Today is our topic of discussion-Magic Cure

Magic Cure

Let’s read

One day Rasel saw a snake. Let us hear what Rasel is narrating.

 Section: 1

One day I saw a small snake in the compound. It was crawling along slowly but when it saw me, it moved away quickly and hid itself in coconut shell. I quietly went near and closed the mouth of the coconut shell with a stone. Then I took the shell and ran to Grandmother.”Look, Grandma,” I cried, I have caught a snake.”

“Snake?” asked Grandmother in alarm. She was shocked. She cried for help. Grandfather came running. When he learnt that I had a snake in the shell, he snatched the shell and threw it away. The snake crawled away and disappeared behind some bushes. Grandfather warned me never to go near a snake, because snakes were very dangerous.

Read. Think and Answer 1

1. Where did the snake hide itself?

2. Where did Rasel put the stone?

3. What did Grandfather do with the coconut shell?

4. Why did the snake move away quickly?

Let’s read

Let us read and find out what happens next.

Section II

Later in the evening. I tried to catch a bee and it stung me on my finger. I felt a sharp pain. I ran to Grandmother and told her that I had been bitten and I wanted her to do something to stop the pain. Grandmother thought that I had been bitten by a snake. She called out to Grandfather, “Come and see what has happened to Rasel.”

Grandfather came at once. He looked at my finger and there was a blue mark. Without a word he took me in his arms and started running. He ran across the garden and through the paddy fields. He ran and ran and did not stop until he reached a small house quite some distance away from our home. Then he shouted for the man who lived there.

Read, Think and Answer II

1. What happened to Rasel later in the evening?

2. What did Grandfather do when he saw the blue mark?

3. “Grandfather shouted for the man”, Who do you think this man was?

Section III

An old grey haired man came out of the house. He knew the cure for snake bite. Grandfather asked him to cure me. The old man took me inside. He looked at my finger and then asked me to sit down and not to move. I sat on grandfather’s lap. The old man then took some water in a small brass vessel, sat in front of us and started reciting some mantras.

I wanted to tell him that it was a bee and not a snake that had bitten me. But Grandfather held me tight and did not allow me to talk. Grandmother too had arrived by then and some other people with her. They looked sad and silently watched me.

By this time the pain in my finger had stopped. But still I had to sit there and get cured of the “snake bite.”

After a few minutes, the old man got up, washed my finger and gave me some water to drink. He asked me to keep quiet for some more time. Then he turned to Grandfather and said “Thank God, you brought Rasel in time. He is out of danger now. It was indeed a poisonous snake that bit him.” Grandfather, Grandmother and all others thanked the old man for the magic cure. On returning home, Grandfather sent him gifts.

 

Read, Think and Answer III

1. How did the old man cure Rasel?

2. What had bitten Rasel?

3. “It was indeed a poisonous snake.” Who knew it was not?

Overall Questions

The sentences given below are not in the right order. Arrange them correctly and write the correct order in the box given below:

1. Rasel saw a small snake.

2. Everybody thought he had been bitten by the snake.

3. Rasel was finally cured of the “snake bite”.

4. So, Grandfather took him to a man who knew a magic cure.

5. He shut the snake inside the coconut shell.

6. Rasel was then stung by a bee.

7. The snake crawled into a coconut shell.

 Let’s Learn Grammar

(A) Simple past

(1) Add-ed and put these words in the past tense.

e.g. asked asked.

Jump…. snatch… walk

…laug….help

(ii) Now use these words in the blanks below:

(a) Reena me do my homework.

(b) The thief

(c) They. my bag and ran away.
two kilometers to fetch water.

(d) Mohan loudly.

(e) The monkey.

(B) Adverbs

Form adverbs by using ly.

e.g. slowly slowly.

Loving…bad…loud

Now use the new words to fill in the blanks below.

While playing Rubel hurt himself So he started crying. Hearing his cries his grandmother came running. She put a bandage on his wound. Then alright” she said. “Quiet, my child, quiet. Now you will be

Increase Your Word Power

Some words are given below. Give words opposite in meaning

e.g. tall short

hot/cold

old….small…near…close…quickly

Let’s Talk

Making requests

Practise the following with your friend

(A)

You: May I borrow your pen please? Friend: Certainly. Here you are.
You: Thank you.

(B)

Friend: Do you have a spare pencil?

You: Yes I do.

Friend: May I borrow it? I’ve forgotten to bring mine.

You: Yes, of course. Here you are.

Friend: Thank you.

Exercise:

Now ask your friend for a grammar book and eraser and follow the dialogue given above.

Let’s Write

Describing people

Rasel came home and wrote a description of the old man.

“An old grey haired man came out of the hut. He was a tall man with a white beard. His hair was not combed. He wore a long robe. It was white in colour. He had a sharp look in his eyes. But he was very gentle.”

Discussion

Rasel is describing the old man who cured him. Before he wrote those sentences, these were the points he made.

 

How to describe people

Before you describe a person you should note down some important points about that person. These points should relate to that person’s age, physical features, manners, habits etc. Next you should decide the order of the points. For example you may begin by telling the name of the person. Now you can do it in the following manner.

• Name
• Age
• Habits reading, singing
• Profession: teacher, doctor
• Nature: loving, kind, gentle

Exercise :

Describe your grandmother or the person you admire most in eight simple sentences.

 

Today is our topic of discussion-Production of New Things

Production of New Things

Let’s read

We generally sell off old newspapers, bottles, cans and other used materials. These old, used things are converted into new things which we can use again. This is called recycling. I’m sure you would like to know more about this.

Section: 1

Recycling rubbish not only helps save money. It also helps the environment. We lessen the pollution that is created by burning rubbish and we save valuable resources. Western countries waste a great deal of earth’s resources. In Bangladesh, a lot of trees are felled every week just for the printing of different news papers. Recycling used paper would easily save these trees.

Many countries encourage recycling and new technology, allows more waste to be reused. Most of the world’s rubbish can be reused-paper, metals, glass, and even some plastics.

Read, Think and Answer 1

Say if the following statements are True or False.

1. Recycling is reusing the waste

2. Recycling doesn’t increase pollution

3. Technology makes recycling possible

4. Only a few used things can be recycled.

 

Section II

Plastic is one of the most difficult substances to recycle, because it comes in so many varieties. Some plastic bottles, for example, consist of six layers of different types of plastic, each designed to give the bottles certain qualities- shape, strength, flexibility. And as yet there is no simple way to be turned an old plastic bottle into a new one.

Plastic scrap can only be turned into a porduct of lower quality- a plastic might be cleaned, cut into very, very tiny pieces and used to stuff seat cushions, a mixture of plastic waste can be recycled into plastic ‘timber’ and used to make durable fencing. But a lot of plastic waste still has to be thrown away.

Metals are different. Any car on the road today will consist, in part, of earlier cars that have been scrapped and recycled into new steel and other metals.

The more valuable the metal, like gold and silver, the more it pays to recycle it. Aluminium is worth recycling because extracting it from Bauxite consumes a huge amount of electricity.

Read, Think and Answer II

Say if the following statements are True or false

1. Plastic can be recycled and converted into a new plastic mug.

2. A new car may have a component produced by recycling metal scrap.

3. Recycling some of the products helps in saving electricity.

Section III

Glass is also worth recovering. The most sensible method is to use glass bottles as often as possible. In countries which still use milk bottles, the average bottle makes about 30 trips to and from the dairy.
Broken glass known as ‘cullet’ can also be recycled, and many western countries have bottle banks into which used bottles can be thrown.

Usually there are payments. Bottle banks depend on pepole’s goodwill. The success of bottle banks varies widely from country to country. The Swiss and Dutch recover 50 percent of their glass, while in Britain only 12 percent is recovered. In Bangladesh, of course, we sell our bottles which are then reused.

Glass is best separated by colour, since cullet of mixed colours can be used only to make green glass. Broken glass can be remelted in furnaces and then it can easily be shaped into new bottles or other objects.
Half the world’s waste consists of paper.

Many countries import waste paper rather than new pulp for their paper mills. The waste is pulped, cleaned and bleached to remove most of the ink and dirt, before it is turned into new paper in the same way as wood pulp or rags, Japan now makes half its paper by recycling.

It is true that in Bangladesh we generally avoid waste. However, as we enter the twenty-first century, we are beginning to imitate some of the wasteful habits of
the western countries. This is something that all of us need to think about.

 

Read, Think and Answer III

Say if the following statements are True or False.

1. The Swiss and the Dutch make half their paper by recycling.

2. Cullet cannot be recycled

3. Green glass can be made from broken glass of different colours

4. A major portion of the world’s waste consists of paper.

Overall Questions

1. What are the advantages of recycling?

2. When you go shopping, would you like the shopkeeper to use paper or polythene to pack the things you buy? Give reasons for your answer.

Let’s Learn Grammar

Read the following sentences from the text:

1. It is true that in Bangladesh we generally avoid waste. However, as we enter the twenty-first century, we are beginning to imitate some of the wasteful habits of the western countries.

2. A mixture of plastic waste can be recycled into plastic timber’ and used to make durable fencing. But a lot of plastic waste still has to be thrown away. In the above pairs of sentences, the second sentence is introduced by words however and but. These words connect the second statement that has a contrasting idea with the first. But is generally used in informal contexts. Sometimes but can be replaced with still, or yet. For example.

The teacher was angry. But he did not punish the student.

The teacher was angry. Still he did not punish the student.

The teacher was angry, yet he did not punish the student. But in more contexts and when we wish to be emphatic

we use however. Notice that however is used in the middle of the sentence with a comma. The teacher was angry, he did not, however, punish the student.

If we wish to be more emphatic still, we use however in the initial position as in the following sentences. The teacher was angry. However, he did not punish the student. Rewrite the following sentences using different contrast words like Yet, but, however.

1. Cars can go very fast. They cannot, however, go as fast as aeroplanes.

Increase your word power

1. Score out words which do not constitute our natural resource

Earth

Plastic

Trees

Paper

Bottles

Gold

Air

Water

2. Match the describing words with the noun they describe

Describing word

Noun

Valuable

bottles

Coloured Western

metals

glass

Plastic. Precious

countries

resources

Eg: plastic bottles.

 Let’s talk

We find there is a campaign for clean and green environment and various suggestions are being given to preserve nature and natural resources. Assume you are discussing with a friend of yours the ways and means of keeping the environment clean and green.

Example

You: Do not waste paper

Your Friend: Why should we not throw away used paper?

You: One reason is. It can always be recycled.

Let’s Write

Describing a process

Read the following:

The waste is pulped, cleaned and bleached to remove most of the ink and dirt. before it is turned into new paper in the same way as wood pulp or rags.” What is the above description about? It describes the process of manufacturing paper using waste substances. The process involves four stages. To make the process more explicit, we can use time markers such as ‘first’, ‘scond’ and ‘next. We can say “First, the waste is pulped. Next it is cleaned and after that it is bleached. Finally, it is turned into new paper.”

Given below are the important stages involved in writing and sending letters. Rewrite them in the form of a paragraph. Use time markers to connect the sentences.

Write a letter

Put the letter in the envelope – Get It weighed -Buy stamps

Check Your Answer Read, think and answer I
1. True
2. False
3. True
4. False
5. True
Read, think and answer II

1. True
2. False
3. True
4. True
Read, think and answer III
1. False
2. False
3. True
4. True

Overall Questions

1. Recycling rubbish not only helps save money, it also helps the enviroment. We lessen the pollution that is created by burning rubbish and we save valuable resources.

2. I would like the shopkeeper to use paper for packing things because after use it can be recycled but polyethylene cannot be recycled.

Let’s learn grammar

1. Cars can go very fast. They cannot, however, go as fast as acroplanes. Cars can go very fast, but they cannot go as fast as aeroplanes. Cars can go very fast. However, they cannot go as fast as aeroplanes. Cars can go very fast. Yet, they cannot go as fast as aeroplanes.

2. We can send space ships to the Mars. Still, we cannot send space ships to the Sun.

 

Today is our topic of discussion-A Garments Worker

A Garments Worker

Discussion

Nasima is a garment worker. She works in ‘Oriental Garmets’ which is located in Elephant Road, Dhaka. She has been working there for about three years. Her main task is sewing garments.

Nasima lives near Azimpur with some other garments workers. Every day she goes to work and comes back home on foot. It takes nearly 30 minutes, but she wants to save money and therefore walks much.
Nasima is from Hatibandha, Lalmonirhat. She passed her SSC exam in 1998.

She then wanted to go to college, but her father. Abu Hanif, told her that he was unable to bear her expenses. She was sad to hear this, but she knew that her father was poor. They have a big family of 3 sisters and 2 brothers. She is the second child of her parents. Her elder sister. Hasina, is married. The younger sister.

Selina, and the brothers, Manik and Sohel, go to school. It is difficult for her father to maintain this big family. He has a tea-stall in a local market. But he does not earn enough. Her mother. Atta Begum, looks after the family. She is very often sick.

Nasima wanted to help her family. So she came to Dhaka with a girl from their village. She was sad to leave her parents behind. She was unhappy to give up her studies, but she knew that she couldn’t continue to do so. After coming to Dhaka, Nasima started looking for a job. But it was difficult for her to get one. At last she got a job in ‘Oriental Garments’. A girl from her village who works there, managed to get her the job.

Read, Think and Answer

Answer each of the following questions:

1. Where does Nasima work?

2. How does she go to work every day?

3. Where is she from?

4. Why couldn’t she go to college?

5. Why is it difficult for her father to maintain their family?

6. Why has she come to Dhaka?

Let’s Learn Grammar

A. Look at the following sentences from the above passage.

• She was sad to leave her parents behind.
• She was unhappy to give up her studies.

These sentences tell us how Nasima felt when she left her parents behind and
when she decided to stop studying. The structure of the sentences is:
Subject + was / were + adjective + to verb

In the examples above, we see the use of the past tense (was) but we can also use the present tense (am/is/are). Remember that we use this kind of sentence to describe our feelings about activities or happenings.
Now make sentences with the words in the following table. One exmaple is given for you.

 

 

Example :

1. I will be happy to see you again

2……

3…….

4……

Now use the following sets of words and make sentences like the above. One example is given for you.

 

 

Note that we can use another structure instead of the above one.

Look at the following example. It is bad to copy in the exam = Copying in the exam is bad. It is easy to take a picture = Taking a picture is easy. It is hard to climb a mountain = Climbing a mountain is hard.

Increase Your word Power

Make sentences with the following words: sad, younger, give up, unable, expenses.

Let’s talk

Perhaps you can understand that all the sentences above talking about something that is correct for all of us. But we may also say something that is appropriate only for particular people. Then we will have to add something to the structure. Look at the following example from the above passage.

It is difficult for her father to maintain this big family It was difficult for her to manage one. Similarly, we can say It is difficult for Nasima to earn 5000 taka per month It is easy for him to do the sum It is good for me to do exercise in the morning Now say 5 activities that you do using the adjectives below. Use sentences like the above.

1. Easy = It is easy for me to

2. Difficult

3. Good

4. Dangerous

5.Safe

Let’s Write

A. Describing a family

We know about Hanif’s family from the above passage. The writer tells us something about all the members of the family. The description is given below with some gaps. Fill in the gaps by using suitable words. You may take words from the passage above. One example is given for you.

Hanif’s Family

Hanif’s family is a………. family. It has members. The father, Abu Hanif,
of the family. He is a shopkeeper. He has a tea-stall in the local market. The mother, looks. the family. But she is very often

is the The eldest child of the family is She works In She Is. The next is The third child is also a Her name is……. She is in the school. and………… are two boys. They are also school-going children.

The above description includes the following points.

1. Family size:

2. Total members:

3. Head of the family along with profession :

4. Mother:

5. Children, what they do:

 

Today is our topic of discussion-The Landlord and the Barber

The Landlord and the Barber

Discussion

Long long ago there lived a barber in a village. He was very hard-working. He toured the whole village every day and cut people’s hairs. But he didn’t earn enough money. He didn’t have any other source of income. And so he and his family members were very poor.

One day he was returning home from a nearby village. He was all alone. It was the rainy season. Clouds were gathering in the sky. The wind was blowing. People were running away from the fields. They knew that it was going to rain. So they were looking for some shelter.

The barber was passing by a banyan tree when the rain started. He stopped walking and came under the tree. He was waiting for the rain to stop. But it was not stopping. He was getting wet because it was not a good shelter. So he started walking again.

After some time he entered his village. He was passing by the landlord’s house when the landlord saw him. At that time the landlord was sitting on a chair in a veranda. He was watching the rain. He asked the barber to come to him. The barber became afraid. He thought that the landlord was going to threaten him for some fault.

He was walking to the house when the rain stopped. He stopped near the veranda and saluted the landlord. The landlord was looking at him. He was completely wet.

The landlord felt pity for the poor man. He knew his condition very well. So he gave him a piece of land. He told him to cultivate it and grow crops there. The barber became very happy. He saluted the landlord again and went away.

 Read Think and Answer

Say whether the following statements are True or False

1. The barber was very lazy and so he was poor.

2.Cutting people’s hairs was his only source of income.

3.The barber knew that the landlord was going to give him the land.

4. The landlord was a kind man.

5. He gave the land to the barber only for a short time.

6. The land was not good for cultivation.

7. The harber was very happy and thankful to the landlord.

 Overall Questions

Answer each of the following questions.

1.What was the barber waiting for to stop?

2. What was the barber passing by?

3Who was sitting on a chair in the veranda?

4. Why was the barber getting wet?

5. When was it raining?

6. Where was the barber returning from?

Let’s Learn Grammar

A. Look at the following sentences from the above story.

1. One day he was retuming home from a nearby village.

2. He was walking alone.

3. Clouds were gathering in the sky.

Note that all these sentences are about activities which were going on for some time in the past. If you want to say that something was happening or someone was doing something for a short time, you can use this form.

This is called the past progressive or past continuous tense.
Look at the formation of past progressive verbs.

 

Exercise: Make past progressive verbs with the following sets of words. The
first one is done for you.

1. The passengers / wait/ for the train. past progressive: The passengers were waiting for the train.

2. The mother/feed/ her baby

past progressive:

3. It/rain/in the morning.

past progressive :

4. Students / make noises / in the class.

past progressive:

5. A bird/fly/in the sky

past progressive :

6. The phone/ring/in the drawing room.

past progressive:

7. The singer/sing/songs/ on TV

past progressive:

 

 

Look at the following sentences from the above story.

1. The barber was passing by a banyan tree when the rain started

2. He was passing by the landlord’s house when the landlord saw him.

You see that in both the sentences there are two actions.

Sentence 1: The barber was passing by a banyan tree + the rain started.

Sentence 2: He was passing by the landlord’s house + the landlord saw him. We understand from

the sentences that the first action was going on for some time. Then suddenly the second action took place.

Remember that we use the past progressive for the first action that was going on for some time and we use the past simple for the later action. You can also note that the action of the past progressive goes on for a longer time.

Exercise: Use the right forms of verbs in the brackets. The first two are done for you.
1. The electricity (go) away while we (watch) TV
= The electricity went away while we were watching TV.

2. I (take) dinner when the phone (ring).
= I was taking dinner when the phone rang.

3. They (walk) to school when the rain (start).

4.The bell (ring) while the students (listen) to their teacher.
=
5. She (cook) in the kitchen when the guest (enter) the house

6.The man (catch) fish in the pond when the snake (bite) him.

7. He (ride) the bicycle when the chain (fall) down.

8.The advertisement (come) while we (watch) a drama serial,

Let’s talk

We can make Yes/No qustions in the past progressive. We use Was or Were for this.
Exercise: Make questions with the following statements. The first one is done for you.

1. He was walking home. Question: Was he walking home? Answer: Yes, he was.

2. The landlord was looking at him.

Question: Answer:

Bony’s mother was cooking fish.

Question:

Answer:

The people were running to the fields.

Question: Answer:

The wind was stopping.

Question: