Communication Skills - Dec 2013

First Year Engineering (Semester 2)

TOTAL MARKS: 40
TOTAL TIME: 2 HOURS (1) Question 1 is compulsory.
(2) Attempt any three from the remaining questions.
(3) Figures to the right indicate full marks.

Write short notes on any two of the following:

1(a)(i) Principles of business letter writing.(2 marks) 1(a)(ii) Objectives of communication.(2 marks) 1(a)(iii) Role of silence in communication.(2 marks) 1(b) Discuss some of the barriers to effective reading.(4 marks) 2(a) Discuss the importance of feedback in the process of communication with the help of diagram.(4 marks) 2(b) Give diagrammatic representation of the semi-block form of letter.(3 marks)

Define the following:

2(c)(i) Computer(1 marks) 2(c)(ii) Electric Iron(1 marks) 2(c)(iii) Calculator(1 marks) 3(a) What are the various channels of communication in an business organization? Differentiate between upward and downward channels of communication.(4 marks) 3(b) Assuming yourself to be the General Manager of a newly established company providing hardware and networking services, write an enquiry letter inviting quotations from reported companies to supply parts/peripherals in bulk for your routine requirement. Invent the necessary details. Use complete block form.(6 marks) 4(a) Discuss any two main barriers to communication. Why they considered unhealthy in an organization?(4 marks) 4(b) You have purchased an expensive gadget of a reputed company from a retail store in Mumbai. After four months, the gadget stops working suddenly and shows an error message whenever you try to use it. Write a complaint letter to the store owner complaining about the same and ask for compensation.(6 marks)

Do as directed:

5(a) Use any two sets of words to form a single sentence.(2 marks) 5(b) What is jargon and how does it affect the understanding of receiver? Explain with an example.(4 marks) 5(c) Give Synonyms for any two:
1) Cherish
2) Ideal
3) Labyrinth
(1 marks) 5(d) Give Antonyms for any two:
1)Hero
2)Frail
3) Disappear(1 marks) 5(e) Correct the error in the following sentences:
(i) Teacher called Harry and I to the staffroom.
(ii) It s 2 O clock in my watch.(2 marks) 6(a) Distinguish between caution and warning with an example of each.(2 marks) 6(b) What is Grapevine type of communication? Explain with a relevant example.(3 marks)

Read the passage and answer the questions:

6(c) Communication is part of our everyday life. We greet one another, smile or frown, depending on our moods. Animals, too, communicate in the same way, much to our surprise. Just like us, interaction among animals can be both verbal or non-verbal.
Singing is one way in which animals can interact with one another. Male black-birds often use their melodious songs to catch the attention of the females. These songs are usually rich in notes variation, encoding various kinds of messages. Songs are also used to warn and keep off other blackbirds from their territory, usually a place where they dwell and reproduce.
Large mammals in oceans sing, too, according to adventurous sailors. Enormous whales groan and grunt while smaller dolphins and porpoises produce pings, whistles and clicks. These sounds are surprisingly received by other mates as far as several hundred kilometers away.
Besides singing, body language also forms a large part of animals' communication tactics. Dominant hyenas exhibit their power by raising the fur hackles on their necks and shoulders, while the submissive ones normally surrender to the powerful parties by crouching their heads low and curling their lips a little, revealing their teeth in friendly smiles.
Colours, which are most conspicuously found on animals, are also important means of interaction among animals. Male birds of paradise, which have the most gaudy coloured feathers often hang themselves upside down from branches, among fluffing plumes displaying proudly their feathers, attracting the opposite sex.
The alternating black and white striped coats of zebras have their roles to play too. Each zebra is born with a unique set of stripes which enables its mates to recognise them. When grazing safely, their stripes are all lined up neatly, so that none of them loses track of their friends. However, when danger such as a hungry lion approaches, the zebras would dart out in various directions, making it difficult for the lion to choose his target.
Insects, such as the wasps, armed with poisonous bites or stings, normally have brightly painted bodies to remind other predators of their power. Hoverflies and harmless insects also make use of this fact and colour their bodies brightly in an attempt to fool their predators into thinking that they are as dangerous and harmful as the wasps.

1. How is singing used by birds?
2. How long can a whale s grunt be heard in an ocean?
3. How do Zebras react to the danger of an attacking lion?
4. How do dominant hyenas exhibit their power?
5. Which animals/birds have been mentioned in the passage having gaudy colors?(5 marks)