Solved Text Exercises II

One Word Substitution

1. The art of making objects by carving wood or stone, shaping clay, pouring metal into moulds – sculpture
2. selling goods on the internet – E-commerce
3. First in importance -- premier
4. One who writes poems – poet
5. Actively seeking success, wealth, status etc. -- ambitious
6. A place of higher learning for different branches of knowledge – university
7. Renowned and leading – reputed
8. A place on the internet where you can find information about something, especially a particular organization – portal
9. To make an action or a process easy – facilitate
10. A complete list of items, usually in a special order and with a description of each – catalogue

Understanding Conjunctions

There are two types of sentences in English – i. Simple   ii. Composite

Simple Sentence – A simple sentence is a sentence which contains only one clause.

Composite Sentence – A composite sentence is a sentence which contains two or more clauses.

The clauses may be coordinated or principal and subordinate.  Depending on how the clauses are joined together and their mutual relationship, there are two kinds of composite sentences: Compound and Complex.

Compound Sentence: A compound sentence is a sentence of which all the clauses are independent and enjoy an equal status. Each clause has a complete meaning. No clause depends on any other clause to complete its meaning.

1. He worked hard and passed the examination.
2. I requested him for help but he expressed his inability.
3. You can either have your cake or eat it.
4. Work hard or you will not be able to achieve your aim.

Complex Sentence: The clauses of a complex sentence are so related that the meaning of one depends on the other for its completion. Therefore, one of the clauses is the principal or main clause and the other clause is a subordinate clause. If there are more than two clauses, one of them may be the main clause and the other clauses may be subordinate to it.

He went to Delhi  as he had to attend the marriage of a friend and also to see his cousin.

Alternatively, there may be a hierarchical relationship among them i.e. One of them may be the principal clause having a subordinate clause and the subordinate clause may become a principal clause with another clause being subordinate to it.   

He went to Delhi as he had to attend the marriage of a friend who is an officer in the Indian army.

Compound Sentences and Coordinating conjunctions

The clauses of a compound sentence are known as coordinated clauses and the conjunctions which are used to join them are known as coordinating conjunctions. Given below is a list of the different coordinating conjunctions used in English:

And – addition Or – positive choice But – contrast Nor – negative choice Yet – concession

So -  deciding reason/ inference or result As well as – addition

In addition to the above, there are some co-relative pairs:

Both - ------------ and; Either -------------- or; Neither --------------- nor;

Not only ---------- but (also); Whether ----------- or; Although ----------- yet

Exercise

A sly, unassuming scientist and former civil servant, Rachel Carson, seemed an unlikely candidate to become one of the most influential women in modern America. Yet Carson had two lifelong passions – a love for nature and a love of writing – that compelled her in 1962 to publish Silent Spring , the book that awakened environmental consciousness in the American public and led to an unprecedented national effort to safeguard the natural world from chemical destruction.

Complex Sentences and subordinating conjunctions

The conjunctions which join together the different clauses of a complex sentence are known as subordinating conjunctions. There are different types of subordinate clauses and the conjunction to be used depends on the type of the subordinate clause. Given below are the types of subordinate clauses and the conjunctions used to join them to their principal clause.

1. Noun clause – that; if; whether; what; zero i.e. no conjunction; when; why; where; how; how much; how many
2. Adjective clause – who; whom; whose; which; that; of which; when; where; how; why
3. Adverb clause of –

1. Time – when, before, after, until, so long as, as long as, as soon as, no sooner ------- than; while;
2. Place – where
3. Manner – as, like (In British English, like is used only as a preposition but it has come to be accepted as a subordinating conjunction in American English)
4. Reason – because, since, as
5. Purpose -  so that, in order that, that
6. Condition – if, unless, provided, provided that, supposing (that), assuming (that), in case
7. Comparison – than, as ------- as, so ------ as
8. Result – so ---------- that, such -------- that
9. Concession – although, though, even though
10. Proportion – the --------- the
11. Contrast – whereas; while

8.5 Continuous Transformation

Comprehension

1. The pioneering spirit that Mr. Premji talks about is the spirit that inspires you to keep giving the lead to others by transforming yourselves continuously.
2. Education brings about a change in the way the students see and understand things and teaches them to keep transforming themselves continuously.
3. Premji wants to share with the students and the gathering his thoughts on how to make continuous transformation possible.
4. He says that great achievements are made twice because every great achievement is preceded by a dream. The journey towards a great achievement begins with the idea or dream of the achievement entering the mind. The dream then inspires the dreamer to work hard to give a practical shape to the dream.
5. Yes the listing helps us a lot in understanding the speech better. It guides us as to when the speaker moves over from one idea to the next.
6. He interprets winning not as defeating another person but as stretching your self to your own limits i.e. to work hard enough to realize all the potential that is there in you.
7. I learn from him to have a dream which is in conformity with my talent and then to work consistently for the achievement of that dream. He teaches me to strive for excellence in my chosen field, be dynamic, always to think of the future aand not to be afraid of the difficulties.

Word Power

1. Continued effort to achieve something one has begun, despite setbacks – perseverance
2. To imagine something that you would like to happen – dream
3. An unusual, exciting or dangerous experience – adventure
4. Something handed on or left unfinished by a past owner or predecessor – legacy
5. An alphabetical arrangement of the main topics, ideas, names, etc. – index
6. A large group of instrumentalists who play together a an ensemble, led by a conductor – orchestra
7. The quality of being extremely good or out standing – excellence
8. Objective view of a situation, in which all its elements assume their importance – perspective
9. A way of thinking, behaving and living – attitude
10. The action or process of indicating faults of somebody or something – Criticism

Subordinating Conjunctions

1. The world applauded Mr. Warren Buffet when he pledged the bulk of his $44 billlion fortune to the Bill Gates Foundation.
2. Though Mr. Warren Buffet turned his personal wealth into something of great value to society, he resisted the temptation of starting a new foundation in his own name.
3. Philanthropic foundations are unable to spend all their money on charity because they spend 30 per cent of their money on administering the funds.
4. As you climb the success ladder, you have to work harder.
5. Edison conducted hundreds of experiments before he invented the light bulb.

Correlative Conjunctions

1. Both Ramanujan and Hardy contributed the world of mathematics.
2. Mozart is not only appreciated In Germany but also in other parts of the world.
3. The mystic is either a fraud or a god.
4. Neither the scientist nor technologist has any solution to the epidemic disease chikungunya.
5. Whether you go to Delhi or you go to Dublin, you find people all the same.

9.1 Learning to Manage

Comprehension

1. The first sentence of the passage means that a salesman should have the ability to persuade even a person who does not need a thing to buy it.
2. The employer has a more difficult time than the employees because, in addition to handling the myriad problems associated with the business like going through the balance sheets and budgets, he is often faced with the most difficult task of finding a perfect person for the challenging job who can give him the perfect result that he wants.
3. It is a challenge to choose the perfect candidate because it is difficult to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the candidates as candidates often try to claim to possess the strengths and weaknesses which they think the employer wants instead of the ones they really possess.
4. You have to make the employer’s work simpler so that he may choose you for the job in which you will really be able to perform well and give excellent results because you possess the strengths required for the job.
5. Good interaction with others is important so that an employee may be able to apply his/her capabilities in such a way that the organization may reap the maximum benefit and he/she himself/herself may keep growing.
6. Accountability, achievement, action and attitude are necessary for an organization because unless its workforce possesses these qualities, it cannot perform well and keep growing.
7. Commitment is a key aspect of success because it makes a man put in his best, push himself to the limits and keep advancing. It makes him work really hard and meticulously.
8. A manager should learn manage uncertainty so that he may be able to deal with unexpected situations that keep cropping up in a business successfully.
9. The employee should examine himself/herself thoroughly so find out his/her real strengths and weaknesses.
10. Degrees are not as important as skills because, ultimately, it is the skills, not degrees,  that enable a person to get things done.

9.2 The Story of King Vikramaditya

Comprehension

1. Saturn gets angry with Vikramaditya because when Vikramaditya is asked to rank seven planets according to their powers, he gives Saturn the last rank.
2. A swan in the mural near the hanging necklace comes to life and swallows the necklace.
3. The charge against Vikramaditya is that he has stolen the necklace.
4. An oil presser’s daughter-in-law rescues the maimed Vikramaditya.
5. Over the years, Vikramaditya achieves mastery over the arts.
6. One evening, Vikramaditya was singing the Deepak raga. All the lamps in the city got lighted when he began to sing and went off when he stopped singing. The king’s daughter noticed this and was attracted to him.
7. Vikramaditya asks the boon that Saturn should spare the rest of mankind from the kind of suffering that he has subjected him to.
8. Saturn glorifies Vikramaditya beyond expectations because he is impressed by his selflessness. Instead of asking for the restoration of his own hands, Vikramaditya shows concern for the rest of mankind and asks Saturn to spare them from the kind of suffering that he himself has been subjected to by the god.
9. The moral of the story is that greatness lies in the way a man responds to calamity. While the weak keep groveling in the mud and bemoaning fate, the people with courage and strength bounce back like a ball.
10. The story teaches us that at the work place, one should show grace under pressure rather than submit tamely and start groaning.

9.3 Effective Training

Comprehension

1. The four production factors named by the author in the passage are labour, capital, knowledge and creativity.
2. A knowledge economy is an economy in which précis instruments and smart manufacturing equipment are used to produce quality goods. Logic and reason play a dominant role in such an economy.
3. An innovative economy is an economy in which creativity and imagination are given a greater role than logic and reason. It aims not only at efficiency but also at effectiveness.
4. The key aspects of innovation are creativity, imagination, efficiency and effectiveness.
5. The author talks about the best universities because, in his opinion, they encourage innovation and creativity. Instead of depending on the old existing solution methods, they devise new creative concepts to deal with the major social problems. They give creative people the space that they need to embark on creative endeavours.
6. The creative researchers are the researchers who remain independent of the existing solution methods and are capable of blazing new trails. They do not simply polish existing solutions. Nor are they willing to report what their employers find agreeable.
7. The organizational practices that the author criticizes are an abundance of conduct regulations and evaluation procedures which stifle innovation and creativity and make it difficult to blaze new trails.
8. The author gives importance to creative instructors because they make studying at a university an exciting trip of discovery full of surprises which leads to the best results.
9. According to the author, university education should not aim at stuffing the students heads with the existing knowledge. It should give ample space to their creativity and imagination. It should not be a journey along the beaten track bounded by rules and regulations. It should rather be an exciting trip of discovery full of surprises. There should be no fixed time frame. Only the results should be given importance.
10. According to the author, if the students and the teachers are allowed to give free rein to their imagination and creative impulses and are not bound by too many rules and regulations, it will give the best results.

9.4 Manpower for Industry

Comprehension

1. Mr. Ramadorai points to the shortfall of employable candidates. Although there is a large number of candidates in the market, very few of them are employable.
2. Suitability of candidates means the possession of those personal qualities and skills which the employers look for in the candidates.
3. The companies have started giving feedback to the educational institutions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of their students. They tell them about the gaps in integrating the candidates into the company after the period of mandatory training.
4. The major problem with most of the candidates is that they do not possess the required communication skills.
5. The skills that companies look for in candidates are good communication skills, good listening and analytical skills and willingness to learn. They also want them to be good at team work, collaboration, dialogue and innovation. The ability to simplify to meet user demands is also appreciated.
6. Mr. Ramadorai suggests that huge changes are required to be made in the system. These changes cover the selection process, curriculum development, faculty and laboratories. He also recommends that the latest technology should be used to beam the best lectures in the world into the classroom.

Understanding Verbs: (Verbs and their forms)

On the basis 0f their forms, we can divide English verbs into two groups: Regular and Irregular

Regular Verbs: Regular verbs are verbs whose past and past participle forms (the second and third forms) are derived by adding s or es to the base form e.g.

Defeat defeated defeated

Play played played

The infinitive form of these verbs is identical with the base form.

Irregular Verbs: The base form and the infinitive form of these verbs are identical like those of the regular verbs. But their 2nd and 3rd form (past and past participle) are derived by different ways.

1. All the three forms are different.

Fall fell fallen

Steal stole stolen

Go went gone

Bear bore born/borne

2. The 2nd and the 3rd form are identical.

Sleep slept slept

Teach taught taught

Feel felt felt

3. The 1st and the 2nd form are identical in spelling as well as pronunciation but the 3rd form is different.

Beat beat beaten

4. All the three forms are spelt alike but the pronunciation of the 2nd and the 3rd form is different.

Read read read (the 2nd and the 3rd form are pronounced as ‘red’)

5. All the three forms are identical in spelling as well as pronunciation.

Put put put

Cut cut cut

Broadcast broadcast broadcast

Telecast telecast telecast

Forecast forecast forecast

Downcast downcast downcast

Overcast overcast overcast

Handcast handcast handcast

Podcast podcast podcast

6. There are some verbs which may be treated as regular or irregular.

Burn burned/burnt burned/burnt

The present participle forms of both the regular and irregular verbs are obtained by adding the suffix –ing to the base form.

The verb ‘Be’ is unique in the sense that it is the only English verb which has eight forms: Infinitive - be

present - is, am, are

past - was, were

past participle - been

present participle - being

9.5 Tips for Placement

Comprehension

1. It is important for a student to leave the college with a job because it gives a flying start to his/her career. If a student is not able to get a job during the campus placement drive, he/she has to waste a lot time looking for a job. He also feels demoralized and may develop an inferiority complex. The employers may also form a negative impression about him/her as he/she has failed to get a job during the campus placement drive.
2. The ‘top of the line companies are the companies that are considered the best employers. They offer the highest pay package and perquisites and the best environment for the professional growth of their employees.
3. The author emphasizes the importance of a good resume because it is the document that creates the candidate’s first impression on the prospective employer and makes him want to hire him. It brightens the candidate’s chances of getting hired.
4. The author suggests forming study groups because they help the students prepare better for the on campus interview by working together on the basics. They also give them experience in group discussion and team work which are the qualities that some employers look for.
5. You must know what you want so that you may not land a job that does not suit your talent and temperament, you may not be a square peg in a round hole. You can be happy and realize your full potential only if the job that you have taken up is the right job for you.
6. The various ways of finding information about a company are researching it on the internet, reading the company literature and speaking to the people in the industry, One can also get information about it by attending the pre-placement information sessions like presentations, seminars and talks given by the company representatives.
7. A well prepared self introduction is useful because it highlights your qualifications, interests and strengths to the interviewer.
8. Appearance is important because, after the resume, it is your appearance that helps the interviewer form an impression of your personality and increases your chances of getting selected.
9. The company knowledge can help you in getting selected as it shows the interviewer that you are really interested in joining the company.
10. When you get a call for a second interview, attend it only if you are seriously interested in joining a job with that company. You should weigh the various options or choices before you before taking the final decision. You may also seek advice if necessary.

1. E- Language: English

Comprehension

1. The original language of England was Celtic.
2. The original inhabitants of England were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland by the invaders (the Jutes, Saxons and Angles) who captured England.
3. The Runic alphabet, which was used for writing English, was replaced by the Latin alphabet.
4. The Christian missionaries brought the Latin alphabet from Ireland to England. This alphabet ultimately replaced the Runic alphabet which was used to write English before Latin.
5. Englisc (the language of the Angles), Scandanavian (the language of the Vikings), German, French, Latin and Greek are the languages that have helped English to grow.
6. The word Germanic has been repeated four times and the word Latin has been repeated thrice during the passage.

Understanding the ‘if’ clause

1. The ‘if’ clause is also known as the conditional clause as it contains a condition on the fulfillment of which, the result mentioned in the main clause depends.
2. Most of the time, it begins with the subordinating conjunction if or unless. but it may also be introduced by other conjunctions like provided (that), assuming (that), supposing (that), in case etc.
3. There are three types of conditions and the tense to be used in the main clause and the conditional clause depends on the type of the condition contained in the conditional clause.

1. The Real or Probable Condition – The real or probable condition refers to the future. As such, it may or may not be fulfilled. And that is what it implies.

You will pass if you work hard. (You may or may not work hard)

2. The Improbable Condition – The Improbable condition refers to the present time. There is not much likelihood the condition being fulfilled as the time available for fulfilling it is very short. However, in exceptional cases, it may be fulfilled. It implies that the condition is not being fulfilled.

You would pass if you worked hard. (But you do not work hard.)

3. The Impossible Condition – The impossible condition refers to the past. As the time for fulfilling the condition has already gone by, it is not possible to fulfill the condition now. That is why it is called the impossible condition. It implies that the condition was not fulfilled.

If you had worked hard, you would have passed. (But you did not work hard.)

Tenses used in the main and conditional clauses if conditional sentences

Type of conditional clause	Tense used in the main clause	Tense used in the conditional clause
Real or Probable condition	Future tense Will/shall/may/can/must+ Vi or be Viii You will pass You will be punished	Present tense (indefinite or perfect If you work hard. If you repeat the mistake.
Improbable condition	Would/ should/ might/could + Vi or be Viii You would pass You would be punished	Past indefinite If you worked hard. If you repeated the mistake.
Impossible condition	Would have} Could have}  + Viii   or Might have}  + been Viii Should have} You would have passed You would have been punished	Past perfect If you had worked hard. If you had repeated the mistake

Now, let us look at the verbs used in the example sentences given in the exercise.

Probable Condition

1. Main clause (books and shows) Conditional clause (will be issued)
2. Main clause (will get) Conditional clause (has)
3. main clause (may ---- have) Conditional clause (have)

Improbable Condition

1. Main clause (would spend) Conditional clause (was known). It should have

been ‘were known’ as the clause contains a

supposition.

2. Main clause (would see)                Conditional clause Conditional clause (were)
3. Main clause (would travel)            Conditional clause (invented)
4. Main clause (would reach)            Conditional clause (rose)

Unfulfilled (impossible) Condition

1. Main clause (would have been sentenced Conditional clause (had not retracted)
2. Main clause (would not have been developed) Conditional clause (had not framed)
3. Main clause (would have built) Conditional clause (had lived)
4. Main clause (would have boosted) Conditional clause (had won)

Exercise: Complete the following sentences with suitable clauses.

1. If I meet Abdul Kalam, I will shake hands with him.
2. If NASA selects you for a space expedition, you will be lucky.
3. If you travel in a supersonic plane, you will go round the world in a day.
4. If you reached the sun, you would be burnt to ashes.
5. If all people had food to eat, there would be no revolutions.
6. If you studied astronomy carefully, you would understand the universe.
7. If she had become a pilot, she would have seen the whole world.
8. If they had practiced well, they would have become perfect.
9. If you had not been warned, you would have used up all natural resources.
10. If you had eaten healthy food, you would not have fallen ill.

2. E-governance

Flow Chart

Title – Stages of E-governance

Stage 1 – Deployment of a basic information technology network

Stage 2 – Digitisation of content and processes

Stage 3 – Making the information available to the citizens

Stage 4 – Involving the citizens

3. e-ticketing

1. E-ticketing was stated in 1994 by American carriers.
2. E-ticketing is most popular in the United States of America.
3. Indian airlines have adopted e-ticketing in order to conform to the guidelines issued by the International Air Transportation Association to all its affiliated airlines.
4. The various airline operators mentioned in the passage are Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Air Deccan, Kingfisher and Indian.
5. Online booking involves only making use of the available information on travel websites and then making a reservation. E-ticketing, on the other hand, is the electronic avatar of an air ticket irrespective of the source from where the ticket has been booked. The traveler books the ticket online, takes the print out, shows it at the airport counter along with his/her identity card and is issued a boarding pass.
6. A win-win proposition is a proposition in which all the parties involved stand to gain and there are no losers.
7. The airlines who have adopted e-ticketing are the main beneficiary of the system.

4. E-mail

Comprehension

1. The internet became popular with the introduction of the e-mail.
2. In order to send an e-mail, both the sender and the receiver must have a computer of any type, an internet connection from an Internet Service provider, and an e-mail account ( email id).
3. The elements of an e-mail address are the username, the ‘at’ symbol (@), a domain name like yahoo or gmail followed by .com, .net, or .org etc.
4. The five parts of an e-mail are 1. To (The receiver’s e-mail id), CC (the e-mail ids of the other receivers), BCC (the e-mail ids of the receivers which are not to be revealed to the other receivers) and the body of the message.
5. We should be careful about receiving and sending attachments because they may contain some kind of virus. They are one of the most common ways through which computer viruses spread.

True or False

1. mail, e-mail, and electronic mail are very different uses of the internet.     False
2. Even if there is a minor mistake in the receiver’s e-mail address, the mail cannot be sent.     True
3. There is no e-mail address without the symbol @.      True
4. You have to fill in all fields to send an e-mail.     False
5. You can send a message to any number of people through a single e-mail.     True
6. Addresses given in the BCC field cannot be seen by other receivers of your mail.     True
7. The space for subject and body fields is unlimited.     False
8. There is no limit to the size of files in attachments.     True
9. Downloading of attachments takes varying degree of time for different users.    True
10. All e-mails and attachments are useful and informative.     False

Choose the correct answer

1. An electronic message is similar to -------------- . Ans. a letter.
2. An e-mail address has ----------------------- . Ans. all the above
3. Which of the following is not a field in an e-mail? Ans. Detachment
4. A computer virus is ----------------------- . Ans. a hidden program meant to destroy data in a computer.
5. A virus can spread through ----------------- . Ans. none of the above    

5. E-waste Contamination in India

Comprehension

1. The purpose of this article is to create awareness about the contamination of environment by the waste materials released by the electronic equipment manufacturing industries.
2. The Greenpace survey about the problem of e-waste says that the government of India must pay heed to the alarm bells being sounded about the dangers to the environment and to human health resulting from the e-waste from the electronic equipment manufacturing industry. The government, while trying to promote the growth of the industry, must also try to regulate the toxic impact of the industry.
3. The author defines fire-retardants as the chemicals added to a wide variety of materials used in the manufacture of components and casings of electronic goods to make them fire resistant.
4. The possible target audience of this article is the government of India, especially the IT ministry. The Indian society at large may also be taken as the target audience of the passage.