer can gain the lifestyle he or she is looking for, be it a sense of glamour, freedom,
popularity or self-satisfaction.

D
Lack of consistency is probably the most common pitfall when it comes to designing an
image for your brand. You need to provide a consistent message in your proposals and
presentations so that your company develops credibility and gets noticed and remembered.
To ensure that your branding ins consistent, gather all the information that leaves your
company, be it faxes, emails, advertisements, invoices or packages. Examine them for
discrepancies in your company’s image. Doing so will also give you the chance to evaluate
the image you are trying portray. 2. the difference between brand identity and logo design

Which section, A, B, C or D, does each statement 1-7.

1. a list of some items which should display your brand identity –

2. the difference between brand identity and logo design
3. brands which do not reflect the product itself
4. how companies are fooled by companies offering branding services
5. what is involved in creating an image for your brand
6. why companies study current social trends to develop a brand
7. a warning about redesigning your brand

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UNIT III
SATYA NADELLA’S EMAIL TO HIS EMPLOYEES ON HIS FIRST DAY AS CEO
OF MICROSOFT

About Satya Nadella: Satya Nadella (born August 19, 1967) is an Indian-born American
business executive. He is the current chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft. He was
educated in the Hyderabad Public School. He pursued BE in electronic engineering from the
Manipal Institute of Technology. He then moved to the US to study MS (Computer Science)
from the University of Wisconsin. His career took off when he became a member of the
technology staff in Sun Microsystems and then got a job offer from Microsoft where he
worked his way up the ranks and on 4 February 2014, he was appointed CEO of Microsoft.

Introduction: After taking over as the new CEO, Nadella sent an email to the Microsoft
employees. The email is a warm and friendly one in which he introduces himself to the
employees and also reveals his passion and dedication. It is an inspirational call to his co-
workers to do the best they can. Nadella talks about the company's vision and the direction it
envisages to move in.

From: Satya Nadella

To: All Employees
Date: Feb. 4, 2014
Subject: RE: Satya Nadella – Microsoft’s New CEO

Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22
years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I
believed Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower
people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place. I
knew there was no better company to join if I wanted to make a difference. This is the very
same inspiration that continues to drive me today.

It is an incredible honor for me to lead and serve this great company of ours. Steve and Bill
have taken it from an idea to one of the greatest and most universally admired companies in
the world. I’ve been fortunate to work closely with both Bill and Steve in my different roles

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at Microsoft, and as I step in as CEO, I’ve asked Bill to devote additional time to the
company, focused on technology and products. I’m also looking forward to working with
John Thompson as our new Chairman of the Board.

While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect
tradition — it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for
Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places — as technology evolves and
we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and
cloud-first world.

As we start a new phase of our journey together, I wanted to share some background on
myself and what inspires and motivates me.

Who am I?

I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and we have 3 kids. And like anyone else, a lot of
what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experiences.
Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more
books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I
fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful
things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.

Why am I here?

I am here for the same reason I think most people join Microsoft — to change the world
through technology that empowers people to do amazing things. I know it can sound
hyperbolic — and yet it’s true. We have done it, we’re doing it today, and we are the team
that will do it again.

I believe over the next decade computing will become even more ubiquitous and intelligence
will become ambient. The coevolution of software and new hardware form factors will
intermediate and digitize — many of the things we do and experience in business, life and
our world. This will be made possible by an ever-growing network of connected devices,

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incredible computing capacity from the cloud, insights from big data, and intelligence from
machine learning.

This is a software-powered world.

It will better connect us to our friends and families and help us see, express, and share our
world in ways never before possible. It will enable businesses to engage customers in more
meaningful ways.

I am here because we have unparalleled capability to make an impact.

Why are we here?

In our early history, our mission was about the PC on every desk and home, a goal we have
mostly achieved in the developed world. Today we’re focused on a broader range of devices.
While the deal is not yet complete, we will welcome to our family Nokia devices and services
and the new mobile capabilities they bring us.

As we look forward, we must zero in on what Microsoft can uniquely contribute to the world.
The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past for
a mobile and cloud-first world, and do new things.

We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices
and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only
company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create
broad opportunity.

Qi Lu captured it well in a recent meeting when he said that Microsoft uniquely empowers
people to “do more.” This doesn’t mean that we need to do more things, but that the work we
do empowers the world to do more of what they care about — get stuff done, have fun,
communicate and accomplish great things. This is the core of who we are, and driving this
core value in all that we do — be it the cloud or device experiences — is why we are here.

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What do we do next?

To paraphrase a quote from Oscar Wilde — we need to believe in the impossible and remove
the improbable.

This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that will lead us to imagine the
impossible and deliver it. We need to prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value
of empowering users and organizations to “do more.” We have picked a set of high-value
activities as part of our One Microsoft strategy. And with every service and device launch
going forward we need to bring more innovation to bear around these scenarios.

Next, every one of us needs to do our best work, lead and help drive cultural change. We
sometimes underestimate what we each can do to make things happen and overestimate what
others need to do to move us forward. We must change this.

Finally, I truly believe that each of us must find meaning in our work. The best work happens
when you know that it’s not just work, but something that will improve other people’s lives.
This is the opportunity that drives each of us at this company.

Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required:
talent, resources, and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance.
And as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation.

Let’s build on this foundation together.

Satya

Glossary:
Incredible : Impossible to believe, extraordinary
Thrives : Grow or develop well
Ubiquitous : Present, appearing, or found everywhere.
Ambient : Relating to the immediate surroundings of something.
Empower : Give (someone) the authority or power to do something.
Improbable : Not likely to be true or to happen.

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Perseverance : Dedication in doing something despite difficulty abundance

Curiosity : A strong desire to know or learn something.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. Why did Nadella believe that Microsoft was the best company in the world?
Nadella says that he, like most people, joined Microsoft to change the world through
technology that empowers people to do amazing things. The Microsoft team proved it in
the past and is continuing to do the same. He says that talent, resources and perseverance
are the foundation on which a company attains great heights, and concludes by saying
that Microsoft has all of this in plenty.

Nadella believes that Microsoft is uniquely situated to achieve its goal of being a tech
leader in the coming decades as well, because it can harness the power of software as well
as hardware, through its acquisition of Nokia.

Microsoft is the only company with the history and continued focus in building platforms
and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.

2. What are the unique selling points of Microsoft, according to Nadella?

Nadella forecasts cloud computing, machine learning, insights from big data and
increasingly ubiquitous technology with connected devices as the future, and says that
Microsoft will have to evolve to keep pace with these emerging technologies and
[Link]’s goal in its early years was to have a PC in every home and on every
desk. This goal has largely been achieved in the developed world. Today, the world has
more or less moved away from PCs and instead favors Mobile and Clouds-Computing
devices.
Nadella believes that going forward, Microsoft must focus on innovations which
empower people to do more and improve their lives. Nadella believes that Microsoft is
uniquely situated to achieve its goal of being a tech leader in the coming decades as well,
because it can harness the power of software as well as hardware, through its acquisition
of Nokia.

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3. What inspires Nadella?

In the letter introducing himself to the employees, Nadella says that he is 46 and has been
married for 22 years. He has 3 kids and his ideology and thoughts have been shaped by
his family and his overall life experiences. His acquaintances say that he is defined by his
curiosity and thirst for learning. He buys more books than he could read and regularly
signs up for several online courses to keep himself updated. He strongly believes that if
we are not learning new things, we stop doing great and useful things. Hence family,
curiosity and thirst for knowledge are the three factors that made Satya Nadella what he
was.

4. What will help employees find meaning in their work?

Nadella believes that Microsoft is a great place to work in because it believes in
empowering its employees to innovate.
Nadella says that employees commonly underestimate their role in a company, and
overestimate the role of others. He says that each employee must work towards
innovating technology which will make people’s lives better and easier, and this way,
they can also find meaning and joy in their work.

5. What philosophy is at the heart of Nadella’s vision for Microsoft?

This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Nadella wants Microsoft to gear
up for the increasing competition and prove itself as a strong rival to its competitors like it
was a decade back. Nadella emphasises on the need to priorotise innovation that helps to
empower users and organisations to ‘do more’. This starts with clarity of purpose and
sense of mission that lead to imagine the impossible and deliver it. All the employees
need to do their best work lead and help drive cultural change. Each of the employees
should find meaning in his work.
The Microsoft team proved it in the past and must continue to do the same. He says that
talent, resources and perseverance are the foundation on which a company attains great
heights, and concludes by saying that Microsoft has all of this in plenty.
Nadella emphasizes that with every new device or new service launch in the future,
Microsoft should bring about more and more innovation. He envisions a bright future for
Microsoft.

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GRAMMAR: ACTIVE VOICE & PASSIVE VOICE

An action of a subject, in relation to an object, is expressed in two ways. These two ways of
expressing action of a subject are known as Voices. Voices is that form of the verb which
shows whether what is denoted by the subject has done something or has something done to
it. They are of two types: Active Voice and Passive Voice.

The following are the basic rules of voices.

1) As mentioned earlier the structure of the sentence will be reversed in passive voice. The
place of the Subject and the Object will interchange. The Subject will take the place of Object
and the object will take the place of subject in passive voice.
Example: Active Voice - He buys a Camera
Passive Voice - A Camera is bought by him.

2) The word ‘by’ will be used before subject in the passive voice
Example: Active Voice - She drinks water.
Passive Voice - Water is drunk by her.

3) Other words such as ‘with’ or ‘to’ may also be used instead of word ‘by’ depending upon
the Subject of the sentence. These words are used in a very few cases.
Example: Active Voice- I know him.
Passive Voice- He is known to me.
Active Voice- Water is filled in the tub.
Passive Voice- The tub is filled with water.

4) The Auxiliary verb will be changed in Passive Voice depending upon the tense of
sentence in its Active Voice. Only past participle form or the 3 rd form of the verb will be used
as main verb in passive voices for all tenses. No other form of verb should be used as main
verb. A sample of the verb take is given in the following table for better understanding.

Tense Active Passive

Simple Present take am taken

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takes is taken
are taken
Present Continuous am taking am being taken
is taking is being taken
are taking are being taken
Present Perfect has taken has been taken
have taken have been taken

Simple Past took was taken

Were taken
Past Continuous was taking was being taken
were taking were being taken

Past Perfect had taken had been taken

Future will take will be taken
shall take Shall be taken
Future perfect will have taken will have been taken
Modal verbs can/ may/ must/ might can be/ may be/ must be /
/should take might be /should be taken

5) Subject may not be always mentioned in Passive voice. A passive voice sentence can be
written without having subject, if it gives clear idea about the subject. When the object is
absent in the passive voice then when converting to active voice words like somebody or
nobody or everybody, some are used as per the context.
Example: Passive Voice - Women are not treated as equals (by some).
Active Voice - Some do not treat women as equals.

If the statements are commands then the conversion to passive is as follows.

Example: Active Voice- Post the letter.

Passive Voice- Let the letter be posted.

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6) When the verb takes both a direct and indirect object in the active voice and when it is
changed to the passive voice, either of the objects may become the subject of the passive
voice.
Example: Active Voice- The manager will give you a ticket.
Passive Voice- You will be given a ticket by the manager.
Passive Voice- A ticket will be given to you by the manager.

Exercises:

I. Convert the following sentences into Passive voice.

1. All his friends laughed at him.

2. They made him king.
3. One should keep one’s promises.
4. Open the door.
5. He handed her a book.
6. The spectators thronged the streets.
7. When will you return the book?
8. He will finish the work in the fortnight.
9. The mason is building the wall.
10. The young man made a difference in the meeting.

II. Convert the following sentences into Active voice.

1. He was praised by his father.
2. By whom was Sanskrit taught to you?
3. Admittance was refused to him by the guide.
4. The wounded man was being helped by some boys.
5. The light has been put out.
6. Let the window be opened.
7. Bicycle has been sold by me.
8. It will be forgotten soon by people.
9. Good news is expected by them.
10. A letter will be written by my father.

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VOCABULARY: ONE -WORD SUBSTITUTIONS

Learning new words is a great advantage. One Word Substitution is an integral part of Verbal
Aptitude segment in various competitive exams .There are lots of words in the English
language that can be used effectively in place of complex sentences or words to make writing
to the point without losing the context. So let’s understand the various types of One Word
Substitutes along with some ways to correctly identify the substitute of a given sentence.

Examples

1. One who is not sure about God’s existence - Agnostic

2. A person who deliberately sets fire to a building - Arsonist
3. One who does a thing for pleasure and not as a profession - Amateur
4. One who can use both hands with ease - Ambidextrous
5. A group of people, typically with vehicles travelling together - Caravan
6. A person who believes in or tries to bring about a state of lawlessness - Anarchist
7. A person who has changed his faith - Apostate
8. One who does not believe in the existence of God - Atheist
9. A critical judge of any art and craft - Connoisseur
10. Persons living at the same time - Contemporaries
11. One who sneers at the beliefs of others - Cynic
12. A person having a sophisticated charm - Debonair
13. A leader who sways his followers by his oratory - Demagogue
14. One who shows sustained enthusiastic action with unflagging vitality- Indefatigable
15. Someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions - Iconoclast
16. A lover of mankind - Philanthropist
17. A person who speaks more than one language - Polyglot
18. One who lives in solitude - Recluse
19. Someone who walks in sleep - Somnambulist
20. Someone who doesn’t take alcohol - Teetotaler

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Exercises:

Fill up the blanks with appropriate one word substitute.

(Egotist, Chauvinist, Calligrapher, Cosmopolitan, Vegan)
1. A person who has beautiful hand writing _______________________________
2. One who often talks of his achievements _______________________________
3. A person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism __________________
4. A person who regards the whole world as his country _____________________
5. A person who eats no animal or dairy products, a strict vegetarian ____________

STANDARD ABBREVATIONS
1. HR: Human Resources
2. ATM: Automated Teller Machine
3. UFO: Unidentified Flying Object
4. HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus
5. IQ: Intelligence Quotient
6. PIN: Personal Identification Number
7. FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation
8. CCTV-Closed-Circuit Television
9. LPG- Liquefied Petroleum Gas
10. AC - Alternating Current
11. HDFC- Housing Development Finance Corporation
12. AM - ante meridiem
13. PM - Post Meridiem
14. AC - Alternate Current
15. BCCI-Board of Control for Cricket in India
16. BBC-British Broadcasting Corporation
17. BHEL-Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited
18. BSF-Border Security Force
19. CBI-Central Bureau of Investigation
20. CRPF-Central Reserve Police Force

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EXERCISE:

1. Fill in the blanks with the full forms of the abbreviations which are in bold.

a. Ramya plans to do her Ph.D from UK.

________________________________________________________

b. I love movies of Mammooty! He plays an officer of CBI in many hit movies.

_________________________________________________________

c. My father was a young man when he joined CRPF. He was posted on the
borders of
Jammu.___________________________________________________

d. My friend, Sharath learnt English by listening to BBC regularly.

_________________________________________________________

e. Many soldiers laid down their lives during the LOC war at Kargil.
_________________________________________________________

f. These days, CCTV has become a norm to bring down crime rate of
Hyderabad.
____________________________

g. All of us have accounts in HDFC.

_________________________________________________________

h. You are not supposed to mishandle the CPU in the English lab.
_________________________________________________________

i. Our first lesson in Physics deals with AC.

_________________________________________________________

j. The LPG cylinders have become very expensive these days.

_________________________________________________________

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WRITING SKILLS: E-MAIL WRITING

E- Mail writing is:

 used for both personal and official purposes.
 inexpensive yet highly effective business communication tool
 an efficient way to communicate information
 well-presented, easy to read and professionally appropriate manner
 used as soft copies because it is easy to archive and retrieve emails.

Format
Background: The default white background should be used for all emails.
Font: Preferred fonts are Times New Roman or Arial, font size-12
Font color: Font should be navy blue or black only.
Contact details: Official contact information like name, designation, email id,
contact number, company logo, and address of correspondence should be
mentioned in the signature area. Personal statements are best avoided.
First name and surname: They should be mentioned in the same font as used in the
body of the email, only two font sizes larger. Cursive fonts are not recommended.
First name Signature: The following information should be supplied in the same font
and size as the body of the email.
 Designation
 Department
 Company Name & Address
 Landmark and ZIP Code.
 Contact Number
 Email address
 Company telephone number
 Company fax number
 Company URL
Email dos and don'ts
1. Check you've got the right name in the 'To' box.
2. Attach the file you want to send before you start writing so that, you will not miss sending
it.

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3. If you write 'CAN YOU LET ME KNOW THIS WEEK?' you are basically shouting at
your reader. They will think you are very rude. So just don't do it.
4. Short emails sometimes sound rude. People won't read very long emails. Keep emails
short, but remember to be polite and friendly too.
5. This is important, especially if it's a work email. If you make mistakes in your email,
people will think you make mistakes in your work also. So always check everything
carefully. Ask a colleague to read and check it before you hit 'Send'.

Language
Context Formal / Neutral Informal
Dear Mr/Ms/Mrs Carvalho Hi/Hello Peter
Name Dear Peter Peter,...
Thank you for your email of ... Thanks for your email.
Previous Further to your last email, ... Re your email, ...
contact I apologize for not getting in contact Sorry I haven’t written for ages, but
with you before now. I’ve been really busy.
I am writing in connection with ... I Just a short note about ...
am writing with regard to ... I’m writing about ...
Reason for
In reply to your email, here are ... Here’s the ... you wanted. I
writing
Your name was given to me by ... got your name from ...
We would like to point out that ... Please note that ...
I’m writing to let you know that ... Just a note to say ... We
Giving We are able to confirm that ... can confirm that ...
information I am delighted to tell you that ... Good news!
We regret to inform you that ... Unfortunately, ...
Please find attached my report. I’ve attached ...
Attachments I’m sending you ... as a pdf file. Here is the ... you wanted.
I would like to request Can you tell me a little more about
you to provide some ...
Asking for
information about ... I’d like to know ...
information
I would like to know ... Please send me ...

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I’m interested in receiving/finding

out ...

I’d be grateful if you could ... Please could you ...

I wonder if you could ... Could you ...?
Requests Do you think I could have ... ? Can I have ...?
Thank you in advance for your help I’d appreciate your help on this.
in this matter.
I will ... I’ll ...
Promising I’ll investigate the matter. I’ll look into it.
action I will contact you again shortly. I’ll get back to you soon.
Would you like me to ...? Do you want me to ...?
If you wish, I would be happy to ... Shall I ...?
Offering help
Let me know whether you would like Let me know if you’d like me to ...
me to ...
Thank you for your help. Thanks again for ...
Do not hesitate to contact us again if Let me know if you need anything
you require any further else.
Final
information…. Just give me a call if you have any
comments
Please feel free to contact me if you questions. My number is ...
have any questions. My direct line is
...

Here are some sample Emails

Question 1: Arranging a business meeting

To: smithamalhotra@[Link]

Subject: Reply on Interior Decor | Finalizing date and time for meeting

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Dear Sir

I received your email with instructions to contact an Interior Decor firm.

Accordingly, I contacted Hasta La' Vista, one of the most reputed organizations in
delivering Behavioral Training, Mode Assessment, Psychometric Analysis, among
others.

They have replied to my email and are pleased at the prospect of us working
together. They have requested me to schedule a meeting for their representatives so
that they could visit us and explain the rest of the details in person. I have sent you
their Terms & Conditions as a PDF attachment named Terms to this email. Kindly
go through it and reply.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you. Have a nice day.

Best Regards,
Charisma

QUESTION 2
Write an email to your neighbour thanking him for their hospitality and kindness.
To: rajshekar@[Link]
Subject: Thank you for ……………….

Dear Sir,

I would like to thank you for all the help you so kindly showed me and my family
last week when we moved into the apartment next door. We really appreciate the
kind hospitality and were very pleased to know we have such lovely neighbours!

I hope that you received the flowers we delivered to your door and have put them in
display. Thank you again for being so kind as you have helped ease the process of
our move.

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We look forward to getting to know you and your family! Please do not hesitate to
contact us or visit us if you need anything.

Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxx

EXERCISE 1
As a member of your residential society, write an email to inspector of local Police
station, [Link], informing him about miscreants who ride their bikes rashly
every evening outside your society. Sign the email as William.

Keywords: residential area - ride - rashly - children - play - elderly - walk - grocery
shop - across the road - dangerous - accidents - nuisance - action - immediately

EXERCISE 2
As an intern at ABC consulting [Link], write an email to your internship Project
Manager, [Link], informing about the progress that you are making and some
difficulties that you are encountering. Sign the email as Ben.

Keywords: Thank - challenging - progress - tight schedule - support - report -

analytics - guidance - access - doubt - requirements - design

LETTER WRITING

Letter writing is an essential skill. In the past writing letters was prized and praised because it
was a primary form of communication. Even after the advancement of technology ,it is
valued high and widely used. Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone
has to write letters at some point. Letters of complaint, job applications, thank you letters,
letters requesting changes or making suggestions — the list goes on and on.

KINDS OF LETTERS:
Letters may be divided into two classes- Formal and Informal letters.

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Formal Letter: These letters follow a certain pattern and formality. They are strictly kept
professional in nature, and directly address the issues concerned. Any type of business letter
or letter to authorities falls under this category.

Informal Letter: These are personal letters. They need not follow any set pattern or adhere
to any formalities. They contain personal information or a written conversation. Informal
letters are generally written to friends, acquaintances, relatives etc.

PARTS OF A LETTER
1) Heading: The writer’s address and the date of writing. It should be written at the top right
hand side of the page or in blocked format left side.
Mammillagudem
Khammam
15th December ’95 or
December 15, 1995
2) The name and address of the person:
This should be written on the-left hand side of the page either at the top or bottom.
Eg.,:
To
The Editor,
The Indian Express,
Hyderabad.

To
Sri K. Sankara Rao
2-1-102
Nallakunta,
Hyderabad 44.

NOTE:
1) The address need not end with a full stop.
2) If the letter has to go by any special way, i.e. by some large town, write via, with the
name of the town.

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3) Abbreviations are used in address.

3) The Salutation:
This is written on the left side of the page, a line below the address. (A comma is put after the
salutation) Note the ways of salutation:
a) To the members of the family.
Dear Sister, My dear Sister, Dear Brother, My dear Brother, Dear Father, My dear
Father,
Dear Mother, My dear Mother.

b) To friends:
My dear Rao (a very close friend)
Dear Rao (a close friend)
Dear Mr. Rao (not a close friend)

4. Body of the letter:

It should begin a little below the salutation. If the letter is long, break it into paragraphs. See
that the language used is simple and direct. A familiar and colloquial style may be used in
letters to friends and relatives. There should be brevity and courtesy. It should be free from
spelling and grammatical mistakes. Avoid writing a postscript. Put correct punctuation marks.

5) The Subscription or Leave Taking:

It should be written below the body of the letter at the right side bottom of the page.
NOTE:
1) The first letter must be a capital letter.
2) Yours has no apostrophe.
3) A comma is placed between the subscription and signature.

Some Leave Taking Phrases:

1) To the members of the family:
Yours affectionately
Yours lovingly
Your loving son
Your loving daughter

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2) To Friends:
Yours sincerely
Yours lovingly
3) To officers:
Yours faithfully
Yours truly
Yours sincerely
4) To superiors:
Yours obediently

Sample Letters: 1

Write a letter to the editor of a local daily complaining against the school-bus drivers for
rash-driving and overcrowding of buses causing risk to the lives of innocent school children.
You are Sharath/Raj, Maisammaguda, kompally, Hyderabad.

Maisammaguda
Kompally

August 19, 2019

To

The Editor
The Hindu
Mahatma Gandhi Lane
Hyderabad

Sir/Madam

Subject- Regarding reckless driving of college-bus drivers

Through the columns of your esteemed newspaper, I wish to draw the attention of the
concerned authorities towards the grave issue of rash driving being done by college bus
drivers that pose a threat to the lives of innocent school children and trespassers.

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Driving in a zigzag manner on packed roads, crossing speed-limits, not following traffic
lights has become very common. Despite such strict regulations regarding speed, none of
these drivers seem to follow them. This shows that there is lack of implementation. This is a
menace to other road users as the bus drivers that drive at high speed might crush down
whoever comes in their way.

By addressing this issue, it is hoped that the public awareness towards the dangerous
reckless driving can be raised. It is also the time for the traffic authorities to take
stronger measures against the reckless drivers, which includes levying heavy fines and
forfeiting of their licenses, if they are found guilty of breaching the traffic rules.

Yours Sincerely
[Link]

Sample Letters: 2

Write an application letter to the bank manager for bank account transfer to another branch.

Hyderabad

24th June,2019

The Bank Manager

SBI
Kompally

Respected Sir/Madam

Subject: Requesting for account transfer.

I am an account holder in your prestigious bank for more than 9 years. My account number is
622833744855. Due to my job transfer, I have recently been relocated to Kurnool. I would

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like to request you for the transfer of my account from the current branch to the branch
located in Kurnool. It will be more convenient for me to handle my account operation from
the above mentioned branch. I have no pending liabilities with the current branch so, please
transfer my account on an emergency basis to avoid any inconvenience regarding my daily
transactions, for which I would be so grateful to you.

I enclose herewith a copy of the required documents for further proceedings.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,
R Rangarajan

Exercise: 1

You recently purchased a product from an online store and you are dissatisfied about its
quality. Now, you want to avail refund for the product but are unaware of the company’s
return and refund policy as it is not available on their website. So, write a letter to the
customer relationship officer requesting information about the refund policy in your letter.

Answer:

Exercise: 2

As a [Link] student of Malla Reddy College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad,

write a letter to Mr. Joseph, Oxford Publishing House, London, complaining that the books
sent by them were not those you had ordered for.

Answer:

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READING COMPREHENSION: TYPE 3

Read the text and then answer questions 1-6.

The idea that a sales team can learn something from Girl Scouts will come as a surprise to
many. What has this out-dated organisation got to do with the fast-moving, corporate world
of today? But in the girl scouts’ annual cookie drive, two hundred million units are sold per
year, and their revenues exceed $700 million. And these figures are achieved only in a three-
month period in the spring.

True, the organization has changed greatly in latter years, ever since the appointment of CEO
Kathy Cloninger in 2003. Her mission was to revitalize a 95-year tradition-bound icon,
famous only for camping, crafts and cookies. She has worked on instilling leadership
qualities in the girls, developing new funding opportunities, creating an efficient
organisational structure and developing a reinvigorated brand which is relevant to the modern
world.

And nowhere are these changes more noticeable than in the annual cookie sale. No longer
relying on neighborhood door-to-door sales to obtain a meagre revenue, the organization now
utilizes a wide range of savvy, modern methods which businesses worldwide can learn from.

Firstly, the girl scouts organization focuses on providing the girls with life skills. By
investing in the girls, the organization creates a team with strong leadership and
communication skills. ‘Cookie College’ training courses develop the scouts’ business
acumen, providing them with presentation, marketing and money management skills; skills
which will be invaluable in their future lives. Through role-playing, case studies and tasks,
the girls become inspired and passionate about their role as a salesperson.

And the proof of the pudding – or should I say cookie – is in the eating. These well-trained
salesgirls can turn out exceptional results. Scout Markita Andrews sold over $80,000 dollars
worth of cookies in the twelve years she was a girl scout. Her success is for the most part due
to the incentive. By selling the greatest number of cookies, Markita won a trip around the
world. Rewards are not only given to the lucky winners, however. Scouts earn reward points
as they sell more cookies. 1,500 cookies get the scout a Wii game system.

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But Girl scouts are not only training and motivating their workforce, but they are also
changing their tactics. Gone are the days when girls went door-to-door around the
neighborhood selling to family and friends. They now go in for the bulk sales strategy. They
sell to large organizations and businesses, where cookies can be offered as sales incentives or
part of corporate gift baskets. This way, girls are able to shift a greater number of cookies and
maximize their sales time.

1. When do the Girl Scouts sell cookies?

a) all year round
b) for three months per year
c) every three years
d) every spring since 2003

2. What was the view of the girls scout organization before Kathy Cloninger became CEO?
a) not well-known
b) old-fashioned
c) efficient
d) surprising

3. Which of the following is not taught at ‘Cookie College’?

a) how to look after finances
b) how to promote your products
c) how to bake cookies
d) how to speak in front of other people

4. A girl scout can get a trip round the world if she...

a) gets a certain number of reward points
b) sells cookies for twelve years in a row
c) sells $80,000 worth of cookies
d) sells more cookies than anyone else

5. A new selling strategy used by girl scouts is...

a) Selling cookies outside local businesses

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b) Giving scouts free cookies as an incentive

c) Selling from door to door
d) Selling large amounts of cookies at once

6. Which of the following sales techniques is not mentioned in the passage?

a) motivating the sales team
b) finding new avenues for sales
c) offering discounts for bulk orders
d) training the sales team

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UNIT-IV

JK ROWLING’S HARVARD SPEECH

About the author:

Joanne Kathleen Rowling (pronounced rolling) was born on July 31st, 1965 in
Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. Rowling’s writing career started at the
age of six when she wrote a story called Rabbit. Since then Rowling has graduated
from Exeter, worked as a teacher. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone at a table in a café during her daughter’s naps. When Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone was bought and published by Bloomsbury in 1997 her life
changed dramatically, the Harry Potter series has since then won numerous awards
and become a tremendous success around the world.
[Link]’s graduation speech at Harvard delivered in 2008, quickly became the
most viewed commencement address on the university’s Web site.

The speech:
President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers,
members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates. The first thing I
would like to say is ‘thank you.’ Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary
honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I have endured1 at the thought of giving this
commencement address have made me lose weight.

Actually, I have wracked2 my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I
have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what
important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that have expired between that day
and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered
together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the
benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold3 of what is sometimes called
‘real life’, I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

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Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation, I was convinced that the
only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of
whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to
college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk
that would never pay a mortgage4, or secure a pension. So they hoped that I would
take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well
have found out for the first time on graduation day. I would like to make it clear, in
parenthesis5, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an
expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the
moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is
more, I cannot criticize my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty.
They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with
them that it is not an ennobling6 experience. Poverty entails7 fear, and stress, and
sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.
Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to
pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticized only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure. However, the
fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-
acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a
desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the
average person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world
is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it is fair to say that
by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had
failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded8, and I
was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain,
without being homeless. The fears that my parents had had for me, and that I had had
for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest
failure I knew.

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Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my
life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has
since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. So why do I talk about the
benefits of failure? Simply, because, failure meant a stripping away of the
inessential9. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I
was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to
me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the
determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free,
because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a
daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock
bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable 10. Failure
gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure
taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered
that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out
that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.

Now you might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination,
because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I
personally will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to
value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely
human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention
and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the
power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never
shared.

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it
informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation11 came
in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories
during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working at the African
research department at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London.

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There in my little office I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without
trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony12
of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-
witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes. Every
day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I
was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where legal
representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I
ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this,
written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer
reality. That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day
of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world,
the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing. But how much more
are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people’s lives? Your
intelligence, your capacity for hard work, and the education you have earned and
received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality
sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world’s only remaining
superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure
you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That
is, your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those
who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the
powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do
not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate
your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped
change. We do not need magic to change the world; we carry all the power we need
inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already
had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for

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life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in
times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their
names for Death Eaters.

So today, I wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope
that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca,
another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat
from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

I wish you all very good lives. Thank you very much.

GLOSSARY
1. Endured : to suffer something difficult
2. Wracked : cause extreme pain
3. Threshold : doorstep, doorsill, porch, entry or entrance
4. Mortgage : a legal agreement by which a bank, building society,
etc. lends money at interest in exchange for taking title
of the debtor's property
5. Parenthesis : a word or phrase inserted as an explanation or
afterthought into a passage which is grammatically
complete without it, in writing usually marked off by
brackets, dashes, or commas.
6. Ennoble : give (someone) a noble rank or title.
7. Entail : involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part
or consequence.
8. Imploded : to collapse violently
9. Inessential : not absolutely necessary.
10. Inevitable : unavoidable
11. Revelation : a surprising and previously unknown fact that has been
disclosed to others.
12. Testimony : evidence or proof of something.

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Summary of [Link]’s Harvard speech.

When invited to give a commencement speech to Harvard graduates, JK Rowling felt

a huge responsibility to prepare a piece which would deliver words of wisdom that
could guide the promising young generation. So, she decided to convey the lessons
she learned the hard way, she wished someone had given her when she was a
graduate. She came up with two core lessons: appreciate the value of failing and
recognize the importance of imagination. J.K. Rowling had studied modern
languages and classics. While she was studying, she was not worried because she
always performed well in her exams, but as soon as she graduated, she started feeling
fear of facing failure. Her choice of education was not offering too many
opportunities, and seven years later, this notion was reinforced by Rowling’s life.
She was a single, unemployed divorcee living almost below the poverty line.
However, the realization of her worse fear – freed her. She had just hit rock bottom,
and there was no place to go other than to take control of her life. So she decided to
pursue the only passion that mattered: writing.

Another thing that she considers important is imagination, and moreover –

recognizing its power. One of her jobs after she finished college was in Amnesty
International, where she was surrounded by stories of victims and torture and
refugees. This made her perceive human evil, and at the same time, human kindness.
People should empathize with others if they employ their imaginations and
understand what those others are going through. And yet, many choose to stay blind
to the unhappiness. According to Rowling, when one decides to take no action to
overcome a challenging situation, one allows it to bother throughout his or her life.
Hence, every human being is responsible for recognizing and developing his
imagination, to create a better world. Rowling succeeded to transform from a single
mom on the verge of bankruptcy to one of the wealthiest authors on the planet. Her
rags to riches story proves to everyone that life can be turned around. Every human
being is responsible for recognizing and developing his imagination, to create a
better world.

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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1. What message does the speaker give on ‘Failure’ to the Harvard graduates?

Rowling’s speech was very inspirational that demonstrates through her own
examples from her life that anything can happen at any given time. She explains how
failure is a part of life. If one has not experienced failure, then one has not
experienced life because failing helps one learn more about oneself. Rowling
claimed that before she began writing the world known epic-harry potter she had
“failed on an epic-scale”. Rowling had also attempted novels before and had
repeatedly failed. She did not give up, even when on the verge of extreme poverty.
She kept trying, and eventually rebuilt her life with her Harry Potter series. She
explained how her success came with hard work, determination, and struggle. She
stated that failing, in a way, is success. It shows that succeeding is a result of failure
and if one learns from mistakes, one will accomplish goals.

2. According to Rowling, why ‘Imagination’ is crucial in one’s life?

J. K. Rowling also addresses how important one’s “imagination” truly is. However,
she is not speaking about the “imagination” she had for writing “Harry Potter”. She
is talking about the “imagination” one has to see things in another light and “step
into someone else’s shoes”. In the speech, she shared her experience working with
the Amnesty international where she nursed patients who were broken, bruised,
injured physically and mentally tortured. She was horrified and shaken, she had all
her empathy for them. She realized how fortunate she was as she lived a far better
life than the patients that came to Amnesty international.

3. Why doesn’t the speaker blame her parents?

Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty
humiliations and hardships. Her parents, both of whom came from impoverished
backgrounds who had never been to college, took the view that her overactive
imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage, or
secure a pension. She does not blame my parents for their point of view. She

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explains that the day one is old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies within
oneself. She emphasizes that if a person was born poor, he or she must climb out of
poverty by his or her own efforts that are indeed something on which to pride
oneself. Her parents never wanted their daughter to experience poverty like they
experienced. Therefore, they wanted her to take up vocational degree but Rowling
took up Literature without their knowledge. On the other hand, seven years from
graduation she failed miserably. She doesn’t blame her parents for it was her own
choice of taking up literature and she considers that she is old enough to take up her
own responsibility.

4. According to [Link], what is the importance of Plutarch’s quote?

[Link] speaks about this idea of “touching other’s lives” in her speech She said
that change always starts from the inside-out. This quote sums up for how change
really happens. It is about leading change by example, or to put it another way, truly
walking the talk. A change in how we behave or how we do things has an effect on
those around us. The beauty of this is that we are all capable of making change
happen. It means creating an environment where people feel comfortable about
bringing their whole selves into to make this place a better one. It is so much more
than just the physical environment that matters here. How can we as individuals and
leaders create a place where people show up as their whole selves, contribute through
all of their talents and are truly valued. One won’t be surprised to learn that the
change starts with each of us. It really doesn’t need to be dramatic either as small
changes in how one behaves with others does make a big difference. She urges the
Harvard graduates to bring in a phenomenal change in the lives of others.

5. How does [Link] want the Harvard graduates to make the use of their
‘status’ to influence the world?

[Link] advised the Harvard graduates to choose to use their status and
influence to raise their voice on behalf of those who do not have ‘a’ voice; if one
chooses to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if one retains
the ability to imagine oneself into the lives of those who do not have ‘their’
advantages, then it will not only be their proud families who celebrate their

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existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality they have helped
change. She said that there is no need of any magic to change the world because each
of us has all the power inside ourselves already and she also said that we all have the
power to imagine better.

GRAMMAR: ARTICLES
Basically, articles are either definite or indefinite. They combine to a noun to indicate the
type of reference being made by the noun.

•The definite article is the.

•The indefinite article is a / an.

We use the definite article ‘the’

1. to refer to something or someone both speakers in a conversation know about:

I have two children – a boy and a girl. The boy is 7 and the girl 4.
There was a King. The King had four children.
2. before seas, rivers, and groups of mountains or islands:
The Nile is a long river.
My goal is to climb the Himalayas.
3. before the names of holy books and also before things unique of their kind:
He is well versed in the Ramayana.
People at the equator are dark skinned.
4. with superlatives:
He is the worst person I have ever met.
She is the most intelligent student in the class.

The indefinite article ‘a’/ ‘an’ is used:

[Link] we don't specify the things or people we are talking about:

I met a friend.
I work in a factory in New York.
2. before a consonant sound:
Tintumon is a cheerful dog.
I was at a well known university yesterday.

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[Link] some prepositions, especially ‘as’, ‘for’, ‘on’ and ‘at’.

It is only for a change.
Cloth is manufactured on a large scale.

NOTE:

Although 'university' starts with the vowel 'u', it is not pronounced as such. It is pronounced
as a consonant sound /ju:.niv3:.[Link]/

The indefinite article ‘an’ is used before a vowel sound.

He wants to become an engineer.

She is an athlete who had won 5 medals in the 2012 Olympics.

Countable nouns:

Some nouns refer to things which, in English, are treated as separate items which can be
counted. These are called countable nouns. Here are some examples:

a car, three cars

my cousin, my cousins

a book, a box full of books

a city, several big cities

Uncountable nouns

In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable
nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.

Some examples of uncountable nouns are:

Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work

Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk

Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow

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Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage

Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework,

knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel.

Omission of Articles:

1. Before uncountable nouns

We do not use articles before uncountable and abstract nouns used in a general sense.

 Honey is sweet.
 Sugaris bad for your teeth.
 Wisdom is better than riches.
 Virtueis its own reward.

Note that uncountable nouns take the article the when used in a particular sense.

 Would you pass the sugar? (= the sugar on the table)

2. Before plural countable nouns

We do not use articles before plural countable nouns used in a general sense.

 Childrenusually rush about.

 Computers are useful machines.

Note that plural nouns take the article the when they are used in a particular sense.

 Where are the children? (Which children? Our children)

3. Before proper nouns

We do not use articles before the names of countries, people, continents, cities, rivers and
lakes.

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 India is a democratic country.

 Paris is the capital of France.

4. Before the names of meals

We do not use articles before the names of meals.

 Mother is cooking lunch.

 Dinneris ready.

We use a when there is an adjective before breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. We use the when
we are talking about a particular meal.
 I had a late dinneryesterday.
 The lunchwe had at the restaurant was very good.

5. Before languages

We do not use articles before the names of languages.

 Can you speak English?

 They speak French at home.

5. Before school, college, university, church, bed, hospital, prison etc.

 His dad is still in hospital.

 We learned English at school.
 He is at university.

Exercise:

Fill up the blanks with appropriate articles.

1. Man is________ mortal.

2. I am ________ university student.

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3. Kiran is ________ best student in the class.

4. There is _________ institution for ______ blind in this city.

5. This book has won ___________ Booker prize.

6. Harishchandra was ___________ honest king.

7. I am fond of ________classical music.

8. I met ________ boy in the store.

9. Gold is _______ precious metal.

10. She returned after ______ hour.

MODIFIERS

A modifier adds information to another element in a sentence in the form of adjective, adverb
etc. A modifier changes, clarifies, qualifies, or limits a particular word in a sentence in order
to add emphasis, explanation, or detail.

Misplaced Modifiers
A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word
it modifies / describes. Because of the separation, sentences with this error often sound
awkward, ridiculous, or confusing. Furthermore, they can be downright illogical.

1. On her way home, Jane found Gold man’s watch.

On her way home, Jane found a man’s Gold watch.

2. They saw a fence behind the house made of barbed wire.

They saw a fencemade of barbed wire behind the house.

3. The missed student’s book lay on the desk.

The student’s missed book lay on the desk.

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4. I call only Rajan when I need money.

I call Rajan only when I need money.

5. She almost failed every exam she took.

She failed almost every exam she took.

6. Andrew told us that after the holidays he intended to stop drinking.

Andrew told us after the holidays that he intended to stop drinking

7. We ate the lunch we had brought slowly.

We slowly ate the lunch we had brought.

8. Running quickly improves your health.

Running improves your healthquickly.

9. When two years old, my mother bought a gift to me.

When I was two years old, my mother bought a gift to me.

10. Bob told me that he was getting married in the movie theater.
Bob told me in the movie theater that he was getting married.
Exercise:

1. The kind mother handed out chicken sandwiches to all kids in paper bags.
2. The little girl saw a goat on the farm heading into town.
3. I saw a dead cat driving on the highway.
4. I handed a fresh piece of bread to the guy beside me that was well buttered.
5. At the park, I noticed my neighbor was walking her dog in heels.
6. The youngster was walking the dog on the mobile.
7. I heard that there was a robbery on the evening news.
8. We are looking for a babysitter for our kid who doesn’t drink or smoke and owns a
car.
9. Charlie spotted a stray puppy driving home from work.
10. The teacher served cookies to the children wrapped in aluminum foil.

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VOCABULARY: PHRASAL VERBS

Phrasal verb is a short phrase made up of a verb and one or two prepositions or adverbs. In
other words phrasal verb is nothing but a verb with particle. Each phrasal verb has its unique
meaning(s), which is different from the meaning of the verb itself. Here are a few of
important phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs with particle ‘out’

1. Rule out = to dismiss an idea from consideration
They ruled out his suggestion.
2. Wipe out= to destroy or remove something completely
You must wipe out all your data before you sell your mobile.
3. Figure out= to find out
They are trying to figure out the reasons behind his suicide.
4. Fade out= to become less noticeable until it disappears completely
Star’s name faded out when burning star came to industry.
5. Hang out=to spend time aimlessly
I would like to hang out with my friends daily.

Phrasal verbs with particle ‘up’

1. Give up = to leave something completely
Don’t give up good friends and habits.
2. Show up= to make an appearance
Don’t show up late to the meeting.
3. Make up= compensate for something lost, missed or deficient.
How do you compensate the damage you caused?
4. Hold up= to get stuck up which causes delay
I was held up in traffic
5. Blow up= to destroy something through an explosion
They are blowing up the apartment to construct a huge shopping mall.

Phrasal verbs with particle ‘down’

1. Talk down = to talk to someone as if they are less intelligent than you or not important
Never try to talk down on me.

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2. Break down =to stop working

Suddenly my mobile broke down
3. Die down = something becomes less painful or noisy
Wait until the noise dies down.
4. Simmer down = to become calm or less agitated
I will talk about the college trip after my father simmers down.
5. Jot down = to write something down
Jot down the points quickly for me.

Phrasal verbs with ‘put’

1. Put off = postponement
You had better put off your work until we receive official orders.
2. Put up with = tolerate
I am unable to put up with your procrastinating behavior
3. Put across = bringing to discussion
They put across their innovating plans to upscale the profits.
4. Put out = reducing something
I tried to put out their argument but failed terribly.
5. Put forward = making a point to discuss
I hesitated to put forward my plan

Phrasal verbs with ‘fall

1. Fall behind= to not meet the obligations
Construction work fell behind the schedule.
2. Fall for=believe a lie or be deceived
Don’t fall for his friendly behavior.
3. Fall apart = breaking, come to an end
Their marriage fell apart for petty issues.
4. Fall back on = having strong alternative option
If I lose my job, I'll have nothing to fall back on.
5. Fall off = a reduction in something such as profits, sales
Sales have been falling off recently.

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Phrasal verbs with ‘look’

1. Look after = take care of someone or something
It’s a criminal case not to look after one’s own parents.
2. Look down on = see something or someone as inferior
She thinks they look down on her because she doesn't have a job.
3. Look into = investigating
Don’t jump to conclusions before you look into the matter.
4. Look up to = respect, admire someone
He is not a role model that people should be looking up to.
5. Look forward = excited about something in the future
I am looking forward to work with my dream company

Exercises:
1. Write a short story using minimum 10 phrasal verbs mentioned above. (300 words)
2. Fill in the gaps.
a. I would like to _____________ the matter before I reach a decision.
b. Unless you ___________bad habits, you can’t lead a meaningful life.
c. There is nobody to ________________my grandmother at home.
d. Never __________________politicians’ promises.
e. Never __________________implementing good decisions.

WRITING SKILLS: PRÉCIS WRITING

Writing a précis means to shorten a given passage to about one third of the original. It
contains the gist or the main theme of the passage expressed in your own words. Précis
writing needs unwavering attention and full concentration. For this, one should read the
passage carefully twice or thrice noting down the points. One may prepare a rough draft,
revise it and then write a fair draft.

Tips:
One can follow the following method in order to become a good précis writer. Read the
passage thoroughly, and give it a title. The title you choose will indicate whether you have
been able to understand the passage or not.

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1. If your title does not deal with the main idea of the passage, you have not understood the
passage properly.
a. Give a second reading, underlining the main ideas of the passage.
b. Make a draft of the précis, using only the underlined sentences.
2. Identify the central idea and omit illustrations, examples,details and repetition.
3. Retain the keywords of the paragraph.
4. Arrange these points logically; generally the order of the original is retained.
5. Write in your own [Link] only the ideas, and express them in yourown language.
6. A précis must not exceed one-third of the length of the original passage.
7. The précis should be in the same tense, in third person and in indirect speech.
8. Change the direct speech to the indirect speech.
9. One word substitution of longer terms is very helpful.
Not suggestible: That which could be read easily.
Suggestible: Illegible
10. Reduce a lengthy and repetitive conversation to a brief report.
Not suggestible:
Putting an end to the 60 years old practice of barring women from becoming
make-up artists in the Mumbai Film industry, The Supreme Court on November
11, 2014 allowed qualified women to be appointed for this job.

Suggestible:

On 11 November 2014. Supreme court allowed women to work as make-up

artists in Mumbai film industry

SAMPLE PRÉCIS -1:

Prevention is better than cure. It is recognized that the only way to get rid of malaria
completely is to get rid of the mosquitoes which cause it. Malaria is always associated with
damp and marshy land. This is not because the land is damp, but because the static water is
the breeding place of the mosquitoes which begin their life as a larva in the water. Malaria
does not frequently occur in dry desert countries because mosquitoes cannot breed there. The
only way to destroy mosquitoes is to prevent their breeding in static water. This can be done
by draining all ponds and pools. And by keeping them covered in the breeding season with a
film of kerosene oil which by depriving the larva of air, kills them.

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TITLE: MOSQUITOES CAUSES MALARIA

PRECIS: Mosquitoes, which cause Malaria, breed in stagnant water. They cannot breed in
dry lands. If we use kerosene, the stagnant water is covered with a layer of kerosene, the larva
will die. By doing so, we could prevent the spreading of malaria.

Exercise-1:
Write a précis of the following reducing each of them to one third of the length.

The government has understood the importance of entrepreneurship and development of new
ideas to make the country industrially developed. It has launched several programmes to
support the youngsters financially by helping those getting loans without much hassle as well
as with skill development in various disciplines. The government is also ensuring that both
the rural and urban areas get the benefit of these schemes. This will make the new ideas
sustainable in the long run because the young generation will be encouraged to take up
entrepreneurship initiatives with fresh ideas. This approach of the government is expected to
make India a better destination in the world to do business.

Rough draft:
Fair Draft:

Exercise-2:
Write a précis of the following reducing each of them to one third of the length.

The chief object of the repetitive form of advertisement is to help people to remember the
product. The general principle is similar to that followed by Bajaj Automotives Ltd: "You
just can't beat a Bajaj". The repetition of a phrase, the inclusion of a trade name or a trade
mark in every advertisement; is intended to impress upon the mind of the reader/ listener that
name or phase or picture. The response sought by the advertiser is achieved when a customer
enters a shop for, say, toothpaste. To the shop-keeper's question, " Which brand? " the
customer gives the reply that is in his mind, not necessarily because he has arrived at a
decision by any process of reasoning, nor because some strong feeling has been aroused for
some particular brand, but simply because he has repeatedly heard or seen the name, it is
associated in his mind with the idea of a good toothpaste. Some trade names become so
common that they displace the true name of the commodity itself, such as 'Vaseline', the well-
known trade name for 'petroleum jelly'. Advertisements which have relied on repetition have,

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been proved very powerful, but with the increased variety of proprietary articles and products
intended for the same purpose, this kind of advertising is losing some of its value because of
the confusion of names that arise in a customer's mind when he wishes to buy, say, cigarettes,
tobacco, soap, chocolates, tea and other goods which are widely used.

Rough draft:
Fair Draft:
READING COMPREHENSION TYPE 4

Fill up the blanks with the correct words.

Read the advice below about stress at work. Choose the best word to fill the spaces.

Stress at Work

A small amount of pressure at work is often seen as a good thing. But excessive pressure can
lead to stress, and this in (1)______________ (consequently, next, afterwards, turn)can result
in bad performance. Stressed staff are more (2) ________________ (likely, usual, normal,
probable) to misuse their work hours or quit their job. Stress (3)________(results, affects,
leads, concerns) not only morale, but also a company’s bottom line.(4)________(knowing,
concerning, ensuring, proving) that a company has a calm, productive atmosphere is the role
of the HR department. Even though the management and employees are often responsible for
the stressful environment in (5)_________ (what, that, where, which) they work, the human
resources department can (6)_________ (make, be, do, play) a critical role in managing
behaviour within the workplace. HR can (7)_________ (apply, implement, work, realize)
programmes that encourage positive attitudes, build good working relationships and
(8)________(assemble, advance, promote, persuade) healthy lifestyles. One common
problem is that managers are (9) _________ (very, so, always, especially) overworked that
they neglect their staff. Staff are (10) ________ (kept, left, forgotten, abandoned) with
nothing to do, and so they become underutilized or inefficient. This is an opportunity for the
HR department to (11) ___________ (intervene, go, step, enter) in and help the department
to work (12)___________ (for, in, as, by) a team. Managers can be taught how to (13)
___________ (commit, schedule, appoint, delegate) work to staff, in order to reduce their
workload. Meanwhile, staff can be advised about how (14)______________ (should, best,
way, well) to approach their managers, and when it is appropriate to (15)___________
(make, take, do, spend) the initiative.

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UNIT-V

A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM’S BIOGRAPHY

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in full Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, (1931-2015), Indian
scientist who played a leading role in the development of India’s missile and nuclear weapons
programs. He was the President of India from 2002 to 2007.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 into a Tamil Muslim
family in the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram on Pamban Island, which was then in the
Madras Presidency and now in the State of Tamil Nadu. His father Jainulabdeen was a boat
owner and imam of a local mosque; his mother Ashiamma was a housewife. His father
owned a ferry that took Hindu pilgrims back and forth between Rameswaram and the now
uninhabited Dhanushkodi. Kalam was the youngest of four brothers and one sister in his
family. His ancestors had been wealthy traders and landowners, with numerous properties
and large tracts of land. With the opening of the Pamban Bridge to the mainland in 1914,
however, the businesses failed and the family fortune and properties were lost over time,
apart from the ancestral home. By his early childhood, Kalam's family had become poor. He
sold newspapers to supplement his family's income at an early age.

During his school days, Kalam had average grades but was described as a bright and
hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn. He spent hours on his studies,
especially Mathematics. After completing his education at the Schwartz Higher Secondary
School, Ramanathapuram, Kalam went on to attend Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli,
which was affiliated to the University of Madras, from where he graduated in physics in
1954. He moved to Madras in 1955 to study Aerospace Engineering in Madras Institute of
Technology. While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean was dissatisfied
with his lack of progress and threatened to revoke his scholarship unless the project was
finished within the next three days. Kalam met the deadline, impressing the Dean, who later
said to him, "I was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline". He
narrowly missed achieving his dream of becoming a fighter pilot, as he placed ninth in
qualifiers, and only eight positions were available in the IAF.

Kalam earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology
and in 1958 joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He soon
moved to the Indian Space Research Organisation, where he was project director of the SLV-

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III, India’s first indigenously designed and produced satellite launch vehicle. After rejoining
DRDO in 1982, Kalam planned the program that produced a number of successful missiles,
which helped him to earn the nickname “Missile Man of India.”

Kalam was scientific advisor to the Defense Minister of India from 1992 to 1997. He later
served as Principal Scientific Advisor (1999–2001) to the government with the rank of
cabinet minister. His prominent role in the country’s 1998 nuclear weapons tests established
Kalam as a national hero, although the tests caused great concern in the international
community. In 1998 Kalam put forward a countrywide plan called Technology Vision 2020,
which he described as a road map for transforming India from a less-developed to a
developed society in 20 years. The plan called for, among other measures were, increasing
agricultural productivity, emphasizing technology as a vehicle for economic growth, and
widening access to health care and education.

In 2002, Kalam succeeded the outgoing President Kocheril Raman Narayanan. Kalam was
nominated as the President of India and his stature and popular appeal were such that even
the main opposition party also proposed his candidacy. Kalam easily won the election and
was sworn in as India’s 11th president, a largely ceremonial post, in July 2002. He remained
committed to using Science and Technology to transform India into a developed country. In
2007, Kalam left office after the completion of his tenure and he was succeeded by Pratibha
Patil, the country’s first woman president.

Kalam wrote several books, including an autobiography, Wings of Fire, Ignited Minds,
Turning Points, Believe in Yourself etc. Kalam received 7 honorary doctorates from 40
universities. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1981 and
the Padma Vibhushan in 1990 for his work with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific
advisor to the Government. In 1997, Kalam received India's highest civilian honour, the
Bharat Ratna, for his contribution to the scientific research and modernization of defence
technology.

After leaving office, Kalam became a Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of
Management Shillong, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and the Indian
Institute of Management Indore; an Honorary Fellow of Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore; Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology
Thiruvananthapuram; Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University; and an

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Adjunct at many other academic and research institutions across India. He taught information
technology at the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad, and
Technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.

In May 2012, Kalam launched a programme for the youth of India called “What Can I Give
Movement”, with a central theme of defeating corruption.

Kalam travelled to Shillong to deliver a lecture on "Creating a Livable Planet Earth" at the
Indian Institute of Management Shillong on 27 July 2015. While climbing a flight of stairs,
he experienced some discomfort, but was able to enter the auditorium after a brief rest. At
around 6:35 p.m. IST, only five minutes into his lecture, he collapsed. He was rushed to the
nearby Bethany Hospital in a critical condition; upon arrival, he lacked a pulse or any other
signs of life. Despite being placed in the intensive care unit, Kalam was confirmed dead of a
sudden cardiac arrest at 7:45 p.m. IST. His last words, to his aide Srijan Pal Singh, were
reportedly: "Funny guy! Are you doing well?"

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was a leader greatly admired by all people, especially the youth of India
who have referred to him as the people's President. He is a rare combination of a great
statesman, acclaimed scientist, and a source of inspiration to the young generation of South
Asia. His death is an irreparable loss to India and beyond.

GLOSSARY:

Uninhabited: abandoned, deserted

Ancestors: forefathers
Supplement: addition
Aerospace Engineering: Engineering of aircraft and space vehicles
Ceremonial: official
Honorary Doctorate: A doctorate conferred to honour the recipient
Corruption: bribery, lack of integrity or honesty
Collapsed: become unconscious due to fatigue
Acclaimed: praised vociferously
Irreparable: beyond repair

QUESTIONS:

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1. Why is [Link] Kalam called “Missile Man of India”?

2. Write a note on his childhood.
3. What were his contributions to Indian Science and Technology?
4. What organizations were Abdul Kalam associated with?
5. What were the awards received by Abdul Kalam?

GRAMMAR: CONCORD

In this chapter, we discuss two main areas of concord:

A. Subject- verb agreement
B. Noun - pronoun agreement
A. Subject & Verb Agreement

It’s an agreement between subject & verb or Agreement between words in sentence,
nouns, numbers, person or any other grammatical category which affects the forms
of the words.

She don’t know that I am her sister’s friend. (Wrong)

She doesn’t know that I am her sister’s friend. (Right)

Both the rice and the curd was fresh and tasty. (Wrong)
Both the rice and the curd were fresh and tasty. (Right)

The rice and curd served in the restaurant are fresh and tasty. (Wrong)
The rice and curd served in the restaurant is fresh and tasty. (Right)

To circumvent this type of mistakes and to be a fluent speaker and an effective writer
we have to follow certain rules.

1. When the subject consists of two singular / plural nouns / pronouns joined by
‘and’, the plural form of the verb is used.
The bread and the butter are my favorite breakfast.
The chairman and the principal were visited.
The president and GM of the company have arrived.

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2. If the two nouns joined by ‘and’ are thought of as a single ‘thing’, the singular
form of the verb is used.
Idly and Chutney is my favorite breakfast.
The principal and science teacher has not come to the school today.

3. Use singular form of the verb with distances, periods of time and sums of amount
etc… when considered as a unit.

150 kilometers is not a great distance.

Ten thousand rupees was a fair price for the TV.
Eight years is the maximum time to finish engineering course.

4. When the subjects consist of two singular nouns joined together by ‘either…or
and neither… nor’, or, nor, but also and not only’, the singular form of the verb is
used.
Either Sharath or Vicky is to be promoted.
Either the bears or the lion has escaped from the zoo.
Neither you nor he is to take up this task.
Neither boy is eligible for selection.
Jessica or Christian is to blame for the accident.

5. When the subject of a sentence is an indefinite pronoun, such as ‘everyone,

someone, no one, anybody, no body, somebody, everybody, something and each,
every, none and no’, the singular form of the verb is used.

No smoking or drinking is allowed.

Every man and woman is required to check in.
Something is wrong with him these days.
Everybody in the office has tickets.
Everyone is required to clear their dues.
Nobody knows the trouble I have seen.
No one is entitled to have his debts cancelled.

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6. Some nouns ending in the letter‘s’ are plural in form and take plural verbs (these
nouns do not have singular nouns).

The tweezers are in the cupboard.

His trousers have become too tight.
Where are your spectacles?

7. Uncountable nous such as ‘baggage, equipment, furniture, issue, advice, land,

machinery, scenery and luggage’ is treated as singular nouns. Hence, they take
singular verbs only.

All the machinery is old.

I have sold all the furniture that was useless.
My luggage is lying at the bus stand.
He gave me some advice.
The scenery here is very good.

8. Collective nouns such as ‘government, public, team, party, family, group,

committee, class, crowd, club, jury, minority, population and mob’ etc. can take
either a singular or a plural verb.

The committee has met and accepted the proposal.

The family was happy at the news.
The crowd was wild with excitement.
Our team is certain to win the match.
The committee is investigating this matter.
A third of population was not in favor / were not in favor of the bill.

9. Titles of books, movies, novels, etc. are treated as singular and take a singular
verb.
Bahubali is a movie starring Prabhas.
Bible is the holy book for Christians.

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Exercise:

Choose the correct form of the verb that agrees with the subject.

1. Annie and her brothers (is, are) at school.

2. Either my mother or my father (is, are) coming to the meeting.

3. The dog or the cats (is, are) outside.

4. Either my shoes or your coat (is, are) always on the floor.

5. George and Tamara (doesn't, don't) want to see that movie.

6. Benito (doesn't, don't) know the answer.

7. One of my sisters (is, are) going on a trip to France.

8. The man with all the birds (live, lives) on my street.

9. The movie, including all the previews, (take, takes) about two hours to watch.

10. The players, as well as the captain, (want, wants) to win.

11. Either answer (is, are) acceptable.

12. Every one of those books (is, are) fiction.

13. Nobody (know, knows) the trouble I've seen.

14. (Is, Are) the news on at five or six?

15. Mathematics (is, are) John's favorite subject, while Civics (is, are) Andrea's favorite
subject.

16. Eight dollars (is, are) the price of a movie these days.

17. (Is, Are) the tweezers in this drawer?

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18. Your pants (is, are) at the cleaner's.

19. There (was, were) fifteen candies in that bag. Now there (is, are) only one left!

20. The committee (debates, debate) these questions carefully.

B. Noun - pronoun Agreement

A pronoun is a word that refers to a noun and can stand in its place. By using a pronoun,
you can refer to the same person, place, thing, or idea repeatedly without using the same
noun every time. For example, the following sentence becomes far less awkward when
pronouns are used:
Radha thinks that Radha should sell Radha car to Radha’s brother.
Radha thinks that she should sell her car to her brother.

Pronoun Types
Pronouns may be divided into several categories, based on how they are used:
 Demonstrative (this, that, these, those)
 Indefinite (anybody, something,)
 Intensive or reflexive (yourself, herself, myself)
 Interrogative (who, which, what)
 Personal (I, you, he, she, we, they)
 Possessive (my, your, her, his, their)
 Relative (who, whom, whose, which, that)

1. Selecting the Right Pronoun

Every pronoun must agree with its antecedent (the noun to which the pronoun refers or
which it replaces). A pronoun agrees with its antecedent when they match in both
number and gender.

2. Agreement in Number
A pronoun must match its antecedent in number. In other words, if the antecedent is
plural, the pronoun must be plural, and if the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must
be singular.

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Valentine wears his Superman outfit at least twice a week.

(Since the word Valentine is singular, the pronoun that refers to it is also singular.)
Valentine’s parents believe that their son is slightly peculiar.
(Because the word parents is plural, the pronoun referring to it must also be plural.)

3. Agreement in Gender
a) A pronoun must match its antecedent in gender. If the antecedent is feminine, use the
pronouns she, her, and hers, and if it is masculine, use the pronouns he, him, and his. Plural
pronouns (they, them, their, and theirs) refer to plural nouns of either gender.
Murphy’s father is embarrassed by his son.
However, Freddy’s mother thinks her son is cute.
Murphy’s aunts always take pictures of their nephew.
Murphy’s uncles enjoy playing with their sister’s superhero son

b) When you use a singular noun, you can only use a singular pronoun.
Reginald wanted to try throwing the ball himself.
The kitten is huge for its age.

c) When you use a plural noun (cars, dandelions, cookies, tweets), you can only use a plural
pronoun (they, us, you, those)
The tightrope walkers were up so high that I was afraid they would fall.
Jack’s friends, who also play is his band, were at the party.

Common Mistakes
1. Antecedents with Conjunctions
When singular antecedents are joined by and, use a plural pronoun to refer to them.
INCORRECT: Jim and Sally are proud of his and her new son.
CORRECT: Jim and Sally are proud of their new son.
When antecedents are joined by or or nor, the pronoun referring to them should match the
part of the antecedent that is closest to the pronoun.
Neither her sisters nor Jeanie will bring her basketball.
Neither Jeannie nor her sisters will bring their basketball.

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2. Pronouns as Antecedents
One of the most common mistakes in pronoun-antecedent agreement occurs when the
antecedent of a pronoun is, itself, a pronoun. In such cases, as with noun-pronoun agreement,
the two pronouns must agree with each other in both number and gender.
INCORRECT: Those boxes have unbroken lids, but these need to have its lids
replaced.
CORRECT: Those boxes have unbroken lids, but these need to have their lids
replaced.
Pronoun-antecedent agreement may be especially confusing when the antecedent is an
indefinite pronoun. Indefinite pronouns refer to or replace nonspecific people, places,
things, or ideas. The following indefinite pronouns are always singular. Consequently,
pronouns that refer to them will always be singular as well:
anybody either neither somebody
anyone everybody nobody someone
each everyone one, no one

INCORRECT: Everybody needs to bring their assignment to class.

CORRECT: Everybody needs to bring his or her assignment to class.

3. Gender
Sometimes, a singular antecedent's gender is unknown, or the antecedent refers to a group
composed of both males and females. To avoid gender bias, use both the masculine and
feminine pronouns.

INCORRECT: Everyone returned his books to the library.

CORRECT: Everyone returned his or her books to the library.
If using he or she or his or her sounds awkward, rework your sentences whenever possible
so that the antecedents of unknown or mixed gender are plural:

Awkward: Everyone turned in his or her homework and got out his or her textbook.
Better: All of the class members turned in their homework and got out their textbooks.

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Exercise:
Underline the correct word

1. Everybody in our family (are/ is) planning a trip this year.

2. Each of us (are /is) going to a different part of the country.

3. One of my brothers (are/ is) going fishing in the Far North.

4. My other brother (doesn't/ don't) know yet where he'll go.

5. Each of them (are /is) taking (his/ their) own motorcycle.

6. My sister and I (was/ were) planning to go to Wyoming.

7. But my sister decided she (doesn't/ don't) want to go.

8. No one in our family (has/ have) ever been to California.

9. So my sister and her friends (think/ thinks) they'll go.

10. My mother and father (intend/ intends) to drive to Pennsylvania

VOCABULARY: COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS

One of the mistakes many of us make when speaking or writing English is to

wrongly use a word that is similar to another word but means something completely
different. Malapropism is the term used to refer to the incorrect use of words. Words
that confuse us usually have similar spellings or pronunciations. The list below has
some pairs of such words and their meanings. Practice using them in sentences so
that you do not make when you speak or write.

1. accept: to take except: exclude

2. adverse: unfavorable averse: disinclined

3. advice: recommendation advise: to recommend

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4. affect: to influence effect: to bring about (when it is a verb)

5. allusion: indirect reference illusion: something unreal

6. born: to be given birth borne: to be carried

7. brake: to stop or slow break: to fracture, to stop work temporarily

8. canvas: cloth canvass: solicit opinions or votes

9. complement: to make complete compliment: to praise

10. compose: to make up comprise: to include

11. council: assembly counsel: advice, lawyer

12. credible: believable creditable: praiseworthy

13. desert: arid region, to abandon dessert: end of a meal

14. discreet: prudent discrete: separate

15. disinterested: impartial uninterested: without interest

16. elicit: to draw out illicit: illegal

17. emigrate: leave immigrate: come from somewhere else

18. flaunt: to make a boastful display flout: to treat with contempt

19. forward: onward foreword: introduction to a book

20. hanger: object for hanging clothes hangar: place for airplanes

21. imminent: soon to take place eminent: important

22. lead: a metal (pronounced led), to led: past tense of lead

guide (pronounced leed)

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23. loathe: to hate loath: reluctant

24. lose: to experience loss loose: not tight

25. moral: ethical morale: spirit

26. persecute: to harass prosecute: to pursue a legal case against

27. plain: simple plane: airplane, to smooth, a flat surface

28. precede: to go before proceed: to continue

29. principal: chief, head person principle: rule

30. stationary: fixed stationery: paper, pencil etc

Exercise 1

Choose the correct response to complete each of the sentences:

1. Take a deep _______________(Breath/Breathe)
2. Make sure to _____________ (Breath)(Breathe) deeply.
3. Paris is the _______________(Capital/ Capitol) of France.
4. We can't start this business with limited _______________(Capital/Capitol) .
5. Jessica always buys _______________________(stationery/stationary)
6. The _______________(counsel /council) decided in favor of the business proposal.
7. That is the ____________ (Principal /Principle) ingredient.
8. He interviewed an ___________________(imminent / eminent) physicist.
9. He talked about the __________________(eminent/ imminent)_collapse of the
government.
10. All of the ________________________(loose/lose) change fell out of his pocket.
Exercise 2

1. The English (coarse/course) I took last semester was the best I’ve ever taken
2. There is a (whole/hole.) in your new shirt.
3. Most drugs have side (affects, effects).

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4. Warm bread (compliments, complements) any meal.

5. I practice so I won’t (lose, loose) the game.
6. The Senate was in session at the (capital, capitol) today.
7. My daughter likes purple (stationary, stationery).
8. The government’s decision met with much (descent, dissent).
9. Everybody likes to receive (compliments, complements).
10. Voting can help (affect, effect) change.

WRITING SKILLS: MEMO WRITING

Memos are used within organizations to communicate everything from routine details to
complete proposals and reports. Memos are often only a few short paragraphs, but they can
be much longer, depending on their purpose. Here are some typical uses of memos:

• To inform others about new or changed policy, procedures, organizational details

• To announce meetings, events, changes
• To present decisions, directives, proposals, briefings
• To transmit documents (internal)
Memo Format:
 Company and/or department name (without address)
 Heading
 To (who gets it)
 From (who sent it)
 Subject (what it’s about)
 Date (when it was sent)
 Body (conveys message)
 Introduction
 Main points
 Close

Memo Structure:
Subject Line: Summarizes the main idea; think of it as being preceded by the words "This
memo is about."
Introductory paragraph: Quickly orients the reader to what the memo is about.
 Give your purpose for writing.

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 Supply any relevant background information.

 Identify any task the memo is related to.
Body: Conveys the information and supporting details relevant to the memo's purpose
 Keep paragraphs short and focused; one main idea per paragraph.
 Keep sentences tight and informative
 Use bullets to list information
Close: End courteously (think of a phone call or face-to-face meeting), stating any expected
outcome, action, or other information appropriate to your purpose. For example,
 “Please send me your comments and suggestions by January 16.”
 "Let's meet next week to go over the next stage in the plan."

Sample Memo:

To : Creative heads
From : Digital marketing expert
Date : July 13, 2019
Subject: New Digital marketing campaign for toys

As per our market survey and analysis, parents are becoming more open to online shopping. In
order to leverage this trend, and make the most out of our online shopping website for kids’
toys, we need to launch a new digital marketing campaign.

Since the rise in the internet usage and mobile app technologies, people are becoming more
dependent on e-commerce platforms, this is the right time to focus on online business rather
than local sales and delivery. We can also use online video platforms to promote our toys by
using paid ads. Let us attract customer base and increase our market share and boost the sales
and revenue.

Suggestions and practical problems can be discussed in the meeting to be held in the next
week, 20 July 2019 at 4.00 PM in the conference hall.

Digital Marketing Expert

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READING COMPREHENSION: TYPE 5

Identify the errors in the given passage

Marie was born in 1867 in Warsaw, Poland, where her father was a Professor of Physics. At
an early age, she display (1) a brilliant mind and a blithe personality. Her great exuberance
for learning prompted her to continue with her studies after high school. She became
disgruntled, however, when she learned that the university in Warsaw was closed to women.
Determined to receive a higher education, she defiantly left Poland and at (2) 1891 entered
the Sorbonne, a French university, where she earned her Masters (3) degree and doctorate in
physics.

Marie was fortunate to have studied at the Sorbonne with some of the greatest scientists of
her day, one of whom was Pierre Curie. Marie and Pierre was (4) married in 1895 and spent
many productive years working together in the physics laboratory. A short time after they
discovered radium, Pierre was killed by a horse-drawn wagon in 1906. Marie was stunned on
(5) this horrible misfortune and endured heartbreak (6) anguish. Despondently she recalled
their close relationship and the joy that they had shared in scientific research. The fact that
she had two young daughters to raise by herself greatly increased her distress.

Curie's feeling of desolation finally began to fade when she was asked to succeed her
husband as a physics professor at the Sorbonne. She was the first women (7) to be given a
professorship at the world-famous university. In 1911 she receives (8) the Nobel Prize in
chemistry for isolating radium. Although Marie Curie eventually suffered a fatal illness for
(9) her long exposure to radium, she never became disillusioned about her work. Regardless
of the consequences, she had dedicated herself for (10) science and to revealing the mysteries
of the physical world.

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