MU First Year Engineering (Semester 2)
Communication Skills
May 2016
Total marks: --
Total time: --
INSTRUCTIONS
(1) Assume appropriate data and state your reasons
(2) Marks are given to the right of every question
(3) Draw neat diagrams wherever necessary


1(a) Communication is primarily a social activity. Justify.
2 M
1(b) Identify the barrier:
(i) A young girl shouts at her mother, "You just don't understand?"
(ii) A young father is unable to work on his report because of the baby's crying loudly
(iii) In a social gathering the men are having a discussion on why women cannot drive properly.
3 M
1(c) With the help of an example explain appreciatice listening.
2 M
1(d) Give a diagrammatic representation of a letter in semi-block format.
2 M
1(e) 'use a good quality detergent for better output is an example of _______
1 M

2(a) Explain how no feedback is also a feedback.
2 M
2(b) Which communication method would you use in the following situations and why:
i)Reprimanding a junior because he has not completed an important report on time.
ii) Giving a set of instructions to colleagues to complete a project.
2 M
2(c) As NSS student leader, your task was to arrange for midday meal for 250 students of a school in a nearby village. You had ordered lunch packets from 'The Perfect Meal' standard and the packaging too was of inferior quality. Draft a suitable complaint cum claim letter asking for appropriate compensation. Use the modified block format.
6 M

3(a) Nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. In the light of this statement name the different types of barriers and explain any two them briefly.
3 M
3(b) What do the following non-verbal cues communicate:
i) hands on hip ii) A lopsided grin
1 M
3(c) As the Cultural Secretary of your college you have been given the responsibility of ordering trophies and other prize items for the cultural festival of your college. Write a letter of enquiry to 'Aryan Gift Shop' starting your requirements, cost estimate etc. Use the complete block format.
6 M

4(a) Identify the components of communication in terms of sender, receiver, medium and message:
(i) A commuter argues with the rickshaw driver about the meter-reading.
(ii) A teacher shouting at students who have come late for submission.
2 M
4(b) hand gestures are used for emphasis and give meaning to our words. Write a short note to support this statement.
2 M
4(c) Describe the process of welding.
4 M
4(d) In the following list select the statement that you think are important while writing instructions. Justify your selection:
  • Adding some jokes to your instructions
  • Writing a detail description of what the calculator looks like
  • Making your writing clear and easy to understand
  • 2 M

    5(a) Which are the two most important objectives of communication in an organization according to you? Justify your answer.
    3 M
    5(b) Explain the statement that oral communication is more vibrant than written communication.
    3 M
    5(c) identify the principle of business communication not followed in the following statements. Also re-write them in accordance with those principles :
    i) We cannot accept your claim as it is not valid.
    ii) In majority such mistakes do not occur but this it happened by the reason of the fact that there was a sudden technical problem.
    2 M
    5(d) Differentiate between caution and warning.
    2 M

    6(a) A Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given:
    The whole point of technical advance is that it enables man to manipulate its environment to live in the sort of conditions he wants. So you ask, "What will man's everyday surroundings be like in forty years?" Other animals will get the environment they deserve; man will get the one he wants.
    And will man be so very different in forty years? I do not think so. Healthier, yes, I imagine we shall have mastered the viruses and the problem of cancer in the young and I am sure we shall know enough to be able to avoid passing on hereditary abnormalities to our children; but I suspect that the illness and hurts of old age will still be with us, because I doubt whether we shall have overcome the necessity of growing old.
    And shall we be more sensible? Certainly not. the recorded history of several thousand years shows us that all the logical absurdities of man have always been with us; what we have not outgrown in four thousand years we shall not outgrow in another forty.
    Food is already becoming increasingly hygienic, quick frozen, packaged and pre-packaged in impregnable plastic containers, increasingly free from all taint of decay- forgetting the fact that many of the flavors which we price highly are due to the early stages of decay of one sort or another. Already the production of organic food is becoming increasingly mechanized. One obvious step remains, and that is to produce all our food-the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, roughage, and what have you entirely synthetically.
    And how shall we communicate? We shall still talk each other. Shall we write? Not, I think, in the way we do today. Even today, handwriting is dying out.
    typing will last longer, but the time will come when the manual typewriter in its turn become obsolete, and be relegated to status of a toy, like a child's printing set. For already computer's are beginning to tackle the problem of recognition of ordinary written text, and already a simple computer exists which will obey verbal instructions. Put these ideas together, and you will see that even today we are within sight of the possibility of a machine that will take dictation, and will then automatically printout the dictated text.
    Do you find sort of prospect worrying, depressing, even frightening? I have envisaged nothing that will not be technically possible in forty years if we really want it. For it is what we want now that will decide that we will get in future.
    1) What is the meaning of 'technical advance'?
    2) Why does the author say that we will be healthier in the next forty years?
    3) What is the advantage of early decay of food?
    4) What kind of writing machine does the author envisage for the future?
    5) Give the synonym of :i) obsolete ii) prospect
    5 M
    6(b) Describe any ONE of the following objects giving definition, diagram, components & working of Digital Camera or laptop computer.
    5 M



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