Avanced english cs lab1

Advanced English Communication
Skills
Lab Manual 2011-2012
III – B. Tech.

Department of
Humanities & Science

MEGHA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY FOR WOMEN
Edulabad(V) Ghatkesar(M) Hyderabad

Contents:
1. Functional English

2. Vocabulary building

3. Group discussions

4. Interview skills

5. Resume writing.

6. Reading Comprehension.

7. Technical report writing.

FUNCTIONAL ENGLISH
Objective

1To enable students speak effectively in formal and informal situations.

General Tips:

When starting conversations, people can have a lot of problems which include not
knowing what to say or how to keep the conversation going once it has been
started.
If you recognize this problem and have encountered it in the past, here are some
useful tips:
1The search for a common ground
When starting conversations initially with people you do not know, try and
structure them around common ground subjects.
Some typical common ground subjects include

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- Work
- Where you live
- Sports
- Music
- Travel
2Keeping the conversation going
Ask open ended questions: why? how? what? Find the ‘hot button’
topics(topics
that you both are interested in)
Be attentive: Learn to listen actively.
Attitude: What can I learn from this person?
What is this person really saying?

Don’t be afraid to change the subject!

3Self Disclosure

- Talk about yourself
- Tell stories
- Share experiences (provide details, use dialogues)
- Give opinions
- Express feelings
- React emotionally
- Show enthusiasm

4Be in the moment
Create reciprocity: Give feedback, compliments, use names
Refer to the situation: Surroundings, circumstances, people, etc.
Be light: Use wit and humour. Try gentle self-deprecation (tongue in cheek) or

teasing.

5Non-verbal Communication
Voice: Speak distinctly, slow down if necessary.
Body Language: Practise the ‘S-O-F-T-E-N’ approach
-Smile
-Open arms
- Forward lean
-Touch
-Eye Contact
-Nod

6Conversation Tips(Business)
o Questions you could ask at work or any business related functions
o How did you come up the idea ?
o Describe a typical day on the job?
o How did you get started in this industry ?
o What got you interested in Marketing /IT?
o What do you enjoy most about it ?
o Describe some of the challenges in your industry?
o What are the trends in your business?
o What advice would you give for someone just starting in this business?
o Any significant changes?
o Strangest incident you have experienced in your business?
o What is the best job you ever had?
o Most difficult part of your job?

Instructions

Step 1 Stay up to date on what is happening in the world so that you have
plenty of things to talk about. Read the local paper and watch the news so that you
can knowledgeably participate in discussions about current events.

Step 2 Prepare yourself before you attend where you will meet people.

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Rehearse
what you will say in front of a mirror.

Step 3 Ask a lot of questions. People like to talk about themselves and their
lives. However, make sure you keep the questions simple – don’t ask anything too
personal invasive.

Step 4 Listen to others. People can sense when you are not really interested
in they have what they have to say. They don’t want to waste time talking to
someone who doesn’t listen. You must show a sincere interest in others for them
to express a sincere interest in you.

Step 5 Take note of what is going on around you. Use your surroundings to
come up with a conversation later.

Step 6 Smile and look at others in the eye. Everyone enjoys being around
positive, confident people. The more confident you act, the more confident you
will become. Relax and stay calm.

Step 7 Keep practicing. Force yourself to strike up conversations with
strangers in different situations. The more you practice, the better you will become
at starting conversations.

Practicing conversation skills

1.Kick starting conversations

There is nothing worse, when meeting someone for the first time, than that

awkward silence after the initial greeting.
Kick the silence into orbit with these conversation starters.
- How was your day?
- You look really nice.
- How was work?
- Have you seen any movies recently? Did you like it/them?
- What kind of music do you listen to?
- What interesting things did you do this weekend?
- Have you ever been to (a local restaurant)?
- What kind of food do you like?
- Where are you from?
- Which college did you go to?
- Have you read any good books lately? Was it interesting?
- What do you normally do for fun?
- Do you like (an interest of yours)?
- What is the nearest place you have traveled to?
- Which place you haven’t traveled to yet that you really want to go?

Starting and keeping conversations going

Here are some useful tips to start and keep conversations going:
1Be the first to say hello
2Introduce yourself to others.
3Remember people’s names.
4Show interest in others’ conversations.
5Restating their comments in another way.
6Communicate enthusiasm.
7Let the natural person in you come out.
8Tell others something interesting about what you do.
9Seek some common interest with other person
10Keep up to date on current events.
11Seek out other people’s opinions.
12Look for the positive aspects of the people you need.
13Listen carefully for free information.
14Compliment others about what they are doing or seeing.
15Prepare for each business or social function you attend.

Here are some ideas that you might use to start a conversation:
Excuse me! Have you got the time to talk to me?
Hi! How is it going on (If it is sunny you could ask them if they are enjoying the

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sunshine)
Hey! What’s up?

To a shop assistant you might say:
Can I get your opinion, which one suits me better, blue or white?
What time do you close today?
What time do you open tomorrow?
How long have you been working here?
What is your name?
What do you like about working here?
Do you know if they have got any part time jobs here?(If you are looking for work)
How often do you get in new stock?
I am looking for a birthday present for my niece/nephew; do you have any idea on
what I
could get them?

Conversation Examples:

Eat, Drink and be Merry
Waiter: What will you have sir?
Fat Man: Fried rice and chicken curry.
Waiter: And you sir?
Thin Man: Two chapattis and dal.
Fat Man: Is that all you usually eat? It is hardly enough for a sparrow.
Thin Man: I seldom eat more than this at lunch. But what about you? You never
eat just rice and curry, do you? You are always ordering fish, pudding and ice
cream….
Fat Man: I have say, “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die”.
Waiter: Your fried rice and chicken curry, sir. Your chapattis and Dal, sir.
Thin Man: Go on, have some fish. You often do.

Fat Man: But I never eat fish with chicken. “Waiter, please bring me some mutton
kababs and bread pudding…..and some fruit salad….. And some cashew nuts …..
And
…..”

That concert that never was
Ravi: Have you been to the concert?
Murali: Yes and no. I caught the 5:15 bus, and so when I got there the concert
hadn’t begun.
Ravi: Was there a large crowd?
Murali: The hall was full and they had to turn people away. I had already bought
my ticket, so I went in.
Ravi: I suppose they started fiddling about with microphones and loudspeakers
after the musician had arrived!
Murali: No, they had attended to all that.
Ravi: Was the musician late?
Murali: No, he was not late. He never arrived.
Ravi: What? There was not any concert, then?
Murali: No. We had the audience, the lights, the loudspeakers…. we had the
expectations… we had the violinists, the table player and a number of people tabla
away…we had everything for a successful concert except the musician!
Ravi: And why wasn’t he there?
Murali: His wife phoned to say that he was too drunk to sing!

BODY LANGUAGE

Body language is a term for communication using body movements or gestures
instead of words. Studies show that the words account for only 7% of the message
we convey. The remaining 93% is non- verbal. Of the 93%, 55% of
communication is based on what people see and the other 38% is transmitted
through tone of voice.

Body language is the meaning behind the unspoken words. It is understood as
the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages.

Parts of body language: You can send signals with individual parts of the body
as well as together. Here are details of the contributions of each part of the body:
Facial Expressions: The facial expressions for happiness, sadness, anger and fear
are similar throughout the world.

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Gestures:
Deliberate movements and signals are an important way to communicate meaning
without words. Common gestures include waving , pointing, and using fingers to
indicated number.
Paralinguistic:
Paranlinguistic refers to vocal communication that is separate from actual
language. This includes factors such as tone of voice, loudness, infliction and
pitch.
Body language and posture:
Posture and movement can also convey a great of information.
Proxemics:
People often refer to their need for personal space which is also an important type
of non-verbal communication. The amount of distance we need and the amount of
space we perceive as belonging to us is influenced by number of factors including
social norms, situational factors, personality characteristics and level of familiarity.
Eye gaze: Looking, staring, and blinking can also be important non-verbal
behaviour. When people encounter people or things that they like the rate of
blinking increases and pupils dilate. Looking at another person can indicate a
range of emotions, including hostility, interest, and attraction.
Haptics: Communicating through touch is another important non-verbal
behaviour. There has been a substantial amount of research on the importance of
touch in infancy, and early childhood.
Appearance : Our choice of colour, clothing, hair styles and other factors
affecting appearance are also considered a means of non-verbal communication.
Research on colour psychology has demonstrated that different colours can invoke
different moods. Appearance can also alter physiological reactions, judgement,
and interpretations.
Eye contact: Eye contact is an important aspect of social interaction, and it is
something that many shy and socially anxious people have difficulty with. Often
people with social anxiety describe looking at someone in the eyes as anxiety

provoking and uncomfortable.

Communication through body language - 55%
Communication through tone - 38%
Communication through words - 7%

Types of body language:

There are six types of body language one has to be aware of:
2Eye Contact
3Facial Expression
4Head Movements
5Gestures and Body Movements
6Postures and Stance
7Proximity and Social Distance
8Handshake

Eye Contact:

“Eyes are so transparent; that through them, one sees the soul”.

Researchers have discovered that one of the main differenced between people
who make friends easily, and those people who have a hard time making new
friends is how much eye contact they make with their conversation partners. When
you learn to make eye contact more effectively, you can increase the number of
people who want to be your friends.
On the other hand, if you make too much eye contact or if you stare too hard
at other people, they will feel uncomfortable. Staring too directly at another person
can be intimidating.

We need to learn a good balance between making eye contact and looking
away.

Uses of eye contact

There are different purposes of eye contact. They are:
1Showing attention

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2Showing interest
3Inviting interaction
4Providing feedback
5Revealing attitudes

Facial Expression:

Facial expression of emotion is similar among human beings regardless of
age, culture, religion or region. Facial expression is universal. Smile is the
essential ingredient of a facial expression.

A smile sends positive message. Smiling adds warmth and an aura of
confidence. Others will be more receptive if you remember to smile.

Uses of facial expression

Facial expression can be used to express the following emotions and
feelings.
1Facial expression showing happiness
2Facial expression showing sadness
3Facial expression showing displeasure
4Facial expression showing anger
5Facial expression showing fear
6Facial expression showing interest/disinterest

Head Movements:

The position of your head speaks to people. When you find two people
talking, you find besides the mouths and faces, the heads talking.

Head movements are significant not only in talking but also in listening. If
the head movements are not used carefully and appropriately, it can adversely
affect the relationship.

Use of head movements

Heads movements are used for variety of purposes. They are used in
1Indicating attitude
2Replacing speech
3Supporting what is said
4Contradicting what is said
5Indicating the direction in which one has to travel
6Expressing doubt
7Expressing reluctance
8Recognizing someone
9Expressing arrogance
10Expressing feeling of superiority
11Expressing easy going and casual approach

Gestures and body movements

Gestures communicate as effectively as words-maybe, even more effectively.
We use gestures everyday, almost instinctively. But no two people will use similar
gestures.
Nor will people of the same culture act in a predictable, uniform fashion.
This pattern becomes definitely more distinct and different across cultural barriers.
This is simply because gestures are spontaneous.

Gestures mean making expressive movements with hands and arms. Gestures
can be used a vehicle to send a variety of messages. Real mastery over body
language can be developed only when we learn to use gestures appropriately.

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Gestures can be used to express the following feelings such as
1Openness
2Defensiveness
3Readiness
4Reassurance
5Frustration
6Confidence
7Nervousness
8Acceptance
9Expectance
10Relationship
11Suspicion

Gestures and personality

Gestures can help us make an assessment about the kind of personality an
individual has. Authoritarian personalities tend to use less bodily movement than
democratic type personalities.

Proximity and Social distance

We like to keep our distance from others and there are specific social rules

about how close we can go to others in particular situations. This social distance is
also known a body space and comfort zone and the use of this space is called
proxemics.

The distance you keep from others is crucial if you want to establish good
rapport. The distance you maintain while communicating affects your interaction.
Therefore, maintaining control over such distance is important in interactions.

Why the distance?

Regulating the distances between us and other people provides with several
benefits, including:
7Safety: When people are distant, they can’t surprise attack us.
8Communication: When people are closer, it is easier to communicate
with them.
9Affection: When they are closer still, we can be intimate.
10Threat: The reverse can be used- we may deliberately threaten a person
by invading their body space.

Handshake:

Handshake has an immediate effect on the outcome of an encounter with
other persons. In the business world, particularly when you deal with people from
other cultures, you need to shake hand well. Pay attention to where your hands
are. Never keep you hands in the pockets. Having your hands anywhere above the
neck is considered unprofessional.

Good hand shakers are seen as being more extroverted and, eventually, more
hirable.

The only thing better than a good handshake is no handshake at all.

VOCABULARY BUILDING

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Objective:
1To equip the students with a wide range of vocabulary, so as to enable them
use language more effectively.
2To help the students perform better in international tests like GRE, TOEFL,
IELTS, etc.

Vocabulary knowledge is the single most important area of language
competence and is of concern to all four language skills. We will not be able to
listen or speak confidently or read and write effectively if we do not have
reasonable vocabulary competence, which may include our stock of perceptive
vocabulary as well as productive vocabulary. All successful communicators do
have a reasonable stock of words. We should therefore, develop our vocabulary.

What does vocabulary development mean? What does learning a new word
involve? Does it involve knowing just the meaning of the word? Learning or
knowing a new word involves knowing its different shades of meaning (both
denotation and connotation), use in context, grammatical characteristics,
pronunciation and so on.

Prefixes

Prefix means a word or a part of a word fixed before another word to add
something to its meaning. It may be even a syllable. Most of the English prefixes
are borrowed from Latin and Greek.

Prefix Meaning Word

Anti Against Anticlimax, Antidote, Anti-
national etc
Ante Before
Antedate, Antenatal, Antecedent,
Auto Auto etc

Bi Two or Twice Autocrat, Automobile, Autograph,
etc
Co With
Bilateral, Bigamy, Bisect,
De Down Biweekly, etc

Demi Half Co-operative, co-existence,
Collision etc

Dis Apart Dethrone, Defame, Demoralise, etc

En, Em In, On Demi-god, Demi-official, Demi-
paradise, etc.

Disconnect , Disorganise, Discard,
etc

Endanger, Enable, Embody,
Emplane, etc.

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Equi Equally Equilateral, Equivalent,
Equidistant, etc.
Ex Out of
Expel, Extract, Extend, Express,
Hetero Different etc.

Hexa Six Heterogeneous, Heterodox, etc.

Hyper Over Hexameter, Hexagon, etc.

Hypersensitive, Hypertension,
Mono Alone Hypercritical, etc.

Non Not Monogamy, Monologue,
Monopoly, etc.
Omni All
Nonsense, Non-violent, Non-entity,
etc.
Semi Half
Omnipresent, Omnipotent,
Poly Many Omniscient, etc.

Sub Under Semi-colon, Semi-final, etc.

Phil Love Polygamy, Polyandry, etc.

Subconscious, Subhuman, etc.

Philanthropy, Philanderer, etc.

A list of prefixes is provided hereunder with illustrations:

SUFFIXES

A suffix can change the word-class and meaning of a word. Suffixes may be
used to form nouns from verbs and adjectives, and adjectives from nouns and
verbs.
The following list contains different suffixes and their uses to form new words:

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Nouns from verbs:

Suffix Verbs Nouns

-ment Amuse, move, conceal Amusement, movement,
concealment.

-tion Act, add ,adopt, invent Action, addition, adoption,
invention

-ance Perform, assist, attend Performance, assistance,
attendance

-al Arrive, deny, dismiss Arrival, Denial, Dismissal

-sion Expel, Divide, extend Expulsion, Division, Extension

-ing Learn, bless, build Learning, blessing, building

-ure Fail, furnish Failure, furniture

Nouns from Adjectives:

Suffix Adjectives Nouns

-ity Able, active, mortal, Ability, activity, mortality,
real reality
-ness
Busy, kind, weak, new Business, kindness, weakness,
newness
-ance
Brilliant, distant, Brilliance, distance, ignorance
ignorant

Adjectives from Nouns:

Suffix Nouns Adjectives

-y Air, rain, rose, wind, Airy, rainy, rosy, windy, oily
oil
-ly Fatherly, manly, yearly
Father, man, year
-al Accidental, classical, facial
Accident, classic, face
-ish Bookish, blackish, boyish,
Book, black, boy, slave slavish
-ful
Harm, beauty, skill, use Harmful, beautiful, skillful,
-less useful

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Use, pain, life, name
Useless, painless, lifeless,
nameless

Adjectives from Verbs:

Suffix Verbs Adjectives

-able Avoid, believe, Avoidable, believable,
compare comparable
-ful
Thank, help, use, boast Thankful, helpful, useful,
boastful

SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS
SYNONYMS:

Synonyms and antonyms are as important as any other grammatical item. In
fact, no word gives exactly the same meaning as any other word gives. But, there
are some same shades of meaning we find in them. They are used in different
senses, in different contexts but are treated as synonyms. Words of like meaning

are called synonyms. Given below is a list of synonyms:

Word Synonyms Word Synonyms

Abandon Leave, forsake Abbreviat Abridge, shorten
Auxiliary Accessory, subsidiary e Skilled, expert
Admire Praise, esteem Adept Help, support
Anger Ire, wrath, rage Assist Daring, valiant
Candid Frank, straightforward Bold Insane, mad
Deadly Dangerous, fatal Crazy Vacant, empty
Fabricate Forge, construct Devoid Disallow, prohibit
Hamper Block, disturb Forbid Unaware,
Illegal Unlawful, illicit Ignorant unreasonable
Infer Conclude, deduce Indicate Show, hint
Hideous Repulsive, ugly Initiate Start, begin
Laudable Commendable, Insight Instigate, provoke
Quantum praiseworthy Proficient Adept, expert
Amount, share Revenge Retribution,
vengeance
Scold
Ultimate Rebuke, reprove Teach
Vain Final, last Vacant Instruct, educate
Yield Fruitless, conceited Winsome Empty, void
Give, surrender Zest Charming, attract
Gusto, relish

ANTONYMS:

Antonyms are the words that give opposite meaning. Sometimes in the
absence of exact equivalence, we understand the meaning of words with the help
of antonyms.

Word Antonyms Word Antonyms

Above Below, beneath Accept Reject

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Asset Liability Base Noble
Beautiful Ugly Benevolent Malevolent
Boom Slump Confident Diffident
Create Destroy convex Concave
Democracy Autocracy Ebb Flow
Famous Obscure Genuine Spurious
Harsh, Gentle Keen Blunt, dull
Lewd Virtuous Monogamy Polygamy
Optimistic Pessimistic Orient Occidental
Promote Demote Remarkabl Ordinary
Reverence Scorn e Antipathy
Tranquil Disturb Sympathy Rude
Vague Clear Urbane Nadir
Zenith

WORD ROOTS

A root is the part of any word that reveals its essential meaning, a meaning that
never changes, even though other letters or word parts may be added at the
beginning or the end. The quickest, most useful, and easiest way to increase word
power is to analyze and understand how words are put together. Once we learn to
recognize the building blocks called the roots, many previous unfamiliar words
become meaningful and useful. Besides, roots can help you memorize clumps of
words with similar meanings, and they can help you decode words you don’t
know.

Root Meaning Example

am, amic love, friend amity, amicable, amiable, amorous

ben, bon well, good benefactor, bonjour

mor, mort die, death morbid, mortal, immortal, mortuary

auto self automatic, autonomous,
autobiography

chrono time chronology, synchronize,
anachronism

corp body corpse, corpulent

morph form metamorphosis, amorphous,
morphology

ac, acu sharp acrid, acute

spec, spic see, look spectator, spectacular, conspicuous
loq speech,talk Soliloquy, eloquent, loquacious
speech, talk soliloquy, eloquent, loquacious

ONE WORD SUBSTITUTES

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In the process of learning a language we come across some lengthy phrases
and clauses that can be expressed in a single word. A learner, if acquires command
over such words, will be able to use the language with comfort and ease. The
words given hereunder will help promote the knowledge of a learner pertaining to
that aspect.

Aborigines : The original inhabitants of a place.
Accomplice : A partner in crime.
Ambiguous : Capable of being interpreted in two way of double meaning.
Ambidextrous : Able to use the left hand as well as the right.
Amphibian : Living both on land and in water.
Anachronism : Something out of harmony with the present time.
Archaeology : Study of antiquities, especially of the pre-historic period.
Astronaut : One who flies a space vehicle.
Atheism : Disbelief in the existence of God.
Autocrat : One who rules with absolute power.
Blasphemy : Words uttered impiously about God.
Bourgeois : Of the middle class.
Carnivorous : Feeding on flesh.
Compatriot : A person belonging to one’s own country.
Complacent : Satisfied with one’s own character, achievements, etc.
Connoisseur : One well versed in any art.
Cosmopolitan : Free from national or regional prejudices.
Extempore : Speaking without previous preparation.
Fauna : The animals of a particular region.
Flora : The plants that grow in a particular region.
Genealogy : Account of a person’s descent from his ancestors.
Hallucination : Seeing something which is not actually present.

Hedonist : One who lives for pleasure/one who seeks pleasure.
Insuperable : That cannot be overcome.
Misogynist : One who hates women.
Misogamist : One who hates marriage.
Misanthrope : One who hates mankind.
Nemesis : Retributive justice/downfall that justifies such justice.
Nepotism : Undue favour shown by a person in power.
Omnipotent : Having infinite power.
Omnipresent : Being present everywhere.
Omniscient : Having infinite knowledge.
Panorama : Unbroken view of surrounding region.
Posthumous : Occurring after death.

IDIOMS AND PHRASES

Languages undergo many changes in course of time. What was considered to
be slang at one time might be acceptable at a different time. Resultantly, the style
of language also changes from time to time. An important fact that is stressed is
that idioms are not only colloquial expressions as people believe but they appear in
formal style and slang. They find place in poetry, in the language of Shakespeare
or that of The Bible. An idiom, we can say, is number of words which, taken
together, means something different from the individual words of the idiom when
they stand alone. They have some special features. So, we have to learn them as a
whole. English is very rich in idiomatic expressions. Even native speakers are not
aware that they are using an idiom. A non native learner makes the correct use of
idiomatic English. Some idioms are illogical and grammatically incorrect. They
cause him difficulty. Only a careful study and exact learning will help us.

Ex: “Come off” means succeed.
‘Make up your mind’ means decide.

Given below is a list of few idioms and phrases :

11Arm in arm(interlinked).
Ex: America and India work arm in arm.

12Beat about the bush.(approach a matter in a round about way).
Example: Some speakers beat about the bush when they explain some points.

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13Bag and baggage(with all one’s belongings).
Ex : To travel with bag and baggage is a Herculean task.

14Blow one’s own trumpet(praise oneself)
Ex: Some people blow their own trumpet though nobody likes it.

15Corner stone(something of great importance)
Ex: The philosophy of ’karma’ is the corner stone of Hindu philosophy.

16A dead letter (obsolete).
Ex: The regulation is already a dead letter.

17End in smoke(failed).
Ex: All the plans of the father ended in smoke.

18Egg on(instigate).
Ex: Some lectures egg on students to resort to strike.

19Eleventh hour(last minute efforts).
Ex: Some students make eleventh hour preparation.

20From hand to mouth(without making provisions for the future).
Ex: Most of the Indians lead a hand to mouth living.

21Kick the bucket(die).
Ex: The old man kicked the bucket at the age of 90.

22Move Earth and heaven(make a great effort)
Ex: America moved Earth and heaven to suppress Vietnam.

23Neither head nor tail(unable to understand).
Ex: He could make neither head nor tail of his new teacher’s explanation.

24Pick holes(find fault).
Ex: Some narrow-minded people pick holes in every matter.

25Root and branch(completely).
Ex: The factory was destroyed root and branch due to bomb blasting.

26Rolling stone(wanderer).
A rolling stone gathers no mass.

27Splits hairs(make very fine distinctions).
Ex: Some lawyers are experts in splitting hairs.

28Under one’s thumb(under one’s control).
Ex: A henpecked husband wants to be under the thumb of his wife.

29White elephant(very expensive).
Ex: The motor car is like a white elephant for a middle class man.

30From A to Z(completely).
Ex: She is thorough with ‘Gita’ from A to Z.

PHRASES

31Break down(to stop due to a mechanical fault).
Ex: The bus broke down due to some mechanical problem.

32Cut off(to isolate).
Ex: The unexpected floods cut off the city from the rest of the villages.

33Get at(to find).
Ex: The judge got at the truth by questioning.

34Keep off(be away from).
Ex: We must keep off black sheep.

35Make off(to run away).

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Ex: The thief made off with the suitcase.

36Pass for(to pose as someone else)
Ex: Some people pass for genuine guests at the wedding dinners.

37Cotton on(understand)
Ex: It took me sometime to cotton on to why my boss was angry with me.

38Deal in(buy and sell)
Ex: I deal in leather goods.

39Figure out(understand)
Ex: I cannot my figure out.

40Hush up(keep secret by enforcing silence about it)
Ex: These days, it is difficult to hush up murders for political causes.

41Trim down(reduce)
Ex: We have to trim down our spending to fit our income.

42Back out(fail to do what is expected)
Ex: You said you stand by me, why did you back out now?

ANALOGY

The ability to grasp the similarity or difference between pairs of words is, in a
way, necessary for scientists, engineers and technologists.

The following examples of pairs belonging to different classes and categories
may help the learner:

1.Broad – Narrow
Animal: Tiger: : Stationery: Pen

2. Person-Quality
Dwarf: Shortness: : Solomon: Wisdom

3. General-specific
World: India: : Transport: Train

4. Word-Synonym
Cunning: Deceptive: : Contented:Satisfied

5.Operation –Stage
Football: First Hal: :Cricket: First Innings

6.Word_Antonym
Kind: Cruel: :Criminal: Innocent

7. Word_Definition
Isolation: Loneliness: :Invalidation:Scratching

8.Male-Female
Boy: Girl: : Governor:Governess

9.Relationships
Mother:Father: :Aunt:Uncle

10.Virtue-Failing
Virtue: Vice: :Generosity: Stinginess

11.Element –Extension
Rain: storm: : Error: Blunder

12.Lesser Degree – Greater Degree
Smile: Laughter: : Cruelty: Ferocity

13.Singular - Plural

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Mouse: Mice: :Child: Children

14.Part – Whole
House: Kitchen: : Tree: Branch

15.Elements of time
Forenoon: Afternoon: : Dawn: Dusk

16.Time Sequence
Sleep: Awake: : Initiate: Conclude

17.User – Tool
Doctor: Stethoscope: : Barber: Scissors

18.Creator – Creation
Sculptor: Statue: : Carpenter: Table

19.Cause – Effect
Rain: Flood: : Fever: Weakness

20.Person – Profession
Engineer: Construction: : Minister: Service

21.Tool - Function
Hammer: Nailing: : Brush: Painting

22.Symbol – Institution
Parcel: Post office: : Black coat: Judiciary

23. Reward – Action

Nobel Prize: Literature: : Bhatnagar Award: Science

24.Object – Obstacle
Boat: Flood: : Agriculture: Drought

25.Object – Operator
Pen: Nib: : Stove: Burner

26.Object – Material
Spoon: Steel: : Mirror: Glass

WORD ORIGIN

To know the past of an individual helps us to understand him the better.
To know the life history of a word makes its present meaning clearer and more
nearly unforgettable. Words truly are little windows through which we can look
into the past.

“English has its bases broad and low, close to the ground” as Walt
Whitman once said. “Into it are woven the sorrow, joys, loves, needs and heart
breaks of the common people. “And it is these same common people who have
given us so much of our language and who have filled it full of the poetry that we
sometimes call slang.

The history of the letters of our alphabet goes back into extreme
antiquity and disappears.

The Semitic languages, that family of languages now spoken in
Seria, Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, and other North African countries, so far the
earliest discoverable source although it is suspected that some still earlier and
probably exiled tribe gave us our beginning. However, things may have started,
the alphabet came down there through the Phoenicians, Greek and Latin languages
into modern European.

The first letters two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha and beta
were joined together to form our word alphabet. Each letter of our alphabet, its
early beginning started with a picture or drawing.

We are accustomed to think of our miscellaneous and polyglot speech

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as the “English” language, yet it is doubtful whether more than one word in fifty in
our vocabulary actually originated in that little patch of island we call England.

What have we now just said and in what language have we said it?

We have stated that the English language, in its origins, had little to do
with England itself, and even in making this simple statement we have had to draw
upon a number of words that we have inherited from other languages.

The word accustomed, for instance, that we used in the first line in the
first paragraph above is from Old French. The word think traces to Old English
thencan. The Latin language gave us miscellaneous, while polyglot is the Greek
word “polyglottis” with poly meaning “many” and glotta “tongue”. With speech
we turn again to Old English spac. Our word language entered English by way of
France, but its eventful origin lies in the Latin word lingua meaning “tongue” a
term which, incidentally contributed linguist to us. The words doubtful,
vocabulary, actually, and originated that appear in the latter part of the first
paragraph are all Latin derivatives. The proper name England is made up of the
two Old English words engla and land or “land of the Angles”. But it is only on
rare occasions that even these Old English words could be said to have originated
in England because most of them belong to the Western Germanic dialects that the
Angles and the Saxons and the Jules brought with them from the continent.

So even though you may not be versed in any foreign language, it is still
true that when you use your native English you are speaking a babel of strange
tongues.

The word whisky is Irish, but whisky has alcohol in it and alcohol comes
from the ancient Arabic language. Should you ask for coffee at the end of a meal,
you are in a fashion, speaking Turkish. Should it be tea you wish, the language is

Chinese. If you request a cigar you will have switched to Spanish. A cigarette?
you have turned to French.

No language is so complex as English; none so varied. Strangely enough,
the Celts, who were the original inhabitants of England, contributed little or
nothing to our language. Save a few such place names as Aberden and Kildare.
But in the 6th century, the invading Angels, Saxons, and Judes brought over the
basic structure of our speech, our most common words, and for 500 years English
was almost wholly a Germanic language.

By the 14th century, French and native English words were being melded
and merged and the Latin importations were becoming naturalized. By the 16th
century Latin had become the mark of culture. Queen Elizabeth conversed in Latin
with the foreign envoys at her court; Oliver Cromwell had the poet Milton as his
secretary. And it is for seasons such as this that more than half of the words in our
language trace to Latin as a source.

There was no such influx of the Greek language into English, but so
much of Greek has come to us through Latin that it is often hard to give credit to
the proper source. We are apt to find the Greek words that we have taken over
directly listed in the more modern terminology of the fields of general science, of
medicine, and in the technical terms of language study.

Our borrowings from other than the classical languages have been
scanty although they have contributed to the richness of our speech.

So much we have inherited from the popular foreign languages; so
much from the classical; and all is mixed and intermingled with the speech of our
mother country, England. But with the establishment of the colonies in America,
the English language started on a new era. The revolution, the wars, the pioneering
of the West, the sailings of the seven seas, the empires of industry, the Aladdin like
inventions, the explorations of the sciences, all poured their wealth of words into
the melting part until a new language was born, the American language that now
stands unmatched in all the word in all history.

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GROUP DISCUSSION

Group discussion is commonly known as “G.D” as the name suggests, it is a
group activity. People are grouped in a bunch for a common purpose.

1For job, academic, professional purposes.
2Share Knowledge.
3Exchange Opinions.
4Brain storm (find solutions innovative look for improvements).
5Job selection process.
- You need to perform G.D activities well.
- You‘ll require positive attitude.
- Effective skills.
- Good amount of knowledge.

Activities

Knowledge Attitude

Skills

Knowledge:-

- General (world Knowledge).

Verbal English/Local
Language
Non Verbal Body Movements.

Activities:-

Appropriately The Discussion

Speaking Listening

Skills

1)Listening.
2)Speech/Speaking.
3)Timing.
4)Logic (arguing).

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Attitude

1)Don’t Dominate.
2)Don’t Suppress.
3)Don’t be silent for too long.
4)Be tolerant.
5)Be team player.
6)If it is a G.D for selection remembers you can’t be listening all the time
because you will be one of the five or six to show your skills in 15-20
minutes nor you can complain that you weren’t given a choice.
It’s upto you to look for pauses between sentences of Our team mate and enter a
discussion smoothly.

--You score point for
1. Leading the discussion
2. Directing discussion in a different angle.
3. Summarizing in the middle and closing discussion appropriately.

1GD for academic or professional purpose (Brain storming).
2Forget your ego.
3Appreciate and applaud (encourage) others views.
4Encourage silent partners to be communicative.
5Remember here there are no points to score. You as an individual don’t
matter, it’s the team that matters.

G.D:-
G.D’s can be Topic-based or case-based.

Topic-Based:
1. Factual Topics.
2. Controversial Topics.
3. Abstract Topics.

Factual Topic:-
Topics which an ordinary person is aware of in his day-
to-day life. These can be current.
Eg: Environment pollution
Child Labour.

Controversial Topics:-

Topics which are argumentative in nature.
Eg: Should reservations be removed?

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Abstract Topics:-
Topics are about intangible things. Which test the participant’s
creativity.

Do’s

- Sit at the center.
- Take notes.
- Use appropriate gestures.
- Allow others to talk.
- Keep eye contact.
Don’ts:

- Avoid sitting at corners.
- Don’t interrupt into others speech.
- Don’t become emotional.
- Don’t silence others.
- Don’t talk for long.
- Don’t look only at one person.
- Don’t repeat what already said.

For a successful G.D:-

1Agreement on Group Goals.
2Goal oriented Interaction.
3Agreement on procedures.

4Cooperative and friendly atmosphere.
5Use of effective communication techniques.
6Equitable distribution of participation.
7Shared Leadership is important.

 Leader ship functions during a G.D include initiative, analysis,
assertiveness, self-confidence, objectivity, patience and
composure, persuasiveness (persuasion is an art that requires
an ample amount of convincing power) and motivation.

Team Management:
To acquire this skill Adaptability, positive attitude,
cooperation and coordination are required.

Participating in G.D:
Use appropriate strategies for effective participation in G.D
Eg: well friends, may I request your kind attention
Hello everybody, hello friends.

INTERVIEWS
Objectives

1To develop interview skills
2To know the characteristics of job interviews
3To understand the strategies of the interviewers to facilitate better responses
during the ‘placement’ interviews.

Introduction:

The word ‘interview’ means ‘view between’ or ‘sight between’. It suggests a
meeting between two persons for the purpose of getting a view of each other. An
interview is thus, a means of two way communication. It is not only and academic
test but also a psychological test. One must prepare well and be in the best frame
of mind to face the interview successfully. Many a candidate with excellent
academic and scholastic record fails to make the mark on account of their inability

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to face the interview successfully.
The role of the interviewer is to seek information and that of the interviewee is
to provide it.

Types of Interview:

1.Appraisal Interview: It is usually held once a year to discuss the performance
of the employee. It has two goals:
a. Improving job performance and better relations.
b. Improving communication between the manager and the
subordinates.
2.Grievance Interview: This interview is conducted for giving complaint against
the employee.
3.Reprimand Interview: To reprimand someone is to criticize him severely for
some action. It is a disciplinary action likely to be resented by the employees. But
a good manager can use it in a constructive manner.
4.Exit Interview: These interviews are conducted when the employee is leaving
the organization either voluntarily or through dismissal.
5. Depth Interview: A number of questions on a particular area are put to the
interviewee. Answer to any one question does not cover full information. A
number of follow up questions are put by the interviewer.
6. Board Interview: A panel/board interview is well suited for government
organization or autonomous body. This type of interview enables selection of
suitable candidate in just one interview. The board usually consists of four to six
members headed by a chairman. The chairman takes decision after listening to the
impression of all the board members, their comment about the candidate and
finally on his own impression. The candidate gets interviewed on a variety of
subjects related to his field, because each expert covers different areas.
7.Group Interview: In a group interview, a group of interviewees are allowed
together to interact and exchange each other’s views.

PROCESS OF AN INTERVIEW

The interview process may involve exchange of facts, events, opinions,
reactions, feeling, panel decision, goal setting, evaluation, investigation etc.

The process of an interview contains the following stages:
1.Opening: The first is introduction. In this the parties exchange their greeting.
2.Object of the interview: Interviewer explains to the interviewee the object of the
interview.
3.Beginning of the interview: In the commencement of an interview, both parties
will be in a light hearted manner and follow the sequences of questions and topics.

PRE-PLANNING

1. Personal Information

The candidate must post himself with all the information relating to his
family background, his own scholastic and academic achievements, the nature of
his present employment. If any, present emoluments, his extra-curricular activities
and other interests in the professional, research, and other fields. Whatever
enquiry is made of these things, the candidate must readily offer the answer to
them.

2. Preparing a Career Statement

The members of the selection committee may pose a number of questions
on the candidate’s career interests. They are rather searching questions and the
candidate may not have imagined them. Therefore the wisest thing is to prepare a
list of questions of this type and work out coherent and convincing answers to
them.

Dress Code

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The candidates must be trim and tidy, and neatly dressed. However, for men
candidates dark and light combination with a suitable tie and polished shoe, seems
impressive. In the case of women candidates saree, blouse and sandals seem to be
a dignified dress. They must avoid gaudy colours and fancy-type dresses. High
heeled shoe may be avoided, because they produce distracting tapping sounds, and
the candidates look extraordinarily tall.

Detection of the Self, Likes and Dislikes

The candidate must be aware of his likes and dislikes, his abilities and inabilities.
When he is asked to list them out, he should be able to do it well as it shows his
self –awareness and also helps the interviewer to understand him.

Practising

The candidates should all go out to grab a career opportunity. As the date of the
interview is fast approaching, they must sit before the mirror and try to answer the
questions raised earlier. Or, they may practise before a trusted friend or a
colleague and take the benefit of the feedback. They may also tape-record their
answers and listen to them with a view to improving their expressions or answers.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

The suitability of a candidate for a particular position is evaluated during a job
interview through an oral question/answer session. Thus, the interview contains
specific questions and appropriate answers. The candidate should understand the
nature of different types of interview questions, analyze expected questions in
order to devise answering strategies, and practice these answers. Some tips on job
interview questions and answers are discussed below:

Types of interview questions

We should be familiar with the nature and type of questions being asked during job
interviews so that we are ready to answer them confidently. There are seven
different types of questions that are asked to elicit certain responses from
candidates. They include open, closed, probing, reflective, loaded, hypothetical,
and leading questions.

Open questions An open questions asks the candidates to ‘talk about’ something.
Its main purpose is to encourage the candidates to talk broadly about a topic or
subject. It broadens the scope of the response by forcing the candidates to engage
in deeper thinking. Following are some of the examples of open questions:
1Tell us something about yourself?
2Talk about your interest and activities?
3Describe the most difficult situation that you recently faced?
4What are the advantages of a mixed economy?
5What do you think about the impact of multinational companies on the Indian
economy?

Closed questions Unlike open questions, closed questions limit the scope of the
response by asking the candidates to provide specific information or facts. It
permits the candidate no freedom of selection as they are required to give very
specific answers. Following are some such examples:
1When did you complete your graduation?
2What was your major subject in the college?
3Where did you receive your first professional training?
4Do you know data processing?

Probing questions The main purpose of a probing question is to probe more
deeply or ask for an explanation or clarification of a statement just made. Probing
questions encourage the candidate to talk in greater depth about a topic or subject.
For example, after the response, “I believe that students should be allowed in
academic decision making”, the interviewer might ask the probing question, “Do
you think that this should include all academic decisions?”

Reflective questions Reflective questions are asked to confirm the statements
given by the candidate. The purpose is to check that the interviewer understands
what the candidate has said. Following are some examples of reflective questions:
1That means you want the public sector companies to be totally privatized?

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2Am I right in thinking that you are against economic liberalization in India?
3Does it mean that you favour a total ban on any type of violence in movies?

Loaded questions Loaded questions assess the candidate’s response to a sensitive
issue, subject or point. The main purpose of loaded questions is to judge the
candidate’s ability to handle difficult and sensitive situations. There may not be
any right or wrong answer to a loaded question. Rather, it would be a reasonable
or unreasonable response. The following are some examples:
1You are too short.
2Don’t you think this is going to be a handicap for you?
3Your GPA in the first semester of your B.Tech is too low. How do you justify
that?
4Do you think that a Ram temple should be constructed at the site of Babri Masjid?

Hypothetical questions A hypothetical question may involve a hypothetical
situation. It may be asked to test the possible reactions of the candidate to a certain
situation. The candidate may be asked the question, ‘what would you do if ….?’,
or the candidate may be given a situation and asked how he/she will deal with it.
Some examples are given here:
1What would you do if you face a group of angry employees who want to harm
company vehicles because one of the workers has been hurt by company lorry?
2One of your staff has been involved in activities detrimental to your organization.
He has been doing this for money that he needs for the treatment of his ailing
mother. What would you do?

Leading questions A leading question is asked to obtain a desired response. It
leads the candidate to a particular answer. Such questions generally suggest a
point of view on the part of the interviewer and call for agreement with a ‘yes’
answer. Given below are some examples:
1Don’t you agree that our company is a market leader in electronic products?

2Don’t you think that MNCs have boosted the Indian economy?
3Don’t you agree that our economy needs more privatization?

ANSWERING STRATEGIES:

Keys to answering questions:

How a question is answered is sometimes more important than the answer
itself. The way a question is answered reflects a person’s communicative ability.
The following suggestions will help in improving the quality of answers.
Attentiveness: When a person attends a job interview, he /she cannot answer the
interviewer’s questions correctly unless he/she is listening properly. Many
candidates start answering before they have heard the complete question. This is
wrong. The candidate should listen to the interviewer attentively in order to
understand the question and then respond to it. Moreover, the interviewer should
not be interrupted while he or she is speaking. This constitutes rude behaviour and
is against the norms of any formal interaction.
Accuracy: The candidate should give particular attention to dates, timelines,
persons, places and other details. If he/she cannot remember a date or time, it
should not be mentioned. Giving an incorrect or incomplete answer will reduce
the chances of success. The candidate should not try to bluff the interviewer; it is
better to accept that he/she does not know an answer rather than giving an incorrect
answer. No one is expected to know everything and there is nothing wrong in
accepting one’s lack of knowledge.

Brevity: The candidate should be brief and to the point particularly in open
questions, where he/she has the scope to speak as much as he/she can. He/she
should listen to the question carefully and answer only what is asked, not taking
more than on minute to answer any question, irrespective of its nature and
complexity. A long answer does not necessarily mean a better answer; it is usually
otherwise.

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Focus: The candidate should be focused and specific. Very often, candidates
deviate from the question asked and do not answer specifically. Trying to impress
interviewers by giving information that is not asked for should be avoided. The
more specific the answer, the more convinced the interviewers are likely to be of a
candidate’s suitability for the position. Concrete and specific words and phrases
should be used, and obscure, abstract, and vague words that may confuse the
interviewers should be avoided.

Clarity: Candidate should answer directly and clearly. The candidate should not
give the interviewers a chance to ask for an answer to be repeated or classified.
Clarity of expression generally reflects clarity of thought and professionalism.

Positive Attitude: The candidate’s answers reflect a positive attitude.
Interviewers may ask negative or sensitive questions to explore the negatives in the
candidate’s personality. Therefore, it is important to remain positive and answer
even negative questions positively.

Logical Thinking: The ability to think logically is always an asset during and
interview. Answers should always be rational and logical because illogical
answers reflect a disorganized personality. Logical arguments and illustrations
should be used when answering questions that demand careful thinking (that is,
probing and hypothetical questions).

TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS

Telephone interviews have become very common today due to compelling
reasons of time and distance. Unlike a face-to-face interview, which generally
takes place in an office with the focus on a traditional structure of questions and
answers in a conventional setting, a telephone interview takes place in a non-
conventional setting. Although the telephone interview has certain inherent

weaknesses as an interview format, its popularity is increasing, especially for
recruitment to senior positions. Moreover, it is less cumbersome for both the
interviewers as well as the candidates.

The telephone interview generally has a fixed structure. The number of
interviewers may vary from one to eight. The chairperson of the selection
committee introduces the members of the committee to the candidate. Then, each
expert introduces himself/herself and asks questions. This goes on till each
member has talked to the candidate. Each of them may form an opinion about the
candidate and then a final decision is made on the basis of consensus.
The following suggestions will help improve telephone interview skills:
1Candidates should plan and prepare for the interview in a manner similar to that
for a face-to-face interview. All the relevant interview techniques and strategies
discussed earlier can be applied here too. The interviewers may ask the candidate
to give a date and time for the interview or may fix it themselves.
2The candidate should ensure that there are no distractions during the telephone
interview.
3The names of all the members of the interview panel should be written down at
the beginning of the call and they should be referred to by name throughout the
interview. It is important for the candidate to know who is speaking in order to
establish rapport with them. Each member of the pane l should be greeted when
he/she asks the first question.
4The interviewee must organize his/her papers and documents and keep them close
so that he/she may easily refer to them.
5He/she must also keep a pen and paper to take notes.
6When an interviewer passes on the telephone to other members of the interview
board, the candidate must thank him/her.
7As in a face to face interview it is best to answer briefly in telephone interviews
too.
8The interviewee should speak clearly and distinctly, keeping his/her voice level
up to reveal a high energy level.

INTERVIEW THROUGH VIDEOCONFERENCING

Interviews may also be held through videoconferencing. This is very similar to
a face-to-face job interview because the interviewers can watch the candidate
answering questions and can assess his/her behaviour and non-verbal gestures.
Some organizations might prefer to have a screening interview through
videoconferencing. Situational interviews may also be conducted through
videoconferencing.

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The videoconferencing interview also has a fixed structure. The number of
interviewers may vary from one to eight, as in a face-to-face or telephone
interview. The chairperson of the selection committee may introduce the members
of the committee to the candidate. Then, each expert may talk to the candidate
asking him/her a few questions. This may go on till each member has talked to the
candidate. As the form and structure of a videoconferencing interview is similar to
traditional face-to-face personal interview, candidates may apply the same
techniques and strategies of interviewing here.

RESUME WRITING

1Resume is a document that speaks about you.
2Your Resume contains general information.
3Building an effective resume focuses on overall organization, font selection,
contact information, education, experience, Honors and Activities etc.
4Presentation is everything. The way the Resume is structured organized and
written is important.
5It is a brief account of personal details, your education, work experience that
you have.

6Resume must be neatly printed or typed and appealing to the eye.
7Avoid giving information that is not relevant to the application.

Resume writing

 Covering letter
 Resume
 Thank you letter
 Follow up letter
 Recommendation.

Recommendation letter

1Should be typed
2Use official letter head
3Sign the letter
4Put in an envelope
5Sign across the seal

RESUME DESIGN

The design of a resume largely depends on a person’s background, employment
needs, career goals and professional conventions in the area of specialization. A
resume should be original. Although resume writing software may be used to
design a resume or it may be written by professional resume writer, it should be
designed according to individual needs. Keeping a resume job specific gives it the
required focus and makes it more effective.

1How do you begin to write the body of the resume for your career change?

2Take your achievements , strengths, education and training and writing them
down which one can you group together under one heading

1Heading could includes
1.leadership
2.financial management
3.account management
4.goal setting and achievement

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These headings depend on your own experiences and
achievements.

TYPES OF RESUMES

There are three types

1.Chronological resume
2.Functional resume
3.Combination resume

Name
Address

Career Objective --- 1 sentence
Position sought
Academic qualification
Tech. qualification
Projects /experience
Extracurricular
Personal profile
Name
Father’s Name
DOB/Age
Address
Ref : 1
2
3
Signature

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SAMPLE RESUME

Chronological Resume: This is the most common resume style .It focuses on
education and experience. It organizes past employment record or education in
reverse chronological order. It lists work experience items or educational

/professional qualifications starting with the current or most recent and works
backwards in time.
VIBHOR SAXENA
A-25/31, Sector-60, Noida-201301
E-mail: vibhorsaxena@dppc.com

POSITION SOUGHT Manager-Project

OBJECTIVE To contribute to the growth of a leading project
management company by working in a challenging
position where I will have opportunities to
utilize my exposure to project management
methodologies and experience as project leader in
construction activities of large scale heavy
engineering projects.

EXPERIENCE Project leader, Dharampal Premchand Ltd.,
Sector-60, Noida-201301
December 2001 to present
2Complete civil projects within ahead of the schedule
through strict planning, monitoring, and control while
maintaining the best construction standards
3Supervise erection of auxiliary facilities like water
treatment, ETP, cabling , piping and other utilities
4Maintain customer relations through effective
presentation of technical expertise.

Assistant Project Manager(Civil), Subhash Projects
and Marketing Ltd, Park Street ,Kolkata
December 1998 to November 2001
1Assist in the project management of various civil works
being executed Coordinate with Head Office, sites,
various departments and subcontractors
Maintain close liaison with clients

EDUCATION Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry
B.Tech in Civil Engineering, July 1998

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Institute of Information Technology, Mumbai
Certificate in Computer Programming, December,
1998

SPECIAL SKILLS
2Proficient in MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Excel, and
Word 98 and
2000
3Good problem-solving skills
4Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
5Competent in speaking French
ACTIVITIES
1Member, Institution of Engineers, New Delhi
2Member, National Cadet Corps, 1994-1996
3Secretary, Society for Promotion of Science, New Delhi
INTERESTS
1Badminton, Football, Cycling
2Classical Music, Movies, Fiction

Functional Resume

Unlike chronological resumes that focus on education and work
experience, functional resumes highlight accomplishment and emphasise skills.
Some employers are more interested in the applicant’s ability to handle the
position they are applying for, and they would prefer a functional resume rather
than a chronological one. A functional resume provides example of experiences
that demonstrate the skills needed for the targeted position.

VIBHOR SAXENA
A-25/31, Sector-60, Noida- 201 301
E-mail: vibhor_saxena@dppc.com

POSITION SOUGHT
Manager – Project

OBJECTIVE

To contribute to the growth of a leading project management company by working
in a challenging position where I will have opportunities to utilize my exposure to
project management methodologies and experience as project leader in
construction activities of large scale heavy engineering projects.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Assisted in the project management of various civil works being executed at
site at Subhash Projects and Marketing Ltd
1Completed civil projects within or ahead of the schedule at Dharamapal
Premchand Ltd
2Maintained strict planning, monitoring and control while maintaining the best
construction standards
3Supervised erection of auxiliary facilities like water treatment, ETP, cabling,
piping, and other utilities

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COORDINATION AND CUSTOMER RELATIONS

1Coordinated with Head Office, sites, various departments, and sub-contractors
2Maintained customer relations through effective presentation of technical
expertise
3Maintained close liaison with clients

SPECIAL SKILLS
1Proficient in MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Excel, and word 98 and 2000
2Good problem-solving skills
3Excellent communication and interpersonal skill
4Competent in speaking French

EDUCATION

Pondicherry Engineering College, Pondicherry
BTech in Civil Engineering, July 1998
Certificate in Computer Programming, December, 1998

EMPLOYMENT RECORD

2001/Present Project Leader, Dharampal Premchand Ltd., Sector-60,
Noida – 201 301
1998/2001 Assistant Project Manager (Civil), Subhash Projects and
Marketing Ltd,

Park Street, Kolkata

ACTIVITIES

3Secretary, Society for Promotion of Science. New Delhi

INTERESTS


Combination Resume

As the name suggests, a combination resume follows a mixed style,
drawing on the best characteristics of the chronological and functional resumes. It
highlights skills but includes detailed information about the candidate’s education
and work experience.

VIBHOR SAXENA
A-25/31, Sector-60, Noida-201 301
E-mail: vibhor_saxena @ dppc.com

SKILLS
1Conversant in structural steel design and fabrication
2Have sufficient exposure to project management
methodologies
• Competent in managing construction activities of
large scale Heavy Engineering Projects
• Proficient in MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows, Excel, and
Word 98 and 2000.
• Good problem-solving skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Competent in speaking French.

EXPERIENCE Project Leader, Dharampal Premchand Ltd,
Sector-60,
Noida- 201301

Skills
III – B. Tech.

December 2001 to present
1Complete civil projects within or ahead of the schedule
through strict planning, monitoring and control while
maintaining the best construction standards
2Supervise erection of auxiliary facilities like water
treatment, ETP, cabling, piping and other utilities
3Maintain customer relations through effective
presentation of technical expertise

Assistant Project Manager(Civil), Subhash, Projects and
Marketing Ltd, Park Street, Kolkata

December 1998 to November 2001
4Assist in the project management of various civil works
being executed at site
5Coordinate with Head Office, sites, various departments,
and sub-contractors.
6Maintain close liaison with clients

EDUCATION Pondicherry Eng College, Pondicherry
B.Tech in Civil Engineering, July 1998
Certificate in Computer Programming, December,
1998

ACTIVITIES

9Secretary, Society for Promotion of Science,
New Delhi

INTERESTS

READING COMPREHENSION
Objective:

1Identifying the purposes of reading
2Identifying the differences between active and passive reading.

Reading is an important communicative process and reading skills are probably the
most important language skills required for academic and professional purposes.
Quick efficient and imaginative reading techniques are essential in order to achieve
academic success, because academic performance depends on the quality and
quantity of reading.

Skills
III – B. Tech.

Reading is a complex communicative process of receiving and interpreting the
written word. It involves recognizing what is written and comprehending the
matter, that is, understanding the main and subsidiary points as well as links the
main and subsidiary points as well as links between different parts of the written
material. Whole receiving and interpreting the written word, the reader is
concerned with fowl factors, that is, decoding, comprehending, text analysis, and
response.

Comprehension is reading to the identification of the central theme, main ideas,
supporting details, and main ideas, supporting details, and writing pattern. In order
to comprehend a technical message, we need to think critically and analytically
about what we are reading so that we are able to respond to the lexical meaning of
words and the relationship between them, understand the specific details, and
recognize the meaning and function of sentence patterns accurately as well as they
logical and thematic coherence.

Reading with a purpose:

An engineering student has to read and interpret text books, research papers,
and articles in technical journals, teaching notes, notices, web materials,
directories, encyclopedias, laboratory instruction sheets, safety manuals and
regulations, technical reports, and reference materials. Although the basic purpose
of reading is to extract information from various sources, it may primarily be to:

1get an introductory idea of a text.
2get a broad understanding of the subject matter.
2Understand scientific ideas, theories, and principles; obtain specific
information; understand new changes and developments in a particular field.
3Broaden one’s outlook and understanding.

4Discover the author’s view points.
5To see evidence for one’s own point of view.

In order to achieve the above reading purposes, we need to understand the
differences between Active and Passive Reading.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE READING

Active Reading Passive Reading

>The reader pays attention to both >The reader pays attention to either
content content or style.
as well as style.

>The reader interprets and analyses >The reader does not analyse what
what he or she reads in order to he or she reads.
understand both explicit as well as
implicit meaning of a written
message.

>The reader predicts and responds to >The reader does not predict and
the context. respond to the context.

>The reader pays attention to the >The reader doesn’t pay attention to
writer’s intention. the writer’s intention.

>The reader differentiates between >The reader does not distinguish
ideas, opinions, feelings, and facts. between factual and non factual
information.

>The reader infers the meaning of >The reader does not infer the
unfamiliar words from contextual or meaning of unfamiliar words from
internal clues. contextual or internal clues.

>The reader identifies and evaluates >The reader does not identify or
a writer’s attitude. evaluate a writer’s attitude.

Skills
III – B. Tech.

>The reader understands and >The reader does not interpret
interprets graphic information. graphics.

>The reader draws inferences and
conclusions. >The reader is only concerned with
the literal meaning of a written
message.

SKIMMING SKILLS:

Skimming is a more sophisticated skill than scanning. It refers to the process of
reading a text or a passage in order to get a rough idea of what the text or passage
is all about. It is a rapid reading technique that prepares the reader for detailed
reading. As the main objective of skimming is to understand the central idea and
the main points of a text, the reader needs to use a reading strategy that involves
fast reading and quick analysis.

Skimming also involves discovering the purpose and organization of a text.
One of the most important purposes of reading for academic and professional
purposes is obtaining relevant information for various purposes. This involves not
the ability to recognize the main ideas and supporting details but also the ability to
identify different writing patterns used to develop these ideas. Authors use a
variety of discourse patterns in scientific writing.

Skimming is essential for better understanding of a text. Skimming should
answer the following questions of a text:

1.What is the overall purpose of the text?
2.What is the central idea or theme?
3.What is the logical organization?(general to specific, specific to general,
chronological, more important to less important, less important to more
important, and so on.)
4.What does the author intend to do? (describe, instruct, report, narrate, explain,
argue, persuade, illustrate, and so on.)
5.What are the main points of the text?

Identifying the central idea:

The first step of skimming is to identify the central idea. Every essay, article,
passage, or text book chapter deals with a theme or central idea. All the other
ideas, points, examples, illustrations in the text support and expand this central
idea. This central idea is also called thesis. The thesis answers the following three
questions:

43What is the subject?
44What does the author want to say about the subject?
45What is the author’s point of view?
In order to understand central idea of a text, the reader should carefully read the
following:
46the title or the main heading
47the subheadings
48the opening paragraph
49the last paragraph

The title or the main heading of a text can give a clue to the content.
Similarly, the subheadings can also help in identifying the central idea. The
opening and the last paragraphs generally sum up the subject and the author’s point
of view. The reader should also glance over the beginning of the text to identify its
logical organization.
Identify the discourse technique used in text, i.e., definition, description,
explanation, comparison and contrast, narration, classification, and so on.

Let us try to understand this with the help of an example. Read the
following passage and try to identify the central idea of the passage by quickly
reading the title and the sub headings.

Skills
III – B. Tech.

SCANNING SKILLS:

Scanning refers to the ability to locate specific information or facts as quickly as
possible. While trying to look for the meaning of a word in a dictionary or looking
for a telephone number in the telephone directory, we scan and try to look for
specific information. Scanning is an important rapid reading technique, which
provides better comprehension while reading a scientific or technical text. It may
serve several purposes, which include looking for:

a)a specific point or fact in a text
b)relevant graphic details
c)a formula in a text
d) word in a dictionary
e)train or television schedules
f)any reference or bibliographical listings
g)examination results, or
h)any notes/questions/remarks at the end of text

We may know how to scan a newspaper or a dictionary but may do it slowly
with less accuracy. What is important is to increase scanning speed with accuracy.
The following suggestions will help increase proficiency at scanning.

Know What You Want to Find In order to scan any reading material, the reader
needs to know what he/she wants to find. If he/she does not know what he/she is
looking for, he/she will not be able to scan well. So, the purpose of scanning
should be determined and the reader should not be confused about the information
that he/she requires.

Do Not Read Everything As the reader knows what he/she is looking for before

he/she begins to read, he/she should not read everything. He/she should
concentrate on the information that he/she needs with his/her eyes only on the
particular word, phrase, and word group or thought unit that he/she is looking for.
The attempt should be to pursue word groups and thought units quickly.

Use Guides and Aids Every reading material contains certain guides and aids,
which should be used to find what the reader wants.

Know the Organization of the Material to be Read The reader needs to know
the organization of the reading material to scan it with speed and accuracy.
Practise scanning different kinds of reading materials such as newspaper listings,
dictionaries, telephone directories, and analyze the way information is structured in
these materials.

Concentrate while Scanning The reader needs to concentrate while scanning a
reading material. He/she must have the urge to read and scan the material. This
will improve his visible perception and help him identify the required information
quickly.

TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING

Objective

1To equip students with a number of pointers to write professional and
structured technical reports.

A technical report is a formal report designed to convey technical
information in a clear and easily accessible format. It is divided into sections
which allow different readers to access different levels of information. Technical
communication is the delivery of technical information to readers (or listeners or
viewers) in a manner that is adapted to their needs, level of understanding, and
background.

Definition of Technical Report

Skills
III – B. Tech.

Technical Reports present facts and conclusions about our designs and other
projects. Typically, a technical report includes research about technical concepts
as well as graphical depictions of designs and data. A technical report also follows
a strict organization.

KEY FEATURES OF A REPORT:

1Are designed for quick and easy communication of information
2Are designed for selective reading
3Use sections with numbered headings and sub headings
4Use figures and diagrams to convey data

THE 5 Cs OF TECHNICAL REPORT WRITING:

1.Clarity: To be clear

Elements

1Avoid needless complexity in words, phrases and sentences.

2Keep things simple by using familiar words, constructing effective sentences and
paragraphs that are logical and ordered.
3Avoid ambiguity by using precise, concrete language and making appropriate
choices in words, syntax, pronouns and punctuation.
4Avoid jargon and colloquialisms.

2. Conciseness: To be brief or to the point without losing the intent of our
message.

Elements

1Eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases.
2Avoid necessary repetition.
3A note about prepositional phrases.
4List details but do not emphasize any one detail over another.

3. Concrete: To be definite, not abstract, real and complete

Elements

1Be precise- say what you mean.
2Be technically accurate and complete.
3Choose the right words and be careful when substituting one word for another.
4Use specific facts and figures – make no assumptions.
5Use active rather than passive verb forms.

4.Coherence: To hold together in a logical, orderly and consistent manner.

Elements
1Keep ideas tied together by repeating key terms and phrases.
2Establish links between ideas by using appropriate transitional words.
3Develop ideas and details that fit together clearly and read smoothly.

5.Context: To consider the circumstances in which an event occurs.

Elements

1Define your purpose or goal.
2Identify your audience, their knowledge and needs.

Skills
III – B. Tech.

3Consider the effect of or response to your writing.
4What do you hope or want to achieve?
5Consider the ethical and legal implications.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE REPORTS:

1.On the basis of legal formalities
2.On the basis of frequency or issue
3.On the basis of functions

On the basis of legal formalities:

a. Informal Report: An informal report is usually in the form of individual to
individual communication.
b. Formal Report: A formal is in the form of detailed prescribed form. These
reports can be prepared by experts of the company and submitted to the
management.

c. Statutory Report: A report prepared and presented according to the form and
procedure laid down by the law is called a Statutory Report.

d. Non Statutory Report: Formal reports which are not required under any law,
but which are prepared to help the management in framing policies or taking other
important decisions are called Non Statutory Reports.

On the basis of frequency of Issue

1. Routine Reports: Reports which are prepared to meet the regular and routine

needs of an organization are called Routine Reports. Routine Reports are usually
prepared and submitted to different levels of management at periodical intervals.
The following are some of the routine reports:

a. Progress Reports: Progress means how much work has been completed
according to the plan. We write a progress report to inform a supervisor,
associate, or customer about the progress you have made in a project over a certain
period of time.

b Inspection Reports: In this case, it is an inspection which likely is going to be
home inspection/business inspection to look for defects within and on the property.

c. Performance Appraisal Reports: The performance appraisal is a process in
which we value the employee contribution and worth to the organization.

2. Special Reports: This report may or may not contain statistical data. Using this
report, a particular operation is investigated at a specified time for a particular
purpose. This is done according to the requirements of management but not on a
regular basis. The deviations from standards are paid additional attention and
corrective action is taken. Handling complaints of damage are an example of this
type of report.

On the basis of functions:

On the basis of functions, technical reports may be informational and
analytical reports. If a report merely presents facts relating to an issue or situation,
it is informative. It does not have any conclusions or recommendations. On the
other hand, if it analyses the facts, draws conclusions and makes the
recommendations, it may be described as analytical or interpretative or
investigative. For example, to extend production or to start a new branch or to take
another existing business unit analytical reports are essential.

REPORT WRITING:

Writing a report requires special writing skills and knowledge of format. A

Skills
III – B. Tech.

cover letter usually accompanies technical, research or psychological report. This
letter provides the recipient with the context of a report. Transmittal letters should
be brief. They contain address, name of recipient, date and our request.

Successful report writing contains several main parts:

1.Cover Sheet: This should include the full title of the report and your name.

2.Title Page : Contains the report title, name and organization for whom the
report has been created, author name and the date of fulfillment.

3.Acknowledgements Page: It should always be included into our research or
technical report saying thank you to the people who helped us with work.

4.Summary Abstract: Usually includes the topic chosen for our paper and scope of
the project. It should be completed when the report is written so that we discuss its
main parts and make conclusions. Summary Abstracts must be interesting to the
other researchers and contain current information.

5.Table of Contents: This page contains the paper structure with numbers for every
heading and sub heading for the reader’s convenience. At first, a draft is created in
order to organize the material and ideas, though it may be changed during the
report writing.

6.The list of tables, figures and illustrations: We need to number all the figures and
tables presented in a technical report and list them in the order they are given. If
we use more than seven tables and figures we should list them or a separate page
giving the page numbers that can be found at in the work.

7.Executive Summary or Summary of the Report: This is an overview of the entire

document. It should show the reader what this report is about. It includes the
purpose, review literature, the methodology we choose and a brief list of our
findings and recommendations.

8.The Body: The body of our report is the main part of the paper that contains all
the important materials and data necessary for the research of the issue. The body
includes literature, methodology, result or findings, analysis and discussion
sections. Literature review helps us to place the research into a background and
show its significance as well as to critically analyze scholarly articles and books
which relate to our topic. Methodology contains methods and principles which we
used in our research. Besides, in this section we must explain why we have chosen
these methods for report writing and discuss the ethical issues of the topic. The
results and findings section contains the presentation of facts and our findings and
compares them with the findings of other researchers.

9.Conclusion: This is the final part of the work. We should summarize our
findings and draw conclusions which are supported by evidence.

10.Recommendations: We should make some suggestions concerning further
research into the topic.

11.Appendix: The report may contain an appendix or several ones, which may
present a copy of a questionnaire, maps, calculations, plans, etc.

12.Bibliography: All the sources should be listed.

STAGES OF REPORT PREPARATION:

Information has limited value unless we arrange the collected data in a
chronological manner and in a usable form. Never resume that our job is finished
when the investigational or problem solving phase has been completed. It is also
our responsibility as an engineer or a scientist to show promptly that our results are
worthwhile. The only way to convey these thoughts is by writing a report.

1.Gathering the Data (or developing the theory): To be a successful technical
writer, we should develop the ability to foresee the general content of the report
before the program begins. In most cases, we should be able to prepare a
preliminary report outline at the beginning of the program. Outlining should
benefit both the report and the program, for obviously a well-prepared outline

Skills
III – B. Tech.

requires a carefully planned program.

During the course of the program keep the future report in mind.
Maintain orderly records as the data are gathered. The little extra time required to
record the results carefully can be of great value later. We should write down our
opinions as soon as the data are obtained. Comparing these opinions with those
based on hindsight will often help us to interpret the data properly.

2.Analyzing and Sorting the Results: The second stage of report preparation,
data analysis and sorting, is probably the most difficult because it requires
considerable mental effort to decide what we want to tell readers. The beginning
of this stage overlaps with the data-gathering stage, for the data analysis should
begin as soon as the data are collected. But the bulk of data analysis must be done
near the completion of the program. At this time, re-examine the pertinent data
and review our earlier opinions with respect to subsequent results.

During this data review the program conclusions should be drawn. This is
the most important step in report preparation because the conclusions are the
reason for the report and basis for report preparation: They dictate what to include
in a report and how to organize it. Trying to organize and write a report without
knowing the conclusions is like starting an automobile trip without knowing the
destination. We will not know where we are going, and we will never know when
we get far enough to stop. Therefore, we should choose our report destination
early by drawing and clearly defining the program conclusions before we begin to
organize and write the report. This is best done by first writing down all the
significant results in no particular order and then sorting them so that the results
pertaining to a common factor are grouped together.

3. Outlining the report: The outlining stage is a natural progression from the

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