Ø  Leslie Alexander Hill

Ø  Born in 1918 in Greece,

Ø  Educated at Cambridge University. 

Ø  Worked for the British Council in many countries

Ø  An adviser for the Oxford University Press, on the teaching of English as a Second (Foreign) Language.
·       “Principles of Good Writing” has been taken from L. A. Hill’s book A Prelude to English.
MCQs
1.      “To write well you have to be able to write clearly and logically, and you cannot do this unless you think___ and ___ too.

A.     Clearly and logically

2.     What is Hill’s first prescription for writing well?

A.     think clearly and logically

3.     What are Hill’s prescriptions for writing well?

A.     Thinking clearly and logically, writing clearly and logically and if necessary, practicing writing

4.     What does Hill prescribe for improving one’s command of vocabulary?

A.     Reading widely and carefully and keeping a notebook and writing down striking words and expressions and using a dictionary.

5.     “At first you may find…very difficult…practice will improve your abilities”. What does the refer to here

A.    The act of learning how to write well

6.     “Writing is 99 percent hard work and 1 percent inspiration”. Why does the author emphasize by this?

A.     that good writing is a matter of practice and inspiration is rare and disciplining oneself is necessary.

7.     How does Hill advise the reader to find topics for writing?

A.     Reading newspapers for new ideas and topics.

8.     “Try to develop a warm understanding of the people, their problems, their joys and sorrows…” What does the author mean by the word ‘warm’ here?

A.     Being in an empathetic state with the subjects. [also sympathy]

9.     What does Hill prescribe for an author to be successful?

A.     Writing interestingly

10.   What does Hill prescribe for a good presentation?

A.     It should be structurally good in presenting ideas.

11.     The main body of your piece of writing should collect together and present the idea promised in the ______…”

A.     First paragraph

12.    How should, according to Hill, the first paragraph end?

A.     Conclude with clear idea of what is said in the main body of the piece of writing.

13.    What are the things that Hill advises the writer to avoid?

A.     Hill advises a writer not to force his/her personal problems and personal impression on the readers, not to imitate someone else’s style and not to employ jargons, officialese, obsolete expressions, rhetorical expression and empty verbiage.

14.   According to Hill style comes from the

A.     Unconscious self

15.     Accordingly Hill style develops in

A.     Natural process

16.   What is the best style of writing, according to Hill?

A.     Writing in simple, conversational manner and in clean plain English

17.    Hills suggests to

A.     Prefer the concrete to the abstract

18.   The expression “Cult of Cosiness” is taken from

A.     Fashion in decoration

19.   What is the context in which Micawber wrote the letter?

20.  Hill prescribes using euphemism. Correct or incorrect?

A.     Incorrect

21.    “Avoid stating the obvious…” What is the meaning of “the obvious”?

A.     It means the things which are already well familiar to the readers

22.   A mixture of style, according to Hill, is

A.     Absurd

23.   At the time of writing if a writer cannot remember an appropriate word to, s/he should, according to Hill,

A.     Leave a blank space for the word and fill it with appropriate word later

24.  Why does Hill prescribe leaving a blank space for an word which is not remembered at the time of writing?

A.     Because it can interrupt the flow of thought

25.   Why does Hill suggest reading critically after writing a piece of writing?

A.     For replacing weak, vague, inexact words by appropriate words

26.  What is the style of the author in the essay?

A.     Journalistic