Description
| Course Code : | BEGLA-138 |
|---|---|
| Course Title : | Reading and Speaking Skills |
| Medium : | English Medium |
| Program : | BA General (BAG) / BCOMG / BSCG / BA (CBCS) |
| Maximum Marks : | 100 |
| Weightage : | 30% |
| Session : | July 2020 and January 2021 (2020-21) |
| Last Date of Submission : | 30th April, 2021 (for July 2020 session) 31st October, 2021 (for January 2021 session) |
| Solution Type : | Softcopy (PDF File) |
ASSIGNMENT: READING & SPEAKING SKILLS
(BEGLA-138)
Programme: BAG/2020-21
Course Code: BEGLA-138
Answer all questions
Section A
1. Read the following passage and answer the questions.
Don’t Blame the Eater
David Zinczenko
The New York Times
Nov. 23, 2002, Section A, pg. 19
If ever there were a newspaper headline custom-made for Jay Leno’s monologue, this was it. Kids taking on McDonald’s this week, suing the company for making them fat. Isn’t that like middle-aged men suing Porsche for making them get speeding tickets? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?
I tend to sympathize with these portly fast-food patrons, though. Maybe that’s because I used to be one of them.
I grew up as a typical mid-1980’s latchkey kid. My parents were split up, my dad off trying to rebuild his life, my mom working long hours to make the monthly bills. Lunch and dinner, for me, was a daily choice between McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. Then as now, these were the only available options for an American kid to get an affordable meal. By age 15, I had packed 212 pounds of torpid teenage tallow on my once lanky 5-foot-10 frame.
Then I got lucky. I went to college, joined the Navy Reserves and got involved with a health magazine. I learned how to manage my diet. But most of the teenagers who live, as I once did, on a fast-food diet won’t turn their lives around: They’ve crossed under the golden arches to a likely fate of lifetime obesity. And the problem isn’t just theirs — it’s all of ours.
Before 1994, diabetes in children was generally caused by a genetic disorder — only about 5 percent of childhood cases were obesity-related, or Type 2, diabetes. Today, according to the National Institutes of Health, Type 2 diabetes accounts for at least 30 percent of all new childhood cases of diabetes in this country.
Not surprisingly, money spent to treat diabetes has skyrocketed, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that diabetes accounted for $2.6 billion in health care costs in 1969. Today’s number is an unbelievable $100 billion a year.
Shouldn’t we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast-food restaurants? That’s one argument. But where, exactly, are consumers — particularly teenagers — supposed to find alternatives? Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to
find someplace to buy a grapefruit.
Complicating the lack of alternatives is the lack of information about what, exactly, we’re consuming. There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items. Advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do. Prepared foods aren’t covered under Food and Drug Administration labeling laws. Some fast-food purveyors will provide calorie information on request, but even that can be hard to understand.
For example, one company’s Web site lists its chicken salad as containing 150 calories; the almonds and noodles that come with it (an additional 190 calories) are listed separately. Add a serving of the 280-calorie dressing, and you’ve got a healthy lunch alternative that comes in at 620 calories. But that’s not all. Read the small print on the back of the dressing packet and you’ll realize it actually contains 2.5 servings. If you pour what you’ve been served, you’re suddenly up around 1,040 calories, which is half of the government’s recommended daily calorie intake.
And that doesn’t take into account that 450-calorie super-size Coke. Make fun if you will of these kids launching lawsuits against the fast-food industry, but don’t be surprised if you’re the next plaintiff. As with the tobacco industry, it may be only a matter of time before state governments begin to see a direct line between the $1 billion that McDonald’s and Burger King spend each year on advertising and their own swelling health care costs.
And I’d say the industry is vulnerable. Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products. Without such warnings, we’ll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious parents. I say, let the deep-fried chips fall where they may.
(source: www.nytimes.com/2002/11/23/opinion/don-t-blame-the-eater.html)
1.a. Based on what you have learned about the different types of texts, how will you categorise this article by David Zinczenko? Provide sound reasons to justify your response. 3
1.b. Based on your understanding of different techniques used by authors to achieve intended goals in different types of texts like expository, narrative, argumentative, etc., what strategy or technique do you think David Zinczenko is using in this article and to what effect? 3
1.c. The article begins by contrasting youngsters suing McDonalds for lifestyle diseases with automobile enthusiasts suing Porsche for speeding tickets. What according to you is the author’s objective or purpose to begin in this manner? 3
1.d. What are the choices available to American youngsters for an affordable meal? What is the future implication of such choices? 3
1.e. Why are alternatives to fast-food difficult to find and how does lack of information contribute to the problem? 4
1.f. “And I’d say the industry is vulnerable.” Do you agree or disagree with the author’s observation? Provide logical arguments in support of your view. 4
1.g. Having read the article fully, how appropriate do you think the title is, with regard to an eater’s responsibility?
2. Find words from the passage which convey a meaning similar to the following words/phrases. 8
(i) a long speech by one person
(ii) fat and round in terms of physique
(iii) not expensive
(iv) tall and slender
(v) grown immensely in a short period of time
(vi) a business providing or selling some type of goods or service
(vii) a person or company making a legal complaint accusing someone of doing something illegal in a court of law
(viii) dangerous or likely to cause harm
Section B
1. Read the following telephone conversation between Mrs. Ayesha Rafique and Mr. Milind Bansode.
Ayesha: Breathe Easy Solutions, Ayesha speaking. How can I help you?
Milind: Hello, this is Milind Bansode. May I speak with Mr. Suresh Malkotia, please?
Ayesha: One moment please – I’ll put you through.
Ayesha: Mr. Bansode? I’m sorry, Mr. Malkotia is in a meeting at the moment. Would you
like to leave a message?
Milind: Yes, could you ask him to call me back as soon as possible? It’s pretty urgent.
Ayesha: Of course. Does he have your number?
Milind: He has my office number, but let me also give you my mobile number– it’s
9830457717.
Ayesha: Let me read that back to you –9830457717.
Milind: That’s right.
Ayesha: And could you spell your last name for me?
Milind: B as in Boston – A as in Agra – N as in Nagpur – S as in Singapore – O – D as in
Delhi – E as in England
Ayesha: Okay, Mr. Bansode. I’ll give him the message.
Milind: Thanks a lot. Have a good day.
Now, read the subsequent telephone conversation between Mr. Suresh Malkotia and Mr. Miliand Bansode when Mr. Malkotia calls Mr. Bansode back.
Milind: Hello?
Suresh: Mr.Bansode, this is Suresh returning your call.
Milind: HelloMr. Malkotia, thank you for getting back to me. I was calling about the
shipment of intelligent air purifiers for our hospital – we haven’t received them yet.
Suresh: Oh, that’s not good – they were supposed to be delivered three days ago if I am
not wrong.
Milind: Exactly, and we have a new section to be inaugurated on Monday, so wereally
need those air purifiers as soon as possible.
Suresh: Okay, I will look into it right away – if necessary, we can send you anemergency
overnight shipment.
Milind: Thanks, Mr. Malkotia, I appreciate it.
Suresh: No problem, Mr. Bansode. I will call you back a little later, as soon as I have
moreinformation.
Milind: Sounds good – talk to you soon.
Suresh: Have a good day, Mr. Bansode.
On the basis of what you have learned about telephone conversations and different domains, how will you analyse the conversations between (i) Ms. Ayesha and Mr. Milind and (ii) Mr. Suresh and Mr. Milind?
Depending on your analysis of the domain of these conversations, recreate these telephone conversations considering them to be taking place in the opposite domain type, whereby Mrs. Ayesha is Mr. Malkotia’s family member. 10
2. Based on what you have learned about intonation, read the following sentences and specify the type of intonation in each of them with a brief explanation of each choice. 20
i) Finish your homework or you cannot go out with your friends.
ii) Mr. Qureshi does not want to be disturbed. What do you need from him?
iii) What a gorgeous place! Isn’t it perfect for the photoshoot?
iv) Does Gauri like her new workplace or is she planning to apply somewhere else?
v) As long as it is cold, my parents will be using the heater.
vi) I am going to get coffee. Do you want a cup?
vii) In case Arun asks for me, tell him that I will meet him on Monday.
viii) Where is your friend who wanted to come with you?
ix) Nusrat will not call Ravi unless there is a medical emergency at home.
x) Raushan and Komal have prepared parantha, dal makhni, kadai paneer and
tandoori chicken for our get-together.
3. Consider this sentence: This is my house!
Depending on the placement of stress, it can have three versions with three different
interpretations:
This is my house! (implying a particular house being owned or resided by me, and not
any other house)
This is my house! (implying the house being owned by me, and not by anybody else)
This is my house! (implying the domain of interaction being my house, and not any
other domain like my workplace or the market)
Now, look at the following sentences and determine the different possible versions,
specifying the variation of stress and the corresponding change of meaning as shown above.
20
i) Mihir went to London last year for postgraduation.
ii) Prerna will meet Darsheel in the theatre next Wednesday.
iii) I don’t think Sameer will reply to Gautam.
iv) Why are you not doing your assignment?
v) Dheeraj loves listening to Jagjit Singh’s ghazals.
vi) That is a completely baseless accusation!
vii) Ravi’s sister bought a new car last week.
viii) Niharika expected Abhishek to buy her a bouquet of red roses.
ix) How is his opinion a factor for the conference?
x) I put my credibility at stake to save your reputation!
Section C
1. Differentiate between skimming and scanning as reading strategies. How do affective and applied comprehension complement each other for an in-depth understanding of a text? 10
2. You and your best friend have not been able to meet because of the lockdown and widespread disruption of services due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Now that places have started operating again and life is returning to normalcy, you are itching to meet your best friend, watch a movie together and enjoy some good food. However, your best friend is somewhat not convinced about the plan and wants to monitor the situation a bit. Engage in an informal conversation trying to persuade your best friend to meet and go ahead with the plan. Prepare a written transcript of this conversation. 10
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