Mahatma Gandhi University

Model Question Paper

First Semester B.A./ B.Sc. Common Course : English
EN1CC01 – Fine-tune Your English
Time: 3 hours Marks: 80

Section A
Attempt any ten of the following. Each question carries 2 marks

1. a. If you adopted a more systematic method of study, you would get higher marks. (Rewrite
this sentence so as to express impossible condition, that is, condition type 3.)
b. I ............... to the College; the Principal paid me a visit. ( Fill in the blanks with the more
appropriate phrase-- need not have gone or did not need to go.)
2. a. In the following list there are six words having silent letters. Identify them.
a. Knowledge b. salmon c. environs d. almond e. geography f. mountain g. asthma
h. umbrella i. psychology j. Hyperbole k. bomb
b. How do you ask somebody politely to repeat something he has said?
Write a three sentence conversation between A and B to present such a situation.
3. a. One of the two sentences that follow is incorrect. Identify and correct it.
i. The speaker made a reference to a novel of Hardy’s.
ii. More than one student have complained to the Principal about that problem.
b. Break the following sentence into constituent clauses:
It would seem that while he was building up India, God gathered all the stones that were
unwanted and left them at Cape Comorin so hat the waves could play with them.
4. a. What kind of reading is skimming? Answer in a sentence or two.
b. What do the letters in the call number of a library book indicate?
5. Turn the following conversation into indirect speech:
“What is your Christian name?,” the judge said.
“Winkle, my Lord.”
“Do you spell it with a V or a W?”
“That depends on the will and fancy of the speller, my Lord.”
6. a. Fill in the blanks by arranging the adjectives in the proper order:
He has bought a-------, ------, -----, ----- carpet. (Persian, dark brown,
wonderful, hand-woven)
b. Five words in the following list are misspelt. Identify and correct them.
a. burried b. grammar c. reminiscences d. liquify e. ecstacy f. committee g. liason
h. Issac Newton
7. Rewrite the following sentences putting the verbs in brackets in the correct tense form.
a. He usually (sell) magazines but today he (sell) newspapers.
b. I (be) not hungry now because I (have) my lunch.
8. a. By adding suitable words enlarge the subject and extend the predicate to form a ten word
sentence,
Children played.
b. Rewrite the sentence turning all the nouns into the plural form.
A deer and a sheep, along with a goose and an ox went to visit an oasis.
9. Using the following information prepare a bibliographical entry for an academic assignment.
 Name of the author: Edward Carter and R.A.F. Mears. Title of the book: A History of
Britain. Date of Publication: 1949. Place of Publication: London, Publisher: Oxford
University Press.
10. a. Turn into passive voice:
The storm has partially or completely destroyed all the houses in the area.
b. Turn into the negative form:
He has already arrived.
11. Insert, remove or change the articles wherever necessary in the following passage.
Homer’s The Iliad is greatest epic of European languages just as the Everest is greatest
peak of Himalayas. I bought a copy of it when I visited the Hague an year ago in the
company of a European friend. Homer is Kalidasa of India.
12. a. Write eight different nouns so as to illustrate eight different suffixes used to form nouns.
b. What is Spoonerism? Explain with examples.

(10 x 2= 20 Marks)
Section B
Attempt any six of the following. Each question carries 5 marks

13. Write a paragraph of about 100 words stating your arguments against capital punishment.
14. Write a paragraph of about 100 words explaining how quotations are inserted in an
academic assignment.
15. Write an invitation in which the parents of the bride invite their friends to the marriage of
their daughter. Invent all the details.
16. Write a telephonic conversation between Hari and Rafi in which they discuss the details
of their class excursion.
17. Rewrite the following sentences as directed:
a. As soon as the thunderstorm started, people rushed towards the shops for
shelter. (Rewrite using no sooner than)
b. Goethe is one of the greatest poets of Germany. (Rewrite in the comparative
degree.)
c. Nowadays I seldom go there. (Begin the sentence with seldom.)
d. Write two sentences illustrating two different uses of the reflexive pronoun
‘himself.
e. Jumping into a train he saw the thief escape from the place. (Rewrite the
sentence removing the ambiguity.)
18. Rewrite the following sentences bringing them into conformity with accepted usage.
a. I am living in that small house since 2015.
b. His father called him back from the University when he started enjoying too
much.
c. Hardly had we settled the dispute than a new one arose.
d. He does things so slovenly that nobody likes him.
e. A few more trains were introduced by the Railway with a view to increase
cargo handling capacity,
19. Mention some of the important differences between American and British English.
20. Punctuate the following passage:
 The leader said to his followers March on When they started to march he reminded
them that with the help of God they would certainly win the war. He told them again
You have nothing to fear March on The country will be proud of you

21. Write a paragraph portraying a person with special reference to his/her physical
appearance.

(6 x 5 = 30 Marks)
Section C
Attempt any two of the following. Each question carries 15 marks

22. Write an essay on the topic: ‘Were our ancestors happier than we?’
23. Write a job application in the modified blocked letter format. You are Abdul Aziz or Nidi
Ravindran. Invent the details. The letter should be accompanied by a resume showing
your qualifications,experience etc.
24. Write an essay on the topic: ‘The Book that Influenced Me Most’.
25. Write an essay on the influence of mobile phones on the youth of today.

(2 x 15= 30 Marks)