English For Today - Class 11-12 PDF
English For Today - Class 11-12 PDF
Writers
Quazi Mustain Billah
Fakrul Alam
M Shahidullah
Shamsad Mortuza
Zulfeqar Haider
Goutam Roy
Editors
Syed Manzoorul Islam
Shaheen M. Kabir
Coordinators
Md. Abdur Rahim
Mohammad Humayun Kabir
Computer Typesetting
Tohfa Enterprise
Cover
Sudarshan Bachar
Sujaul Abedin
Illustrations
Md. Kabir Hossain
Design
National Curriculum and Textbook Board
1. Warm up activity:
Work in pairs.
Who are the people in the pictures? Why are they famous?
Make a list of some famous people that you have heard about and write about
their contribution in their fields.
15 December 2013
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters)-Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the
shackles of apartheid to a multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and
reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world.
Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, 5
Mandela never lost his resolve to fight for his peoples emancipation. He was
determined to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war. His prestige and
charisma helped him win the support of the world.
2 English For Today
I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have
fought it all during my life; I will fight it now, and will do so until the end of my 10
days, Mandela said in his acceptance speech on becoming South Africas first
black president in 1994, The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The
moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.
We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation.
In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shared with 15
F.W. de Klerk, the white African leader who had freed him from prison three years
earlier and negotiated the end of apartheid.
Mandela went on to play a prominent role on the world stage as an advocate of
human dignity in the face of challenges ranging from political repression to AIDS.
He formally left public life in June 2004 before his 86th birthday, telling his 20
adoring countrymen: Don't call me. Ill call you. But he remained one of the
worlds most revered public figures, combining celebrity sparkle with an
unwavering message of freedom, respect and human rights.
He is at the epicenter of our time, ours in South Africa, and yours, wherever you are,
Nadine Gordimer, the South African writer and Nobel Laureate for Literature, once 25
remarked.
The years Mandela spent behind bars made him the worlds most celebrated
political prisoner and a leader of mythic stature for millions of black South
Africans and other oppressed people far beyond his countrys borders.
Charged with capital offences in the 1963 Rivonia Trial, his statement from the 30
dock was his political testimony.
During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people.
I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black
domination.
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons 35
live together in harmony and with equal opportunities, he told the court.
It is an ideal I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for
which I am prepared to die.
Friends adored Mandela and fondly called him Madiba, the clan name by which
he was known. People lauded his humanity, kindness and dignity. 40
People or Institutions Making History 3
3. Each of the following questions has a word with four alternative meanings.
Choose the word which is closest in meaning in the context that has been used
in the text.
i. What does apartheid refer to in the title?
a. apart
b. distance
c. discrimination
d. dialogue
ii. The word icon in the text means (line 3)
a. portrait
b. image
c. symbol
d. idol
iii. What does shackles refer to (line 3)?
a. restraints
b. sick
c. stigma
d. spur
iv. race discrimination (line 9) refers to
a. differences on the basis of caste, creed and colour
b. competition among the members of a race
c. demoralization of people
d. domination of others
v. The word manifestation (line 9) means
a. presentation
b. right
c. change
d. sign
vi. The word healing (line 12) means
a. curing
b. heating
c. soothing
d. ailing
4 English For Today
But prison and old age took their toll on his health.
Mandela was treated in the 1980s for .. and later required an operation to repair
the .. to his eyes as well as treatment .. prostate cancer in 2001. His
spirit, however, .. strong.
If cancer wins I will still .. the better winner, he told reporters in .. of
that year. When I go .. the next world, the first thing I will .. is look
for an ANC office to .. my membership.
Most South Africans are proud .. their post-apartheid multi-racial 'Rainbow Nation.
8. Now fill in the gaps in the text below using suitable words.
Mandelas last major appearance on the .... stage was in 2010 when he ....
a cap in the South African ..... and rode on a golf cart, ... to an exuberant
crowd of 90,000 .. the soccer World Cup final, one . the biggest events
in the countrys ..... apartheid history.
I leave it to ....... public to decide how they should . me, he said on
South African ...... before his retirement.
But I should ... to be remembered as an ordinary . African who
together with others has . his humble contribution.
[The text on Mandela is written by Andrew Quinn and Jon Herskovitz; Edited by Pascal Fletcher and Angus
MacSwan, Source: http://tv.yahoo.com/news/nelson-mandela-apartheid-fighter-president-unifier-105117261.html,
accessed on 14/02/2014]
6 English For Today
Lesson 2
The Unforgettable History
1. Warm up activity:
What have we done that was wrong? After the elections, the people of
Bangladesh voted as one for me, for the Awami League. We were to sit in the
National Assembly, draft a constitution for ourselves there, and build our
country; the people of this land would thereby get economic, political, and
cultural freedom. But it is with regret that I have to report to you today that we
have passed through twenty-three tragic years; Bengals history of those years is
People or Institutions Making History 7
After the Assemblys session was prorogued, the people of this country
protested. I told them, Observe the General Strike we have called peacefully.
I told them Shut down all mills and factories. Our people responded to my
call. They came to the streets spontaneously. They expressed their firm
determination to carry out the struggle peacefully. 53
What have we got in return? Those who brought arms with our money to
defend us from external enemies are now using those arms on the poor, -the
wretched, -the downtrodden people of the land. Bullets are being aimed at
their hearts. We constitute the majority in Pakistan; but whenever we Bengalis
have tried to assume power they have used force on us. 58
I have had a talk with Mr. Yahya Khan. I told him, Mr. Yahya, you are the
President of Pakistan; come and observe how the poor people of my country are
being mowed down with bullets; come and see how our mothers are being
deprived of their children; how my people are being massacred. Come, observe,
and only then pass a judgment on what is going on. He has apparently said that I
had agreed to attend a Round Table Conference on the 10th of March. Didnt I
say a long time back: what is the point of another Round Table conference? Who
will I sit with? Should I sit with those who have shed the blood of my people? He
has suddenly dissolved the Assembly without carrying out any discussions with
me; after sitting in a secret meeting for five hours he gave a speech where he has
put all the blame on me. He has even blamed the Bengali people! 69
My brothers,
The Assembly has been called into session on the 25th of March. But the blood
spilled on our streets has not yet dried. About the 10th of this month, I have told
them: Mujibur Rahman wont join the Round Table Conference because that
would mean wading over the blood that has been shed. Although you have
called the Assembly into session, youll have to listen to my demands first.
Youll have to withdraw Martial Law. Youll have to return all army personnel
to their barracks. Youll have to investigate the way our people have been
murdered. And youll have to transfer power to the representatives of the
people. It is only then that Ill decide whether we will take our seats in the
Assembly or not. I dont want the Prime Ministers office. We want the people of
this country to have their rights. I want to state clearly that from this day
Bangladeshs courts, magistracies, government offices and educational
institutions will be shut down indefinitely. So that the poor dont have to suffer,
People or Institutions Making History 9
so that my people dont have to go through hardships, all other things will be
exempted from the General Strike from tomorrow. Rickshaws, horse carriages,
trains, and launches will be allowed to move. Only the Secretariat, the Supreme
Court, the High Court, Judges Court, and semi-government organizations such
as WAPDA will not be allowed to work. On the 28th employees will go and
collect their salaries. If their salaries are not paid, if another bullet is fired, if
my people are shot dead again, I request all of you: convert every house into a
fort; confront the enemy with whatever you have. And even at the risk of your
life, and even if I am not around to direct you, shut down all shops and make
sure that traffic on all roads and ports are brought to a standstill. If need be,
we will starve to death, but well go down striving for our rights. 94
To those in the armed forces I have this to say: you are my brothers; stay in
your barracks and no one will bother you. But dont try again to aim your
bullets at our chests. You cant suppress seventy million people forever. Since
we have learned to sacrifice ourselves no one can suppress us any more. 98
And as for our martyrs and those who have been wounded, we in the Awami
League will do everything we can to assist them and their loved ones. If you
have the means, please give what little you can to our Relief Committee. To
owners of factories whose workers had participated in the General Strike the
last seven days I have this to say: make sure that they are paid wages for those
days. To government employees I have this to tell: youll have to listen to my
directives. Till our country is liberated, taxes and custom duties wont be
collected. No one will pay them either. 106
Remember: the enemy is amidst us to create chaos and confusion, to create
anarchy and to loot. In our Bengal Hindus and Muslims, Bengalis and
non-Bengalis are all brothers. We are responsible for their safety; let us not
taint ourselves in any way. 110
Remember those of you who work for radio and television: if the people
running the radio station arent ready to listen to us, no Bengali will report for
work there. Banks will be open for two hours every day so that people can
collect their salaries. But we wont allow even a single poisha to be transferred
from East Bengal to West Pakistan. Telephones and telegram services will
continue as before in our East Bengal; if we have to transmit news abroad you
will see to that. But if any attempt is made to exterminate our people all
Bengalis must take appropriate action. 118
10 English For Today
Remember: since we have already had to shed blood, we'll have to shed a
lot more of it; by the Grace of God, however, well be able to liberate the
people of this land. 124
The struggle this time is a struggle for freedom-the struggle this time is a
struggle for emancipation.
126
Long live Bengal!
[The speech has been translated by Fakrul Alam]
5. Read the speech again. The speech has references to some years and dates in
our history. Find out their historical importance and complete the flow chart,
ending with 25 March 1971.
1. 1. 1.
2. . 2. . 2. .
3. 3. 3.
7. See the grid below. It has two columns-one on Causes and the other on
Effects. Provide the missing causes against effects and missing effects against
the causes provided.
Causes Effects
People voted for Bangabandhu and
Awami League.
Ayub Khan proclaimed Martial Law
9. Project work
a. Present your ideas on how the March 7 speech has become a part of our history.
b. Make a fact file on Bangabandhus life.
12 English For Today
Lesson 3
Two Women
After the flight of Yuri Gagarin (the first human being to travel to outer space in
1961), the Soviet Union decided to send a woman in space. On 16 February 1962,
proletaria Valentina Tereshkova was selected for this project from among more than
four hundred applicants. Tereshkova had to undergo a series of training that included
weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft
engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters.
Since the successful launch of the spacecraft Vostok-5 on 14 June 1963, Tereshkova began
preparing for her own flight. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up
cosmonaut Solovyova were dressed in space-suits and taken to the space shuttle launch pad
by a bus. After completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed
inside Vostok 6. Finishing a two-hour countdown, Vostok-6 launched faultlessly.
Although Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight,
she orbited the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space. With a single flight,
she logged more flight time than the combined times of all American astronauts who had
People or Institutions Making History 13
flown before that date. Tereshkova also maintained a flight log and took photographs of
the horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere.
Vostok-6 was the final Vostok flight and was launched two days after Vostok-5, which
carried Valary Bykovsy into a similar orbit for five days, landing three hours after
Tereshkova. The two vessels approached each other within 5 kilometers at one point,
and from space Tereshkova communicated with Bykovsky and the Soviet leader
Khrushchev by radio.
Much later, in 1977 Tereshkova earned a doctorate in Engineering from Zhukovsky
Air Force Academy. Afterwards she turned to politics. During the Soviet regime she
became one of the presidium members of the Supreme Soviet. Now this living legend
is a member in the lower house of the Russian legislature. On her 70th birthday when
she was invited by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, she expressed her
desire to fly to Mars, even if for a one-way trip.
Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 - 1 February 2003)
Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She
completed her earlier schooling at Tagore
Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School,
Karnal. She is the first Indian-born woman
and the second person in space from this
sub-continent. After graduating in
Aeronautical Engineering from Punjab
Engineering College, India, in 1982, Chawla
moved to the United States the same year.
She obtained her Masters degree in
Aerospace Engineering from the University
of Texas in 1984. Later she did her Ph.D. in
Aerospace Engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado.
Determined to become an astronaut even in the face of the Challenger disaster 1986 that
broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members,
Chawla joined NASA in 1988. She began working as a Vice President where she did
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research on vertical take-off and landing. In
1991 she got U.S. citizenship and started her career as a NASA astronaut in 1995. She
was selected for her first flight in 1996. She spoke the following words while travelling
in the weightlessness of space, You are just your intelligence. She had travelled 10.67
million miles, as many as 252 times around the Earth.
14 English For Today
Her first space mission (Mission STS 87) began on 19 November 1997 with six other
astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia. On her first mission that lasted for 15 days,
16 hours, 34 minutes and 4 seconds, she travelled 6.5 million miles. She was
responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which however malfunctioned,
necessitating a spacewalk by Winston Scott and Tako Doi, two of her fellow
astronauts, to retrieve the satellite.
In 2000 she was selected for her second space mission STS 107. This mission was
repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems. On 16 January
2003, Kanpana Chawla finally started her new mission with six other space crew on
the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia. She was one of the mission specialists. Chawla's
responsibilities included the microgravity experiments, for which the crew conducted
nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology
development, and astronaut health and safety.
After a 16 day scientific mission in space, on 1 February 2003, Columbia disintegrated
over Texas during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. All the crew in Columbia
including Chawla died only 16 minutes prior to their scheduled landing. Investigation
shows that this fatal accident happened due to a damage in one of Columbia's wings
caused by a piece of insulating foam from the external fuel tank peeling off during the
launch. During the intense heat of re-entry, hot gases penetrated the interior of the wing,
destroying the support structure and causing the rest of the shuttle to break down.
2. What do the following words mean? You can use any number of words to
establish the meanings.
5. These sentences below are true about either Tereshkova or Chawla. Find out
which applies to whom.
a. She is an engineer.
b. She is one of the victims of a spacecraft disaster.
c. She came from an ordinary family.
d. She earned a Ph.D. degree.
e. She was selected from among 400 competitors.
f. She was involved in politics.
g. She made history.
6. Find a partner and compare the lives and achievements of Tereshkova and
Chawla using your answers.
7. Complete the questions about the two astronauts. Then ask and answer them
with your partner.
About Valentina Tereshkova
a. Where . born?
b. When . as a cosmonaut?
c. When .. first space flight?
d. How old . then?
e. How feel in the spacecraft?
f. Who talk to from the space?
g. What ........................................... want to do now?
16 English For Today
Areas of dissimilarities
1. Tereshkova was born in Russia while Chawla was born in India.
2. . .
3. . .
4. . .
5. . .
6. . .
9. Now write a paragraph in 150 words about Tereshkova and Chawla based on
the information provided in the text.
Unit Two: Traffic Education
Lesson 1
How Your Brain Negotiates Traffic
1. Warm up activity:
for fantasy. You must always be ready to encounter unexpected behavior from any
vehicle or pedestrian. Keep your cool is easy to advice but difficult to maintain.
Still you must always restrain yourself because, at the end of the day, you don't
want to be regarded as a killer. Now you see, the last thing that differentiates you
from a computer is your conscience. 25
4. Read the following questions. Each question has a word in italics with four
alternative meanings. Choose the word which is the closest in meaning:
A. What is a steering used for?
i. speeding
ii. stopping
iii. changing speed
iv. directing
B. What is the function of the accelerator?
i. charging battery
ii. enhancing speed
iii. stopping
iv. controlling
E. Michael Schumacher is a-
i. Hollywood hero.
ii. German racing driver.
iii. English footballer.
iv. Australian cricketer.
Traffic Education 19
Lesson 2
Traffic Capital of the World
1. Warm up activity:
In a small group ask each other these questions and write down your answers.
What do you think of traffic jams in our cities?
What are the reasons for the traffic jams?
How would a foreigner feel about our traffic system?
2. Now read this article written by Michael Hobbes titled "Welcome to the Traffic
Capital of the World"
I am in a tiny steel cage attached to a motorcycle, stuttering through traffic in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. In the last ten minutes, we have moved forward maybe three feet, inch by
inch, the driver wrenching the wheel left and right, wriggling deeper into the wedge
between a delivery truck and a rickshaw in front of us.
Up ahead, the traffic is jammed so close together that pedestrians are climbing over
pickup trucks and through empty rickshaws to cross the street. Two rows to my left is
an ambulance, blue light spinning uselessly. This is what the streets here look like
from seven oclock in the morning until ten oclock at night. If youre rich, you
experience it from the back seat of a car. If you're poor, youre in a rickshaw, breathing
in the exhaust.
Im sitting in the back of a CNG,
a three-wheeled motorcycle
shaped like a slice of pie and
covered with scrap metal. I'm
here working on a human rights
project, but whenever I ask
people in Dhaka what they think
international organizations
should really be working on,
they tell me about the traffic.
Alleviating traffic congestion is one of the major development challenges of our time. Half
the worlds population already lives in cities, and the United Nations (UN) estimates that
Traffic Education 21
the proportion will rise to nearly 70 percent by 2050. Dhaka, the worlds densest and
fastest growing city, is a case study in how this problem got so bad and why its so
difficult to solve.
Dhakas infrastructure doesnt match the scale of its population. Just 7 percent of the
city is covered by roads, compared with around 25 percent of Paris and Vienna. Dhaka
also suffers from the absence of a planned road network. There are 650 major
intersections, but only 60 traffic lights, many of which dont work. That means the
police force isnt enforcing driving or parking rules; theyre in the intersections,
directing traffic.
The cost of Dhakas traffic congestion is estimated at $3.8 billion a year, and thats
just the delays and air pollution, not the less-tangible losses in quality of life.
Paradoxically, the poor infrastructure is one of the reasons why the city is growing
so fast. Without roads or trains to whisk them to the suburbs, Dhaka residents have
no choice but to crowd into the middle, set up slums between high-rises, and walk
to work.
Then there are the users of the roads. Besides pedestrians, the narrow lanes are shared
by bicycles, rickshaws, scooters, motorcycles, CNGs, buses, and cars. All these modes
take up a different amount of space and have different top speeds. Most people you
talk to in Bangladesh blame the traffic jams on the rickshaws. There are too many of
them, they say, and they drive so slowly that they trap the cars, buses, and CNGs
behind them. The government is under pressure to designate some lanes as car-only, to
build wider roads and overpasses, to take the slow traffic out from in front of the fast.
And this brings us to the third reason why the traffic problem is so difficult to solve.
All of these fixes sound easy and obvious, but they come at a cost. One and a half
million people drive rickshaws for a living, plus another few hundred thousand own
and repair them. Government efforts to get people out of rickshaws and into buses and
trains are going to attract huge opposition.
Even increasing bus capacity is more complicated than it sounds. A 2009 World Bank
analysis found 60 separate bus companies in Dhaka. Since the bus companies compete
with one another, the drivers have every incentive to drive aggressively and take more
passengers than the buses can hold. Whats more, the public transport isnt all that
public. Many of the bus companies are owned or linked to political parties or powerful
trade unions. Government efforts to unify or regularize the system would amount to a
hostile takeover of all of these small companies.
22 English For Today
The obvious solution is to separate the rickshaws from the cars, from the CNGs, give
each of them lanes and lights according to their top speed, and, crucially, make car
drivers pay the cost of taking up more space on the roads. But that, politically
speaking, is unrealistic. Car owners are a small part of the population, but they are the
most influential. Every year, Dhaka adds an extra 37,000 cars to its already
overcrowded roads.
Think about all this from a Bangladeshi politicians point of view. Any attempt to solve
the traffic mess means annoying the poor, the middle class, and the rich all at once.
Thanks to the donors, In 2012, the government announced a $2.75 billion plan to build
a metro rail system and a $45 million bus rapid-transit line from the airport. For
residents of Dhaka, it will come as a relief.
Whenever I asked my Bangladeshi colleagues how long it would take to get
somewhere, they always gave two answers: Without traffic, maybe fifteen minutes.
But with traffic? Who knows?
[Adapted from the article published in www.newstatesman.org]
5. Match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B in the box
below:
Column A Column B
i. stuttering a. shaking
ii. wrenching b. tire out
iii. exhaust c. road and rail network
iv. wriggling d. faltering
v. suburbs e. twisting suddenly and violently
vi. wedge f. in contradiction
vii. pedestrians g. a residential urban area outside the city
viii. whisk h. force into a narrow space
ix. paradoxically i. to move suddenly and quickly
x. infrastructure j. people who are walking rather than travelling
in a vehicle
6. Suppose you are stuck in a traffic jam in a car, bus or rickshaw. Think of
various things that you can do while you are stuck. Consider the following
activities:
Sleeping; Counting vehicles on all sides; Sending text messages from your mobile
phone; Listen to the radio or music; Play games; Chat to the people sitting next to
you or outside your vehicle; Play cards; Shout out to the people going by; Read
newspaper etc.
Now rank these activities and share your rankings with your partner. Put the
best at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.
7. Paradoxically, the poor infrastructure is one of the reasons why the city is
growing so fast. Do you agree? Form two groups to debate this proposition.
Lesson 3
The Traffic Police
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss in a small group what traffic management means. Then write down
how you think traffic management can be improved in our cities .
2. Now read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow:
4. The poem has three stanzas. What is the rhyme scheme of the stanzas? What
are the advantages of using rhyme in a poem?
5. Attempt a 8 or 10 line poem about a policeman standing at a busy intersection in a
city or a paragraph or two in prose.
6. Make sentences using the following words:
a. erratic
b. plight
c. agile
d. safety
e. dusty
Lesson 4
From Filippos Fylaktos' Film
"My Brother, the Traffic Policeman"
1. Warm up activity:
Imagine yourself as a traffic policeman. You have just finished your shift
directing traffic near a school from morning till noon. Talk to a small group
for 5 minutes about your experience.
2. Now read the short passage about the film and answer the questions that
follow:
From Filippos Fylaktos film My Brother, the Traffic Policeman
The persona of a traffic policeman has always been a curious one. It has often found
important space and close treatment in literature and other arts. Besides the many
poems about this fascinating character, there is at least one movie where the central
character is a traffic policeman. In 1963, Greek film maker Filippos Fylaktos made this
film named My Brother, the Traffic Policeman. It featured a slightly manic traffic
policeman, Antonis Pikrocholos, who is utterly devoted to service and duty, and
applies the traffic code with unyielding severity. Tickets rain down upon law-breakers
in particular taxi-drivers and especially Lampros, who happens to be in love with
Pikrocholos sister, Fofo. In his turn, the traffic policeman is in love with a
businessmans daughter, Kiki, who is afraid to reveal her feelings to her father.
Besides, Antonis has given lots of traffic tickets to a bus belonging to her fathers
company. For all these reasons, the road to marriage for both couples is long and
strewn with obstacles, but the outcome is a happy one for everyone involved.
5. Find the meaning of the word manic. What is the root word for manic?
Describe in 5 sentences how a manic traffic policeman would behave in real life.
6. Do you think our traffic policemen perform the following duties? If not, why?
a. apply traffic codes with severity
b. give tickets to all law-breakers
7. The passage suggests that traffic policemen have found important space in
literature. Can you remember reading about a traffic policeman in any novel,
short story or poem?
8. Imagine that you are a taxi driver and have broken traffic rules on the road.
Now write a dialogue between the traffic policeman in My Brother, the Traffic
Policeman and yourself.
9. Go to Google and find out more about the film and write a 200 words
paragraph based on your search. If possible, watch the film on the You Tube.
Unit Three: Food Adulteration
Lesson 1
Food Adulteration Reaches New Height
1. Warm up activity:
Share the following questions with your friend.
a. What is food adulteration?
b. Have you heard the name of a pesticide called formalin which is used as a
preservative?
c. Who, do you think, uses chemical pesticides on food/fruits?
The survey report, a copy of which was acquired by the Dhaka Tribune, read that
nearly 40% of 82 samples of milk, milk products, fish, fruits and vegetables contained
banned pesticides such as DDT, Aldrin, Chlordane and Heptachlor. The amounts of
pesticide in these samples were found to be 3 to 20 times greater than the limits set by
the European Union. Around 50% vegetables and 35% fruits were found to be
contaminated with unsafe level of pesticides.
29 Food Adulteration
Analysing more than 30 samples of turmeric powder (branded, packaged and open),
the team also found that nearly 30% of the samples contained traces of lead chromate,
which can be fatal if swallowed or inhaled. These samples also contained lead at 20 to
50 times above the safety limit of 2.5 parts per million set by the Bangladesh Standard
Testing Institute (BSTI). Arsenic and chromium above safety limits were detected in a
total of 5 out of 13 rice samples.
Using a sensitive High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method
developed by the Food Safety Lab, 66 samples were analysed for the presence of
formaldehyde. Adulteration was thereby detected in samples of coriander, mango and
fresh shrimps.
The tests indicated that poultry feed in the country had also been contaminated, as
samples of chicken and fish contained traces of antibiotics. High microbial populations
were found in several samples of pasteurised milk, indicating poor processing
procedures by the manufacturers. Samples of cucumber and street foods also showed
high microbial populations, suggesting widespread contamination in the water supply.
The Director of Institute of Public Health (IPH), told the Dhaka Tribune that the
survey report has been submitted to the Health Ministry. Further tests of different
products were being carried out at the Food Safety Lab.
A former Director General of the Health Services and senior national adviser of the
FAO, said the findings were shocking for the whole nation. He added that instead of
focusing only on the end products, the issue should be addressed at the root level.
Pointing out that there were four steps in the production process-farmer, transport,
wholesale, and retail trader, -he said better monitoring and supervision were
mandatory for stopping food adulteration.
Adulterated food products are reportedly the cause behind thousands of people
suffering from fatal diseases like cancer, kidney failure and heart problems. Health
specialists told the Dhaka Tribune that the Ministry of Food had enacted a Food Safety
Act, but was yet to prepare the necessary rules. As the issue of food safety was also
linked to 14 other ministries, a coordinated agency should take responsibility of
ensuring safety in food products, they added.
[Adapted from a news published in Dhaka Tribune]
English For Today 30
e. How many ministries are concerned with the food safety issue?
i. 10 ii. 15 iii. 1 iv. 14
7. Match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B in the box
below:
Column A Column B
Lesson 2
Eating Habit and Hazards
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss in a group:
What is a short story? What are some of the essential elements of a short story?
Before reading the story below, discuss the following questions and check if the
story helps you to answer them.
a. What is a balanced diet? Why do we need to take a balanced diet?
b. Why do some people become overweight?
2. Now read the story (slightly abridged) and answer the questions that follow.
The Luncheon
William Somerset Maugham
I caught sight of her at the play, and in answer to her beckoning, I went over during the
interval and sat down beside her. It was long since I had last seen her, and if someone
had not mentioned her name I hardly think I would have recognized her.
She addressed me brightly.
Well, its many years since we first met. How time does fly! Were none of us getting
any younger. Do you remember the first time I saw you? You asked me to luncheon.
Did I remember?
33 Food Adulteration
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Paris. I had a tiny apartment in the Latin
quarter overlooking a cemetery, and I was earning barely enough money to keep body
and soul together. She had read a book of mine and had written to me about it. I
answered, thanking her, and presently I received from her another letter saying that she
was passing through Paris and would like to have a chat with me; but her time was
limited, and the only free moment she had was on the following Thursday; she was
spending the morning at the Luxembourg and would I give her a little luncheon at
Foyots afterwards? Foyots is a restaurant at which the French senators eat, and it was so
far beyond my means that I had never even thought of going there. But I was flattered,
and I was too young to have learned to say no to a woman. . . . I had eighty francs (gold
francs) to last me the rest of the month, and a modest luncheon should not cost more
than fifteen. If I cut out coffee for the next two weeks I could manage well enough.
I answered that I would meet my friend-by correspondence-at Foyots on Thursday at
half-past twelve. She was not so young as I expected and in appearance imposing
rather than attractive. She was, in fact, a woman of forty ... and she gave me the
impression of having more teeth, white and large and even, than were necessary for
any practical purpose. She was talkative, but since she seemed inclined to talk about
me I was prepared to be an attentive listener.
I was startled when the bill of fare was brought, for the prices were a great deal higher
than I had anticipated. But she reassured me.
I never eat anything for luncheon, she said.
Oh, dont say that! I answered generously.
I never eat more than one thing. I think people eat far too much nowadays. A little
fish, perhaps. I wonder if they have any salmon.
No, she answered, I never eat more than one thing unless you have a little caviare, I
never mind caviare.
My heart sank a little. I knew I could not afford caviare, but I could not very well tell
her that. I told the waiter by all means to bring caviare. For myself I chose the cheapest
dish on the menu and that was a mutton chop.
I think you are unwise to eat meat, she said. I dont know how you can expect to
work after eating heavy things like chops. I dont believe in overloading my stomach.
Then came the question of drink.
I never drink anything for luncheon, she said.
Neither do I, I answered promptly.
Except white wine, she proceeded as though I had not spoken.
These French white wines are so light. Theyre wonderful for the digestion.
What would you like? I asked, hospitable still, but not exactly effusive.
She gave me a bright and amicable flash of her white teeth.
My doctor wont let me drink anything but champagne.
I fancy I turned a trifle pale. I ordered half a bottle. I mentioned casually that my
doctor had absolutely forbidden me to drink champagne.
What are you going to drink, then?
Water.
She ate the caviare and she ate the salmon. She talked gaily of art and literature and
music. But I wondered what the bill would come to. When my mutton chop arrived she
took me quite seriously to task.
I see that you're in the habit of eating a heavy luncheon. Im sure its a mistake. Why
dont you follow my example and just eat one thing? Im sure youd feel ever so much
better for it.
I am only going to eat one thing. I said, as the waiter came again with the bill of fare.
She waved him aside with an airy gesture.
No. no. I never eat anything for luncheon. Just a bite, I never want more than that, and
I eat that more as an excuse for conversation than anything else. I couldnt possibly eat
anything more unless they had some of those giant asparagus. I should be sorry to
leave Paris without having some of them.
35 Food Adulteration
My heart sank. I had seen them in the shops, and I knew that they were horribly
expensive. My mouth had often watered at the sight of them.
Madame wants to know if you have any of those giant asparagus. I asked the waiter.
I tried with all my might to will him to say no. A happy smile spread over his broad,
priest-like face, and he assured me that they had some so large, so splendid, so tender,
that it was a marvel.
Im not in the least hungry, my guest sighed, but if you insist I dont mind having
some asparagus.
I ordered them.
Arent you going to have any?
No, I never eat asparagus.
I know there are people who dont like them. The fact is, you ruin your palate by all
the meat you eat.
We waited for the asparagus to be cooked. Panic seized me. It was not a question now
of how much money I should have left over for the rest of the month, but whether I
had enough to pay the bill.
The asparagus appeared. They were enormous, succulent, and appetizing. The smell of
the melted butter tickled my nostrils . . . .
Coffee? I said.
Yes, just an ice cream and coffee, she answered.
I was past caring now. So I ordered coffee for myself and an ice cream and coffee
for her.
You know, theres one thing I thoroughly believe in, she said, as she ate the ice
cream. One should always get up from a meal feeling one could eat a little more.
Are you still hungry? I asked faintly.
Oh, no, Im not hungry; you see, I dont eat luncheon. I have a cup of coffee in the
morning and then dinner, but I never eat more than one thing for luncheon. I was
speaking for you.
Oh, I see!
Then a terrible thing happened. While we were waiting for the coffee, the head
waiter, with an ingratiating smile on his false face, came up to us bearing a large
English For Today 36
basket full of huge peaches. They had the blush of an innocent girl; they had the rich
tone of an Italian landscape. But surely peaches were not in season then? Lord knew
what they cost.
You see, youve filled your stomach with a lot of meat-my one miserable little
chop-and you cant eat any more. But Ive just had a snack and I shall enjoy a peach.
The bill came and when I paid it I found that I had only enough for a quite inadequate
tip. Her eyes rested for an instant on the three francs I left for the waiter, and I knew
that she thought me mean. But when I walked out of the restaurant I had the whole
month before me and not a penny in my pocket.
Follow my example, she said as we shook hand, and never eat more than one thing
for luncheon.
Ill do better than that, I retorted. Ill eat nothing for dinner to-night.
Humorist! she cried gaily, jumping into a cab, youre quite a humorist!
But I have had my revenge at last. I do not believe that I am a vindictive man, but
when the immortal gods take a hand in the matter it is pardonable to observe the result
with complacency. Today she weighs twenty-one stone.
---
The meanings of some words and terms from the story are given below. Read the story
a second time, and if you still have words you dont know the meanings of, find them in
a dictionary.
1. Warm up activity:
What do you think are the rules that civilized societies follow to deal with
elders in a family? Do different rules apply to women and children? Write
down your answer.
In a group talk about the need for good manners.
2. Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:
As a child you must have been told to
greet your elders and visitors to your
home according to your culture and
tradition. You must also have been taught
to be polite in company and keep quiet
while others, especially your elders,
spoke. Possibly, you at times grudged
such schooling. Possibly, at times you
even protested such disciplining. Now,
certainly you know that you cant always
behave the way you want specially in the
presence of others. There are rules of behavior you have to follow in a company. We
are social beings and have to consider the effect of our behaviour on others, even if we
are at home and dealing with our family members.
We have two terms to describe our social behaviour-etiquette and manners.
Etiquette is a French word and it means the rules of correct behaviour in society. The
word manners means the behaviour that is considered to be polite in a particular
society or culture. Manners can be good or bad. For example, it is a bad manner to
speak with food in ones mouth. No one likes a bad-mannered person. Remember that
etiquette and manners vary from culture to culture and from society to society.
We learn etiquette and manners from our parents, families and various institutions,
such as schools, colleges or professional bodies. There are rules of behaviour for all
kinds of social occasions and it is important to learn them and practise them in
39 Human Relationships
everyday life. The manners that are correct in a wedding reception will not do in a
debating club. Therefore, we have to be careful about etiquette and manners. We know
how important it is to say please and thank you in everyday life. A few more polite
expressions such as pardon me, excuse me, may I, are bound to make your day
smooth and pleasant.
Here are some basic rules of etiquette:
Respect others personal space.
Dont interrupt when someone else is talking.
Be a helper.
Be on time.
Dont yell in public places.
Eat politely.
Chew with your mouth closed.
Stand in queue.
There are many more. How many more can you add to the above list?
Here are some thoughtful observations on manners and etiquette from some
famous people.
Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.
Laurence Sterne
Life is short, but there is always time enough for courtesy. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The real test of good manners is to be able to put up with bad manners. Kahlil Gibran
English For Today 40
Family etiquette:
Respect each others belongings.
Do not shout at children. Treat them kindly.
Listen to your parents.
Basic social etiquette:
Always be on time. Showing up late is rude and shows a lack of respect for other
peoples time.
Never interrupt the other person while he/she is talking.
Give and receive compliments graciously.
Refuse to gossip with and about friends.
Hold doors for people entering immediately after you.
Professional etiquette:
Dress properly.
Shake hands when appropriate.
Never take credit for other peoples work.
Use indoor voice while talking to people.
(The tips for etiquette have been adapted from Debby Mayne's discussion on the Internet.)
41 Human Relationships
4. Find out the meaning of the following words and make sentences with them:
a. grudge
b. club
c. smooth
d. yell
e. handsome
5. Find the antonyms of the following words:
a. polite
b. presence
c. particular
d. pleasant
e. ignorance
6. Write an essay describing how proper etiquettes can help our families and
society function better.
English For Today 42
Lesson 2
Love and Friendship
1. Warm up activity:
Imagine how human relationships have changed over time. Boys and girls
reading in the same class may become good friends. This was not possible a
hundred years ago. Write a page describing the benefits of better human
relationship.
Love and friendship are the two important demands of human life. Human life becomes
unlivable in their absence. Though human beings need them badly, true love and
friendship are difficult to find. The short song from William Shakespeares (1564 - 1616)
play As You Like It laments the absence of true love and friendship in human life.
2. Now read the lyric and answer the questions that follow:
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude ;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Lesson 3
Photograph
1. Warm up activity:
bangles on her hands; but, despite all this drapery, the girl appeared to be full of
freedom and movement; she stood with her legs apart and her hands on her hips, and
she had a wide, almost devilish smile on her face.
Whose picture is it? I asked.
A little girls of course, said Grandmother. Cant you tell?
Yes, but did you know the girl?
Yes, I knew her, said Granny, but she was a very wicked girl and I shouldnt tell
you about her. But Ill tell you about the photograph. It was taken in your grandfathers
house, about sixty years ago and thats the garden wall, and over the wall there was a
road going to town.
Whose hands are they, I asked, coming up from the other side?
Grandmother squinted and looked closely at the picture, and shook her head. Its the
first time Ive noticed, she said. That must have been the sweeper boys. Or maybe
they were your grandfathers.
They dont look like grandfathers hand, I said. His hands are all bony.
Yes, but this was sixty years ago.
Didnt he climb up the wall, after the photo?
No, nobody climbed up. At least, I dont remember.
And you remember well, Granny.
Yes, I remember ... I remember what is not in the photograph. It was a spring day, and
there was a cool breeze blowing, nothing like this. Those flowers at the girls feet, they
were marigolds, and the bougainvillaea creeper, it was a mass of purple. You cannot
see these colours in the photo, and even if you could, as nowadays, you wouldnt be
able to smell the flowers or feel the breeze.
And what about the girl? I said. Tell me about the girl.
Well, she was a wicked girl, said Granny. You dont know the trouble they had
getting her into those fine clothes shes wearing.
Who was the girl? I said. You must tell me who she was.
No, that wouldnt do, said Grandmother, but I pretended I didnt know. I knew,
because Grandmother still smiled in the same way, even though she didnt have as
many teeth.
English For Today 46
1. Warm up activity :
2. Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:
i. Children must pass through several stages in their lives to become adults. For most
people, there are four or five such stages of growth where they learn certain things:
infancy (birth to age 2), early childhood (3 to 8 years), later childhood (9 to 12
years) and adolescence (13 to 18 years). Persons 18 and over are considered adults
in our society. Of course, there are some who will try to act older than their years.
But, for the most part, most individuals have to go through these stages irrespective
of their economic or social status.
ii. World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies adolescence as the period in human
growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood. This
phase represents one of the critical transitions in ones life span and is characterised
by fast paced growth and change which are second only to those at infancy.
Biological processes drive many aspects of this growth and development with the
onset of puberty marking the passage from childhood to adolescence. The biological
determinants of adolescence are fairly universal; however, the duration and defining
characteristics of this period may vary across time, cultures, and socio-economic
situations. This period has seen many changes over the past century-puberty for
example, comes earlier than before, people marry late, and their sexual attitudes and
48 English For Today
behaviours are different from their grandparents, or even parents. Among the
factors responsible for the change are education, urbanization and spread of global
communication.
iii. The time of adolescence is a period of preparation for adulthood during which one
experiencs several key developments. Besides physical and sexual maturation, these
experiences include movement toward social and economic independence,
development of identity, the acquisition of skills needed to carry out adult
relationships and roles and the capacity for abstract reasoning. While adolescence
is a time of
tremendous growth and potential, it is also a time of considerable risks during which
social contexts exert powerful influences.
iv. Many adolescents face pressure to use alcohol, cigarettes, or other drugs and to
initiate sexual relationships putting themselves at high risk for intentional and
unintentional injuries, unintended pregnancies, and sexually transmitted infections
(STIs), including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Many also experience
a wide range of adjustment and mental health problems. Behaviour patterns that are
established during this period such as the use or avoidance of drugs and taking or
abstaining from sexual risk can have long-lasting negative and positive effects on
future health and well-being. As a result, adults have unique opportunities to
influence adolescents.
v. Adolescents are different both from young children and adults. Specifically,
adolescents are not fully capable of understanding complex concepts, or the
relationship between behaviour and consequences, or the degree of control they
have or can have over health decision-making, including that related to sexual
behaviour. This inability may make them particularly vulnerable to sexual
exploitation and high-risk behaviours. Laws, customs, and practices may also affect
Adolescence 49
adolescents differently than adults. For example, laws and policies often restrict
adolescents' access to reproductive health information and services, especially when
they are unmarried. In addition, even when services do exist, provider attitudes
about adolescents often pose a significant barrier to the use of those services.
vi. Adolescents depend on their families, their communities, schools, health services
and their workplaces to learn a wide range of skills that can help them to cope with
the pressures they face and make a successful transition from childhood to
adulthood. Parents, members of the community, service providers, and social
institutions have the responsibility to both promote adolescent development and
adjustment and to intervene effectively when problems arise.
[Source: http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/topics/adolescence/dev/en/
http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/child-development/teens_stages]
3. The passage above has six paragraphs (i-vi). Choose the most suitable headings
for paragraphs (i-vi) from the list given below. There are more headings in the
box than the number of paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
List of headings
a. A journey towards adulthood
b. Adolescence and education
c. Stages of human life
d. Need for collective efforts
e. An observation by World Health Organisation
f. A transition period
g. The adverse effects of taking drugs
h. Influence of culture on adolescents
i. Potential health hazards
j. A vulnerable age
50 English For Today
4. Match the words in Column A with the meanings in Column B in the table below:
Column A Column B
Lesson 2
Adolescence and Some (Related) Problems in Bangladesh
1. Warm up activity:
Look at the pictures and discuss the following questions in pairs.
a b c
d source: internet e
a. What does each of these photographs show?
b. What are some typical health problems affecting adolescent boys and girls?
c. Who, do you think, are more vulnerable to adolescent health problems-boys or
girls? Why?
d. Why should all of us say No to habit-forming drugs of every kind?
2. Now read about some typical health problems experienced by adolescent girls
and boys in Bangladesh.
i. Adolescents constitute a nations core resource for national renewal and growth.
Adolescence is a period in life when transition from childhood to adulthood takes
place and behaviours and life styles are shaped. According to the World Health
Organisation (WHO), adolescence is the period which shapes the future of girls
and boys lives. There are 28 million adolescents in Bangladesh; 13.7 million of
them are girls and 14.3 million boys.
52 English For Today
Sources:
1. Health Profile of Adolescents and Youth in Bangladesh, Government of Bangladesh, 2007, available at:
http://ban.searo.who.int/LinkFiles/Publication_Health_Profile_of_Adolescents_and_Youth_in_Bangladesh.pdf.
2. Unite for Children, UNICEF, Adolescent Empowerment Project in Bangladesh, 2009, available at
http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/Adolescent_Empowerment_%28KA%29.pdf
3. Read the following statements and decide if they are true or false. If a
statement is false, correct it.
a. In Bangladesh there are more adolescent boys than adolescent girls.
b. Many girls in Bangladesh get married before they reach the legal age for marriage.
c. A bride's family has to pay dowry only before the wedding.
d. More than half of Bangladeshi adolescent girls can not meet their dietary needs.
e. Many adolescent boys in Bangladesh are likely to be involved in various forms of
criminal offence.
54 English For Today
4. Column A of the following table lists some causes while Column B lists some
effects. Match the causes with the effects and join them to make sentences using
as, since or because.
5. Find out the meanings of the words given below and make sentences with them:
a. dowry
b. mobility
c. contraception
d. undernourished
e. vulnerable
Adolescence 55
6. The above text has six paragraphs (i-vi). Choose the most suitable headings for
the paragraphs from the list of headings below. There are more headings
in the box than the paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
List of headings
1. Reasons for adolescent fertility
2. Concerted efforts to address adolescents needs
3. Significance of adolescent population
4. A process of disempowerment of women
5. The curse of early marriage
6. Consequences of taking drugs
7. Unfortunate state of adolescent girls
8. Boys are not free from risks
9. Violence within the family
56 English For Today
Lesson 3
Why Does a Child Hate School?
Children's right to education also implies that the school they go to will have a pleasant
and learning-friendly environment where everyone will have an enjoyable time.
Teachers will be kind, caring and supportive and children will feel relaxed. No harsh
words will be spoken to them and special care will be taken of children with learning
disabilities.
That, unfortunately is not the general picture in our schools. The system of education
in our part of the world does not allow children much freedom, and classrooms look
more like cages where they are pent up for hours. Rabindranath Tagore (read his "An
Eastern University" in Unit Six) found it unacceptable; so did William Blake
(1757-1857), an English poet and painter, whose favourite subjects included children.
In his poem "The School Boy" Blake writes about a young boy who is unhappy with
his school where dour-faced teachers give joyless leassons. He would rather like to be
outdoors and enjoy the summer day. He pleads with his parents to rescue him from the
drudgery of school.
1. Warm up activities
Think about your own school days. Did you feel like the boy in the poem or did
you have a different experience? Discuss in a group.
Ask your friends to talk about their experiences in school and see where you are
similar, and where different.
Give a 5 minute lecture in class on what you consider to be an ideal learning
environment in school.
2. Now read the poem and answer the questions that follow:
3. The poem begins by invoking a bright summer morning and ends with a 'blast
of winter.' What is the significance of this shift?
4. The poem moves between innocence (first stanza) and loss of innocence (the
remaining stanzas). What is behind the loss?
5. What does the boy do in school? How does he endure his joyless lessons?
58 English For Today
6. What does 'a cruel eye outworn' refer to? What does 'dreary shower' refer to?
7. What request does the boy make to his parents?
8. What is the mood of the poem?
9. Find out the meaning of the following phrases:
a. sweet company b. drooping sit c. learning's bower
d. fears annoy e. buds are nipped f. mellowing year
10. A metaphor is a comparison of one thing to another without the use of 'like' or
'as' to provide a clearer description. An example from the poem is 'learning's
bower' which actually means a garden where a child can learn happily. Find a
couple of other metaphors from the poem.
11. What is the meaning of the following words:
a. huntsman b. dismay c. dreary
d. annoy e. blast
12. Write a 150-200 word passage on the importance of joyful learning in
childhood.
Adolescence 59
Lesson 4
The Story of Shilpi
1. Warm up activity:
Think about what the adverse effects of child marriage can be and write a
200 word passage on the topic.
Imagine that a child marriage has been arranged in your neighbourhood.
Discuss with your friends how you would convince the parents of the girl
to cancel the marriage.
2. Read the text and answer the questions that follow:
Shilpi was only 15 years old when she married Rashid in 2008. Marrying off daughters
at an early age is a standard practice for many families living in rural Bangladesh.
After her wedding, Shilpi joined a local empowerment group that provides adolescent
girls with the tools needed to gradually change cultural practices, particularly those
pertaining to early marriage and pregnancy. The group's activities include discussions
on how to most
effectively change
behaviour related to
reproductive health as
well as one-on-one
counselling. It also offers
peer-to-peer support and
life skills training that
help adolescents say no to
early marriage. The
empowerment group is one of more than 10,000 groups supported by some local Non
Government Organizations (NGOs) working all over Bangladesh. These NGOs work
through Canadas Adolescent Reproductive Health Project which also aims to increase
access to quality health services for adolescents. During one of the group sessions,
Shilpi came to understand the potentially harmful effects of early marriage and
pregnancy.
While maternal mortality in Bangladesh has declined by nearly 40 percent since 2001,
the rate remains high with 194 maternal deaths per 100,000, live births in
2010-dropping from 322 in 2001 with a projected decrease to 143 by 2015. Girls who
get pregnant are at risk of serious health complications. These include dangerous
60 English For Today
hemorrhage and fistula, a painful internal injury caused by obstructed childbirth that
commonly leads to serious maternal morbidities and social exclusion.
When Shilpi heard about those risks, she invited her husband, Rashid, to discuss
pregnancy with a counsellor. After hearing about the risks, Rashid agreed to delay
having children for five years despite pressures from his parents and neighbours to
produce an offspring. Together, the couple met with a female health care provider,
who informed them about the various family planning options available.
Shilpis mother-in-law and neighbours continued to pressurize the newlyweds. Deeply
rooted cultural practices and traditions caused a rift between Shilpi and Rashid and
their extended family, some of whose members insulted and criticized the couple.
Unable to convince their close relatives of the risks, Shilpi and Rashid returned to the
counsellor. They took the help of a parent peer who has been trained to speak to other
parents about adolescent issues. Shilpis mother-in-law and neighbours eventually
came to understand the harmful effects of early pregnancy on mother and child.
Today, the village no longer pressurizes the couple; their parents and neighbours now
support them and speak out against early marriage and pregnancy.
3. Discuss the following questions in pairs:
a. Why did Shilpi decide to delay her pregnancy?
b. How were Shilpi and her husband able to handle the pressure for having
children?
c. What are the various health-related services that couples like Shilpi and Rashid
need?
d. Is there any empowerment group working in your area? If yes, what do they do?
e. As an adolescent boy/girl, what peer support can you provide to boys and girls in
your locality who have already married?
Adolescence 61
4. The graph below shows the percentage of 15-19 and 20-24 year old married
women in urban and rural areas in Bangladesh who have experienced physical
or sexual violence. What do you think are the reasons for violence against
women? Discuss the graph in small groups.
50
45.2 42.3
45 39.8
40 35.3
35
Percent
30
25 22.2 20.2
20 16.8
15 11.8
10
5
0
15-19 20-24 15-19 20-24
Urban Rural
[Date Source: Health Profile of Adolescents andYouth in Bangladesh, Govt. of Bngaladesh, 2007, page-23]
5. Complete the passage below that describes the graph. Use the words given in
the box:
The graph illustrates the percentage of married women aged 15-19 and 20-24 who
have experienced physical or sexual violence. In general, it is seen from the graph
that women of both age groups are more likely to be victims of physical violence
(a) .. sexual violence. The graph shows that 39.8 % of rural married
adolescents (aged 15-19) and 35.3 % of urban adolescents have experienced some
form of physical violence. On the other hand, 11.8% and 16.8% respectively of the
urban age groups of 15-19 and 20-24 have been (b) .. of sexual
violence. According to the graph, 11.8% and 16.8% married women in urban areas
in the age groups of 15-19 and 20-24 respectively have experienced sexual violence
(c) .......... 22.2% and 20.2% married women in rural areas. It is
also (d) .. from the graph that young women aged 20-24 are more
likely to have experienced physical violence than adolescents aged 15-19.
62 English For Today
(e) .., younger women in rural areas are somewhat more likely to
have experience of sexual violence than (f) .. women. Overall, the
graph shows an (g) .. picture of rural and urban adolescents and
young becoming victims of violence.
Healthy lifestyle
You have 3 healthy meals each day including breakfast.
You take 3 calcium rich food items, such as milk or yogurt everyday.
You eat enough fruit and vegetables daily.
You avoid eating food high in fat, sugar and salt most days of the week.
You watch 2 hours of TV or less every day.
You exercise or play sports daily.
Bonus points
You volunteer in your community to help others.
You do things to help out at home.
Adolescence 63
8. If your score is less than 10, write a page discussing how you think you can
change your situation for the better.
9. Find out the meaning of the following words and write sentences using them:
a. empowerment
b. reproductive
c. counselling
d. peer
e. potential
f. hemorrhage
g. obstructed
h. morbidity
i. option
j. advocate
64 English For Today
Lesson 5
Amazing Children and Teens Who Have Changed the World
1. Warm up activity:
Find examples of young people in our country who have done something
exceptional like the boy who stopped a train running on a track with missing
fishplates and speak to your friends about them.
Now share the following introduction with a friend.
Its an adults world. They make the decisions, create the laws, make the money, and have all of
the freedoms. But there have been exceptions. Take for example, these child visionaries-boys
and girls who have changed our world through their good actions or examples. Some have
mobilized millions for a good cause; others have moved us simply by their generous and
hopeful view of humanity. Lets read about some of these amazing young people.
2. Read the text and answer the questions that follow:
Dylan Mahalingam
At the age of nine, Dylan Mahalingam became the
co-founder of Lil MDGs, a nonprofit international
development and youth empowerment organization. Lil
MDGs mission is to use the power of the digital media
to engage children in the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). His organization has
mobilized more than 3 million children around the globe
to raise 780,000 US dollars for tsunami relief, and more
than 10 million dollars for hurricane relief. He has built a
dormitory in Tibet, a mobile hospital in India, and a school playground serving AIDS
orphans in Uganda. Dylan is a youth speaker for the United Nations.
Alexandra Alex Scott
Alexandra Alex Scott was born in Connecticut in 1996,
and was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood
cancer, shortly before she turned one. In 2000, just after
turning four, she informed her mother that she wanted to
start a lemonade stand to raise money for doctors to help
children. Her first lemonade stand raised 2,000 dollars and
led to the creation of the Alexs Lemonade Stand
Foundation. Alex continued her lemonade stands
Adolescence 65
throughout her life, ultimately raising over one million dollars toward cancer research.
She passed away in August 2004 at the age of eight. Today, Alexs Lemonade Stand
sponsors a national fundraising weekend in the United States which is popularly known
as Lemonade Days. Each year, as many as 10,000 volunteers at more than 2,000 Alexs
Lemonade Stands make a difference for children with cancer.
Ryan Hreljac
In 1998, six-year old Ryan Hreljac was shocked to learn
that children in Africa had to walk many kilometers
every day just to fetch water. Ryan decided he needed to
build a well for a village in Africa. By doing household
chores and public speaking on clean water issues, Ryan
raised enough money with which his first well was built
in 1999 at the Angolo Primary School in a northern
Ugandan village. Ryans determination led to Ryans
Well Foundation, which has completed 667 projects in
16 countries, bringing access to clean water and
sanitation to more than 714,000 people.
Katie Stagliano
In 2008, 9-year old Katie Stagliano brought a tiny
cabbage seedling home from school. As she cared for
her cabbage, it grew to 40 pounds. Katie donated her
cabbage to a soup kitchen where it helped to feed
more than 275 people. Moved by the experience of
seeing how many people could benefit from the
donation of fresh produce to soup kitchens, Katie
decided to start vegetable gardens and donate the
harvest to help feed people in need. Today, Katie's
Krops donates thousands of pounds of fresh produce
from numerous gardens to organizations that help
people in need.
Anne Frank
Anne Frank is perhaps the most well-known victim of the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.
Anne, born on 12 June 1929, was given a diary at the age of 13, in which she chronicled
her life from 1942 to 1944. During this time, Anne spent two years in hiding with her
66 English For Today
column A column B
leverage (verb) the process of keeping places free from dirt, infection, disease, etc.
by removing waste, trash and garbage
lemonade (noun) to describe a series of events in the order that they happened
testament (noun) a type of prison where large numbers of people who are not
soldiers are kept during a war and are usually forced to live
in harsh conditions
Unit Six: Path to Higher Education
Lesson 1
An Eastern University by Rabindranath Tagore
Introduction
Rabindranath Tagore was not only an outstanding poet but also a very committed
educator. He has written extensively in both Bengali and English about his philosophy
of education as well as his educational experiments and his desire to transform
teaching and learning in Bengal. Here is an example of his thinking about education
and desire to implement it in his institution.
1. Warm up activities
Rabindranath Tagore set up a university with the expectation that it would be truly
eastern and reflect the ideals of education that he cherished and found in the system of
education once practiced in the Indian subcontinent. Find out the name and other
details of the university from the net and talk to the class for 5 minutes about it.
Did Tagore attend any university in India or abroad? Discuss in a group.
What is your idea of the university? Write a page on the topic.
2. Read the following excerpts from Tagore's essay and answer the questions that
follow:
Universities should never be made into mechanical organizations for collecting and
distributing knowledge. Through them the people should offer their intellectual
hospitality, their wealth of mind to others, and earn their proud right in return to
receive gifts from the rest of the world. But in the whole length and breadth of India
there is not a single University established in the modern time where a foreign or an
Indian student can properly be acquainted with the best products of the Indian mind.
For that we have to cross the sea, and knock at the doors of France and Germany.
Educational institutions in our country are India's alms-bowl of knowledge; they lower
our intellectual self-respect; they encourage us to make a foolish display of decorations
composed of borrowed feathers . . . .
Man's intellect has a natural pride in its own aristocracy, which is the pride of its
culture. Culture only acknowledges the excellence whose criticism is in its inner
Path to Higher Education 69
perfection, not in any external success. When this pride succumbs to some compulsion
of necessity or lure of material advantage, it brings humiliation to the intellectual man.
Modern India, through her very education, has been made to suffer this humiliation.
Once she herself provided her children with a culture which was the product of her
own ages of thought and creation. But it has been thrust aside, and we are made to
tread the mill of passing examinations, not for learning anything, but for notifying that
we are qualified for employments under organisations conducted in English. Our
educated community is not a cultured community, but a community of qualified
candidates. Meanwhile the proportion of possible employments to the number of
claimants has gradually been growing narrower, and the consequent disaffection has
been widespread. At last the very authorities who are responsible for this are blaming
their victims. Such is the perversity of human nature. It bears its worst grudge against
those it has injured . . . .
In the Bengali language there is a modern maxim which can be translated, 'He who
learns to read and write rides in a carriage and pair.' In English there is a similar
proverb, 'Knowledge is power.' It is an offer of a prospective bribe to the student, a
promise of an ulterior reward which is more important than knowledge itself. . . .
Unfortunately, our very education has been successful in depriving us of our real
initiative and our courage of thought. The training we get in our schools has the
constant implication in it that it is not for us to produce but to borrow. And we are
casting about to borrow our educational plans from European institutions. The
trampled plants of Indian corn are dreaming of recouping their harvest from the
neighbouring wheat fields. To change the figure, we forget that, for proficiency in
walking, it is better to train the muscles of our own legs than to strut upon wooden
ones of foreign make, although they clatter and cause more surprise at our skill in
using them than if they were living and real.
But when we go to borrow help from a foreign neighbourhood we overlook the fact . . .
that among the Europeans the living spirit of the University is widely spead in their
society, their parliament, their literature, and the numerous activities of their corporate
life. In all these functions they are in perpetual touch with the great personality of the
land which is creative and heroic in its constant acts of self-expression and
self-sacrifice. They have their thoughts published in their books as well as through the
medium of living men who think those thoughts, and who criticise, compare and
disseminate them. Some at least of the drawbacks of their academic education are
redeemed by the living energy of the intellectual personality pervading their social
organism. It is like the stagnant reservoir of water which finds its purification in the
70 English For Today
showers of rain to which it keeps itself open. But, to our misfortune, we have in India
all the furniture of the European University except the human teacher . . . .
A most important truth, which we are apt to forget, is that a teacher can never truly
teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it
continues to burn its own flame. The teacher who has come to the end of his subject,
who has no living traffic with his knowledge, but merely repeats his lessons to his
students, can only load their minds; he cannot quicken them. Truth not only must
inform but inspire. If the inspiration dies out, and the information only accumulates,
then truth loses its infinity. The greater part of our learning in the schools has been
waste because, for most of our teachers, their subjects are like dead specimens of once
living things, with which they have a learned acquaintance, but no communication of
life and love.
The educational institution, therefore, which I have in mind has primarily for its object
the constant pursuit of truth, from which the imparting of truth naturally follows. It
must not be a dead cage in which living minds are fed with food artificially prepared.
It should be an open house, in which students and teachers are at one. They must live
their complete life together, dominated by a common aspiration for truth and a need of
sharing all the delights of culture. In former days the great master-craftsmen had
students in their workshops where they co-operated in shaping things to perfection.
That was the place where knowledge could become living - that knowledge which not
only has its substance and law, but its atmosphere subtly informed by a creative
personality. For intellectual knowledge also has its aspect of creative art, in which the
man who explores truth expresses something which is human in him - his enthusiasm,
his courage, his sacrifice, his honesty, and his skill. In merely academical teaching we
find subjects, but not the man who pursues the subjects; therefore the vital part of
education remains incomplete.
3. Why does Tagore criticize the Indian universities of his time?
4. What, according to Tagore, should a university do?
5. Why, do you think 'Modern India,' (Tagore's phrase) abandoned its traditional
system of education? What have been the consequences?
6. Can you find out the equivalent of the maxim 'He who learns to read and write
rides in a carriage and pair' in Bengali? Do you agree to what the maxim
means?
7. Do you agree with Tagore when he says that the training we get in our schools
makes us believe that we must borrow rather than produce?
Path to Higher Education 71
Lesson 2
Access to Higher Education in Bangladesh
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss what you know about the opportunities of higher education in Bangladesh.
Why do you think higher education is important. Discuss in a group.
2. Read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
Tertiary education in Bangladesh comprises two categories of institutions: degree
awarding universities and colleges affiliated with the National University (NU). There
were only 4 universities in Bangladesh at the time of independence in 1971. All of those
universities were publicly financed autonomous entities. At present, there are 35 such
universities. Private universities are a relatively new phenomenon in this country. In the
early 1990s, the private sector came forward to establish universities. Since then the
country has experienced a spectacular growth in private universities-mostly in and
around Dhaka and couple of other large cities. At present, there are 79 private
universities. The number of colleges providing tertiary level education is around 1,400.
Most of them offer BA (pass) education of three year duration; only one-third of them
offer B.A. (Honors) courses and some offer MA degrees as well. All of these colleges
are affiliated with the National University.
Only about 12 percent of graduates enter higher educational institutions. More than 80
percent of these students are admitted to NU affiliated colleges. Others are absorbed
by the public and private universities. In the last two decades, there has been a
substantial rise in the number of students in private universitis. According to the UGC
Annual Report 2010, the number rose from 88,669 in 2005 to 2,00,752 in 2010.
HIGHER EDUCATION
74 English For Today
Annual total intake and total number of students in selected public universities:
3. Find the meanings of the following words. Also indicate the part of speech of
each word, change them into as many parts of speech as is possible and make
sentences of your own with each changed form:
i. comprise
ii. phenomenon
iii. spectacular
iv. tertiary
Path to Higher Education 75
v. affiliated
vi. support
vii. enrolled
viii. compensation
ix. symposium
x. subsidize
6. What percentage of students gets opportunities for admission into tertiary education?
7. Write a paragraph on Accessibility to higher education in Bangladesh using the
information about enrollment statistics in the public universities of Bangladesh.
76 English For Today
Lesson 3
21st Century Higher Education
1. Warm up activity:
What do you think should be the focus of 21st century education? Think and
note down the factors that determine the nature of higher education.
2. Now read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
Many educators believe that one of the functions of education today should be to
impart 21st century skills that are indispensible for participation, achievement and
competitiveness in the global economy. Beyond the assessment of reading,
mathematics and science, it is now necessary to train other essential skills that are in
demand in the 21st century. All people, not just an elite few, need 21st century skills
that will increase their ability, employability and readiness for citizenship. Such skills
include:
Thinking critically and making the best use of the barrage of information that
comes their way everyday on the Web, in the media, in homes, workplaces and
everywhere else. Critical thinking empowers people to assess the credibility, accuracy
and value of information, analyze and evaluate information, make reasoned decisions
and take purposeful action.
Path to Higher Education 77
Creativity and entrepreneurial thinking skills are always associated with job
creation. Many of the fastest-growing jobs and emerging industries rely on workers
creative capacity-the ability to think unconventionally and produce astonishing work.
Students should develop the ability to recognize and act on opportunities and the
willingness to embrace risks, for example.
These skills will prepare everyone to prepare for the challenges of the 21st century and
contribute meaningfully to the country's development.
78 English For Today
3. Give contextual meanings of the following words. Also, give the part of speech
of each word, change them in as many parts of speech as possible, and make
sentences of your own with each changed form:
i. indispensable
ii. empower
iii. credibility
iv. unconventional
v. dynamic
vi. beneficial
vii. emerging
viii. typically
ix. categorized
x. evaluate
4. The passage discusses the importance of acquiring skills for entry into the
passage talk about other areas of involvement as well? What are those?
5. What are the qualities that graduates of the 21st century need to develop?
6. Write a summary of the passage.
7. Add more qualities that you think should be emphasized in education of
our time.
8. Write a short composition on Your view of the 21st century education.
Unit Seven : Human Rights
Lesson 1
Are We Aware of These Rights I?
1. Warm up activity:
2. Group work. Discuss what you would do in the following situations and why.
Some of your friends do not agree with you on certain issues. They have their own
beliefs but they are few in number. Will you impose your own beliefs on them?
Why/Why not?
Some people tell you that they do not like what you are doing. Will you force them to
keep silent as you are very powerful? Why/Why not?
Some people dominate others who belong to different gender or race or cultural
identity. Do you support them? Why/Why not?
80 English For Today
Article 3: Everyone has the right ... life, liberty and security of person.
4.1 Work with a partner and discuss whether we enjoy all the rights mentioned in
the Declaration.
Column A Column B
Lesson 2
Are We Aware of These Rights II?
1. Warm up activity:
Pick up the days newspapers (at least two) and find out stories about violation of
human rights / rights of children, women, the disadvantaged, ethnic minorities etc.
and summarize them in a paragraph.
2. Read the following texts which are some of the articles of the Declarations of
Human Rights.
Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family,
home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.
Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum
from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely
arising from nonpolitical crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes
and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the
right to change his nationality.
Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race,
nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.
They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at
its dissolution.
(2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of
the intending spouses.
(3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is
entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this
right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Human Rights 83
Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers.
Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country,
directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be
held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Column A Column B
4. Refugees who have to leave their own countries for political, economic and
other reasons have to lose many of the rights above. The provision of which
articles above are denied to them?
Lesson 3
Rights to Health and Education
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss in small groups what each of you think the term Human Rights
means. See if the points you come up with are similar to the ones described in
the text below.
2. The following text has extracts from the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and are about health and education. Read them and say whether your
country has been able to comply with these declarations.
Article 25: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and well-being of oneself and of one's family, including food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to
security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances
beyond one's control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.
All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same
social protection.
Your opinion: I think my country has been able/not been able to comply with this
because.
Article 26: (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in
the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made
generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to
all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human
personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and
friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further
86 English For Today
4. Write an essay of 300 words using the answers to the following questions:
a. What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
b. Which organization has formulated this declaration?
c. Why is this declaration made? What do you know about the intentions of the UN
regarding the declaration?
d. Which are the most important declarations to you?
e. Did you know them beforehand?
f. How will the knowledge of this declaration help you as a citizen?
5. It is said that education makes an individual aware of his / her own rights and
the rights of others. Do you think this has been the case with you? If not, why
not?
Human Rights 87
Lesson 4
Amerigo, a Street Child
1. Warm up activity:
Look at the pictures and then discuss the following questions in small groups.
Who do you think are these children? What would you call them in your
own language?
What are they doing?
Do these pictures contradict the idea behind the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights?
Have you got such children in your locality? What problems do they have in
their lives?
2. Read the following story and answer the questions that follow:
My name is Amerigo. I am 13 years old and I live on the street, alone. My mother,
who is separated from my father, doesnt want me. She told me to go away .... Now she
is married to another man. My father lives very far away. I want to go to him, but he
won't take me either. I begged him to send me some money so that I could buy a bus
ticket. I am still waiting. He hasnt answered.
The streets are now my home. Sometimes I find work. I used to collect trash and sell
it to a vendor. I stopped doing that after I had a serious infection and a doctor told me
to stay away from the trash dump. Once I worked for an ice cream shop owner and
sold ice cream on the beach. But I got no money in return. The owner of the shop
gave me something to eat, and let me sleep in his hut at night. The work was difficult
and painful. The ice cream box is quite heavy when it is full. I had to walk for hours,
offering my ice cream to whoever wanted to buy. There were days when I could not
even sell one ice cream.
88 English For Today
Now use these points and write a paragraph on the similarities and dissimilarities
you have with a street child.
5. Read the first paragraph of Amerigos story. What form of speech is used here
- direct or indirect speech?
5.1 Now read the following text. What form of speech is used here: direct or
indirect?
His name was Amerigo .... His father lived very far away. He wanted to go to his
father, but he (the father) wont have taken him either. He had begged him (his father)
to send some money so that he could buy a bus ticket. He was waiting. However, his
father hadnt answered.
Lesson 5
Human Rights
1. Warm up activity:
In a group talk about the child labour situation in Bangladesh. You must have
seen children as young as 7 or 8 working in households, shops, rickshaw or
motor garages and in a number of other professions. Do you think they can
exercise any of their rights?
How do employers treat child labourers? What human rights do the employers
violate?
Write a page on the plight of street children in our cities.
2. Now read this poem and see what happens to a young boy who was doing a man's
work. The boy was working alone sawing wood in a yard in rural New England.
There were no adequate protections for him, and the inevitable happened towards
sunset one day when his sister announced the time for supper.
The poem has been written by the American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963), who is
known for his poems-mostly set in New Englad, in the North-Eastern part of USA
- which depict the social realities and the philosophical concerns of his time.
4. What does the poet mean when he says "And they, since they/ Were not the one
dead, turned to their affairs?" Who are they?
5. What attitude of society to the tragic incident is reflected in the last two lines of
the poem?
7. Is there any significance in the way Frost arranges the background landscape
in the poem, particularly the five mountain ranges?
8. Where is the poem set? Who are at work and what kind of work do they do?
11. What effect does the repetition of the line "snarled and rattled, snarled and
rattled" produce?
13. Do you think the boy should have been allowed to do the dangerous work? Who is
responsible for his death? Which of his rights have been violated?
Unit Eight: Environment and Nature
Lesson 1
Water, Water Everywhere
1. Warm up activity:
Ask an elderly villager or relative how the river nearby was in his or her youth.
Then compare the state of the river at present and write down the differences. Make
a presentation in a group.
With a group of friends, make a survey of ponds/water bodies in your locality. Then
ask an elderly person living in the area if there were more of them in his younger
days. Imagine the reasons why the water bodies/ponds had been filled up and write
them down.
2. Now read the four lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner and answer the questions that follow:
Coleridge poem, a ballad, narrates the harrowing sea-voyage of an old mariner who at
one point of his journey didnt have any water to drink because of a curse. Cursed or
not, we know how important drinking water is in our life. We know we cannot survive
without it. In fact two-thirds of our body is made up of water. Not for nothing is it said
that the other name of water is life. Is there a crisis in our time with regard to access to
clean drinking water? The United Nations in a meeting on the eve of the new
millennium identified the drinking water problem as one of the challenges for the
future. But do we need to worry about the problem as ours is a land of rivers and we
have plenty of rainfall? Besides, we have a sea in our backyard too.
English For Today 94
One of the sources of water in our country are the rivers. Rivers are everywhere in our
life, literature, economy and culture. But are the rivers in good shape? Unfortunately,
they are not. A few are already dead and several are going through the pangs of death.
The river Buriganga is an example of a dying river. A report published in the Daily
Sun describes what has happened to the river Buriganga and why. Its water is polluted
and a perpetual stench fills the air around it. But that is not what it was like before.
The report says that the river had a glorious past. Once it was a tributary of the mighty
Ganges and flowed into the Bay of Bengal through the river Dhaleshwari. Gradually,
it lost its link with the Ganges and got the name Buriganga. The Mughals marveled at
the tide level of the Buriganga and founded their capital Jahangirnagar on its banks in
1610. The river supplied drinking water and supported trade and commerce.
Jahangirnagar was renamed Dhaka which grew into a heavily populated city with a
chronic shortage of space.
The city paid back the bounty of the river by sucking life out of it! According to
newspaper report, the Buriganga is dying because of pollution. Huge quantities of
toxic chemicals and wastes from mills and factories, hospitals and clinics and
households and other establishments are dumped into the river every day. The city of
Dhaka discharges about 4500 tons of solid waste every day and most of it is directly
released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of the Environment (DoE),
20,000 tons of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials, are released into
the river every day. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital
city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo,
Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.
95 Environment and Nature
The river would need a monsters stomach to digest all the wastes mentioned above.
There is a limit up to which it can put up with its cruel and thoughtless treatment. We
the humans have successfully killed one of our rivers. There are other rivers in the
country that are being subjected to similar thoughtless treatment. Unless we take care
of our rivers there may come a time when we will cry water, water' and find it
nowhere.
3. Collect some reports on the dying rivers in Bangladesh from newspapers and
magazines. Write a paragraph summarizing the main points.
4. Make a survey of the water bodies in your locality and write a report on
whether they are being properly protected or not.
5. In a group, collect the data on the average rainfall of the last three years and
write a report on any changes in our rainfall pattern.
6. The following words can be used both as verbs and nouns. Make sentences of
your own to show the differences:
a. waste
b. subject
c. release
d. marvel
e. shape
English For Today 96
Lesson 2
1. Warm up activity:
Read the title of the article and look at the picture. Do not read the text yet.
Guess what kind of information you are likely to get from the article.
In pairs, discuss whether the article may contain the following information-
Location and surrounding areas of Hakaluki Haor
Kinds of fish available in Hakaluki Haor
Kinds of migratory birds that visit the Haor in winter
The economic importance of the Haor
2. Now read the article and see how much of the above information you can find in it.
Hakaluki Haor is bounded by the Kushiara river as well as a part of the Sonai-Bardal
river to the north, by the Fenchuganj-Kulaura railway to the west and to the south,
and by the Kulaura-Beanibazar road to the east. The haor falls under two
administrative districts, Maulvibazar and Sylhet. Some 190,000 people live in the
area surrounding the haor.
Hakaluki Haor is an important source of fisheries resources for Bangladesh.
Kalibaus, Boal, Rui, Ghagot, Pabda and Chapila are the main fish species found here.
From the Kushiara there are frequent upstream movement of fish towards the beels
and tributaries of Hakaluki. The beels in Hakaluki haor provide winter shelter for the
mother fisheries. In early monsoon these mother fisheries produce millions of fries
for the entire downstream fishing communities. Floodplains are also an important
source of fisheries resources within the area. However, many of the beels have lost
their capacity to provide shelter for mother fisheries because of sand deposits from
upstream rivers and canals, use of complete dewatering technique for fishing and
lack of aquatic plants to provide feed and shelter for parent fish.
The haor is a very important resting
place for migratory waterfowls flying
in from the north. The most interesting
species is the Barheaded Goose, which
is now hardly seen in fresh water
wetlands. Many other important
species of waterfowls make the Haor
their temporary home. Unfortunately,
illegal poaching has been a threat to the
waterfowl population in this vast wetland.
Hakaluki haor is known as a good
grazing land in winter. People from
villages around the Haor and also from distant areas send their herds for grazing.
During this time, herders make temporary shelters near the beels and graze their
animals for a period of 4-5 months. The Haor had very dense swamp forests in the
past, but deforestation and a lack of conservation practices have virtually destroyed
this unique forest in the last two decades.
Two small patches of swamp forests still exist in the area of which one is in Chatla beel and
the other near the village of Kalikrishnapur. With the exception of these two swamp forest
patches, the vegetation surrounding Hakaluki haor is unique. It includes both swamp forest
English For Today 98
benefits it provides
its natural beauty
5. Match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B.
Column A Column B
Lesson 3
The Giant Panda
1. Warm up activity:
Look at the picture of a panda below. Discuss the following questions in pairs.
Have you ever a seen a panda? If yes, where did you see it-in a zoo or on
television?
What does a panda look like? Does it look like any other animal that you know?
Which country has the largest number of pandas?
2. Now read the text and answer the questions that follow:
their specific predictions, but each forecasted some level of temperature rise within the
coming century.
The results suggest that if the bamboo is restricted
to its current distribution area, between 80 and 100
percent of it will disappear by the end of the 21st
century, because it wont be able to grow under the
increased temperatures.
If, however, bamboo can move into new, cooler
areas (which will reach the same temperatures as
current bamboo habitats due to warming), then
there is hope. However, all depend on the extent to
which humans can curtail climate change by
limiting greenhouse-gas emissions in the future.
Many pandas in the wild currently live in nature reserves protected from human
encroachment. However, almost all of the land encompassed by those reserves will be
unsuitable for the bamboo if the temperatures rise as predicted. But if conservationists
plan ahead now to move those reserves in line with changing bamboo habitats, then it
may be possible to preserve the land the pandas will need.
And climate change is not the only challenge facing giant pandas, one of the most
endangered species in the world, researchers say. Human activities have already
severely limited the animals habitats, and their dependence on a single source of food,
one that is not that nutrient - or energy - rich, doesnt help.
In addition to their native habitats in China, pandas live around the world in zoos and
breeding centers. But Liu doesnt predict a bright future for the bears if they lose their
wild habitats. To really protect pandas, you cannot just stick [them] into a breeding
center or a zoo, he said, noting that the animals genetic diversity would suffer, among
other issues. That's not a long-term solution.
[Clara Moskowitz: http://www.livescience.com/24697-giant-panda-climate-change-bamboo-impact.html]
English For Today 102
Column A Column B
1. endangered a. danger
2. several b. difficult
3. gone c. a number of
4. threat d. food
5. diet e. threatened
6. predict f. likelihood
7. entire g. specialist
8. chance h. whole
9. tough i. disappeared
10. expert j. forecast
5. From your reading of the text, discuss whether the statements (a-h) below are
true or false. Then compare your answers with those of a friend:
a. The giant panda will soon be put on the endangered list. T/F
b. The article gives seven reasons for the fall in panda numbers. T/F
c. Bamboo is disappearing because of a bug that is eating it. T/F
d. Around 99% of a pandas diet is bamboo. T/F
e. A report said the bamboo in a Chinese mountain range may disappear. T/F
f. The report says bamboo could disappear in the next two decades. T/F
g. Pandas may survive if there is bamboo higher up the mountains. T/F
h. A panda expert said the world should wake up and help the panda. T/F
103 Environment and Nature
6. Role play: Student A strongly believes that the panda will survive in the wild;
Student B strongly believes that the panda has no chance of survival. Have a
conversation in pairs on the issue. Use as much information as you can get from the
text above. You may also add your own views and knowledge to support your stand.
7. Poster making: Look at the posters below for raising awareness among people to
save pandas. Think of an animal in Bangladesh that is also in the list of endangered
species. Make a poster with a slogan to create awareness among people to save that
animal.
English For Today 104
Lesson 4
Threats to Tigers of Mangrove Forest
1. Warm up activity:
Spend a few minutes writing down all the different words you associate with
tigers. Share your words with your friend(s) and talk about them. Together,
put the words into different categories.
Share your notes with those of your friend and tell the class about your
thoughts/points
2. Read the report on the alarming fate of the Royal Bengal Tigers and answer
the questions below. The report was published in the online version of The
Guardian newspaper.
A vast mangrove forest shared by Bangladesh and India that is home to possibly 500 Bengal
tigers is being rapidly destroyed by erosion, rising sea levels and storm surges, according to
a major study by researchers at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and others.
The Sundarbans forest took the brunt of super cyclone Sidr in 2007, but new satellite
studies show that 71% of the forested coastline is retreating by as much as 200 metres a
year. If erosion continues at this pace, already threatened tiger populations living in the
forests will be put further at risk.
105 Environment and Nature
Natalie Pettorelli, one of the reports authors, said: Coastline retreat is evident
everywhere. A continuing rate of retreat would see these parts of the mangrove
disappear within 50 years. On the Indian side of the Sundarbans, the island which
extends most into the Bay of Bengal has receded by an average of 150 metres a year,
with a maximum of just over 200 metres; this would see the disappearance of the
island in about 20 years.
The Sundarbans is known for vanishing islands but the scientists said the current
retreat of the mangrove forests on the southern coastline is not normal. The causes for
increasing coastline retreat, other than direct anthropogenic ones, include increased
frequency of storm surges and other extreme natural events, rises in sea-level and
increased salinity which increases the vulnerability of mangroves, said Pettorelli.
Our results indicate a rapidly retreating coastline that cannot be accounted for by the
regular dynamics of the Sundarbans. Degradation is happening fast, weakening this
natural shield for India and Bangladesh.
As human development thrives, and global temperature continues to rise, natural
protection from tidal waves and cyclones is being degraded at alarming rates. This will
inevitably lead to species loss in this richly biodiverse part of the world, if nothing is
done to stop it.
The Sundarbans is a critical tiger habitat; one of only a handful of remaining forests
big enough to hold several hundred tigers. To lose the Sundarbans would be to move a
step closer to the extinction of these majestic animals, said ZSL tiger expert Sarah
Christie.
[Source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/29/sunderbans-disappearing-mangrove-
india-bangladeshBy: John Vidal, Tuesday 29 January 2013]
3. Read the statements below and say if they are true (T) or false (F):
a. There are about 500 tigers in the Sundarbans.
b. Researchers forecast that some parts of the Sundarbans might cease to exist in
the next 50 years.
c. Natural calamities are the only reasons for the increase in coastline retreats.
d. There has been less natural protection from storms and tidal waves.
e. The Sundarbans is a world famous site for its biodiversity
English For Today 106
4. Match the words from the report in Column A with their meanings in Column B:
8. to thrive viii. ( noun) the outline of a coast, esp. when seen from the sea,
or the land adjacent to it
9. habitat ix. (noun) an abnormal rise in the level of the sea along a coast
caused by the onshore winds of a severe cyclone
10. extinction x. (phrasal verb) to be there as an explanation for something
107 Environment and Nature
5. Talk in pairs about tigers. Use the questions cards below to guide your
discussion. Student A and B will have separate questions cards. Make sure you
dont show your questions to your friend.
6. TIGERS' SURVEY: In pairs / groups, make questions about saving tigers and
other animals from extinction and do the following:
Ask other classmates your questions and note down their answers.
Go back to your original friend/group and compare your findings.
Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.
English For Today 108
Lesson 5
Kuakata: Daughter of the sea
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss the following questions in pairs.
What do you know about Kuakata?
What does the phrase Daughter of the Sea in the title mean?
Tell your friend what you wish to know about Kuakata.
2. Now read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Kuakata, locally known as Sagar
Kannya (Daughter of the Sea) is a rare
scenic spot located on the southernmost
tip of Bangladesh. Kuakata in
Latachapli union under Kalapara Police
Station of Patuakhali district is about 30
km in length and 6 km in breadth. It is
70 km from Patuakhali district
headquarters and 320 km from Dhaka.
An excellent combination of the
picturesque natural beauty, sandy
beaches, blue sky and the shimmering expanse of water of the Bay of Bengal and the
evergreen forest makes Kuakata a much sought after tourist destination.
The name Kuakata takes its origin from the story of a Kua- or well-dug on the sea
shore by the early Rakhaine settlers for collecting drinking water. The Rakhaines had
landed on Kuakata coast after being expelled from Arakan by the Mughals. Following
the first well, it became a tradition to dig wells in the neighborhood of Rakhaine
homesteads for fresh water supply.
Kuakata is one of the unique spots which allow a visitor to watch both the sunrise and
the sunset from the beach. That perhaps makes Kuakata one of the world's most
attractive beaches. The long and wide beach at Kuakata has a typical natural setting.
This sandy beach slopes gently into the Bay and bathing there is as pleasant as is
swimming or diving.
109 Environment and Nature
5. What do these words mean in the context they have been used in the text:
a. expanse
b. unique
c. virgin
d. indigenous
e. devotee
f. heritage
6. Project: Imagine that you work in a tourist agency. You are going to make a
leaflet on Kuakata to attract potential tourists. Make a draft of 100 words for
the leaflet highlighting all the attractions of the place.
Look at the sample of the leaflets given below. Think about how to design the leaflet.
Try to use some attractive pictures of Kuakata sea beach.
Finally, make a leaflet on Kuakata and display it in your college common room.
Unit Nine: Myths and Literature
Lesson 1
Bengal's Face
1. Warm up activity:
What are myths? Look up the meaning of the word in a dictionary or search
Google.
Do you think that there are myths to be found in Bangladeshi culture?
3. Write down what you have guessed about the meaning of each of the following
words from the context in which they have been used:
fig tree; roosting; dome; hush; honeycombed; waning; desolate; wagtail; wailed.
Now consult a dictionary or search Google for the words to see if you have
guessed the meanings of the words correctly.
4. Discuss the following questions with members of your group and carry on the
discussion in English as far as possible:
a. Have you heard about Chand Saudagar and Behula before? If so, in what
context? Where is Ganguri and Amara?
b. Discuss with your class friends the Manasamangal medieval epic. Do you know
of any modern Bengali versions of this epic?
d. How and why does Jibanananda Das use this mythical story in his poem?
e. The poem has fourteen lines and is divided into two thematic sections. What are
such poems called in English and in Bangla?
5. Which of the following statements seem to be false and which true? Tick T or
F after each statement to register your response:
a. The speaker saw the scene that he describes in his poem from a boat. T/F
b. The scene that he came across was noisy. T/F
c. Both Behula and Chand sailed down the river in a boat. T/F
d. The scene described in the second half of the poem is a very sad one. T/F
e. The poem is about a Bengal that is no more. T/F
6. Identify the parts of speech of the following words:
leafy (line 5); sighted (line 8); incomparable (line 9); besides (line 11); wagtail (line 13);
strings (line 14).
113 Myths and Literature
8. What other Bengali myths do you know about? Have you seen them
represented in popular culture?
Lesson 2
Orpheus
1. Warm-up activity:
Discuss the following questions:
Have you read Kazi Nazrul Islams Bidrohi in Bengali? If so, did you find the use
of any myths in the poem? If not, consider it your homework. Read Bidrohi at
home for discussion in class later.
Were any of the myths associated with music and a musician?
2. Read the following passage and then fill in each gap with an appropriate word
from the list given below.
Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. He was presented by his father
with a lyre and taught to (i) ------------- upon it, which he did to such perfection that
nothing could withstand the (ii) ------------- of his music. Not only his fellow-mortals,
but (iii) ---------------- animals were softened by his music. The very trees and rocks
were charmed by him. The former crowded (iv) ------------ him and the latter relaxed
somewhat of (v) ------------ hardness, softened by his notes.
Column A Column B
a. play i. a guitar
b. perform ii. in an orchestra
c. sing iii. a horn
d. blow iv. a song
e. strum v. the drums
English For Today 116
Lesson 3
The Legend of Gazi
1. Warm up activity:
2. Now read the following text and answer the questions that follow:
The Legend of Gazi
According to some myths and legends, Gazi
Pir was a Muslim saint who is said to have
spread Islam in the parts of Bengal close to
the Sunderbans. He was credited with many
miracles. For example, he could supposedly
calm dangerous animals and make them
docile. He is usually depicted in paats or
scroll paintings riding a fierce-looking Bengal
tiger, a snake in his hand, but in no apparent
danger. According to some stories, he also
fought crocodiles who threatened the people
of a region full of canals and creeks, indeed, a
kind of watery jungle bordering the Bay of
Bengal. Because of his alert and vigilant presence, all predatory animals were said to
have been kept within bounds. It was also believed that he enabled villagers to live
close to forests and jungles and cultivate their lands. Consequently, people of these
regions would pray to him for protection. The story of Gazi Pir has been preserved in
folk literature as well as art and has been performed in indigenous theatre. In fact,
some Gazir paat scrolls are part of the collection of the British Museum.
117 Myths and Literature
5. Notice that the passage about Gazi contains words and phrases such as for
example, also, indeed, consequently and in fact. These words and phrases
are used either for emphasis or for transitions. What part of speech do these
words belong to? Which of them are used for emphasis and which for
transitions? Why are they needed in the passage and how different would the
passage be without them?
Now make some sentences with these words and phrases. You will find that you will
need more than a sentence for some of them.
Finally, try to make a list with these and similar adverb words and phrases that you can
use for emphasis and transitions.
English For Today 118
6. Which of the following statements seem to be false and which true? Tick T or
F after each statement to register your response:
a. Gazi was admired and followed because of the miracles he could perform. T/F
b. The miracles of Gazi are followed by people in all parts of Bangladesh. T/F
c. Gazi was said to have helped people in settling down in the southeastern parts of
Bangladesh T/F
7. Write a paragraph of about 150 words explaining what folk art is and your
personal experience of some forms of folk art.
Lesson 4
Hercules
1. Warm-up activity:
Discuss the following questions:
What is Hercules famous for?
What does it mean when someone says about a man, He is like Hercules?
Do you know of other heroes who have comparable stories - either through
your reading or from watching films and television?
2. Read the following passage about Hercules and answer the questions that
follow:
Hercules was the son of Jupiter and Alcmena.
Eurystheus, the King of Mycenae and his cousin, made
him undergo some difficult tasks, which are known in
Greek myths as the 'twelve labours of Hercules. The
first involved a fight with a lion. The valley of Nemea
was being disturbed by a terrible lion and so
Eurystheus ordered Hercules to slay the beast and bring
him his skin. At first, Hercules tried to fight the lion
with his club and arrows but this took him nowhere.
Then Hercules attempted a different tactic: he decided
he would use his hands. He thus managed to slay the animal on his own, relying
entirely on his immense strength. Victorious, he returned to Mycenae carrying the dead
lion on his shoulders, a sight that terrified the King.
His next task was to slay a monster called Hydra that was ravaging the country of
Argos. The Hydra had nine heads, of which the middle one was said to be immortal.
Our hero struck off its heads with his club, but whenever he knocked off a head, two
new ones erupted in its place. Eventually with the help of his devoted servant Iolaus,
Hercules succeeded in burning all the heads of the Hydra except the ninth or immortal
one, which he decided to bury under a huge rock. In other words, Hercules triumphed
again, as he would every time he was given an impossible task by Eurystheus! And
this is how he began to acquire the reputation of a hero possessing immense strength
throughout the world.
English For Today 120
Read the following words. You may not be familiar with some of them. Look up
their meaning in a dictionary. How are they related to dreams?
colour nightmare imagination day-dream
reverie romantic hallucination shadowy
silvery short lasting dreamy dreamer
reality pleasant haunting fragments
2. Read the following text and fill in the gaps with words (you will use only the
relevant ones) listed above:
All of us know what a dream is. Generally we dream during our sleep. Dreams may
appear to be short or long lasting. Sometimes we say, I dreamt for the whole night!
But do we really dream for the whole night? Some dreams are sweet or
(a)......... Some are horrible. When we dream something extremely
bad, we call it a (b) This is interesting that dreams have no (c)
... They are soft, (d) ....., and (e) . Do you
know how the words (f) and (g) differ from
dream? Do you know any (h) ........? What do they do? Does dream
have any relation with (i) ? Do we always dream during our sleep?
122 English For Today
The dream we have during the day time is called (j) .......... Sometimes we
long for something so passionately. We call that a dream as well.
3. Now read the article below and see what you think about dreams - similar or
dissimilar to what is said here:
Dreams have fascinated philosophers for thousands of years, but only recently have
dreams been subjected to empirical research and scientific study. Chances are that
youve often found yourself puzzling over the content of a dream, or perhaps you've
wondered why you dream at all.
First, lets start by answering a basic question: What is a dream? A dream can include
any of the images, thoughts and emotions that are experienced during sleep. Dreams
can be extraordinarily vivid or very vague; filled with joyful emotions or frightening
images; focused and understandable or unclear and confusing.
Why do we dream? What purpose do dreams serve? While many theories have
been proposed, no consensus has emerged. Considering the time we spend in a
dreaming state, the fact that researchers do not yet understand the purpose of dreams
may seem baffling. However, it is important to consider that science is still unraveling
the exact purpose and function of sleep itself. Some researchers suggest that dreams
serve no real purpose, while others believe that dreaming is essential to mental,
emotional and physical well-being.
Dreams 123
Next, lets learn more about some of the most prominent dream theories.
Consistent with the psychoanalytic perspective, Sigmund Freud's theory of dreams
suggests that dreams are a representation of unconscious desires, thoughts and
motivations. According to Freud, people are driven by aggressive and sexual instincts
that are repressed from conscious awareness. While these thoughts are not consciously
expressed, they find their way into our awareness via dreams. In his famous book The
Interpretation of Dreams, Freud wrote that dreams are ...disguised fulfillments of
repressed wishes.
8. Now write about some dreams that you couldnt make real along with the
conditions that could make your dreams true. For example:
I could be a good cricketer if I practised a lot.
9. Now write a paragraph of 100 words narrating what you would do if you won a
million Taka lottery.
10. Summarise the text on dreams highlighting the following points:
What is a dream?
Why do we dream?
Does a dream have any meaning?
What are the benefits of dreaming?
126 English For Today
Lesson 2
Dream Poems
Introduction:
1. Before reading the poems, you must carry out a couple of warm up activities.
Find out more about Lawrence and Hughes from Wikipedia (on the Internet).
Lawrence was more famous as a novelist, so write down the names of five of
his novels.
Present your findings in a group to the class.
2. Now read the two poems and answer the questions that follow.
A. Dreams by D. H. Lawrence
All people dream, but not equally.
Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind,
Wake in the morning to find that it was vanity.
Lesson 3
I Have A Dream
1. Warm up activity:
American pastor,
Martin Luther January 15, 1929 non-violent
activist, I have a dream
King Jr. April 4, 1968
humanitarian
Now write 5-10 sentences describing the man and his work.
(T)he Negro is still not free. the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the
manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. (T)he Negro lives on a
lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. (T)he
Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile
in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition ....
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and
tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
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.
Dreams 129
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.
I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its
governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification,
that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join
hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall
be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made
straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with.
With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With
this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful
symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together,
to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free
one day.
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from
the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty
mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of
Pennsylvania
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every
mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to
speed up that day when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and
130 English For Today
gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of
the old Negro spiritual, Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at
last! (abridged)
3. Guess the meanings of the words in Column A from the context and match
them with their meanings given in Column B:
Column A Column B
c. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that one day little black boys and girls will
be able to join hands with white boys and girls.
d. Martin Luther King Jr. maintained that the fulfillment of his dreams was a
precondition for America to be a great country.
6. Here is a sentence from the text which shows Kings hopes about America. Find
more similar sentences from the text.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up.
a. ...
b. ...
c. ...
d. ..
e. ...
8. Find the meanings of the following words and make sentences with them:
a. interposition
b. nullification
c. prodigious
d. discord
e. hamlet
9. Project work:
In groups, prepare a list of your dreams for your country or the community you belong
to and then present it in the class.
Unit Eleven: Diaspora
Lesson I
What is Diaspora?
1. Warm up activity:
You can find the meaning of Diaspora in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary
which provides the following definitions of the word:
a. the movement, migration, or scattering of a people away from an established or
ancestral homeland
b. people settled far from their ancestral homelands
c. the place where these people live
Can you think of the word in relation to people you know in Bangladesh who have
settled abroad? Which parts of the world do Bangladeshis tend to settle in
nowadays? Discuss with your friends whether it is possible to call such settlements
the result of Bangladeshi diasporas of our time.
2. Read the passage and then carry out the activities that follow:
The term diaspora is used to refer to people who have left their homelands and
settled in other parts of the world, either because they were forced to do so or
because they wanted to leave on their own. The word is increasingly used for such
people as a collective group and/or a community. The world has seen many
5
diasporas but scholars have been studying the phenomenon with great interest only
in recent decades.
Among the great diasporas of history is that of the Jewish people, who were forced
to leave their lands in ancient times. The movement of Aryans from Central Europe
to the Indian sub-continent thousands of years ago is also a noteworthy diaspora,
10
although the causes of this diaspora are unclear. In twentieth century history, the
Palestinian diaspora has attracted a lot of attention and been a cause of concern for
world leaders because of the plight of Palestinians. There have been massive
diasporas in Africa, too, over the centuries, either because of war or because of the
ravages of nature. But the chief reason why the phenomenon of diaspora is attracting
15
so much attention now is globalization.
Diaspora 133
3. Guess the meanings of the words in Column A from the context and match
them with the meanings given in Column B:
Column A Column B
a. settled i. occurrence
b. community ii. significant
c. noteworthy iii. moved to
d. ravages iv. negative effects
e. phenomenon v. group of people
Can you think of some other words/phrases that are used in English writing to
mark time?
6. Write a paragraph of about 150 words on people you know or have read about
who have moved from Bangladesh to other parts of the world in recent years.
134 English For Today
Lesson 2
1. Warm up activity:
Today a tourist who is new to London may well decide to make her way over to the 5
East End of the city, to visit Banglatown. After exiting the Tube Station there she
might follow the signs that point to Brick Lane, a street that has gained certain
notoriety from Monica Ali's best-selling novel of the same name, which was also
made into a movie. She may decide to try out one of the many Bangladeshi
restaurants she sees there for lunch. Sitting at one of the tables with a window onto 10
the street, she might notice that the street signs are not just in English but also in
136 English For Today
Bengali. And the lamp-posts are in green and red - the colors of the Bangladeshi
flag. In fact everywhere she looks she finds visual cues of the Bangladeshi, and even
more specifically, the Sylheti presence in the area. Storefronts advertise flights from
London to Sylhet, some on Bangladesh Biman (the national airline of Bangladesh) 15
and others on Air Sylhet, a private airline company formed by British Bangladeshis.
There is a sign for Sonali Bank - the major state-owned commercial bank of
Bangladesh. There is a food store advertising frozen fish from Sylhet's Surma River.
She watches two elderly men with long, grey beards enter the store; they are dressed
in long white tunics, baggy pants and white head caps. She sees a group of teenage 20
girls walking down the street in animated conversation. One is dressed in a black
burkah and the others are in jeans and long shirts, along with bright sequined hijabs
on their heads. Looking through her London guidebook, she reads about how this
neighborhood is in Banglatown.
In 2001 British Bangladeshi leaders, including many of the second-generation 25
activists, led a successful bid via the Tower Hamlets council to gain the official
designation of Banglatown for Brick Lane and its surrounding neighbourhoods.
With the help of street signs and an advertising campaign, the hope was to give the
area a distinct cultural identity that would be attractive to tourists and thus beneficial
for Bangladeshi businesses located there. In fact the area has a number of visible 30
Bangladeshi landmarks, such as Altab Ali Park, the Kobi Nazrul Cultural Centre and
the Shohid Minar Monument. Along with the official designation of Banglatown,
these landmarks are matters of considerable pride for many British Bangladeshis,
symbols of their hard-won presence and political voice in Britain.
3. Write down what you have guessed about the meaning of each of the following
words from the context in which they have been used:
a. origin
b. borough
c. concentration
d. notoriety
e. cues
f. tunics
g. bid
h. distinct
i. landmarks
j. hard-won
Diaspora 137
Now consult a dictionary or search Google for the words to see if you have
guessed the meanings of the word correctly.
4. Discuss the following questions with members of your group. Carry on the
discussion in English as far as possible:
a. Where do most British-Bangladeshis live?
b. How and why did Brick Lane gain notoriety?
c. What is the name of Monica Alis novel and the film made based on it?
d. What are some signs and symbols of Bangladesh to be found in the Brick Lane area?
e. How did the area come to be known as Banglatown?
f. What are some of the landmarks that reflect the pride of British-Bangladeshis
about their identity as Bangladeshis?
5. Which of the following statements seem to be false and which true? Tick T or
F after each statement to register your response:
a. Most Bangladeshis in Britain live outside London. T/F
b. Everywhere in Brick Lane, one sees evidence of the high percentage of
Bangladeshis from Sylhet who live in the area. T/F
c. Bangladeshis in Brick Lane lack confidence in their future. T/F
d. There was no business motive in the drive to make the Brick Lane area known as
Banglatown. T/F
e. Bangladeshis have made their presence felt in Britain through hard work. T/F
Make a presentation on the history of diasporas, mentioning some of the most famous
diasporas that have been recorded in history, religion and culture, such as the
Palestinian diaspora.
Diaspora 139
Lesson 3
Bangladeshis in Italy
1. Warm up activity:
Find out the reasons why large groups of people from other parts of the world
have migrated to Bangladesh and settled down over the ages. Also, discuss how
and why in recent times Bangladeshis have gone abroad to seek a new life for
themselves.
2. Read the following passage by Ihtisham Kabir and then attempt the activities
that follow:
Bangladeshis in Italy
Last month, a 20-year dream came true: we visited Italy. While it was an amazing
lesson in history, I was also taken by surprise at the Bangladeshis in Italy.
I heard estimates of between 200,000 and 600,000 Bangladeshis in Italy.
I saw them in Rome, Florence and Venice (but not in Siena.) The ones I saw all had
small to medium-size businesses. In Rome, they were selling handbags, sunglasses and
tourist material on the streets. In Florence, we walked into a store selling
Indian-looking things - a monohori dokan -only to find the owner was a
Bangladeshi who had a chain of these stores in the city.
In Venice, they were selling trinkets-like little puppets made from balloons - on the
Accademia Bridge and in San Marco Square. One seller told me these would not sell in
Rome, but in Venice the tourists buy them.
They were incredibly kind and polite to us. The person in Florence-much to our
protestations-treated us with cokes and ice cream, and sold things to us at large
discounts. When it came to prices, they said Pay us what you want-we are so happy
to see a Bangladeshi tourist here. It was a kind of haggling in reverse. One street
vendor in Rome, after selling a sunglass at 18 Euro to a European person, turned
around and sold me a similar sunglass at 4.5 Euro. I wanted to pay him more, but,
incredible as it seems, he would not take it. I think this barely covered his cost.
At a mini-flea-market of Bangladeshi stalls at the Tiburtina station in Rome, I fell into
a discussion of the business. It costs them 1000-2000 Euros a month to rent each stall.
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The work is very hard, and they live frugally. So they are able to save some money
which they send home.
One seller in Venice said he can save up to Euro 1000 a month, but only if a lot of
conditions are met (e.g. he has to sell an average of 50 euros worth daily; his food
expenses cannot exceed Euro 80/month, etc.)
I was inspired by their entrepreneurship and touched by their generosity and hope their
Diaspora comees true soon.
Here is a stall at the mini-flea market outside Tiburtina:
3. Guess the meanings of the words in Column A from the context and match
them with the meanings given in Column B:
Column A Column B
amazing hard to believe
chain of stores surprising
protestation a set of shops
incredible economically
frugally complaints
entrepreneurship owning business
generosity go beyond
exceed a market set out dress that sells
second hand or cheap goods
the market kindness
Diaspora 141
e. The Bangladeshi businessmen he met often sold him goods at low prices.
f. The author was deeply moved by his experience of meeting Bangladeshis in Italy.
Lesson 4
Bangladeshi Community in the UK
1. Warm up activity:
2. Text
Bangladeshi Community in the UK
Migration from Bangladesh to Britain started in 1930s and was predominantly a
Sylheti phenomenon. Men of this particular geographical area employed by the British
ship companies first started the process of migration. These men were largely illiterate
and belonged to the landless peasantry. After the World War II, due to labor shortages,
British government encouraged labor migration from its former colonies. The postwar
British economy demanded cheap and plentiful labor, much of which was recruited
from South Asia. Since Sylhet had already forged a strong link with the UK, most new
labor was drawn from there. Sylhetis, based in the UK, helped each other to integrate
into the new society by providing credit, arranging documents, and gradually
144 English For Today
spreading the network. During the 1950s, the numbers increased dramatically.
However, along with people from poorer backgrounds, a small number of urban upper
and middle class Bangladeshis also migrated even before the World War II for higher
education and settled in the UK.
According to the 2001 census, 283,063 Bangladeshis lived in the UK, which is 0.5
percent of the total population. In Britain, they are primarily concentrated in Greater
London and the third generation of Bangladeshi population, those born and bred in
Britain, constitute half of the community. The largest Bangladeshi population outside
London is located in Oldham, and the others are scattered across Birmingham, Luton
and Bradford. British Bangladeshis are predominantly Muslims. Studies reveal that the
second and the third generation Bangladeshis seem to uphold their Muslim identity
rather than their identity as Bangladeshis.
However, the absence of a strong tie does not mean that the Bangladeshi community is
completely detached from their homeland. In the era of globalization and social
networking, like other diaspora communities, British Bangladeshis are also linked to their
countries of origin by phone, mail, Internet and television. By the virtue of technological
advancement, communication of news is rapid and sustained, which gives migrant
communities a sense of belonging to multiple homes. In particular, the first generation of
migrants continues to regard Bangladesh as central to their identity.
3. Guess the meanings of the words in Column A from the context and match
them with the meaning given in Column B:
Column A Column B
illiterate abundant
plentiful survey
census uneducated
credit compose
documents personality
constitute linking with others
social networking loans
identity papers
Diaspora 145
b. Who were the second generation of Bangladeshi migrants in Britain and what
reasons did they have for going to Britain?
7. Discuss the use of facts and figures in the passage. What purposes do they
serve? How are they organized?
8. Quite a few of the words used in the passage end with -ly such as predominantly
and completely. Make a list of these words. What purpose do they serve? What
parts of speech do they belong to? Now make sentences of your own with these
words.
Unit Twelve: Peace and Conflict
Lesson 1
Definition, Causes and Types of Conflict
1. Warm up activity:
What is your view of peace and conflict? Write five words that come to your
mind when you think of peace and five more when you think of conflict.
Here are two poems that speak of mans desire for peace and the inevitability of
conflict or war. W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) was an Irish poet whose early poetry showed
a yearning for love and peace, and who found in nature a refuge from the ugliness of
city life. The Lake Isle of Innisfree gives him the promise of some peace of mind. W.
H. Auden (1907-1973) was an Anglo-American poet who became famous for his
stylistic and technical achievements and for poems (and plays) of exceptional depth
and feelings. He wrote about love, war, religion, politics and the problems of modern
man. September 1, 1939 is an indictment of all wars, particularly one that was
looming over the world in 1939.
And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings
Peace and Conflict 147
3. Describe the island in Yeats poem. What does bee loud glade mean?
4. What does the poet mean when he says for peace comes dropping slow?
5. Why does the poet desire peace so much? Can such an island really offer him
peace?
6. Discuss the nature of the conflict one finds in cities such as the one the poet
lives in.
7. Audens poem has as its setting the city of New York. How does the city
contribute to the conflict in the poets mind?
8. How does Auden describe the impending war? What effect does a war have on
people?
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10. Why does the poet mean when he says Waves of anger and fear/Circulate
over the bright/ And darkened lands of the earth?
11. Can you explain what the poet means by The unmentionable odour of death?
Lesson 2
What is Conflict?
1. Read the following prose text on conflict and answer the questions that follow:
Conflict can be described as a disagreement among groups or individuals characterized
by antagonism and hostility. This is usually fueled by the opposition of one party to
another in an attempt to reach an objective different from that of the other party. The
elements involved in the conflict have varied sets of principles and values, thus
allowing a conflict to arise.
Conflict can be defined in many ways but one of the simplest is that it pertains to the
opposing ideas and actions of different entities, resulting in an antagonistic state.
Conflict is an inevitable part of life. All of us possess our own opinions, ideas and sets
of beliefs. We have our own ways of looking at things and we act according to what
we think is proper. Hence, we often find ourselves in conflict in different scenarios; it
may involve other individuals, groups of people, or a struggle within our own selves.
Consequently, conflict influences our actions and decisions in one way or another.
Conflict comes naturally; the clashing of thoughts and ideas is a part of the human
experience. It is true that it can be destructive if left uncontrolled. However, it
shouldn't be seen as something that can only cause negative things to transpire. It is a
way to come up with more meaningful realizations that can certainly be helpful to the
individuals involved.
Conflict can be seen as an opportunity for learning and understanding our differences.
We can all live harmoniously despite conflicts as long as we know how to responsibly
manage these struggles.
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2. Give the appropriate meanings of the following words. Also mention the part of
speech of each word, change them in as many parts of speech as possible and
make sentences of your own with each changed form:
a. antagonism
b. hostility
c. pertain
d. transpire
e. harmonious
f. maximize
g. incompatible
h. disrupt
3. Answer the following questions:
a. What, according to the text, is conflict? What causes conflict?
b. How many types of conflict does the text list? Is there any other type of conflict
that you are aware of?
c. How many parties are involved in a conflict?
d. How does conflict influence our actions and decisions?
e. Is there any positive impact of conflict?
f. Do you think conflicts can be resolved without anyone being harmed?
g. How is intergroup conflict different from intragroup conflict?
h. How is interpersonal conflict different from intrapersonal conflict?
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4. Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with an appropriate expression from
the list of words given in the box below:
Conflict can be defined as --------------- of value and ideas among other things, and the
most serious form of conflict is --------------- clashes that results in lot of ---------------
and casualties. There can be conflict --------------- us, which is ---------------
intrapersonal conflict. The conflict between or -------------------------- persons is called
--------------- conflict. Constraints of ------------------ resources is also a cause of conflict
and it is known as ------------------ conflict. Conflict is a very ------------------
phenomenon, but sometimes it takes ----------------- forms.
Lesson 3
Cruelties of Conflict
1. Warm up activity:
Think and note down some features of poetry that distinguish it from prose.
The poem The Charge of the Light Brigade is about a real war that took place in
1854. Go to the net and find out more about the war, its historical background, and
the parties involved in the war.
2. Read the poem and answer the questions that follow:
6. What happened to the light brigade? What is the poets attitude to the soldiers
mentioned in the poem? What words and expressions show the poets attitude
towards the soldiers?
7. What is a bridge? What is a league?
8. Why does the poet say Theirs not to make reply, /Theirs not to reason why,?
9. Find out the words in the poem associated with warfare (e.g. Cannon).
10. Does the poet think the soldiers glory will soon fade?
11. jaws of Death is an example of a metaphor. Find out other metaphors used in
the poem.
Peace and Conflict 157
Lesson 4
1. Warm up activity:
Think and note down the kind of problems a war can create for human beings
and other living things.
2. Read the text below for a clear and critical understanding and then answer the
questions that follow:
An old man with steel rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the
road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river and carts, trucks, and men, women
and children were crossing it. The mule-drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from
the bridge with soldiers helping push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks
ground up and away heading out of it all and the peasants plodded along in the ankle
deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any
farther.
It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find out to
what point the enemy had advanced. I did this and returned over the bridge. There
were not so many carts now and very few people on foot, but the old man was still
there.
Where do you come from? I asked him.
From San Carlos, he said, and smiled.
That was his native town and so it gave him pleasure to mention it and he smiled.
158 English For Today
He looked at me very blankly and tiredly, and then said, having to share his worry with
someone, The cat will be all right, I am sure. There is no need to be unquiet about the
cat. But the others. Now what do you think about the others?
Why theyll probably come through it all right.
You think so?
Why not, I said, watching the far bank where now there were no carts.
But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the
artillery?
Did you leave the dove cage unlocked? I asked.
Yes.
Then theyll fly.
Yes, certainly theyll fly. But the others. Its better not to think about the others, he
said.
If you are rested I would go, I urged. Get up and try to walk now.
Thank you, he said and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down
backwards in the dust.
I was taking care of animals, he said dully, but no longer to me. I was only taking
care of animals.
There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were
advancing toward the Ebro. It was a gray overcast day with a low ceiling so their
planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how to look after themselves was
all the good luck that old man would ever have.
3. Guess the meaning of the following words by using contextual and other clues.
a. pontoon
b. staggered
c. plodded
d. blankly
e. fascist
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c. Why is the old man not much concerned about the cat?
f. Which war does the author use as the backdrop of his story?
h. Why does the old man stop and not go across the bridge?
i. Why does the author describe contact as 'that ever mysterious event'?
Lesson 5
The Peace Movement
1. Warm up activity:
Afterwards, peace organizations were set up in many countries. The United Nations
was founded with the primary objective to maintain peace and resolve inter-state
conflicts in the world. Many treaties have been signed between many nations, a
noteworthy one of which is the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Everyone wants peace
and likes the principles of non-violence.
Peace and Conflict 163
3. Give the appropriate meanings of the following words. Also, indicate the part
of speech of each word, change them into as many parts of speech as possible,
and make sentences of your own with each changed form:
a. diplomacy
b. boycott
c. diverse
d. sustainability
e. potential
Cell phones: Phones have been around since the late 1800s, but cell
phones made their appearance only in the 1990s. Today, by
some estimates, more than 100 million people in
Bangladesh and more than 4.6 billion people worldwide
have mobile phones. Anything that is useful and spreads
so fast has to be considered one of the greatest inventions of
all time. Just two decades ago, in Bangladesh, even land lines
were difficult to obtain, let alone mobile phones. Today people from a l l
social strata use cell phones, from street vendors to business executives in luxury cars,
and from villagers to urbanites. Since May 2015, Bangladesh joined its South Asian
neighbours India (862 million) and Pakistan (122 million) on the list of countries with
100 million or more mobile phone users. The other countries on the list are China (one
billion users), Russia, Brazil, the United States, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, the
Philippines and Nigeria.
The Personal Computer: Today, we take for granted that we have one machine that
allows us to access the Internet, do word processing, use a calculator, watch TV, play
games and do a host of other things. But the personal computer only became available
to consumers in 1974. Things really took off when Microsoft Windows was introduced
in 1985 and its good that it was since without the prevalence of personal computers,
the Internet wouldnt have had nearly as big an impact as it has ever since.
The First Communications Satellite: People on Earth may
take for granted todays high-tech world of cell phones, GPS
and the satellites high above the planet that make instant
communication possible. But it all began 50 years ago
with one giant space balloon. 10 July 1962 marked the
birth of satellite communications. On this day the Telstar
satellite commenced its journey into space and became the
first ever active communications satellite. It carried the first
live trans-Atlantic TV broadcasts. Telstar was built by a team at Bell
Telephone Laboratories in USA and incorporated many innovations such as the
transistor and the 3,600 solar panels that powered the satellite. Telstar produced 14
watts and relayed its first and non-public television pictures on 11 July 1962. The
satellite could carry 600 voice calls and one black-and-white TV channel from an
egg-shaped orbit. Today, we use satellites for GPS, TV, radio, weather tracking,
military surveillance, space exploration and global communications, among other
things.
166 English For Today
The Internet/World Wide Web: The ARPANET, The first Internet, was invented in
1969 and the public only had access to the World Wide Web starting in 1993. Today,
just 22 years later, the web has revolutionized the dissemination of information,
created a new multi-trillion dollar economic phenomenon, played a role in revolutions,
and has interconnected much of the globe. It has also made it possible for people all
over the planet to reach out and touch someone.
4. Complete the table below with information given in the text. Use no more than
three words and/or numbers in each of the blank spaces.
5. Find out the meanings of the following words; then make sentences with them.
a. urbanite
b. pique
c. implant
d. transplant
e. satellite
f. orbit
g. spin-off
h. brace
i. imaging
j. spam
6. Make five sentences from the substitutions table below. Make sure the
sentences have the correct information given in the text.
Note: The parts of sentences in the first column are examples of gerunds/gerund
phrases.
7. Complete the sentences below with the words given in the box.
ii. The 10th of July, 1962 marked the birth of satellite communication
. the Telstar satellite was sent to the space.
iii. Twenty-years ago mobile phones were not easily available in Bangladesh,
. fixed phones.
iv. The first patient implanted with an artificial heart survived only 112 days,
................. it marked a huge progress in the field of heart transplantation.
Lesson 2
Science and Technology Against an Age-old Disease
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss the following questions in pairs.
What infectious diseases have been recorded in our country?
What are some important advancements in medical science that you know
about?
How do advancements in medical science and technology help fight fatal
diseases?
2. Now read the following text written by
Steve Reed who is the founder,
President and Chief Scientific Officer
of Infectious Disease Research
Institute (IDRI). IDRI is a non-profit
organization based in Seattle, USA. It
develops novel and advanced products
for the diagnosis, prevention and
treatment of neglected diseases
related to poverty.
When I started working on the research and science of leprosy more than a decade
ago, people thought this chronic infectious disease would eliminate itself and burn out
over time.
We didnt have time for that. Why? Nearly 250,000 new cases of leprosy are diagnosed
every year, and many more go undetected. Approximately 10 percent of new cases
occur in children.
Even though its associated with biblical times, leprosy remains a problem in the
modern era and was reported in 130 countries worldwide. Its most prevalent in a
number of countries throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Symptoms include
progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes but they can
take several years to appear, making the disease hard to diagnose at an early stage.
Even worse, leprosy comes with a stigma. Unlike most other diseases, leprosy
results in isolation, as people with leprosy are often shunned. The good news, however, is
Greatest Scientific Achievements 171
that we now have the key scientific solutions and momentum as well as key collaborations
to finally have the opportunity to eliminate leprosy. I couldnt have said this 10 years ago....
At IDRI, we are also attacking leprosy in two different ways.
First, by developing a fast, easy-to-use test that provides an early diagnosis of infection
before clinical symptoms, such as nerve damage, begin to appear. This new approach is
far superior to the traditional method of diagnosis, which has generally involved clinical
and/or microscopic assessment. IDRI is
also developing a companion test so
that we can identify which people will
likely progress to the disease and to
determine the appropriate course of
treatment.
And, second, by developing a vaccine
that can be used therapeutically in
conjunction with antibiotics to shorten
therapy. IDRIs diagnostic tools would
be used to identify infected individuals
and IDRIs vaccine would then be used on a targeted basis for treatment of the patient
as well as to immunise family members and close contacts. This treatment and
prevention strategy has been significantly bolstered by support from some
pharmaceutical giants that donate the currently used antibiotics.
The most exciting part of this breakthrough is the fact that were now right on the
course of human clinical trials after a decade of leprosy vaccine development.
The Food and Drug Administration will initially oversee the multi-stage trials in the
USA before they move on to the Philippines, India and Brazil.
Global technology has been an integral part of our quest to eliminate leprosy. The
rapid diagnostic test for leprosy infection, for example, was developed in conjunction
with a Brazilian company. This company combined IDRIs leprosy diagnostic antigens
with a smart phone-based platform that standardizes the ability to accurately
interpret results and get a quantitative value. The test requires just a single drop of
blood, mixed with a developing reagent. The appearance of two lines indicates that the
person is positive for leprosy. From there, the information from the phone is pushed to
the person's medical records.
172 English For Today
People around the world now believe we will soon have the tools to finally eliminate
leprosy. The next step is making this disease disappear.
By: Steve Reed
[Source:http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2014/01/24/using-cutting-edge-science-and-technology-again
st-an-age-old-disease/]
3. Answer the following questions:
a. What are some of the symptoms of leprosy?
b. How is the study of leprosy bacterium different from the study of other infectious
organisms?
c. What are the two approaches taken by IDRI to curb the threats of leprosy?
d. What, according to the author, is the most exciting breakthrough in IDRI's war
against leprosy?
e. Can you find example of blending of cutting-edge life-science technology with
state-of-the-art communications technology.
f. Do you think that the author is an optimist? Explain why/why not?
4. Debate: Form two groups. Debate on the following motion.
Each year, developed countries spend billions of dollars on research on infectious
diseases but this has little impact on the lives of the poor.
5. How is the leprosy situation in Bangladesh?
6. What do the following words mean?
a. antigen
b. symptom
c. stigma
d. momentum
e. microscopic
f. therapy
g. eliminate
h. quantitative
i. gene
j. antibiotics
k. chronic
l. immunise
m. therapeutic
n. reagent
7. Provide verbs for the following noun words:
a. synthesis
b. standard
Greatest Scientific Achievements 173
c. elimination
d. diagnosis
e. donation
8. Re-write the following sentences in active voice:
i. IDRIs diagnostic tools would be used to identify infected individuals.
ii. This treatment and prevention strategy has been significantly bolstered by
support from some pharmaceutical giants.
iii. The rapid diagnostic test for leprosy infection was developed jointly by IDRI
and a Brazilian company.
iv. The diagnostic tests for leprosy are done with a smart phone-based platform.
9. Join the following sentences as directed:
i. I started my research on leprosy more than a decade ago. People at that time
thought this disease would eliminate itself over time. (use when)
ii. Leprosy is associated with biblical times. It still remains a problem. (Use
although)
iii. The new approach of diagnosis is far superior to the traditional method. The
traditional method involved clinical and /or microscopic assessment. (use that)
iv. A decade has passed since the leprosy vaccine was developed. Now we are
going to conduct human clinical trials of leprosy. (use after)
v. We will soon have the tools to finally eliminate leprosy. People around the world
now believe this. (Use that)
10. What does Mr. Reed mean when he says:
a. People thought this chronic infectious disease would eliminate itself.
b. We are also attacking leprosy in two different ways.
c. We're right on the course of human clinical trials.
d. We can identify which people will likely progress to disease.
e. The person is positive for leprosy.
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Lesson 3
Scientific Breakthroughs We Are Waiting For-I
1. Warm up activity:
Share the following introduction with your friend and give your own views
on the opinions expressed in the passage.
Science has grown rapidly over the past few centuries, making things possible that were
once considered completely impossible. Science has done a lot to cure many of our
worldly troubles, but one thing about science is that it isnt perfect, and never will be. The
reason for this is that there is no last word in science. There is always more to discover.
Why do you think there is no last word with science?
2. Now read the text and answer the questions that follow. It is about some of the
breakthroughs that have not happened yet.
DNA Computer
Imagine having an iPod capable of holding
thousands of years of high definition video.
A DNA computer would make such a device
very possible. DNA is the substance that
living organisms use to store genetic
information. What makes DNA special is
that it is extremely efficient when it comes to
storing information in a limited space. Just
one milligram of DNA is capable of holding
all the printed material in the world. DNA
computing is currently in its infancy, with
prototypes such as MAYA-II only capable of showing the concept. If DNA computing is
perfected, computers will become capable of holding amounts of information that are
hard to imagine by todays standard.
Permanent Moon Base
Ever since setting up human habitation in space was first imagined, it was thought that the
Moon would be the first object to be colonised since it was closest to earth. In 1969, when
man first walked on the moon, a permanent colony suddenly appeared to be very achievable.
However, for a variety of reasons, both economical and technical, the project was never
truly attempted. However, NASA currently has plans to have one constructed by 2024. The
Greatest Scientific Achievements 175
European Space Agency (ESA) also has plans to construct a moon base by 2025. Japan and
India also each have plans to have a base by 2030. The biggest barrier to a base is money.
Many people within NASA, including Buzz Aldrin, have criticised the building of a moon
base, saying that NASA should put more focus on different issues like clean energy.
Clean Energy
While many alternatives to fossil fuels
have been investigated, there is still quite
a way to go before mankinds energy
supply is completely renewable. As of
today, about 85% of all energy comes
from fossil fuels. The reason clean
energy is considered to be important is
because fossil fuels arent expected to
last much longer, they pollute the
environment, and they have led to
tensions between nations. The reason
clean energy is hard to come by is that weve spent the past 150 years dependent on oil,
and its quite difficult to make the switch. Some have even suggested that the technology
for producing vast amounts of clean energy already exists but is being suppressed by big
oil companies. However, several European countries have produced considerable amounts
of clean energy. Current methods of clean energy include wind, solar, geothermal, tidal,
hydropower, nuclear and biofuel.
Cure for Cancer
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases of the modern era. Ever since the days of Hippocrates
people have been searching for a cure. Cancer is similar to the common cold in that although
there are many ways to treat it, modern medicine is still yet to come up with a cure. This is
partially because like the common cold, there are many different types of cancer, and they
are all slightly different. Unfortunately, with over seven million deaths per year, cancer is
much more serious than the common cold. A wide assortment of drugs, chemicals, stem
cells, genetically modified viruses, and even arsenic have all been proposed as cancer cures.
By: Jamie Frater
[Source: http://listverse.com/2009/12/29/top-10-scientific-achievements-we-are-waiting-for/]
3. Answer the following questions:
a. Why are DNA computers much more powerful than todays standard computers?
b. What different methods of producing clean energy are being used now?
176 English For Today
Lesson 4
Scientific Breakthroughs We Are Waiting For-II
1. Warm up activity:
Form two groups. Hold a debate on the following topic Science should not try
to make human beings live very long lives.
2. Now read the following text. It deals with three scientific breakthroughs the
world is yet to see.
deliver drugs to specific parts of the body and eliminate side effects. Microscopic
robots could be used to perform ultra-delicate surgeries, to repair damaged tissues, or
to hunt down and destroy certain cells, like cancer cells or bacteria. Nanomedicine is
currently in its infancy, but it may prove to be the biggest breakthrough in modern
medicine since the first vaccine.
3. The text is about three potential scientific breakthroughs which have been listed in
the box below. Read each of the statements (i-iv) and decide which probable
breakthrough it is related to.
i. Both NASA and ESA have identical
deadline to launch a special mission.
Manned Mission to Mars
ii. This will contribute significantly to
Nanomedicine
modern medicine.
Journey to the Centre of the Earth
iii. No known substance can maintain its
shape at that depth.
iv. This is more difficult than it sounds.
Note: The parts of sentences in the first column are examples of gerunds/
gerund phrases.
1. Warm up activity:
In a group, discuss what you mean by beauty; and its place in art.
Discuss any work of art you have seen (a painting, a sculpture, a photograph,
an embroidered quilt and why you consider it beautiful).
Beauty is easy to appreciate but difficult to define. As we look around, we discover
beauty in pleasurable objects and sights - in nature, in the laughter of children, in the
kindness of strangers. But asked to define, we run into difficulties. Does beauty have
an independent objective identity? Is it universal, or is it dependent on our sense
perceptions? Does it lie in the eye of the beholder? -we ask ourselves. A further
difficulty arises when beauty manifests itself not only by its presence, but by its
absence as well, as when we are repulsed by ugliness and desire beauty. But then
ugliness has as much a place in our lives as beauty, or may be more-as when there is
widespread hunger and injustice in a society. Philosophers have told us that beauty is
an important part of life, but isn't ugliness a part of life too? And if art has beauty as
an important ingredient, can it confine itself only to a projection of beauty? Can art
ignore what is not beautiful?
Poets and artists have provided an answer by incorporating both into their work. In
doing so, they have often tied beauty to truth and justice, so that what is not beautiful
assumes a tolerable proportion as something that represents some truth about life.
John Keats, the romantic poet, wrote in his celebrated Ode on a Grecian Urn Beauty
is truth, truth beauty, by which he means that truth, even if its not pleasant, becomes
beautiful at a higher level. Similarly, what is beautiful forever remains true. Another
meaning, in the context of the Grecian Urn-an art object-is that truth is a condition
of art.
Poetry in every language celebrates beauty and truth. So does art. Here are two poems
from two different times that present some enduring ideas about beauty and truth. The
poems are by Lord Byron (1788-1824), an English poet of the Romantic tradition, and
Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), an American poet who wrote about the human scene,
love and death.
181 Art and Music
2. Byrons poem is about a womens exceptional beauty which reflects her inner
goodness and grace. Why does he associate her with night and starry skies?
3. What imagery does Byron associate with the woman?
4. Was Byron writing about his love for the young woman or simply celebrating
her beauty?
5. What impression of beauty do you get from your reading of the poem She
Walks in Beauty?
6. Dickinsons poem expresses an optimism for the afterlife. Show how it is done
in the last two stanzas of the poem.
7. Despite the uneasy feeling created by death and the speakers position inside a
tomb, I Died For Beauty is ultimately comforting. Discuss.
8. I Died For Beauty has a regular abab rhyme scheme. Can you remember any
poem that you have read with a similar rhyme scheme? Write four lines of the
poems in your notebook.
9. In I Died For Beauty, the man who died for Truth says that Truth and Beauty
are the same. Do you agree? Why?
10. Column B lists the meanings of words in column A but not in a proper order.
Match the words with the meanings provided:
Column A Column B
aspect plural form of brother
gaudy next to one another
impair tiny flowerless plants that grow in tufts or mats in damp places
scarce facial expression; countenance
adjoining to make or cause to become worse; damage or weaken
brethren cheap and showy, flashy
moss barely, hardly
183 Art and Music
Lesson 2
Folk Music
1. Warm up activity:
In the class, give a talk on what you know about Baul / Bhatiyali / Bhawaia songs of
Bangladesh.
Request someone in the class to sing a few lines of a folk song; four of you should
then talk on the theme, lyrics, style and impact of the song.
2. Here is an excerpt on Bengali Folk Music written by the late Mridul Kanti
Chakravarty, who was an expert in music and also sang Baul songs. We
reproduce the excerpt published in Banglapedia, courtesy of the Asiatic Society
of Bangladesh. Read the excerpt and answer the questions that follow:
Folk music consists of songs and music of a community that are uninfluenced by any
sophisticated musical rules or any standard music styles. Bangladesh has a heritage of
rich folk music which includes both religious and secular songs.
Folk music may be described as that type of ancient music which springs from the
heart of a community, based on their natural style of expression uninfluenced by the
rules of classical music and modern popular songs. Any mode or form created by the
combination of tune, voice and dance may be described as music. Thus, the
combination of folk song, folk dance and folk tune may be called folk music. For
example, Baul songs are a combination of tune, music and dance.
Folk music has the following characteristics: (i) It is composed by rural folk on the
basis of ancient rules transmitted orally; (ii) These ancient rules of music have not
been influenced by classical or modern music; (iii) Folk songs may be sung in groups
or individually; (iv) No regular practice is required for folk music; (v) It is composed
and performed by illiterate or semi-literate people; (vi) It is a spontaneous expression
in easy language, local dialect, and simple tune; (vii) Both words and tune are
appealing; (viii) despite its universal appeal it uses local dialect; (ix) It depends upon
nature and the rural environment; (x) It is an explicit manifestation of the joys and
sorrows of daily life; (xi) It uses simple and natural rhythms; (xii) It contains a strong
emotive expression of human love and separation.
English For Today 184
Different folk songs belonging to different regions of Bangladesh are listed below:
Baul and spiritual songs : Birbhum and Kushtia
Jarigan : Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Faridpur, Murshidabad.
Bhawaiya : Cooch Bihar, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna.
Gambhira : Rajshahi, Malda.
185 Art and Music
8. Find at least five adjective words used in the text and make sentences with
them.
187 Art and Music
Lesson 3
Crafts in Our Time
1. Warm up activity:
6. Find the meanings of the following words and then make sentences with them:
a. inclusive
b. motif
c. ingenuity
d. tactile
e. aspiration
f. significance
g. safeguard
English For Today 190
7. The following words may be adjectives or verbs. For each word, provide its
noun form:
a. animate
b. retain
c. evolve
d. mechanical
e. stable
1. Warm up activity:
In a group discuss the last journey you made out of your village/town/city.
Now share the following introduction with a friend.
Bangladesh, despite a fast paced urbanization, still remains predominantly rural. How
many villages are there now? Sixty four thousands or more? Have the villages
changed much over the years? How did they respond to the onslaught of urbanization
or march of development or growth in education? Write down your answer. In the
following extract, we will see a Bangladeshi village and the villagers through the eyes
of an English professor from England who taught in Dhaka university twice-first
between 1947 and 1951 and again in 1972.
2. Read the text below and answer the questions that follow:
We set out on the evening of July 21st. Food was scarce in the village so Abdul packed
a suitcase with two loaves and some tea and tins of milk, cheese and jam. We travelled
c. Why did the small boy plead, After shes gone not even a strange bird will come
to the village?
d. Why was there a crisis when the author arrived?
e. Why did the women visit her?
f. Find three evidences which suggest that the narrator enjoyed her visit.
g. Why does the narrator compare herself to a sleeping zoo animal?
h. What is the general tone of the passage?
5. Write a short paragraph describing your first visit to a place away from home.
6. Explain the significance of the statement - I stood up to the celebrity for
the two days we had planned but it was enough. What feeling is implied
here-amusement or mild annoyance?
9. Join the pair of sentences in each line to make one sentence using the
expressions given in the bracket.
a. He made fixed a tent. He wanted me to get some sleep. (so that)
b. None of them spoke English. They welcomed me. (though)
c. It was dark. He lit a lantern. (as)
d. I was a woman. Women visited me freely. (since)
194 English For Today
Lesson 2
Arriving in the Orient
1. Warm up activity:
night the waters were phosphorescent, and the wash of the bow was like a moving
arrowhead of green fire. Elizabeth loved the life on board ship....
She was going to love India, she knew. She had formed quite a picture of India, from
the other passengers conversation; she had even learned some of the more necessary
Hindustani phrases, such as idher ao, jaldi, sahiblog, etc. In anticipation she tasted
the agreeable atmosphere of Clubs, with punkahs flapping and bare-footed white
turbaned boys reverently salaaming; and maidans where bronze Englishmen with little
clipped moustaches galloped to and fro, whacking polo balls. It was almost as nice as
being rich, the way people lived in India.
They sailed into Colombo through green glassy waters, where turtles and black snakes
floated basking. A fleet of sampans came reaching out to meet the ship, propelled by
coal-black men with lips stained redder than blood by betel juice. They yelled and
struggled round the gangway while the passengers descended. As Elizabeth and her
friends came down, two sampan-wallahs, their prows nosing against the gangway,
besought them with yells.
Dont you go with him, missie! Not with him! Bad wicked man he, not fit taking
missie!
Dont you listen him lies, missie! Nasty low fellow! Nasty low tricks him playing.
Nasty native tricks!
Ha, ha! He is not native himself! Oh no! Him European man, white skin all same,
missie. Ha ha !
Stop your bat, you two, or Ill fetch one of you a kick, said the husband of
Elizabeths friend-he was a planter. They stepped into one of the sampans and were
rowed towards the sun-bright quays. And the successful sampan-wallah turned and
discharged at his rival a mouthful of spittle which he must have been saving up for a
very long time.
196 English For Today
This was the Orient. Scents of coco-nut oil and sandalwood, cinnamon and turmeric,
floated across the water on to Mount Lavinia where they bathed in a lukewarm sea that
foamed like Coca-Cola. She came back to the ship in the evening, and they reached
Rangoon a week later.
North of Mandalay the train, fuelled with wood, crawled at twelve miles an hour across a
vast parched plain bounded at its remote edges by blue rings of hills. White egrets stood
poised, motionless, like herons, and piles of drying chillis gleamed crimson in the sun.
Sometimes a white pagoda rose from the plain like the breast of a supine giantess. The
early tropic night settled down, and the train jolted on, slowly, stopping at little stations
where barbaric yells sounded from the darkness. Half-naked men with their long hair
knotted behind their heads moved to and fro in torchlight, hideous as demons in
Elizabeths eyes. The train plunged into the forest, and unseen branches brushed against
the windows. It was about nine oclock when they reached Kyauktada, where
Elizabeths uncle and aunt were waiting with Mr. Macgregors car, and with some
servants carrying torches. Her aunt came forward and took Elizabeths shoulders in her
delicate, saurian hands.
I suppose, you are our niece Elizabeth? We are so pleased to see you, she said, and
kissed her.
Mr. Lackersteen peered over his wifes shoulder in the torchlight. He gave a half-whistle,
exclaimed, Well, Ill be damned! and then seized Elizabeth and kissed her, more
warmly than he need have done, she thought. She had never seen either of them before.
3. Answer the following questions:
a. How did the waters of the Indian Ocean look like during the night?
b. What frightened the flocks of flying fish?
c. Why did Elizabeth think that she would like India?
d. What is polo? Who played the polo?
e. What did the sampanwallahs fight for?
f. Where did Elizabeth go from Rangoon?
g. Did Elizabeth enjoy her stay in Colombo?
4. Put T (true) and F (false) beside the following statements based on the above
extract.
a. Elizabeth unwillingly undertook the sea voyage.
b. Her companions were unfriendly.
Tours and Travels 197
c. Before she got into the Indian Ocean she sailed across the Mediterranean.
d. The Indians lived a glamorous life.
e. The train journey to Kyauktada was a long one.
5. Discuss the following questions in pairs :
a. What picture of the sea do you find here?
b. The narrator is rather critical of the local people. What evidence do you find of
the narrators disapproval of the local people?
c. Narrate the competition between the sampanwallahs.
6. Choose the right words from the box to fill the blanks in the sentences given
below:
Lesson 3
Imaginary Travel
1. Warm up activity:
Discuss any travel account that you have read in English or Bengali and the
places it describes. Imagine you are walking in a street in London or New
York. How is your experience different from that of walking in the roads or
streets of your town or city?
Travel can be imaginary as well. Authors would sometimes make imaginary voyages to
strange places and draw pictures of people and places, manners and morals. Jonathon
Swifts (1667-1745) Gullivers Travels (1726) is an example of imaginary travel. Swift
created a fictional traveller named Lamuel Gulliver, a ship doctor who visited the
lands of the Lilliputs and Brobdingnags and the island of Laputa. These are all
fictitious places inhabited by imaginary people. The travels here, however, carry a
seious purpose. They reveal truths about human nature. For example, even today
human life is poisoned by evils such as racism, religious extremism, bigotry etc.
Gulliver during his visit to the land of the Lilliputs-who are humans, only about six
inches tall-discover how strongly prejudiced the Lilliputians are about certain things
and how these help nurse hatred and foment fratricidal war. Gulliver, a man of
average height, gets a new insight into the pettiness of human nature when he arrives
at the land of Lilliputs who are small not only in size but also in their thoughts and
perceptions.
2. Now read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
One morning, about a fortnight after I had obtained my Liberty, Reldresal, Principal
Secretary (as they style him) of private Affairs, came to my House, attended only by
one Servant. He ordered his Coach to wait at a Distance and desired I would give him
an Hours Audience; which I readily consented to, on Account of his Quality, and
Personal Merits, as well as of the many good Offices he had done me during my
Sollicitations at Court. I offered to lie down, that he might the more conveniently reach
my Ear: but he chose rather to let me hold him in my Hand during our Conversation.
He began with Compliments on my Liberty; said, he might pretend to some Merit in it;
but, however, added that if it had not been for the present Situation of things at Court,
perhaps I might not have obtained it so soon. For, said he, as flourishing a Condition as
we appear to be in to Foreigners, we labour, under two mighty Evils; a violent faction
at home, and the Danger of an invasion by a most potent Enemy from abroad. As to
the first, you are to understand, that for above seventy Moons past, there have been
Tours and Travels 199
two struggling Parties in this Empire, under the Names of Tramecksan, and
Slamecksan, from the high and low Heels on their Shoes, by which they distinguish
themselves.
It is alleged indeed, that the high Heels are most agreeable to our ancient Constitution:
But however this be, his Majesty hath determined to make use of only low Heels in the
Administration of the Government, and all Offices in the Gift of the Crown; as you
cannot but observe; and particularly, that his Majestys Imperial Heels are lower at
least by a Drurr than any of his Court (Drurr is a Measure about the fourteenth Part of
an Inch). The Animosities between these two Parties run so high that they will neither
eat, nor drink, nor talk with each other. We compute the Tramecksan, or High-Heels,
to exceed us in Number; but the Power is wholly on our Side. We apprehend his
Imperial Highness, the Heir to the Crown, to have some Tendency towards the
High-Heels; at least we can plainly discover one of his Heels higher than the other;
which gives him a Hobble in his Gait. Now, in the midst of these intestine Disquiets,
we are threatened with an Invasion from the Island of Blefuscu, which is the other
great Empire of the Universe, almost as large and powerful as this of his Majesty. For
as to what we have heard you affirm, that there are other Kingdoms and States in the
World inhabited by human Creatures as large as yourself, our Philosophers are in much
Doubt; and would rather conjecture that you dropt from the Moon, or one of the Stars;
200 English For Today
because it is certain, that an hundred Mortals of your Bulk, would, in a short Time,
destroy all the Fruits and Cattle of his Majestys Dominions: besides, our Histories of
six Thousand Moons make no Mention of any other Regions, than the two great
Empires of Lilliput and Blefuscu. Which two mighty Powers have, as I was going to tell
you, been engaged in a most obstinate War for six and thirty Moons past. It began upon
the following Occasion. It is allowed on all Hands, that the primitive way of breaking
Eggs before we eat them, was upon the larger End; But his present Majestys
Grandfather, while he was a Boy going to eat an Egg, and breaking it according to
ancient Practice, happened to cut one of his Fingers. Whereupon the Emperor his Father
published an Edict, commanding all his Subjects, upon great Penalties, to break the
smaller End of their Eggs. The People so highly resented this Law, that our Histories
tell us, there have been six Rebellions raised on that Account; wherein one Emperor lost
his Life, and another his Crown. These civil Commotions were constantly fomented by
the Monarchs of Blefuscu; and when they were quelled, the Exiles always fled for
Refuge to that Empire. It is computed that eleven Thousand Persons have, at several
Times, suffered Death, rather than submit to break their Eggs at the smaller End. Many
hundred large Volumes have been published upon this Controversy: But the Books of
the Big-Indians have been long forbidden, and the whole Party rendered incapable by
Law of holding Employments.
Lesson 4
The Wonders of Vilayet
1. Warm up activity:
The cold weather in Europe doesnt allow one to grow Indian fruits and flowers in the
open. A special kind of house is constructed for the purpose, three sides of which are
of brick, while the fourth, which faces south, is made of glass-plates that keep out the
cold air but let in the suns rays. In the cold season stoves are lit in the house for heat,
and fruit and flower seeds are sown in troughs filled with mould. The heat of the
stoves and the warmth of the sunlight combine to aid the growth of Indian plants.
European gardeners grow Eastern fruits in this manner and make a very good profit,
charging as much as five rupees for a pomegranate and three for a musk-melon.
The trees along the walks in the Kings garden are arranged very tastefully. By cutting
the branches many of them have been shaped into human forms, so that at night one
may mistake them for real people. It takes many days of work to tailor the trees into
these shapes.
The road in front of the Queens palace is very broad and charming. On one side is the
palace, on the other a pond which is part of a park. Deer are kept in the park and the
walks in it are lined with shady walnut trees. On Sundays, men and women, old and
young, rich and poor, natives and foreigners, all come here to stroll and amuse
themselves. In these delightful surroundings a heavy heart is automatically lightened.
Sauntering courtesans with lissom figures and amorous maidens with the faces of
houris spread a heavenly aura and the visitors soul becomes a flowering garden.
204 English For Today
These fairy-faced ravishers of the heart move with a thousand blandishments and
coquetries; the earth is transformed into a paradise, and heaven itself hangs down its
head in shame at seeing such beauty.... As soon as I saw this place I involuntarily
exclaimed:
If theres a heaven on the face of the earth,
It is this! It is this! It is this!
Brick buildings in Bengal have rooms with high ceilings and large doors and windows,
so that there is a soothing current of air in hot weather. It is exactly opposite in Europe.
There is extreme cold, frost and snow; the ceilings are low, and the doors and windows
small. The roofs are not flat like the roofs of brick buildings in India. Wooden beams
and planks are used to build the frame of the roof in the shape of a camels hump; that
is to say, like the slanting thatched roofs of huts in Bengal. But whereas the latter are
slightly curved at the end, both slanted halves of European roofs are plain. The frame
is then covered with tiles of fired clay or slate. Such roofs last up to two hundred years
without repairs, and if they are still intact when the walls have decayed, can be
re-utilised. The bricks in the walls are laid with mortar prepared from pulverised
stones. Human hair is mixed with the mortar to give added strength to the structure.
Houses may be as tall as seven, eight or nine stories, yet the walls are not thicker than
a cubit. Consequently the entire building quivers if the wind rises, and strangers may
fear for their safety. But there is in reality no cause for fear, though I myself was at
first alarmed. The inside walls, instead of being plastered, are lined with wooden
planks, which are covered with paper decorated with pretty designs in many colours.
Teak and sal are foreign to Vilayet; houses and ships are built here with oak and
walnut. These are light in colour, very sturdy and resistant to white ants and other
insects. That is why buildings last so long in this country.
3. Answer the following questions:
a. The narrator was not impressed with the exterior of the Kings palace. Why?
b. What does he say about its interior? How does he describe the Queens palace?
c. The author is clearly fascinated by the Kings garden. Why?
d. The narrator mentions a special kind of house which allowed plants to grow in
cold weather. What are these houses called? How did they work in the narrators
description and how do they work now?
e. How many geometrical shapes does the narrator mention in describing the beds
in the Kings garden? Can you describe them?
Tours and Travels 205
f. Were Eastern fruits available in London when Itesamuddin visited the city? If so,
were they produced locally or imported?
4. Write about the differences between the Indian and the English houses
described by the narrator.
5. Why was the narrator so fascinated by the road and the park in front of the
Queens Palace?
6. What makes the narrator describe the park as a heaven on earth?
7. Describe how the houses in Europe were built when Itesamuddin visited it.
8. Find out the differences among the following:
a. house, mansion, palace
b. frost, snow, ice
c. plank, beam, frame
9. Make a list of flowers and fruits the narrator mentions. How many are
unknown to you? Make a Google search and find out their pictures, then
write brief descriptions of them.
10. Find out the meanings of the following words and make sentences with them:
a. lissom
b. courtesans
c. aura
d. blandishment
e. curved
d. slanted
g. sturdy
h. quiver
11. Find antonyms for the following words:
a. elegant
b. broad
c. soothing
d. safety
e. thick
THE END