Ans 1 Extensive Reading: Our way of reading is influenced by the purpose of our reading.

Most of us have the habit of reading especially when we are free, or have a lot of leisure time. We might get hold of a novel, a comic strip, or a magazine. When we read for the pure pleasure of reading, it is known as extensive reading. However, it should not be given less priority, because it is extensive reading. It is enjoyable, as well as informative. Here, we practice rapid reading to get a global/overall understanding of the matter. Intensive Reading: When we read shorter texts like a research paper for getting specific details or information, we read slowly with a lot of concentration. This is known as intensive reading. When you read a book as a resource material for research, you read it intensively because the overall understanding is not the objective or purpose of our reading. When you read an article in order to write a review on it, you read it intensively. We use all the skills of reading when we do intensive reading.

Ans 2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Intranet: Like any other tool, the intranet has its advantages and limitations. Some of the primary advantages are

Discourages grapevine Grapevine, or the informal communication network was discussed in one of the earlier units. Although grapevine can be useful, it also leads to rumors, in the absence of information passed on through the formal communication network. When employees are misinformed, they become dissatisfied and de-motivated. Using the intranet as an official channel to post information for all employees to see discourages gossip and avoids creating a transparency gap. Facilitates pre-meeting discussion The intranet may be used to discuss and debate ideas prior to a meeting, so that valuable meeting time is spent focusing only on relevant ideas.

Example Suppose a sales team of five members are required to make a presentation to the Vice President Sales, on how to increase sales during the current year. Instead of each

salesperson making a lengthy presentation during a meeting and then getting his ideas reviewed and approved, a discussion board can be created using the intranet, a few days before the meeting. The salespersons could post their ideas on the discussion board for the VP to review in advance, so that only the most promising ideas are discussed during the meeting. This way, the salespersons can come into the meeting more focused.

Saves time The intranet is paperless communication and is therefore a big time saver. A lot of unnecessary time wasted on filling out forms, leave requests, supply orders, etc., can be saved by doing this through the intranet. Employees can get information on official holidays and other HR related information, without having to interact with the HR manager. Is superior to email Sending some types of information through email can sometimes create confusion and information overload. Let us take the above example of the sales team making a presentation on how to increase sales. If five salespersons each have three different ways in which they could increase sales and start emailing multiple versions of their Power Point presentations for the VP to review, it could lead to disastrous results. Instead, they could work on a shared file, by using the intranet. A central location could be created for the most recent file. While the intranet saves valuable time and money, it is not without its down side. Before an intranet can be set up, a lot of groundwork needs to be done. You need to determine what you want it to do and how employees will use it.

Some of the disadvantages are

Getting started Building an intranet to your specifications can be expensive. A consultant may have to be hired to give it the desired look and feel and to make sure that it is user friendly and simple enough for all employees to use. Developing and maintaining content Once it has been set up, someone has to be responsible for maintaining and updating the information on a continuous basis. In small organizations, it may be sufficient to appoint one person to do this. In larger organizations with multiple departments, it may be necessary to appoint several persons to maintain and update information for the different departments. This becomes a complex and expensive task. Training employees Once it has been set up, employees have to be familiarized and trained on how to use the intranet. This involves investment in time and money. Convincing old economy employees Some employees may not be technology or computer savvy and may be reluctant to use the intranet to access information. Therefore, they may have to be convinced about the benefits of using the new technology.

Ans 3 :- Principles of Business Letter Writing Business letters are used primarily to communicate with external stakeholders such as consumers, intermediaries, government and bankers. The principles of business letter writing are somewhat different from the principles of writing general letters. Business letters are much more formal than general letters. Before we go into the specifics of business letter writing, let us look briefly at some of these principles* Consideration and Courtesy It is very important to retain the goodwill of customers and other external publics. A discourteous, rude letter can make you lose business. Therefore, the business letter should be extremely polite at all times and mindful of the Ps and Qs, i.e., the words please, thank you and sorry. Even if you happen to get a rude letter from a customer, you must respond politely, in order to retain the customer. If the company has been at fault, it is important to apologize to the customer for the mistake and for the inconvenience caused. The overall tone should not be negative. For example, avoid saying We cannot grant your request. Instead state it in a more tactful way, explaining the reasons for not being able to grant the request. If you are sending a job rejection letter to a candidate, it should be worded politely and in a positive tone. Consideration means that you should appeal to the readers interest. The importance of stressing the you attitude rather than the me attitude was dealt with in an earlier unit. This is similar to the language of advertisements, which talk about the benefits of the product to the end user. For example, instead of saying We will be open 24 hours, say You can avail of roundthe-clock service. * Directness and Conciseness Business letters should be brief and to the point, avoiding unnecessary details and round about expressions. A typical Indian tendency is to be too wordy or verbose, using redundancies and unnecessary words. Business letters should give maximum information to the reader, using minimum words. * Clarity and Precision Business letters should be clearly worded, avoiding the use of jargon or technical terms, and slang words. Concrete words should be used, so that there is no ambiguity. Example : Instead of saying I received your communication, it is better to be more precise by saying I received your letter. The letter should include a single main idea and paragraphs should be used to elaborate on sub ideas. * Appearance Apart from the content, the format, layout and overall look of the letter should be equally appealing to the reader. Attention should be paid to the quality of paper used. The margins should be appropriate, including one inch on each side and one and a half inches on top and at the bottom. A business letter should include the following standard components 1. Date in the upper right hand corner 2. The To address above the salutation in the upper left hand corner. 3. The Salutation When addressing a firm, Messr should be used before the name of the firm. Since business letters are formal, the appropriate salutation when addressing an individual is Dear Mr./Ms., followed by the last name, rather than the first name, which is informal. If the gender of the reader is not known, it is better to use a neutral salutation, such as Dear Customer or Investor. 4. Sometimes, an Attention Line may be included below the salutation, in order to ensure

prompt action. For example, Attention : John Smith, HR Manager. 5. A Subject Line indicates the purpose of the letter and is placed between the salutation and the first line of the letter. 6. The Body of the letter includes an explanation of the main idea(s). 7. The Close is the ending of the letter and should be polite and friendly, so as to retain goodwill. A standard close for a business letter is Yours faithfully or sincerely. 8. Encl