IGNOU FEG-01/BEGF-101
- Foundation Course in English-I,
Latest Solved Assignment
(July 2023 - January 2024)

1) Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

The Artist co-operates with God in making increasingly larger numbers of people see the beauty of the world which these people could never see for themselves, The world is, of course, God's artistic masterpiece; but it is the artist who lends people eyes to see it with. Browning's Fra Lippo has the last word on the subject:-
For, don't you mark, we're made so that we love
First when we see them painted, things we have passed
Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see?
In this sense, Oscar Wilde's paradox is perfectly true: that Nature imitates Art; for the majority of men see in Nature what Art has taught them to see in Nature. The fogs of London, said Wilde, were the invention of Whistler. To love beauty therefore becomes to the artist, as an artist, his first duty. To love beauty, that is, to see it for himself first, and then to communicate it to others; for love implies at once vision and reproduction. It must be the first article in an artist's creed, as an artist, that beauty is the best interpreter of God to man; that; when he has got hold of beauty, he has got hold of the surest key to the knowledge of God. Keats has said that Beauty is Truth. Now, this is not true. But to us here, Beauty is, as Plato said, the splendour of Truth. The artist, as an artist, must be content with the splendour and, through this splendour strive to convey the truth. Tie has no business with truth as such as the philosopher, for instance, has. He has no concern with conduct as such, as the moralist, for instance, has. It is not his function to exhort men to good works, or to prove things; but merely to exhibit then. Plato thought a picture, for instance, was just a copy of an object - a copy of the idea. It was Aristotle, Plato's pupil, who pointed out that, though a picture was in one sense certainly a copy and therefore something less than the object, in another sense it was something more than the object. It was, briefly, the idea of the object made visible to the eye. Art, therefore, does not consist merely in line and colour, sound and image, but primarily in ideas. Beauty may not be useful. Beauty may not improve our minds. But beauty must please. Indeed, such is the inherent delightfulness of beauty that, by its magic touch, not only the ugly becomes pleasurable, but even sorrow becomes a joy. That is the explanation of the pleasure we feel in tragedy. What would shock us in actual life gives us pleasure in a tragedy. For tragedy makes experience significant; and by making it significant, it makes it beautiful; and by making it beautiful, it makes it pleasant. And yet, it does not aim at pleasing; it only aims at exhibiting. Pleasure is not its aim; it is its effect.
- Armando Menezes
1a What does the artist do for most of us?
1b Why does the artist “lend” his eyes to people?
1c Explain: "Nature imitates Art."
1d What is the artist's first duty? Why?
1e What is the surest key to the knowledge of God? Why?
1f Give a suitable title to the passage.
1g Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
i. Deity ii. persons iii. Great work
iv. gives v. fondness vi. The natural world
vii. Pass on viii. portrayer ix. noticeable
x. Important

2) Choose the correct form of the verb from within the brackets so as to make it agree with the subject.

1. The plane --- at 3.30. (arrives, will arrive)
2. I will phone you when he --- back, (comes, will come)
3. When I get home, my dog --- at the gate waiting for me. (sits, will be sitting)
4. I --- the Joshis this evening, (visit, am visiting)
5. Look at those black clouds. It ---, (will rain, is going to rain)
6. The train --- before we reach the station, (arrives, will have arrived)
7. Perhaps we --- Mahabaleshwar next month, (visit, will visit)
8. Unless we --- now we can't be on time, (start, will start)
9. I --- into town later on. Do you want a lift? (drive, will be driving)
10. The next term --- on 16th November, (begins, is beginning)

3) Put the verbs given in brackets in the most appropriate tense:

1. The earth --- round the sun. (move)
2. My friends --- the Prime Minister yesterday, (see)
3. I --- him only one letter up to now. (send)
4. She --- worried about something, (look)
5. It started to rain while we --- tennis, (play).
6. He --- fast when the accident happened, (drive)
7. He --- asleep while he was driving, (fall)
8. I'm sure I --- him at the party last night, (see).
9. He --- a mill in this town, (have)
10. He --- here for the last five years, (work).

4) In the following sentences change the Voice:

1. We elected Balu captain.
2. I saw him opening the box.
3. We must listen to his words.
4. Shall I ever forget those happy days?
5. By whom was this jug broken?

5) Fill in the blanks using a or an or the as may be suitable

1. Copper is --- useful metal.
2. He is not --- honourable man.
3. --- able man has not always a distinguished look.
4. --- reindeer is a native of Norway.
5. Honest men speak --- truth.

6) Fill in the blanks with appropriate Prepositions

1. No doubt he has achieved much, but I cannot give him credit --- all that he boasts ---.
2. The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance --- human achievement.
3. He is indebted --- his friend --- a large sum.
4. What Dr. Arnold mainly aimed ---, was to promote the self-development of the young minds committed --- his charge.
5. He was so much enamoured --- her that he forgot his duties --- his children.
6. It is difficult to agree --- those critics who ascribe the work of Shakespeare

7) Write a about 300 words on any one of the following topics:

i Life after Covid 19
ii The Digital World: Bane or Boon?

8) In about 200 words, write a conversation between:

i. You and elder sister where you are asking her suggestions regarding what subject you should go for after completing 10+2.
OR
ii. You and a cricketer where you are asking him ten questions and he is answering those ten questions.

1 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:

You seemed at first to take no notice of your schoolfellows, or rather to set yourself against them because they were strangers to you. They knew as little of you as you did of them; so that this would have been the reason for their keeping aloof from you as well, which you would have felt as a hardship. Learn never to conceive a prejudice against other because you know nothing of them. It is bad reasoning and makes enemies of half the world. Do not think ill of them till they behave ill to you; and then strive to avoid the faults which you see in them. This will disarm their hostility sooner than pique or resentment or complaint. I thought you were disposed to criticize the dress of some of the boys as not so good as your own. Never despise any one for anything that he cannot help - least of all, for his poverty. I would wish you to keep up appearances yourself as a defence against the idle sneers of the world, but I would not have you value yourself upon them. I hope you will neither be the dupe nor victim of vulgar prejudices.
Instead of saying above "Never despise anyone for anything that he cannot help," I might have said, "Never despise anyone at all"; for contempt implies a triumph over and pleasure in the ill of another. It means that you are glad and congratulate yourself on their failings or misfortunes.
You have hitherto been a spoilt child, and have been used to have your own way a good deal, both in the house and among your playfellows, with whom you were too fond of being a leader; but you have good nature and good sense and will get the better of this in time. You have now got among other boys who are your equals, or bigger and stronger than yourself and who have something else to attend to besides humouring your whims and fancies, and you feel this as a repulse or piece of injustice. But the first lesson to learn is that there are other people in the world besides yourself. The more airs of childish self-importance you. give yourself, you will only expose yourself to be the more thwarted and laughed at. True equality is the only true morality or wisdom. Remember always that you are but one among others and you can hardly mistake your place in society. In your father's house you might do as you pleased; in the world you will find competitors at every turn. You are not born a king's son, to destroy or dictate to millions; you can only expect to share their fate or settle your differences amicably with them. You already find it so at school, and I wish you to be reconciled to your situation as soon and with as little pain as you can.
- William Hazlitt

1a Who were strangers to you in your school?
1b How much did you know about them?
1c What was the reason for keeping your schoolfellows aloof from you?
1d Describe in detail as to what the writer wants you to learn?
1e What is the message that we get?
1f Give a suitable title to the passage.
1g Find words from the passage which mean the same as the following:
i) appear ii) classmates iii) detached
iv) suffering v) bias vi) rivals
vii) antagonism viii) guard ix) applaud

2 Choose the correct form of the verb from within the brackets so as to make it agree with the subject.

A famous Irish banister, who. .......... (be) a very witty person, .......... (appear) before a judge who ............. (not like) him and. ............. (not try) to hide the fact. While the barrister. ............ (argue) his case, the judge. ............. (not seem) to be paying any attention to him. He. ............. (pat) his huge dog, which ............. (sit) beside him, and ............... (say) something to it. The barrister.............. (stop).

3 Put the verbs given in brackets in the present perfect or the present perfect continuous tense:

1) I not (see) a film since December.
2) Which book you (read) since this morning?
3) I (try) to swim for years but I not (succeed) yet.
4) The judge (examine) three witnesses since morning.
5) The servant (wait) for an hour now. Your mother not (give) him any work yet.
6) I (read) this essay five times but I can't understand it.
7) The old man (sleep) in the garden all day.
8) You (eat) four ice creams already.
9) What you (do) since I saw you last?
10) The lions in the zoo (roar) for a quarter of an hour; they will soon be given food

4. Supply the appropriate particles from those given below:
up, out, after, to, down.

i) I can't start the car; the battery has run-----
ii) Look------- the baby while I am away.
iii) The price of fruit usually goes ------- in summer in Delhi; even melons cost a lot.
iv) I am looking forward --------meeting my cousin next week.
v) Long sideburns went-----years ago.

5. Fill in the blanks using who, which or that: 5

i) The man is standing at the door is an actor.
ii) The policy the government is following these days is praiseworthy.
iii) Teachers generally like students are punctual and hardworking.
iv) The play we saw last night was hilarious.
v) You are telling a story is unbelievable.

6. Frame questions to which the following statements are answers. Use the question word given in brackets. e.g., The door leads to the balcony. (Where?)

Where does the door lead?

1. I arrived at ten this morning. (When)
2. 1 didn't write a letter because there was no time. (Why)
3. Miss La1 came with me. (Who)
4. We came by train. (How)
5. We travelled by train because we couldn't get seats on the plane. (Why).
6. We took the night train. (Which)
7. We left home around seven in the evening. (When)
8. I rang you up at the office. (Where)
9. A derailment delayed us. (What)
10. We took a taxi from the station. (How)

7. Write a about 300 words on any one of the following topics:

i New Education Policy 2020
ii The impact of digital tools on children’s education.

8. In about 200 words, write a conversation between:

i) You and your younger brother where you are suggesting him what subject he should go for after completing class
OR
ii) You and your superstar about a situation where you are asking him 10 questions and he is answering those 10 questions.