Here is a story about Swami and his grandmother. After reading the excerpt, change it into a conversation between Swami and his Grandmother.
After the night meal with his head on his granny’s lap, nestling close to her, Swaminathan felt very snug and safe in the faint atmosphere of cardamom and cloves. ‘Oh, Granny !’ he cried ecstatically. ‘You don’t know what a great fellow Rajam is.’ He told her the story of the first enmity between Rajam and Mani and the subsequent friendship.
‘You know, he has a real police dress,’ said Swaminathan. ‘Is it? What does he want a police dress for?’ asked Granny.
‘His father is the Police Superintendent. He is the master of every policeman here.’ Granny was impressed. She said that it must be a tremendous office indeed. She then recounted the days when her husband, Swaminathan’s grandfather, was a powerful sub-magistrate, in which office he made the police force tremble before him and the fiercest dacoits of the place flee. Swaminathan waited impatiently for her to finish the story. But she went on, rambled, confused, mixed up various incidents that took place at different times. ‘That will do, Granny,’ he said ungraciously. ‘Let me tell you something about Rajam. Do you know how many marks he gets in arithmetic?’
‘He gets all the marks, does he, child?’ asked Granny.
‘No silly. He gets ninety marks out of one hundred.’
‘Good. But you must also try and get marks like him…. You know, Swami, your grandfather used to frighten the examiners with his answers sometimes. When he answered a question, he did it in a tenth of the time that others took to do it. And then, his answers would be so powerful that his teachers would give him two hundred marks sometimes.
‘Oh, enough, Granny ! You go on bothering about old unnecessary stories. Won’t you listen to Rajam?’
‘Yes, dear, yes.’
‘Granny, when Rajam was a small boy, he killed a tiger.’
Swaminathan started the story enthusiastically : Rajam’s father was camping in a forest. He had his son with him. Two tigers came upon them suddenly, one knocking down the father from behind. The other began chasing Rajam, who took shelter behind a bush and shot it dead with his gun.
‘Granny, are you asleep?’ Swaminathan asked at the end of the story.
Now read the dialogue and complete the conversation:
Swarni: You don’t know what a great fellow Raj am is! In the beginning I could not get along with him but now he is my good friend. And you know, he has a real police dress.
Grandmother: Is it? What does he want a police dress for?
Swarni: His father is the Police Superintendent. He is the master of every policeman here.
Grandmother: I think, it must be a tremendous office. Do you know, your grandfather was a powerful submagistrate and the Police Force trembled before him? Even the fiercest dacoits of the place fled.
Swarni: That will do, Granny. It’s so boring. Let me tell you something about Raj am. Do you know how many marks he gets in arithmetic?
Grandmother: He gets all the marks, doesn’t he, child?
Fill in the blanks to complete the following paragraph that highlights the theme of
the poem. Use the words given in the box below.
decision sorry foresee choices pleasant direction
fork trail rewarding chance wonder both
The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is about the __________ that one
makes in life. It tells about a man who comes to a ___________ in the road he is
travelling upon. He feels ___________ that he can not travel___________ paths as he
must choose one. Frost uses this fork in the road to represent a point in the man's life
where he has to choose the ___________ he wishes to take in life. As he thinks about
his ___________ he looks down one path, as far as he can see trying to ___________
what life will be like if he walks that path. He then gazes at the other and decides that the
outcome of going down that path would be just as ________________. At this point he
concludes that the ________that has been less travelled on would be more
___________ when he reaches the end of it. The man then decides that he will save the
other path for another day, even though he knows that one path leads to another and
that he won't get a ___________ to go back. The man then says that he will be telling
this story with a sigh, someday in the future suggesting that he will ___________ what
life would have been like if he had chosen the more walked path even though the path
he chose has made all the difference.
Simple Past and Past Continuous
There was a burglary in your neighbourhood. You saw something suspicious.
Tell the police officer all about it by filling in the blanks choosing the correct
forms of the words from the options given below.
It (a) was raining last night. I (b) _________ TV. I (c) _________ a little restless. I (d) _________ to the window and was looking out when I (e) _________ that Mr Sharma, my neighbour (f) _________ near the door. I thought he had gone to shut it. I also (g) _________ Mrs Sharma walking up and down in her garden. Then I heard Mr Sharma calling his wife to come in. I (h) _________ back to my table and opened my book. I (i) _________ when I heard a thud and a scream. I (j) _________ out of the house and saw a man in a black coat and hat running towards the gate. Mr and Mrs Sharma (k) _________ in the street. I saw a car speeding away with the burglar.
(a) (i) raining (ii) was raining (iii) were raining (iv) rained
(b) (i) were watching (ii) watched (iii) was watching (iv) watching
(c) (i) has felt (ii) felt (iii) was feeling (iv) feel
(d) (i) had gone (ii) went (iii) was going (iv) gone
(e) (i) noticing (ii) was noticing (iii) were noticing (iv) noticed
(f) (i) stood (ii) were standing (iii) was standing (iv) were stood
(g) (i) seeing (ii) saw (iii) was seeing (iv) seen
(h) (i) had come (ii) was coming (iii) came (iv) were came
(i) (i) hadread (ii) was reading (iii) were reading (iv) read
m (i) rushed (ii) was rushing (iii) were rushed (iv) rushing
(k) (i) had screamed (ii) was screaming (iii) screamed (iv) were screaming
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emotion |
possession |
perception (often used with can) |
measurement |
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Some verbs, like the ones mentioned above, are not normally used in the continuous (- ing) form. However, we do sometimes use such verbs in the continuous form. Look at the following examples.
1. “I can’t concentrate on my work because I’m thinking about that beautiful scene.”
2. “I think it is beautiful.”
- Which sentence expresses an activity in progress at the moment?
- Which sentence expresses a decided opinion?
The Environment in Danger
What do you think will happen to the following?
Choose four, and write one sentence about each using the modals below and/ or expressions from 10.
(a) The ozone layer
(b) The Taj Mahal
(c) The Maldives
(d) The rainforests
(e) Weather patterns
(f) Fossil fuels
(g) The Ganges delta
e.g. In my opinion, the hole in the ozone layer will grow bigger and more people will get skin cancer.
Rearrange the jumbled words to form meaningful sentences.
(a) at developing / there have been / a modern / many attempts / snowboard
(a) ______________________________________
(b) was developed / a child’s toy / in 1965 / the ‘Snurfer’ / as
(b) ______________________________________
(c) and a rope / at the / two skiis / were bound / was placed / front end / together
(c) ______________________________________
(d) declared / snowboarding / in 1994 / was / event / an Olympic
(d) ______________________________________
(e) across the globe / is a / this recognition / huge victory / snowboarders / to the
(e) ______________________________________