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Communication Skills Question Paper
Communication Skills
Course:Bachelor Of Education Arts
Institution: Kenyatta University question papers
Exam Year:2009
KENYATTA UNIVERSITY
KITUI CAMPUS
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2008/2009
FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS, EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
UCU 100: COMMUNICATION SKILLS
DATE: Tuesday, 13th January, 2009 TIME: 2.30 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.
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INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Candidates MUST write their registration number in the space provided on each
answer booklet.
2. There are FOUR questions in this paper. Candidates must answer ALL FOUR
(4) questions.
3. All answers must be written in the answer booklet provided.
Q.1 COMPREHENSION (25 MARKS)
Read the following passage and answer questions a – g
If there are distance problems when engaged in conversation, 20
then there are clearly going to be even bigger difficulties where people
must work privately in a shared space. Close proximity of others,
pressing against the invisible boundaries of our personal body-territory, makes it difficult to concentrate on non-social matters. Flat-
mates, students sharing a study, sailors in the cramped quarters of a
ship, and office staff in crowded work-places, all have to face this
problem. They solve it by “cocooning.” They use a variety of devices
to shut themselves off from the others present. The best possible
cocoon, of course, is a mall private room – a den, a private office, a
study or a studio – which physically obscures the presence of other
nearby territory-owners. This is the ideal situation for non-social
work, but the space-sharers cannot enjoy this luxury. Their cocooning
must be symbolic. They may, in certain cases, be able to erect small
physical barriers, such as screens and partitions, which give substance
to their invisible Personal Space boundaries, but when this cannot be
done, other means must be sought. One of these is the “favoured
object.” Each space-sharer develops a preference, repeatedly expressed until it becomes a fixed pattern, for a particular chair, or table,
or alcove. Others come to respect this, and friction is reduced. This
system is often formally arranged (this is my desk, that is yours), but
even where it is not, favoured places soon develop. Professor Smith
has a favourite chair in the library. It is not formally his, but he always
uses it and others avoid it. Seats around a messroom table, or a
boardroom table, become almost personal property for specific indi-
viduals. Even in the home, father has his favourite chair for reading
the newspaper or watching television. Another device is the blinkers-
posture. Just as a horse that over-reacts to other horses and the
distractions of the noisy race-course is given a pair of blinkers to
shield its eyes, so people studying privately in a public place put on
pseudo-blinkers in the form of shielding hands. Resting their elbows
on the table, they sit with their hands screening their eyes from the
scene on either side.
A third method of reinforcing the body-territory is to use per- 21
sonal markets. Books, papers and other personal belongings are
scattered around the favoured site to render it more privately owned
in the eyes of companions. Spreading out one’s belongings is a
well-known trick in public-transport situations, where a traveller tries
to give the impression that seats next to him are taken. In many contexts carefully arranged personal markers can act as an effective
territorial display, even in the absence of the territory owner. Experi-
ments in a library revealed that placing a pile of magazines on the
table in one seating position successfully reserved that place for an
average of 77 minutes. If a sports-jacket was added, draped over the
chair, then the “reservation effect” lasted for over two hours.
In these ways, we strengthen the defences of our Personal Spaces, 22
keeping out intruders with the minimum of open hostility. As with
all territorial behaviour, the object is to defend space with signals
rather than with fists and at all three levels – the tribal, the family and
the personal – it is a remarkably efficient system of space-sharing. It
does not always seem so, because newspapers and newscasts inevi-
tably magnify the exceptions and dwell on those cases where the
signals have failed and wars have broken out, gangs have fought,
neighbouring families have feuded, or colleagues have clashed, but
for every territorial signal that has failed, there are millions of others
that have not. They do not rate a mention in the news, but they
nevertheless constitute a dominant feature of human society – the
society of a remarkably territorial animal.
a) Identify the two problems implied in the opening sentences of this
passage. (4 marks)
b) In one sentence, state the major theme of this passage. (4 marks)
c) The devices used to mark space are into categories. Give two examples
of each. (4 marks)
d) Which are the two methods of protecting personal space discussed in
paragraph one? (4 marks)
e) Family members have no need for personal territory. True or false?
Support your answer. (3 marks)
f) Identify and explain the use of comparison in this passage. (3 marks)
g) Why do human beings defend space using symbolic objects?(3 marks)
Q.2 LIBRARY SKILLS = 20 MARKS
a) Examine the following references and arrange the bibliographic
information/details using any referencing technique.
i) The Chicago Manual of Style. University of Chicago Press. 14th
edition. 1993. Chicago. University of Chicago.
ii) Pp. 20b – 220. The Learning Organisation. Drejer, Anders.
Organisational Learning and competence development. Vo.17. No. 4. 2000.
iii) Kevin Mwilu. Daily Nation. Column 2. page 1. Prices Hit
National High. 2008. November 28.
b) You have been given an essay topic, that reads: “The challenges facing
higher education in Kenya.”
List the steps that you would follow to get sources of information for your essay in any library.
(Maximum 3 marks).
Q.3 Transcoding and graph interpretation (15 marks)
Use Figure 1 to answer questions 3 (a) – (d)
a) How many times were price indexes for nonferrous metals equal?(1 mark)
b) What were price indexes for any two year pairs when such price indexes
were equal? (4 marks)
c) What is the difference between the highest price index and the lowest as
recorded between 1900 and 1991? (2 marks)
d) In four grammatically correct sentences, describe the general price index
trend for nonferrous metals between 1930 and 1991? (8 marks)
Q.4 STUDY SKILLS (10 MARKS)
a) Kogelo has just reported to Nairobi University for his university
education. He, however, realizes that he needs to make studying part of his daily routine to be able to succeed.
i) State THREE considerations he will need to consider in marking
an effective study time table. (3 marks)
ii) Stat THREE activities he may carry out for effective studying.(3 marks)
b) In point form, state FOUR tips on what one should consider when
selecting members of a study group. (4marks)
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