1. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE OF COMMERCE (AUTONOMOUS)

End semester EXAMINATION – MARCH/ APRIL 2013

B.B.M.  – II semester

 GENERAL ENGLISH

TIME : 3 HRS                                                                                                            MARKS : 100

Section – A

1) Answer any five of the following in a word, phrase or a sentence.                           (5×2=10)

a.”Whenever I walk away from clocks, they get larger”. Whose words are these in “Refund”?

1. Name the author of “Eco-Junk”.
2. Who posed the question “Then…Is your son really dead?” to the fat man?
3. What is referred to, as ‘food for your soul’ by Khalil Gibran?
4. Which Indian River and dam are mentioned by Ramachandra Guha as an example of pro- environment protest movement?
5. Who suggested iodine pills as an antidote to a nuclear attack?

2) Write short notes on any four of the following.                                                                 ( 4×5=20)

1. The mathematics teacer in ‘Refund”.
2. The conversation among parents in the story ‘war’.
3. The problems of green consumerism.
4. Arundhathi Roy’s views on green consumerism.
5. M. Forster’s experiences as owner of property.

 

3) Answer any three of the following in about two pages each.                                   (3×10=30)

1. Write a critical summary of the poem “Buying and Selling”.
2. What are the main observations and arguments of Arundhathi Roy concerning the nature of nuclear weapons? Do you find them relevant for today’s world? Give reasons.
3. Which aspects of war and its tragedy does Pirendello’s short story explore?
4. Describe the major differences between American and Indian environmental movements. What factors have caused these differences?

 

Section – B

4) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions set on it .              (5×2=10)

 

Anyone who drives in a car in the city of Dhaka is assailed on all sides by professional beggars to give them a hand-out. Why not give? For just a few pennies we can alleviate our conscience. When a person approaches who has leprosy and his fingers  and hands are eaten away, we are so shocked, we immediately and quite naturally reach into our pockets and hand over a bill that is a pittance for us abut a fortune for the recipient. But is this useful? No, most of the time it is actually harmful. On the donor’s side , you have the feeling that you have done something. But in fact you have done nothing. Handing out money is a way of shielding ourselves form addressing the real issue. Handing out a pittance is a way of making ourselves think we have done something and of feeling good for having shared our good fortune with the poor. But in fact we are leaving the problem alone. We have merely thrown money at it and walked away. But for how long? Giving alms to beggar is not a long-term or even a short-term solution. The beggar will only go to the next car, the next tourist and do the same. And eventually he will come back to the donor who gave him money and on whom he now depends. If we honestly want to solve the problem, we have to get involved and start a process. If the donor opened the door of his car and asked  the beggar what the problem was and such relevant information then the donor might be of help. But handing the beggar money is only a way of telling him to buzz off and to leave the donor alone.

I do not question the moral duty to help, nor the instinct to want to help the needy, only the form that help takes. On the recipients side, charity can have devastating effects. It robs the recipient of dignity, and it removes the incentive of having to generate income. It makes the recipient passive and satisfied with thinking ‘all I have to do is sit her with my hand out and I will earn a living.” This is one reason that for too long Bangladesh and other third world countries have had a deliberate policy of playing up their natural disaster . For the last decade, we have given the international image-makers the idea that we are in an incurable situation. While it is true that we have many natural disasters, we are not helpless nor hopeless. When I see a child begging, I resist the natural impulse to give. This example of the individual’s experience illustrates what happens with aid on an international level. Dependence on aid creates an environment which sustains governments that are good at negotiating for more aid. Promoters of hard work, austerity and self-reliance are ridiculed. Food aid encourages the perpetuation of food shortages. So aid distorts the economy and the political climate in favour of petitioners,  of politicians who are good at pleasing the donors and of contractors and corrupt officials, instead of securing local solutions.   -Muhammud Yunus.

 

1. What is the meaning of the term ‘third –world countries as used in the passage?
2. List two reasons the author gives to prove that donors are selfish.
3. List two devastating effects of charity.
4. What is the main issue that the author is trying to highlight through the example of

beggars?

1. Why does the author say that the promoters of hardwork, self-reliance and austerity

are ridiculed?

 

 

 

SECTION – C

5.Bring out the different dimensions of the cartoon below in a personal response of about 100 words.                                                                                                                                 (10 marks)

 

6. Write an event report of the college sports day covering all the important details. (10 marks)
7. Correct the errors in the following sentences.          (2×3=6)
8. He is working in Wipro for the last three years.
9. None of them are fluent in French.
10. Computer is a useful devise.
11. 8. Use the following pairs of words correctly in your own sentences.           ( 1×4=4)
12. Raise, raze        b. great , grate

 

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