English Questions with Answers

 A Shadow :

Summary

A Shadow is one of the popular works of R. K. Narayan. The literal meaning of 'shadow' is simply, the reflection of a person or things. However in this lesson, the word 'shadow' has a symbolic meaning that denotes the harrowing (unpleasant) past experiences of a widow's husband, following her like a shadow.

“A Shadow” tells the story of Sambu, a young boy who lives in a village with his mother. He eagerly awaits the screening of a film starring his late father. It’s a touching and emotional story in which Sambu demands to see his father’s performance on the big screen. He wants to see his father moving and dancing on the screen, as if he is alive. As a result, he desires to watch the film on a daily basis.

Shambu often asks his mother to accompany him to the theatres but she declines..After relenting for so long, she finally agrees to go to the movies. Before the movie begins, she starts getting nervous and anxious while Shambu is excited. Soon, the trailers end and the movie begins. Shambu is enamoured with his father’s performance while his mother is overwhelmed to see her husband again.

After a few minutes, there is some commotion in the female section of the theatre and Shambu learns that it is due to her mother who has fainted. He rushes to her. She opens her eyes and asks him to carry him back home.

On their way home, the undeniability of his father’s death hits Shambu and his eyes tear up instantly. He shares his grief with his mother and finally finds a vent for his repressed sorrow. In the end, even though the mother-son duo accepts their loss, they also realize that they have each other to offer support.

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Sumamry

The whole poem centers around the story of the Knight and his lady love. As described in the poem, we can assume that the lady is very beautiful. The Knight got attracted to the charm and beauty of the lady and fell in love with her. The Knight met the lady in the meadows who according to him was very beautiful with a face like a fairy's child, her hair was very long and her foot was light. Her eyes have been mentioned as wild. He was so overwhelmed by her beauty that he made garlands and bracelets for his lady love.

Being deeply in love with the lady, the Knight followed her to her elfin grot where she cried her heart out and the Knight comforted her by imprinting kisses on her eyes. The lady made a sweet moan and began singing a fairy's song thereby making the Knight to fall asleep. In his slumber, the Knight dreamt of the pale faces of the kings, princes, and warriors pleading for mercy to the lady. They were all tormented by the indifference of the lady whom they love. Suddenly the knight woke up and to his utter surprise, he realized that his dreamt turned into reality as the lady was not there with him and he could find himself in the same place, like the people he dreamt of, alone and palely loitering without knowing his destination.

Where the mind is without fear

Summary:

This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should not be felt suppressed by any authority. The idea of democracy seems well receptive here.

Next, the education should be accessible to all irrespective to their caste, creed, religions and so on. Broadly, there should be no social layers that should stop people from taking education. One education for all, without discrimination.

The next appeal is that the people of the country should be living united, not to be bogged down by the social barriers like casteism, regionalism or religion etc. In the next lines, the poet says that people must remain free from superstitions and must try to achieve perfection in their skill sets. In the end, the poet requests God that let his country get awakened in all those conditions which he mentioned earlier.

Q. Write a detailed note on interview techniques.

Answer: 

Tips to prepare well for an interview:

1. Do some study on subject of your interview and recent developments in it.

2. Prepare answers for some general questions before hand:

- Tell us a little bit about your self.

- Are you willing to travel?

- Why do you want to change your job?

3. Wear something formal and comfortable.

4. Reach the interview place early on to get comfortable with the environment.

5. Organize all the papers and certificates neatly into a file or folder.

Tips to perform well at an interview:

1. Wait for your name to be annouced.

2. Seek permission before you enter the room.

3. Greet people in room in a formal and pleasant manner.

4. Do not sit down until you are asked to.

5. Listen to interviewer's questions carefully before you answer.

6. Wait for the interviewer to tell you that interview is over before you get up.

Q. Frame 5 interview questions with their probable responses for the post of a software engineer.

Answer:

1. Why have you applied for a position in our company?

- I am interested in the line of work that you company is in.

2. What do you know about this company?

- Your website and annual reports have told me that you are an innovative leader in the field.

3. What are your strengths?

- I am energetic and enthusiastic and enjoy tackling challenging situations.

4. What are your weaknesses?

- I tend to delay and postpone work, but i'm working on improving that aspect of myself.

5.  How would you handle a disagreement with a colleague?

- I've had this experience in my last company where my colleague was willing to use another coding method for the app, but their i could forsee so many bugs coming up. So i had a detailed discussion with him, he finally understood and we mutually agreed upon the conclusion.

Q. Write a transcript of the discussion in a dialogue form.

Answer: 

Group Discussion Starts

Alex: Hi friends. Our group discussion topic is global warming and its effects on our world. Well we all know that global warming is happening due to various activities done by man. We also know that it is creating a problem. But can actually anything be done?

Bertha: Hi everyone. Yes we all know that deforestation, industrialisation, car pollution etc have increased CO2 & other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, which is causing depletion of ozone layers and hence the temperatures are rising globally. Global warming is a serious issue and something needs to be done urgently to fight it.

Cathy: Hi. We all know global warming is a serious issue. But again can we actually do something about it? It seems difficult. We live in a world where industries are prospering, people are driven by profits, everyone owns a car, people fly by plane etc. Such is human life now that inevitably we would destroy nature if we want to live a prosperous life.

Damien: Hi. You have a valid point but I beg to differ. Yes, these are the things defining human life today, we cant keep this as an excuse and let things like global warming destroy our nature. We have to look at alternate solutions like recycling, using solar or hydro energy, hybrid cars etc. Simply by saying that this is how the world works and doing nothing would damage nature beyond repair.

Bertha: I agree with Damien. Nothing can justify the overuse of resources and things that adversely affect nature. Strict laws must be in place to ensure that companies follow guidelines and doing enough to save the environment.

Emily: Yes that needs to be done but it difficult as billions of dollars are riding on companies and they cannot fulfil every need to save the environment.

Cathy: That is my point exactly. Even though we know the ills of global warming, there is nothing much that can be done.

Alex: Well there are several things that can be done. Governments should strictly follow policies where they define green zones where no business activity would ever be permitted. Secondly, companies should be forced to plant trees double in number that they are uprooting. Forest reserves, sanctuaries, national parks etc should become the priority for everyone. Criminal cases against all those who break these rules should be pursued. Simply having meetings and conference would not help, but actual actions would be beneficial. That would truly help in saving the environment from things like global warming.

Cathy: It is much easier to debate and discuss but ultimately people and companies are profit driven. Thats what keeps them motivated. And since saving the environment is neither a priority nor profitable it is practically difficult to curb things like global warming, deforestation etc.

Bertha: As per geologists, the earth's majority glaciers would melt away by 2035, increasing the water levels and flooding sea facing cities. Cities like New York, London, Mumbai, Tokyo etc would become extremely vulnerable affecting millions of people staying in these low lying coastal areas. If something isn't done now, it can have serious repercussions.

Damien: With such industrial activities, the greenhouse gases get trapped increasing the temperatures in the atmosphere. Already temperatures in certain places have started exceeding 50 degrees celsius. If this continues it would make it difficult for plants vegetation etc to survive, therefore making life survival very difficult.

Alex: From where we see we must take actions now so that we can still give our planet a fighting chance to prosper and save the nature.

Conclusion

Global warming due to increasing temperatures as a result of industrialisation, human activities, deforestation etc is a serious issue for planet earth. People, companies and governments should look at these issues seriously and immediate actions must be taken to avoid serious natural calamities like flooding, melting of glaciers etc. All these can be done by afforestation, using renewable clean energy, avoiding wastage of natural resources etc.