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Question
Ravi has a problem, so he asks his friends for advice. Read the conversation below and underline the expressions that are used for giving advice. (This could be done as role-play)
Ravi : My neighbours play very loud music, which disturbs me when I'm studying.
Mohan: Why don't you try persuading them to turn down the volume?
Shiela: If that doesn't work you could think of changing your study time.
Rahim: Why should Ravi have to do that? He really ought to report such antisocial behaviour to the police.
Shiela: Before taking drastic action like that, I would advise you to sort it out amicably with your neighbours.
Rahim: If l were you, I would play my music even louder!
Mohan: That won't solve his problem. Ravi, I think you should ask your father to take it up with your neighours.
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Solution
Ravi: My neighbours play very loud music and it disturbs me when I’m studying.
Mohan: Why don’t you try persuading them to turn down the volume?
Shiela: If that doesn’t work you could think of changing your study time.
Rahim: Why should Ravi have to do that? He really ought to report such a whimsical behaviour to the police.
Shiela: Before taking any such drastic action, I would advise you to sort it out amicably with your neighbours.
Rahim: If I were you, I would play my music even louder!
Mohan: That won’t solve his problem. Ravi, I think you should ask your father to take it up with your neighbours.
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Imagine that you are on an uninhabited island with a group of children of your age. In groups of four, discuss and enumerate the strategies that will be adopted by you to survive. You can think on the following lines :
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The verb ‘to have’
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| Health (H) | Possession (P) | Relationship (R) | |
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Put a tick (✓) or cross (✗) against each sentence according to whether it is correct or incorrect.
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‘Since’or‘For’
We often use the Present Perfect with time expressions using ‘since’ or ‘for’.
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We use ‘since’ to express ______ in time, whereas ‘for’ is used to express ______ of time.
| since | for | |
| last week | ||
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a short time |
| a decade | ||
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Another technique adopted by the writer is to use figures of speech such as a simile. A simile is used to express similarity between two things. e.g. He is as fast as lightning. The rain/ell heavily on the metal roof like a machine-gun. Similes usually start with 'like' or 'as'.
Find two similes in the last section of the story.
(a) Answer the following questions:
- Where were the characters at the time of narration?
- Who was travelling with the aunt?
- How did the children pass their time?
- How long would they take to reach Templecombe?
- How does the aunt respond to the children’s antics? Why do you say so?
(b) You must have used a variety of articles in your answer. Why did you use them? Discuss the reasons with your teacher.
Study the following pair of sentences from the description. Notice the use of
articles-a, an or the or no article (X).
e.g. The next stop was at X Templecombe.
An aunt belonging to the children sat in one corner.
In the corner sat a stranger.
Hence we conclude
1. No article is used before a proper noun.
2. 'The' is used to refer to a specific place/person/ object.
3. 'A' is used when the person/place is referred to for the first time.
4. 'An' is used before a vowel sound.
Read the following excerpts from newspapers on various environmental issues.
Ban the Bag
The Indus Valley Civilisation left beautifullycrafted pottery that speaks volumes of the advances its people made. After 3,000 years, if the ruins we leave behind are excavated, chances are only plastic bags would be dug up. It may sound like an exaggeration, but these bags are not biodegradable. Apart from causing emissions when these are manufactured, noxious fumes are released while these are being burnt or disposed off. So, be kind to Mother Earth the next time you go shopping for groceries, remember to carry a cloth bag with you.
What India Should Do
India has released the National Action Plan on Climate Change. Is it adequate? Is there more that the country can do? Here are some ways how we can make a difference.
(a) SOLAR MISSION
1) To promote the use of solar energy through solar photovoltaic and thermal systems for power generation .
2) To integrate other renewable energy technologies like biomass and wind. 
(b) ENERGY EFFICIENCY
1) To mitigate GHG through sector-specific and cross-cutting technology and fuel switch options.
2) To use more LNG and biomass fuels besides seeking tech transfer. 
(c) SUSTAINABLE HABITAT
1) To promote energy efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors through LPG use.
2) To manage municipal solid waste and urban public transport in a better way. 
(d) WATER MISSION
1) To promote efficient water use, augment supply in critical areas and ensure effective management of water resources.
2) To have better management of surface and groundwater,and conserve wetlands. 
(e) SUSTAINING HIMALAYAS
1) To enhance monitoring and conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems, empower local communities for management of ecological resources and promote sustainable tourism. 
(f) GREEN INDIA
1) To reduce fragmentation of forests, enhance public and private investments for plantation, upscale joint forestry management and promote conservation of biodiversity. Need to afforest degraded lands.
(g) SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE :
1) To focus on four crucial areas - dry land agriculture, risk management, access to information and promoting the use of biotechnology.
2) To develop drought and pest resistant varieties. 
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.
WRITING A MYSTERY STORY
Mysteries can be divided into several categories. There are puzzling stories, detective I crime stories, and suspense stories. They all give the reader a chance to become involved in the solution of the story through clues and character descriptions.
Characters
Before you start to write, think about the characters you might put in your story.
• What will each character do?
• Why is he or she important to the story?
• In what ways are your characters alike?
• How are they different?
• What can your characters learn from each other?
• One last thing to remember: your characters don't always have to be human. If an animal plays a part in the story, that animal is a character, too
Setting
A story has to happen in a place.
• The setting might be a place you are familiar with.
• It might even be another planet!
• A setting doesn't even have to be a real place.
Details
• Use your Imagination.
• Details help readers understand how something looks, how it feels, how it sounds - even how something smells or tastes!
Plot
• Your characters have to DO something!
• What they do is the Plot of your story.
• To make the plot exciting add Situations.
Ending
• The Ending of a story is the solution to the conflict.
• Solve the problem, dilemma or conflict faced by the main character.
• Show that your main character has changed or grown in some way.
• Tie up all the loose ends. Readers shouldn't have to choose between several hinted endings.
Here are the stories of the two boys. One student reads the story of Shravan Kumar and the second student reads the story of Narendra Kumar. After reading the story, each student completes bis or her half of the table in Question 3.
SHRAVAN KUMAR
His day begins when most other people's day ends. Thirteen-year old Shravan Kumar works in a tea shop on Delhi's Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, where several newspaper offices are situated. His work begins around seven in the evening when he starts preparing samosas, coffee and tea. He carries them to several offices, does the dishes, and goes around collecting his money well into the night. Around six in the morning, when all the newspapers are despatched for distribution and the press employees return home, he prepares his food, takes a bath and goes to bed.
Shravan is an orphan who crune to Delhi from his village in search of work. His father kept a shop, but was tricked out of it by a deceitful uncle. Despair drove him to alcohol and grunbling, and he died of a stroke soon after.
Shravan worked in a tea shop in his village for a while. "When I first began washing other people's cups and glasses", he recalls, "I used to feel very bad, I would cry."
Shravan moved to the more lucrative environs of Delhi, where his elder brother Shatrughan had preceded him. Ajob in a shop selling ice was his first taste of big city life. His mother crune to visit him in Delhi, but she fell ill and died soon after. "That was two or three years ago. I don't remember exactly when," the little boy says. Soon, Shravan lost his first job. His employer still owes him Rs 500.
Following a brief spell of unemployment and a short spell as an assistant at a car park, he joined the tea shop where he is presently employed. The ruthlessness and loneliness of the world has left him shattered. "I think I run all alone in this world," he says despondently.
Of the Rs 300 that he earns every month, he deposits Rs 200 in the bank. His bank balance stands at Rs 2000, he says proudly. Survival is his immediate aim but there is a larger objective towards which Shravan is working. He intends to retrieve the land that was mortgaged by his father. Already Shravan and Shatrughan have paid back the loan of Rs 8000 - only the interest remains to be paid.
Shravan was a dedicated lotte:ry buyer at one time; until he realized that it was adding nothing to his income. The cinema remains a favourite form of entertainment - he even wakes up early to see the noon show. "I have no friends here. Who keeps awake late at night and sleeps during the day? I miss my village. There, I used to play gully danda and marbles and I had a lot of friends. When I went to the village last year, I met them. They are still studying and playing games. I want to join them, but it is a question of survival for me."
Sharvan's mother wanted him to own a big shop - "like the one his father had owned," he says wistfully. He dreams of fulfilling her wish. He dreams of getting back their mortgaged land, and returning to the village for good, "I like being in my village. I like the films and the glitter of Delhi, but I prefer the greene:ry, the trees, and the fields of my village." Maybe the grit and intelligence he has shown, alone and friendless, in facing a hostile world, will also win for him his heart's desire.
NARENDRA KUMAR
Narendra Kumar, a thirteen year old Kendriya Vidyalaya student, was interviewed by The Illustrated Weekly of India. Read what he says about himself.
Interviewer : Hello, Narendra!
Narendra : Hello!
Interviewer : Congratulations! Narendra. I saw your photograph in the newspaper last week, when you won the Soviet Land Nehru Award for drawing and painting. Our readers are anxious to know more about you.
Narendra : Thank you, Sir. I think I was just lucky to get the award. The competition is held every year in my school and a large number of students take part in it.
Interviewer : That's good, very good. It's evident that your school encourages students to take part in various activities.
Narendra : Oh yes. Our teachers -especially my Art teacher, Mr. V. Sinha - gives us a lot of encouragement. My parents have encouraged me a lot, too.
Interviewer : When did you start painting?
Narendra : When I was three, I was attending the Shishu Vihar Nursery School. My teacher gave me a picture of a big kite one day. The picture was beautiful and that very day I asked my father to buy me some crayons and drawing paper... Soon my room was full of crayons and paper! I kept drawing whenever I found time. I now have a mini art room of my own at home!
Interviewer : That's great, really great! Do you want to become an artist when you grow up?
Narendra : No. Drawing and painting are just hobbies, which give me a great deal of pleasure. I want to become a police officer when I grow up. That's the only thing I've ever wanted to be.
Interviewer : Is that because your father is a police officer?
Narendra : Yes, maybe. I've been watching my father and other policemen for a very long time. I suppose I want to be like him!
Interviewer : Do you feel you have the qualities that a good police officer needs?
Narendra : Yes, I think so. A good police officer needs to be physically fit and mentally alert. I'm trying my best to grow into a healthy young man. I'm a member of the local sports club. I play tennis in the evenings and I also swim regularly.
Interviewer : How do you find time for all these activities?
Narendra : Well, I suppose I'm busy the whole day. Immediately after school I like to paint or play. I study before dinner and usually get to bed at about 10 o'clock.
Interviewer : Thank you, Narendra. It's been good talking to you. We wish you success.
Narendra : It's been a pleasure
SAID and TOLD
Be careful with the use of said and told. Look at these examples.
(a) He told me to stop work.
They told us they had four children.
She said (that) they were finished.
We said (that) we were leaving at 6 o’clock.
What would you use when ordering somebody to do something: told or said?
(b)
Fill in the blanks using said or told.
Add any other words that you think are necessary.
- He ________ to sit down and I did.
- She ________ the weather would be hot and it was.
- They ________ about the disaster and we listened carefully.
- He ________ to go away and they did.
- She ________ there was no other way to do it.
Class discussion
• Is a biography written in a particular order of events?
• Which is the most common tense?
