MOCK TEST- MATHS FEEDBACK

THREE MEN IN A BOAT 1

MAJOR TOPICS

River represents life. It is the central theme of the novel. The entire series of events in the novel either takes place on the river or revolve around it. The three men decide to take up a boating holiday up the river Thames considering that they would have “fresh air, exercise and quiet”.

Human life flows like a river, going through various beautiful as well as vile stages. Similarly, their trip up the river serves as a frame for the novel that calls for numerous anecdotes, funny incidents and misadventures. The river holds and binds all these together providing unity to the novel.

HISTORY

 The book was initially intended to be a serious travel guide; and, the numerous references to the places of historical importance indicate the same. The narrator also makes tongue-in-cheek comments with reference to Queen Elizabeth, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

The narrator muses on the chivalrous days of the knights and the maidens. He speculates over the numerous historical figures associated with the towns and villages that they pass through. He comments on the history of Kingston and Marlow, considers Caesar to be a respectable man and ridicules the public behaviour of Queen Elizabeth. The author even brings in the context of the famous Hampton Court which became the palace of the Tudors and the Stuarts. Long passages have been devoted to the descriptions of King John. He speaks of the town of Staines where barons assembled before they met King John at Runningmede in 1215.

Thus, the novel becomes a form of historical guide that builds up in the course of the three friends sailing through the Thames.

NATURE

The narrator is fond of natural beauty. There are a number of philosophic and sentimental passages where J muses on the beauty of nature. The novel gives long descriptions of the scenic beauty of Kingston. The scenes of Kingston are described in a picturesque manner as “so bright but calm, so full of life and yet so peaceful.”

He considers sailing a task that makes one a part of Nature. He says, “Your spirit is at one with hers; your limbs grow light! The voices of the air are singing to you.”

In a very arresting tone, he praises the natural beauty of the night that one could feel while camping out. He finds solace in the calm of the night as “Night’s heart is full of pity for us.”

HUMOUR

With the turning of the most casual and ordinary instances of life into funny incidences, humour becomes the essence of the novel. The human weaknesses have been ridiculed in a very light hearted and amusing way.

The jokes seem still as fresh, amusing and topical as they were in the Victorian age. They manage to raise a laugh because of their universal appeal to the readers. In fact, the novel was meant to be a serious travel guide; however, its humorous element turned it into a well-written comic novel.

The added incidents, comic set-pieces, experiences and anecdotes from the three friends make the reader laugh louder. The agony of putting up a tent in bad weather conditions, the craving for mustard, uncle Podger’s episode, description of the unreliability of the barometers, the story of the two drunken men sliding into the same bed in the dark, the making of the Irish stew, the story about the trout etc are things that the common man can easily relate to. All the misadventures that they go through are depicted in an extremely funny manner.

FRIENDSHIP

The book is all about the three friends. The three men totally differ in their approaches, attitudes and opinion. Still, they manage to make the best of the trip. The book depicts a solid rapport between the three even though, at most of the times, they disagree with each other. Unity in diversity is also hinted throughout the novel as the three go through their journey on the river representing that of life.

THREE MEN IN A BOAT 2

                                                                   

                                                                      Character Sketches

J, the narrator, represents a simple middle-class Englishman who is hypochondriac. He believes that he is suffering from innumerable diseases and ailments caused by ‘overwork’.

He is a man of decent dressing sense with an inclination towards ‘taste in colours.’ J has a fondness for water and water-related activities like boating, rafting and rowing. He narrates numerous anecdotes, comic set-pieces and funny incidents from his memory that add to the humour in the novel. He finds humour even in the most ordinary and casual things of life.

He has a great love for history and nature which is reflected in his descriptions of the scenic beauty and historical significance of the places that they pass through. He is fond of liveliness and dislikes the ‘dim and chilly’ churchyards and tombs. He is critical towards what is considered a piece of art. According to him, the frivolous scraps of today become the antique pieces of tomorrow. He contemplates on human nature by ridiculing man’s weaknesses. He says “Each person has what he doesn’t want, and other people have what he does want.”

J possesses a very funny idea of work. He is a workaholic, as work ‘fascinates’ him. He loves to accumulate work and this has become a passion for him. He prides himself on his art of preservation of work. Yet, he is fair to himself and does not ask for more than his proper share.

                                                            Harris

Harris’s character is based on author’s real life friend, Carl Hentschel. Harris is a carefree man who has a fondness for drinking. He behaves in a weird manner after drinking too much but has no clue about it the next day.

Harris is a man who is overconfident about almost everything.  However, he eventually turns out to be a failure with the things he considers himself to be expert at. Harris’ account of his visit to the Hampton court maze serves as one of the most humorous one in the book. He claims to be a very good cook but eventually messes up the dish and even burns himself. Harris loves music and believes that he is very good at singing comic songs. But the fact is that he messes them up as he forgets the lyrics and confuses the pianist. However, in their discussions on whether to camp out or not, it is Harris who makes a sensible point by counting the difficulties one would face while camping on rainy and stormy nights. According to him, one faces several difficulties as the things that one carries get damp.

Like J, Harris too has an unusual attitude towards work. He has the tendency of taking the burden of the work on his shoulders and then passing the buck to other people. Unlike J, Harris takes delight in graves, tombs and monumental inscriptions. He goes mad to see the Mrs. Thomas’s tomb. He even mentions that he has come for the trip so that he could get to see Mrs. Thomas’ tomb.

                                                       George

                                                             The character of George is based on the author’s real life friend, George Wingrave. George works at a bank. It is he who comes up with the idea of a boating trip after dismissing the options provided by the other two of taking up a sea-trip and staying at countryside.

George joins the other two men on the trip later, up-river at Weybridge. He brings along a banjo and expresses his desire to learn to play it. Later, when George plays the instrument and starts, the three get mournful and the dog howls. George could never get to learn to play a banjo as he was discouraged by his landlady and his neighbourhood. He was even barred from playing it for six months.

George is quite practical in his approach. At every crucial moment, he comes up with a pragmatic solution. He comes forth as a sensible person as he suggests not carrying unnecessary items on the boat as it only overloads the boat. Also, he recommends not taking cheese along. But, he is considered to be quite lazy by Harris. According to Harris, George fools about all day and wastes time sitting ‘behind a bit of glass’ in the bank. 

Later in the novel, when the weather conditions become worse, George does not consider it to be wise to stay back in the boat and offers a sensible solution of boarding a train from Pangbourne.

                                                    Montmorency

Unlike the three human characters that are taken from real life, Montmorency is entirely fictional. He represents ‘inner consciousnesses’. According to J, he is an angel too good for this world but is somehow kept back from the mankind.

Montmorency is J’s pet dog. He is of a fox-terrier breed and this makes it nearly impossible to train him to be gentler. He is generally of violent nature and is fond of noise and action. He does not take delight in ‘romantic solitude’. It is only he who is not happy with the idea of the boating trip. He feels that there is nothing to do for him on a boat trip as he neither cares for scenery nor smoking. He believes the idea of boating to be a ‘bally foolishness.’

Montmorency is keen on being a ‘perfect nuisance’ and to make people go mad at him. His ambition in life is to be ‘sworn at’ and be cursed. He feels proud after achieving such ambitions. He spoils the task of packing as he creates mess by putting his leg into the jam, worrying teaspoons and playing with the lemons.

His encounter with the cat named Tom is one of the most amusing episodes in the novel. He could not act violently and surrendered to the gentleness of the cat. Another amusing incident is related to the kettle about which has been curious throughout the trip. But on burning his nose, he regarded it with a mixture of awe, suspicion, and hate.

                                                                 Mrs. Poppets

   Mrs. Poppets is J’s housekeeper. George, Harris and the narrator decide to wake up at half-past six in the morning to get ready for the trip. But nobody is able to wake up on time. It is Mrs. Poppets who wakes them up at 9.00 a.m. without which they would have got late in leaving for Waterloo.

                                                                          Uncle Podger

A funny character carved out by the author, Uncle Podger is J’s uncle. J believes that the habits of Harris and his uncle are quite similar.

Uncle Podger is a messy and forgetful being. Like Harris, Uncle Podger too takes charge of a task only to delegate it to people around him and later blame its failure on them. Uncle Podger engages everyone present in the house to get him things he required to hang a picture on the wall. He asks them to hold the chair, lift the picture, search for his coat etc. Though everybody runs from one corner to the other and follow his instructions, he still taunts them and shouts at them. Even for nailing a nail in the wall, he would take hours and still mess things up. Thus, his account in the book is highly amusing and one of the most memorable one. The description of commotion that he creates in the house in order to get a trivial task done is really funny.

GAP FILLING (SOLVED)

                                         GAP FILLING (SOLVED)

Q. The woods here (a)_______________ lovely, dark and deep, and the greenery is enchanting. It is the picturesque Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, which (b)_______________ over 153 acres of land. Founded (c)_______________ 1969 on 34 acres of land, it (d)_______________ initially a botanical garden and home to an exciting variety of trees, herbs and shrubs. 

a) i) are                   ii)      were         iii)      was                 iv) has been 

b) i) is extending     ii) extends          iii) have extended      iv) has extended

c) i) from                 ii) since              iii) in                         iv) on

d) i) is                     ii) had been        iii) were                    iv) was

HOW TO SOLVE:

If we try to solve the blank (a) first, we can notice that the sentence can be divided in two parts, joined with the connector ‘and’. The first part talks about the ‘woods’ while the second part talks about ‘greenery’. Since, the verb in second part of the sentence is in the present tense, the verb in the first part of the sentence should also be in the present tense. Hence, options (ii) and (iii) cannot be correct. Moreover, the tense here should be present simple. So, option (iv) becomes incorrect. As we have eliminated all the other three options, we must be left with only the correct option, i.e., option (i).

For blank (b), we can notice that the sentence is in present indefinite tense. Thus, the answer should be a verb form in the same tense. Now, it is easy to note that option (i), (iii) and (iv) are either in present continuous or present perfect form. So, they cannot be the correct replacement for the blank. Therefore, the correct answer is given by option (ii), which is the simple present form of the verb ‘extend’, used here with the singular subject 'It'.

The last sentence indicates an action that talks about the past. As the preposition ‘in’ is used to show the year or month in which the action was completed, option (iii) gives the correct preposition for blank (c).

The last sentence reveals something about the past. Therefore, the answer has to be a verb in its past-tense form. Since option (i) is in the present tense, it cannot be the correct answer. The verb given in option (iii) is incorrect as doesn't agree with the singular subject 'it'. Although the verbs in both option (ii) and option (iv) are in their past forms, the former is in its past perfect form. Since the past perfect tense is used when a relative condition of the past is described, option (ii) cannot be the correct answer. Hence, the correct answer is the one given by option (iv). 

Answer:

(a) i      (b) ii      (c) iii      (d) iv

SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION/DIALOGUE CONVERSION (SOLVED) Q1. Read the conversation given below. Complete the report that follows on the basis of the conversation. Father: Are you going somewhere? Son: I am going to buy a gift for my friend. It is his birthday tomorrow. Father: Okay. What have you decided to buy for him? Son: I saw him upset over his broken cricket bat. So, I think a cricket bat would be the best gift for him. Father asked his son (a)_________________________. The son answered that (b)_________________________ as it (c)_________________________. On being asked what he had decided to buy for his friend, he replied that (d)_________________________ and so he thought a cricket bat would be the best gift for him. HOW TO SOLVE: This question primarily tests the knowledge of the rules of conversion from direct to indirect (or reported) speech. In reported speech, a verb in present continuous tense changes to its past continuous form. So, blanks (a) and (b) will have to be filled with past continuous tense. Since, the pronouns also change according to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns ‘you’ and ‘I’ will change to ‘he’. Thus, 'if he was going somewhere' fits blank (a) while 'he was going to buy a gift for his friend' fits blank (b). In reported speech, present tense changes to past tense. So, for blank (c) ‘is’ will change to ‘was’. As the expressions of time also undergo a change in reported speech, ‘tomorrow’ will change to ‘the next day’. Thus, 'was his birthday the next day' fits the third blank. A verb in its past simple form changes to its past perfect form in reported speech. So, ‘saw’ will change to ‘had seen’. Since the pronouns also change according to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns ‘I’ will change to ‘he’. Thus, 'he had seen him upset over his broken cricket bat' fills the last blank appropriately. Answer: (a) if he was going somewhere (b) he was going to buy a gift for his friend (c) was his birthday the next day (d) he had seen him upset over his broken cricket bat Q2. On the basis of the public messages and newspaper headlines given below, complete the sentences that follow. a) NO SMOKING Smoking inside the airport premises _________________________. b) PLEASE FILL UP THE FORM You _________________________ fill up the form to register for the course. c) RAINFALL PREDICTED India Meteorological Department (IMD) _________________________a 14mm rainfall over the weekend in Delhi. d) HUNDREDS KILLED IN PLANE CRASH More than three hundred people _________________________ when a passenger plane _________________________ on the runway in Mangalore airport. HOW TO SOLVE: a) The sentence has to be in present tense as it is a public notice. Hence, the verb form of ‘to be’ has to be added. As the subject ‘smoking’ is in singular form, the verb also has to be singular. Thus, the verb ‘is’ will be used. Now, we need to think of an appropriate verb. Thus, we can use either 'is prohibited' or 'is not allowed' to fill the blank. b) The sentence has to be in the present tense as it is an instruction where time is not indicated. Hence, the verb form of ‘to be’ will be used. The pronoun ‘you’ takes the plural form of the verb ‘to be’. Thus, ‘are’ will be used here. Since, the message is in the form of a request (as indicated by the word 'please'), the word ‘requested’ along with the preposition ‘to’ will be added. Thus, a phrase that replaces the blank appropriately can be 'are requested to'. c) The newspaper headline suggests that a prediction has been made about rainfall in Delhi. In this blank, the verb will take its present perfect form. Thus, the answer will be ‘has predicted’. d) Since the headline reports an incident of the past, the blanks will take the past forms of the verbs used. Thus, the first blank will either be filled with ‘were killed’ or ‘died’ and the subsequent blank will be filled with the verb ‘crashed’. Answer: a) is not permissible b) are requested to c) has predicted d) were killed/died, crashed

                        SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION/DIALOGUE CONVERSION

                                                      (SOLVED)

        Q1. Read the conversation given below. Complete the report that follows on the basis of the conversation.

Father: Are you going somewhere?
Son: I am going to buy a gift for my friend. It is his birthday tomorrow.
Father: Okay. What have you decided to buy for him?
Son: I saw him upset over his broken cricket bat. So, I think a cricket bat would be the best gift for him.

Father asked his son (a)_________________________. The son answered that (b)_________________________ as it (c)_________________________. On being asked what he had decided to buy for his friend, he replied that (d)_________________________ and so he thought a cricket bat would be the best gift for him.

HOW TO SOLVE:

This question primarily tests the knowledge of the rules of conversion from direct to indirect (or reported) speech. 

In reported speech, a verb in present continuous tense changes to its past continuous form. So, blanks (a) and (b) will have to be filled with past continuous tense. Since, the pronouns also change according to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns ‘you’ and ‘I’ will change to ‘he’. 

Thus, 'if he was going somewhere' fits blank (a) while 'he was going to buy a gift for his friend' fits blank (b). 

In reported speech, present tense changes to past tense. So, for blank (c) ‘is’ will change to ‘was’. As the expressions of time also undergo a change in reported speech, ‘tomorrow’ will change to ‘the next day’. Thus, 'was his birthday the next day' fits the third blank.

A verb in its past simple form changes to its past perfect form in reported speech. So, ‘saw’ will change to ‘had seen’. Since the pronouns also change according to the subject of the sentence, the pronouns ‘I’ will change to ‘he’. Thus, 'he had seen him upset over his broken cricket bat' fills the last blank appropriately.

Answer: 

(a)    if he was going somewhere
(b) he was going to buy a gift for his friend
(c) was his birthday the next day
(d) he had seen him upset over his broken cricket bat

 Q2. On the basis of the public messages and newspaper headlines given below, complete the sentences that follow. 

a) NO SMOKING

Smoking inside the airport premises _________________________.

b) PLEASE FILL UP THE FORM

You _________________________ fill up the form to register for the course.

c) RAINFALL PREDICTED

India Meteorological Department (IMD) _________________________a 14mm rainfall over the weekend in Delhi.

d) HUNDREDS KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

More than three hundred people _________________________ when a passenger plane _________________________ on the runway in Mangalore airport.

HOW TO SOLVE:

a) The sentence has to be in present tense as it is a public notice. Hence, the verb form of ‘to be’ has to be added. As the subject ‘smoking’ is in singular form, the verb also has to be singular. Thus, the verb ‘is’ will be used. Now, we need to think of an appropriate verb. Thus, we can use either 'is prohibited' or 'is not allowed' to fill the blank.

b) The sentence has to be in the present tense as it is an instruction where time is not indicated. Hence, the verb form of ‘to be’ will be used. The pronoun ‘you’ takes the plural form of the verb ‘to be’. Thus, ‘are’ will be used here. Since, the message is in the form of a request (as indicated by the word 'please'), the word ‘requested’ along with the preposition ‘to’ will be added. Thus, a phrase that replaces the blank appropriately can be 'are requested to'.

c) The newspaper headline suggests that a prediction has been made about rainfall in Delhi. In this blank, the verb will take its present perfect form. Thus, the answer will be ‘has predicted’.

d) Since the headline reports an incident of the past, the blanks will take the past forms of the verbs used. Thus, the first blank will either be filled with ‘were killed’ or ‘died’ and the subsequent blank will be filled with the verb ‘crashed’.
 

Answer: 

a) is not permissible
b) are requested to
c) has predicted
d) were killed/died, crashed

FEEDBACK OF MOCK SA2 ENGLISH

                                                                    

                                                                          

                                                                    

                                        General Feed back for further preparation

Writing Section

(A)   Notice Writing- 1. Don’t forget to write name of the place after institution’s name. (if name of the place is not mentioned in the question, write XYZ city)

2.       Write the notice writer’s name first and designation below.

3.       Notice should be written neatly on a FRESH/NEW page without any cuttings or overwriting. Pl. draw a box to write the notice.

4.       All important information should be written as bullet points.

(B)Formal Letter/Letter to editor-    1.Sender’s address (‘FROM’ ADD.) to be written first and Receiver’s Add to be written below that.

2. If Addresses are not given in the question, you will have to create appropriate Addresses.

IMPORTANT NOTE :      Please prepare all the FORMATS thoroughly from the master note book or the blog.

Grammar Section

Practice transformation question(dialogue conversion) more from sample exercises.

Literature Section    Read all your lessons thoroughly.

OTBA    Divide your answers into 3 paragraphs. PARA 1: Introduction   PARA2: Explanation, expansion of ideas with examples, Analysis of data, Comparison   PARA 3:  Conclusion, Message

HINDI SA-2 SYLLABUS

OTBA ENGLISH 1.

                                                       OTBA-ENGLISH

                    THEME 1 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND VALUES

1.   What is the responsibility of those offering cloud services?  

Ans. Understanding the trust the user has on their services, it becomes a responsibility of the third parties offering cloud services to keep the personal data of the user safe and not reveal it to anyone without permission.

2.   How can we say that information technology has made us socially more powerful?

Ans.Traditionally, the information available on the internet was controlled and accessed only by religious, educational, financial, healthcare and government organisations. However, with the increased use of information technology in our daily lives, the access to information has been given to everyone. This has made us socially more powerful as the need of the organisations to grant permission to access the information is no more prevalent.

3.   Pooja's father took her to a village to meet their relatives. She was mesmerised with the beauty of the place but could not understand why the villagers had no clue what internet is. On returning, she searched internet and came to know that digital divide prevails in many places in the world. As Pooja, write a letter to her cousin, Shivani, relating her experience. 

Ans. Traditionally, the information available on the internet was controlled and accessed only by religious, educational, financial, healthcare and government organisations. However, with the increased use of information technology in our daily lives, the access to information has been given to everyone. This has made us socially more powerful as the need of the organisations to grant permission to access the information is no more prevalent.

4.  Government of some societies encourage digital divide by censoring the access of some information for the public. Is it right? 

Ans. No, it is incorrect on the part of the government to decide what the public should be able to view or access. People should have the right to information and should not be dictated.

5.  Varun, a college student, runs away from his home. However, he is soon traced by the police with the help of information technology. What do you think they might have done for this purpose?

Ans.  To search Varun, the police might have checked his financial transactions as well as the web pages he had visited before running away. Checking the statuses and messages he sent on networking sites could have also been of great help. Moreover, they would have used the GPS to track his mobile phone and in turn reached him.

6.   Dharna wanted a house loan but was refused by the bank based on a computer report. How is this linked to Cybernetics? Give a detailed answer on what might have happened.

Thus, when Dharna had applied for the house loan, the computer data base might have extracted all her information that had been stored there, like her income, assets, education, job, age, etc. Based on this information, the computer must have assessed whether she would be able to repay the amount she had asked as a loan. This is an objective report which does not take into account any other source of payment which has not been enlisted. Since this automated report might not have come in favour of Dharna, her application might have been refused.

7.  Aditi told David that his data has been stored in the cloud. What did she mean?

Ans. By saying this, Aditi meant that information that David has shared with internet, has been stored in a remotely placed server. Such a server is termed as a cloud.

8. Tanisha's younger brother asked her to list all the information technologies and their respective moral impacts. However, she was not able to do so.

Based on the information gathered from the text, what do you think was the reason behind this?

Ans. Tanisha was not able to list all the information technologies available due to the quick changes and development in the number and types of information technologies. Moreover, they keep moving in and out of fashion which makes it difficult to classify their moral impacts as well.

9. Write an essay on 'Information Security.'

Information Security

Information technology has made our lives easier, simpler and more productive. Though we can share and store information for later usage or in order to access some sites, the question of its safety lingers. Information security is a social as well as moral issue.

Though the users grant control of their personal information to the third parties, they expect their data to remain secure and restricted from being used by others and more so by those who may harm them. To take an example, there may be frauds and larceners who may rob a person of his/her identity for personal gains. The lives of the victims of such crimes gets ruined at the hands of such frauds. Moreover, the victims may spend their whole life to build trust, bank balance and self respect.

To resolve such issues, a new industry has been developed which is dedicated to securing computer systems from frauds and hackers as they are difficult to access. However, till then we have to be careful, alert and far sighted to understand and avert such problems.

10. Gagan asked his father if there are any moral challenges involved in the usage of information technology and what were they. What would have his father answered?

Ans. Gagan's father would have replied in affirmative to his question, stating the moral challenges involved in information technology. These moral challenges are related to the production, access and control of information.

11. Transition from the oral tradition to that of noting down the information was not welcomed by everyone. What would have been the reason behind it?

Ans. Any kind of change is always opposed and questioned. Similarly, since people were used to the traditional method of remembering information and transferring and gathering it through oral method, they could not appreciate the importance of writing information. People like Socrates believed that this method would not help to develop wisdom and understanding.

12.Wrrite a speech on the misuses of information technology to be given in the morning assembly.

Misuses of Internet

Good morning everybody. Today, I would like to express my views on how internet is being misused.

Information technology has become irreplaceable in our fast moving and digitally guided lives. But with the benefits that this technology has brought, one should understand the responsibility of safeguarding its usage.

Many people use internet to trap people in their malicious plots. They either hack or post information about the concerned person from/on internet. Some, however, post information or tag people on networking sites unaware of the consequences.

One should understand that information posted on networking sites or anywhere on internet is permanent and may be used by spammers, identity thieves and other criminals for their personal gains. This may spoil the professional, married and social lives of innocent people. Moreover, such information makes our employers, friends and even relatives judgemental.

Thus, it becomes morally incorrect to misuse internet as it interconnects the lives of different people.

Thank you.

13. Given a choice to write an answer by copying from some website or using the clues to write your own answer, what would you choose? Why?

Ans. I would choose to take clues from the internet and write the answer using my own knowledge and understanding. This would develop my learning and even help me to write answers in exams.

14. While surfing the internet, Mukti clicked on a link due to which her computer got infected with a virus and later its hardware crashed. She complained this to be an issue of 'clickjacking'. What do you think might have happened?

Ans. While browsing the internet, Mukti might have clicked some suggestive links that pop up on the website. However, after clicking that link, she might have been taken to some location other than the one she had expected. This might have affected her system since usually such sites contain many other links that further infect our system. Such sites pay the clickjacker for bringing viewers. This technique is called clickjacking.

15. Sushil was a brilliant student in school days. After graduation, he decided to be a shooter and participate in the Asian World Championship. For this, he bought a rifle and started practising vigorously. Unfortunately, he was soon booked by the police as a terrorist, ruining his life and career forever. Based on your understanding of the text, why do you think could this have happened?

Through Cybernetics, which is the automated information synthesis, serious and life altering decisions can be made. Though one cannot question the usefulness of computers, we should not forget that it is but a machine. It reads the information,  learnings and makes predictions based on complex logic and mathematics, which may result in slightly incorrect predictions at times. In Sushil's case, the fact that he had bought a rifle and was practising for it, might have been misinterpreted by the computer in a powerfully negative way. Thus, ruining Sushil's life and career for ever.

16. If  by mistake, a friend of yours reveals the password of his email account to you, then will you open his email account? Why?

Ans.  Our email accounts usually contain confidential information which people do not like to share with anyone. Thus, opening anyone's email account or using any other personal information without the person's consent would be ethically incorrect and would amount to breach of trust. Thus, I would not open his email account.

17. Geeta browsed some web pages and then went on to sleep. The next day, she again tried opening the same web pages and was surprised to see how fast she could open those sites. Also, the search engine she had used, suggested similar web pages. How do you think was this possible?

When Geeta browsed the web pages, the browser software might have recorded the web pages that she had visited. This helped her to load those web pages faster the next time she tried to visit them. Besides, the search engine might have detected which other sites she had visited, thereby suggesting similar websites.

18. “For Socrates there is something immoral or false about writing since it does not help foster wisdom and understanding.” Elucidate.

Ans. Transition from the oral method of passing information to writing words and storing information in books, etc. did not go down well with everyone. Socrates found this change of tradition as immoral and wrong. He believed that by using such a method, the development of our wisdom and understanding would suffer. By this, he probably meant that writing down things would make it objective with no requirement to use one's brain or intellect to synthesize knowledge. It will lead to only using or reproducing the required or sorted information. Moreover, people would not use their brain to reproduce things once learnt or informed. What Socrates believed was not wrong, yet one cannot deny that such developments have made our lives much easier.

19. Your sister has changed her mobile number. She wants to give her new number to her friends but does not want to do so through her Facebook status. Is she correct? 

Yes, she is correct in doing so as giving personal information as statuses on networking sites is not safe. Unknown people may use the information to harm us. Moreover, since a phone number can reveal our address, whereabout, etc., it should be circulated discretely.

20. Your sister has changed her mobile number. She wants to give her new number to her friends but does not want to do so through her Facebook status. Is she correct? 

Ans. Yes, she is correct in doing so as giving personal information as statuses on networking sites is not safe. Unknown people may use the information to harm us. Moreover, since a phone number can reveal our address, whereabout, etc., it should be circulated discretely.

Q3)

21.A company named PTT, conducted a survey on the popularity and usability of different search engines available on internet. Their findings are listed in the data below.

Search Engines	Popularity/Usability
A	7%
B	78%
C	10%
D	5%

Based on this data and the given text, write a report mentioning the reasons for the difference in the usability of different search engines. You are a correspondent, Preeti Negi.

Ans. Search Engines and Their Usability

Preeti Negi

Correspondent

Delhi, 12 December 2013

The search engines available on internet have drastic difference in their popularity. In a survey conducted by PTT, it was found that B has the maximum popularity and usability. The reason behind this is the accuracy and usefulness of the information provided by this site. With education, awareness, and increased usage of web services, it has become comparatively difficult to fool the user. Besides, how and to what extent the filtration is done by the search engines to ensure correct and required information reaches the user is probably the reason for the low popularity of A and D. These together make up to merely 12%. C too is not very popular but has a better a standing than A and D.

22. Mrs. Kumar bought a computer for her 11 year old son. But before sharing his information on the internet, she asked him to keep in mind the primary moral concerns related to the recording of information. What did she mean?

Ans. Mrs. Kumar wanted her son to use information technology in a manner that does not hurt anyone morally, socially and emotionally. While recording information using internet, one should collect, store and access data keeping in mind the interest of oneself as well as others.

23. Dilip and Sawant were farmers and very good friends. Dilip had a big farm, while Sawant had a small field. But both knew their boundaries and never tried to intrude or trespass the other's farm.

Is this situation similar to the world of digital information? Give a reasoned answer.  

Ans. No, this situation is not similar as digital information is “non-exclusory.” It means that if moral issues are not to be considered, then everyone can use the same information that is available on internet by copying it from a digital source to another without deleting or destroying the original copy. However, this in not possible in the given case, as two people cannot use the same farm for agriculture.

24.  Suhail shared his bank account details online with an insurance company. However, he soon realises that his account has been hacked and all his savings have been robbed. He is dismayed and writes a letter to the editor of Meerut Times on the moral values concerned with access to information.

2 Shantipath

Meerut

2 December 2013

The Editor

Meerut Times

Meerut

Sir,

Subject: Moral Values and Access to Information

Through the columns of you esteemed newspaper, I would like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities towards the moral values concerned with the access to information. Recently, the bank account details I had shared online with an insurance company were used by someone to access my bank account and all the money was transferred to some other account. Though I had reported the matter to the police, they have not been of much help.

The information provided by the user comes with a belief that it will be kept safe and will not be revealed to others without permission. However, to betray them is morally incorrect and the punishment should be severe. The third parties should keep in mind the privacy, ownership, trust and truthfulness of the information being transferred.

I am sure the concerned authorities will try to develop a secure system which will be difficult to use without user’s permission. Their efforts in this regard would be highly appreciated.

Your truly,

Suhail

25. Jhilmil decides to teach the usage of computer to her maid. She wants to start her lesson by talking about the basic usage of information technology. What should she tell her maid?

Ans. Jhilmil should tell her maid that information technologies are used to record, transmit, organise and synthesise information. Though there are many information technologies that help us to perform some of these functions, the one that performs all of them is a computer.

1)

26 Why do you think is it important to safeguard our personal information from being hacked by someone?

Ans.If the personal information of a person is hacked, then money from his bank account may be robbed. His identity may be stolen by someone for personal motives or to pursue criminal plans. The person may be robbed of his trust and self respect. People may even use the personal information to insult or expose us.

27. Joe, a software designer and developer, told his friends that people like him have a tough job as they have to make uncomfortable compromises while designing information technologies.

Why did he say this?

Ans. The designers and developers of information technologies have to constantly make uncomfortable compromises to fulfil the ever-growing and widespread needs of the users. Many users want the information provided on internet to be quickly accessible and easy to use and that too at a very low cost. On the other hand, they expect their information to be secure and authentic. However, all this cannot be clubbed together. Due to this, the designers and developers take a middle path making uncomfortable compromises. They either maximise the quick and easy access at a low cost andminimise the security and authenticity of the information or vice versa. 

28. What is the moral issue involved when a third party uses our information?

Ans. Collection, storage or usage of information without one's consent is morally and ethically incorrect. Not everyone is comfortable in sharing their personal information. Moreover, if it gets in wrong hands, there may be danger to one's property, respect, emotions and even life.

29 Without our being aware, websites like Facebook, Google, etc. change their terms and conditions. Is it correct? 

Ans. It is morally incorrect to change the terms and conditions of the websites without prior notice to the users. At times, notifications are made to the user to 'accept' the terms and conditions. But very few people read all those terms before accepting them. Thus, only the changed conditions should be notified to the user in order to make them aware or to ask for their permission to do so.

30. As a prank, Raghu's friends recorded his video where he is sitting with a girl and talking. Using the Photoshop tool, they replaced the picture of the girl with some other girls and posted the video on a networking site. This tarnished the image of Raghu as well as the girls. 

As Raghu's father, explain the seriousness of this issue to Raghu's friends. 

Ans. Raghu's father will probably say the following things to Raghu's friends:

'Though what you did was in good humour, you all should understand that this can ruin their lives. This small prank could pose a question on the character of Raghu and the girls and can become a huge problem in their marriages. Their career, self respect and trust in friendship will be at stake. How do you think will they ever be able to trust you or any of their other friends again in life? Moreover, may be this time what you did was for fun, but how can you guarantee that the same thing will not be done by some unknown person for self pleasure or to merely tarnish their image in society. Also, friendship is all about wanting for your friends what you would like for yourself. So, I hope none of you would ever repeat such a thing again in life.'