Comm 111:Communication Skills Question Paper
Comm 111:Communication Skills
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2010
KENYA METHODIST UNIVERSITY -Nyeri Campus
END OF 1ST TRIMESTER 2010 EXAMINATIONS
FACULTY : BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES
DEPARTMENT : BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
COURSE CODE : COMM 111
COURSE TITLE : COMMUNICATION SKILLS
TIME : 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS
• Answer Question ONE and any other TWO Questions
Question 1
a) The core function of a language is associated with positive effects. However,
language can be used to achieve negativity. Discuss this statement using illustrations
(8marks)
b) Explain how the following factors can disrupt effective message delivery.
i) Many information handlers
ii) Mismatch in “thought speed” between communicators (5marks)
c) Give 5(five) key issues you should consider when preparing a presentation (5marks)
d) Explain the Sq 3r reading formula (5marks)
e) Give five benefits of the library facility to a student (5marks)
f) What is the core function of a “topic sentence” in a paragraph? (2marks)
Question 2
Writing
a) Paraphrase in your own words the following paragraph
The greatest challenge in making sense of non-verbal signals comes when one is interacting with people from different cultures where different interpretations could easily be derived from similar signals (Argylc, 1988). In today’s world, opportunities for interacting with people from other cultures are increasing every day. Communicating with people from different counties stands greater chances of success if listeners and speakers approach people from different cultures with greater sensitivity. There are differences in cultures- the way people greet each other, in their status symbols, in the way emotions are expressed, in their regard to time and in their negotiating procedures. They also differ in the meanings they attach to body movements, gestures, dress, colours and others. (12marks)
b) Re- arrange the following sentences to make a coherent paragraph.
Inside, however, pride is given to the portable television Built from mud on a lattice of wooden poles, with a corrugated iron roof rather than the traditional thatch.It is oblong.Mr. Michemis house looks house looks pretty much the same as other houses in the eastern province of Kenya. Only the solar panel protruding above the roof distinguishes it from the majority of homes in the village.. (8marks)
Question 3
Reading
If one swallow does not make a summer, one female prime minister does not mean a country with women’s rights. When Miss Benazir Bhutto became Pakistan’s prime minister in November 1988, life for women was rougher there than in most other countries. It still is. A recent world Bank study says that in some ways Pakistan women are worse off now than they were in mid-1970s. The gap between Pakistan and most other poor countries in widening. Even Bangladesh (half as much GNP per person as Pakistan) and India (about the same) do better by their women.
Pakistan is one of only four countries, the other are India, Bangladesh and Nepal where female life expectancy (51 years) is lower than male (52); the female average for all poor countries is 61. Pakistan has the world’s lowest women to men ratio: even lower than it was in 1965: 91 females to 100 males compared with a low-income average of 96. an uncommonly large number of Pakistani women die in pregnancy or childbirth, six for every 1,000 live births. Yet Pakistan’s population has doubled to 100ml in the past 20 years; its fertility rate (6.8 children per woman), unlike that of most other developing countries has scarcely dropped in 20 years.
A big reason why such misery persists is that it is particularly hard for Pakistan girls to get an education. Pakistan is in the world’s bottom ten countries for female attendance at primary schools alongside Bhutan, North Yemen and seven African states. Female literacy in rural parts of the country, where two out of three Pakistanis live, is thought to be a mere 7%.
Some of the blame for all this lies with the attempt of the late president Zia ul Haq to create an Islamic republic. The Family Laws Ordinance of 1961 and the new constitution of 1973 had made things a little better for women; discrimination on the basis of sex was formally prohibited and the number of girls attending school rose. Zia turned the clock back. A 1984 law of his, for instance, gives woman’s legal evidence half the weight of a man’s.
The World Bank calls on Pakistan to reduce discrimination against women. It also want the government to put more money into girls’ education and women’s health. The bank reckons that if more women had paid jobs, parents would be encouraged to invest in their daughters’ education.
Miss Bhutto’s government is for this sort of thing in principle, but it is an uphill business. In Pakistan men still set the rules; many Pakistan women live in purdah, female seclusion. And, as another boisterous demonstration outside parliament reminded everyone yet again this week, Miss Bhutto has a precious majority in that body. She does not want to offend her more mascline-minded supporters, thereby adding to the risk that they will go over to the opposition. The Islamic Democratic Alliance, the core of that opposition, is Zia’s political heir.
a) What do you think “average life expectancy” means from the passage (2marks)
b) In about 50 words, summarize why women in Pakistan are miserable (10marks)
c) Explain the difference in approach between Zia Uh Hag and Benazir Bhutto
in relation to the women issue (4marks)
d) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the passage
i) ‘turned the clock back’
ii) Female seclusion (2marks)
e) Miss Bhutto has a precarious majority in that body. Replace the underlined part
with your own words without changing meaning of the sentence (2marks)
Question 4
Library Skills
a) Identify 4 types of libraries and give an example for each (4marks)
b) Use illustrations to show three types of catalogues (6marks)
c) Describe the various collections you find in a library (10marks)
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