BEGLA–136 Solved Question Paper

Selected term: Jan 2025

Question 1 – Workplace Vocabulary: Pair Each Term with the Closest Meaning

Task (paraphrased): Connect the word in List A with the best meaning in List B.

List A: Empathy; Static; Predictability; Credentials; Cultural competence; Attributes; Inadvertently; Brainstorming; Roadblock; Tangible

List B: a) qualities/characteristics; b) something you can clearly sense or measure; c) meeting to throw up many ideas and pick promising ones; d) not changing for a long time; e) done unintentionally; f) evidence of ability/experience; g) sensitivity to differences in people’s backgrounds; h) the extent to which something can be known in advance; i) obstacle that slows or stops progress; j) the ability to understand and share others’ feelings

Answer key:
Empathy → j
Static → d
Predictability → h
Credentials → f
Cultural competence → g
Attributes → a
Inadvertently → e
Brainstorming → c
Roadblock → i
Tangible → b

Quick realist examples: “Her credentials included two years of payroll experience.” “We hit a roadblock when the vendor’s API went down.” “A tangible result was a 12% drop in support tickets.”

Question 2 – Make Natural Sentences from Realistic Office Life

Task (paraphrased): Use each word in a meaningful sentence.

Dynamic: Our small HR team is dynamic, shifting priorities fast during campus hiring.
Adaptability: Switching from in-person to virtual onboarding tested our adaptability.
Dedication: The analyst’s dedication showed in weekend data clean-ups before the board review.
Overwhelming: The first week’s email volume felt overwhelming until I set up filters and rules.
Persuade: We used a quick prototype to persuade finance to fund the tool upgrade.

Question 3 – Grammar Practice That Mirrors the Exam Skills

Task A (voice & articles—paraphrased): Rewrite or complete as instructed.

1. “The team completed the audit.” → The audit was completed by the team.
2. “A junior designer drafted this logo.” → This logo was drafted by a junior designer.
3. I purchased a dozen notebooks.
4. She reads the Bhagavad Gita every morning.
5. The Congo is the longest river in Central Africa.

Task B (forms, verbs, prepositions, modals—paraphrased): Fill in the blanks.

1. Think carefully before joining your new assignment.
2. I think a line is missing in the letter.
3. If you drink impure water, you will fall sick.
4. This is the kind of music that I like to listen to.
5. He was born in a small village in Bengal.
6. In spite of the bad weather, he piloted the plane skillfully.
7. The applicant must include the names of two referees.
8. The team of doctors conducted a survey of patients and then gave the vaccination.
9. The recruiters were looking for someone who has considerable experience in that field.
10. I think you should stop worrying and concentrate on your work.

Question 4 – Short Notes (about 150 words each)

Task (paraphrased): Write brief, practical notes. Any two were required in the exam; I’ve solved all three.

(i) Building Strong Relationships with Customers

Great relationships start with listening. In a banking helpdesk pilot, our agents used a simple talk–type–confirm loop: let the customer finish; paraphrase the problem; confirm next steps. Small, consistent behaviors—remembering names, summarizing calls by email, and closing loops on time—create trust. When a delivery missed its promised slot, we called before the customer called us, offered a revised timeline and a small voucher; the complaint turned into a five-star review. Track promises in a shared CRM, set reminders, and be honest about constraints. Escalate early, not late. After resolution, a two-question follow-up (“Did we fix it?” “Anything else?”) often reveals hidden friction. Over time, map common pain points and fix the process, not just the ticket. Good service is proactive, consistent, and human.

(ii) Work Ethics and the Modern Workplace

Ethics is what you do when no one is watching. In procurement, we declined a “gift” that came with a quote because it violated policy—then documented the interaction and kept the vendor in the loop professionally. Ethics shows up in punctuality, accurate timesheets, no plagiarism, and responsible use of data. It also means speaking up: when a dashboard inflated monthly active users by counting test accounts, the data team flagged it, fixed the query, and published a changelog. Leaders should make ethical choices easy—clear policies, open channels for concerns, and zero retaliation. Teams thrive when decisions are transparent, conflicts of interest are declared, and credit is shared. In the long run, ethics protects the brand and the people behind it.

(iii) Getting Ready for an Interview

Preparation beats nerves. Start by decoding the role: list required skills, then draft mini-stories (Situation–Task–Action–Result) that prove each skill. For a research role, prepare a 90-second elevator pitch on one project: your question, method, findings, and impact. Compile artifacts—links, a clean CV, a one-page summary. Rehearse aloud and record yourself once; fix filler words and pace. On the day, arrive early (or test your mic and lighting), keep notes nearby, and ask two thoughtful questions about success metrics and first-90-day priorities. After the interview, send a concise thank-you email recapping how your skills meet their needs. (These steps align with the “communicate clearly, structure your content, signpost and conclude” approach used in presentations, which interviewers also notice.)

Question 5 – Speech Script (≈150 words): “Choosing the Right Career”

Good morning everyone! Career choice isn’t about chasing the “famous” option; it’s about matching your strengths to real problems. Start by listing what you enjoy doing for hours, then test it: shadow a professional, take a short project, or volunteer. Look beyond job titles—ask, “What skills does this role use every day?” If you like explaining ideas and making things clearer, training or research may suit you; if you enjoy fixing broken processes, operations could be your lane. Talk to three people doing the job at different seniorities; ask what they wish they had known. Build a tiny portfolio—two case studies beat ten certificates. Finally, choose learning over prestige: the place that lets you grow, practice and receive feedback is the place that compounds your career. Thank you!

(Uses clear opening–body–closing and signposting techniques recommended for presentations.)

Question 6 – Formal Job Application (Analyst)

(Fully blocked layout, concise subject, and clean close—consistent with Unit 15 guidance on business letters.)

Subject: Application for Analyst – Reference: Careers Page (Req# A-214)

Dear Hiring Manager,
I’m applying for the Analyst position. I bring 18 months of experience cleaning and analyzing operational data (Excel/Sheets, SQL) and building decision-ready summaries for leadership. In my last project, I consolidated three spreadsheets into a single model and reduced report turnaround from two days to three hours. I’m comfortable with pivot tables, lookups/joins, data validation, and basic visualization. I also document queries so others can reuse them.

I’ve attached a one-page portfolio with a sample dashboard and a two-paragraph case study. I’m excited about your focus on customer retention and would love to support your quarterly reviews with reliable metrics.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Phone] · [Email] · [LinkedIn/Portfolio]

Question 7 – Interview Prep: Research Officer (Global Institution)

Task (paraphrased): Draft six likely questions and strong, concise answers.

1. Q: Tell us about a research project you’re proud of. A: I led a 6-week study on service wait-times: defined the question with stakeholders, collected a stratified sample (n=600), cleaned data, and used confidence intervals to compare branches. The result cut average wait by 14% after two policy changes.
2. Q: How do you ensure data quality? A: A written data dictionary, double-entry checks for manual inputs, outlier rules, and a short reproducibility script that rebuilds the tables from raw files.
3. Q: Stakeholder disagrees with your findings—what then? A: Separate the decision from the evidence. I restate their concern, show the method and limits, run a sensitivity check if feasible, and document the final decision trail.
4. Q: Describe your experience working across countries/time zones. A: We set overlapping hours, log decisions in a shared doc, and use clear handover notes so work moves while we sleep.
5. Q: What tools do you use? A: Spreadsheets and SQL for most tasks; comfortable presenting results in slides with simple visuals and plain-language summaries.
6. Q: How do you present complex results to non-experts? A: Start with the one-sentence takeaway, then use a small chart, and finish with “what this changes on Monday morning.” (This mirrors the signposting and sequencing approach for presentations.)

Question 8 – Presentation Outline: “Why Communication Skills Matter at Work”

(Structured as beginning–body–conclusion with clear signposting and sequencing, as recommended in Unit 14.)

Title/Opening (30–45 sec): “Communication is the operating system of work.” Today I’ll show what it is, where it breaks, and how to improve it.

Agenda slide: 1) What good communication looks like 2) Cost of poor communication 3) Practical tools 4) Quick wins this month

1) What Good Looks Like (2 min):
• Clear purpose → one action per message
• Structure → headline first, then evidence (voice, email, presentation)
• Respect → listen, paraphrase, confirm

2) Cost of Poor Communication (2 min):
• Rework, delays, morale hits (one brief example)
• “Hidden” costs: assumptions and silence

3) Practical Tools (3 min):
• Email: subject lines with verbs; bullets; one ask
• Meetings: agenda, time boxes, notes, owners
• Presentations: signpost transitions; “so what?” at the end (Unit 14: sequencing & signposting)

4) Quick Wins This Month (1 min):
• Adopt a team glossary; standardize update format; weekly 10-minute retro

Close (30 sec): Recap the three big ideas and invite one change the audience will try this week.