Writing Skills

SHORT COMPOSITIONS N O T I C E NAME OF THE INSTITUTION DateTitle Content – Event’s name, venue, time and other required details Name (Designation) NOTICE FORMAT INFORMAL LETTER FORMAT Q1. Write a notice inviting volunteers for a one-day Blood Donation Camp to be organized in your school premises by the Indian Red Cross Society. You are Rahil, Head boy of St. Thomas School. N O T I C E ST THOMAS SCHOOL 6 September 2012 BLOOD DONATION CAMP The Indian Red Cross Society is organizing a one-day blood donation camp in our school on 15 September 2012 from 10 am to 4 pm.A team of 4 doctors and 8 nurses from the Indian Red Cross Society will attend the camp. All the senior students above 17 years, parents and guardians as well as the staff members are invited to donate blood. The collected blood will be used for the cancer patients at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Delhi. For further details, you may contact the undersigned. Rahil (Head Boy) MESSAGE Q2. Write a message based on the conversation given below. Ramesh: Hello, can I speak to Arjun? Raju: Arjun is not at home. May I know who’s speaking? I’m his brother. Ramesh: I’m Ramesh, his classmate.Could you inform him that tomorrow’s chemistry extra class has been cancelled as Anil sir is ill? Also tell him to bring the practical file for submission on Monday. Raju: I’ll surely tell him. Ramesh: Thank you. Bye. MESSAGE 6 September 2012, 1 pm Arjun Ramesh, your classmate, called up to inform you that tomorrow’s chemistry extra class has been cancelled as Anil sir is ill. He has also asked you to bring the practical file for submission on Monday. Raju DATA INTERPRETATION Note: You may get bar graphs, pie charts, tables, X-Y charts for interpretation. Q3. The following chart depicts ‘Age wise Population Distribution’ of a state.Using the information, interpret the data rationally in about 70-80 words. Age-wise Population Distribution of a State Age Group | Percentage| Up to 15 | 30| Up to 25| 47. 75| Up to 35| 65| Up to 45| 79. 0| Up to 55| 93. 75| Up to 65| 98. 87| Up to 110| 100| | | Ans. The above chart depicts the Age-wise Population Distribution of a State. The age group up to 15 forms the lowest percentage in the state and it is less than one third percentage of total population. Almost half of the population of the state is less than 25 years as this age group holds 47. 75 % of total population.The age group between 25 to 35 years shows the biggest increase in population percentage from 47. 75 to 65 showing 17. 25 % increase. After up to 45, up to 65, the increase in percentage is 19. 37 in total. The age groups between up to 65 and up to 110 shows minimum increase in percentage, portraying that as age increases, the increase in population declines. DESCRIPTION Note: Description can be of any object, person or event. Q4. Your friend John was absent from the school for a week. Meanwhile a new student has joined your class.You have to give a factual description of the new classmate to John on phone. Reproduce the same in about 70-80 words. Ans. A boy from Dehradun named Arpit joined our school 3 days back. He is taller than most of the boys in the class. He is smart and carries himself very well. He is also a basketball player. Our class teacher is quite impressed with him as when he was asked to introduce himself to the class, he did it in a unique and interesting manner by beginning his introduction with his favorite quote. He is an amiable person and in no time he’s made a lot of friends.Through his introduction I learnt that you, I and he have a lot of common hobbies and realized that we would make good friends. BIO-SKETCH Q5. Using the information given below, write the Bio-sketch of the ace Indian athlete P. T. Usha. Name:P. T. Usha Date of Birth:20 May 1964 Place of Birth:Keothali, Kerala Coach:Madhvan Nambiar Achievements:Silver medal, 100 m and 200 m in 1982 Asian Games, New Delhi Four Gol d medals at Asian Games, Seoul in 1986 Ans. P. T. Usha, an ace athlete of India, was born in a poor family in Keothali, Kerala on 20 May 1964. She showed her rare talent in the sub-junior championships.The man who shaped the raw material in a glittering diamond was her coach Madhvan Nambiar. His guidance and coaching transformed her into a great athlete. She showed her athletic prowess at the Asian Games, first in 1982 where she won Silver medal for 100m and 200m race and then in Seoul in 1986 when she won four gold medals for India. She is an athlete of true and unmatched spirit. DIARY ENTRY FORMAT Date, day (6 September 2012, Thursday)Time (10 pm) Content LONG COMPOSITION INFORMAL LETTER Sender’s Address Date (5 September 2012) Dear friend/brother/father etc ContentYours lovingly Name FORMAL LETTER FORMAT Sender’s Address Date (5 September 2012) Receiver’s Address Subject: Sir/Ma’am Content * Introduction * Elaboration * Conclusion Yours sincerely/ trul y Name Q6. You are Akshay, 12, Qutb Road, New Delhi. Write a letter to the editor of a National daily expressing your views on the harmful effects of acid rain on trees and monuments as a result of industrial pollution in about 150 words. Ans. 12, Qutb Road New Delhi 5 September 2012 The Editor The Times of India New Delhi Subject: Damage being caused by industrial pollution Sir/Ma’amThrough the columns of you esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities towards the damage being caused to the trees and monuments by industrial pollution. Pollution from industries is growing in our country which is the world’s second fastest growing economy. As a result of pollution from industries, acid rain occur causing harm to trees and monuments. It not only damages soil but can also affect the trees directly as the acid particles damage the little pores on the leaves and block the air passage on the leaves. This makes it easier for fungi and i nsects to attack the tree.In the same way, when the sulphur pollutants fall on the buildings made from limestone and sandstone, they react with minerals in the stone to form a powdery substance that can be washed away by rain. The Taj Mahal has been polluted by this sort of air pollution. I would be highly obliged if you publish an article on this issue so that the industrialists become more concerned about environment and take necessary precautions to check pollution and also the government takes strict action against those who violate norms laid down for the industry to check industrial pollution.Yours sincerely Akshay E-MAIL FORMAT From:To:| Subject:| Dear friend/father/brother etcContentWith love/regardsName| ARTICLE FORMAT Catchy Heading Content Q7. World Literacy Day was celebrated on 8 September 2012. Write an article for your school magazine highlighting the advantages of literacy in about 150 words. Ans. LITERACY- A STEP TO PROGRESS Education is not simply filling up of pal e but lightening of fire. Education has power to change the world. Education is synonymous to progress. Therefore literacy of the country is very important for its development.Illiteracy leads to poverty and exploitation and vice-versa. It is the basic cause for all social and economic ills in many countries. Productivity level of the illiterate people is very low. Literacy, on the other hand, helps in fostering development and improvement of living standards in a society. The government and private sector can create more jobs for the literates which would ultimately lead to the increase in the output of the country. Hence, literacy affects the economic condition and is an important indicator for assessing the overall health of the country.Lower literacy rate means that greater proportion of country’s population is not capitalizing on its skills. As a result, there is an overall decline in the gross national income. Thus, it is essential for the government to tackle the issue of illiteracy on top priority for if we need to build our country, we must begin from the field of education. SPEECH Note: It is good to start with a quote or saying before you introduce yourself and your topic. Example: Speech on ‘Literacy- a step to progress’ Education is not simply filling up of pale but lightening of fire.Education has power to change the world. Education is synonymous to progress. A very good morning to one and all present here. Today, I’m here to express my views on the topic ‘Literacy- a step to progress’. Rest of the content- same as the content of article REPORT FORMAT Heading Date, Place, name Content Q8. You are Anurag/Anuradha, a staff reporter of The Times of India. You have been asked to cover the ghastly train accident that took place at Ratlam. Write a report of the terrible accident in about 150 words to be published in your newspaper.Ans. A TRAIN ACCIDENT 2 September 2012, Ratlam, Anuradha Call it a twist of tragic irony or fate, within twenty four hours of the Railway Minister’s assurance of making the Indian Railways safer and secure, the nation has witnessed a ghastly rail accident. Preliminary reports tell that the accident was caused by professional incompetence due to an erring human judgment. The Rajdhani Mail was stationed at platform no. 1. Passengers were waiting for the Inter City Mail coming on platform no. 2.The lineman gave a wrong track to the coming train leading to a disastrous collision. Three bogies got derailed. Many passengers got trapped inside; cries of wounded rent the air and dead bodies could be seen lying on the rails. The relief train came within an hour with doctors and medicines. Over thirty people were taken to the General Hospital, Ratlam. The horrible accident took a toll of twelve lives, including three women and two children. STORY FORMAT Catchy Title Content- beginning and ending should support the main part or the events described in the story. Writing Skills Exam: 986041RR – WRITING SKILLS PART 2 When you have completed your exam and reviewed your answers, click Submit Exam. Answers will not be recorded until you hit Submit Exam. If you need to exit before completing the exam, click Cancel Exam. Questions 1 to 20: Select the best answer to each question. Note that a question and its answers may be split across a page break, so be sure that you have seen the entire question and all the answers before choosing an answer. Â   1. Which one of the following sentences or phrases is most likely to be considered a cliche?A. Are you a man or a moose?B. How dead is a dead doornail?C. When in doubt, pout.D. Look before you leap.2. Of these four words, which one is most likely to have a negative flavor?A. MeanderB. HarangueC. ConfoundD. Distract3. Which of the following statements about vocabulary building is not correct?A. Pronunciation is an important part of adding new words to your vocabulary.B. The best way to improve your vocabulary is to memorize lists of vocabulary words.C. Reading on a daily basis is very important for building your vocabulary.D. Using the dictionary is only one step in the process of vocabulary building.4. Read the word in parentheses; then decide which of these sentences most effectively translates an abstract concept into a mental picture.A. (Sunrise) The rising sun transformed the canyon into bright stone and deep shadow.B. (Studious) Lucy lay on her bed reading a back issue of Nation al Geographic.C. (Rumors) Whispers of doubt filled the empty halls like the reek of boiled cabbage.D. (Freedom) On her twenty-first birthday, Lola declared herself a woman.5. When using direct quotations in your writing, which of the following should be placed outside the set of quotation marks?A. SemicolonB. PeriodC. CommaD. Question mark6. Which of the following words is most likely to carry a connotation?A. WalkB. StandC. StrideD. Run7. When we speak of the flavor of a word, we're talking about the extra understood meanings that it carries in addition to its main meaning. These extra meanings are calledA. definitions.B. shadings.C. connotations.D. denotations.8. Find the sentence with the active voice.A. The bill was passed by the legislature.B. I was told by the chairman that the bill was passed by the legislature.C. The chairman told me that the legislature passed the bill.D. It was voted by the legislature to pass.9. An antonym is a word that'sA. pronounced the same.B. opposit e in meaning.C. the same in meaning.D. defined in a thesaurus.10. Of the following methods, the best way to increase your reading is byA. reading a new book every day.B. setting a goal to read five new pages every night.C. joining a mail-order book club.D. forcing yourself to read subjects you dislike.11. Nelson's hobby is tinkering with small appliances. Tinkering with implies that Nelson is unskilled at his hobby. You want to change the flavor of this sentence to show that Nelson is, in fact, quite skilled at his hobby. Which of the following should you choose to replace tinkering with so that the reader gets the right idea?A. RepairingB. SellingC. Messing withD. Fiddling with12. Which sentence best describes clustering?A. You write down words or ideas in chronological order.B. You're generating words that suggest possible themes for an essay.C. You're generating words that suggest possible sentences or paragraphs.D. You write down words or ideas that occur to you in no particular order.13. Which of the following sentences uses the best close-up words?A. Sara is pursuing a non-science degree.B. Sara is pursuing a degree.C. Sara is studying languages.D. Sara is studying French and German.14. Increasing your vocabulary meansA. you'll be able to spend more time reading.B. you'll spend less time on revision.C. you'll write more lively sentences.D. you'll write longer sentences.15. Which of the following would be an appropriate way to add variety to your sentences?A. Use questions and answers together.B. Use more close-up words.C. Add personal anecdotes.D. Make your sentences read like a spoken conversation.16. When writing, you can most effectively use a dashA. to add a formal touch to a sentence.B. in place of an exclamation point.C. to get the reader's attention.D. in place of a semicolon.17. Which of the following words is the best close-up word?A. FoodB. ZucchiniC. PlantD. Vegetable18. Which of the following sentences is written in the passive voice?A. I wou ld not provoke that man if I were you.B. Having left the building, Elvis never returned.C. The effects of cyanide are well known.D. They considered their options.19. Which one of the following sentences is written in the active voice?A. Few people think seriously of doing something about accidents.B. It is said that definite steps can be taken to prevent many accidents.C. Accidents are considered by most people as unavoidable.D. Accidents are witnessed every day.20. Which statement is most accurate regarding the speaking-writing connection?A. The words used by writers are not normally used in speaking.B. To own a word, speak it.C. Written words seldom reflect the words people use when they speak.D. To own a word, write it over and over again. End of exam