Assignment Code: BEGLA-138/BAG/2021-2022

Course Code: BEGLA-138

Assignment Name: Reading & Speaking Skills

Year: 2021-2022

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Marks = 100

Answer all questions:

Section A

Q1) 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 labelling 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.

Q1.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)

Ans) It's a text that tells a storey. This is due to David Zinczenko's personal incident, fictitious tone, and methods. He also asked questions, confirming the fact that this essay is a narrative text.

Q1.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)

Ans) The narrator use argumentative, narrative, and explanatory texts to achieve its goal of raising reader awareness. He is effectively employing all necessary tactics to their utmost extent.

Q1.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)

Ans) To begin in this fashion, the author's goal or purpose was to get the readers to think about the same subject. His goal is to raise awareness.

Q1.d) What are the choices available to American youngsters for an affordable meal? What is the future implication of such choices? (3)

Ans) McDonald's, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Pizza Hut were the options. These were the only options for an American kid looking for a cheap supper back then, as they are now.

However, most kids who follow a fast-food diet, as I did, will not be able to change their lives: they've crossed under the golden arches on their way to a lifetime of obesity. And the issue isn't just theirs; it's ours as well.

Fat and obesity would be the result of such decisions in the future.

Q1.e) Why are alternatives to fast-food difficult to find and how does lack of information contribute to the problem? (4)

Ans) Are consumers, especially teens, expected to seek out alternatives? I bet you'll see one of America's more than 13,000 McDonald's restaurants if you drive down any major artery.

Now drive back up the block and see if you can find a place to buy a more complicated item. The lack of options stems from a lack of knowledge about what we're eating. On fast-food packaging, there are no calorie information charts like there are on grocery items.

There are no warning labels on advertisements like there are on tobacco commercials. Food and Drug Administration labelling rules do not apply to prepared foods. On request, some fast-food restaurants may disclose calorie information, but even that can be confusing.

Q1.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)

Ans) According to the author, the industry is vulnerable. Fast-food restaurants are promoting to youngsters a product that has been proven to cause health problems yet has no warning labels.

They would do well to defend themselves and their customers by giving the nutrition information that people require in order to make informed product choices. We will see sicker, fat children and more furious litigious parents if such warnings are not issued.

Q1.g) Having read the article fully, how appropriate do you think the title is, with regard to an eater’s responsibility? (2)

Ans) The title is entirely justified, as it is the service provider's responsibility to make required modifications in order to give better services to the consumer.

Q2) Find words from the passage which convey a meaning similar to the following words/phrases. (8)

(i) a long speech by one person

Ans) Monologue

(ii) fat and round in terms of physique

Ans) Torpid

(iii) not expensive

Ans) Affordable

(iv) tall and slender

Ans) Lanky

(v) grown immensely in a short period of time

Ans) Skyrocketed

(vi) a business providing or selling some type of goods or service

Ans) Purveyors

(vii) a person or company making a legal complaint accusing someone of doing something illegal in a court of law

Ans) Litigious

(viii) dangerous or likely to cause harm

Ans) Hazard

Section B

Q1) 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. Milind Bansode when Mr. Malkotia calls Mr. Bansode back.

Milind: Hello?

Suresh: Mr. Bansode, this is Suresh returning your call.

Milind: Hello Mr. 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 we really need those air purifiers as soon as possible.

Suresh: Okay, I will look into it right away - if necessary, we can send you an emergency 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 more information.

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?

Ans) The telephone conversation between Ms. Ayesha and Mr. Milind and Mr. Suresh and Mr. Milind is purely formal. The domain of the talk is an office which indicates the communication of being totally formal.

Formal communication is typically conveyed from the top leadership to various departments and employees. Usually, every organisation follows a procedure for formal conversation. Thinks about the annual meeting or even team meetings that your managers call for.

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)

Ans) Recreating the telephone conversation:

Ayesha: Hello! Whose this?

Milind: Hello, this is Milind Bansode. May I speak with Mr. Suresh Malkotia please?

Ayesha: No, he is not here.

Ayesha: Anything urgent?

Milind: Yes, could you ask him to call me back as soon as possible? It’s pretty urgent.

Ayesha: I can pass on your message.

Milind: He has my office number, but let me also give you my mobile number – it’s 9853200100

Ayesha: Okay, I will give your number to him.

Milind: That’s right.

Ayesha: Tell me your name, please.

Milind: B as Boston – A as in Agra – N as in Nagpur – S as in Singapore – O – D as in Delhi – E as in England.

Ayesha: I will say the same.

Milind: Thanks a lot. Have a good day.

Q2) 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.

Ans) Fall rise because there is a fall on the word homework and rise on the work friends.

ii) Mr. Qureshi does not want to be disturbed. What do you need from him?

Ans) Fall rise because fall is stressed upon the word disturbed and rise is on the 2nd part of the sentence.

iii) What a gorgeous place! Isn’t it perfect for the photoshoot?

Ans) Fall rise because fall is stressed upon the word disturbed and rise is stressed upon the word photoshoot.

iv) Does Gauri like her new workplace or is she planning to apply somewhere else?

Ans) Fall rise, for a question we generally use the fall rise intonation as fall and rise are simultaneously put on the 1st and 2nd part of the sentence respectively.

v) As long as it is cold, my parents will be using the heater.

Ans) Fall, Falling intonation is being used in this sentence as fall is stressed upon the wood heater.

vi) I am going to get coffee. Do you want a cup?

Ans) Fall rise, questions generally have fallen and rising intonation.

vii) In case Arun asks for me, tell him that I will meet him on Monday.

Ans) Rise, rising intonation as the stress is rising on the word Monday.

viii) Where is your friend who wanted to come with you?

Ans) Fall rise, fall and rise again because it’s a question.

ix) Nusrat will not call Ravi unless there is a medical emergency at home.

Ans) Fall, falling intonation is used here.

x) Raushan and Komal have prepared parantha, dal makhni, kadai paneer and tandoori chicken for our get-together.

Ans) Rise, rising intonation is used here.

Q3) 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.

Ans) London (implying a particular place)

Last year (implying the time)

Post-graduation (implying the specific reason)

ii) Prerna will meet Darsheel in the theatre next Wednesday.

Ans) Darsheel (implying the person)

Theatre (implying the place of meeting)

Wednesday (implying the specific time)

iii) I don’t think Sameer will reply to Gautam.

Ans) Reply (implying to specific action)

iv) Why are you not doing your assignment?

Ans) Not doing (implying specific action)

v) Dheeraj loves listening to Jagjit Singh’s ghazals.

Ans) Listening (implying specific action)

Jagjit Singh’s ghazals (implying specific thing)

vi) That is a completely baseless accusation!

Ans) That (implying specific thing, different from other particular thing)

Baseless (implying the uncertainty of the talk)

vii) Ravi’s sister bought a new car last week.

Ans) Ravi’s sister (implying a particular person)

New car (implying a particular new car and not some old car)

Last week (implying a particular time period, which was fix)

viii) Niharika expected Abhishek to buy her a bouquet of red roses.

Ans) Buy (implying a particular action)

Bouquet of red roses (specific object, different from the rest)

ix) How is his opinion a factor for the conference?

Ans) His opinion (implying towards a particular opinion and no other)

x) I put my credibility at stake to save your reputation!

Ans) Credibility (specific aspect)

Stake (specification of the situation)

Your reputation (implying the domain of conversation is from other’s person life/perspective)

Section C

Q1) 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)

Ans) Intensive means in-depth, as the phrase implies. This reading technique is particularly useful when reading academic books in order to prepare for a test or create a report. This strategy aids in the retention of information for considerably longer lengths of time.

Scanning

Imagine visiting the Louvre solely to view the Mona Lisa. You'd rapidly stroll through all of the corridors and rooms, just looking at the walls until you discovered it. Scanning works in a similar way. It's one of those types of reading in which you're looking for a certain piece of information. You skim over the sentences fast until you find it. When you don't need to dive deep into the text or read every word carefully, you can use this strategy. Scanning is a method of reading that is commonly utilised by researchers and review writers.

Skimming

This strategy entails attempting to comprehend the content in a concise manner. Although this strategy saves time, it only results in a superficial grasp of the text. Skimming is an excellent technique to acquire a quick overview of the issue at hand. This method is commonly used to determine whether or not information is beneficial. Picking up a magazine and flipping through the pages is a nice example of this. To get a general notion of what the magazine covers, you merely read the headlines or look at the photographs.

Critical Reading

Critical reading occupies a unique position among the various sorts of reading processes. The accuracy of the facts and information is checked here. You examine the concepts presented and analyse them until you come to a decision. When employing this strategy, you'll need to use your critical thinking skills. When reading the news on social media, seeing provocative advertising, or reading publications, critical reading is frequently used.

Lexical Comprehension

It means that after the learners have heard the text, it will explain new words. To ask learners questions, a range of different words might be employed. The activation of suitable content and background information is required for successful text comprehension. This, in turn, is contingent on the reader's lexical proficiency. In any language, comprehension is impossible unless the reader is familiar with the lexicon and has a rudimentary awareness of syntactical patterns.

If this is missing, the reader will be unable to read the text accurately and appropriately, and the passage's drive will be lost. The core of the comprehension exercise will be lost because it will not have the desired impact on the reader.

Literal Comprehension

It will assist the learner in better comprehending and making sense of the content. This form of comprehension will assist students in identifying the text's major ideas. The reader deduces meaning from the text by looking for cues. It has two dimensions: chronological and surface comprehension of a passage's openly stated content information. Literal-level comprehension tasks can include the perception and processing of factual information, the recall or recognition of main thematic ideas, detailed chronology of the sequence of occurrences and events, comparison of language and content, appearance and traits of character description, and the explicit cause-and-effect relationship stated in a storey.

Interpretive Comprehension

It entails asking what if, why, and how questions. The reader must be able to read the text between the lines. They comprehend the passage in order to gain a better knowledge of the topic as a whole. This process is similar to literal comprehension in that it entails the sequencing of main ideas, comprehension of chronological sequences and their application to events in the narrative, action details, characterization, and a complete understanding of the cause or underlying effect of an action by a character whose subtle traits are elucidated in her or his behaviour.

Applied Comprehension

It means that the book can be applied to a real-life situation, such as a school setting. This style of understanding builds new concepts from the information acquired from the text. This will assist the student in connecting his or her own experience to the text and assessing the text's quality, values, and generalisations based on the text; this may include making comparisons, contrasts, highlighting similarity, and distinguishing differences.

A study of a fairy tale, for example, entails the application of the story's lesson to real life, the comparison of the situation to everyday events, and the moral of the subtext as a didactic lesson.

Effective Comprehension

It indicates that students comprehend how a tale's plot works, how the characters fit into the storey, and how emotions can be included. The teacher can also demonstrate that the students comprehend the plot's progression. This demonstrates the passage's relevance and immediacy, as well as the reader's intensity and connection skill.

In a novel, for example, the characters' actions may move the plot along, whereas in a short storey, the situations may influence a character to act in a certain way. In a literary passage, plot and character are intertwined, and the latter's growth is influenced by the former's progress and actions.

Q2) 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)

Ans) Written transcript:

Me: Hey! What’s up?

Best friend: Hello! All fine, you tell.

Me: I am good too. So, what’s your plan to meet up?

Best friend: Yeah! About that, umm I am thinking about it but not sure.

Me: Hey! Let’s meet up. Everything is getting normal now.

Best friend: Yes! But the disease is not over yet bro! I think we might wait for some time.

Me: No, we can meet with safety measures. I have planned everything with keeping safety as a priority, nothing will happen.

Best friend: I trust you on that, but I have heard that places are not doing things appropriately.

Me: No bro, I have done the research and have planned to visit specific places only where they are taking the thing seriously.

Best friend: Okay! Fine. Let me do the planning and later meet up soon.

Me: Okay! Let’s catch up. See you soon, tell me as soon as possible. I will do the booking. Bye.

Best friend: Sure! Bye, take care.