Read the speech segment given below and fill in the blanks with the appropriate discourse markers. Observe the tone and the punctuation of the passage and choose only the most fitting answer for every blank.

David Foster Wallace on Entertainment

Every year, the culture gets more and more hostile. Hostile, [i] _____, angry– just [that] it becomes more and more difficult to ask people to read or to look at a piece of art for an hour, or to listen to a piece of music that’s complicated and that takes work to understand because, [ii] _____, there are a lot of reasons, but [iii] _____ now, in computer and internet culture, everything is so fast and the faster things go, the more we feed that part of ourselves, but don’t feed the part of ourselves that likes…that likes quiet. It seems significant that we don’t want things to be quiet ever anymore. And that seems to me to have something to do with the fact that we feel like the purpose of our life is to gratify ourselves and to get things for ourselves and to be on the go all the time, [but] there’s this other part of us– a part that is [iv] _____ hungry for silence and quiet and thinking really hard about the same thing for [v] _____ half an hour instead of 30 seconds that doesn’t get fed at all. And it makes itself felt in the body in a kind of dread in here (touches chest).

Transcribed from: “David Foster Wallace on Entertainment.” YouTube, uploaded by

zoombockerman, 8 Dec. 2022.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Given below is an excerpt from the essay “Gifts”, written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Study the essay and answer the given subquestions.

He is a good man, who can receive a gift well. We are either glad or sorry at a gift, and both emotions are unbecoming. Some violence, I think, is done, some degradation borne, when I rejoice or grieve at a gift. I am sorry when my independence is invaded, or when a gift comes from such as do not know my spirit, and so the act is not supported; and if the gift pleases me overmuch, then I should be ashamed that the donor should read my heart, and see that I love his commodity, and not him. The gift, to be true, must be the flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to my flowing unto him. When the waters are at level, then my goods pass to him, and his to me. All his are mine, all mine his. I say to him, How can you give me this pot of oil, or this flagon of wine, when all your oil and wine is mine, which belief of mine this gift seems to deny? Hence the fitness of beautiful, not useful things for gifts. This giving is flat usurpation, and therefore when the beneficiary is ungrateful, as all beneficiaries hate all Timons, not at all considering the value of the gift, but looking back to the greater store it was taken from, I rather sympathize with the beneficiary, than with the anger of my lord Timon. For, the expectation of gratitude is mean, and is continually punished by the total insensibility of the obliged person. It is a great happiness to get off without injury and heart-burning, from one who has had the ill luck to be served by you. It is a very onerous business, this of being served, and the debtor naturally wishes to give you a slap. A golden text for these gentlemen is that which I so admire in the Buddhist, who never thanks, and who says, "Do not flatter your benefactors."

The reason of these discords I conceive to be that there is no commensurability between a man and any gift. You cannot give anything to a magnanimous person. After you have served him, he at once puts you in debt by his magnanimity. The service a man renders his friend is trivial and selfish, compared with the service he knows his friend stood in readiness to yield him, alike before he had begun to serve his friend, and now also. Compared with that good-will I bear my friend, the benefit it is in my power to render him seems small. When I have attempted to join myself to others by services, it proved an intellectual trick-- no more. They eat your service like apples, and leave you out. But love them, and they feel you, and delight in you all the time.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions.

I asked the policemen to come in. The cry, I said, was my own, in a dream. The old man, I said, was away; he had gone to visit a friend in the country. I took them through the whole house, telling them to search it all, to search well. I led them finally into the old man’s bedroom. As if playing a game with them I asked them to sit down and talk for a while. My easy, quiet manner made the policemen believe my story. So they sat talking with me in a friendly way. But although I answered them in the same way, I soon wished that they would go. My head hurt and there was a strange sound in my ears. I talked more, and faster. The sound became clearer. And still they sat and talked. Suddenly I knew that the sound was not in my ears, it was not just inside my head. At that moment I must have become quite white. I talked still faster and louder. And the sound, too, became louder. It was a quick, low, soft sound, like the sound of a clock heard through a wall, a sound I knew well. Louder it became, and louder. Why did the men not go? Louder, louder. I stood up and walked quickly around the room. I pushed my chair across the floor to make more noise, to cover that terrible sound. I talked even louder. And still the men sat and talked, and smiled. Was it possible that they could not hear? No! They heard! I was certain of it. They knew! Now it was they who were playing a game with me. I was suffering more than I could bear, from their smiles, and from that sound. Louder, louder, louder! Suddenly I could bear it no longer. I pointed at the boards and cried, “Yes! Yes, I killed him. Pull up the boards and you shall see! I killed him. But why does his heart not stop beating?! Why does it not stop!?”

(The Tell Tale Heart ~ Edgar Allen Poe)

Read the following email and answer the given subquestions.

From: Alicia Walker Alicia.Walker@gmail.com

To: ExpressEdits ExpressEdits@gmail.com

Subject: ____________________

_________________,

I am writing to formally accept the job offer for the position of Digital Illustrator at ExpressEdits. I am genuinely thrilled about the prospect of joining your esteemed team and am eager to make significant contributions, particularly in the area of visual storytelling. Thank you once again for this wonderful opportunity.

Warm regards,

Alicia Walker

Boston University

Alicia.Walker@gmail.com

Match the following:

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Work Ethic of Creative Flow: A Radio Report

Reporter:

Jean-Michel Basquiat had endless inspiration. He was the embodiment of artistic flow, and while most artists will never approach anything close to his once in a generation talent, there are a few things that you could learn from his work methods that will help you tap into your own creative genius. For example, at the beginning of his career, Basquiat went out and bought two books– two books that would inform all of his works right up until his death. The first of these was a book called Henry Dreyfuss Symbol Sourcebook. This rare book would end up providing source material for almost all of the fifteen hundred drawings and six hundred paintings that he left behind. His art was filled with symbols–ladders, crowns, crosses, copyrights, and all of them came from this rare book. Many of them are gathered on one page– page ninety– a page that almost looks like a dictionary of his whole artistic language. There is, for instance, the symbol that denotes the death of man, which, sadly, he used to symbolise and prophesy his own death.One of the secrets of staying in flow is thus source material. Basquiat used source material like he was J Dilla sampling records, but source material alone will not automatically give you creativity. You have to learn to use it the artist’s way, and it is thus a question of taste– you choose source material that can expose you to the best things that humans have done, and try to bring those things into what you are doing. Picasso had a saying; he said “Good artists copy; great artists steal.” Stealing like an artist means stealing with no judgement. Let your taste make the decisions, not your brain. In an interview at the Fun Gallery in the early 1980s, Marc H. Miller asked Basquiat where the words in his paintings came from. He was interviewing the artist at an exhibition of his paintings at the Fun Gallery in the East Village of New York, and had the rare privilege of being able to refer back from the art to the artist, as both were present there at the gallery.

[Original audio of the interview]

Interviewer: Where do the words come from?

Basquiat: Real life, books, television…

Interviewer: Yeah, and you just skim them and start including…

Basquiat: No man, when I’m working, I hear them, you know, and I just throw them down. Interviewer: Oh yeah? Well, I mean, things like “punic wars” I remember that was in one of your… Basquiat: Uh, yeah, that was from a guidebook on Roman history. “History of Rome in 5 Pages,” you know?

Interviewer: So you snatched a few words from it?

Basquiat (smiling): I didn’t snatch them, you know?

Interviewer: They, they caught your…

Basquiat: They caught my eye and then I took them.

Interviewer points to a painting– what’s this?

Basquiat: That’s Pluto. Based on a drawing of the moon…the first drawing of the moon by Galileo. Interviewer: This looks like an eye

Basquiat: Yeah yeah, that’s the evil eye of the Malocchio

Reporter:

The moment you stop judging “Should I use this? What would people say?”, you open yourself to flow. Stealing like an artist is not to end up as just the sum of your influences. The choices of the artist are choices that serve his message and it is this informed choice that renders an artwork meaningful. The second book that gave Basquiat his unparalleled momentum was Flash of the Spirit- a book about African art. This book was key in helping him zero in on his message. The reason most artists lose flow when they are working is that when they get stuck, they have no guiding ideology to get them out of their tough spot, and because they don’t know what they are trying to communicate to the world, any roadblock could stop them in their tracks for days and open up a vortex of overthinking, staring at a blank canvas, and artist’s paralysis. That’s what happens when you don’t have an overarching message in your works. Basquiat did.

[Original audio]

Basquiat: I think there’s a lot of people that are neglected in art. I don’t know if it’s because of who made the paintings or what. Black people are never portrayed realistically, or not even portrayed in modern art enough.

Reporter:

And because he had a message, art came out of him that much more effortlessly. It’s not just that he had source material; it’s that he had a place to channel it. His work became a commentary on the underrepresentation of black art in the established art world. When you have a message, art comes out of you easily, but a message, tons of source material, and your newfound audacity to steal like an artist is still not enough. You will never have that Basquiat-like limitless inspiration and flow if you don’t master speed. The day Basquiat met Andy Warhol, he ran back home and painted a self-portrait of both of them from a polaroid his idol had just taken. And then he ran back to the restaurant to give it to him as a gift. The paint was still fresh. Warhol couldn’t believe it. All he kept repeating was “Oh, I’m jealous. I’m jealous. He’s faster than me, and these are so great.” That was the beginning of the collaborations between Andy and Jean-Michel. When one of the most prolific artists of all time is jealous of your speed, you know you are doing something right. Work quickly, like a demon. You should work so fast that you don’t have time to think. The brain is your enemy in art. Like they say in the music industry, keep the tape rolling.

If you really want to become the legendary artist that you have the potential to be, if you really want that endless inspiration, you have to understand that most of the flow that you have for making art will come from all the things that you are doing while you’re not making art. In between your creative sessions, while everyone else is busy consuming regurgitated content on social media, you should go offline and you should go deep. Most people need to rev up when they sit down to work. They need hours before they can finally get into the groove. That is because they haven’t been feeding their minds during their downtime.

[Original audio]

Basquiat: I never went to an art school. I failed the art courses that I did take in school. I just looked at a lot of things. And that’s how I think I learned about art, by looking at it. That’s a Roman belt buckle. It’s from a drawing that I did at the Metropolitan. Went all the way to the Metropolitan museum, and I did the drawing of the buckle and I came back with it and I put it right there. Interviewer: Well, that’s kind of a slow process.

Basquiat: I’m a slow person.

Reporter:

The process may seem slow to an outsider, but that slow process is what makes you outrageously fast when you get back into the studio. Make it your mantra to study, memorise and internalise, and those ideas you consume will marinate inside of you, and will eventually become part of your artistic DNA. Suddenly, the oddest things will come out of you at the most unexpected times. It’s all because you made yourself this well of inspiration. You became a student of life– ready at any time to express your genius.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Fill in the blanks with appropriate options:

The (1)_____ of the cradle was the only sound that resonated throughout the room. The (2)_____ clouds that gathered around the estate submerged the whole house in (3)_____. The (4)_____ aspect of living on the hillside was the landslides. The strong wind (5)_____ the treetops and it looked like a storm was coming.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

From the given options, identify the most appropriate sentence to use in the following social context.

Context: A teacher to her students in a school.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions.

Gregor summoned all his courage to try to bring him back; the manager must have suspected something of the sort, for he leaped several steps at a single bound and disappeared with a cry of, “Huh!” which resounded in the hollow of the stairwell. This flight had the unfortunate effect of causing Gregor’s father—who till now had remained master of himself—to lose his head completely; instead of running after the manager, or at least not interfering with Gregor in his pursuit, he seized in his right hand the manager’s walking stick, which had been left behind on a chair with his overcoat and hat, took up in his left a newspaper from the table, and began stamping his feet and brandishing the newspaper and the cane to drive Gregor back into his room. Gregor’s prayers were unavailing, were not even understood; he had turned to his father a supplicating head, but, meek though he showed himself, his father merely stamped all the louder. In the dining room, despite the cold, the mother had opened the window wide and was leaning out as far as possible, pressing her face in her hands. A great rush of air swept the space between the room and the stairway; the curtains billowed, the papers rustled, and a few sheets flew over the carpet. But the father pursued Gregor pitilessly, whistling and whooping like a savage, and Gregor, who was not used to walking backward, progressed but slowly.

Had he been able to turn around he could have reached his room quickly, but he feared to make his father impatient by the slowness of his turning and feared also that at any moment he might receive a mortal blow on his head or on his back from this menacing stick. Soon Gregor had no choice; for he realized with terror that when he was going backward he was not master of his direction and, still fearfully watching the attitude of his father out of the corner of his eye, he began his turning movement as quickly as possible, which was really only very slowly. Perhaps his father realized his good intention for, instead of hindering this move, he guided him from a little distance away, helping Gregor with the tip of the stick. If only he had left off that insupportable whistling! Gregor was completely losing his head.

(Metamorphosis ~ Franz Kafka)

Read the following email and answer the given subquestions.

From: Mia Foster Mia.Foster@gmail.com

To: Lucas Walker LucasWalker@gmail.com

Subject: __________________

______________,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to confirm our scheduled appointment on the 1st of October 2023 at 5:15 p.m at Spring Land Hotel. I look forward to our discussion. If there are any specific topics or points you would like to cover during our meeting, please feel free to let me know in advance.

_____________,

Mia Foster

HR Manager

SparkInitiative

Match the following

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

More Than 157 Million Indians Bought 943 Million Movie Tickets in 2023

More than 157 million Indians watched at least one film in the theatre in 2023. This theatre-going population [1] _____ over the 122 million in 2022. More importantly, it is an 8 percent growth from the pre-pandemic (January to March 2020) [2] _____. [3] _____ bought 943 million tickets. That means they saw [4] _____ films in the year. That number changes depending on the language. Telugu-speaking audiences are [5] _____; they beat the average with over 9 films a year. Tamil comes [i] _____ and Punjabi is at number three with an average of 5 films a year. Hindi lags with an average of 3.

These among others are some of the findings of ‘Sizing the Cinema: 2024,’ a report from Mumbai- based analytics firm Ormax Media. In its third year of publication, the report is based on research conducted in January 2024 [ii] _____ across urban and rural India.

The last Indian Readership Survey in 2019 puts the theatre-going audience at 33 million, so this seems like a large jump. Can a sample-based report be accurate?

Shailesh Kapoor, founder and CEO, Ormax Media, points to the only available metrics– the actual ticket sales (943 million) and box-office revenue (Rs. 12,226 crore). The report is totally [iii] _____ and has been so for three years, he says. Note that the films earned a total revenue of Rs. 19,700 crore in 2023– this includes domestic and overseas theatrical, music, TV and streaming rights. Analysts point out that television is watched regularly by 900 million people. More than 510 million people surf the net daily for videos and films. If anything, the reach numbers for cinema seem low for a film-crazy country with [iv] _____.

“It (the reach of cinema) is only 11 percent of the country’s population,” says Kapoor. Note that the reach number will be way higher if you factor in that [v] _____ spent watching TV is spent on film or that a large proportion of OTT viewing is cinema. These are not factored in by the Ormax report. Even without that, the rise in the overall numbers is impressive, say analysts.

Excerpted from: Kohli-Khandekar, Vanita. “More Than 157 Million Indians Bought 943 Million Movie Tickets in 2023.” Business Standard, Mumbai, 24 Apr 2024, p. 2.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Fill in the blanks with correct expressions of numbers/values/quantity.

Banned betting sites are piggybacking on popular platforms again, as India’s taxmen and regulators play whack-a-mole with shady operators from distant shores. Betting ads have popped up on grocery app Zepto and on taxis operated by an Uber fleet provider, while items branded 1xBat, a mirror name for betting app 1xBet, sell on Amazon.

India has banned and blocked [i] _____ of offshore gambling platforms, but many of them still operate through so-called mirror sites– replicas of the original with a near identical URL, and hosted on a different server. Meanwhile, [ii] _____ celebrities endorse and keep the betting platforms in public view, while tax authorities stare at lost revenue.

Everest fleet, Uber’s [iii] _____ cab-provider, said it became aware of the ads recently and takes the matter seriously. In September, Uber had invested [iv] $30 _____ in the company. The Zepto app has displayed ads from Parimatch, a banned betting platform. Amazon displays various sports goods branded 1xBat, a close imitation of 1xBet. Despite the government’s blocking them, Cyprus- based 1xBet and Parimatch and Curacao-based Fairplay remain [v] _____ visible through digital advertising, while escaping the tax payments that local gaming companies are subjected to. Sadashi, Sakshi. “Betting Ads Mushroom in India’s Regulatory Grey Zone.” Mint, Mumbai, vol. 8, no. 91, 15 Apr. 2025, p. 1.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Identify the most appropriate sentence to use in the following social context, from the given options.

Context: Between police constables of the same level in the police station.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Read the following and answer the given subquestions:

The MTHL and Mumbai’s Changing Face

The longest sea bridge in India, the MTHL was commissioned when Fadnavis was chief minister; construction began in 2016. Opened to the public in January, it has reduced the distance between Sewri on the island city and Chirle near the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Raigad district (1) _____ – from 60 km to 22 km. “The best thing about the MTHL is the non-stop 22 km journey on the sea bridge,” said Saji S., who commutes 60 km one way from his house in Ambernath to Mumbai every day.

For a long time, two bridges over Thane creek linked Mumbai to Navi Mumbai– the Mulund-Airoli connector and the Vashi connector. The MTHL is the third. “This bridge is on land, sea and mudflats in between the two,” said Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority. “The seismic strength of the bridge is (2) _____ the normal seismic activity of that region.”

The bridge is a six-lane highway that ensures quick connectivity from the city to JNPT, the under- construction Navi Mumbai airport, the expressway to Pune and the national highway to Goa. Shinde said the MTHL was a game changer for commuters and the economy. “We are connecting the MTHL to the Worli sea link and to Nariman Point via the coastal road,” he said. “People living in Nariman Point will now be able to reach Panvel in just about 30 minutes.” It currently takes (3) _____.

The MTHL has given the city the opportunity to grow horizontally. It will be the engine of economic growth for Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan region, said S. V. R. Srinivas, former managing director of MMRDA, who oversaw most of the work on the MTHL during his tenure.

Officially the Atal Setu, the MTHL is also a bridge to Mumbai’s future. “Atal Setu will facilitate the creation of ‘Third Mumbai’ in the Navi Mumbai-Raigad region,” said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. The government has facilitated MMRDA as the New Town Development Authority (NTDA) to focus on the growth of the areas that will be benefitted by the Atal Setu. Third Mumbai is an ambitious smart city that is envisaged in the area close to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport. The project encompasses 124 villages in the Raigad district. Several villages from the existing Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area are also likely to be a part of the NTDA. The NTDA is expected to oversee (4) _____ area in the Panvel-Ulwe-Uran region where the new airport and the MTHL will offer connectivity. It will feature housing projects, commercial complexes, data centres, IT knowledge parks and financial service hubs. The foundation stone for the airport was laid in 2018. The Rs.18,000 crore project, planned on 1,160 hectares, is the largest greenfield airport under development.

Just as the MTHL is easing the commute from South Mumbai to Navi Mumbai and beyond, Mumbai Metro has now become a practical alternative to the overcrowded suburban trains for lakhs of Mumbaikaars. The lifeline of commuters, the local trains have been running well over their capacity owing to (5) _____ in the number of travellers over the years, especially during peak hours. People in the suburbs are quickly switching to the clean, air-conditioned metro trains to travel to the city. “Metro saves a lot of time,” says Sayali M., a regular commuter from Gundavali to Aarey. “If I take an autorickshaw on this route, it takes almost 50 minutes and costs around Rs.150. I cover the same distance by metro in 15 minutes and it costs just Rs.20.” Mumbai Metro’s Line 3, which connects the northern suburbs at Aarey to Colaba, the city’s southernmost area, is probably {i} _____ project in the city. This {ii} _____, which is under construction, will have 26 underground stations and will provide connectivity to major business centres like Nariman Point, Cuffe Parade, Fort and Lower Parel, the business district of Bandra Kurla Complex, and the industrial belt of SEEPZ/MIDC (Santacruz Electronics Export Processing Zone/Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation). A fully operational Line 3 would cater to {iii} _____, said Ashwini Bhide, managing director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation. “Around {iv} _____ of road traffic is expected to reduce. By 2031, around 5.54 lakh vehicular trips will be expected to reduce every day, which will cut the fuel consumption {v} _____ a day. Around 15 percent burden on suburban railways will also be lessened,” she said.

Excerpted from: Jathar, Dnyanesh, and Nachiket Kelkar. “Metropolis in Motion.” The Week, 03 Mar 2024, Mumbai, p. 28-37.

Fill in the blanks with appropriate options and answer the given subquestions.

He looked for a source of (1)_____ in the dark house. He managed to find a candle and looked for matches to (2)_____ it. He remembered that he had a (3)_____ in his bag that he could use. When he found his bag, he was surprised by the (4)_____ of it and deduced a lot of things were missing. The second he saw a candle being (5)_____ at the far end of the corridor, he realized he wasn't alone.

Exercise: Identify the most appropriate sentence to use in the following social setting. Setting: Communicating with employer in an office.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions.

The dog was sleeping nearby. He was stirred by the smell of food. He got up, came out of his shelter and stood before the blind man, wagging his tail and gazing expectantly at the bowl, as he was eating his sparse meal. The blind man swept his arms about and asked, 'Who is there?' at which the dog went up and licked his hand. The blind man stroked its coat gently tail to ear and said, 'What a beauty you are. Come with me—' He threw a handful of food, which the dog ate gratefully. It was perhaps an auspicious moment for starting a friendship. They met every day there, and the dog cut off much of its rambling to sit up beside the blind man and watch him receive alms morning to evening. In course of time, observing him, the dog understood that the passers-by must give a coin, and whoever went away without dropping a coin was chased by the dog; he tugged the edge of their clothes by his teeth and pulled them back to the old man at the gate and let go only after something was dropped in his bowl. Among those who frequented this place was a village urchin, who had the mischief of a devil in him. He liked to tease the blind man by calling him names and by trying to pick up the coins in his bowl. The blind man helplessly shouted and cried and whirled his staff. On Thursdays this boy appeared at the gate, carrying on his head a basket loaded with cucumber or plantain. Every Thursday afternoon it was a crisis in the blind man's life. A seller of bright-coloured but doubtful perfumes with his wares mounted on a wheeled platform, a man who spread out cheap storybooks on a gunny sack, another man who carried coloured ribbons on an elaborate frame—these were the people who usually gathered under the same arch. On a Thursday when the young man appeared at the eastern gate one of them remarked, 'Blind fellow! Here comes your scourge—'

Extract from: The Malgudi Days by R.K. Narayan

Read the following exchange between an interviewer and an interviewee and answer the given subquestions:

Candidate: Good morning (Smiles at the interview panel.)

Interviewer 1: Good morning. _____

Candidate: Yes, sir. Siddhant Arora.

Interviewer 2: Please have a seat, Mr. Arora.

Candidate: Thank you, sir. (The candidate calmly takes his seat; he carries his certificates, testimonials, etc., in a well-organised folder which he places on the left side of his table.) (Interviewer 1 seems to whisper something to Interviewer 2, and they share a laugh while looking at the candidate. The candidate feels embarrassed, but hides his awkwardness and remains pleasant, but unaffected. The interviewers study him intently.)

Interviewer 1: Mr. Arora, where do you come from?

Candidate: I come from Uttar Pradesh, sir.

Interviewer 1: From where in UP do you hail?

Candidate: My hometown is Allahabad, sir.

Interviewer 1: _____

Candidate: Sir, Prayag is the same as Allahabad; Prayag was the ancient name of the city. Interviewer 1: Indeed. Can you tell us a little about your educational background?

Candidate: I did my primary education from Tagore Public School, Allahabad, and then went on to do my bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Delhi. I did my post-graduation in Human Resource Management from IIM Bangalore. _____

Interviewer 2: A Market Strategy Associate? Your career trajectory appears rather peculiar. _____ It is a strangely slavish choice, don’t you think, to learn something that may well be taken as a sign of colonial oppression?

Candidate: (Mildly puzzled for a moment, but quickly regains his composure) Sir, strategization, in the context of a multinational company that offers its services to a substantial and diversified client base, is as much a task of communication as it is one of ideation. English is no longer the language of a particular country or a people. Although we can trace it back to our nation’s colonial past, we can rest assured that it is a language that we have made our own. We leverage English and capitalise on it during our interactions with other international players and markets. Learning literature also impacts the manner in which one thinks because it puts one in intimate contact with some of the best thoughts and creations of humankind. One constantly learns from and draws from a large reservoir of experiences as made available through literature so as to be able to keenly understand the people that one works with, to optimally harness the strengths of those in one’s team and to comprehend and respond to clients’ expectations. My position also requires me to analyse and interpret large amounts of data and have a strong command over various analytical tools. _____ So, different as my qualifications might be, I do believe that they both equally contribute to the manner in which I dispense my duties as a Market Strategy Associate. Interviewer 1: Well put, Mr. Arora. Can you tell us about an experience where you had to collaborate with others because the project at hand required an expertise which you did not have? Candidate: Certainly, sir. What comes to my mind immediately is an instance when I needed legal consultation concerning corporate law both in our country and in the different sites where our client had established operations. _____ He also helped me negotiate transaction documentation and coordinated with external legal counsels.

Interviewer 1: Very well, Mr. Arora. _____

Candidate: Sir, I love to read and to go for walks. I also like to follow the latest news in astronomy with an amateurish interest (smiles).

Interviewer 2: Astronomy?

Candidate: Yes, sir. Like the James Webb Space Telescope’s recent discovery of enormous mature galaxies in its deep field images.

Interviewer 2: I see. Interesting (smiles).

Interviewer 1: That will be all for now, Mr. Arora. _____ Have a good day.

Candidate: Thank you, sir. Wish you a good day ahead too. (Exits after righting the position of the chair that he has vacated.)

Read the following email and answer the given subquestions.

From: Alicia Walker alicia.walker@gmail.com

To: ExpressEdits expressedits@gmail.com

Subject: ____________________

_________________,

I am writing to formally accept the job offer for the position of Digital Illustrator at ExpressEdits. I am genuinely thrilled about the prospect of joining your esteemed team and I am eager to make significant contributions, particularly in the area of visual storytelling. Thank you once again for this wonderful opportunity.

Warm regards,

Alicia Walker

Boston University

alicia.walker@gmail.com

Match the following

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Fill in the blanks with appropriate options:

Shilpa decided to (1)_____ for a day in order to reduce her body fat. She recalled that the day went by much (2)_____ than usual. She also hit the gym at the end of that day, but didn't exert herself too (3)_____ due to her weakened state. She was really happy with the results, so she decided to engage in (4)_____ once a week. She decided that on every Saturday, she would (5)_____. Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Study the conversation given below and answer the subquestions that follow by filling in the blanks with the most contextually appropriate expressions.

Judge: Mr. Foreperson, is it correct that the jury has reached a verdict?

Foreperson: (i) _____

Judge: Will the Clerk of the Court please take the verdict? (ii) _____

Clerk: As to G.S.15A-2000 murder in the first degree, what is the jury’s verdict?

Foreperson (reads): We, the jury, find the defendant, Catherine Danielle Clark, not guilty of first- degree murder of Mr. Chase Andrews.

Clerk: Members of the jury, your foreperson has announced the following verdict: G.S.15A-2000, murder in the first degree, not guilty. (iii) _____

Jurors (collectively): Yes

Judge: If anyone said no, please raise your hand.

(Nobody raises their hand.)

Judge: Do you wish the jury to be polled?

(No party makes an application for a poll.)

Judge: (iv) _____ Ms. Clark, you are free to go, and I apologize on behalf of the State for the time that you have served. The jury is hereby discharged from the case. (v) _____

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.