Kongunadu Arts and Science College

(Autonomous)
College of Excellence (UGC)
Re-accredited by NAAC with “A+” Grade (4th Cycle)
G.N.Mills Post, Coimbatore - 641029, Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Communicative
English I

Edited and Compiled

by
The Department of English (Aided)
 Sub.Code: 22ENG101
Programme Code: 01
For B.A/ B.Sc.,/ B.Com.,/BBM/BCA

Communicative English I

Batch Hours / Week Total Hours Credits

2022-2023 6 90 3

Course Objectives
1. To introduce the students to the varied genres of English Literature and the values
discussed in it.
2. To make the students learn difference sentence patterns in English.
3. To help the students apply the language skills in career-related situations.

Course Outcomes (CO)

K1 CO1 Understand the universal themes discussed in the varied
genres of English Literature
to CO2 Ability to reproduce the stories in oral and in written formats.

K5 CO3 Skills to construct error-free sentences

CO4 Analyze and apply the Language skills in everyday situations

CO5 Distinguish between the various writing styles and choose the

method to build the skills in developing the command over

language.

22ENG101

Syllabus
Unit I (18 hours)

1. Listening and Speaking

a. Introducing self and others
2. Reading and Writing
a. Reading short articles – newspaper reports /fact based articles
i. Skimming and scanning
ii. Diction and tone
iii. Identifying topic sentences
b. Usage of Dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesaurus
3. Prose
The Secret of Work – Swami Vivekananda

4. Poetry
On His Blindness – John Milton

5. Grammar
Nouns, Pronouns, Adjective

Unit II (18 hours)

1. Listening and Speaking

a. Listening with a purpose

2. Reading and Writing

a. Types of Reading
b. Paragraph: structure and types

3. Prose
The Donkey – Sir John Arthur Thomson

4. Poetry
The Flower – Alfred Lord Tennyson

5. Grammar
Verb, Adverb, articles

Unit III (18 hours)

1. Listening and Speaking
a. Giving and following Instructions
b. Asking for and giving directions

22ENG101

2. Reading and Writing

a. Reading feature articles
b. Descriptive writing
3. Prose
Patriotism Beyond Politics and Religion – Dr. A.P. J Abdul Kalam
4. Poetry
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening – Robert Frost
5. Grammar
Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection

Unit IV (18 hours)

1. Listening and Speaking

a. giving and responding to opinions

2. Reading and Writing

a. Note taking
b. Narrative writing – writing narrative essays of two or three paragraphs
3. Prose
Prospects of Democracy in India – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

4. Poetry
Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelly

5. Grammar
Tense

Unit V (18 hours)

1. Listening and Speaking

a. Participating in a group Discussion

2. Reading and Writing

a. Reading diagrammatic information – interpretations of maps, graphs and pie charts

3. Prose
The Conjurer’s Revenge – Stephen Leacock

4. Poetry
La Belle Dame Sans Merci – John Keats

22ENG101

5. Grammar
Sentence patterns

Teaching Methods
Quiz/Group Discussion/Assignment/Language Games/Google Classroom/Smart Classroom

Text Book:
1. Communicative English. Edited and Compiled by The Department of English,
Kongunadu Arts and science College,2022.
 Reference Books:
1. English Grammar & Composition, Wren & Martin,S. Chand & Company LTD, New
Delhi, 1995.
2. English for Competitive Examinations, R.P. Bhatnagar, Macmillan, New Delhi, 1995.
3. Penny Ur. Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers: Five-Minute Activities: A
Resource Book of Short Activities.Cambridge University Press,2005.
4. Meenkshi Raman and Sangeetha Sharma. Fundamentals of Technical Communication.
Oxford University Press, 2015.
5. Advanced English Grammar. Martin Hewings. Cambridge University Press, 200
6. The Oxford English-English-Tamil Dictionary (for pronunciation)
7. https://www.esolcourses.com/

MAPPING

PSO
PSO1 PSO 2 PSO 3 PSO 4 PSO 5
CO

CO1 S H H S S

CO2 S S S H H

CO3 S H S H H

CO4 S H S H H

CO5 S H S H H

S – Strong H – High M – Medium L – Low

UNIT 1
1. LISTENING AND SPEAKING
a. INTRODUCING YOURSELF AND OTHERS
Introducing Self
How do you introduce yourself in college?
The first impression is the best one! You have heard this popular adage, haven’t you?
You would want to make a good impression whenever you meet people the first time, wouldn’t you? The first
thing you would do is introduce yourself. Let’s see what we need to say and how we can say it in several
different ways depending on where and whom we are meeting. Imagine you are meeting a group of fellow
students in college for the first time and the instructor/teacher asks you to introduce yourself.

What to include in your introduction?

Your name
My name is Murgesh Vadivel. My name’s RaginiPillai.
I’m Suresh Gopinathan I’m Ismail.
I’m PriyankaSundar….
I’m Rajalakshmi, people call me Raji.
Never say, “Myself Rajiv”. This is wrong.
The school you studied in
I studied at GRT school.
I have completed my schooling at MMT, Vellore.
I studied in the prestigious Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Coimbatore.
I studied in a famous school in Mysore, the Sri Vidyalaya.
I am a proud product of the Chennai School.
I studied in the same school in which our former President, APJ Abdul Kalam studied.
The place you live/come from
I’m from Vellore. I live in T Nagar
I live in Gopal Nagar while my home town is in Trichy.
I come from Madurai. I’m put up in the hostel on campus
I come from Delhi. I am staying at my aunt’s
I come from Meenakshi’s abode, Madurai.
I come from the mango district, Salem.
(Remember not to use My native place is)
A little about your hobbies
I’m deeply interested in football. I was part of my school team.
I love playing the sitar
I take a special interest in philately and I have 2000 stamps of 175 countries.
Folk music has always fascinated me.
I have been learning Karagattam for the past five years.
I like watching tennis and cricket: they are my favourite sports.
A few details of your family
We are six at home, including me I have two siblings.
I have a sister, who is older to me I have a brother younger than I.
I have a brother and two sisters. All my siblings are older than me. I have four siblings, I am the youngest.
I am the only child.
I live with my grandparents.

How to Introduce Yourself?

Remember to wish people first. Formal ways of greeting are:
• Good day!
• Good Morning!
• Hello!
Informal Greeting: Hi!

Activity
Speak about yourself for about a minute or two. You may want to write it down, just to get the sequence right
and it will give you a lot of confidence before you start speaking. Relax and smile when you present yourself!

A few hints about formal and informal situations:

You cannot speak the same things and in the same manner with everybody. Depending on the people and
purpose of the meeting, you can broadly classify the instances as formal, casual and informal. When you are
with your family and friends an informal approach is acceptable. However, in the communication between a
teacher and a student, a service provider and customer, an employer and an employee, the engagement is a
formal one. A casual tone is used among peers and also among people who are familiar with each other. So
depending on whom you are meeting and why you are meeting them, you need to be selective about what you
say about yourself.
Remember a rule of thumb, the more formal the situation, the less personal details you should share as an
introduction.
• Do not talk about your family when you are speaking about yourself at a conference, meeting or a
job interview.
• Do not talk about your hobbies/ special interest in an interview, unless asked to do so.
• Do not talk about your ambitions when you meet people at a party, meeting or official get-
togethers.
There will be several occasions in college when you will have to introduce yourself. The following are a few
instances on the campus when you will have to introduce yourself when you meet people for some work. In
all likelihood, the Principal or your HOD may not recognise you. It is always better to make a brief
introduction before you request them to do something for you.
Example
1. With the HOD:
Good afternoon Sir/Madam
I’m Priya from II year BSc Physics, I wish to enrol in the Science Quiz being conducted by our department.
2. With the Principal:
Good evening Sir, I’m Rajesh from the department of Chemistry. I am in the first year. I am applying for a
scholarship. Sir, could you please attest my application form?

Task 1
Choose any two instances from the list below and make notes (based on the examples given above) of what
you would be saying and then present it to the class:

Task 2
1. With the language teacher in the staffroom
2. With a fellow student in the canteen
3. With students/ volunteers of your club, team, group etc.
4. With the chief librarian
5. At a competition registration desk
6. With a guest at college

There are several other instances when you might have to speak about yourself. So gear up, and choose any
two of the following as an exercise in introducing yourself. Remember to greet the person you approach and
give appropriate details:
1. At the Bank Manager’s
2. At the hotel reception
3. At a ticket booking counter
4. With a new neighbour
5. At a conference, where you are presenting a paper

Many a time you may have to send an email or a text message from your mobile phone to a person whom you
are meeting/contacting for the first time. Here again, you have to introduce yourself.

Task 3
1. Draft a text message that you will be sending through WhatsApp to a guest whom you wish to invite
for an event organised by your club. This is the first message you are going to send him/her.
2. Compose a message to your English teacher seeking clarification of a doubt with regard to the lesson
taught in class.
Tips on Composing Your Bio-note
There might be occasions when you have to speak about yourself/ provide a small write-up (bio-note) to help
a programme compere introduce you to an audience. For this purpose you need to acquaint yourself with
writing a bio note.
Example:
Arun is a well-known wildlife photographer and also has a trekking club. To join his trekking programmes
you need to book well in advance. Here is Arun’s bio-note on his web page:

Task 4
1. Write a bio-note about yourself to publish on your blog in about 120 words.
2. Write a short note about yourself to add to your profile on social media like Facebook and Twitter in
about 160 characters.
3. Write a bio note that you would send along with an article/poem/short story that you would like to
publish.
How to use an “attention grabber” in introducing yourself?
You can be a little innovative by starting with an attention-grabber. People who use this method do not start
with their name. Instead, they begin with
• A story/anecdote
• A joke
• A fact about a place/period in history
Here is an example of providing information about a place and using that to introduce yourself:

Task 5
Use an attention grabber – a story/anecdote/joke to introduce yourself.

B. SPEAKING ABOUT OTHERS:

Introducing Others
While introducing a friend or a classmate include the person’s name in full, avoid nicknames or short names
that you address them with. State some nice things about the person but never speak about their personal likes
and dislikes. Again, depending on the context, include relevant information.

For Example,
While introducing a classmate or friend:
Good morning, meet my friend/classmate, Krishna.
He is an ace football player and he is a part of the college team.

When you need to introduce a guest at a formal gathering:

Good Morning. It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Ms. ValliDamodaran, the CEO of Star Alliance, a
prestigious business amalgamation. She has been with Star Alliance for the past 15 years and has held several
responsibilities…

When you need to introduce a resource person:

Good Afternoon, I am pleased to introduce Prof. Ganesh, Head, Department of Indian Theatre, University of
Texas….
Pre Task
a. Introduce a friend/classmate to others in the class.
b. Imagine a guest/resource person is visiting your class and introduce him/her.

Task 1
a. Write down a formal introductory note on a famous personality, who is visiting your college for an
event. This introduction will go on the brochure/ notice board with the schedule of events
b. You are on the editing board of a college e-mag, write a bio note on the contributors of articles, poems
and short stories.

2. READING AND WRITING

a. Reading Short Articles – Newspaper Reports/Fact Based Articles
The focus of this lesson on reading comprehension is to give you a few tips to ensure that you
don’t miss the point/s being made in any article that you are reading. With regard to reading a
newspaper report/fact based article, you need to hone your skills in relation to
i. Skimming and scanning
ii. Diction and tone
iii. Identifying topic sentences
Read the newspaper article given below. While you read, practice the skills of skimming and scanning.
Skimming refers to the process of reading only the main ideas within a passage to get an overall impression
of the content of a reading selection. With reference to this article you can skim with the following
guidelines:
Note the title of the article
Read the introduction or the first paragraph Read the first
sentence of every other paragraph Read the summary or
the last paragraph

Scanning
Is there specific information you are looking for?
Anticipate how the answer will appear and look for clues that might help you locate the answer. For
example, if you are looking for a date, you can scan the paragraph for numbers.
The article given has a couple of dates.

Having engaged successfully with this article with the tips you have been taught on skimming and
scanning, could you answer the following questions?
1. Where did the anthropologists find the prehistoric Eskimo tools?
2. In the vicinity of which river were these tools located?
3. What is the timeline of this excavation project?

A Note on Diction and Tone

Diction in writing is the word choice used in a piece of writing. It can give a particular tone to the
writing, depending on the specific words chosen. Aside from individual word choice, the overall tone,
or attitude, of a piece of writing should be appropriate to the audience and purpose. The tone may be
objective or subjective, logical or emotional, intimate or distant, serious or humorous.
The newspaper article given is related to a research project. The tone is formal and objective.

Identifying Topic Sentences

Every paragraph should include a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the paragraph. A topic
sentence also states the point the writer wishes to make about that subject. Generally, the topic sentence
appears at the beginning of the paragraph. It is often the paragraph’s very first sentence.
Could you identify the topic sentences of the newspaper article on Pre Historic Tools?

With your newly acquired skills in reading (skimming and scanning), read the article given below:
Syria Deeply
Dona
December 21, 2012
In January 2009, Al Jazeera launched a pioneering initiative: At the time, restrictions imposed by the
Israeli military in Gaza prevented international news outlets from reaching the Strip and reporting from
within. Al Jazeera, which had the advantage of being the only news outlet with a correspondent on the
ground, came up with a creative solution by making its exclusive footage available to be used, remixed,
translated and re-broadcasted by everybody, including competitors.
Three years later, a similar situation is happening with Syria. Shortage of news is dramatic and reports from
within the country are rare and often require that journalists’ lives are put at risk in order to gather
information. This is why it is key to have initiatives such as Syria Deeply, a news aggregator launched two
weeks ago by a team of journalists and technologists headed by seasoned reporter Lara Setrakian.
Syria Deeply is a news platform that aims to redesign the user experience of the Syria story, for greater
understanding and engagement around a complex global issue.
This is a major step in crisis reporting and will allow a wider audience to become more aware of the
dramatic situation in Syria, fostering a better understanding of a complex issue by adding context and
historical information to the headlines.
“I believe technology is the key to getting more and better news to a broader audience,” says Setrakian.
Open licensing can support this process and spread more and better understanding on Syria-related
issues.(https://creativecommons.org/2012/12/21/syria-deeply-cc-licensed-news-aggregator/)
Now, answer the following questions:
1) What is noble about the initiative of Al-Jazeera in a world where “competition” is the name of
the news industry?
2) Explain the term “news aggregator”.
3) Why is technology “the key to getting more and better news to a broader audience”?

b. Using Dictionaries, Encyclopaedias & Thesaurus

Dictionaries
A dictionary is of immense value in building your vocabulary. A learner’s dictionary such as the Oxford
Learner’s Dictionary or the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD) is recommended. The OALD
provides
ØSynonyms
ØCollocations (words which go together)
ØPhrasal verbs and idioms
ØTopic dictionaries
ØWordlists
ØGuided activities to improve your writing
The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English (OLDAE) is useful for students as the
meanings of words vary when used in the technical sense. For example, the OLDAE defines the word
‘significance’ in the context of statistics as ‘the extent to which a result is different from what would be
expected from random variation or errors’. This is a technical definition. When required, you can use
subject labels pertaining to your discipline to help you skip quickly to the meaning that fits your context.
For example, the meaning of ‘reaction’ under the subject label ‘chemistry’ is more technical than the
general meaning.
If you are looking for a bilingual dictionary, ensure that you go in for a standard one. The Oxford English-
English-Tamil Dictionary is used not only by learners but translators as well.

Use the Thesaurus

A thesaurus is a type of dictionary in which words with similar meanings are arranged in groups. A
thesaurus provides a list of synonyms.
A synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase.
For example, shut is a synonym of close.
A thesaurus is also handy in finding antonyms
(the opposite). When you write reports or articles, a thesaurus will come to your aid and help you to avoid
repeated use of a word. You will also realize as you get familiar with using the thesaurus that you will get
into the habit of using the most appropriate word for what you wish to express.

Encyclopaedia: The best way to begin research

You must have heard that “smart work” is as important as “hard work”. Using an encyclopaedia is
“smart work”. You must have guessed by now why an encyclopaedia is the place to begin your
research. In short, it is a time- saver and helps you to a wider range of resources. If you have to map
what an encyclopaedia can do for you, your map will look like the central nervous system. The
encyclopaedia can connect you so extensively and so intrinsically. These are the reasons why the use
of an encyclopaedia is highly recommended when you embark on an assignment or project.
➢ Encyclopaedias are catalogues of topics.
➢ Most encyclopaedia articlesare short (saving you time!).
➢ Subject experts have condensed it down, usually to one or two pages. (on the other hand the
same topic might be covered in 900 pages in a book).
➢ The information is authentic vis-à-vis, information on many open sources on the internet
such as Wikipedia.
 ➢ Encyclopaedia articles mention and define search terms you can use in database searches
(concepts, names, processes).
➢ Online encyclopaedias have hyperlinks to related subjects and that is why it is like the
central nervous system! The connections are intricate and extensive, encompassing all
knowledge.
➢ Encyclopaedias give you a list of references /further reading.

3. Prose
THE SECRET OF WORK
Swami Vivekananda
Author Introduction
Swami Vivekananda is considered as one of the makers of modern India. His name was Narendranath
Dutta. He became the disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and after he joined the Ashram of Ramakrishna
Paramahamsa, he became popular as Swami Vivekananda. Right from his very young age, he travelled inside
the country and abroad, propagating the ideals of his master. He also apprised the world with the cultural
heritage of India, which made a deep impact on the population of the world.
In December of 1895, the renowned Indian Hindu monk and philosopher, then in his early thirties,
travelled to New York, rented a couple of rooms at 228 West 39th Street, where he spent a month holding a
series of public lectures on the notion of karma — translated as work — and various other aspects of mental
discipline. They attracted a number of famous followers, including groundbreaking inventor Nikola Tesla and
pioneering psychologist and philosopher William James, and were eventually transcribed and published as
Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action in 1896. Among the most timeless of them is one titled “The Secret of
Work,” in which Vivekananda examines with ever-timely poignancy the ways in which we mistake the doing
for the being and worship the perspirations of our productivity over the aspirations of our soul.
Text
Helping others physically, by removing their physical needs, is indeed great, but the help is great
according as the need is greater and according as the help is far reaching. If a man's wants can be removed
for an hour, it is helping him indeed; if his wants can be removed for a year, it will be more help to him; but
if his wants can be removed for ever, it is surely the greatest help that can be given him. Spiritual knowledge
is the only thing that can destroy our miseries for ever; any other knowledge satisfies wants only for a time.
It is only with the knowledge of the spirit that the faculty of want is annihilated for ever; so helping man
spiritually is the highest help that can be given to him. He who gives man spiritual knowledge is the greatest
benefactor of mankind and as such we always find that those were the most powerful of men who helped man
in his spiritual needs, because spirituality is the true basis of all our activities in life. A spiritually strong and
sound man will be strong in every other respect, if he so wishes. Until there is spiritual strength in man even
physical needs cannot be well satisfied. Next to spiritual comes intellectual help. The gift of knowledge is a
far higher gift than that of food and clothes; it is even higher than giving life to a man, because the real life of
man consists of knowledge. Ignorance is death, knowledge is life. Life is of very little value, if it is a life in
the dark, groping through ignorance and misery. Next in order comes, of course, helping a man physically.
Therefore, in considering the question of helping others, we must always strive not to commit the mistake of
thinking that physical help is the only help that can be given. It is not only the last but the least, because it
cannot bring about permanent satisfaction. The misery that I feel when I am hungry is satisfied by eating, but
hunger returns; my misery can cease only when I am satisfied beyond all want. Then hunger will not make
me miserable; no distress, no sorrow will be able to move me. So, that help which tends to make us strong
spiritually is the highest, next to it comes intellectual help, and after that physical help.
The miseries of the world cannot be cured by physical help only. Until man's nature changes, these
physical needs will always arise, and miseries will always be felt, and no amount of physical help will cure
them completely. The only solution of this problem is to make mankind pure. Ignorance is the mother of all
the evil and all the misery we see. Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated,
then alone will misery cease in the world, not before. We may convert every house in the country into a
charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man will still continue to exist until
man's character changes.
We read in the Bhagavad-Gita again and again that we must all work incessantly. All work is by nature
composed of good and evil. We cannot do any work which will not do some good somewhere; there cannot
be any work which will not cause some harm somewhere. Every work must necessarily be a mixture of good
and evil; yet we are commanded to work incessantly. Good and evil will both have their results, will produce
their Karma. Good action will entail upon us good effect; bad action, bad. But good and bad are both bondages
of the soul. The solution reached in the Gita in regard to this bondage-producing nature of work is that, if we
do not attach ourselves to the work we do, it will not have any binding effect on our soul. We shall try to
understand what is meant by this “non-attachment to” to work.
This is the central idea in tile Gita: work incessantly, but be not attached to it. Samskâra can be
translated very nearly by "inherent tendency". Using the simile of a lake for the mind, every ripple, every
wave that rises in the mind, when it subsides, does not die out entirely, but leaves a mark and a future
possibility of that wave coming out again. This mark, with the possibility of the wave reappearing, is what is
called Samskâra. Every work that we do, every movement of the body, every thought that we think, leaves
such an impression on the mind-stuff, and even when such impressions are not obvious on the surface, they
are sufficiently strong to work beneath the surface, subconsciously. What we are every moment is determined
by the sum total of these impressions on the mind. What I am just at this moment is the effect of the sum total
of all the impressions of my past life. This is really what is meant by character; each man's character is
determined by the sum total of these impressions. If good impressions prevail, the character becomes good;
if bad, it becomes bad. If a man continuously hears bad words, thinks bad thoughts, does bad actions, his
mind will be full of bad impressions; and they will influence his thought and work without his being conscious
of the fact. In fact, these bad impressions are always working, and their resultant must be evil, and that man
will be a bad man; he cannot help it. The sum total of these impressions in him will create the strong motive
power for doing bad actions. He will be like a machine in the hands of his impressions, and they will force
him to do evil.
Similarly, if a man thinks good thoughts and does good works, the sum total of these impressions will
be good; and they, in a similar manner, will force him to do good even in spite of himself. When a man has
done so much good work and thought so many good thoughts that there is an irresistible tendency in him to
do good in spite of himself and even if he wishes to do evil, his mind, as the sum total of his tendencies, will
not allow him to do so; the tendencies will turn him back; he is completely under the influence of the good
tendencies. When such is the case, a man's good character is said to be established.
As the tortoise tucks its feet and head inside the shell, and you may kill it and break it in pieces, and
yet it will not come out, even so the character of that man who has control over his motives and organs is
unchangeably established. He controls his own inner forces, and nothing can draw them out against his will.
By this continuous reflex of good thoughts, good impressions moving over the surface of the mind, the
tendency for doing good becomes strong, and as the result we feel able to control the Indriyas (the sense-
organs, the nerve-centers). Thus alone will character be established, then alone a man gets to truth. Such a
man is safe for ever; he cannot do any evil. You may place him in any company, there will be no danger for
him. There is a still higher state than having this good tendency, and that is the desire for liberation.
You must remember that freedom of the soul is the goal of all Yogas, and each one equally leads to
the same result. By work alone men may get to where Buddha got largely by meditation or Christ by prayer.
Buddha was a working Jnâni, Christ was a Bhakta, but the same goal was reached by both of them. The
difficulty is here.
 Liberation means entire freedom — freedom from the bondage of good, as well as from the bondage
of evil. A golden chain is as much a chain as an iron one. There is a thorn in my finger, and I use another to
take the first one out; and when I have taken it out, I throw both of them aside; I have no necessity for keeping
the second thorn, because both are thorns after all. So the bad tendencies are to be counteracted by the good
ones, and the bad impressions on the mind should be removed by the fresh waves of good ones, until all that
is evil almost disappears, or is subdued and held in control in a corner of the mind; but after that, the good
tendencies have also to be conquered. Thus the "attached" becomes the "unattached". Work, but let not the
action or the thought produce a deep impression on the mind. Let the ripples come and go, let huge actions
proceed from the muscles and the brain, but let them not make any deep impression on the soul.
How can this be done? We see that the impression of any action, to which we attach ourselves,
remains. I may meet hundreds of persons during the day, and among them meet also one whom I love; and
when I retire at night, I may try to think of all the faces I saw, but only that face comes before the mind —
the face which I met perhaps only for one minute, and which I loved; all the others have vanished. My
attachment to this particular person caused a deeper impression on my mind than all the other faces.
Physiologically the impressions have all been the same; every one of the faces that I saw pictured itself on
the retina, and the brain took the pictures in, and yet there was no similarity of effect upon the mind. Most of
the faces, perhaps, were entirely new faces, about which I had never thought before, but that one face of which
I got only a glimpse found associations inside. Perhaps I had pictured him in my mind for years, knew
hundreds of things about him, and this one new vision of him awakened hundreds of sleeping memories in
my mind; and this one impression having been repeated perhaps a hundred times more than those of the
different faces together, will produce a great effect on the mind.
Therefore, be "unattached"; let things work; let brain centers work; work incessantly, but let not a
ripple conquer the mind. Work as if you were a stranger in this land, a sojourner; work incessantly, but do not
bind yourselves; bondage is terrible. This world is not our habitation, it is only one of the many stages through
which we are passing. Remember that great saying of the Sânkhya, "The whole of nature is for the soul, not
the soul for nature." The very reason of nature's existence is for the education of the soul; it has no other
meaning; it is there because the soul must have knowledge, and through knowledge free itself. If we remember
this always, we shall never be attached to nature; we shall know that nature is a book in which we are to read,
and that when we have gained the required knowledge, the book is of no more value to us.
Instead of that, however, we are identifying ourselves with nature; we are thinking that the soul is for
nature, that the spirit is for the flesh, and, as the common saying has it, we think that man "lives to eat" and
not "eats to live". We are continually making this mistake; we are regarding nature as ourselves and are
becoming attached to it; and as soon as this attachment comes, there is the deep impression on the soul, which
binds us down and makes us work not from freedom but like slaves.
The whole gist of this teaching is that you should work like a master and not as a slave; work
incessantly, but do not do slave's work. Do you not see how everybody works? Nobody can be altogether at
rest; ninety-nine per cent of mankind work like slaves, and the result is misery; it is all selfish work. Work
through freedom! Work through love! The word "love" is very difficult to understand; love never comes until
there is freedom. There is no true love possible in the slave. If you buy a slave and tie him down in chains
and make him work for you, he will work like a drudge, but there will be no love in him. So when we ourselves
work for the things of the world as slaves, there can be no love in us, and our work is not true work. This is
true of work done for relatives and friends, and is true of work done for our own selves. Selfish work is slave's
work; and here is a test. Every act of love brings happiness; there is no act of love which does not bring peace
and blessedness as its reaction. Real existence, real knowledge, and real love are eternally connected with one
another, the three in one: where one of them is, the others also must be; they are the three aspects of the One
without a second — the Existence - Knowledge - Bliss. When that existence becomes relative, we see it as
the world; that knowledge becomes in its turn modified into the knowledge of the things of the world; and
that bliss forms the foundation of all true love known to the heart of man. Therefore true love can never react
so as to cause pain either to the lover or to the beloved. Suppose a man loves a woman; he wishes to have her
all to himself and feels extremely jealous about her every movement; he wants her to sit near him, to stand
near him, and to eat and move at his bidding. He is a slave to her and wishes to have her as his slave. That is
not love; it is a kind of morbid affection of the slave, insinuating itself as love. It cannot be love, because it is
painful; if she does not do what he wants, it brings him pain. With love there is no painful reaction; love only
brings a reaction of bliss; if it does not, it is not love; it is mistaking something else for love. When you have
succeeded in loving your husband, your wife, your children, the whole world, the universe, in such a manner
that there is no reaction of pain or jealousy, no selfish feeling, then you are in a fit state to be unattached.
Krishna says, "Look at Me, Arjuna! If I stop from work for one moment, the whole universe will die.
I have nothing to gain from work; I am the one Lord, but why do I work? Because I love the world." God is
unattached because He loves; that real love makes us unattached. Wherever there is attachment, the clinging
to the things of the world, you must know that it is all physical attraction between sets of particles of matter
something that attracts two bodies nearer and nearer all the time and, if they cannot get near enough, produces
pain; but where there is real love, it does not rest on physical attachment at all. Such lovers may be a thousand
miles away from one another, but their love will be all the same; it does not die, and will never produce any
painful reaction.
To attain this un-attachment is almost a life-work, but as soon as we have reached this point, we have
attained the goal of love and become free; the bondage of nature falls from us, and we see nature as she is;
she forges no more chains for us; we stand entirely free and take not the results of work into consideration;
who then cares for what the results may be?
Do you ask anything from your children in return for what you have given them? It is your duty to
work for them, and there the matter ends. In whatever you do for a particular person, a city, or a state, assume
the same attitude towards it as you have towards your children — expect nothing in return. If you can
invariably take the position of a giver, in which everything given by you is a free offering to the world, without
any thought of return, then will your work bring you no attachment. Attachment comes only where we expect
a return.
If working like slaves results in selfishness and attachment, working as master of our own mind gives
rise to the bliss of non-attachment. We often talk of right and justice, but we find that in the world right and
justice are mere baby's talk. There are two things which guide the conduct of men: might and mercy. The
exercise of might is invariably the exercise of selfishness. All men and women try to make the most of
whatever power or advantage they have. Mercy is heaven itself; to be good, we have all to be merciful. Even
justice and right should stand on mercy. All thought of obtaining return for the work we do hinders our
spiritual progress; nay, in the end it brings misery. There is another way in which this idea of mercy and
selfless charity can be put into practice; that is, by looking upon work as "worship" in case we believe in a
Personal God. Here we give up all the fruits of our work unto the Lord, and worshipping Him thus, we have
no right to expect anything from mankind for the work we do. The Lord Himself works incessantly and is
ever without attachment. Just as water cannot wet the lotus leaf, so work cannot bind the unselfish man by
giving rise to attachment to results. The selfless and unattached man may live in the very heart of a crowded
and sinful city; he will not be touched by sin.
This idea of complete self-sacrifice is illustrated in the following story: After the battle of Kurukshetra
the five Pândava brothers performed a great sacrifice and made very large gifts to the poor. All people
expressed amazement at the greatness and richness of the sacrifice, and said that such a sacrifice the world
had never seen before. But, after the ceremony, there came a little mongoose, half of whose body was golden,
and the other half brown; and he began to roll on the floor of the sacrificial hall. He said to those around,
"You are all liars; this is no sacrifice." "What!" they exclaimed, "you say this is no sacrifice; do you not know
how money and jewels were poured out to the poor and every one became rich and happy? This was the most
wonderful sacrifice any man ever performed." But the mongoose said, "There was once a little village, and in
it there dwelt a poor Brahmin with his wife, his son, and his son's wife. They were very poor and lived on
small gifts made to them for preaching and teaching. There came in that land a three years' famine, and the
poor Brahmin suffered more than ever. At last when the family had starved for days, the father brought home
one morning a little barley flour, which he had been fortunate enough to obtain, and he divided it into four
parts, one for each member of the family. They prepared it for their meal, and just as they were about to eat,
there was a knock at the door. The father opened it, and there stood a guest.
Now in India a guest is a sacred person; he is as a god for the time being, and must be treated as such.
So the poor Brahmin said, 'Come in, sir; you are welcome,' He set before the guest his own portion of the
food, which the guest quickly ate and said, 'Oh, sir, you have killed me; I have been starving for ten days, and
this little bit has but increased my hunger.' Then the wife said to her husband, 'Give him my share,' but the
husband said, 'Not so.' The wife however insisted, saying, 'Here is a poor man, and it is our duty as
householders to see that he is fed, and it is my duty as a wife to give him my portion, seeing that you have no
more to offer him.' Then she gave her share to the guest, which he ate, and said he was still burning with
hunger. So the son said, 'Take my portion also; it is the duty of a son to help his father to fulfill his obligations.'
The guest ate that, but remained still unsatisfied; so the son's wife gave him her portion also. That was
sufficient, and the guest departed, blessing them. That night those four people died of starvation. A few
granules of that flour had fallen on the floor; and when I rolled my body on them, half of it became golden,
as you see. Since then I have been travelling all over the world, hoping to find another sacrifice like that, but
nowhere have I found one; nowhere else has the other half of my body been turned into gold. That is why I
say this is no sacrifice."
This idea of charity is going out of India; great men are becoming fewer and fewer. When I was first
learning English, I read an English story book in which there was a story about a dutiful boy who had gone
out to work and had given some of his money to his old mother, and this was praised in three or four pages.
What was that? No Hindu boy can ever understand the moral of that story. Now I understand it when I hear
the Western idea — every man for himself. And some men take everything for themselves, and fathers and
mothers and wives and children go to the wall. That should never and nowhere be the ideal of the householder.
Now you see what Karma-Yoga means; even at the point of death to help anyone, without asking
questions. Be cheated millions of times and never ask a question, and never think of what you are doing.
Never vaunt of your gifts to the poor or expect their gratitude, but rather be grateful to them for giving you
the occasion of practising charity to them. Thus it is pain that to be an ideal householder is a much more
difficult task than to be an ideal Sannyasin; the true life of work is indeed as hard as, if not harder than, the
equally true life of renunciation.

Synopsis
The philosophy of work or Karma Yoga has been elaborately dealt by the narrator in a systematic
manner. According to him, the world is full of miseries. The miseries arise due to ignorance of mankind. The
writer says, “ignorance is the mother of all evil.” One has to be spiritually strong and educated to ward off
misery from his life. Mankind has to be made pure and perfect. The effect of work is either good or bad. God
commands us to work which will have good effects, and bad work will bring bad result. God expects us to
work incessantly. Do work but keep the soul out of bondage. It means that humans should never involve
themselves to go after their desired results. The desire of man is the source of agony which should be avoided.
The author says that mind is just like a lake where the wave of thoughts rises and drowns at the end but it
leaves a mark which means that the thoughts may reappear again. This reappearance of thoughts is part of
your ‘Sanskara.’ Every man’s character is determined by this Sanskara. If good impressions prevail, the
character becomes good. The work done by him will be good and the result will always be good.
The author says that making of character is like the formation of a shell of the tortoise. One may break
the outer shell of the tortoise into pieces but the tortoise will not take out its feet and head once it tukes both
the organs into the shell. Man also should control his organs and the inner motive to the suitability of his
character and only a man of character can achieve truth. He cannot do any evil to others. We meet hundred
of persons during the day. Out of this hundred, some may be good and some may be bad. There may be one
whom you love the most. When you reach your bed, you will remember only the person who you love the
most and the others just vanish from your mind.
This world is not a permanent habitation for everyone. It is one of the stops in the long journey of life
and soul. The author suggests being unattached, and to work as a stranger in this world. Do not work like a
slave, but work like a master. Most of the men and women work like slaves and the result is misery and pain.
A slave works without any pleasure in the work, and so he cannot find love in what he does. There is no act
of love which cannot bring happiness in life. The master’s work brings peace while the slave’s work brings
misery. As Lord Krishna says, “If I stop from work for a moment, the whole universe will decay and die.
Because I love the world, I work incessantly but still I keep myself unattached.” As soon as one realises this
ideal, his work is complete and he achieves his goal. Whatever you do for your child, a particular person, a
city or a state, expect nothing in return, as you do not expect anything in return from your children. This will
bring pleasure in your life and keep you detached from the worldly bondage. There are two things which
guide the conduct of a man-might and mercy. The exercise of might is an act of selfishness. Mercy is heavenly.
To be good, one has to have mercy. The selfless and unattended person can live in the midst of a crowded
and sinful world but he will be carrying no sin. It is the same way as the lotus leaf carries water drops on its
body but the drops are unable to wet the lotus leaf. He concludes stating that mercy is the man’s real virtue.

Glossary
Annihilated : defeated
Misery : sadness
Asylum : shelter
Incessantly : continuously
Irresistible : tempting
Tendency : an inclination towards a particular characteristic or type of behaviour
Liberation : freedom
Habitation : place of living; residence
Morbid : melancholic
Obligations : duties; responsibilities
Charity : help
Renunciation : rejection

Choose the best answer:

1. When was Swami Vivekananda born?
a) 1763 b) 1736 c) 1863 d) 1836
2. The original name of Swami Vivekananda is ______.
a) Birendranath Dutta b) Surendranath Dutta c) Narendranath Dutta d) Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
3. Which is the true basis of all human activities in life?
a) health b) helping others c) wealth d) spirituality
4. A man should work like a ____.
a) master b) slave c) activist d) creator
 5. Attachment comes only where we expect ____.
a) help b) friendship c) love d) return

Fill in the following blanks:

1. The miseries of the world cannot be cured by _____ only.
2. ______ is the mother of all the evil and all the misery we see.
3. ______ can be translated very nearly by "inherent tendency".
4. ______ means entire freedom.
5. The very reason of nature's existence is for the ______ of the soul.
Annotate the following:
1. “Ignorance is death, knowledge is life.”
2. “Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated, then alone will misery
cease in the world, not before.”
3. “There is a thorn in my finger, and I use another to take the first one out; and when I have taken it
out, I throw both of them aside; I have no necessity for keeping the second thorn, because both are
thorns after all.”
4. "The whole of nature is for the soul, not the soul for nature."
5. “they are the three aspects of the One without a second — the Existence - Knowledge - Bliss.”

Give Short Answers to the following:

1. Is it possible for the people to be completely free of misery? Explain how.
2. How is the nature of work explained by the author?
3. Detail the idea of ‘Samskara’ from the essay.
4. How is a tortoise compared with a human being?
5. Explain the concept of “unattached” with reference to work.

Attempt an essay on the following:

1. How does Vivekananda explain working without expecting any return?

4. Poetry
ON HIS BLINDNESS
John Milton
Author Introduction
John Milton was born in London on 9th December 1608. After university, he spent six years in his
father’s country home in Buckinghamshire, following a rigorous independent study course, including classical
and modern works to prepare for a career as a poet. In addition, Milton was proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew,
French, Spanish, Italian, Old English, and Dutch. During his period of private study, Milton composed a
number of poems, including “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,” “On Shakespeare,” the companion poems
“L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso” and the pastoral elegy “Lycidas.” During the English Civil War, Milton
championed the cause of the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell. He wrote a series of pamphlets advocating radical
political topics, including the morality of divorce, the freedom of the press, populism, and sanctioned regicide.
Milton also served as secretary for foreign languages in Cromwell’s government. After the Restoration of
Charles II to the throne in 1660, Milton was arrested as a defender of the Commonwealth, fined, and then
released. He lived the rest of his life in seclusion in the country, completing the blank-verse epic poem
Paradise Lost in 1667 and its sequel Paradise Regained and the tragedy Samson Agonistes both in 1671.
Milton died on 8th November 1674.
“On His Blindness” is one of the best-known of the sonnets of John Milton. The poem may have been
written as early as 1652, although most scholars believe it was composed sometime between June and October
1655, when Milton’s blindness was essentially complete. However, what we do know for sure is that it was
first published in 1673. The poem On His Blindness is an autobiographical sonnet in which he expresses his
feelings as a blind person. The poet thinks, in the beginning, that he will not be able to serve God as his sight
is gone. As the poem develops, he begins to believe that God wants him to keep working, in spite of the fact
that his job caused him to lose his sight. In the end, he is assured that he is serving God like the angels who
just wait for the orders of God. The poem has a number of Biblical references that depict Milton’s stern belief
in God. The poem is written in the Petrarchan rhyme scheme.

TEXT
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."

GLOSSARY
Ere : before
Doth : to do, does
Chide : to scold
Yoke : a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the
plough or cart that they are to pull
Exact : demand
Light denied : blind
Murmur : breathy voice
O’er : over
Talent : a) a natural or acquired ability and b) a unit of money
Lodged : to make or become firmly fixed or embedded in a particular place
Spent : used up; gone out (blindness)
Post : to travel quickly
Fondly : Archaic, naively, foolishly
Prevent : both to forestall and to predispose

SYNOPSIS
The poet starts the poem with ‘When’ thus he introduces his idea in the very beginning. According to
him, he often thinks that half of his life or sight or intelligence has been spent in serving humanity, but now
he has lost his eyesight and so his other half-life is dark now and wide i.e. challenging as well. The one talent
(of writing) which he had, is useless now because without eyesight he cannot write. Thus it is just a load from
the God that has been bestowed on him. The poet laments over the loss of his eyesight and wonders what this
talent means for him now as without eyesight he cannot use it.
In the following lines, the lament of poets turns into desire and wonder. He says that he desired to
serve his Maker but because of this blindness he cannot do so.He wonders if God still wants to serve Him in
spite of the fact that his sight is gone. The poet says that this foolish thought often haunts him.
In the next stanza, the poet says that when such foolish thoughts come into his mind, the patience at
once comes to reply that the work of man does not please God, but the ‘who best bear his mild yoke’ i.e.the
one who remains patient and content with what he has is most liked by Him. God has a huge Kingdom and
there are thousands of angels who remain in motion to carry God’s order. They never take rest. The poet
compares them with those who have the talent and use it to serve God.
On the other hand, there are some other angels also who serve Him just by standing and waiting before
God. According to him, their service is equally valuable to God as that of the first category of angels.
The poet compares himself with the later Angels who just keep patience. Thus, in the end, the poet is
quite satisfied as he is also serving God just by keeping patience.

Choose the best answer:

1. What kind of poem is “On His Blindness”?
a) Ballad b) Lyric c) Couplet d) Sonnet
2. "To serve therewith my Maker" who the maker refers to?
a) Father b) God c) Poet d) Man
3. In the second stanza, what does the poet worry about?
a) His writings b) His health c) His desire to serve God d) His blindness
4. His (God’s) state is _____.
a) Royal b) Supernatural c) Kingly d) heavenly
5. What is the meaning of “ere”?
 a) age b) period c) mistake d) before
Fill in the following blanks:
1. This poem is an ______ sonnet.
2. They also serve who only stand and _____.
3. The last two lines of the sonnet are known as _______.
4. Milton was arrested as _______.
5. This poem is written in ____ rhyme scheme.
Annotate the following with reference:
1. “"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
2. “though my soul more bent to serve therewith my Maker”
3. “God doth not need / Either man's work or his own gifts”
Give short answers to the following:
1. How does Milton regret the loss of his ‘light’?
2. How does Patience forestall the poet’s anguish?
3. State examples of metaphor and personification in the poem.
4. Before he thinks to ask the Lord whether he is still a worthy servant, he answers the question
himself. What is his answer?
5. Does optimism of the last two lines naturally evolve out of the poem?
Attempt an essay on the following:
1. How does the poet justify the ways of God to man in the sonnet “On His Blindness”?

5. GRAMMAR
NOUNS & PRONOUNS
Nouns, as you know are “naming words”. Before we explore how we can enrich our knowledge of
nouns and their use, lets engage with a motivational story:
Motivational Text
The Potatoes, The Eggs and The Coffee Beans
“Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t
know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just
as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire.
Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground
coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and
impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in
a bowl. He pulled the boiled eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. ‘Daughter, what do you
see?’
‘Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,’ she hastily replied.
‘Look closer,’ he said, ‘and touch the potatoes.’ She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked
her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he
asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
‘Father, what does this mean?’ she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the
boiling water.
However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling
water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they
changed the water and created something new.
‘Which are you,’ he asked his daughter. ‘When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?
Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?’
(Source: https://www.moralstories.org/struggles-of-our-life/)

Exercise 1
As the focus of this lesson is ‘naming’ (i.e. use of nouns) and describing (use of adjectives), can you
list the nouns and adjectives in the story you have read?

Exercise 2
Using the nouns you are familiar with from the passage given, complete the following sentences
1. A person for whom cooking is a profession is known as a
2. There is a proverbial expression which says, “Don’t add fuel to the ______”
3. This endless argument is like asking, “Which came first, the chicken or the?”
4. The empowered woman doesn’t spend her life in the : just cooking and cleaning and
pans.
5. You should be emotionally strong in times of .

Exercise 3
Using the adjectives you are familiar with from the passage given, complete the following sentences
1. Having lost her wallet, she felt
2. Handle with care: _glassware inside.
3. _garam masala is sprinkled before serving.
4. There are two types of water, water and water.
5. He complained of fever.
NOUNS
Nouns are naming words. They could be names of people, animals, places, things, ideas, feelings
and concepts.
TYPES OF NOUNS
Proper Noun and Common Noun
Karthik is an intelligent boy. (proper noun)
Karthik is an intelligent boy. (common noun)
Chennai is a city. (proper noun)
Chennai is a city. (common noun)
Concrete Noun and Abstract Noun
The artist has his brush and paint (concrete noun)
There is fish in the tank (concrete noun)
When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? (abstract noun)
The egg had lost its fragility (abstract noun)
Collective Noun
The police controlled the mob I live with my family
The crowd gathered
Countable Noun and Uncountable Noun
I have many books (countable noun: plural allowed)
You have a lot of knowledge (uncountable noun: no plural)
Apples are good for health (countable noun: plural allowed)
Milk is also good for health (uncountable noun: no plural)

Exercise 4
List some of the nouns that you already know

Proper Common Concrete Abstract Collective Countable Uncountable

Nouns Nouns Nouns Nouns Nouns Nouns Nouns
Enrich Your Vocabulary
In the motivational story, The Potatoes, The Eggs and The Coffee and The Beans, there are two
key words (nouns) – ‘chef’ (a professional)and ‘adversity’ (a circumstance), which is also an abstract
noun.
Here are some words from the world of a chef
➢ Related to food preparation and varieties: cuisine, menu, gourmet, ingredients, dishes (food items)
➢ Action words – heat, bake, grill, sauté, roast, knead (dough), stir, fry, chop, mince, boil, grind,
powder, garnish
➢ Words related to taste: spicy, bland, tangy, sour, tasty, insipid, crunchy, soft, palatable
‘Adversity’ is a circumstance. Find the synonyms for ‘adversity’ and ‘prosperity’
Make a list of ten abstract nouns (For example: love, childhood, bravery).

Express Yourself
1. Describe some of the cuisines (in India or other parts of the world) (Suggestion: The teacher can
divide the class into zones and each can choose a cuisine of a region. For example, North Indian
cuisine, South Indian cuisine, Greek cuisine, Thai cuisine, Italian cuisine etc. The students can explore
different types of cuisine and make a group presentation before the class)

Work in pairs
1. Describe to your partner, your favourite dish, how it is prepared and how it tastes.
2. Talk to your partner about any one of the abstract nouns you have listed.

Motivational Text
“To become really good at anything, you have to practice and repeat, practice and repeat, until the
technique becomes intuitive.” Paolo Coelho
ASPECTS OF NOUNS
In this section we will be considering the following aspects of nouns namely, ‘number’, ‘gender’ and ‘case’.

Number
S.No. How to form the Plural Singular Plural

1. By adding ‘s’ after the Book, pen, lamp Books,pens, lamps

noun

2. By adding ‘es’ after sibilant church, bus, brush, Churches, buses,

sounds of ‘ch’,’s’, ‘sh’ and box, brushes, boxes,
‘x’

3. By substituting ‘y’ when it City, county, country Cities,counties,

is ’preceded by consonant countries
with ‘ies’

4. By adding ‘s’ to a word Boy, toy, joy Boys, toys, joys

which ends with ‘y’ and is
preceded by a vowelsound

5. By substituting ‘fe/fe’ with Wife, thief Wives, thieves

‘ves’ when the ‘f/fe’ending
is precededby a vowel

6. By adding’s’ for a word Roof Roofs

ending with ‘f’ and where
‘f’ is preceded bya vowel

7. By adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ to a Disco, tomato Discos, tomatoes

word ending with ‘o’

8. Irregular plural forms Man, child, mouse, Men,children,mice,

tooth, goose, foot, ox teeth, feet, oxen

9. Precede these words A pair of scissors

(scissors, trousers, shorts) A pair of trousers A pair of shorts
which always have a plural
form with “a pair of”

10. Certain collective nouns are People, cattle

always used as plurals

11. Some nouns have the same Sheep

form in both singular and
plural
 12. The case of compound nouns Daughter-in-law Son- Daughters-in-law Sons-
like daughter-in- law, son-in- in-law in-law
law

No Singular Form & No Plural Form

No Singular Form No Plural Form

Cattle News

Trousers Information

Scissors Measles

Pliers Furniture

Police Baggage

Glasses/Spectacles Advice

Pants Knowledge

Shorts Rubbish

Task 1
Fill in the blanks from the list of words given above (No Singular Form & and No Plural From)
1. My mother is a good seamstress. She needs a new pair of .
2. You can cut the wire. I have a pair of in my tool kit.
3. I’ll be going to the beach in a pair of .
4. I am not able to read without my .
5. The television is awash with about the President’s visit.
6. Of the new _ we got for our home, I like the sofa.
7. Some people do not listen to the given by their well-wishers.
8. The _is on the notice board.
9. The flight arrived on time. But our came late.
10. The are the law enforcing agency.

Task 2
Fill in the blanks with the Singular/Plural.
 Singular Plural

Feet

Knife

Baby

Watch

Teeth

Media

Shelf

Dictionary

Taxes

Industry

Gender
In human beings

Masculine form of noun Feminine form of noun

Father Mother

Husband Wife

Son Daughter

Nephew Niece

Uncle Aunt

Among animals

S.No. Animal Male Female Young

 1. Ass Jackass Jenny Ass Foal of an ass
2. Chicken Rooster/Cock Hen Chick
3. Deer Buck Doe Fawn

4. Dog Dog Bitch Pup

5. Sheep Ram Ewe Lamb
6. Goose
7. Whale
8. Swan
9. Horse
10. Rabbit

Complete the list given above (Fill in the blanks from S.No.6 to10)
Case

Subjective Objective Case/Accusative Possessive Case (By

Case/Nominative Case Case adding apostrophe)

Senthil likes Vijayan. SenthillikesVijayan. ThisisSenthil’spen(Whosep

(Who likes Vijayan?) en?)
(Whom does Senthil like?)

The lion attacked The lion attacked the deer Thisisthelion’s den
the deer (Whose den?)
(What did the lion attack?)
(Whatattacked the deer?)

·When a noun is used as ‘subject’, it is in the ‘subjective/nominative case’ and answers to the
questions ‘who’ and ‘what’
·When a noun is used as ‘object’, it is in the ‘objective/accusative case’ and answers to the
questions ‘whom’ and ‘what’
·Guidelines for forming the possessive case are as follows:
- By adding apostrophe + s to singular nouns, e.g. Senthil’s pen, lion’s paws, boss’s room
- By adding apostrophe + s to plural nouns, e.g. men’s college, women’s college
- By adding only apostrophe after the ‘s’ in plural nouns, e.g. boys’ school

Enrich Your Vocabulary

The motivational text at the beginning states, “To become really good at anything, you have to practice
and repeat, practice and repeat, until the technique becomes intuitive.” (Paolo Coelho).
1. What is meant by “intuition”?
2. Explore how you can use these words: vision, foresight, astute, perceptive, acumen.

Express Yourself
1. Gender is one of the aspects of nouns. Even the animal world (in most cases) has different names for
male and female of the same species (E.g. lion, lioness). The human world is also divided into ‘man’
and ‘woman’. Does the human world have a gender divide which cannot be bridged? Share your views.

Motivational Text
“A boss says, “Do that”. A leader says, “Let’s do this.” - Jeremy Kingsley

PRONOUNS
Pronouns are used instead of nouns. For example, “Mohan is a cricketer. He plays for the state.”.
Here “he” is a pronoun because it refers to Mohan.
I.Personal Pronoun
The pronouns, I, We, You, He, She, and It, are called personal pronouns because they refer to the
particular person(s) discussed in that sentence. Different forms (Cases) of the personal pronoun are used
according to the position of its usage, like that is j

Subject form Object Form Possessive Possessive

Adjective form Pronoun form
(PossessiveCase) (Genitive Case)
First person

I am a student The teachers like This is my class This Mine is

me isour class interesting
Ours is
interesting
We are The teachers like
students us
Second Person
Youare a The teachers like This is your Yours is
student you class interesting
Third Person

He is a student The teachers like It is his class His is large

him
She is a The teachers like It is her class Hers is large
student her
 It is a cat Children like it This is its tail Its is white
They are The teachers like It is their class Theirs is large
students them

Nouns are always Third person

Balu is a The teachers like It is Balu’s bag Balu’s is red
student Balu
Question Words (Interrogative Pronouns)
Who Whom Whose Which ---
What Where ---

From the above chart you can infer that pronouns take different forms in different positions. Consider
the sentence, “He is a good student, and the teachers like him.” Both ‘he’ and ‘him’ refer to the same person,
but different forms and cases are used because ‘He’ is a subject and ‘him’ is an object. Not only personal
pronouns, but other types of pronouns (given below), have cases depending on the structural position of their
usage in a sentence.
II.Reflexive Pronouns: They are the pronouns used as objects in sentences wherein the action of the
subject reflects upon the subject itself as illustrated below:
I hurt myself We hurt ourselves
You hurt yourself You hurt yourselves
He hurt himself They hurt themselves
She hurt herself
It hurt itself

III.Emphatic Pronoun/Intensive Pronoun: They are the pronouns used to refer to the subject itself for
emphasis as illustrated below:

I myself prepared the food. I prepared the food myself.

We ourselves prepared the food. We prepared the food ourselves.
You yourself prepared the food. You prepared the food yourself
You yourselves prepared the food. You prepared the food yourselves.
He himself prepared the food. He prepared the food himself.

She herself prepared the food. She prepared the food herself.
They themselves prepared the food. They prepared the food themselves.

IV.Reciprocal Pronouns
When there is an exchange of some kind between two people, the reciprocal pronouns ‘each other’ and
‘one another’ are used. There is very little difference between ‘each other’ and ‘one another’ and we
can normally use them in the same places.
Love one another/ Love each other.
 We phone each other/one another regularly.
We’ve known each other/one another for twelve years.
V.Demonstrative Pronouns: Demonstrative pronouns are ‘pointers’: they point out/point to something as
seen in the examples given below:
This is interesting. These are interesting.
That is wonderful. Those are wonderful
VI.Indefinite Pronouns: Indefinite pronouns can refer to everybody/everything of a group of nouns in
a general way as illustrated below:
Everybody likes a good meal. You cannot trust anybody.
(Everybody is used in a positive sentence and ‘anybody’ here is used to convey a negative message)
Somebody will be interested in it. Nobody can do this.
Everything will be done. He cannot do anything.
(Everything conveys a positive meaning here and anything in this sentence conveys a negative
meaning)
Something is going to happen. Nothingcan stop him.
One should have hope. Nonecan be so good.
All are singing. Some are good.
You can meet any of them. Eachmay donate as they please.
Few will object to this. Manywill appreciate this.
Other indefinite pronouns include the following:
enough, fewer, less, little, much, several, more, most, both, either and neither
Some of these pronouns like ‘few and many’ are used for countable nouns and other others like ‘little
and much’ for uncountable nouns.
VII.Distributive Pronouns
Distributive pronouns refer to all persons/things in a group of nouns but one at a time as illustrated
below:
I will give you a chocolate,each. Each of them will get a chocolate
We can buy apples at Rs.20/- each. We can buy each apple for Rs.20/-
Either of them can participate. I like neither of them.
VIII.Interrogative Pronouns: When the possible question of words of pronouns, namely ‘who, whom,
whose, what and which,’ are used in questions, they are called interrogative pronouns.
IX.Relative Pronoun: Relative pronouns are similar to interrogative pronouns, but used in clauses.
Exercise 1
Imagine that Ravi is your friend and that you are relating something about him to an acquaintance. Choose
the correct personal pronoun from the one given in brackets to complete what you have to say about Ravi:
RaviandIhavebeenbuddiesforages.Now (I/my/me)amaProfessoratChemistryatGuruNanakCollegeand
(he/his/him)isaProfessorofChemistryatVivekanandaCollege.
(We/us)mettwodecadesago.Ourfamiliesalsobecamefriends.(he/his/him)fatherandmyfatherwerecollea
guesattheSouthernRailwayoffice.(We/us)livedintheRailwayQuartersand so did
 (they/their/them).When(they/their/them)bought(they/their/them)ownhouse,theymovedoutofthequart
ers.Afewyearslater(we/us)boughtourownhouseandwenttolivethere.(Our/we/us)friendshipdidn’tfade.Bothof(
we/us)joinedthesamecollegeandthesamecourseaswell!Iusedtosharemyclassnoteswith
(him/he)whenhecouldn’tmakeittocollege.Healsoshared_(he/his/him)withme,wheneverrequired.West
udiedtogether,butdid(our/we/us)projectsindependently.Hegotthefirstprizefor(he/his/him)andIgotthesecondpr
izefor__(me/mine).WhenRavicongratulatedme,hesaid,“Ilike(you/your)project.
_(it/its)awesome.”Ireplied,“Ithink (you/yours)isthebest.Youdeservethefirstprize.”
Exercise 2
Fill in the blanks with a suitable reflexive pronoun or emphatic pronoun:
1.I learned painting
2.I taught painting.
3.They put into unnecessary trouble by fighting with their neighbours
4.She blamed for her poor performance
5.The dog hurt _____
Exercise 3
Fill in the blanks with suitable reciprocal pronouns:
1.At the end of the tennis match the players congratulated
2.Friends should support
3.Love
4.Siblings should care for
5.In a crisis we should be there for
Exercise 4
Fill in the blanks with suitable demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns or distributive pronouns.
Choose the appropriate form from the list given below.
all, anybody, each, either, everybody, everything, few, many, neither, nobody, none, nothing, one,
somebody, such, that, this, these, those.
1.You should not give it to _
2. is welcome.
3. are welcome.
4. father nor mother responded to the call from the Principal.
5. parent can sign to acknowledge receipt of the report card.
6.Donate your books to the Book Bank or Library. They might be useful to .
7.Give child a notebook and a pencil.
8.Buddha gave up for his spiritual quest.
9. is my wife and are my children.
10.The mangoes on tree are not as good as from the other tree.
Enrich Your Vocabulary
1.The motivational text, “The boss says, “Do that”. A leader says, “Let’s do this.” is an insight into
what makes a person a good leader.
You can add to this word list of the qualities of a good leader:
i. Respectful
ii. Responsible
iii. Systematic
iv. Organized
v. Transparent
2.Refer to Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech
(https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm)and observe his use of ‘I’ and ‘We’.
Make two lists of sentences - one list of sentences where he uses ‘I’ and the other list showing his use of
‘We’

Express Yourself
1.Read this story and comment on the moral of the story:
It’s Not My Job
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an
important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it,
but nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought that
Anybody could do it, but nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. In the end Everybody blamed
Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done!
(https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/pronouns-notmyjob.htm)
2.An egotist often uses the pronoun ‘I’. Often an egotist is jokingly referred to as an “‘I’ specialist.” S/He
boasts about himself/herself and ‘I’ occurs frequently in their speech. Write five sentences which form the
speech of an egotist.

ADJECTIVES
Adjectives, as you might already know, are words that are used to describe or modify nouns or
pronouns. Adjectives give more information about a noun or pronoun.
Listen to this song from the famous film The Sound of Music. Sing along and enjoy it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urCTUyKzTzc
Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells
And schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
 These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad
(Songwriters: Oscar Hammerstein / Richard Rodgers)
Can you recognize the “favourite things” depicted in the picture? (Hint: The images are in the same order as
they are in the song)
Exercise 1
List the ‘describing words’ in the song Favourite Things
1.List the phrases where there is only one adjective before the noun. (Examples: favourite things,
white dresses…….)
2.In some phrases, two adjectives precede a noun as in “bright copper kettles”. You should be able to
spot four such phrases.
3.There are two hyphenated adjectives. One is “cream-coloured”. Spot the other one.
4.Raindrops is a noun and a compound word. Can you spot the other two compound nouns in the
song?
5.In these expressions “feeling sad” and “feel bad” the words “sad” and “bad” are adverbs/adjectives
(Tick the right answer)
Exercise 2
1.“These are a few of my favourite things” is a refrain in the song. What is the difference between
“These few are my favourite things” and “These are a few of my favourite things”?
2.The song says, “When I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things and then I don’t feel so
bad.”
Substitute the word sad with other adjectives from the list given below and form more sentences of your
own in the following structure:
When I’m feeling ,I .
(for example: When I’m feeling lonely, I listen to music.)
lonely happy unhappyangry excited anxious bored
3.Fill in the blanks with words which describe the “favourite things” or “favourite” people young
children, teenagers and adults turn to when they feel sad. The first one is done as an example.

Young Children Teenagers Adults

Cuddly toys food books

games music TV programmes
dress (girl child) friends food
friend mother/father friends
sweets brother/sister dress
parent games companion

If you would like to strengthen your knowledge of adjectives and the place of an adjective/s in a sentence,
you have to explore the following:
1.Where adjectives go in a sentence
2.Adjectives with ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’
3.Adjective order
4.Adjectives of quantity (many, much, few, little)
5.Comparative and superlative adjectives
6.Intensifiers
1. Where adjectives go in a sentence
Most adjectives can be used in front of a noun: Deepak and his wife have a beautiful house.
They saw a very exciting film last night.
Or after a link verb like be, look or feel: Their house is beautiful.
That film looks interesting.
Exercise 3
In some of the sentences given below the adjective is in the wrong place. Correct those sentences:
·I saw a really good movie last night.
·My brother has got two young children.
·I didn't know your mother Chinese was.
·Are you OK? You look terrible!
·I've just bought a new printer.
·This food doesn't very good smell. How old is it?
·They're building a factory big next to our home.
·Russia can be a country very cold in the winter.
·Sorry, can you stop the car? I feel sick.
·I'd like to see that new Hindi film. It interesting sounds.

Adjectives with '-ing' and '-ed'

A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding –ingor-ed:
-ingadjectives
The commonest –ingadjectives are:
amusing, annoying, boring, exciting, disappointing, interesting shocking, surprising, frightening, tiring,
worrying,
Examples:
I saw a very interestingprogramme on TV today.
That film was absolutely boring.
-edadjectives
The commonest –edadjectives are:
annoyed, excited, bored, frightened, closed, tired, delighted, worried, disappointed
Examples:
We had nothing to do. We were really bored.
I didn't really enjoy the film. Most of the time I was bored.
Exercise 4
delighted,annoying,boring,frightening,amusing,exciting,frightened,ex
cited, bored,annoyed, Choose from the
‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives’ given in the box
When we travelled this summer, in the same compartment, there was a family travelling with their little
girl. We enjoyed her company. She was _ing. We were ted to listen to her. On the other hand, there
were a few people who spoilt our journey. They were _ing because they talked loudly after 9 pm
(which is bedtime). We were ed with them and so were the others who travelled in that
compartment. The train passed through the Western Ghats. It was ning when we travelled through
tunnels.It was also ing. That is what adventure is. We are ned when it is scary and ted when
it is over. There’s one thing, we can say forsure. The journey was not _ing. We were not red even
for a moment.
Adjective order:
i). Two adjectives:
We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:
a beautiful young woman
a fierce black panther
that intelligent young man
Exercise 5
Match the adjectives and the noun:

Adjectives Noun
lazy little Bread
poor old mango
crazy young strawberr
big old y soup
creamy white mansion
tasty red artist
sweet juicy beggar
old stale boy

ii) Two adjectives which are hyphenated:

part-time, long-term, second-hand, half-hearted, far-fetched, time- consuming, well-known, hand-made,
good-looking, world-famous, hard- working, broad-minded, bad-tempered, broken-hearted, self-confident,
low-paid.
Exercise 6
Find as many associations as you can for each of the hyphenated words given: (the first one has been
done for you)

Adjective Associated Noun

broken-hearted lover, friend, mother, brother,
father, sister, wife,
self-confident
hard-working

bad-tempered
low-paid
world-famous
time-consuming
well-known

broad-minded
long-term
Some adjectives give a general opinion.
To describe almost any noun, we can use the following adjectives:
good, nice, awful, bad, beautiful, important, lovely, brilliant, wonderful, strange,
excellent, nasty
He's agood / wonderful / brilliant / bad / dreadful person.
That's a good / wonderful / brilliant / bad / dreadfulbook.
Someadjectives give a specific opinion.
We only use these adjectives to describe particular kinds of noun, for example:

Food Furniture Buildings People Animals

delicious tasty comfortable tall lofty clever, intelligent, fierce clever
tasteless uncomfortable spacious friendly, hostile intelligent
sumptuous regal impressive benevolent, friendly
bland, spicy expensive imposing cantankerous venomous hostile
cold, warm cheap stately vindictive, helpful, ferocious
old, new old new unhelpful, kind, unkind, huge,large,
impressive dependable responsible, small, big,
generous,
aggressive,assertive
arrogant, audacious
annoying, irritating
smart

We usually put a general opinionin front of a specific opinion:

anice tasty soup
anasty uncomfortable armchair
alovely intelligent animal
We usually put an opinion adjective in front of a descriptive adjective:
Anice red dress
a silly old man
those horrible yellow curtains
Adjectives after link verbs
We use some adjectives only after a link verb:
For example: The bus was late
The following adjectives are used after a link verb:
afraid, ill, alive, alone, asleep, content, glad, ready, sorry, sure, unable, well
For instance,
1. The child was afraid
2. He is content with what he earns.
Some of the commonest –edadjectives are normally used only after a link verb:
annoyed, bored, finished, pleased, thrilled:
Our teacher was ill.
 My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed.
Sometimes we have three adjectives in front of a noun, but this is unusual:
Anice handsome young man
abig black American car
that horrible big fierce dog
It isvery unusual to have more than three adjectives.
Adjectives usually come in this order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The rest of
the
sentence
General Specific Size Shap Age Colo Nationality Materi
opinion opinion e ur al

That Handsome young joined the

nice man army
The Tall black Arabian turned out
horse to be the
winner

Comparative adjectives
We use comparative adjectives to show change or make comparisons:
This bike is certainly better, but it’s far more expensive.
I'm feeling healthiernow.
We need a biggerhouse.
We use thanwhen we want to compare one thing with another:
Sneha is two years older than I. (“Sneha is two years older than me” is also correct)
Delhi is much bigger thanBangalore.
He is a better player than Ganguly.
Australia is a bigger country than New Zealand.
When we want to describe how something or someone changes we can use two comparatives with and:
The balloon got bigger and bigger.
Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.
We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends on another:
The sooneryou do your work, the better for us. (= When you do your work soon, it is better.)
The higherthey climbed, the colder it got.(= When they climbed higher, it got colder.)
Superlative adjectives
We use the withsuperlative adjectives:
It was the sunniest day in December.
 Everest is the highest mountain peak in the world.
That’s the best filmI have seen this year.
I have three sisters: Rekha is the oldestand Anjali is the youngest.
How to form comparative and superlative adjectives?
We usually add –erand–esttoone-syllable words to make comparatives and superlatives:

Cold Colder Coldest

Old Older Oldest

If an adjective ends in –e, we add–ror–st:

nice Nicer Nicest

large Larger Largest

If an adjective ends in a vowel and a consonant, we double the consonant:

big bigger Biggest
fat fatter Fattest
If an adjective ends in a consonant and –y, we change –y to –i and add – eror–est:

happy happier Happiest

silly sillier Silliest

We use more and most to make comparatives and superlatives for most two syllable adjectives and for all
adjectives with three or more syllables:

Careful more careful most careful

Interesting more interesting most interesting

However, with these common two-syllable adjectives, you can either add
–er/–r and –est/– stor use more and most:

common narrow
cruel pleasant
gentle polite
handsome simple
likely stupid

He is certainly handsomer than his brother.

His brother is handsome, but he is more handsome.
She is one of the politest people I have ever met.
She is the most polite person I have ever met.
The adjectives good, bad and far have irregular comparatives and superlatives:
 good Better Best
bad Worse Worst
far farther/further farthest/furthest

Intensifiers
We use words like very, really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:
It's a veryinteresting story.
Everyone wasveryexcited.
It's a reallyinteresting story.
Everyone was extremelyexcited.
We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:

amazingly particularly
exceptionally remarkably
incredibly unusually

We also use enough to say more about an adjective, but enough comes afterits adjective:
If you are seventeen, you are oldenoughto drive a car.
I can't wear those shoes.
They're not bigenough.
Intensifiers with strong adjectives
Strong adjectives are words like:
We do not normally use very with these adjectives. We do not say something is very enormous or
someone is very brilliant.

very big Enormous, huge

very small Tiny
very clever Brilliant

very bad Awful, terrible, disgusting, dreadful

very sure Certain
very good Excellent, perfect, ideal, wonderful, splendid
very tasty Delicious

With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:

absolutely really
completely quite
exceptionally totally
particularly utterly
 The film was absolutely awful.
He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.
Intensifiers with comparatives and superlatives
We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparativeadjectives:

much far a great deal

a lot a good deal
quite a lot a good bit
a fair bit

He is much olderthan me. (“He is much older than I” is also correct)

New York isa lot biggerthan Boston.
We use much and far as intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:
France is a much bigger countrythan Britain.
He is a far better playerthan Ronaldo.
We use these words as intensifiers with superlative adjectives: easily, by far, much:
The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.
This car was by far the most expensive.
 UNIT 2
1.Listening and Speaking

Warm up:
➢ What is your response when your friend cracks a joke?
➢ When your lecturer is teaching a lesson, how do you listen?
➢ As a listener did you listen in the same way to the joke and the lecture? Obviously not.
➢ Is there something about the way we tune in as listeners in different contexts?
a. Listening with a purpose:
Your way of listening varies according to the purpose for which you listen. Look at the purpose for listening
and the ways of listening:

Purpose of Listening Way of Listening

Listening for enjoyment You maintain eye contact, show you understand and
react to what is being said

Listening to learn something new Focus on ideas that are new and think about what you
already know

To understand the speaker's point of view, and Listen carefully, observant to find an opportunity to
share your ideas share your ideas

To solve a problem Listen closely and identify goals and problems; build
on those ideas

To follow directions Listen for words such as first, second, finally; take
notes

b. Effective Listening: Make a conscious effort to tune in to the speaker

➢ focus on the content
➢ look for familiar words
➢ Identify the "chunks" of words that give the core meaning of the utterance.
There are four strands of Oracy: Physical (voice and body language), Linguistic (vocabulary, right language
use), Cognitive (content, reasoning and structure) and Social and Emotional (audience awareness, confidence
in speaking, listening and responding, working with others).
Take a look at the voice element of the Physical. It refers to
➢ Tonal variation
➢ Fluency & pace of speaking
➢ Clarity of pronunciation
 ➢ Voice projection
The speaker's intonation and pausing assist you while you listen. Pay attention to the tonal variations.
c. Tonal Variation:
Speech without tonal variation is incomplete and monotonous. So improve your ability to recognise tonal
variation.
It is associated with the pitch variation of the voice. A 'tone' is a certain pattern in the pitch of a person's voice
which is meaningful in any discourse. It reflects the moods and attitudes of the speaker -- confident, hesitating,
agreeing, disagreeing, referring, proclaiming etc., and this helps the listener in deducing the speaker's intended
meaning.
Falling tone:
Convey information in a matter-of-fact way: I live in Tamil Nadu
He is twenty years old.
Wh-questions asked in a casual or neutral way: Where do you live?
When did you come?
Commands:
Close your books and listen. Take it away.
Exclamatory:
How nice of you! What a pity!
Tag questions - When the speaker expects the listener to agree with him:
It's good, isn't it?
They are pretty, aren't they?
Rising tone:
In general questions:
Have you read the novel? Would you please pass the salt?
Wh-questions when asked with involvement and interest: When did you arrive?
What did you say?
Yes/No and questions seeking information with polite deference: Did you like the gift?
Why didn't you join us at lunch?
Falling-Rising Tone:
Doubt or uncertainty (i.e. when you are uncertain what the answer might be)
Have we nearly finished? Did he know she was there?
Implied meaning in a statement
Well I remember her face (but not her name)
Activity 1:
Listen to the following utterances and identify the tone associated with each of these.
1. What a wonderful surprise!
2. Do you have white sheets?
 3. They are heavy, aren't they?
4. Shut the door.
5. Where do you work?
6. Did they ever tell him the truth? (uncertain)
7. Turn left at the junction.
8. Keep quiet.
9. Leave this column blank.
10. What did the manager say? (with polite deference)
Activity 2
Practice the above utterances and check if you are using the right tone.

d. Listening for information

Listen to the following conversation:

Sneha: Hi, I just came to give you the cake I made. Rajan: Wow, looks yummy...thank you...
Sneha: What's the hurry? Are you going somewhere?
Rajan: Yeah, I'm planning to go to the College Readers' Club.
Sneha: Oh, I didn't know about it.... Where is it?
Rajan: It's on the Trunk Road, near the Hill StationMall... There's so much reading and fun there.
Sneha: Is the club open on all days?
Rajan: No, only on weekends, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sneha: What sort of reading taste does it cater to?
Rajan: A wide range - fiction, non-fiction, travelogues, fantasy you
can even find newly published books.
Sneha: Can we borrow books?
Rajan No lending: You are permitted to read in the library There’s more to it than the library: they
have film screening, group discussions and Quiz programmes which provide us an enjoyable learning
experience... Even if you miss going there for a week, no worries, you will find the events updated on the
Club webpage.
Sneha: I wish I were a member there...
Rajan: Anyway, it's not too late. All that you need is your college ID card for getting a membership.
Sneha: Is there any membership fee?
Rajan: No, only the College ID card ... It's mandatory.
Sneha: Fine then. Let me quickly go home and get my ID... I’ll be back in fiveminutes....Wait for me... I'll
join you.
Rajan: Sure.
Exercises:
A). Complete the following sentences:
1. Rajan was getting ready to go to .
2. Sneha hasn't joined the Club yet, because she .
3. is mandatory to get membership in the Club.
4. The Club gives an learning experience.
5. The Club functions on weekends from _.
B). State whether true/false:
1. Sneha brought a cake for Rajan.
2. Sneha's house is very far from that of Rajan's.
3. When Sneha came, Rajan was taking a nap.
4. Sneha decides to join the Club immediately.
5. The Club asks for a membership fee of Rs. 200.
C). Answer the following questions:
1. Where is the College Readers' Club located?
2. Does the library lend books?
3. What are the events that are held in the Club?
4. What sort of books can one find in the library?
5. If a member has not visited the Club for a month, how will he/she know about the events?

e. Asking for Information

Phrases used:
In ordinary conversation
1. Do you know ?
2. Do you happen to know. ?
3. Can/Could you tell me ?
4. I’d like to know....
5. Do you have any idea ?

Formal Occasions
1. I wonder if you could tell me ....
2. I should be interested to know....
3. I hope you don’t mind my asking, but.....
Very Informal (among close friends):
1. Any clue ?
 2. Any idea ?

Activity 1:
Frame five questions using the above phrases.

f. Giving Information:

You can start with one of the following phrases

Formal:
I’d be happy to answer that. It’d be a pleasure to help you.
Informal:
Sure.
No Problem Let me see.
If you have no information to help with, you can indicate your inability by using one of the phrases given
below:
Formal:
I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that.
I’d like to help you. Unfortunately, I don’t know about it”.
Informal
Sorry, I can’t help you out. Sorry, but I don’t know that.

Activity 1

There is an Exhibition of homemade products being held in the city. Vandhana asks for information about
the products to the salesman who comes to distribute sample products.
Fill in the gaps and complete the conversation:
Vandhana: Sir, how long will the exhibition go on?

Salesman: It's open till October 30th. Sundays too Ma'am.

Vandhana: Oh Good. What ?

Salesman: We've got a range of homemade items, utility products, homemade masalas, indigenous health
drinks and other such items.
Vandhana:

Salesman: We sell organic products too.

Vandhana: Nice to know. herbal plants?

Salesman: Yes, a few plant varieties, we do have. But the point is, they get sold out very fast... so if you need
to buy herbal plants, please don't delay.
Vandhana: Sure sir. to know if Kokum is available?

Salesman: Yes, _ and we have ordered for more, as the stock is getting over.
Vandhana: Kokum rinds per Kg?

Salesman: Just a minute, please. (He looks at the catalogue) It's Rs.300/- per Kg.
Vandhana: Thank you. some tangy Jamun, Hmm....
blackberry squash.Is it available?

Salesman: Yes, it's the . (He hands over a packet to

Vandhana)... Kindly accept this sample of homemade snacks. Allthat we have is of great quality. Do not
miss the opportunity Ma'am. We appreciate your patronage.
Vandhana: Thank you .... I'll definitely make it this Sunday.

Activity 2

Role play: Ask for information about

1. The procedure to apply for a College ID card.

2. A programme in which you wish to participate.

3. A new product thatyou wish to buy.

Take turns and continue the activity with you being the respondent.
READING AND WRITING
Skill: Reading
Warm-up:
➢ What kind of books do you enjoy reading?
➢ Are there any books that you found boring?
➢ How do you go about reading your textbooks? Do you find them easy to read and comprehend?
TYPES OF READING: EXTENSIVE AND INTENSIVE READING

Extensive Reading
By definition, extensive reading is “reading for pleasure”. Those who love to spend hours with a book are
said to engage in extensive reading. In this practice of reading, the reader does not stop to look at the
meaning of every unknown word as it hinders the flow of reading. However, the practise of extensive
reading is known to improve fluency.
While extensive reading can help in learning English as a second language, learners tend not to go in for
extensive reading primarily due to the length of books. For a beginner who sets out to read, it is best to
start with short stories that are easily understandable. For example O. Henry‘s short stories have a very
interesting twist in the end. Rabindranath Tagore is also one of the finest short story writers. His stories
are filled with humanism and pathos. Choose a good short story to start with and this will slowly help you
read novels.
Intensive Reading

Intensive reading happens when a reader reads a text, carefully and intently with absorbed concentration
with a view to extract specific information. Intensive reading helps different readers in various contexts.
For a person who is learning English as Second Language this becomes an effective tool to learn grammar
from a short text or a poem. For those who aspire to clear competitive exams, the practice of intensive
reading goes a long way: these exams test ones’ ability to grasp ideas and as well as the ability for logical
thinking and reasoning.
A researcher does intensive reading when he/she has to do a review of literature for their research work.
A humanities researcher reads through research articles and tries to find a research gap and also find a
theoretical framework for her research. A science researcher looks at the findings of earlier researches,
studies the scientific methods and then decides on his/her field of research inquiry.
Exercise 1:
Read the following passage and answer the questions.
One of the most popular literary figures in American literature is a woman who spent almost half of her
long life in China, a country on a continent thousands of miles from the United States. In her lifetime she
earned this country's most highly acclaimed literary award, the Pulitzer Prize, and also the most
prestigious form of literary recognition in the world, the Nobel Prize for Literature. Pearl S. Buck was
almost a household name throughout much of her lifetime because of her prolific literary output, which
consisted of some eighty - five published works, including several dozen novels, six collections of short
stories, fourteen books for children, and more than a dozen works of nonfiction. When she was eighty
years old, some twenty - five volumes were awaiting publication. Many of those books were set in China,
the land in which she spent a great part of her life. Her books and her life served as a bridge between the
cultures of the East and the West. As the product of those two cultures she became (as she described
herself), "mentally bifocal." Her unique background made her an unusually interesting and versatile
human being. As we examine the life of Pearl Buck, we cannot help but be aware that we are in fact
meeting three separate people: a wife and mother, an internationally famous writer and a humanitarian
and philanthropist. One cannot really get to know Pearl Buck without learning about each of the three.
Though honoured in her lifetime with the William Dean Howell Medal of the American Academy of Arts
and Letters, in addition to the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, Pearl Buck as a total human being (not only a
famous author) is a captivating subject of study.
1. What is the author's main purpose in the passage?
(A) To offer a criticism of the works of Pearl Buck.
(B) To illustrate Pearl Buck's views on Chinese literature
(C) To indicate the background and diverse interests of Pearl Buck
(D) To discuss Pearl Buck's influence on the cultures of the East and the West
2. According to the passage, Pearl Buck is known as a writer of all of the following EXCEPT
(A) novels (B) children's books (C) poetry (D) short stories

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by the author as an award received by Pearl Buck?
(A) The Nobel Prize (B) The Newberry Medal
(C) The William Dean Howell Medal (D) The Pulitzer Prize

4. According to the passage, Pearl Buck was an unusual figure in American literature in that she
(A) wrote extensively about a very different culture
(B) published half of her books abroad
(C) won more awards than any other woman of her time
(D) achieved her first success very late in life

5. According to the passage, Pearl Buck described herself as "mentally bifocal" to suggest that she
was
(A) capable of resolving the differences between two distinct linguistic systems
(B) keenly aware of how the past could influence the future
(C) capable of producing literary works of interest to both adults and children
(D) equally familiar with two different cultural environments

6. The author's attitude toward Pearl Buck could best be described as

(A) indifferent (B) admiring (C) sympathetic (D) tolerant (Passage taken from TOEFL Practice Test 47-
January 1993)
Exercise 2:

Let us now try and do an intensive reading of Emily Dickinson’s poem which is both simple and complex
at the same time. Answer the questions given below.

“HOPE” IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
Grammar
 1. In what tense is the poem written?
2. Pick out the helping verbs?
3. List out the main verbs.
4. Pick out the adjectives.
5. What is the conjunction used very often?
Vocabulary
Find out the meaning of the following words and write what part of speech they belong to.
1. perches
2. gale
3. sore
4. storm
5. abash

Comprehension Questions
1. Look up the meaning of the word, “metaphor” and explain how metaphor is used in the poem?
2. What does the poem say about the way the bird sings?
3. Identify a pair of synonyms in the poem.
4. How are the words, “chillest”, “strangest” and “Extremity” connected in the poem?
5. Does hope ask for anything in return?

PARAGRAPHS: STRUCTURE AND TYPES

Every form of writing, except poetry and drama, is presented in paragraphs.

What is a Paragraph?

A paragraph has a group of sentences and all these sentences are usually related to a common idea. As a
sentence is insufficient to explain an idea, there is a necessity to compose a paragraph. Usually, a
paragraph is composed keeping in mind one main idea. To compose paragraphs easily, students can adopt
the "One para, One idea" formula.
Structure:
A paragraph can be structured in many ways depending on various purposes. But, normally, any paragraph
should have three important components. Firstly, at the beginning of any paragraph, the main idea of
the paragraph should be stated or introduced. Secondly, the main idea should be explained. Thirdly,
supporting details should be included to strengthen the explanation or the main idea.
Read the following paragraph to see whether all three components are present:
Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work,
paying bills and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life
is learning to love—God and people. Life minus love equals zero.
Look at the beginning of the paragraph, that is, the first sentence of the paragraph.
"Busyness is a great enemy of relationships."
This sentence is the most important one in the paragraph because it introduces or states the main idea or
theme or the subject of the paragraph. All the other sentences revolve around the main idea: busyness is a
great spoiler in relationships.
Here, the first sentence of the paragraph is said to be the topic sentence as this sentence states or introduces
the topic or subject or main idea of the paragraph. Usually, the topic sentence comes at the beginning of a
paragraph. That is, the first sentence of the paragraph happens to be the topic sentence most of the time.
A good topic sentence should be concise and emphatic.
Secondly, many activities that keep us busy all the time lead to the sacrifice of relationships and these are
explained in the paragraph.
Thirdly, as a result of busyness, how loving others and God is affected is stated and it serves as the
supporting point of the main idea.
Unity

A paragraph should have unity. The sentences in a paragraph are connected, both in meaning and
structure. In a good paragraph all the supporting sentences work together to develop the main idea. Unity
of a paragraph can be achieved by meaningful sequencing of sentences. Each sentence should lead
logically to the next and they should be in the best order.
Coherence:

Coherence means the correct fitting of ideas in a paragraph. That is, coherence belongs to the relationship
of its ideas. To have genuine coherence of ideas, these three factors are very important: relevance, right
order and inclusiveness. Relevance means every idea or point must be related to the topic. No irrelevant
idea is included.
The presentation of points in the correct order is the second important factor. The ideas or points may be
relevant in a paragraph. But, if they are not arranged in the right order, then the paragraph cannot be
coherent. The relevant sentences in a paragraph should be well organised and arranged in such a way that
the ideas should be placed in the paragraph in the order of relative importance. That is, place the idea in
the best possible place in the paragraph.
Inclusiveness means all the vital points or ideas must be included, and on any account, they should not be
omitted.
Flow is a matter of style and it can be seen on the surface. That is, it is visible in the explicit words and
phrases and the grammatical patterns that link one sentence to another.
The following paragraph is a good example of good flow:

There are three kinds of book owners. The first has all the standard sets and best-sellers-unread, untouched.
(This deluded individual owns wood pulp and ink, not books.) Thesecond has a great many books—a few
of them read through, most of them dipped into, but all of them as clean and shiny as the day they were
bought. (This person would probably like tomake books his/her own but is restrained by a false respect
for their physical appearance. The third has a few books or many—every one of them dog eared and
dilapidated, shaken and loosened by continual use, marked and scribbled in from front to back. (This man
owns books.)
Connections between ideas: Using transitional words and phrases
Transitional words and phrases function as connectors between ideas and serve as a means to achieve
coherence. They are the words and phrases that make a transition from one idea to another. The following
table includes some frequently used transitional words and phrases.

Place Time Importance Cause and Effect Contrasting Comparing

ideas ideas

above Before First as a result although Also Another

down Similarity Too
after Last because in spite of
inside next
across at last Mainly consequently on the other hand
here at once first More so that but instead still
however yet
over thereafter important since
eventually
to Then therefore
finally next
around meanwhile To begin with
before ……..
then
under
around
in

Types of Paragraphs:

Paragraphs are composed in different ways, depending on the purposes for which they are composed. The
following are some of the important types of paragraphs. In each model, the central idea is the Olympics,
but it is treated in different ways, depending on the purpose – description, sequence, comparison and
contrast, cause and effect, persuasion, argumentation. We will set out to acquaint ourselves to address
each of these purposes.

Description:

Description forms a very important part of writing. We may have to describe a sunset, an instrument or a
machine, an accident, a character, and so on. The following paragraph describes the Olympic symbol:
The Olympic symbol consists of five interlocking rings. The rings represent the five continents – Africa,
Asia, Europe, North America and South America – from which athletes come to compete in the games.
The rings are coloured black, blue, green, red, and yellow. At least one of these colours is found in the
flag of every country sending athletes to compete in the Olympic games.
This paragraph begins with a topic sentence. As the paragraph is about the Olympic symbol, the first
sentence introduces the Olympic symbol and then states that the symbol consists of five interlocking rings.
And then the next sentence goes on to say that these five rings represent five continents from which
athletes come to compete. The next sentence says about the colours of the rings. Finally, the connection
between the colour of the ring and the flag of the country is pointed out in the paragraph. This is a well-
knit paragraph. It is written in a lucid style.
Sequence:
Sometimes, we will have to present certain things sequentially, that is, in a logical order or sequence. For
instance, writing a biography, describing an accident and writing about manufacturing a product which
involves a process. All these writings follow a logical or chronological order or a sequence of
presentations. Read the following paragraph:
The Olympic Games began as athletic festivals to honour the Greek gods. The most important festival was
held in the valley of Olympia to honour Zeus, the king of the gods. It was this festival that became the
Olympic Games in 776 B.C. These games were ended in A.D. 394 by the Roman Emperor who ruled
Greece. No Olympic games were held for more than 1,500 years. Then the modern Olympics began in
1896. Almost 300 male athletes competed in the first modern Olympics. In the games held in 1900, female
athletes were allowed to compete. The games have continued every four years since 1896 except during
World War II.
You can find from your reading that all the events starting from the origin of the Olympic Games to the
present development have been presented sequentially. The order of events has been maintained strictly.
The appearance of the years in ascending order - 776 B.C., A.D. 394, 1896, 1900- indicates that the
paragraph sticks to the chronological order.
Comparison and Contrast:

Comparison plays a vital role in one's life. Drawing a comparison between two things that are alike is
unavoidable. In any comparison, we talk about things that are similar whereas in contrast, we speak of the
dissimilarities between the things or objects of comparison. For example, we can compare and contrast
the ocean and a lake.
Here is a paragraph in which a comparison is made between the ancient and the modern Olympic games:
The modern Olympics is very unlike the ancient Olympic games. Individual events are different. While
there were no swimming races in the ancient games, there were chariot races. There were no female
contestants and all athletes competed in the nude. However, the ancient and modern Olympics are also
alike in many ways. Some events, such as the javelin and discus throws, are the same. Some people say
that cheating, professionalism, and nationalism in modern games are a disgrace to the Olympic tradition.
But according to the ancient Greek writers, there were many cases of cheating, nationalism, and
professionalism in their Olympics too.
After going through the paragraph, you may have noticed the writer's analysis of the similarities and
differences between the ancient and modern Olympic games. A careful reading of the paragraph points to
the fact that the writer devotes the first half of the paragraph to discuss the dissimilarities between the
modern and ancient Olympic games and the second half focuses on the similarities between them.
This very paragraph can be composed differently. That is, devoting the first half to speak of the similarities
between the ancient and modern Olympic games and the second half to the dissimilarities between them.
Cause and Effect:

"What we sow, we reap." is a familiar proverb. According to the proverb, sowing is the cause and reaping
is the effect or result. Cause and effect are inseparable. If a student spends many hours daily to study
his/her lessons, he/she will score good marks. Hard work is the cause and scoring good marks is the result.
The paragraph given below is a good example to illustrate cause and effect:

There are several reasons why so many people attend the Olympic Games or watch them on television.
One reason is tradition. The name Olympics and the torch remind people of the ancient games. People can
escape the ordinariness of daily life by attending or watching the Olympics. They like to identify with
someone else's sacrifice and accomplishment. National pride is another reason, and an athlete's or a team's
hard-earned victory becomes a nation's victory. There are national medal counts and people keep track of
how many medals their country's athletes have won.
This paragraph lists various reasons or causes for people attending or watching Olympic games on
television and the benefits that they get.
Persuasion:

There are many occasions where we have to persuade others for a good cause or their good. Read the
following paragraph and analyse how the writer has composed the paragraph effectively:
Our school has arranged a big Food Festival on Monday. Every year the proceeds of the festival are given
to charities such as home for the aged, orphanages, home for the physically and/or mentally challenged
and cancer hospitals. A student of the 7th standard approaches his/her neighbour to get some food tokens
so that their financial assistance will be of great help to the needy and underprivileged. He/she succeeds
in his/her attempt to sell some food tokens.
The persuasive power of the writer can be seen in this paragraph.
Argumentation:
In any argumentative paragraph, the writer presents his/her viewpoints providing evidence in support of
his/her stand. Various reasons, facts, statistical data, research results and personal experience may be
brought in as evidence.
A powerful paragraph of argumentation is presented below:

There is a notion that people who have money, beauty, coveted position and popularity are the happiest
and the most fortunate. But the following declarations disprove the commonly-held notion. A Texas
millionaire confided: "I thought money could buy happiness—I have been
miserably disillusioned." A famous film star broke down: "I have money, beauty, glamour and
popularity. I should be the happiest woman in the world, but I am miserable. Why?" A top British social
leader said, "I have lost all desire to live, yet I have everything to live for. What is the matter?" The reason
is there are better and nobler things than these that give us purpose in life and lasting happiness.
Exercise 1
Answer the following questions:
1. What is a topic sentence?
2. Write a note on the structure of a paragraph.
3. Mention at least two types of paragraphs.
4. Give at least one example to explain cause and effect.
5. What are the transitional words/phrases that indicate comparison of ideas?
Exercise 2
Write a paragraph on the following topics:
1. My dream home
2. Ban of plastics
3. A stitch in time saves nine.

3. PROSE
THE DONKEY

-Sir John Arthur Thomas

1. We cannot but like the donkey. It is quaint, clever, affectionate, and philosophical. No doubt we have
been party to the conspiracy to call it ugly, stupid, sully, and dull; but we have known all the time that
this is one of our traditional fictions. We accept it in our everyday talk, but we know that it is not true. In
our estimate of the donkey, we must exclude, as for other domesticated animals, all those unfortunate
individuals that are ill-bred, under-fed, and badly treated; but that is not always true even of the coster’s
‘moke’, which is often as engaging as it is well appreciated.
2. From the zoologist’s point of view the domestic donkey is very satisfactory. Whereas the pedigree of
the dog is somewhat perplexing, and the lineage of cattle is controversially complicated, the descent of
the donkey, like that of the pig, is perfectly clear. In this structure the donkey shows a comprehensive
similitude with the African wild asses, and there seems to be no warrant for dragging in the Syrian
onager or any other species. The ancient inscriptions of Thebes indicated that onagers were tamed for
centuries B.C., but there is nothing against the general verdict that donkeys are domesticated
descendants of wild asses. Perhaps there, is room for difference of opinion when the question is raised
whether the donkeys all sprang from the Nubian wild asses or whether Somaliland asses, Masai asses,
Masket asses, and other African strains may not have had a share in the evolution. The variability of the
domesticated forms suggests that several wild strains of Equus asinus africanus went to their making. It
must be noted that during the five hundred years or so since the domestication of the wild ass began
many breeds have been established in different countries, some dwarfish and others stately, some white
and others with transverse bands on the fore-limbs. Donkeys are not one but many, and they vary in
temperament as well as in superficial of the skull, there is great uniformity. In all essentials the donkey
is a conservative type.

3. How does a donkey differ from a pony? We think at once of the long ears ---‘like errant wings’ as Mr
G.K.Chesterton described them – the long tail ending in a wisp, the upright mane, the dark shoulder-
cross, and the absence of warts on the hand-legs. Whatever ‘species’ means, it is what is implied in the
difference between horse and ass- a natural discontinuity which the artificially hybridized mules do but
emphasize. When we dry the blood of a horse and of an ass we find that the crystals of haemoglobin
differ in detail in the two species. We can hear the difference of species when we listen to a neigh and to
a bray.

4. The donkey’s ‘hee-way’ is one of the weirdest sounds in the animal kingdom—perhaps the strangest
of kincalls. As Phil Robinson says:’ I deffy any one to hear a donkey fairly out and not to laugh at the
cavernous melancholy of the animal’s concluding notes. It commences with an ardour that has
something of military enthusiasm in it, but suddenly, as of the memory of secret griefs had supervened,
the voice drops from the full-breathed out-cry that rings across the Bikaneer wastes to a dolorous
pumping up of hollow groans and husky sobs’. Pope speaks of ‘ the loud clarion of the braying ass’ and
Swift called the donkey ‘ the nightingale of brutes’, but others have been less flattering in their
references. Thus we read of ‘ the hard dry see-saw of his horrible bray’. Of Cowper’s remark on the ass
that frightened John Gilpin’s horse, that it ‘did sing most loud and clear’, Robinson says that ‘this is the
nearest approach to appreciation of this greatest of Nature that I know of in verse’. In any case, the earth
will be a duller place when there are no more donkeys left to bray.’

5.The interpretation of the extraordinary hee-haw is, of course, to be found in the donkey’s ancestral
home, which is the desert. The resonant call is adapted to wake the echoes of the great spaces. A loud-
speaker is required in the sparsely populated dry steppes. When the donkey rolls in the dry dust, its
Unconscious is recalling the desert; and perhaps a similar interpretation may be found for its frequent
objection to stepping over a streamlet that crosses a road. Its colouring is often suited to a sandy
background, where it is inconspicuous even to a lion’s hungry eyes. Everyone knows that a donkey
becomes invisible on a common at night. Though we hear it eating, we cannot see it at all. The long ear
is connected with the resonant bray, for it is adapted to catch a distant note of news in the boundless
desert. In its mobility it also helps the sentinel of the little herd to locate the approach of the enemy. Not
that wild asses relegate to others much of their individual vigilance, for they do not take many mouthfuls
without raising their heads, searching the environment with their ear-trumpets, and sniffing the air.
Wordsworth was peculiarly prosaic the day he saw the ass

with motion dull,

Upon the pivot of his skull
Turn round his long left ear.
6. Another of the clear reminiscences of the desert home in the donkey’s ability to thrive on very
Spartan fare. thistles recall the xerophytic vegetation of the arid land s where its ancestors are still at
home. It is sad, however, that man should have taken advantages of the donkey’s frugality and made it
an excuse for not giving the creature enough to eat.

7. The African wild ass is a handsome, agile, high-spirited, courageous creature. It lives in little bands --
-usually a male and several females with their foals. Like other polygynists the males fight savagely
with their rivals. As is the case with many other big-brained mammals, as the young asses are very
playful. They are irresistible combinations of roguishness and confidence, and there seems to be no
warrant for calling them untamable. It is likely enough that the well-known Old Testament description
of the wild ass referred to the Asiatic onager, but it would also fit the NORTH African species.

Who sent forth the wild ass free?

And who loosened the bonds of the mustang,
Whose range I made the steppe,
And his dwelling the salt marshes?
He loughs at the roar of the city;
The shouts of the driver he does not hear,
He explores the mountains, his pasture,
And searches after everything green.
8. If the wild ass is such a fine creature, how do we account for the often depressed donkey? The
depression is not to man’s credit, but happily it is far from being universal. In many countries the
domesticated donkey retains many of the good qualities of the wild ass. Its is possible that some of the
very dull dwarf types, ‘not much larger’, as Darwin said, ‘than a Newfoundland dog’, are semi-
pathological variants, with perturbed endocrinal glands. But perhaps the main fact is that the dwarfish,
depressed donkey is a diagram of the combined result of careless nature on the one hand(including food,
stabling, grooming, and treatment) and careless breading on the other. We should photograph a dull
‘cuddy’ side by side with a high-caste white ass from Egypt and label the picture ‘Bad-breeding’ and
good-breeding’. When we see a weary, disheartened ‘moke’, we feel as if we shared in a breach of trust.
It will be sad pity if the fine type of trust. It will be a sad pity if the fine types of donkey disappears from
the haunts of men, and we will not be consoled by any car, bray it ever so imitatively.
NOTES

The extract is from Sir Arthur Thomson’s Biology for Everyman. Sir Arthur Thomson was professor of
Natural History at Aberdeen University. But his literary talent and taste enabled him to become the most
popular writer on difficult scientific subjects. He wrote indeed like a scholar and man of letters. His style
was lucid and literary. The difficulty of a scientist, who is presenting what is ‘technical’ for the lay man,
is that he may have to sacrifice truth to effect. Professor Thompson, however manages to be as precise
and scientific as he is exciting, humorous and literary. He responded to the beauty of nature and loved
life in all its variety. As one of his reviewers put it some of the fragrance of life is reflected in his
writings.

In writing on the donkey Thomson was writing on a difficult subject. He has succeeded where
poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge failed. His sense of humour and the literary flavour make the
essay interesting. His presentation of the ‘facts’ is such that when we come to the end of the essay we
feel that it is man and not the donkey that looks foolish!

GLOSSARY

Quaint: attractive or pleasing because unfamiliar or different.

Conspiracy: secret plan with others to do something wrong.
Fictions: things imagined, not true.
coster: costermonger; one who sells fruit, vegetables, etc. from a barrow in the street.
Moke: (slang) donkey.
Pedigree: ancestry.
Warrant: justification or authority.
Onager: a small pale-coloured wild ass.
Thebes: the ancient capital of upper Eygpt.
Nubia…Somaliland…Masai…Maskat: parts of Asia and Africa.
Strains: breeds.
Equus asinus africanus; the zoological name for the genus.
Conservative: (here) normal.
G.K.Chesterton; (1874-1936)journalist and writer of fiction and prose. In his poem he has defended the
animal as effectively as Thomason does.
Errant: wandering.
Hybridized: from parents of different species.
Haemoglobin: colouring matter of the red corpuscles of the blood.
Phil Robinson: Philip Robinson was born in India. He was a journal interested in India birds and beasts.
Cavernous: as from a cave.
Bikaneer: City in the Thar desert in Rajasthan.
Dolorous : sorrowful.
The hard…horrible bray: see Wordsworth, ‘Peter Bell’.
Cowper’s remark on the ass: in his ‘John Gilpin’.
Jest: joke.
Steppes: level, treeless plains.
Inconspicuous; not attracting notice or attention.
Common: grassland.
Sentinel: sentry.
Relegate: hand over.
Spartan fare: simple, meagre food.
Thistle :prickly plants.
Xerophytic vegetation: plants which can live and grow with a very limited supply of water.
Polygynists: males having more than one female mate.
Mustang: small wild or half-wild horse of the American plains.
Old Testament: see job, chapter 39, verse 5-8.
Endocrinal glands: certain ductless glands which prepare a transparent fluid called hormones. It is these
that regulate the health and activity of the body and the mind. A diseased condition of the glands stunts
or distorts the growth of an animal.
Cuddy: (Scots)donkey.
Bray it ever so imitatively: even though it imitates the bray of the donkey.

Choose the best answer:

1. The Donkey is an extract from which of the following?

a. The Origin of Species b. Biology for Everyman c. My Family and Other Animals d. Travels
with a Donkey
2. The donkey’s ________ is one of the weirdest sound in the animal kingdom.
a. Hey-hoo b. hoo-haw c. hee-haw d.haw-haw
3. The ancient inscriptions of _______ indicate that onagers were tamed for centuries
a. Membhis b. Thebes c. Amarna d. Avaris
Fill in the blanks:

1. Wordsworth is prosaic when he saw the ________.

2. The wild ass is referred to as ________.
3. _______ is a diagram of the combined result of careless nature and careless breeding.
Answer in one word:

1. Why does the author use the definite article the in the title The Donkey?
2. What is the zoologist’s point of view?
3. What is the donkey’s food?
Short Notes:

1. Why is the donkey so depressed?

2. Why or how is the donkey ‘very satisfactory’ from the point of the scientist?
3. Why does the author say that the depression in the case of a donkey is ‘far from being
universal’?(Para 8)
4. Why does the author say that ‘there seems to be no warrant for calling the African wild asses
‘intamable’? (Para7)
5. How is the donkey able to thrive on meagre food?
6. What is the scientific explanation for the donkey’s bray?
7. How can a mule emphasize the continuity between horse and ass?
 8. ‘This is one of our traditional fictions’. What is this?
Essay:

1. Comment on the approach of the author to the subject. Is it scientific and impersonal? Or literary and
personal? Or a combination of both? Why do you think so?

2.What is the style of the author ? Is it matter-of-fact? Or humorous? Or poetic? Or scholarly? Or a

combination of all these?

4. POETRY
THE FLOWER
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Once in a golden hour

I cast to earth a seed.
Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went

Thro' my garden bower,
And muttering discontent
Cursed me and my flower.

Then it grew so tall

It wore a crown of light,
But thieves from o'er the wall
Stole the seed by night.

Sow'd it far and wide

By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried,
"Splendid is the flower!"

Read my little fable:

He that runs may read.
Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed.

And some are pretty enough,

And some are poor indeed;
And now again the people
Call it but a weed.

Notes:
“The Flower” is a poem written by one of the greatest English poets of the Victorian period, Alfred, Lord
Tennyson. He was the longest-serving Poet Laureate ever; he held the title from 1850-1892. Tennyson’s
poetry is as versatile as extensive; he had an extremely fruitful and long literary career. His works show
extreme depth and richness in style and themes. He is best known for his mastery over lyrical poetry of
varying lengths and his ability to weave the form with others. “The Flower” was first published in 1842.
It deals with the idea of achievement and denigration, how society often criticizes those who create
beautiful things and belittles their efforts. Tennyson extends the flower metaphor throughout the whole
poem, comparing the idea of growing a flower to a personal act of creation, discovery, and writing.

In “The Flower,” Tennyson uses an extremely simple yet effective comparison to point out the value of
individual effort in a materialistic, excessively critical society. Through the image of planting and tending
to a flower, he says how people will scorn individuals who work hard to create art just because they don’t
realize its true beauty. The speaker in the poem says he planted a seed in the ground, which grew to be a
flower, and people called it a mere “weed”. They kept deliberately criticizing his beautiful creation every
time they went around his garden, muttering to themselves in scornful resentment.
Then, as the flower grew taller and more beautiful as if it were wearing a “crown of light,” some thieves
stole his seed and planted it everywhere. These stolen seeds, when they became flowers, were met with
praise and renown by the same people who criticized the parent flower. The speaker says that everyone
can recreate the beauty of the flower now because they possess the seed (idea) that was originally his.
However, Tennyson points out the flighty, transient nature of popularity in society through the ending.
Now that everyone can access the seed, it has become a common phenomenon. The flower has lost its
uniqueness, and therefore, the very people who marvelled at it for a fleeting moment now go back to
calling it a “weed.” Artists can never receive or expect complete praise for what they have created. Their
art is subject to the judgment and criticism of all the people who witness it.
GLOSSARY
bower :a pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood.
muttering :a privately expressed complaint or expression of dissatisfaction.
weed :a wild plant growing where it is not wanted and in competition with cultivated plants.
crown :a circular ornamental headdress worn by a monarch as a symbol of authority, usually made
of or decorated with precious metals and jewels.
splendid :magnificent; very impressive.
fable :a short story, typically with animals as characters, conveying a moral.
indeed :used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested.
Choose the best answer:
1. Which age Tennyson belongs to?
a. Victorian b. Romantic c. Chaucer d. None
2. Which poem ends in “Call it but a weed”?
a. The Flower b. Ode on a Grecian Urn c. Daffodils d. Waste Land
3. Who stole the seed of the flower?
a. schoolchildren b. friends c. enemies d. thieves
Fill in the blanks:
1. Tennyson was the longest holder of the title _______.
2. Fill in the blanks: “Till all the people cried,____.”
3. In the poem The Flower the crown of light is _______.
Answer in one word:
1. Who wrote the poem The Flower?
2. Did most people appreciate the flower in the beginning?
3. Were the flowers grown by all the people uniform in beauty?
Short Notes:
1.What did the people call the flower at first?
2.How did they react when they saw it in the garden?
3. What happened to the quality and beauty of the flower the seed was cast everywhere?
4. How did the people view the flower when it became commonplace?
Essays
1. Critical appreciation of the poem The Flower.
2. Elucidate the poem of Tennyson’s The Flower.
3. A short analysis of Tennyson’s The Flower.

5. GRAMMAR
VERB

A verb is a word that states an action, a fact or a happening. Without a verb a sentence cannot be
formed.

Raghu reads a newspaper. (Action)

The earth revolves round the sun. (Fact)

Yesterday I went to the cinema.(Happening)

Verbs can be classified into main verbs and auxiliary verbs. Verbs that can stand by themselves and
convey a meaning are called main verbs.

Raja gets up at 5o’clock every morning.

Kumar plays cricket on Sundays.

An Auxiliary verb is used to help a main verb in expressing the progress of an action /a fact or
happening.

Sita will write a letter.

We are learning English.

Kinds of Verbs

‘Be’ verbs:

Am, is ,are, was, were, be, been are the forms of ‘be’ verbs

‘Do’ verbs

Do, does and did are the ‘Do’ verbs

‘Have ‘verbs:

Have, has, had are the ‘have’ verbs.

Transitive Verb:

A transitive is a verb that passes the action of the doer(subject) to the object.

She sings a song.

The boys play tennis.

Intransitive Verb

Intransitive verb is a verb that does not pass the action of the subject to the object.

The baby sleeps.

The bell rang loudly.

Non – finite verbs: Infinitive, gerund and participle.

Ex – Infinitives and – ing forms(verb+ ing) are called the non – finite verbs as opposed to the finite
verbs, as they do not take the tense markers. Infinitives have two forms: with ‘to’ and without ‘to’
(called bare or plan) infinitive.
Ex : He wanted to go. They let him go.

(Note : ‘to’ used before a noun is a preposition, Ex.to school, to Sana, to India).

Bare infinitives are used with model auxiliaries and with certain main verbs such as have, make,
let, help and the verbs of sensing such as feel , see, hear,look at, notice, watch, overhear.

Functions of infinitives:

i. as subject of sentence
Ex : To err is human, to forgive is divine.

To wait for her any more is useless( = It is useless to wait for her anymore.)

Note : It is common to use an anticipatory or prepatory ‘it’ and put the infinitive later.

It is impossible for me to work with him (adj+for+pronoun+inf).

It is very kind og you to atend the function (adj+for+pronoun+inf).

ii. As object of sentence

Ex: I decided to marry my cousin.(verb+inf)

We agreed to accept his invitation.(verb+inf)

I want you to speak to him for me.(verb+object+inf)

iii. As subject complement.

Ex: To see is to believe.(subject and subject complement)

My aim is to win the medal.

They appear to be calm.

iv. Like adjectives(qualifying nouns, phrases, and pronouns)

Ex: I want something to drink (‘to drink’ qualifies some things)

We have got a lot of things to do.

v. as an abridgement (a short form) of a dependent clause:

Ex: Iknow how to drive a car = (how I should drive a car)

He doesn’t know whether to accept the job or not.(=whether he should accept).

Functions of -ing forms (gerunds):

 i. as subject :
Ex: Beating a child is not good.

Praying is good for the mind.

Keeping good health is important.

The rebuilding of the monument is going on fast.

The quarrelling will not help us in any way.

ii. as object:
Ex: I hate smoking.

We like watching films in the evening.

She dislikes all this useless arguing.

I like his nice driving very much.

This room needs cleaning.(=to be cleaned)

Note : The most common verbs in English which take – ‘ing’ forms as object are admit, appreciate,
avoid, excuse, mention, forgive, finish, miss, postpone, practice, suggest, understand, imagine, mind
etc.

We can use possessive adjectives (object pronouns between the verb and the -ing forms. In
fact, this is the test for deciding whether or not an –ing form is a gerund).

Ex: Do you mind my making a suggestion?

We appreciate John’s helping our group.

iii. as complement:
Ex: One of my bad habit is biting nails.

The purpose of this meeting is recommending a new book.

Seeing is believing.

It is not worth waiting.

iv. as object of a preposition:

Ex: I was prevented from entering the room.

We were afraid of meeting him often.

 They are averse to making any new proposal.

Note: The preposition used with the gerunds are ‘ at, of, about, for, with, by, to.

v. as a part of a compound word:

Ex: I gave her a wedding – ring.

My wife is good at house – keeping.

Our getting – up was tather late.

Object of a transitive verb:

I like reading novels.

Complement of a verb:

Stop talking.

Participle:

A participle is that form of the verb with partakes of the nature both of a verb and an adjective.

Hearing the noise, the boy woke up.

The word hearing qualifies the noun boy as an adjective does.

It is formed from the verb hear and governs an object. The word hearing, therefore, partakes of
the nature of both a verb and an adjective and is called a participle. It is also called Verbal adjective.

We met a girl carrying a basket of flowers.

The above example is of what is usually called present participle which ends in- ‘ing’ and
represents an action as going on or incomplete.

Besides, the present participle, each verb can be formed into another participle called its past
participle which represents a complete action or state of the thing spoken of.

Blindly by a dust storm, they fell into disorder.

Practice

I Complete the following sentences with the suitable infinitives.

1. The mother advised her son to ___________.

Ans: The mother advised her son to come before sunset.
2. The policeman gestured the motorist to _______.
3. Ask Kumar to __________.
 4. The government has asked the striking people to ________.
5. The soldier shouted to ________.
6. The teacher ordered the students to ______________.
II Complete the following sentence with the suitable gerunds:

1. I am tired of _________.
Ans: I am tired of swimming.
2. I believe in ________.
3. I do not think he is capable of ________.
4. You must apologies for ____________.
5. Geetha likes _________.
6. David hates __________.
IIIComplete the following sentences with the suitable participles:

1. A _________ dog never bites.

2. The _____________passengers were hospitalized.
3. _______________packed the suitcase, he left home.
4. We saw him ____________.
5. The ____________students are asked to appear for the final interview.
IV Pick out the transitive and intransitive verb in the following sentences.

1.The moon rose early.

2. Tell the truth.

3.Birds fly in the air.

4. I went to Delhi.

5.He bought a pen.

6. The computer is mine.

ADVERB

An Adverb is a word which gives additional information about a verb. It answers the question when,
how, where. etc., It modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.

Examples:

1. I didn’t perform badly in the oral examination.

2. The school children greeted the president warmly.
3. The police always watch riots helplessly.
4. Some students proudly display theis mark statement.
 5. Many a young man is innocently drawn towards drugs.
Kind of Adverbs:

Adverb of Time: Adverbs of time answer the question ‘when’.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, last week, (definite time)

Recently, nowadays, soon, already, still, just, before, after, next, first, always, often, sometimes, never,
immediately, since, early, yet, just (indefinite time).

These are used in the beginning or at the end of the sentence. End position is common with imperatives.
They are used after auxiliary verbs also.

We bought a flat last year.

I generally watch English movies.

Adverb of Place: Adverbs of place answer the question ‘where’.

Here, there, away, outside, left, right, in, down, up, near, by, everywhere, nowhere, somewhere, abroad,
over, off, round.

These are generally used after the verb or object in sentence.

The ball rolleddown.

Let us wait here.

Adverb of Manner: Adverbs of manners answers the question ‘how’.

Quickly, awkwardly, neatly, gently, beautifully, happily, hard. These are generally placed at the end of
the sentence; sometimes in the middle.

She spoke gently.

They behaved nicely.

Adverb of Degree: Adverbs of degree denotes ‘how much’.

Very, quite, too, somewhat, rather, extremely, fairly, more, enough, so, terribly.

Completely, nearly, almost, utterly, hardly.

These are place before adjectives or adverbs as they modify them.

He is quite correct.

They are extremely polite

Adverb of Frequency: Adverbs of frequency tell us ‘how often’.

Often, sometimes, usually, seldom, always, never, generally. These are place in the middle of the
sentences before the words they modify.

She always asks for books.

The newspaper is published daily.

Practice

I Underline the adverb from the following sentences:

1. Speak aloud
2. Ravi ran fast.
3. Bindhu talks nicely.
4. I will meet you certainly.
5. He comes to the institute regularly.
6. Cross the road carefully.
7. He always speaks the truth.
8. He beats his son severely.
9. Raja writes slowly.
10. I usually go to the market.

II Fill in the blanks with suitable adverbs.

1. Speak ____________________or all cannot hear you.

2. He does things _________________ and so his work is always imperfect.
3. Does he come to the college _____________?
4. He ___________ speaks the truth.
5. I do my homework ____________.
6. My father ___________goes to movies.

ARTICLES

In English there are two kinds of articles; definite and indefinite articles. a/an is known as indefinite
article and the is known as definite article.

a/an:

a (or an) is used with countable nouns to indicate one.

Can I have a cup of tea?

I’ve got a daughter and two sons.

Mala bought an umbrella yesterday in the market.

a/an is not used before a plural noun (NOT, I’ve got a sons).

a/an is not used before uncountable nouns (NOT, I want a petrol, please).

theis used:

a) When a word is used second time:

He gave me a knife and a spoon. The spoon was dirty.
I bought a pen and some paper, but I left the pen in the shop.
b) When only one object exists:
the earth, the sun, theRiver Thames
c) theis used before names of seas, rivers,groups of islands or mountains, kingdoms,republics,
deserts, plural names of countries theAtlantic Ocean , the River Thames, theNetherlands, the
Artic (land and sea), the Alps, the United States of America, theUnited States of America,
theUnited Arab Emirates, the Sahara, the United Kingdom, theNile, the Gobi Desert.

No article is used before names of villages, towns, streets, cities, countries or continents.

Ex: She lives in Paris.

We went to New Delhi

There is usually no a or thebefore: school, college, university, home, work, church, bed, hospital,
prison, town.

Ex: He doesn’t like going to school.

I think she’s at home now.

I usually get to work at 9.30.

Do you go to church on Sundays?

She was very tired so she went to bed early.

Did you have the baby in hospital?

Their father is in prison.

Other words with a / an, the or no article:

a/an when, taking about cost, speed or how often we do something.

The apples are ninety rupees a kilo.

 I never drive more than 80 kilometres an hour.

She eats about twenty chocolates a day.

the with musical instruments when we talk about playing them or listening to them.

Can you play theguitar?

I love listening to the piano

But note: I’d like to buy a piano.

the with listen to the radio. No article with watch television.

I usually listen to the radio in the mornings.

They watch television most evenings.

But note: Have you got a television?

This is an expensive radio.

No article before names of academic subjects, languages,sports, meals.

English isn’t too difficult to learn.

History is my favourite subject.

She plays tennis very well.

I usually have toast for breakfast.

Practice

I. Writea/an,or nothing to complete these sentences.

1. I’d like ________________sandwich, please.

2. He asked me for ____________ money.

3. They wanted _____________information about the trains.

4.I’d like ______________apple and _____________ orange, please.

5.They’ve got _______________very big house.

6. Do you like __________________fast cars?

7. We watched _________________ films all afternoon.

8. Have you got _________________axe?

9. I asked for ______________bread and cheese.

10. Are you drinking ___________milk?

11. I had _____________glass of water.

12.He gave me ____________orange.

13.Is there __________telephone here.

14. We had ________________eggs for breakfast.

15. I like ___________coffee and _________tea.

II Fill in the blanks with suitable articles:

1. ______ sun gives us heat and light. ______ light is important for _____ plants to live, because
they make _____n food with _____ help of sunlight. ________ plant needs _____ lot of sunlight
for making its food. You can see _____ plant inside _____ house growing towards sunlight
spreading _____ leaves outside _______ window, bending its stem. Most of ______ trees which
are bent have nbent themselves for the sake of sunlight.
2. On ______ full mood day, _____ moon looks like _____ a circular disc. It happens once ______
month. It is very beautiful to look at _____ moon on that day. _____ people go ______ sea shore
on _______ full moon day, because ______ sea looks more beautiful on that day. _______
waves rise higher than normal and its is _____ sight to see and enjoy.
3. Ramadhan is _______ holy month. During _______ month, people fast during _______ day and
pray. They keep awake during _______ night. It is _______important for people to give zakat to
_______ poor, as this will help them to celebrate Ramadhan as happily as _______other people.

UNIT 3

1. LISTENING AND SPEAKING

a. Giving and following instructions

Giving instructions:
When you instruct someone to do something step by step, you would use

the following structures:

First, you… Then, you… Next, you… Lastly, you…

Starting out:

When your emphasis is on how to begin a process/procedure, you can use the following structures:

The first thing you do is…

Before you begin, (you should…) The best place to begin is…

I would start by…

Continuing:

After that,

The next step is to…

The next thing you do is… Once you’ve done that, then… When you finish that, then…

Finishing:

The last step is…

The last thing you do is… In the end,…

When you’ve finished,…

When you’ve completed all the steps,…

b. Asking for and giving directions

Using Imperatives in giving directions:

Some of the imperatives used in a sentence while giving directions are:

Here is a sample of English sentences used when giving directions to a place:

Salma: Please tell me how to get to your house? Radhika: Are you coming by bus or by train?

Salma: I am coming by train. Could you tell me the easiest way of getting to your house?

Radhika: Board the Thiruvallur (Fast) at Central Station. It will reach Perambur Station in 10 minutes.
Get off at Perambur Station. Outside the station you will find a ‘Share-Auto’ stand. These autos ply in
two directions:
one towards Vyasarpadi and the other towards Madhavaram. Board the one going to Madhavaram
and ask for Lakshmi Talkies. The auto driver will charge you twenty rupees for this stretch
(Perambur Station to Lakshmi Talkies)

Salma: From Lakshmi Talkies, how do I get to your place?

Radhika: When you alight from the ‘share-auto’, you will see “Lakshmi Talkies”, an old movie theatre.
Salma :Okay

Radhika: Adjoining Lakshmi Talkies is ThirumuruganKoil Street. Enter this street and turn into the fifth
street on your right. It is called Nathan Street. Salma: Is that where your house is?

Radhika: Not exactly.

Salma: Could you send me the location on Google maps, please?I don't know the area.
Radhika: Sure. But don’t panic. It is easy to locate. After you enter Nathan street, you will find Cheerios
Bakery on the right. My house is right above Cheerios Bakery.

Salma: Sounds delicious. Thank you. By the way, the landmarks are interesting (Lakshmi Talkies and
Cheerios Bakery). I’m sure I can find the place!

Exercise 1

Fill in the blanks given in the sentences below choosing a suitable imperative from the
selection given below:

1.Can you tell me how to reach the nearest hospital?

-----------the street corner and on your left is the hospital

2. I need to buy a pen. Where is the stationery shop in this area?

There is a stationery shop if you ------------ Gandhi road, next to the fruits shop.

3. Is there a temple nearby?

No. But there is one when you ----------- the hill 15kms from here.

4. Does this train go to Yercaud?

No. All trains Salem.

5. Have you travelled by train from Mumbai to Pune?

Yes. All trains -------- the tunnel on that route.

6. Is there a library in this block?

Yes, if you --------- to the first floor, it’s on your right.

7. My friend has hurt herself. Is there a nurse’s room in this school?

_ to the Reception. The attender will take you.

8. Aruna’s parents want to meet the warden. Can you tell me where to find her?

------------------ the corridor till you reach the Hostel Mess. She is there.

9. Excuse me, Can you tell me the way to the nearest bank?

-------------- the street, the bank is between the Photo studio and the Opticals.

10. How far is the train station from here?

-------- to the Cake shop, its two blocks from there.

Exercise 2

Fill in the blanks choosing an appropriate word from the list given:

1. If you go up to the fifth floor, you'll find his office your right as you come out of the elevator.
2. Go to the end of the road and left by the traffic lights.
3. a right just after the supermarket.

4. You his house, it's painted bright pink!

5. Go up to the end of the road.

Exercise 3

Match the words and phrases given in the columns below, form meaningful sentences. The
first one is done for you:

The boys are dancing to the music.

The boys are dancing out of the space

They is flying along the street

The players is walking across the fence

The girls is passing over the stadium

The bird are coming round the bridge

The boat are going past the volcano

 He is coming under the bus stop

They is jumping through the music

The dog are riding from the forest

Lava are running to the sky

2. READING AND WRITING

a. READING FEATURE ARTICLES (FROM NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES)

Here is a feature article. Observe how it is written.

Harmony in Diversity: A Tribute to Gadag

Gadag, a small town in the Gadag district of Karnataka shines a beacon of light in today’s world
where divisiveness makes headlines. The people of Gadagare an epitome of religious harmony. The
VeeranarayanaJumma Masjid Trust of Gadag, (the name says it all) is a shining example of
communal harmony which has lasted for 70 years.

The trust handles celebrations for all the Hindu and Muslim festivals, and also other activities run
by both communities in the city. It manages the Veeranarayana temple as well as the Jumma
Masjid. Members of the trust management belong to both the communities, with Hindus and
Muslims taking turns to manage it each year. The members take decisions about how to jointly
celebrate the festivals of both the religions in a grand manner, with everyone joining in the
festivities for Eid, Deepavali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dasara and other occasions.

The influence of the VeeranarayanaJumma Masjid Trust is salutary, spreading to neighbouring

places: people from surrounding towns and districts come here to see the Ganesha festival, wherein
many Muslims carry the deity’s idol, chanting, “Ganeshabappamoraya”. Every year on
ShivajiJayanti, Muslim youths serve lemon juice to hundreds of Hindus who take out a procession
on the main streets of Gadag. Dasara is also celebrated in a unique way here. It begins with the trust
president worshipping the Banni tree, after which hundreds of people belonging to both the
religions exchange ‘banni’ and take out a rally. The functions also involve distribution of food to
everyone. Donations pour in for these interfaith celebrations.

One of the trustees stated, “It’s a unique organisation, and I am happy to be a part of it. Over the
past seven decades, there have been no issues or quarrels among us, as our ancestors have showed
the perfect path to follow”. The Jumma Masjid is built between Veeranarayana temple and
Trikuteshwara temple. The latter is located 1 km away from the Veernarayana temple, and the
mosque is situated very close to the Trikuteshwara temple.

“While the Veeranarayana temple follows the Vaishnava tradition, the Trikuteshwara temple
follows the Shaiva tradition, and the Jumma Masjid is sacred for Muslims. They have a common
trust for administrati on and organisational purposes, which is a rare thing to find in the whole
world,” Though the trust was registered in 1949, people here have been working for preserving the
heritage and communal harmony for centuries.

“We are proud to say that we are united in Gadag. We have a mosque situated between two historic
temples. We all get together duringHindu and Muslim festivals. During Ramzan and Eid, we call
our Hindu brothers, and give them Sheer Khurma, which is called Surkumbha here. It resembles
‘shavigepayasam’ but we add more dried fruits,” he explains, talking about how they learnt the
mutual way of celebration from their ancestors. “It is a normal thing for us. But people residing in
other towns are surprised to know about this,” says Abdul, a social worker in this town.

Another social worker, Bharath, agrees, saying, “People from neighbouring districts have a
shocked look after seeing the communal harmony here. DuringShivajiJayanthi, 20 -30 Muslim
youths distribute panaka (sweet lemon juice) to their Hindu brothers. During Ramzan, many
Hindus observe a fast, and they eat together during Iftar. The younger gener ation is also following
this tradition.Hindus of the area also organize Ayyappapoojawith the help of their Muslim brethren,
who sponsor 25 Ayyappas for their tour to Sabarimala,”

Winning accolades three years ago, a tableau depicting the message of communal harmony of
Gadagwas selected among 40 participants to bag the first prize in the MysuruDasara festival
competition. The tableau depicted the models of the Veeranarayana temple, Trikuteshwar temple
and the Jumma Masjid, along with figures of a Hindu and Muslim hugging each other. At the
front was displayed the message, ‘Stop hating and start loving’. Artist Ravi Shishuvinahalli, who
led the tableau-making team in 2017, says, “We decided on the theme of communal harmony
asGadag has a history about it.”

Answer the following questions:

1. How is the VeeranarayanaJumma Masjid Trust different from other religious trusts?

2. What is the writer’s perspective on religious harmony?

Some tips on writing feature articles:

Here are some basic tips for people who are new to feature writing:

1. Cover the essential elements of who, what, when, where, how and why

2. Put the most important things at the beginning, preferably in the first paragraph

3. Plan out what you are going to say beforehand

4. Look at your chosen theme carefully. Consider the questions suggested and attempt to answer
some of them

5. But remember: you need an "angle" - a way to focus your feature. You can't answer all of those
questions. This is journalism, and journalism needs to be new and original. That's why an
"angle" is important: even if your topic has been covered in the past, there will always be
something new to say.

6. You need quotes. But if these quotes have been gathered by someone other than you, and in
particular if they have already been published, you MUST say where they came from. If you
don't, this is plagiarism and you will be disqualified.

Task:
Write a feature on “unorganised labour” (sellers in markets, vendors, small entrepreneurs) in the
Indian context
OR

Write a feature on the culture of physical fitness which is gaining ground (gyms, yoga centres, early
morning/evening scene on the road with joggers, parks and beaches that are venues for fitness activities) .

b. Descriptive writing – writing a short descriptive essay of two to three paragraphs.

Look at the following snippets of “descriptive writing”

• My dog's fur felt like silk against my skin and her black colouring shone, absorbing the
sunlight and reflecting it back like a pure, dark mirror.

• The sunset filled the sky with a deep red flame, setting the clouds ablaze.

• The waves rolled along the shore in a graceful, gentle rhythm, as if dancing with the land.

Did you notice that these descriptions are “evocative”? They evoke images/scenes/create pictures in
your mind. You are able to feel the dog’s fur and visualize the sunset and the waves.

Descriptive writing is a literary device in which the author uses details to paint a picture with
words. This process provides readers with descriptions of people, places, objects, and events
through the use of suitable details. The author also uses descriptive writing to create sensory details
as a means of enhancing the reading experience. If done effectively, the reader will be able draw a
connection through the use of sensory details that include seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and
tasting. These techniques will assist you in becoming not only a better writer, but will also make
your writing more engaging for readers.

Descriptive Writing Techniques

The primary objective of descriptive writing is to provide a clear picture of the place, people or
thing in the reader’s mind. The writer provides enough details to evoke the senses. A reader can feel
the environment of the text through senses like seeing, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Descripti ve
writing may be found in travel writing, biographies, poetry, diary writing, nature writing, memoirs
and novels.
Some types of descriptive writing present information in chronological order. If you are describing
a person, start with his appearance, nature, and background. If you are describing a place, tell your
readers about the atmosphere, environment, which part of day or night and such small but
interesting pieces of information: these small things are very useful to make a text excellent and
keep readers engaged.
When we talk about ideal descriptive writing, it should have nouns, adjectives and strong action
verbs. These three things bring life to the text and only then a writer can create images in the mind
of readers. Most of the forms of descriptive writing are colourful and hold a vivid description of
sensory details. These details play a key role in forming the image in the reader’s mind. For the
reader it could prove to be an escape from the drudgery of daily life: this escape is through art – a
piece of descriptive writing.

Use of figures of speech:

Last but not least is the use of simile, metaphor, and analogy. These things are like the final touch -
up to the writing. Without them, a piece of descriptive writing will remain incomplete.
Using the most appropriate words:

Finding a word which matches what you actually have in mind is not easy. That is why you need to use a
thesaurus (explained in Unit 1 of this book)
The first words that occur are not always the best. For example the use of "nice" and "really" in
these sentences:
"We had a really nice dinner," Sounds better when you say, "We enjoyed a tasty meal"

"The children had a great time at the circus" Sounds better when you say,

“The children shared a thrilling night at the circus".

Variety makes writing interesting: adjectives are only one way of improving descriptions. Careful
choice of verbs can help too.
What do you want to describe?

As you get started on your descriptive essay, it's important for you to identify exactly what you want to
describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following:

a person

a place

a memory

an experience
an object

Ultimately, whatever you can perceive or experience can be the focus of your descriptive writing.
Why are you writing your descriptive essay?

Example: Imagine that you want to write a descriptive essay about your grandfather. You've
chosen to write about your grandfather's physical appearance and the way that he interacts with
people. However, rather than providing a general description of these aspects, you want to convey
your admiration of his strength and kindness. This is your reason for writing the descriptive essay.
To achieve this, you might focus one of your paragraphs on describing the roughness of his han ds,
roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life, but you might also describe how
he would hold your hands so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with you or
when taking a walk.
Planning your descriptive essay:
What or who do you want to describe?

What is your reason for writing your description?

What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on? Drafting your descriptive
essay:

What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your
description?
Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid picture given
from your perspective?
Revising your descriptive essay:

Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a
complete and vivid perception?
Have you left out any minor but important details?
Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective?

Are there any unnecessary details in your description?

Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description?
Are your paragraphs ordered in the most effective way? Consider these two descriptions of a room:

• "The room was square with a window along one side. It had four chairs and a TV and video.
There was a drinks cabinet and computer in the corner. The carpet was red and the ceiling
cream."

• "The room was brightly lit by a large window and housed several modern pieces of electrical
equipment but the effect was softened by a drinks cabinet and a warm red carpet."

A Sample of Descriptive Writing

There is a forest at the outskirts of the village. We have received two hundred acres of land in the
forest as a grant from the government of Orissa to run the Post-Basic School, out of which thirty
acres have been levelled with the help of bulldozers. Now, the brick-laying activity is going on. The
students are assisting the labourers in these activities. The school for the time being, is being run in
a three-roomed house and a tent. During the morning hours, we lay bricks and collect firewood
from the forest for the oven. In the afternoon, we study our lessons under the shade of a Mahula tree
beside the house.
It is very cold here, even more than at Angul. The students do not have enough warm clothes.
While returning from the forest we collect roots and stumps of dead trees. We light a bonfire in the
courtyard with those stumps. Towards the last part of the night, when it is too cold to have any
more sleep, the children warm themselves around this bonfire.
The natural beauty of the place fills our tough living conditions with the requisite sweetness. The
hills surround us like a blue wall. We get a lot of food for thought while roaming under the open
sky and clean air. At present, the forest wears a dishevelled look with lopped up trees, bushes and
weeds. Someday a school building will be built here, housing a library and the laboratories for
science and agricultural sciences.
(Excerpt from Letters From a Forest School,byHittarranjan Das, pages 1-2)

Observations about the descriptive passage:

• The sequence of events is described: land granted by the government and brick-laying
activity which has commenced

• The make-shift school is described

• The daily routine of the people involved in this project is described

• The climatic conditions are described

• The raw and untamed natural beauty of the place is described

• A picture of how this place will change with the coming of buildings is described.

Task

Write a descriptive piece on a favourite dish (food item)

OR
Write a descriptive piece on the produce (fruits, vegetables, eggs, etc) sold at your local market

3. PROSE

Patriotism Beyond Politics and Religion --- Chapter of Ignited Mind by Abdul Kalam

I do not care for liberation, I would rather go to a hundred thousand hells, ‘doing good to others (silently)
like the spring’, this is my religion. ---Swami Vivekananda

During march 2002, I was teaching about 200 final year students of engineering at Anna University and I
gave a series of ten lectures on ‘Technology and Its Dimensions’. On the final day of the interaction, there
was a discussion on Dual Use Technologies. One of the students raised a question.

Sir, I have recently come across Dr Amartya Sen’s statement that the nuclear weapon test conducted in
May 1998 by India was ill conceived. Dr Amartya Sen is a great economist and a Nobel laureate who is
much respected for his ideas on development. A comment from such a personality can’t be ignored. What
is your view on his comments?’

‘I acknowledge the greatness of Dr Amartya Sen in the field of economic development and admire his
suggestion, such as that thrust should be given to primary education’. I said ‘At the same time , it seemed
to me that Dr Sen looked at India from a Western perspective. In his view, India should have a friendly
relationship with all countries to enhance its economic prosperity. I agree, but we must also bear in mind
India’s experience in the past. Pandit Nehru spoke in the United Nations against nuclear proliferation and
advocated zero nuclear weapons in all the countries. we know the result. One should note that there are
more than 10,000 nuclear warheads on American soil, another 10,000 nuclear warheads are on Russian
soil and there are number of them in the UK, China, France, Pakistan and some other countries. The
START II and the recent agreements between the USA and Russia only talk about the reducing the number
of nuclear warheads to 2,000 each and even these agreements are limping. Nobody takes the reduction of
warheads in serious terms. There should be a movement by those who are against the May1998 test in
America and Russia or other Western countries to achieve zero nuclear weapons status. It is essential to
remember that two of our neighboring countries are armed with nuclear weapons and missiles. Can India
be a silent spectator?'

India has been invaded in the last 3,000 years by a succession of conquerors, including the British, French,
Dutch and Portuguese, either to enlarge their territory or to spread a religion or to steal the wealth of our
country. Why is it India never invaded other countries . is it because our kings were not brave enough?
The truth is Indians were tolerant and never understood the true implications of being ruled by others for
generations. But after the long independence struggle when we got united and has physical economic
prosperity as the only goal? The only way to show the strength of the country is the might to defend it.
Strength respects strength and not weakness. Strength means military might and economic prosperity.
The decisions and policies of the United Nations Security Council are dictated by the countries who
possess nuclear weapons. How is it we did not get a seat in the Security Council so far but now other
nations are recommending that India be made a member?

In this regard, there is another incident I would like to narrate. My friend, Admiral L. Ramdas, who retired
as the naval chief, told me that he and a group of people would hold a demonstration before Parliament
protesting against the nuclear test carried out in May 1998. I replied to my friend that he and his group
should first demonstrate in front of the White House and Kremlin against the large quantity of nuclear
warheads and ICBMs there.
I call to my people to rise to greatness. It is a call to all Indians to rise to their highest capabilities. What
are the forces which lead to the rise or fall of nations? And what are the factors which go to make a nation
strong? Three factors are invariably found in a strong nation; a collective pride in its achievements, unity
and the ability for combined action.

For a people and a nation to rise to the highest, they must have a common memory of great heroes and
exploits, of great adventures and triumphs in the past. If the British rose to great heights it is because they
had great heroes to admire, men like Lord Nelson, say, or a the Duke of Wellington. Japan represents a
fine example of national pride. The Japanese are proud of being one people, having one culture, and
because of that they could transform a humiliating military defeat into a triumphant economic victory.

All nations which have risen to greatness have been characterized by a sense of mission. The Japanese
have it in large measure. So do the Germans. In the course of three decades, Germans. In the course of
three decades, Germany was twice all but destroyed. And yet its people’s sense of destiny never dimmed.
From the ashes of the Second World War, it has emerged a nation economically powerful and politically
assertive. If Germany can be a great nation, why can’t India?

Unfortunately for India, historic forces have not given a common memory to all communities by taking
them back to their roots a millennium down the ages. Not enough effort has been made in the last fifty
years to foster that memory.

I had the fortune of learning many of our religions in the country from my childhood, in high school and
then onwards for nearly seventy years. One aspect I realize is that the central theme of any religion is
spiritual well-being. Indeed it should be understood that the foundation of secularism in India has to be
derived from spirituality.

It is because our sense of mission has weakened that we have ceased to be true to our culture and ourselves.
If we come to look upon ourselves as a divided people with no pride in our past and no faith in the future,
what else can we look forward to except frustration, disappointment and despair?

In India, the core culture goes beyond time. It precedes the arrival of Islam; it precedes the arrival of
Christianity. The early Christians, like the Syrian Christians of Kerala, have retained their Indianness with
admirable determination. Are they less Christian because their married women wear the mangalsutra or
their menfolk wear the dhoti in the Kerala style? Kerala’ Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, is not a heretic
because he and his people are part of Kerala’s culture. Being a Christian does not make him an alien. On
the contrary, it gives an added dimension to his Indianness. A. R. Rahman may be a Muslim but his voice
echoes in the soul of all Indians, of whatever faith, when he sings VandeMatram.

The greatest danger to our sense of unity and our sense of purpose comes from those ideologists who seek
to divide the people. The Indian Constitution bestows on all the citizens total equality under its protective
umbrella. What is now cause for concern is the trend towards putting religious form over religious
sentiments. Why can’t we develop a cultural—not religious—context for our heritage that serves to make
Indians of us all? The time has come for us to stop differentiating. What we need today is a vision for the
nation which can bring unity.

It is when we accept India in all its splendid glory that, with a shared past as a base, we can look forward
to a shared future of peace and prosperity, of creation and abundance. Our past is there with use forever.
It has to be nurtured in good faith, not destroyed in exercises of political one-upmanship.

The developed India will not be a nation of cities. It will be a network of prosperous villages empowered
by telemedicine, tele-education and e-commerce. the new India will emerge out of the combination of
biotechnology, biosciences and agriculture sciences and industrial development. The political leaders
would be working with the zeal born of the knowledge that the nation is bigger than individual interests
and political parties. This attitude will lead to minimizing the rural-urban divide as progress takes place in
the countryside and urbanites move to rural areas to absorb the best of what nature can give in the form of
products and wealth.

The most important and urgent task before our leadership is to get all the forces for constructive change
together and deploy them in a mission mode. India is a country of one billion people with numerous
religions and communities. It offers a wide spectrum of ideologies, besides its geographic diversity. This
is our greatest strength. However, fragmented thinking, compartmentalized planning and isolated efforts
are not yielding results. The people have to come together to create a harmonious India.

The second vision of the nation will bring about a renaissance to the nation. The task of casting a strong
India is in the hands of a visionary political leadership.

About the Author:

Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam (October 15, 1931 – July 27, 2015), the former president of India, was born in
Rameshwaam. He did his graduate studies at St. Joseph’s College, Trichy and Madras Institute of
Technology, Chennai. Laer he joined he Indian Space Research Organization. He was responsible for he
country’s first satellite launcher, SLV 3 and for the successful launch of Agni and Prithvi. He was awarded
the nation’s highest honour Bharat Ratna in 1997. Our revered former President has another task on hand
and that is to inspire millions of young children to work for the development of our country. He is confident
that by 2020 India will become a great nation with development taking place in all spheres of life.

In this lesson, Dr. Kalam explains the need for sinking differences over language and religion and stresses
the point that patriotism alone will ensure success in all our attempts.
Glossary

Interaction: exchange of ideas

Thrust: importance

Enhance: heighten the standard

Proliferation: increase rapidly in numbers advocated zero nuclear

START: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty

Warheads: the explosive heads of the missiles

Limping: proceeding with difficulty

ICBM: Inter Continental Ballistic Missile

Secularism: not bound by religious rule

Alien: a person not belonging to the same sect

Ideologists: those who hold a system of ideas

Telemedicine: medical counsel obtained through internet

Zeal: enthusiasm

Renaissance: reawakening

Visionary: inspired by ideas

Comprehension

I. Paragraph Questions

1. What was the question raised by a student at Anna University?

2. What did Pandit Nehru speak about the nuclear proliferation in the U.N.?

3. What are he factors which make the nation stronger?

4. How did the Japanese achieve economic victory?

5. How does Dr. Kalam praise India’s policy of tolerance?

II. Essay Questions

1. What are Kalam’s views on India’s nuclear programme?

 2. How does Dr. Kalam envisage he future of India?

3. What according to Dr. Kalam forms the basis of religion?

4. POETRY

STOPPING BY THE WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village, though:

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

And miles to go before I sleep.

About the Author:

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California (USA) on March 26, 1874. He lost his father quite
early. As a boy he did not show much inclination for study. He worked in mills, took o newspaper
reporting, taught in schools and occasionally wrote poetry. As a student a Harvard College, he hoped to
prepare himself for college teaching, but he soon realized that academic atmosphere was not congenial to
him. In 1912, he and his family moved to England, where he published his first book of verse, A Boy’s
Will. The collection was well-received and was soon followed b another collection of poems, North of
Boston. In 1915 he returned to the USA and settled on a farm in New Hampshire. In 1961, he was specially
invited to recite his patriotic poem, ‘The Gift Outright,’ when President Kennedy took office. He died in
1963.

Frost is regarded as a great nature poet, and like Wordsworth wrote about nature as he saw it in a particular
district. ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ is one of Frost’s best-known lyrics.

Glossary

Queer: strange

Harness: equipment consisting of leather straps and metal fittings by

which horse is controlled and fastened to the cart, plough, etc.

Downy Flake: flakes of snow which are soft like feathers (‘down’ means very

fine soft feathers)

Comprehension:

I. Paragraph Questions:

• Why did the narrator stop in the woods?

• What did the horse possibly think when the poet stopped in the woods?

• What did the horse do to ask if the poet had stopped in the woods by mistake?

• Which promises does the poet allude to in the expression ‘promises to keep’?

What is your guess?

• How far was the destination of the poet?

II. Essay Questions:

• Describe the central idea of the poem?

• What made the narrator feel that he must break free of the spell of the Snow-

Filled woods and move on?

• What special significance does the word ‘sleep’ have in the poem?
 • Comment on the last two lines of the poem.

5. GRAMMAR

a. PREPOSITIONS

Everything about Life is Relational

Fromthe moment of birthtofinal breath, relationships comprise our lives. A child is bornintothe
world. He/she is borntoparents. If the child has siblings he/she growsalongwith them. When a person
leaves the world he goestothegrave.
Apart from relationships, we also know that everything in the world exists in relation to something
else: For instance the fruit isonthe tree. The tree is rootedinthe ground. The branches of a tree are
abovethe ground and they seem to branchintothe sky.
You might have learnt about the food chain in your biology class.

The sun shineson the earth. The moisture risesupfrom the earth
intothe atmosphere, where clouds are formed and the rain which from the clouds fallsonthe earth,
nourishes the grass and herbs. Herbivores feedongrass and plants, while carnivoresin the forest
feedonthese herbivores and other creatures.

The words highlighted in this passage are prepositions.

A preposition is a word that indicates the relationship between a nounand the other words of a
sentence. They explain relationships of sequence, space, and logic between the object of the sentence
and the rest of the sentence. They help us understand order, time connections, and positions.

Let’s look at the use of prepositions today!

Let’s begin with the Preposition of time When did it

happen?

Think about an important event in your life and begin writing about it. You can begin your paragraph
by supplying the details in the template below and continue to complete it and share it with yourclass.

Iwasat/on/in (place) when it happened. It wasat

(time)on (day). Itwasin _
(month),in (year). I remember thatI felt
(how did youfeel?).

Preposition Explanations Example

of time
On Days Many shops don't open on
Sundays.

In months / seasons / year I visited Italy in July, in spring, in

1994
morning / evening /
afternoon In the evenings, I like to relax.

period of time This is the first chocolate I've had

in three years.

At Night It gets cold at night.

weekend (British English) What did you do at the weekend?

used to show an exact or a particular There's a meeting at 2.30 this

time: afternoon / atlunch time.

Since from a particular time in the past England have not won the World
until a later time, or untilnow Cup in football since 1966

For used to show an amount of time. I'm just going to bed for an hour
orso.

Ago back in the past; back in time from the The dinosaurs died out 65 million
present: years ago.

Before at or during a time earlier than She's always up before

dawn.

To used when saying the time, to mean It's twenty to six.

before the stated hour

Past telling the time Fivepast ten

To until a particular time, It's only two weeks to

marking end of a period of time Christmas.

From used to show the time The museum is open from

when somethingstarts 9.30 to 6.00 Tuesday to Sunday.
 till / until up to (the time that) We waited till / until half past six
for you.

By not later than; at or before She had promised to be back by

five o'clock.

Fill this College Times questionnaire:

Answer the questions. Write a time, day, month or year. The first one is done for you.

• When do you leave for college? I leave for college at 8.00am.

• When do you get backhome?
• What time do you eatlunch?
• What days don’t you go tocollege?
• When do you have yourholidays?
• When did you last take a dayoff?
• When do you have to take yourexams?
• When did you first come to thiscollege?
• When is the busiest time of the year foryou?
• When is the slowest time of year foryou?

Here are some commonly used prepositions and their uses.

In

• We often use in with the morning, the afternoon and the evening.

I usually wake up early in themorning.

There is no flight to Mumbai in the afternoon.

Jyothi goes to work in the evening.

• We use in with the names of months, seasons, years andcenturies.

Shivani is leaving for France in January.

She knows that France will be cold in winter. She first went to France in winter in January.

She is studying Indo-French relations in the twentieth century.

• We also use in when we refer to a specific week.

We may not be in London in the last week of November.

• We usually use in with spaces that have three dimensions – length, breadth anddepth.
A: Have you seen my phone?
 B: I think you have left it in the car.

A: Where is Arin?

B: He is in the school.

On

• We use on with the names of days and specific dates and before phrases such as Wednesday
morning, Saturday evening and … the morningof.
I think they are leaving on Monday morning.

We are meeting them on the fourth of September.

People woke up on the morning of January to see all around.

At
• The preposition at has many uses. One of its common uses is to indicatetime.
Let’s leave at ten.

The train is expected at 10.00 pm. We will speak at

lunchtime.

• We use at when we use “theend”.

The story has a sudden twist at the end.

• We use at to say where something or somebody is or where something happens.

Mom is not at home. She is already at
work.

We had to change at Pune.

• We also use at to say where a person works or studies.

Imaya has been at Wipro for 3 years. He is at Johns
Hopkins University, USA.

• We use at with words that describe specific events or places where the eventshappen.
Everyone was quiet at breakfast. We had lunch at the
newrestaurant.

• We use at with the beginning, the end, the top, the bottom and the side.
At the beginning of the ceremony, all of us stood up for prayer. My name was at the top
of the list.

• We use at to state the age at which somebody doessomething.

 I left my village at the age of 16. She learnt
swimming at 10.

• We also use at to specify the rate ofspeed.

The car was going at 100 kms per hour.

The wind blew at a speed of 200 kms per hour.

Use this to mind mapto remember a few preposition of time and place

Task 1

Fill in the blanks with “in/on/at”.

• When you are the road, obey trafficrules.
• Stop traffic junctions, when the signal turnsred.
• Do not touch any un-attended baggage
• stations.
• He is Kerala at themoment.
• Why don’tyousit thefloor?
• We met her the IIT in New Delhi.

From/till/until

• We use from to indicate the beginning and to /till/until to indicate the end of an action.
 Children started playing cricket from 3 p.m. Children played cricket from 3 p.m to 6 p.m.
We started swimming in the pool from 2 p.m. The crowd cheered until the end of the game.
Goodbye till we meet again.

We swam in the pool from 2 pm till the sunset.

By

• We use by to mean not later than the time mentioned.

Can you return the book by Monday? By 11 a.m, we had crossed Chennai.

• We use by to mean near, at the side of or beside somebody or something.

She sat by the phone and waited for the call. He stood by the door.

The little boy slept by his mother. (=beside)

Task 2

Complete the sentences using until or by.

• Can you mail the report to meMonday morning?

• Let us wait Dad comes back home.

• Would you like to wait in this cabin the manager is in?

• I don’t think I can reach you 8 p.m.

Task 3

Write a sentence about each ruler using from..to/ till/ until.

1)1526-1530 Babur. Babur ruled from 1526- 1530.

2)1530-1540 Humayun. .

3)1556-1605 Akbar. .

4)1605-1627 Jehangir. .
Since

• One of the common uses of since is to mean from a point of time in the past until a later
point of time in the past or until now.

How long have you been in Pune?

 I have been here since 2009. What a terrible weather!

It has been like this since Monday.

• We use since after the present perfect tense or the present perfect continuous tense. After
since we always use a specific point of time such as 10 p.m , Sunday, July 2010 and 15th
century.

Our M.D. has been in town since Tuesday. It has been raining since ten this morning.
Schools have been closed since last Friday.

For

• One of the common uses of for is to indicate a period of time during which something
happened. It tells us how long an action lasted.

I will be away for just 2 days.

Deepthi has been living in Kerala for six years. She is going to Delhi for five days.

Note: For is used after any tense

Task 4

Correct the mistakes.

• It has not rained since a week.

• The repair work will last since a month.

• I haven’t slept well since two days.

Task 5

Write sentences using since.

He met with an accident. His fever started then. He has had fever since he met with an accident.

I moved into this house in 2009. I have lived in this house then onwards.

He left for the US in January. We have not heard from him after that.

Before, after and during

• We use before to mean “earlier than somebody or something”.

Always wait for people to exit an area before you enter.

 In case of fire, exit the building before you SMS your friends about

it.

• We use after to mean “later than something”.

They left soon after dinner. We met again after nine years.

• We use during to mean “all through” or “at some point in a period of time”.

Please do not use your mobile phones during the lecture. I met him during my summer
internship.

Note: Before, after and during are always followed by a noun phrase:

before Diwali, after the flood, during the journey.

While

• We use while to connect two sentences. So, it is also a conjunction. We use while to mean
during the time that something is happening.

I was watching T.V. The power went off.

The power went off while I was watching T.V.

The prepositions before and after and the conjunction while can be followed by an –ing form of
a verb.

Before leaving the aircraft, please check your belongings.

Afterspeakingtothedoctor,shewentoutandboughtthe medicines.

Task 6

Complete each sentence using before, after or while and a verb from the box.

Before, after, while;leaving home, doing the dishes, parking the car, taking the picture,
sleeping, turning at the sharp curves, entering the bank

• The road is slippery. Be careful while turning at the sharp curves.

• ,we went into the mall.

• , I checked all the doors and windows.

• He snores loudly
 • She went to have a shower

• , I checked my wallet.

• , the photographer checked the intensity of light.

below, above, under, over, in front of, behind, opposite, between, among

• We use these prepositions to talk about the position of a person or a thing in relation to
another person orthing.

• We use below and above to mean to a lower or higher level or position than somebody or
something.

The water is below knee level. The water is

aboveknee level.

• We use opposite to mean on the other side of somebody or something, usually facing them.
We use in front of to mean outside but notopposite.

The two cars are opposite each other. The small car is in

front of the big car. The cars are in front of the house.

• We use under to mean “a position below something”. We use over to mean “a position higher
than but not touching something orsomebody”.

The mechanic is under the car. He jumped over

the hurdle.

• We use behind to mean “at the back of somebody or something”. We use between to mean in the space

separating two or more points, objects, people, etc.

 The old man is behind the wall.

The man is standing between the two pillars.

• We use among to mean with many things or people.

She was sitting among the children

Task 7

Complete the sentences using above, below, opposite, under, over or between.

• The baby elephant is _ the two big elephants.

• There is a painting _ the T.V.

• The aircraft is flying the clouds.

• The man is standing the aircraft.

• We made the shelves in the space the window.

• The two men are pulling in the direction.

across, along, down, into, off, over, out of, past, round, though, under, up

• All these prepositions indicate the direction of movement.

The children are walking across the road. The girl is jogging along the road.

He is bending down. The kids are jumping into the water.

The fish is coming out of the water. The naughty boy is looking through a keyhole.

The bus is going off the road. The car is going past a red light.

The woman is walking under a ladder. The dogs are jumping over the fence.

Task 8

Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions.

A monkey walked my living room when I was reading thenewspaper. Suddenly the steam the pressure

cooker went . The monkey got scared and ran of the room the rear door.

Last summer we made a trip Darjeeling. The journey

the hills _ the toy train was exciting. A few children got scared when the train went

_ tunnels. The train became slow as it started climbing . I could see a few people jumping

the train and getting it again at the next curve. It was indeed a sight to see the train going

sharp curves.

about, with, of

• We use about to mean “on the subject of somebodyor something”. This preposition is usually used with

verbs such as hear, know, speak, talk and think.

Did you hear about the accident?

I knew nothing about it until I reached Bangalore. I want to speak to you about something important. They

love to talk about partying all the time.

I think we should think about moving to a better house.

• We use with to mean “in the company or presence of somebody or something”.

She went on a trip with her friends.

• We use with to mean using something.

I lost my key. I managed to open the lock with a wire.

• We use with to mean having or carrying something.

I want to buy a jacket with a hood. He looked at me with a sense of guilt.

• We use of to mean belonging to , relating to , or connected with.

The highlight of the show is at the end.

I always dreamed of being rich and famous.

 • Of is used to indicate reference.

This is a picture of my family.

• Of is used to indicate an amount or number

I drank three cups of milk.

Task 9

Fill in the blanks with the correct prepositions.

• I was a few of my colleagues.

• Do you have any news the match?

• I’m calling my order Number.120.

• Can we talk next week’s reception?

• She bought two packets sweets.

Task 10

Choose the correct prepositions.

• We are late. So you think we should go in /by a taxi?

• She is living by/with an old classmate of hers.

• Are you looking for a jar by/with a handle?

• The dog sat at/by the fireplace.

• The water level in the dam rose at/by 2 cms every hour.

• Do you know anything of/about their plan?

Task 11

Practise the prepositions in the diagram with your teacher using the objects in your classroom.

b. CONJUNCTIONS

Listen to the following conversation between a mother and her children: Mom: Its getting late. Vicky, will
you have Dosai for breakfast? Vicky: Yes ma.

Mom: What about you Raji? Raji: I will have Dosai too ma.

Mom: Rinku, where are you.... is dosai okay for you? Rinku: Hmm...
Mom: Quick, tell me, dosai or bread and butter? Rinku: Bread and butter ma.

Mom: So Vicky and Raji will have dosai. I'll make it ready after I prepare bread and butter for Rinku.

In the above conversation we find that

• Rinku wants to have 'bread and butter'.

• Vicky and Raji want to have dosai.
• The mother asks Rinku if she wants dosai or bread and butter. Look at the first sentence.
Rinku wants to have 'bread and butter'.

The word 'and' is used to join the words 'bread' and 'butter'.

Take a look at the second sentence.

Vicky and Raji want to have dosai.

Again in this sentence the word 'and' is used.

What idea does the sentence express? The sentence expresses two ideas:

Vicky wants to have dosai. Raji wants to have dosai.

The ideas of the above two sentences are related. The sentences seem repetitive. Hence the word 'and' is used to
join these two sentences. and the same idea is expressed in a single sentence.

This makes the sentence compact.

Look at the third sentence.

The mother asks Rinku if she wants dosai or bread and butter.

Here the word 'or' is used to express and join the two choices.

The words 'and' and 'or' are joining words or conjunctions. They make sentences more direct while retaining the
meaning.

Conjunctions are words that join words, groups of words, or sentences.

Some commonly used conjunctions are

and yet

or when

but though although

because unless while

 after since

before

CLASSES OF CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunctions are divided into two classes: Co-ordinating and Subordinating

A Co-ordinating Conjunction joins together clauses of equal rank or importance.

What is a clause?

A clause has a subject and a verb. Look at the group of words in italics in the following sentences:

• He can't succeed without hard work.

• He can't succeed unless he works hard.

In the first sentence look at the group of words, 'without hard work". It does not make complete sense. It does
not contain a finite verb. It has no subject and predicate of its own. Hence it is a phrase. A Phrase is a group of
words that is used as a single part of speech and does not contain a Subject and Predicate of its own.

In the second sentence the group of words, 'unless he works hard', contains a subject (he) and a predicate (works
hard). A group of words which forms part of a sentence, and contains a Subject and a Predicate of its own, is
called a Clause.

The chief Co-ordinating Conjunctions are

And, but, or, for, nor, either.... or, neither nor

The conjunction 'and' is used to join words and sentences that have related or similar ideas.

It means the same, similar or equal; without contrast For example

• It's cold and windy today.

• He put on his cap and went out. . 3.Raji and Mahesh are neighbours.

The conjunctions 'but' is used to join words and sentences that have opposite ideas.

• He wants to watch the film but he has to complete his project.

• She read the mail but she did not reply.

The conjunction 'but' is also used to express something that is unexpected and to express the idea of difference.
 • They played well but they lost the match.
• Sindhu is right-handed but her brother is left-handed.

In the first sentence the idea that they would lose the match is unexpected because they played well. The
conjunction 'but' makes this clear.

In the second sentence the conjunction 'but' expresses the idea of difference.

Conjunction 'or' is used to connect words and sentences in order to show choice. It is used before an alternative.

• Would you have coffee or tea?

• Shall we go out or shall we stay at home?

When a conjunction connects a group of three or more items (words, phrases or clauses), it is usually placed
before the last member of the group.

• He boarded the bus, got the ticket and took a seat.

• What would you like to have? Coffee, tea or fruit juice?

Some Conjunctions are used in pairs.

Either or

Neithernor

Both and

Not only ------ but also whether or

Conjunctions which are thus used in pairs are called Coorelative Conjunctions or Correlatives.

When conjunctions are used as correlatives, each of the correlated words should be placed immediately before
the words to be connected.

He visited not only Delhi, but also Mumbai. --- Correct

He not only visited Delhi, but also Mumbai Incorrect

either ........ or Either-- Raju or Peter will take you home.

neither ............ nor --- He was neither smart nor hard-working.

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Subordinating conjunctions are used to combine a main clause and a subordinate clause. A Subordinating
conjunction joins a clause to another on which it depends for its full meaning. It begins a subordinate clause and
connects it to an independent clause.

The crop failed because there was no rain.

Main clause Subordinating clause

The word 'because' is used as the subordinating conjunction. It combines the main clause with the subordinating
clause.

The sentence contains two clauses one of which, 'because there was no rain', is dependent on the other. Hence,
the Conjunction introducing the dependent or subordinate clause is called a Subordinating Conjunction.

Notice how the subordinating conjunctions are different from co- ordinating conjunctions.

The subordinate conjunctions are part of the subordinate clauses they introduce. But the co-ordinating
conjunctions are not part of either of the clauses they join together.

For example,

• She was angry /but/ she listened quietly. main clause 1 main clause 2
• Although she was angry, /she listened quietly. subordinate clause main clause

The chief Subordinating Conjunctions are:

After before because if though although till

thatunless as when wherewhile

Subordinating Conjunctions may be classified according to their meaning, as follows:-

Time, Cause or Reason, Purpose, Result or Consequence, Condition, Concession and Comparison

Time

before --- Come home before it gets dark. till ---- We shall wait till she gets the key.
after -- She entered the class after the attendance was taken. when -- You may join us when
you are ready.

Cause or Reason

Since -- Since there was power shutdown, we didn't complete the work.

As --- As he was in a hurry, he took an auto.

because -- She did not go to college, because she was not feeling well.

Purpose

that, so that, in order that

that ---We work hard that we may succeed in life.

so that --- Iwill send the documents by speed post so that you will get it tomorrow.

that .....

in order that -- The pamphlet was given in order that all might know the usage rules.

Result or Consequence

so .... that --- He is so weak that he cannot move about.

such .... that -- It is such a good movie that you can watch more than once.

Condition

if -- If you will fill in these columns, I can sign the form. unless-- Do not answer unless you are
sure.

Concession

though --- She listened to me patiently though he was angry. although--- Although they played the match well,
they did not win.

Comparison

than ---- He works harder than his brother does.

EXERCISE1:

Fill in the blanks with suitableconjunctions -- and, or, but, although, till, because, though

• Prem called out to her to stop, she continued walking.

 • How does the fruit taste? sweet sour?
• Is Rani playing _ studying?

• John David went to the library yesterday.

• I lost the prize I tried my best
• Can you buy for me pens, pencils notebooks?
• They reached late their train was delayed. 8.He played well scored two goals.
o he was poor he came forward to help the poor.
• Will you wait I return?

EXERCISE 2:

Combine the sentences using conjunctions given in brackets:

• You will pass. Work hard. (if)

• I will call you. I finish my work. (when)
• He will buy a bike. He will buy a car. (either...or)
• He will cook. He will wash clothes. (neither nor).
• Sheela is a good singer. she is also a good dancer.(not only....but also)
• He waited. The train arrived. (till)
• You will be late. You hurry. (unless)
• It was dark. I couldn't find my bag. (so that)
• He sold the car. He was in need of money. (because)
• He ran fast. He missed the train. (though)
• Go to the port. You can visit the light house. (if)

c. THEINTERJECTION

Listen to the conversation between two friends Dinesh and Sam. Dinesh has come from abroad and
is meeting Sam after many years. First readconversation 'A' and then conversation 'B'.

A B

Dinesh:Sam, how are you? Sam: Dinesh:Hi! How are you Sam?
Aren’t you Dinesh? Sam:Hey, Aren't you Dinesh?
Dinesh: Yeah, its me ...
Dinesh: Yes.
Sam : How nice! When did
Sam:When did you return from you return from abroad.
abroad?
Dinesh: Just last week
Dinesh:Last week
Sam :So what have you
Sam : Are you getting a picked up?
painting?
Dinesh: This painting by Ravi
Dinesh : Yes,I picked up this one. Varma.
 Sam : Its nice.
Sam : Wow! Its beautiful

Which conversation expresses the feeling of surprise? It is conversation B

Look at the words that are in italics. Such words are Hi! Hey,Wow! etc., are called Interjections.

Interjections are a part of speech used to express sudden emotions like happiness, surprise, grief and
sympathy.

An Interjection is not grammatically related to the other words in a

sentence. An interjection is set off from the rest of the sentence by an exclamation mark or a comma.
An exclamation mark indicates strong emotion. A comma indicates mild emotion.

An Interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feeling or emotion.

Here is a list of a few Interjections in use:

Hi Hurrah Alas Hush Ah Hey Well Wow Oh Ouch Gosh

Examples:

Hello ! What are you doing there? Ah ! Have they gone?

Oh ! I got a fright. Ouch! That hurts!

Well, I think that is my argument.

Here is a list of Interjections and what they express----

Hurrah ! huzza ! -- Joy

Aah ! --- Call for help / when scared Ahh! ---- Realization / acceptance

Uh --- Indicates a pause / need for more time bravo ! Approval

Er --- Not knowing what to say

Hmm --- Thinking / hesitating about something Hmph ---- Indicate displeasure
ha ! what ! Surprise

Eww --- Dislike or disgust

Oops --- When do something by mistake alas ! Grief

Shh ---- An indication for silence Whew --- Amazement and/or relief Wow ---
Surprise or admiration

Yeah --- strong affirmation or approval

Certain groups of words are also used to express some sudden feeling or emotion:

Ah me! ------ Ah me, where shall I go?

For shame! --- For shame, leave that poor man alone. Well done! ---- Well done! You have done a
good job.

Activity 1:
Fill in the blanks with suitable interjections:

1. We have won!

2. , Mithun! How are you?

3. He is dead.

4. Now I understand!

5. That's really a great news!

6. _ That's the winning goal!

7. The baby is sleeping.

8. We've lost the battle.

9. my young friends, play the game.

10. that feels wonderful.

Actvity 2:

Write two sentences each using interjections to express

• Surprise
• Joy
• Attention
• Grief
• Silence
• Dislike
• Think about something
• Do something by mistake
• Admiration
• Strong affirmation
 UNIT 4
1. LISTENING AND SPEAKING

GIVING AND RESPONDING TO OPINIONS

Pre Task
Read the following exchange aloud, playing the roles of the characters.
1. An exchange between friends:
THOMAS: I think AdyarAnandaBhavan has the best masala dosa in all the city. Wouldn’t you say
so?
AYESHA: I disagree. I think SaravanaBhavan serves the best masala dosas. The idlis in
AdyarAnandaBhavan are heavenly though.
RITHIKA: I feel both of you are wrong. There is a small restaurant called Dosa Corner at the
corner of my street. I really believe the dosas there are really tasty. And their masala dosas are
yum.
THOMAS: Ah yes, Rithika, I agree with you. I have eaten at Dosa Corner once and I really liked
their dosas. Ayesha, I think you once told me you have eaten there. Don’t you remember?
AYESHA: Yes, of course. I completely agree with both of you. The dosas were very tasty. I have
also eaten idlis in Babu Mess that’s right next to it; the idlis were extremely soft and tasty.

2. An exchange in the marketing department of a company

SARIKA: The reports on this ad campaign have been very positive. I believe it would be a good
idea to continue with it for some more time. What do you all feel?
DAVID: I agree with Sarika. Since the reports have been positive, I don’t think we should remove
the campaign and spend more money in making a new one.
KAMINI: In my opinion, I feel we should remove the campaign soon. While the reports have been
positive, there is also a feeling that the ideas in it are old-fashioned.
DAVID: From my perspective, the positive aspects are greater than the negative ones. Our
company cannot afford to spend money on a new campaign. What are your thoughts on that,
Sarika?
SARIKA: I couldn’t agree more with you, David. The company just cannot afford to spend money
on a new campaign. Perhaps once our revenue has picked up, we can think of a new campaign.
Use the dictionary to find the meanings of the following words. Some of the words/ phrases may
have more than one meaning.
(1) Ad campaign (2) afford (3) perspective (4) revenue

Identify phrases from the above dialogue that are used

(a) while asking for an opinion (wouldn’t you say so?/ What do you all feel?/ What are
your thoughts on that?)
(b) before / while giving an opinion (I think/ I feel/ I really believe/ In my opinion/ From
my perspective)
(c) while agreeing or disagreeing with another’s opinion (agreeing: I agree with you/ I
completely agree with you/ I couldn’t agree with you more) (disagreeing: I disagree/ I
feel both of you are wrong)
TASK 1

Read the exchanges once again. Do you notice that the kinds of phrases used in the two
conversations are different from each other? The first conversation is between friends and is
informal in nature. The second conversation takes place in an official set up and is formal in nature.
Because of this difference, the kinds of phrases used are also different. Below you will find
common formal and informal phrases used for the three aspects related to asking, giving and
responding to opinions. In the blanks provided, add some more phrases you can think of.

(a) Phrases used while asking for opinion

Formal Informal
What are your thoughts on…. What do you say?
Would you say that….. What do you feel?
Would you agree,….. Sarika? (using the name of the person
from whom you are
asking for the opinion)
Do you think it’s a good idea to… Do you think it’s a good idea to…

Where do you stand on the Do you agree?

issue of

Can you share your opinion on…

(b) Phrases used while giving an opinion

Formal Informal
In my opinion… I feel that..
I firmly believe that… I really think that…
It is my (humble) opinion that… I believe…
From my perspective/ point of I would say that…
view…
In my view…
It seems to me that…

(c) Phrases used while agreeing / disagreeing

Formal Informal
Agreeing
Yes, I agree with you… I agree with you…
I think you’re right You’re right
I couldn’t agree more I couldn’t agree more
Me too
Definitely
Of course

Disagreeing
I’m afraid I don’t agree with you Oh, no. I feel
I have to disagree with you No, you’re wrong. I think
I’m sure you’re right, but Ifeel… Yeah, but…
I beg to differ
Don’t you think it might be better …..
 You would have already noticed that some phrases can be used in both formal and
informal contexts. For example: “Do you agree?” or “I think …”
TASK 2

Complete the following using phrases for asking for, giving opinions and agreeing
and/ or disagreeing with opinions.

1. Arpita: You have been away from your family for a long time. ____________
you should move back home with your family.
Bhaskar: _____________. I really miss my wife and daughter.

2. Press reporter: __________ about the government’s decision to hike fuel

prices?
Opposition Leader: _______________ that the move is wrong. __________
that the fuel prices should be cut.

3. Sahana: _______________ Switzerland is the best place to visit for our

summer vacation. ______________?
Tarun :______________________. Why should we go all the way to
Switzerland? We have lovely hill stations in india.
Dinesh: __________________________. We can go to Missouri or Dehradun
instead.

4. Activist 1: ______________________ it is important to treat all creation with

respect and _______________ believe it is wrong to test cosmetics on animals.
Entrepreneur: ___________________________________. Animals are
different from us. And how else can we find out if the cosmetics are safe for
us?
Activist 2: _____________________________________ with that point of
view. Science has grown so much. _________________ believe we can find a
more humane way of finding out how safe cosmetics are.

Use the dictionary to find the meanings of the following words. Again, some words may
have more than one meaning. Identify which meaning is used in the dialogue above.

(1)hike (2) move (3) entrepreneur (4) humane

Asking for, giving opinions and agreeing and/ or disagreeing with opinions- II
You would have noticed that when you are giving your opinion or agreeing with or disagreeing
with others’ opinions, you can do so with varying degrees of firmness. For example, we can either
say “I agree with you” or “I really agree with you” or “I fully agree with you”. You can see that
the last two expressions are stronger than the first in expressing agreement. Other ways of adding
strengths to views are:
• I strongly believe…
• I truly feel… or
• In my honest opinion…
• I firmly believe…
• I simply cannot agree with you.
• Do you really think…
Can you think of more ways of adding strength to your views?
Activity

Work in groups of four and have a debate on the following topics. Make sure that you use the
phrases we have studied for asking for, giving, agreeing and disagreeing with opinions. Also make
sure that there are at least two people agreeing to the topic and two people disagreeing. Remember
that you don’t need to come to a conclusion. Finish the discussion in about ten minutes.

1. Is animal testing on cosmetics necessary?

2. Are Indian systems of medicine better than allopathy?
3. Should children be taught only in the mother tongue?
4. Should village cuisine be promoted in cities?
5. Should food delivery services be encouraged?
 2. READING AND WRITING

a. NOTE TAKING- 1

Most of us take notes when we read our text books or any reference book. If the book is our own,
we may make notes on the margins; if the book is borrowed from the library, we will make notes
in our notebooks.
Think about how you take notes—what do you include when you make notes? How do you write?
What do you do with the notes you have made?
Pre Task
From the following list, place a tick against sentences that are true about note taking.

1. We use full sentences.

2. We use abbreviations.
3. We put down in short sentences everything that is there in the passage.
4. We put down only the important points.
5. We make use of our notes to plan an essay.
6. We throw away our notes as soon as we make them.
As you would have noticed, sentences 2, 4 and 5 are true about note-taking.
TASK 1

Read the following passage:

William Shakespeare, the famous British dramatist and poet lived from 1564 to 1616. He was born
in a village called Stratford-upon-Avon and moved to London where he wrote plays for a theatre
group called Lord Chamberlaine’s Men. His plays were performed in a theatre called The Globe
and were very successful. Later in his life, Shakespeare returned to Stratford-upon-Avon where he
died quite a rich man.
Shakespeare wrote 39 plays, five narrative poems and 154 sonnets. He wrote three kinds of plays—
comedies, tragedies and histories. Among his famous comedies are The Comedy of Errors, As You
Like It, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and
King Lear are some of his tragedies while Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V and Richard III are
history plays. Apart from these, he also wrote plays based on Roman history like Anthony and
Cleopatra and Julius Caeser. His plays have been translated into many languages and are still
performed the world over.
After reading the passage,

1. Underline the words/ phrases you think are important.

2. What kind of a passage do you think it is?
a. It describes a process
b. It gives facts
c. It gives opinions

Once you know what the important points in the passage are, it is time to arrange them in a way
that will make it easy to read and reuse. Since the passage given above has a lot of facts, there are
at least two formats on which you can put down te notes you have taken on the passage.

The outlining method

In this method, points are grouped according to relationship and importance. To do this,

• First list the main points

o Then indent the related points under it (to indent means to add extra
space between the margin and the place where the line starts. The
bullet point above is indented)
Below you will find notes based on the passage. Some parts have been done for you. Fill in the
blanks using the model.

William Shakespeare

• Life
o 1564-1616
o Born and died: Stratford-upon-Avon
 • Career—plays
o Perf. in London
▪ At________________________
o written for____________________Men
• Works
o 39 plays
▪ Comedies
• Example: As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
▪ Tragedies
• Example: Hamlet, King Lear
▪ Histories
• Example:________________________
▪ Roman plays
• Example: _______________________
o Five narrative poems
o _________________________

It is important to make it clear what the main point is and what the points being grouped under it
are. For this, use specific kinds of symbols—you can use I, II, III etc. for the main points and for
further groupings, you can use 1, 2, 3…/ i, ii, iii…. / a, b, c etc. This means the third heading of
the note above will look like this.

III. Works
1. 39 plays
a. Comedies
i. Eg: As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
b. Tragedies
i. Eg: Hamlet, King Lear
c. Histories
i. Eg: _______________
 d. Roman plays
i. Eg: _____________________
2. Five narrative poems
3. 154 sonnets

I. Mapping Method
In this method, arrows are used to connect ideas to a central point. Using this method, notes
to passage on Shakespeare would look something like what is given below. Fill in the blanks
provided to complete the notes.

Shakespeare

life works

1564- 1616 __________

Comedies ____________
Eg.__________ _____________

career _____________ _____________

_____________ _____________

Perf. In London at Tragedies ___________

The Globe Theatre Eg.________ ___________

Part of Lord ___________ ___________

Chamberline’s men ___________ ___________
 POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Notice that the passage is not divided into sections such as ‘life’, ‘career’ and ‘works.’
This is something we can do to better organize our notes.
• Also notice that no full sentences are used in the notes.
• Not all examples given in the passage are reproduced in the notes.
• Notice also that ‘e.g.’ is used instead of example and perf. is used instead of
performed. These are abbreviations or short forms. We can use a number of short
forms while making notes, but it is always a good idea to use universally used
abbreviations. Below is a list of such abbreviations that you can use. Add any more
that you can think of. Remember that when you are using an abbreviation, you need
to put a full stop at the end of the abbreviation—e.g., perf., etc.
a. & for and
b. >, < for greater than or less than
c. = for equal to
d. etc. for etcetera
e. Govt. for government
f. Lib. For library
g. Lab for laboratory
h. Ad for advertisement
i. _______________
j. _______________
k. ________________
l. _________________
m. _________________

IMPORTANT TIPS

• Read the passage fully first before beginning to make notes on it.
• While reading the passage, it helps to underline important points.
• It may also help if you divide the passage into categories—like we did in the passage
on Shakespeare
• Do not copy sentences from the passage. Always rewrite them in your own words.
 • Make sure your notes are focused and organised—you will be using your notes to
write essays or study for exams.

TASK 2
Now read the following passages and make notes from it. You can use either of the formats
discussed above.

The World Health Organization began a DDT sprayingprogram which virtually eliminated
malaria. But other things began to happen. Besides killing mosquitoes, the DDT killed other insects
that lived in the houses, such as flies and cockroaches. These insects were the favourite food of
geckos (small lizards). And so when the geckos ate the dead insects, they died from DDT
poisoning. Similarly, the house cats ate the dead geckos and cockroaches, and they too died from
the DDT poisoning. As a result, the rat population rose sharply, and the human population of
Borneo began to die from a type of plague carried by fleas on the rats. In order to deal with the
emergency, thousands of cats were parachuted into the island, in what was called ‘Operation Cat
Drop’.
(adapted from:https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2006/pr50/en/)

Note Taking - II
The passage from which you made notes in the previous task was fact based. We will now look at
how we can make notes from other kinds of passages.

TASK 1
Read the following passage describing how chocolate is made:

How is chocolate made?

Have you ever wondered where chocolate comes from? Well, chocolate is made from beans which
grow in pods on the Theobroma cacao tree. These trees grow in several different countries and the
flavour of the beans varies depending on where they come from. The beans also vary in flavour,
depending on the age of the tree.
(Picture:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%C3%81rbol_Cacao.JPG)

After the beans have been collected and dried, they are transported to chocolate factories.There,
the beans are weighed and separated by type so that the manufacturer knows exactly what kind of
cacao is going into the chocolate. This ensures the flavour of the chocolate is consistent over time.
Some manufacturers use up to twelve types of cacao, depending on the flavour of chocolate they
want to create.
(Picture: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1211899/cocoa-cacao-chocolate- food-sweet-brown-
ingredient-plant-tropical)

Once weighed, the cacao beans are roasted in large ovens for up to two hours. The heat not only
dries and darkens the beans, but also brings out their flavour. Next, the cacao beans are cracked,
and then winnowed – that is, the broken shells are blown away, which leaves the crushed pieces
of cacao beans, called ‘nibs’. These are edible but do not taste very pleasant. The cacao nibs are
then crushed and ground into a thick paste called chocolate liquor. This is bitter and not very
smooth or creamy. To improve the flavour, the manufacturer mixes in things like sugar, vanilla
and milk.
You could eat this mixture, and it would taste pretty good, but it wouldn’t quitehave the right
texture. So the manufacturer runs the mixture through steel rollers and then it is ‘conched’. This is
a process which involves putting the mixture in a machine that mixes and mashes the chocolate.
Conching can last a few hours for cheaper chocolate, and up to six days for more expensive types.
Finally, we have chocolate!
(passage sourced from Cambridge International Examination Question Paper 2015. © UCLES
2015)

Use the dictionary to find out the meanings of the following words. Some of the words have more
than one meaning. Identify the meaning that is relevant in the passage. Once you have found out
the meanings of the words, make sentences of your own with these words.
(a)Ensure (b) flavour (c) edible (d) quite (e) pretty

When you need to make notes from a passage such as this, a flowchart model is helpful. This is
because a flowchart allows you to place the various components of a process in the correct place.
Within each of the boxes in the flowchart, you can also add bullets or numbered points to add
related information. Part of the notes made on this passage using the flowchart model could be like
what is given below. Complete the flowchart.

HOW CHOCOLATES ARE MADE

 Beans collected from Theobroma Cacao tree

• Grow in several countries

• Varied flavors based on
o Place grown
o Age of tree

Beans transported to chocolate factories

Beans separated by type

• Ensures consistency of flavour

Beans roasted in large ovens

• Done for two hours

• To dry, darken beans
• To bring out flavour

TASK 2
Read the following passage on tea:
(Picture:https://pixabay.com/photos/search/green%20tea%20plantation/)

Tea is the common name for a family of mostly woody flowering plants, and for one of its
important genera. The tea plant itself is a native of Southeast Asia. The tea brewed from the dried
leaves of this plant has been drunk in China since perhaps the 28th century BC and certainly since
the 10th century BC, from which time written records of its use survive. It was first brought to
Europe by the Dutch in the early 17th century AD. After the introduction of tea there in 1657,
England became the only European country of tea drinkers rather than coffee drinkers. Tea was
introduced into North America by early settlers but was heavily taxed by the British, eventually
resulting in the well-known Boston Tea Party of 1773, and it has never competed successfully with
coffee as the staple beverage. Tea is drunk by about half of the world's population; China, India,
Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Japan are the main producers.
Leaf buds and young leaves are used in making tea, the age of the leaves determining the taste and
name of the particular commercial variety. Thus, orange pekoe is made from the youngest leaves,
and souchong from the fourth leaves. After picking, the leaves either are dried immediately and
completely to produce green teas - such as pan-fired, basket-fired, hyson, and gunpowder - or are
partially dried and then allowed to ferment to produce various kinds of black teas, such as orange
pekoe, pekoe, congou, and souchong. Oolong tea is partially fired and then steamed, thus being
intermediate between green and black teas. After being sorted, all grades of tea are packed in foil-
lined chests to prevent the absorption of unpleasant odors or the loss of aroma during shipment. In
China, tea is sometimes allowed to absorb the scent from various flowers; jasmine is a particular
favourite.
(Source: http://www.uefap.net/reading/reading-note-taking/639-reading- note-taking-taking-notes-
example3)

As you can see, this passage includes a process as well as a lot of facts. When making notes from
such a passage, it helps if we can combine the outlining/ mapping method with the flowchart.
Notes made from the above passage may look like this:
TEA

• native to SE Asia
• drunk in China since C10th BC, C28 BC ?,
• brought to Europe by Dutch C17
• intro to USA - Boston Tea party 1773
• main producers China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan
• Making tea:

(Source: http://www.uefap.net/reading/reading-note-taking/639-reading- note-taking-taking-

notes-example3)
TASK 3
Read the following passage and make notes from it. You can use any of the formats we have
discussed so far. You can also use a combination of the formats.
OILS

There are three main groups of oils: animal, vegetable and mineral. Great quantities of animal oil
come from whales, those enormous creatures of the sea which are the largest remaining animals
in the world. To protect the whale from the cold of the Arctic seas, nature has provided it with a
thick covering of fat called blubber. When the whale is killed, the blubber is stripped off and boiled
down, either on board ship or on shore. It produces a great quantity of oil which can be made into
food for human consumption. A few other creatures yield oil, but none so much as the whale. The
livers of the cod and the halibut, two kinds of fish, yield nourishing oil. Both cod liver oil and
halibut liver oil are given to sick children and other invalids who need certain vitamins. These oils
may be bought at any chemist's.
Vegetable oil has been known from antiquity. No household can get on without it, for it is used in
cooking. Perfumes may be made from the oils of certain flowers. Soaps are made from vegetable
and animal oils.
To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another. But when the politician or
the engineer refers to oil, he almost always means mineral oil, the oil that drives tanks, aeroplanes
and warships, motor-cars and diesel locomotives; the oil that is used to lubricate all kinds of
machinery. This is the oil that has changed the life of the common man. When it is refined into
petrol it is used to drive the internal combustion engine. To it we owe the existence of the motorcar,
which has replaced the private carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility of flying.
It has changed the methods of warfare on land and sea. This kind of oil comes out of the earth.
Because it burns well, it is used as fuel and in some ways it is superior to coal in this respect. Many
big ships now burn oil instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is used for illumination;
countless homes are still illuminated with oil-burning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used
for lubrication. Two metal surfaces rubbing together cause friction and heat; but if they are
separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are reduced. No machine would work for long
if it were not properly lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct thickness; if
it is too thin it will not give sufficient lubrication, and if it is too thick it will not reach all parts that
must be lubricated.
(http://www.uefap.net/reading/reading-note-taking/636-reading-note- taking-taking-notes-example1)

Note Taking - III

A third kind of passage you are likely to come across are passages that compare two or more items.
It is useful to use tables when making notes from such passages.
TASK 1

Read the following essay and use the table provided to fill in notes from it:

PAPER BOOKS AND E-BOOKS

There is a growing concern that mass media and digital technologies have decreased the time spent
on reading. Still, people all over the world still like books. Reading is a great pleasure because you
have a chance to immerse into the exciting world and learn something new. Thousands of new
books are published every year, and given the number of already existing books, every person has
unlimited opportunities in selecting some interesting pieces of literary work. During the past
several years, e-books have gained immense popularity around the world. Due to their accessibility
and convenience, they easily won over the market and now successfully compete with traditional
paper books. This essay will explore differences and similarities between e-books and paper books.
Despite all their visible differences, digital versions and paper books are similar in many ways.
First, they both have the same text structure including the cover, title page, copyright page, table
of content, chapters, etc. Second, they have the same function – provide readers with new
information. Irrespective of the form, all readers use paper books and e- readers for the same
purposes, that is, to study, relax, work, and learn.
At the same time, there are many differences between them too. E- books are sleek and thin, which
makes them easier to carry. They have a huge capacity, meaning that users can download
thousands of books in one gadget and spare themselves of the necessity of carrying large volumes.
Some opponents of e-books claim that contrary to regular books, electronic devices are not so
pleasant to smell and touch. They are made of plastic and metal that have no smell, whereas
traditional books smell of paper, ink, dust, someone’s perfumes, and many other things related to
their history. Some people love old library books for this unique, authentic smell that cannot be
compared to the coldness and impersonality of digital devices.
Another important difference relates to books’ durability. Traditional paper books can stand the
test of time. They easily withstand heat, falls, moisture, tearing, and so on, which allows to keep
them for hundreds and even thousands of years. E-readers do not have this amazing quality. They
are easier to carry and hold, yet they may break at any time; files kept in gadgets can be damaged
by computer viruses. Besides, as technologies develop, some e-book models come out of use,
which means that a person will have to buy new models to be able to download and use digital
books.

The cost is another point of comparison. While e-books themselves can be expensive, users can
save much money by buying electronic versions of printed books. They often cost half the price
of traditional books and can be downloaded immediately. Paper books, especially rare ones, can
be very expensive and hard to find. Moreover, buying many paper books to use for a limited period
of time (e.g., for studying) is impractical. At the same time, the value of some paper books may
increase with time, which allows collecting and reselling them later for much profit.
To conclude, the selection of a form depends on the purpose, readers’ taste, financial resources,
etc. E-books and traditional books have their similarities and differences, and it seems there is no
better choice. Ultimately, it is information that matters, so everything works as long as you can get
it.
(adapted from https://scoobydomyessay.com/blog/paper-books-and-e- books-compare-and-contrast/)
Use the dictionary to find out the meanings of the following words:
(a) Concern (b) accessibility (c) irrespective of (d) durability (e) impractical
PAPER BOOKS AND E-BOOKS

I. Similarities:
a.
b.
c.
d.

II. Differences:
Paper Books E books
Looks

Durability

Cost

Note Taking – IV (Longer passages) TASK 1

Now that you have learnt different methods of making notes, it is now time to move on to making
notes from longer passages. Read the following passages and make notes from them using any or
a combination of the formats discussed.

I. THE ACACIA TREE

(Picture: https://www.google.com/search?q=the+acacia+tree&tbm)
Few exotic trees are as widely cultivated and versatile as the Acacia tree. While its unique shape
and blossoms are eye-catching, the Acacia’s appearance reveals just a hint of its functions. The
Acacia’s distinctive leaves make the tree highly distinguishable. While there are more than 800
species of the Acacia trees around the world, most feature small, finely div ided green leaflets that
give the stalk a fernlike appearance. Meanwhile, in other species, which grow in the desert and see
very little rain, leaves are absent altogether. Instead, the stalks perform the functions of leaves and
can appear as sharp spines or large thorns. Most Acacia trees have short lifespans of 15 to 30 years.
Consequently, they tend to grow quickly and can reach heights in excess of 40 feet. In addition to
the stunning yellow and white blooms, the Acacia produces a dry seedpod as its fruit. Each pod is
about three inches long and contains five to six brownish black seeds. The combination of its
feathery leaves, globular flowers and dry seedpods creates a dramatic appearance during the tree’s
peak growing years.
The Acacia is one of the largest species of trees in the world with more than 800 different types
growing in warm, tropical and desert-like regions of both hemispheres. The flat-topped Acacia is
typically found on the savannahs of South Africa. The top of these trees resemble a ledge. The
Swollen-thorn Acacias thrive in Central America; its seed pods form a notable symbiotic
association with ants. Native to Hawaii, the Koa Acacia tree is known for its dark hardwood and
is prized for its variety of grains which ranges from plain, to curly, to deep fiddleback. There are
two types of flowering Acacias. The baileyana species of Acacias are known for their yellow
flower clusters. The farnesiana species is known its spiny shrub-like appearance which contains
many fragrant blossoms that attract numerous insect pollinators.
In the Indian subcontinent one of the species of acacia called Acacia Catechu is known as `Khair`.
It is a medium sized deciduous tree with crooked and forked truck. Its growth can be traced in both
natural and plantation forms in most parts of the nation up to an elevation of 1300 meters above
sea level. In India the Acacia Catechu is categorized mainly into three divisions: Catechu,
Catechuoides and Sundra. In India the Acacia Catechu is widely found in Uttar Pradesh, Jammu,
Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. The other species
known as Acacia Catechuoides is found in the terrain region of Sikkim, West Bengal and Assam
whereas the third variety also known as the
`red catechu` or `lalkhair` is prevalent in Gujarat, the Deccan, Rajasthan and southern parts of
Maharashtra.

The Acacia tree has an storied past, from its introduction in Europe by a herbalist to Henri IV in
1601 to its addition to various botanical gardens throughout North America in the late 1960s. The
tree’s eye-popping white and yellow blossoms were made popular by the early American Indians,
who used them as gifts to woo unsuspecting females. The Acacia tree thorns house stinging ants
who live off the tree’s nectar. While giraffes and cattle love to chew on its leaves, butterflies are
attracted to Acacia trees. The thorns of the Central American Bullhorn Acacias are commonly
strung into necklaces and belts.
(Source: http://www.portghalib.com/news/2017/3/acacia-tree/18/)

Task 2

The climate of a coniferous forest depends upon where it is located. In general, the farther north
the latitude, the cooler the climate. The presence of mountain ranges and oceans also affects the
climate of an area. In Japan, for example, Siberian air masses bring severe winters to some forests,
while other forests are influenced by warm ocean currents, and have a more tropical climate.
The most severe climate is found in the boreal forest, or taiga, where temperatures are below
freezing for more than half of the year. Winter temperatures range from -65˚ to 30˚F (-54˚ to -1˚C),
and summer temperatures from 20˚ to 70˚F (-7˚ to 21˚C).However, because the taiga is a land of
extremes, temperatures can drop as low as -76˚F (-60˚C) in winter or climb as high as 104˚F
(40˚C) in summer.
Most of the precipitation (rain, snow, or sleet) in the boreal forest comes from summer rain, which
averages 12 to 33 inches (30 to 85 centimeters) per year.

Mountain forests face cold, dry climates and high winds. The higher the elevation, the harsher the
conditions. Scientists estimate that for every 300 feet (91 meters) in elevation, the temperature
drops more than 1˚F. On Alaskan mountains, temperatures in January average about 8˚F (-13˚C)
and in July only 47˚F (8˚C).
In general, northern hemisphere forests found on the northern side of mountains are shaded from
the sun and the air is cooler. The forests receive more rainfall and have denser stands (groups) of
trees and other plants. Forests on the southern side of mountains are drier, warmer and have less
vegetation.
The redwood and Pacific Northwestern forests have a climate that is moderated by the Pacific
Ocean and the coastal mountain ranges. In the Olympic Rain Forest in Washington, for example,
the temperature is always above freezing in winter and is seldom higher than 85˚F (29˚C) in
summer. Up to 145 inches (368 centimeters) of rain fall annually.
In the Mediterranean and parts of California, winters are warm and wet, while summers are hot
and dry. Droughts (extremely dry periods) may be common. In the Mediterranean region, for
example, winter temperatures usually do not fall below freezing.
The climate in the Southern Hemisphere forests varies, depending upon where the forests are
located. In the tropics (the regions around the equator), where the forests are at higher elevations,
clouds of mist may blanket them creating cool and damp conditions. In more temperate regions,
such as in the mountains of Chile, conditions are drier and colder.
(adapted from UXL Encyclopaedia of Biomes: Volume I, by Marlene Weigel)

Task 3
THE NEW MUSIC
The new music was built out of materials already in existence: blues, rock’n’roll, folk music. But
although the forms remained, something wholly new and original was made out of these older
elements - more original, perhaps, than even the new musicians themselves yet realize. The
transformation took place in 1966-7. Up to that time, the blues had been an essentially black
medium. Rock’n’roll, a blues derivative, was rhythmic, raunchy, teen-age dance music. Folk
music, old and modern, was popular among college students. The three forms remained musically
and culturally distinct, and even as late as 1965, none of them were expressing any radically new
states of consciousness. Blues expressed black soul; rock, as made famous by Elvis Presley, was
the beat of youthful sensuality; and folk music, with such singers as Joan Baez, expressed anti-war
sentiments as well as the universal themes of love and disillusionment.
In 1966-7 there was a spontaneous transformation. In the United States, it originated with youthful
rock groups playing in San Francisco. In England, it was led by the Beatles, who were already
established as an extremely fine and highly individual rock group. What happened, as well as it
can be put into words, was this. First, the separate musical traditions were brought together. Bob
Dylan and the Jefferson Airplane played folk rock, folk ideas with a rock beat. White rock groups
began experimenting with the blues. Of course, white musicians had always played the blues, but
essentially as imitators of the Negro style; now it began to be the white bands’ own music. And all
of the groups moved towards a broader eclecticism and synthesis. They freely took over elements
from Indian ragas, from jazz, from American country music, and as time went on from even more
diverse sources (one group seems recently to have been trying out Gregorian chants). What
developed was a protean music, capable fan almost limitless range of expression.
The second thing that happened was that all the musical groups began using the full range of
electric instruments and the technology of electronic amplifiers. The twangy electric guitar was an
old country-western standby, but the new electronic effects were altogether different - so different
that a new listener in 1967 might well feel that there had never been any sounds like that in the
world before. The high, piercing, unearthly sounds of the guitar seemed to come from other realms.
Electronics did, in fact, make possible sounds that no instrument up to that time could produce.
And in studio recordings, multiple tracking, feedback and other devices made possible effects that
not even an electronic band could produce live.
Electronic amplification also made possible a fantastic increase in volume, the music becoming as
loud and penetrating as the human ear could stand, and thereby achieving a ‘total’ effect, so that
instead fan audience of passive listeners, there were now audiences of total participants, feeling
the music in all of their senses and all of their bones.

Third, the music becomes a multi-media experience; a part of a total environment. In the Bay Area
ballrooms, the Fillmore, the Avalon, or Pauley Ballroom at the University of California, the walls
were covered with fantastic changing patterns of light, the beginning of the new art of the light
show.
And the audience did not sit, it danced. With records at home, listeners imitated these lighting
effects as best they could, and heightened the whole experience by using drugs. Often music was
played out of doors, where nature - the sea or tall redwoods - provided the environment.
(source: http://www.uefap.net/exercises/writing/report/music.htm)

b. Narrative writing – writing narrative essays of two to three paragraphs

WRITING NARRATIVE ESSAYS – I
NUMBER OF SESSIONS: 3
Session 1
Do you remember the last time someone told you a story? Or when you told someone a story? Did
you enjoy the experience? What kinds of stories did you hear? What kinds of stories did you tell
others?
Telling stories about ourselves and others, whether they are real stories or imagined ones, is
something almost all of us like. There is something in people of all ages that enjoys a good
narration.
‘Narrative Essays’ refers to essays that tell a story. By ‘story’ we do not always mean an imaginary
one. We can narrate something that happened to us as a story. For example, if I had an interesting
experience on my way to college today, I will narrate it to my friends or I can write it down as an
interesting narrative essay.

Read the following narrative essay and consider the questions that follow.
My knees were shaking, my heart was beating fast, and I had butterflies in my stomach. I had never
given a presentation in front of a whole class. Why had the teacher made it the final term project?
How well I remember that day three weeks ago when she had told us about it!

"For your final term project, you will all do some research on some aspect related to plants and
make a presentation on it. The presentations should be unique and original. "
We had all groaned and tried to talk our teacher out of this. But she had just stood there smiling.
“If you don’t try it,” she had insisted, “you will never know if you can do it or not.”
I had tried my best since that day to overcome my fear. I have always been afraid of speaking in
front of people. If there were too many guests at home, I would make some excuse or the other to
avoid speaking to them. How on earth was I going to make a presentation in front of the whole
class?
I had tried to make myself feel better by finding a topic as interesting as possible about plants. I
finally chose plant communication. The topic was new to me—I had never thought plants could
communicate in any way. So I thought it would be interesting enough to hold the class’s attention
even if I got cold feet and couldn’t talk well.
But now that I had to talk in front of the class, I began to sweat. I was sure I would forget what I
had to say. I was even ready to tell my teacher that I had fever and avoid giving the presentation.
Listening to the others make their presentations before me only made me feel worse. Their topics
seemed so much better.
At that moment I glanced at the water plant I had brought with me in a bottle to show during my
presentation. The leaves were bright green and the flowers a beautiful shade of purple. Something
about the plant suddenly gave me courage.
So when the teacher called out my name, I went up feeling much more confident than I had in the
past three weeks. “This plant,” I began, “just told me not to be scared. It did not use English to
speak to me, but it used a language I understand.” Every head in the class looked up, interested. I
had got their attention.
That first presentation I made in front of my class not only helped me overcome my stage fright
and gave me more confidence; it also made me realise that we can find inspiration in places we
might never have thought of.

1. Why do you think the essay was written?

2. Who is the narrator?
3. What do you think is the function of the first paragraph of the essay?
4. Who are the characters you meet in the essay? What do you know about
them?
5. Where does the incident take place?
6. What do you think is the function of the last paragraph of the
essay?
 As you would have noticed, the essay has a purpose. It was written not only
to narrate an event but also because the incident was important in some way. The
last paragraph of the essay tells us that the narrator learnt an important lesson from
the incident.
It is not always necessary that we should learn some lesson from an incident
we write about; we can write about an incident that has affected us deeply, perhaps
because it was very funny or scary or surprising. In any case, the central incident
in a narrative essay has to have some significance for the narrator.

TASK 1
Think of an incident that happened to you that
(a) surprised you the most
(b) scared you the most
(c) left you very happy
(d) left you very confused
(e) taught you a valuable lesson

The essay given above is narrated by the person to whom the incident happened.
This is called first person narration.
Narrative essays are almost always written from the first person point of view.If
you use the third person point of view—he/ she/ they etc.—the essayreads like a
short story and therefore becomes more a piece of creative writing than a narrative
essay. Narrative essays are essays in which you narrate an incident that happened
to you and that is important for you.
You would also have noticed that the first paragraph of the essay creates the
atmosphere. Look at the phrases used—shaking knees, heart beating fast and the
idiom ‘butterflies in my stomach’ (this idiom means being scared; you will learn
about idioms in another lesson).

TASK 2
Write down words to describe the following atmospheres. The first one isdone for
you.
 1. Scary
Spooky
Dark
Gloomy
eerie

2. Happy

3. Confused

4. Surprise

This is just one way of starting an essay. There are other ways in which you can
start essays.
(a) You can begin by telling the readers the lesson you learnt from the
incident. In the essay you just read, this comes in the last paragraph, but
you can also begin with it. The essay could alsohave begun like this:
It was when I gave my very first class presentation that I learnt
that inspiration can come from any place. The presentation also gave
me the self-confidence I needed so badly.
(b) You could also begin an essay by asking a question: Would
you ever have thought that a plant could instil self-
confidence in anyone?

Even though the incident given above is narrated in the first person,there
is at least one other person involved: the teacher. What do we know about the
teacher?
We know that the teacher is a woman and that she can be very persuasive. However,
she does not appear to be unkind--she does not scold the children for asking her to change
her mind. She only encourages them smilingly. We hear her speak, but we are not told
anything about how she looks or how her voice sounded. Adding these details can bring
the teacher to life and make the essay more interesting. For example, instead of
‘We had all groaned and tried to talk our teacher out of this. But she had just
stood there smiling. “If you don’t try it,” she had insisted, “you will never know if
you can do it or not.”
we can write:
‘We had all groaned and tried to talk our teacher out of this. But she had just
stood there smilinggently, her short hair falling over her forehead. “If you don’t try
it,” she insisted in a sweet voice, “you will never know if you can do it or not.”
Both dialogue and description are important in a narrative essay. They add details
and make it easier for the reader to imagine the events being described.

TASK 3
In the essay given above, you can add a bit of description to the plant.
Go ahead and try it. What plant was it? What kind of container was it kept in?

It is obvious that the incident narrated is taking place in a classroom. But the essay itself
does not give us any idea of how the classroom looks or feels. The classroom is the
setting for the narrative essay. Adding details to the setting, like adding details to the
characters, makes the essay more interesting.

TASK 4
Include some details about the classroom in the essay above

___________________________________________________________________________

Session 2
Writing Narrative Essays – II
Since a narrative essay revolves around an incident, it is very important to use the correct verbs
and adverbs in them. As you already know, verbs are action words and adverbs qualify verbs.
Adding adverbs to verbs is like adding adjectives to nouns—they give more information and bring
the incident to life. For example, in the essay given in Session 1 instead of saying: “So when the
teacher called out my name, I went up feeling much more confident than I had in the past three
weeks”, we can say: “When I heard my name being called, I walked to the front of the class with
firm steps”; ‘with firm steps’ indicates confidence

TASK 1
Add relevant adjectives to the following verbs. The first one is done for you.
1.Walk
slowly
fast (remember: not fastly)

jauntily
hesitatingly
with a spring to my step (an idiom meaning happily)
happily
2.Sit

______________
______________
______________
______________
3. Think

_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
4. Sleep
_____________

______________
______________
_______________
5. Wait
__________________
__________________
__________________

___________________

A very important aspect we need to remember when writing a narrative essay is the tense we are
using. Most often, narrative essays are written in the past tense. This is natural, because we usually
write about an incident only after it has happened. But we can use different forms of past tense.
You have already studied the simple, continuous and perfect forms of all tenses.
Writing Narrative Essays - III TASK 1
Go back to the sample essay given in Session 1 and identify what forms of the past tenses are used
and when they are used. For example, the first sentence is written in simple past tense. But when
the narrator remembers the time when the teacher had given the task, past perfect tense is used.
When you write your narrative essay, you can use this as a guide to choose what form of past tense
to use.
TASK 2
Go back to Task 1 in Session 1 and pick any two of the incidents you had identified. You will now
write a narrative essay based on these.

Write down a list of people involved in each of these incidents. Remember you need to write a
short essay. So make sure you don’t have more than three or four people, including yourself, in
your essay. Once you have identified the people, write down brief descriptions for each one of
them.

INCIDENT 1

Person 1 Description
 Person 2

Person 3

Person 4

INCIDENT 2

Person 1 Description
 Person 2

Person 3

Person 4

TASK 3
Write the opening paragraph of two narrative essays based on the two incidents you have picked.
Each opening paragraph needs to be of a different kind (we have discussed the kinds of opening
paragraphs in Session 1) and must have only two to three sentences.

Session 3
Go back to the sample narrative essay given in Session 1 and notice how the writer has developed
the essay. You will observe that the essay begins in the classroom, with a description of the
narrator’s emotions in the first paragraph. After this, the writer gives some background about the
incident as well as her/ his sense of fear; so the essay goes backward in time. Once that is done,
the essay returns to the classroom where it began.
There are at least two ways in which you can develop a narrative essay. You can
(a) Narrate the events in the order in which they happened: In this case, the essay
given in session 1 will begin with the teacher announcing the project
(b) Narrate an event as a flashback. The essay could have been written when the
narrator became a teacher and remembered the first time s/he gave a class
presentation
It is important that for any kind of organisation, you use the correct form of the verbs.
TASK 1

Develop the two first paragraphs you wrote in Session 2 into narrative essays. Each essay should
not exceed 500 word

3.PROSE

Prospects of Democracy in India – Dr. B. R. Ambedkar

The subject assigned to me is, “What are the prospects of democracy in India?” Most Indians speak
with great pride as though their country was already a democracy. The foreigners also, when they
sit at a dinner table to do diplomatic honor to India, speak of the Great Indian Prime Minister and
the Great Indian Democracy.
From this, it is held without waiting to argue that where there is a Republic, there must be a
democracy. It is also supposed that where there is Parliament which is elected by the people on
adult suffrage and the laws are made by the People’s Representatives in Parliament elected after
few years, there is the democracy. In other words, democracy is understood to be a political
instrument and where this political instrument exists, there is a democracy.

Is there democracy in India or is there no democracy in India? What is the truth? No positive
answer can be given unless the confusion caused by equating democracy with Republic and by
equating democracy with Parliamentary Government is removed.
Democracy is quite different from a Republic as well as from the Parliamentary Government. The
roots of democracy lie not in the form of Government, Parliamentary or otherwise. A democracy
is more than a form of Government. It is primarily a mode of associated living. The roots of
Democracy are to be searched in the social relationship, in terms of associated life between the
people who form a society.
What does the word ‘Society’ cannot? To put it briefly when we speak of ‘Society,’ we conceive
of it as one by its very nature. The qualities which accompany this unity are a praiseworthy
community of purpose and desire for welfare, loyalty to public ends and mutuality of sympathy
and co-operation.
Are these ideals to be found in Indian Society? Indian Society does not consist of individuals. It
consists of an innumerable collection of castes which are exclusive in their life and have no
common experience to share and have no bond of sympathy. Given this fact, it is not necessary to
argue the point. The existence of the Caste System is a standing denial of the existence of those
ideals of society and therefore of democracy.
Indian Society is so embedded in the Caste System that everything is organized on the basis of
caste. Enter Indian Society and you can see caste in its glaring form. An Indian cannot eat or marry
with an Indian simply because he or she does not belong to his or her caste. An Indian cannot touch
an Indian because he or she does not belong to his or her caste. Go and enter politics and you can
see caste reflected therein. How does an Indian vote in an election? He votes for a candidate who
belongs to his own caste and no other. Even the Indian Congress exploits the Caste system for
election purpose as no other political party in Indian does. Examine the lists of its candidates in
relation to the social composition of the constituencies and it will be found that the candidate
belongs to the caste which is the largest one in that constituency. The Congress, as a matter of fact,
is upholding the Caste System against which it is outworldly raising an outcry against the existence
of caste.
Go into the field of industry. What will you find? You will find that all the topmost men drawing
the highest salary belong to the caste of the particular industrialist who owns the industry. The rest
hang on for life on the lowest rungs of the ladder on a pittance. Go into the field of commerce and
you will see the same picture. The whole commercial house is one camp of one caste, with no
entry board on the door for others.
Go into the field of charity. With one or two exceptions all charity in India is communal. If a Parsi
dies, he leaves his money for Parsis. If a Jain dies, he leaves his money for Jains. If a Marwadi
dies, he leaves his money for Marwadis. If a Brahmin dies, he leaves his money for Brahmins.
Thus, there is no room for the downtrodden and the outcastes in politics, in industry, in commerce,
and in education.
There are other special features of the Caste System which have their evil effects and which
militate against Democracy. One such special feature of the Caste System lies in its being
accompanied by what is called ‘Graded Inequality’ Castes is not equal in their status. They are
standing one above another. They are jealous of one another. It is an ascending scale of hatred and
descending scale of contempt. This feature of the Caste system has most pernicious consequences.
It destroys willing and helpful co-operation.
Caste and class differ in the fact that in the Class System there is no complete isolation as there is
in the Caste System. This is the second evil effect in the Caste System accompanied by inequality.
This manifests itself in the fact that the stimulus and response between two castes is only one-
sided. The higher caste act in one recognised way and the lower caste must respond in one
established way. It means that when there is no equitable opportunity to receive the stimulus from
and to return the response from different caste, the result is that the influences which educate some
into masters, educate others into slaves. The experience of each party loses its meaning when the
free interchange of varying modes of life experience is arrested. It results into a separation of
society, into a privileged and a subject class. Such a separation prevents social endosmosis.

There is a third characteristic of the Caste System which depicts the evils thereof which cuts at the
very roots of democracy. It is that one caste is bound to one occupation. Society is no doubt stably
organized when each individual is doing that for which he has aptitude by nature in such a way as
to be useful to others; and that it is the business of society to discover these aptitudes and
progressively to train them for social use. But there is in a man an indefinite plurality of capacities
and activities which may characterize an individual. A society to be democratic should open a way
to use all the capacities of the individual. Stratification is stunting of the growth of the individual
and deliberate stunting is a deliberate denial of democracy.

How to put an end to the Caste System? The first obstacle lies in the system of graded inequality
which is the soul of the Caste System. Where people are divided into two classes, higher and lower,
it is easier for the lower to combine to fight the higher, for there is no single lower class. The class
consists of lower and lowerer. The lower cannot combine with the lowerer. For the lower is afraid
that if he succeeds in raising the lowerer, he may well himself lose the high position given to him
and his caste.

The second obstacle is that, the Indians Society is disabled by unity in action by not being able to
know what is its common good. Plato has said that the organization of society depends ultimately
upon knowledge of the end of existence. If we do not know its end, if we do not know its good,
we shall be at the mercy of accident and caprice. Unless we know the good of the end, we have no
criterion for rationally deciding what the possibilities are which we should promote. Question is,
can the Indian Society in its caste-bound state achieve what is the ultimate question? We come
upon the most insuperable obstacle that such knowledge is not possible save in a just and
harmonious social order. Can there be a harmonious? Social Order under the Caste System?
Everywhere the mind of the Indians is distracted and misled by false valuations and false
perspectives. A disorganized and factional society sets up a number of different models and
standard. Under such conditions, it is impossible for individual Indian to reach the consistency of
mind on the question of caste.

Can education destroy caste? The answer is ‘Yes’ as well as ‘No’. If education is given as it is
today, education can have no effect on caste. It will remain as it will be. The glaring example of it
is the Brahmin Caste. Cent percent of it is educated, nay; the majority of it is highly educated. Yet
not one Brahmin has shown himself to be against caste. Infact an educated person belonging to the
higher caste is more interested after his education to retain the Caste System than when he was not
educated. For education gives him an additional interest in the retention of the Caste System
namely by opening additional opportunity of getting a bigger job.

From this point of view, education is not helpful as means to dissolve caste. So far is the negative
side of education. But education may be solvent if it is applied to the lower strata of the Indian
Society. It would raise their spirit of rebellion. In their present state of ignorance, they are the
supporters of the Caste System. Once their eyes are opened they will be ready to fight the Caste
System.

The fault of the present policy is that through education is being given on a larger scale, it is not
given to the right strata of Indian Society. If you give education to those strata of Indian Society
which has a vested interest in maintaining the Caste System for the advantages it gives them, then
the Caste System will be strengthened. On the other hand, if you give education to the lowest strata
of Indian Society which is interested in blowing up the Caste System, the Caste System will be
blown up. At the moment the indiscriminate help given to education by the Indian Government an
American Foundation is going to strengthen the Caste System. To make rich richer and poor poorer
is not the way to abolish poverty. The same is true of using education as a means to end the Caste
System. To give education to those who want to keep up the Caste System is not to improve the
prospect of Democracy in India but to put our Democracy in India in greater jeopardy.

Sd/Dr. B. R.Ambedkar
26, Alipur Road,
New Delhi

Dated: 20th May 1956

About the Author

Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar (1891-1956) also known as Babasahab, was born in Ambavade in the
Ratnagiri district of modern day Maharashtra. An Indian nationalist, jurist, Dalit leader and a
Buddhist revivalist, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, was among the first untouchables to obtain a college
education in India. He even travelled about from where he obtained his Doctorate degree. Dr.
Ambedkar was a prolific writer and commentator. He was a reputed jurist and scholar. He was one
of the architects of the Indian Constitution. In fact he was the Chairman of the Constitution
Drafting Committee. Dr.Ambedkar was also independent India’s first Law minister
Glossary
Prospects: possibilities
Assigned: given
Cannote: suggest or imply
Embedded: fix firmly
Glaring: obvious

Pittance: small amount of money

Militate: to revolt
Pernicious: dangerous or harmful
Stimulus: anything that encourage something to happen
Rebellion: a struggle to remove a leader or government by force
Stratification: division
Stunting: limiting
Criterion: standard
Insuperable: impossible to solve or deal effectively
Harmonious: friendly and peaceful

Strata: levels
Jeopardy: likely to be damaged or destroyed

Comprehension
I. Answer the following questions in a word or a sentence:

1.Is India a democratic country?

2. Does Dr Ambedkar express doubts about India’s democratic system?
3. Dr Ambedkar says that there is confusion about the state of democracy in India? Why does he
say so?
4.According to Dr Ambedkar democracy is a mode of_________________.
5. Where can one find the roots of democracy?

6.Do we find in the word “society” a sense of unity or a sense of diversity?

7.How are class and caste different?
8.What are the three evils of the caste system mentioned by Dr Ambedkar in Prospects of
Democracy in India?
9.How can education help to destroy the caste system?
10.How can education improve the prospects of democracy in India?

II. Answer the following questions in about three to five lines each:
1. What relationship does Dr. Ambedkar draw between Republic, Parliamentary Government and
Democracy?
2.What, according to Dr.Ambedkar, are the ideals of a society?
3.In what area is the caste system most prevalent, according to Dr. Ambedkar?

4.How does “graded inequality” affect the caste system?

5.How can we overcome being “bound to one occupation” as per the caste?
6.What, according to Dr. Ambedkar, are the obstacles to end the caste system?

III.Answer the following questions in about ten to twelve lines each:

1.What, according to Dr. Ambedkar, is the state of democracy in India?

2.According to Dr. Ambedkar, what is the impact of the caste system on India’s democracy?
3.What measures does Dr. Ambedkar suggest to overcome the evils of the caste system?

4.POETRY

OZYMANDIUS BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLY

I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,

Half sunk, a shatter’d visage lies, whose frown

And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp’s on these lifeless things,
The Hand that mock’d them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;

Look on my words, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare.
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Known for his lyrical and long-form verse, Percy Bysshe Shelley is one of the most highly
regarded English Romantic poets of the 19th century. His works include The Masque of Anarchy
and Queen Mab. He was born in Broadbridge Heath, England, on August 4, 1792. Shelley is one
of the epic poets of the 19th century, and is best known for his classic anthology verse works such
as Ode to the West Wind and The Masque of Anarchy. He is also well known for his long-form
poetry, including Queen Mab and Alastor. He went on many adventures with his second wife,
Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. He drowned in a sudden storm while sailing in Italy in
1822.

GLOSSARY

Trunkless: you only have legs and you have no body

Vast: big

Boundless: infinite or vast

Visage: the face, usually with reference to shape, features, expression, etc.

Colossal: extraordinarily great in size, extent, or degree; gigantic; huge

Mocked: to mimic; as in sport or derision

Pedestal: an architectural support of a column, statue, vase, or the like

Sculptor: a person who practices the art of sculpture

Sneer: to speak or write in a manner expressive of derision or scorn

Decay: to rot

Mighty: of great size; huge: a mighty oak

COMPREHENSION

I.PARAGRAPH QUESTIONS:

1.What do we learn of Ozymandias from the poem?

2.With what words has the poet mapped the desert?

3. What is his point in putting the ruins in the desert?

4. Why is Egypt called an ‘antique’ land?

5.Whose hand mocked the passions? What are those passions? And How?

6.Was the wreck colossal or the status that was? Or both? Explain.

7. How do the last two lines move us and why?

II.ESSAY QUESTION:

1.Explain this poem into a story.

2.Write an essay on human vanity and waste.

3.Does art mock life? Give reasons for your answer.

 5. GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT
TENSE

• PRESENT
• PAST
• FUTURE

SIMPLE TENSES
Most often when your assignment/test paper is corrected, you will notice that your teacher
circles/underlines mistakes in relation to tense. Mastery of tense will help you to express, explain or
narrate without making mistakes.
Study this passage to understand the use of the simple present in describing facts:
Of all the birds, the eagle is the only one which loves the storm. The eagles get excited when clouds
gather. The eagle uses the wings of the storm to rise and is pushed up higher. How does it do this?
The eagle instinctively finds the wing of the storm: once that happens, the eagle stops flapping and
uses the pressure of the raging storm to soar and glide. It can actually rest its wings now. During
such storms, all other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. We can use the storms of
our lives (obstacles, trouble, etc) to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them
profitably.
Note the relationship between the subject and the verb Example: The Eagle......loves,
clouds.......gather, the eagle finds)(You can complete the above list)

Exercise 1
The Simple Present is used to state facts such as
• The sun rises in the east
• The earth revolves around the sun
Make a few sentences stating well known facts Exercise 2
Describe the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly (Use Simple Present Tense)
OR
Describe the process by which a tadpole becomes a frog (Use Simple Present Tense)
The Simple Present is also used to describe habitual actions/fixed procedures

Exercise 3
Can you describe your daily routine?
Exercise 4

Give a recipe/ describe the preparation of a dish. For example:

It is easy to prepare a cup of tea. To prepare one cup of tea, take one cup of water and bring it to a boil. Add
½ a teaspoon of tea leaf. Let it boil for a few seconds and turn off the flame. Strain the tea. Add hot milk and
sugar according to your requirement.
In a similar fashion you can explain how to conduct an experiment.
 SIMPLE PAST
Here is yet another inspiring story! You will notice that the simple past and the past continuous tense are
used in this passage.

Hang in There
NicoloPaganini was a well-known and gifted nineteenth century violinist. He was also well known as a great
showman with a quick sense of humour. His most memorable concert was in Italy with a full orchestra. He
was performing before a packed house and his technique was incredible, his tone was fantastic, and his
audience dearly loved him. Toward the end of his concert, Paganini was astounding his audience with an
unbelievable composition when suddenly one string on his violin snapped and hung limply from his
instrument. Paganini frowned briefly, shook his head, and continued to play, improvising beautifully.
Then to everyone's surprise, a second string broke and shortly thereafter, a third. Almost like a slapstick
comedy, Paganini stood there with three strings dangling from his Stradivarius. But instead of leaving the
stage, Paganini stood his ground and calmly completed the difficult number on the one remaining string.
Paganini’s performance is an illustration of not giving up and “hanging in there”.
(Source of Paganini story: https://www.pantagraph.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/)

The Simple Past is used to express any action completed in a specific time in the past

Exercise 1
Do you have an unforgettable experience like Paganini’s? Narrate your experience.

FUTURE TENSE
Read this excerpt from the famous speech of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former
slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice,
sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!

The Future Tense is used for actions that will take place in the future. Make a note of what Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr says about the future. He uses “will” in talking about the future
The use of “will” and “shall”
“Shall” is used to express certainty/determination
E.g. 1. If you do not save me, I shall drown
2. I shall be twenty next year (“I will be twenty next year” is also correct)

In relation to the Future Tense “shall” is used only with the first person, i.e. I/We shall.

Activity 1
Sing this familiar song We shall overcome (2)
We shall overcome some day
Oh deep in my heart I do believe
We shall overcome some day.

Activity 2
Do you have a dream? Speak about your dream.

PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

A) Make suitable sentences using the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE, the first one has been done for
you.

1. Bhavya’ shair was dirty. Now it’s clean. (wash)

Answer: Bhavya has washed her hair.

2. Murugan was 80 kg. Now he’s 70. (lose weight)

Answer: ……………………………………………..

3. Chetan was injured yesterday. Now he can’t walk; his leg is in plaster. (break)
Answer: ………………………………………………………………………

4. Mary Anne is looking for her little puppy. (lose)

Answer: ……………………………………………………
 5. Megala is on holiday in Goa. (go)
Answer: ………………………………………………………..

6. Mr.Hirachand was in Shimla last week. He’s back in Chennai now. (be)
Answer: ……………………… …………………………………………….

7. Look! Our appa’s bag is carrying a bag full of mangoes. (buy)

Answer:……………………………………….

8. I can’t eat anything now. (eat too much)

Answer: ………………………………………………….

9. Amma is very tired. (clean / house)

Answer: …………………………………………………

10. Sheldon and Shreya need a holiday. (work / hard / this year)
Answer: ……………………………………………

B) Use the Present Perfect tense:

In the example given below a new sentence (in the present perfect tense) is created with the inclusion of
“because”. Follow this pattern to complete the given exercise.

Example:
She can’t go to the party. (catch a cold)
She can’t go to the party because she has caught a cold.

1. He can’t move around. (hurt / leg)

………………………………………………………………………………

2. My son can’t get into the house. (lose / key)

………………………………………………………………………………………………
 3. I know this story very well. (read the book)
………………………………………………………………………………………………

4. I can’t post the letter. (not put / stamp / on it)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. He can’t drive immediately. (eat too much)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. They can’t go to their village. (not save / money)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

7. I know her. (meet him before)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

8. We don’t know how she is. (not hear from him)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. He won’t accept a cigarette. (give up smoking)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

10. She can’t attend the interview. (lost original documents)

………………………………………………………………………………………………

C)Use the Present Perfect Tense:

In the example given below a new sentence (in the present perfect tense) is created as a response to an
imperative (Bring the newspaperin, please)by using the phrase “have already.” Complete the exercise by
providing responses to the injunctions/requests.

Example: Bring the newspaper in, please Response: I have already brought it in.
1.You must find the files soon
Response:………………………………………………………..
2.Turn the TV down, please.

Response: …………………………………………………………
3.Get the guest room ready.
Response: ………………………………………………………..
4.Could you pick up some groceries on the way back?
Response:………………………………………………………….
5.Why don’t you see an ophthalmologist?
Response ………………………………………………………...
6.You are suffering with a back ache. I think you should stop driving.

Response: ……………………………………………………………………………………...
7.Why don’t you clean the backyard?
Response: ………………………………………………………..
8.Clean your shoes, will you?
Response: ………………………………………………………..
9.We have guests today. Shall we make biriyani?
Response:……………………………………………………………
10.We should invite Ancy to the party.
Response: …………………………………………………………..

D) Follow the example and do the same using YET:

Example: She has been in the shop. (buy anything) - She has been in the shop but she hasn’t bought
anything YET.
1.I’ve written to them three times. (not reply)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

2.I’ve asked you again and again. (not do it)

……………………………………………………………………………………………...
3.I lent him one thousand rupees last month. (not give it back)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
4.He lost his wallet three days ago. (not find it)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...

5.He borrowed my book last month. (not give it back)

……………………………………………………………………………………………...
6.She went to Los Angeles six months ago. (not return it)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
7.She gave me twenty rupees a week ago. (not return it)

……………………………………………………………………………………………...
8.I finished reading my library books a long time ago. (not change them)
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
9.She went to the bus-stop half an hour ago. (the bus / not come)

……………………………………………………………………………………………...
10.He’s still studying that lesson. (not learn it)
……………………………………………………………………………………

E)Fill in the blanks with ALREADY or YET:

1.He hasn’t called us ……………………………….

2.They have ………………………………… sent the letter.
3.Samson has ……………………………… bought the tickets for the cricket match.
4.We have ……………………………….. been to Trichy three times.
5.You haven’t visited Tokyo ………………………………… .

6.Has Rahim bought a new car………………………..?

7.The train has …………………left.
8. Has she done it …………………………….. ? No, not …………………………. .
9.A: Haven’t they arrived ………………………………. ? B: Oh, yes. They have arrived.
10.Hurry up! The programme has started.

11.Be careful! They have ………………………………… painted the door.

12.Haven’t you seen the movie…………………………?

F)Follow the example and do the same using JUST: Example: he / go out - What has he JUST done? -
He has JUST gone out.
1,She / returned from the USA

………………………………………………………………………………………………
2,they / watch the news
………………………………………………………………………………………………
3.I / finish preparing dinner
………………………………………………………………………………………………

4.he / put on the coat

………………………………………………………………………………………………
5.he / catch a fish
………………………………………………………………………………………………
6.he / call a cab

………………………………………………………………………………………………
7.you / write a letter
………………………………………………………………………………………

G)Put the verbs in the correct tense. Use the SIMPLE PAST or the PRESENT PERFECT:
1. ……………………….. Ria………………………. (finish) her work yet?
2. They ……………………………………. (just / go) out.
3. …………………… you …………………………. (send) the letters yet?
4. They ………………………………………. (not / see) the film yet.
5. The plane ……………………………………………… (just / arrive).

6. ………………………. you ……………………………. (ever / be) in a recording studio?

7.I ………………………………………. (lose) my purse. I can’t find it anywhere.
8.My handbag isn’t here. Somebody …………………………………………….
(take) it.

H)Rewrite the following sentences twice, using SINCE and FOR:

Example: I haven’t seen you. (Christmas / 3 days)
a)I haven’t seen you SINCE Deepavalli.
b)I haven’t seen you FOR 3 days.
1,We’ve been here. (an hour / 4 o’clock)
a) …………………………………………………………………………

b) …………………………………………………………………………
2.She hasn’t spoken to me. (2 weeks / last / last week)
a) …………………………………………………………………………
b) …………………………………………………………………………
3.They’ve lived in this street. (1970 / a long time)

a) …………………………………………………………………………
b) …………………………………………………………………………
4.I haven’t had time to do it. (last Monday / a few days)
a) …………………………………………………………………………

b) …………………………………………………………………………
5.We haven’t bought a new one. (ages / many years)
a) …………………………………………………………………………
b) …………………………………………………………

UNIT 5
1. LISTENING AND SPEAKING
 GROUP DISCUSSION
Where it begins:

Group Discussion need not be daunting. Just go back to the times when yousat around
the table in a restaurant and discussed matters of interest with your friends. Even at
home, sitting with family and sharing a meal could also be a time for interesting
discussions.

(Picture: https://www.needpix.com/photo/598828/classroom-cooperative- learning-

discussion-group-work-school-students-teaching)
Formal Discussions:

As you get ready for professional life, you should be able to participate in a discussion.
Discussion is the lifeline of creative and progressive organisations. Being creative and
innovative is important. But equally important is your ability to communicate your
ideas in a group without feeling inhibited or without being too aggressive and
offending others in the group. Participation in group discussion is indeed a skill. While
arguments due to disagreements might be accepted and forgiven by friends and family,
it is totally unacceptable in formal discussion.
What is Group Discussion?

Group Discussion (GD) is a methodology or in a simple language it may be called an

interview process or a group activity. It is used as one of the best tools to select
prospective candidates for a job or seat in an institute of higher learning.
How is a GD conducted?

In this methodology, a group of candidates is given a topic or a situation, given a few

minutes to think about the same, and then asked to discuss thetopic among themselves
for 15-20 minutes. It is a very useful tool to screena candidate’s potential and skills.
How does GD work in terms of assessment?

Group discussion is handy because the evaluation is on a comparative basis. In a one-

to-one interview or pen-to-paper test, this kind of comparative evaluation is not so
easy. GD as a methodology is effective in gauging whether the candidate has the
required personality traits andskills. GD evaluation is done by the subject experts based
on the discussions. At the end of the discussion, a report is prepared based on the
observations of the experts.
Some of the personality traits the GD is trying to gauge may include:
*Communication skills
*Interpersonal Skills
 *Leadership Skills
*Motivation
*Team-BuildingSkills
*Analytical/LogicalSkills
*Reasoningability
*Thinking out of the box
*Initiative
*Assertiveness
*Flexibility
*Creativity
*Ability to think on one’sfeet
Why do organizations prefer GD as a method of testing and evaluation?

After putting a candidate through a session where the candidate’s technical knowledge
and conceptual skill is tested, institutesput the candidate through the next level of
testing, which is the GD.The objective is to get to know thecandidate as a person and
gauge how well s/he will fit in their institute, because, whatever a person’s technical
skill might be, s/he has to be a teamplayer: GD evaluates how you can function as a
part of a team. As a manager or as a member of an organization you will always be
working in teams. Therefore how you interact in a team becomes an important criterion
for your selection. Managers have to work in a team and get best results out of
teamwork. That is the reason why management institutes include GD as acomponent
of the selection procedure.
To summarise, companies conduct group discussion after the written test to assess your
*Interactive Skills (how good you are at communication with other people)
 *Behaviour (how open-minded are you in accepting views contrary to yourown)
*Participation (i.e. if you are an active speaker and fully involved in thediscussion)
*Contribution (i.e. whether you put the group objective above your own)
*VerbalCommunication (fluency and command of the language)
*Non-verbalbehaviour (your body language)
*Confirmationtonorms (whether you will abide by the rules of the
organisation)
*Decision-makingability
* Cooperation
Activity:

The class teacher may divide the students into groups and choose some of the
following topics for discussion:
1. Safety of industrial and construction workers

2. Making healthcare available to all

3. Using renewable energy to reduce pollution

4. Promoting the fitness culture

5. Consumer awareness

6. Wasteful expenditure at weddings

7. Nature cures versus allopathy

8. Child labour
9. Women Empowerment
10. Global Warming
2. READING AND WRITING
a.READING DIAGRAMMATIC INFORMATION: INTERPRETINGCHARTS,
GRAPHS AND MAPS

AIM: By the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to interpretcharts, graphs
and maps. They will also be able to use appropriatevocabulary to describe them.

Pre Task
Let us now discuss in the class about, the kinds of data that can be represented by graphs
and charts and further, the different kinds of charts and graphs (bar graphs, pie-charts
etc.) Let us brainstorm to arrive at the words commonly used while talking about such
data. It is possible that thesewords in the textbox are on your classroom board as well.

Task 1
Given below are five graphs depicting the run rate of the Indian cricket team in
each match in a tournament. Match the graphs withthe sentences that best
describe them.
 a b

d
c

1. The runrate fluctuated through the match.

2. The run rate was very low in the beginning but it rose sharply and then remained steady.
3. They began very badly, then improved marginally and suddenly showed tremendous
improvement.
4. The run rate was a bit poor in the first few overs, then it showed a sharp rise before falling.
5. They began with a high run rate but soon the run rate showed a sharp fall and remained
bad for a few overs. After this, it rose sharply.

Once you have worked out the depiction of the ‘run-rate’, please turn yourattention to Task 2

Task 2

Given below is a pie-chart depicting the percentage of people watching the

various categories of TV channels in Chennai. Read thepie-chart and answer the
questions.
 1. Which category of channels has the least viewership?

2. Discovery Culture is a new channel that deals with the art, culture andheritage of
different places in the world. What percentage of viewership does the category
it belongs to have?
3. Sirippoli, the Tamil comedy channel, belongs to a category that has
percentage of viewership.
4. Ramya’s grandmother finds it difficult these days to make a trip to Velankanni.
So she prefers to watch the Mass being telecast live on TV. Which category of
channels will she watch? What is the viewershippercentage of that category?

Task 3

Read the graph depicting average rainfall and temperature of a citythrough a year and
answer the questions that follow.
 1. Which month has recorded the highest temperature?

2. Which month has the highest amount of rainfall?

3. The peak monsoon season for this city is from _

to .
4. The driest months of the year are:

5. What is the range of the average temperature?

6. Is the temperature the same all year round? If it is different, howmany

seasons does the location experience?

7. Which monthsare the warmest and which are the coldest?

8. Which months do you think the city will be most uncomfortable to livein and

why?
9. With the rainfall and temperature information, briefly describe theclimate of

the city between May and August.

Pre Task
Let us discuss the different uses to which maps can be put. Now write thesedown on the
blackboard/ notebook. Some of the phrases we use in relationto making a journey are:
‘finding our way,’ gauging distances’ and ‘identifying directions’ ‘finding alternate
routes’, ‘finding specific places’ (such as hotels, petrol bunks etc.). You can also list
the words and phrasesyou have heard while using Google maps. These words should be
listed out,either on the blackboard or your notebook (or both)
 When you use Google maps you will come across Words / phrases such as:

Go straight for 2 km, turn right on Cathedral Road, turn left atSaidapet Signal etc.
Task: 2
Jot down all that you think “Google maps” would tell you if you sought itshelp to
journey to another city (Bangalore/Kanchipuram)

Pre Task
• Let us discuss the various components of a map and put these down on the
blackboard. Legend, scale and directions are a few components.We can also
engage our minds to seek out vocabulary related to positions – words such as
adjacent to, parallel to, opposite to should emerge from this. It is important to
use these phrases correctly. Let us now steer the discussion tothe four directions
(East, West, North and South) and the four intermediate directions (North East,
South West, South East and North West).
• You can also take out your college handbooks and open the page which has
the College map. You can workin pairs, and complete thefollowing activities.

Task 1
Answer the following questions.I.

a. Are there roads adjacent to the College? If so, name them.

b. What is the name of the building to the East of the Main Block?
c. Which is the building in the College farthest from the gate?
d. Which part of the College is closest to the main road?
e. How would you describe the location of the college hostel?
Task 2
Read the following map of India showing the movements of differentwinds over the
country and answer the questions.

1. When does the monsoon usually start in Pakistan?

2. Hyderabad can expect rains to start from
.
3. The city at the southernmost point, as seen in the map, is
.
4. Arrange the following places in the chronological order of the onset ofmonsoon
Varanasi Karachi Hyderabad Trivandrum
5. Name the river that flows between Madras and Hyderabad.
6. The monsoon that brings rains to Calcutta moves in which of the following
directions?
a.Northern b. Eastern c. Western d. Southern

3. PROSE
The Conjurer's Revenge
-Stephen Leacock
“Now, ladies and gentlemen,” said the conjurer, “having shown you that the cloth is absolutely empty, I will
proceed to take from it a bowl of goldfish. Presto!” All around the hall people were saying, “Oh, how wonderful!
How does he do it?” But the Quick Man on the front seat said in a big whisper to the people near him, “He-had-
it-up-his-sleeve.” Then the people nodded brightly at the Quick Man and said, “Oh, of course”; and everybody
whispered round the hall, “He-had-it-up-his-sleeve.” “My next trick,” said the conjurer, “is the famous
Hindostanee rings. You will notice that the rings are apparently separate; at a blow they all join (clang, clang,
clang) ¬Presto!” There was a general buzz of stupefaction till the Quick Man was heard to whisper, “He-must-
have-had-another-lot-up-his-sleeve.” Again everybody nodded and whispered, “The-rings-were-up-his-sleeve.”
The brow of the conjurer was clouded with a gathering frown. “I will now,” he continued, “show you a most
amusing trick by which I am enabled to take any number of eggs from a hat. Will some gentleman kindly lend
me his hat? Ah, thank you ¬Presto!” He extracted seventeen eggs, and for thirty-five seconds the audience began
to think that he was wonderful. Then the Quick Man whispered along the front bench, “He-has-a-hen-up-his-
sleeve,” and all the people whispered it on. “He-has-a-lot-of-hens-up-his-sleeve.”
The egg trick was ruined. It went on like that all through. It transpired from the whispers of the Quick Man that
the conjurer must have concealed up his sleeve, in addition to the rings, hens, and fish, several packs of cards, a
loaf of bread, a doll's cradle, a live guinea-pig, a fifty-cent piece, and a rocking-chair. The reputation of the
conjurer was rapidly sinking below zero. At the close of the evening he rallied for a final effort. “Ladies and
gentlemen,” he said, “I will present to you, in conclusion, the famous Japanese trick recently invented by the
natives of Tipperary. Will you, sir,” he continued turning toward the Quick Man, “will you kindly hand me your
gold watch?” It was passed to him. “Have I your permission to put it into this mortar and pound it to pieces?”
he asked savagely. The Quick Man nodded and smiled. The conjurer threw the watch into the mortar and grasped
a sledge hammer from the table. There was a sound of violent smashing, “He's-slipped-it-up-his-sleeve,”
whispered the Quick Man. “Now, sir,” continued the conjurer, “will you allow me to take your handkerchief and
punch holes in it? Thank you. You see, ladies and gentlemen, there is no deception; the holes are visible to the
eye.” The face of the Quick Man beamed. This time the real mystery of the thing fascinated him. “And now, sir,
will you kindly pass me your silk hat and allow me to dance on it? Thank you.”
The conjurer made a few rapid passes with his feet and exhibited the hat crushed beyond recognition. “And will
you now, sir, take off your celluloid collar and permit me to burn it in the candle? Thank you, sir. And will you
allow me to smash your spectacles for you with my hammer? Thank you.” By this time the features of the Quick
Man were assuming a puzzled expression. “This thing beats me,” he whispered, “I don't see through it a bit.”
There was a great hush upon the audience.
Then the conjurer drew himself up to his full height and, with a withering look at the Quick Man, he concluded:
“Ladies and gentlemen, you will observe that I have, with this gentleman's permission, broken his watch, burnt
his collar, smashed his spectacles, and danced on his hat. If he will give me the further permission to paint green
stripes on his overcoat, or to tie his suspenders in a knot, I shall be delighted to entertain you. If not, the
performance is at an end.” And amid a glorious burst of music from the orchestra the curtain fell, and the
audience dispersed, convinced that there are some tricks, at any rate, that are not done up the conjurer's sleeve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Stephen Butler Leacock (December 1869 – March 1944) was born in England and moved to Canada
when he was six years old. He became a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Though not
as reknowned in modern times, during the early 1900s, Leacock was the most famous humorist writing in the
English language. At one point, it was said that more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than Canada. At
least one source estimates that between 1910 and 1925, Leacock was the most widely read author in the English
speaking world.
His first humorous book, Literary Lapses (1910), collecting his magazine stories and articles, was self-published
with the financial help of a brother. It was such a success that it was quickly followed by more funny
stuff: Nonsense Novels (1911), Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town (1912), Arcadian Adventures With the Idle
Rich (1914), Moonbeams From the Larger Lunacy (1915), Winsome Winnie (1920), My Discovery of
England (1922) and many more. In all he published over forty books, including humour, economics, politics and
biographies of his two favourite authors, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens.Between 1911 and 1925 he was so
well-known as the worlds' greatest humorist that it was said more people had heard of Stephen Leacock than had
heard of Canada. His last book was the unfinished autobiography The Boy I Left Behind Me (1946), published
posthumously.
Leacock's wit and humour were not trifled with easily. A critic wrote, "What is there is, after all, in Professor
Leacock's humour but a rather ingenious mixture of hyperbole and myosis?"Leacock unholstered his famous
wit, took steady aim at the hapless critic and replied:The man was right. How he stumbled on this trade secret I
do not know. But I am willing to admit, since the truth is out, that it has been my custom in preparing an article
of a humorous nature to go down to the cellar and mix up half a gallon of myosis with a pint of hyperbole. If I
want to give the article a decidedly literary character, I find it well to put in about half a pint of paresis.

GLOSSARY:
Conjurer: a person skilled in using supernatural forces, Magician
Whispher: a rumor or report of a personal or sensational nature.
Apparently: on the surface, to all outward appearances.
Stupefaction: the state of being strongly impressed by something unexpected or unusual.
Frown: a twisting of the facial features in disgust or disapproval.
Gathering: crowd, people come together in one place, assembly.
Rallied: to assemble and make ready for action.
Savagely: as in viciously, abusively.
Spectacles: a pair of lenses set in a frame, glass.
Sledge: spear, cutter.
Grasp: seize and hold firmly.
Fascinated: captivate, to attract or delight as if by magic.

COMPREHENSION:
I. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS:
1. The conjurer took _______ out of an empty cloth.
(a) A polar bear
(b) A bowl of goldfish
(c) A Rabbit
(d) A Guinea pig
2. What is a conjurer in The Conjurer’s Revenge?
(a) A magician
(b) An opera singer
(c) A police officer
(d) A doctor
3. Name the final trick of the conjurer.
(a) Japanese trick
(b) Korean trick
(c) Chinese trick
(d) Hindostanee rings
4. How many eggs did the conjurer extract from a hat?
(a) 15
(b) 16
(c) 17
(d) 18
5. What did the conjurer do with the Quick man’s gold watch?
(a) pieces with a hammer
(b)into flower
(c)rabbit
(d)chocolate
II. FILL IN THE BLANKS:
1. The second trick performed by the conjurer was the ________.
2. The last trick was invented by the natives of _________.
3. Presto is the phrase of _________.
4. The Conjurer was entertaining at the expense of the __________.
5. The audience left convinced that all the tricks were not done up conjurer’s __________.

III. Answer the following questions in a word or a sentence:

1. How did the conjurer take his revenge over the quick man?
2. How did the quick man react to it?
3. Why was the conjurer's reputation at stake?
4. What did the quick man whisper when the conjurer extracted seventeen eggs?
5. What is the mood of the audience?
6. Why does he use the word ‘Presto’?
7. At whose expense was the Conjurer entertaining the audience?
8. What was the reaction of the audience?
9. ‘The egg trick was ruined.’ How was it ruined?
10.What is the mood of the conjurer as he introduces his trick?

IV. Answer the following questions in about three to five lines each:
1. What were the first two tricks performed by the conjurer. Was he successful at them?
2.Why did he decide to play such tricks?
3.Why was the Quick Man puzzled by the conjurer’s treatment of his possessions?
4.How did the conjurer end his performance?
5. Through what words did the conjurer conclude in front of the audience?
V. Answer the following question in about ten to twelve lines each:
1. Narrate how the conjurer carries on his performance despite the Quick Man’s constant jibes.

2. Explain the role does Quick Man play in the story? If the Quick Man were not there, how would the story
end?

3. Describe the character of the conjurer in detail.

4. Explain in detail how the conjurer keep up the suspense till the end of the show?

5. Describe in detail about the tricks played by conjurer.

4. POETRY

La Belle Dame sans Merci

John Keats (1819)

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So lone and palely loitering?
The sedge hath wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

So haggard and so woebegone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow

With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,

Full beautiful—a faery’s child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,

And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look’d at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.

I set her on my pacing steed,

And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true.’

She took me to her elfin grot,

And there she wept, and sigh’d full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.

And there she lulled me asleep,

And there I dream’d—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream’d
On the cold hill’s side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,

Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La belle dame sans merci
Hath thee in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloom,

With horrid warning gaping wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,

Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.

Questions:
 1. In which year was the poem composed?
a) 1823 b) 1822 c) 1821 d) 1819

2. Which season is the poem set in?

a) Autumn b) Spring c) Winter d) Summer

3. What kind of poem is “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”?

a) Sonnet b) Ballad c) Epic d) Elegy

4. Who is being addressed at the opening lines of the poem?

a) The Knight b) the Horse c) Nature d) Beauty of the lady

5. Where did the Knight meet the lady?

a) Field b) Meadows c) Pastureland d) Riverside

6. Where did the lady take the knight to?

a) Woods b) Elfin grot c) Farm d) Mountain

Paragraph Questions
1. What are the signs that show us that the knight is suffering?
2. Give a short description of the lady.
3. Write a short note on the dream of the knight.
4. Explain the reason for Knight’s loitering?
5. Why does the last stanza echo the first? What is the effect of that?

Essay Questions
1. Brief about the lily and the rose symbolizes, and how these images foreshadow the poem's events?
2. Describe the tensions between erotic and courtly love in the poem.
3. Critically appreciate the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.”
4. Explain the relationship between the lady and the knight.
5. Critically comment the poet express love in the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci?”

5. GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT: SENTENCE PATTERNS

Basic Sentence Pattern

In English, our sentences usually operate using a similar pattern: subject, verb, then object.
The nice part about this type of structure is that it lets your reader easily know who is
doing the action and what the outcome of the action is.

A subject performs the action in a sentence.

• For instance, in the sentence, “Madhan eats dosa,” Madhan is the subject
because he is the one eating the dosa.

A verb is a word that usually indicates some type of action. There are two basic types of
verbs in English: action verbs and linking verbs. An action verb represents something the
subject of a sentence does, whereas a linking verb connects the subject to a specific state
of being. In other words, a linking verb describes a subject instead of expressing an action.
Linking verbs are also known at state of being verbs, and the most common one in English
is the verb to be.

• If we consider the above sentence, “Madhan eats dosa,” the verb is eats,
which is an action verb because it tells us what Matt does – he eats.
• In this sentence, “Madhan is hungry,” our verb is is, which is a form of to be, a
linking verb. Notice how Madhandoes not do anything in this sentence.
Instead, the verb is describes how Madhanfeels – hungry. Is links Madhanwith
hunger.

An object usually appears after the verb. There are two (2) types of objects in the
English language: direct and indirect.

• A direct object takes or receives the action of the verb. In other words, the
subject of the sentence acts on the direct object.
o The direct object in our sample sentence “Madhan eats dosa” is
pizza. Madhan eats what? dosa.

An indirect object tells us to whom or for whom an action is done. To understand this
concept, we need to come up with a longer sentence.

• Our new sample sentence will be, “Madhan shares the dosa with Nathan.”
In this sentence, our subject is Madhan, our verb
is shares, the direct object is the dosa, and our indirect object

is Nathan. With whom does he share the dosa? He shares it with Nathan.
 So, remember, this is the basic pattern of an English sentence: SUBJECT
+ VERB + OBJECT.

Six Basic Patterns

There are six basic or simple sentence patterns:

1. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb

2. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Direct Object
3. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Adverb
4. Subject/Predicate, Linking Verb/Predicate Nominative
5. Subject/Predicate, Linking Verb/Predicate Adjective
6. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Indirect Object/Direct Object

Examples of the six basis sentence types:

1. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb

• The class studied.

• The students and the teacher read.
• The students sat and read.
• The students and the teacher sat and read.

2. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Direct Object

• The class took a test.

• The class took a test and a quiz.

3. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Adverb

• The class worked carefully.
• The students sit here.
• The class worked like a team.
• Before school, in the gym, the class worked like a team.
• In the gym, the class worked like a team before school.
• Like a team, the class worked before school in the gym.

4. Subject/Predicate, Linking Verb/Predicate Nominative

• The teacher is Mr. Satish.

• The teachers are Mr. Satish and Ms. Leena

5. Subject/Predicate, Linking Verb/Predicate Adjective

• The teacher is kind.

• Ms. Kalki is kind and helpful.

6. Subject/Predicate, Action Verb/Indirect Object/Direct Object

• The teacher gave the class a test.

• Mr. Satish gave Kannan and John a test.

Exercises
Identify the pattern of the following sentence:

1. He was going to the market

a) SVO
b) SVA
c) SVCA
2. I met my friend at the airport
a) SVIODO
b) SVOC
c) SVOA
3. Anitha grew tired after the dance
 a) SVCA
b) SVIODP
c) SVOC
4. Exercise made him a healthy man
a) SVOC
b) SVIODO
c) SVOA
5. They named the child Kanmani
a) SVAC
b) SVOC
c) SVCA
6. Sheela’s father is a doctor
a) SVC
b) SVA
c) SVIODO
7. Revathy sang me a song melodiously
a) SVOC
b) SVOA
c) SVIODOA
8. This bag is large
a) SVO
b) SVC
c) SVA
9. His mother gave him his lunch bag
a) SVC
b) SVOC
c) SVIODO
10. The headmaster entered the room
a) SVO
b) SVA

c) SVC
11. Pickpockets should be punished severely
a) SVA
b) SVC
c) SVO
12. We wear cotton clothes in summer
a) SVOC
b) SVIODO
c) SVOA
13. I shall meet you tomorrow
a) SVO
b) SVIODO
c) SVOA
14. He answered my question angrily
a) SVOA
b) SVCA
c) SVIODO
15. We completed the work on time
a) SVOC
b) SVAC
c) SVOA