Karnataka 10th Standard English Second Language Textbook PDF

Government of Karnataka English Second Language ED (Revised) H IS BL EP S R TB U 10 BE @K TO T Tenth Standard O N Part -...

Government of Karnataka English Second Language ED (Revised) H IS BL EP S R TB U 10 BE @K TO T Tenth Standard O N Part - I Karnataka Textbook Society (R.) 6th Cross, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru - 560 003. ii  Foreword In the pursuit of fostering a healthier and more balanced educational journey, we present this initiative aimed at reducing the weight of school bags. Education is the cornerstone of progress and it is our responsibility to ensure that the pursuit of knowledge is accompanied by the wellbeing of students. As a first step, to reduce the burden of heavy bags, the School Education Department, Government of Karnataka ED has decided to print semester-wise textbooks in 2 parts i.e., H Summative Assessment 1 and 2. This intervention will help IS significantly in reducing the weight of school bags. BL EP S R TB U This Endeavour signifies a paradigm shift, acknowledging BE @K the strain posed by bulky bags on students. TO Manjushree. N. IAS T O Managing Director N Karnataka Textbook Society (R.) ii  Preface The Textbook Society, Karnataka has been engaged in producing new textbooks according to the new syllabi which in turn are designed on NCF – 2005 since June 2010. Textbooks are prepared in 12 languages; seven of them serve as the media of instruction. From standard 1 to 4 there is the EVS, mathematics and 5th to 10th there are three core subjects namely mathematics, science and social science. NCF – 2005 has a number of special features and they are: connecting knowledge to life activities. learning to shift from rote methods. enriching the curriculum beyond textbooks. learning experiences for the construction of knowledge. ED making examinations flexible and integrating them with classroom experiences. H IS caring concerns within the democratic policy of the country. BL EP S making education relevant to the present and future needs. R TB U softening the subject boundaries- integrated knowledge and the joy of BE @K learning. making the child is the constructor of knowledge. The new books are produced based on three fundamental approaches namely; Constructive approach, Spiral Approach and Integrated approach. TO The learner is encouraged to think, engage in activities, master skills and T competencies. The materials presented in these books are integrated with values. O The new books are not examination oriented in their nature. On the other hand they N help the learner in the all round development of his/her personality, thus help him/ her become a healthy member of a healthy society and a productive citizen of this great country, India. The most important objectives of teaching language are listening, speaking, reading, writing and reference work. These skills have been given a lot of importance in all the language textbooks. Along with the inculcation of these skills, fundamental grammar, opportunities for learners to appreciate beauty and imbibe universal life values have been integrated in language textbooks. When learners master these competencies, they would stop studying textbooks for the sake of passing examinations. iii In order to help learners master these competencies, a number of paired and group activities, assignments and project work have been included in the textbooks. It is expected that these activities would help learner master communicative skills. Ultimately, it is expected that students master the art of learning to learn and make use of these competencies in real life. Textbooks for students X have a special significance. As any other new textbook they help learners master skills and competencies and at the same time there is going to be a public examination based on them. The Textbook Society expresses grateful thanks to the chairpersons, writers, scrutinisers, artists, staff of DIETs and CTEs and the members of the Editorial Board and printers in helping the Text Book Society in producing these textbooks. A few works of some writers and poets have been included in these textbooks. The textbook society is extremely grateful to them for giving their consent for the inclusion of these ED pieces in the textbooks. H IS Y. T. Gurumurthy BL Prof. G. S. Mudambadithaya EP S Co-ordinator R TB Managing Director U Karnataka Textbook Society Curriculum Revision BE @K Bengaluru, Karnataka and Textbook Preparation Karnataka Textbook Society Bengaluru, Karnataka TO T O N ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Karnataka Textbook Society has sought permission to use copyright materials from different sources. Anticipating permission it wishes to thank with gratitude the pubishers private as well as Goverrnment and authors of the materials used in this Textbook. Karnataka Textbook Society (Regd). Bengaluru iv  A Note for the Facilitator The 10th Standard English Second Language Text is conceived and written broadly on the principles laid down in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF-2005), as also on the guidelines spelt out in many documents of Karnataka Text Book Committee(R). The objective of the text is to provide ample scope to use English, mainly as a medium of communication, as a means of acquiring skills and competencies, and also to motivate the learner to use it as a spring board for aesthetic appreciation and creativity. The committee, while preparing the text, was largely guided by the principles, approaches and techniques highlighted in NCF-2005; principles of learning how to learn, issue based learning and Critical Pedagogy; Constructivist, Integrated and Spiral Approaches; learner-centred techniques focusing on interaction of the learner with the teacher, with the peer, with the material, and with the world outside, all culminating in constructing or building up knowledge. The content of each unit is chosen keeping in view its relevance, the interest it sustains and the value ED it imbibes in the reader as also its potentiality to generate language study. Each unit has a poem, the theme of which is similar to that of the prose text in it. Poems are intended to be read and appreciated H more for their rhythm or music, imagery and unique expression, than for their content or summary. IS The themes selected for prose have a wide range of values including compassion, the smell of the soil, fortitude, talent overriding all superficial borders, traits of real leadership, genius transgressing BL EP S all disabilities, genial humour and critical thinking. R TB U The supplementary section of the reader is meant for extensive reading. The objective is to promote BE @K love for reading through exposure to a variety of texts. Each unit of the book has been structured with a definite purpose. Before you read is intended to provide a right premise for motivating the learner about the theme of the text. Teacher can think and design additional activities suited to the learners. TO Check your understanding and Share your responses section has some easy, factual questions. Students read that part of the text silently, read the questions, go back to the text and form T some responses. Then in pairs, they are encouraged to exchange their responses. Teacher goes round O the class and provides required help or support. N Think about the text aims at consolidating whatever knowledge they have acquired over the previous activity. Now, it is time for the teacher to treat the class as a unit, and encourage the learners to discuss and present orally. The next step is to make them write the answers for the questions. Enrich your vocabulary section is supposed to be dealt with the help of the copies of dictionary to be provided in the class. Teacher may write a few of the words on the blackboard and guide the learners to use them in meaningful contexts. Listen and respond precede all other activities. Learners close the book, listen to the teacher and then respond. In some cases, teacher may have to read more than once, before the students make effort to respond. v  Speak well intends to promote the skill of speaking. Learners may be advised to take roles and say the dialogues, preferably without looking at the book. They will do this with appropriate body language, facial expression and eye-contact. Read and respond is an attempt to extend and enrich such skills as skimming, scanning, inferring and interpreting, discussing, based on the given text as well as visuals like maps, charts, tables etc., Practise writing encourages learners to improve the skills of collecting data, organizing them in an order, making drafts, editing them and finally coming up with a piece of writing. The learners have got to be guided throughout as this is the most exacting of all the skills. Learn grammar through communication as the very title suggests is done with meaningful and interesting activities. Whatever rules the learners are supposed to know, ought to be driven home based on meaning oriented tasks and exercises. Students are encouraged to come out with the lexical and syntactic system only after sufficient practice. Make reference is a section which seeks to guide the learners to choose the required source of information. Since material support is as crucial as manual one, activities are suggested to improve the skills of making appropriate reference. ED Do the project is intended to get the learners involved in the process of learning. Such aspects as time, management and material support can be thought of well in advance. The steps listed above are H suggestive, not prescriptive. Teachers do well to add, or modify, and enrich their strategies depending on IS the level of learners, of course without going against the accepted principles of learning. BL EP S A word about evaluation, a caution, is not out of place here. The principle of constructivism R TB U emphasizes that learning and evaluation – rather than saying teaching and testing- go hand in hand. So, BE @K any attempt, willy-nilly to revert to the three hour, one-shot examination will strike at the very root of the intended objectives spelt out in NCF-2005 and will also nullify all the efforts made throughout the year by the facilitators. The committee thanks the Director for the help and assistance, owes gratitude to Dr.G.S.Mudambadithaya, Co-ordinator for his guidance. Also we are indebted to the staff of the directorate for their co-operation. TO Wishing all the stakeholders of the text an enjoyable and rewarding experience. T On behalf of the committee. O P.N.Srinath N Chairperson. vi  Textbook Committee CHAIRPERSON P.N.Srinath ELT Professional, 1084, Chaitra, T. K. Koppal, 4th Stage, Mysuru. MEMBERS Smt Lalitha. H.Y. Shri Venkataramana Bhat Shri Krishna Prasad.K.N. Retd., Principal, 40, N.M. High School, Assistant Teacher, Chandana, 9th Cross, Belthangadi (T) Sadvidya High School, 11th Main, Nobanagar, Dharamasthala. Shasthri Road, Mysuru. Bannerghatta Road, Bengaluru. Shri Ekanath C.L. Shri Santhosh.T Smt Sharada.N. Block Resource English Language Teacher, Teacher, Sarshwathi Person (Secondary), Govt. PU College for Girls, Vidyanikhethana, BRC, BEO’s Office, Chitradurga. Vidyanagara, ED Chitradurga- 577 501. Bommasandra, Anekal (T), Bengaluru. H ARTIST IS Shri Tharakesh Drawing Teacher, Government High School, Bannitalipura,Gudlupet(T), BL EP S Chamaraja Nagara. R TB U SCRUTINISER BE @K Dr. Geetha Professor, Bengaluru University, Jnanabharathi, Bengaluru – 56. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Dr.Rajgopal, Dr.Mohan Raj, Professor, Dean, School of English Professor, School of English TO & Foreign Languages University, & Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Hyderabad. T Dr.Geetha Nagaraj, Prof. Rajendra Chenni, O 29th Cross, Yadiyur, Jayanagar, Professor, Department of English N Bengaluru. Shankaraghatta, Kuvempu University,Shivamogga. CHIEF CO-ORDINATOR Prof. G.S. Mudambadithaya, Curriculum Revision and Textbook Preparation, Karnataka Text Book Society, Bengaluru. CHIEF ADVISORS Shri Nagendra kumar, Smt. Nagamani.C, Managing Director, Deputy Director, Karnataka Textbook Society, Karnataka Textbook Society, Bengaluru. Bengaluru. PROGRAMME CO-ORDINATOR Smt Sowmya.N.S. Assistant Director, Karnataka Textbook Society, Bengaluru. vii  About the Revision of Textbooks Honourable Chief Minister Sri Siddaramaiah who is also the Finance Minister of Karnataka, in his response to the public opinion about the new textbooks from standard I to X, announced, in his 2014-15 budget speech of constituting an expert-committee, to look into the matter. He also spoke of the basic expectations there in, which the textbook experts should follow: “The textbooks should aim at inculcating social equality, moral values, development of personality, scientific temper, critical acumen, secularism and the sense of national commitment”, he said. Later, for the revision of the textbooks from class I to X, the Department of Education constituted twenty seven committees and passed an order on 24-11-2014. The committees so constituted were subject and class- ED wise and were in accordance with the standards prescribed. Teachers who are experts in matters of subjects and syllabi were in the committees. H IS There were already many complaints and analyses about the BL EP S textbooks. So, a freehand was given in the order dated 24-11-2014 to the R TB responsible committees to examine and review text and even to prepare U new text and revise if necessary. Eventually, a new order was passed BE @K on 19-9-2015 which also gave freedom even to re-write the textbooks if necessary. In the same order, it was said that the completely revised textbooks could be put to force from 2017-18 instead of 2016-17. TO Many self inspired individuals and institutions, listing out the wrong information and mistakes there in the text, had sent them to the T Education Minister and to the Textbook Society. They were rectified. O Before rectification we had exchanged ideas by arranging debates. N Discussions had taken place with Primary and Secondary Education Teachers’ Associations. Questionnaires were administered among teachers to pool up opinions. Separate meetings were held with teachers, subject inspectors and DIET Principals. Analytical opinions had been collected. To the subject experts of science, social science, mathematics and languages, textbooks were sent in advance and later meetings were held for discussions. Women associations and science related organisations were also invited for discussions. Thus, on the basis of inputs received from various sources, the textbooks have been revised where ever necessary. viii  Another important aspect has to be shared here. We constituted three expert committees. They were constituted to make suggestions after making a comparative study of the texts of science, mathematics and social science subjects of central schools (NCERT), along with state textbooks. Thus, the state text books have been enriched based on the comparative analysis and suggestions made by the experts. The state textbooks have been guarded not to go lower in standards than the textbooks of central schools. Besides, these textbooks have been examined along side with the textbooks of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra states. Another clarification has to be given here. Whatever we have done in the committees is only revision, it is not the total preparation of the textbooks. Therefore, the structure of the already prepared textbooks have in no way been affected or distorted. They have only been revised ED in the background of gender equality, regional representation, national integrity, equality and social harmony. While doing so, the curriculum H frames of both central and state have not been transgressed. Besides, the IS aspirations of the constitution are incorporated carefully. Further, the BL EP S reviews of the committees were once given to higher expert committees for R TB U examination and their opinions have been inculcated into the textbooks. BE @K Finally, we express our grateful thanks to those who strived in all those 27 committees with complete dedication and also to those who served in higher committees. At the same time, we thank all the supervising officers of the Textbook Society, who sincerely worked hard in forming TO the committees and managed to see the task reach its logical completion. We thank all the members of the staff who co-operated in this venture. T Our thanks are also to the subject experts and to the associations who O gave valuable suggestions. N N. Manjushree. IAS Prof. Baraguru Ramachandrappa Managing Director Chairman-in-Chief Karnataka Textbook Society (R) State Textbook Revision Committees Bengaluru. Karnataka Textbook Society (R) Bengaluru. ix  REVISION COMMITTEE Chairman-in-Chief: Prof. Baraguru Ramachandrappa, State Textbook Revision Committees, Karnataka Textbook Society, Bengaluru. Chairperson: Dr. N. Shantha Naik, Dean and Chairman, Department of English, Vijayanagara Srikrishnadevaraya University, Ballari. Members: Smt. Vijaya.S , Asst. Teacher, Govt. High School, Sonnashettihalliy, Chintamani, Chikkaballapur.Dist. Smt. A. Anantha Padma Priya, Asst. Teacher, Govt. Girl’s High school, Hosakote town, Bengaluru Rural Dist. Sri Vishwanatha. N.Y. Asst. Teacher Govt. High school, Mandikal, Chikkaballapur, Dist. ED Sri Manukumar. H.M. Education Co. Ordinator B.E.O. Office, Shivajinagar, Bengaluru- North-3. H Dr. Komala D.R. Lecturer, Govt.P.U. College, Hadli Circle, Malavalli (Tq), IS Mandya Dist. BL EP S Smt. Dilshad Begum. Lecturer, Govt. Polytechnic College, Ballari. R TB U Artist: BE @K Sri Venkatesh, Drawing teacher, Govt. High School, Urumarakesalagere, Mandya South, Mandya Dist. High Power Review Committee Members: Dr. G.Rajagopal, Professor (Rtd) #716, Prashanathnagar, Bogadi, 2nd Stage- South, Mysuru. TO Sri M.G.Hegde, Professor, Department of English , Dr.A.V. Baliga Arts and Science College, Kumta, Uttara Kannada Dist. T Sri Kannan, Professor, Department of English , P.G Center, Karnataka State O Women’s University,Vijayapura. N Dr.Ramaprasad, Professor, Department of English , Kuvempu University, Gnanasahyadri, Shankarghatta, Shivamogga , Dist. Dr.Mallikarjun Patil, Professor, Department of English , Karnataka University, Dharwad. Chief Advisors: N. Manjushree. IAS, Managing Director, Karnataka Textbook Society (R.), Bengaluru. Sri. Ganganna Swamy H.G, Deputy Director, Karnataka Textbook Society (R.), Bengaluru. Programme Co- ordinator: Smt. Hemalatha B.V. Assistant Director, Karnataka Textbook Society (R.), B'luru. x  Contents Sl. Page. PROSE POEM No. No. 1 A Hero Grandma Climbs a Tree 1-22 2 There’s a Girl by the Quality of Mercy 23-44 Tracks! (Memorization) 3 Gentleman of Rio en Medio I am the Land 45-67 ED 4 Dr. B.R. Ambedkar The Song of India 68-84 H Supplementary Reading IS BL EP S 1 Narayanpur Incident 85-89 R TB U 2 On Top of the World 90-92 BE @K Annexure 1 Listening Scripts 93-95 2 List of Activities 96 TO 3 List of Consonant Sounds 97 T O 4 List of Vowel Sounds 98 N 5 Word Accent 99-100 6 Poetic Expressions 101 7 Discourse Markers 102 8 Language Functions 103-104 xi  10th Second Language - English Syllabus Grid 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Unit Name of the Text Enrich your Listen and Speak Well Read and Practice Grammar Make Do the No. Unit Vocabulary Comprehend Respond Writing through Reference Project Communication A Hero Accepting Reading a Reference 1 Humour Homophones Reproducing and Refusing Funny Signs Adverbials Dictionary dialogue to Different N Grandma Climbs a Tree Invitations -1 O Resources There’s a Girl by the Tracks 1. Words of 1. Letter of New names T Expressing Reading Public Interest Sub+Verb Dictionary 2 Movement Flow chart Sympathy pictures Concord of the states Compassion Quality of Mercy 2. Interview -2 2. Idioms and cities of Questions TO India Gentleman of Rio en Medio Seeking Skimming Cheques Bank Service Varieties of 3 Word Maze Route Map 'If' Clause Nativity Opinion and Scanning Trees Grown BE @K I am the Land in India xii Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Articles/ R TB Linkers Expressing Dialogue Syllabication Outstanding 4 Phrases Reading National Determiners The Song of India Gratitude Poems Personalities Visionary EP S U Supplementary BReading 1 Narayanpur Incident 2 LI On Top of the World SH ED  UNIT – 1 PROSE Before you read Read this anecdote narrated by a person. Then answer the question given below. ED H IS BL EP S R TB U BE @K I was teaching my eight year old son Siddhartha about living and non-living things. I then asked him to tell me five important features of TO living things. He promptly told me that living things breathe, feel, move T and grow old and die. O “One more?” I said and it looked like he couldn’t remember. “forget,” N he finally added. I smiled. Questions Can you guess why ‘I’ smiled? At his ignorance / forgetfulness in general/ ready wit? [Choose the most appropriate one] 1  Now read the story to know how a child became a hero overnight. Read On A Hero -R.K. Narayan 1. For Swami, events took an unexpected turn. Father looked over the newspaper he was reading under the hall lamp and said, “Swami, listen to this: News has been received about the bravery of a village lad who, while returning home by the jungle path, came face to face with a tiger……..” ED The paragraph described the fight the boy H had with the tiger and his IS flight up the tree where he stayed half a day till some people came that BL EP S way and killed the tiger. R TB U BE @K 2. After reading it through, father looked at Swami fixedly and asked, “What do you say to that?” Swami said, “I think he must have been a very strong and grown-up person, not a boy at all.” “How could a boy fight a tiger?” TO “You think you are wiser than the newspaper?” father sneered. “A T man may have the strength of an elephant and yet be a coward: where as O another may have the strength of a straw, but if he has courage, he can N do anything. Courage is everything, strength and age are not important”. Swami disputed the theory. “How can it be, Father? Suppose I have all the courage what could I do if a tiger should attack me?” “Leave alone strength, can you prove you have courage? Let me see if you can sleep alone tonight in my office room.” sneer : speak in a very unkind way, frightful : unpleasant, face to face with : close to something and looking at it, reading it through : reading it from the beginning to the end, crossly : a little angrily, mere skeleton : very thin , scowl : an angry look or expression. 2 3. A frightful proposition, Swami thought. He had always slept beside his granny in the passage, and any change in this arrangement kept him trembling and awake all night. He hoped at first that father was only joking. He mumbled weakly, “Yes,” and tried to change the subject: he said very loudly and with a great deal of enthusiasm, “We are going to admit even elders in our cricket club hereafter. We are buying brand-new bats and balls. Our captain has asked me to tell you…” 4. “We’ll see about that later,” father cut in. “You must sleep alone hereafter.” Swami realized that the matter had gone beyond his control: from a challenge it had become a command; he knew his father’s tenacity at such moments. 5. “From the first of next month, I’ll sleep alone, Father.” “No, you must do it now. It is disgraceful sleeping beside granny or mother like a baby. You are in the second form and I don’t like the ED way you are being brought up,” he said and looked at his wife, who was H rocking the cradle. “Why do you look at me while you say it?” she asked. IS “I hardly know anything about the boy.” BL EP S “No, no, I don’t mean you,” said father. R TB U “If you mean your mother is spoiling him, tell her so; and don’t look BE @K at me,” she said and turned away. Check your understanding Share your responses TO 1. Swami’s father drew his attention to a report in the newspaper. T O What was the report about? N 2. The report said that the boy (who fought with the tiger) stayed on the tree for half-a-day. Why did he do so? (Choose the right answer) a. He wanted to watch the tiger from the top of a tree. b. He wanted someone to kill the tiger. c. He wanted to take rest for some time. tenacity : determination, cut in : interrupted at once. proposition : suggestion, mumble : say something not clearly enough. Second form: Seventh standard during British times. 3  3. Swami said that a very strong and grown-up person might have fought with the tiger. Do you think he made this remark out of his (a) experience (b) wisdom (c) belief? (Choose the most appropriate word) 4. “Can you prove you have courage?” Swami’s father said. (Answer the following questions) a. Was he joking? Or, serious? b. Was it a challenge? Or, a command? 5. The place where Swami usually slept was…………………….(Fill in the blank) 6. What is disgraceful, according to Swami’s father? Read On 6. Swami’s father sat gloomily gazing at the newspaper on his lap. Swami rose silently and tiptoed to his bed in the passage; granny was ED sitting up in her bed, and remarked, “Boy, are you already feeling sleepy? Don’t you want to hear a story?” Swami made wild gesticulations to silence H IS his granny, but that good lady saw nothing. So Swami threw himself on his bed and pulled the blanket over his face. BL EP S R TB 7. Granny said, “Don’t cover your U face. Are you really very sleepy?” BE @K Swami leant over and whispered, “Please, please, shut up granny. Don’t talk to me, and don’t let anyone call me even if the house TO is on fire. If I don’t sleep at once, perhaps I shall die.” He turned over T and curled, and snored under the O blanket till he found his blanket N pulled away. 8. Presently his father came and stood over him. “Swami, get up,” he said. He looked like an apparition in the semi-darkness of the passage, which was lit by a cone of light from the hall. Swami stirred and groaned as if in sleep. Father said, “Get up, Swami.” Granny pleaded, “Why do you disturb him?” 9. “Get up, Swami,” said father for the third time and Swami got up. gloomily : feeling in a way that things will not improve, sternly : seriously and strictly, tiptoed : walked quietly on the tips of his toes, gesticulations : to make movements with hands and arms, snore : to breathe in a noisy way, apparition : ghost. 4 Father rolled up his bed, took it under his arm and said, “Come with me.” Swami looked at granny, hesitated for a moment, and followed his father into the office room. On the way he threw a look of appeal at his mother and she said, “Why do you take him to the office room? He can sleep in the hall, I think.” “I don’t think so,” father said, and Swami slunk behind him with bowed head. ED “Let me sleep in the hall, Father,” Swami pleaded. “Your office H room is very dusty and there may be scorpions behind your law books.” IS BL EP S “There are no scorpions, little fellow. Sleep on the bench if you like.” R TB U “Can I have a lamp burning in the room?” BE @K “No. You must learn not to be afraid of darkness. It is only a question of habit. You must cultivate good habits.” “Will you at least leave the door open?” TO “All right. But promise you won’t roll up your bed and go to your granny’s side at night. If you do it, I’ll make you the laughing stock of T your school.” O Check your understanding N Share your responses 1. What do you think was the practice of granny before she went to bed? 2. Was Swami really sleeping? Or, was he pretending? scorpions : small creatures of the spider family with a poisonous sting (ZÉüÀÄ), slunk (past tense): moved somewhere quietly and secretly, laughing stock : an object of ridicule. 5  3. To Swami, his father looked like an…………………(Fill in the blank) 4. Why do you think Swami looked at his granny and his mother while following his father to the room? 5. “There might be scorpions behind your law books,” said Swami. a. Had he seen them earlier? Or, were there scorpions really? b. Was it a trick to escape from his father? (Answer all the questions.) Read On 10. Swami felt cut off from humanity. He was pained and angry. He did not like the strain of cruelty he saw in his father’s nature. He hated the newspaper for printing the tiger’s story. He wished that the tiger had not spared the boy, who didn’t appear to be a boy after all, but a monster…… 11. As the night advanced and the silence in the house deepened, his ED heart beat faster. He remembered all the stories of devils and ghosts he had heard in his life. How often his chum Mani had seen the devil in the H banyan tree at his street end. And what about poor Munisami’s father, IS who spat out blood because the devil near the river’s edge slapped his BL EP S R TB cheek when he was returning home late one night. And so on and on his U thoughts continued. He was faint with fear. A ray of light from the street BE @K lamp strayed in and cast shadows on the wall. Through the stillness all kinds of noises reached his ears-the ticking of the clock, rustle of trees, snoring sounds, and some vague night insects humming. He covered himself so completely that he could hardly breathe. Every moment he TO expected the devils to come up to carry him away; there was the instance of his old friend in the fourth class who suddenly disappeared and was T said to have been carried off by a ghost to Siam or Nepal….. O N 12. Swami hurriedly got up and spread his bed under the bench and crouched there. It seemed to be a much safer place, more compact and reassuring. He shut his eyes tight and encased himself in his blanket once again and unknown to himself fell asleep, and in sleep was racked chum : a good friend – (informal)-especially among children, spare : not harm someone, encased : covered himself closely, crouch : lower the body close to the ground, reassurance : to make someone feel calmer/to make someone less frightened, rack : make someone suffer great mental pain. 6 with nightmares. A tiger was chasing him. His feet stuck to the ground. He desperately tried to escape but his feet would not move; the tiger was at his back, and he could hear its claws scratch the ground…. scratch, scratch, and then a loud thud…… Swami tried to open his eyes but his eyelids would not open and the nightmare continued. It threatened to continue forever. Swami groaned in despair. 13. With a desperate effort he opened his eyes. He put his hand out to feel his granny’s presence at his side as was his habit, but he only touched the wooden leg of the bench. And his lonely state came back to him. He sweated with fright. And now what was this rustling? He moved to the edge of the bench and stared into the darkness. Something was moving down. He lay gazing at it in horror. His end had come. He realized that the devil would presently pull him out and tear him, and so why should ED he wait? As it came nearer he crawled out from under the bench, hugged it with all his might, and used his teeth on it like a mortal weapon…. H IS Check your understanding BL EP S R TB U Share your responses BE @K 1. Swami wished that the tiger hadn’t spared the boy, which means… (Choose the right answer) a. he didn’t want the boy to be alive. TO b. he didn’t want the tiger to be alive. T 2. As silence deepened in the room, what was Swami reminded of? O 3. Which place in the room did Swami think was safe, compact and N reassuring? 4. Swami touched…………………………………..in the room instead of granny. (Fill in the blank appropriately) 5. Swami saw a moving creature in the room. It was………………… a. his shadow b. a scorpion c. a man (Fill in the blank) nightmare : a frightening dream, desperately : do something with no hope, mortal weapon : deadly weapon. 7 Read On 14. “Aiyo! Something has bitten me,” went forth an agonized, thundering cry and was followed by a heavy tumbling and falling amidst furniture. In a moment father, cook, and a servant came in, carrying light. And all three of them fell on the burglar who lay amidst the furniture with a bleeding ankle. 15. Congratulations were showered on Swami next day. His classmates looked at him with respect, and his teacher patted his back. The headmaster said that he was a true scout. Swami had bitten into the ED flesh of one of the most notorious house-breakers of the district and the H police were grateful to him for it. IS 16. The inspector said, “Why don’t you join the police when you are BL EP S grown up?” R TB U Swami said for the sake of politeness, “Certainly, yes,” though he had BE @K quite made up his mind to be an engine driver, a railway guard, or a bus conductor later in life. 17. When he returned home from the club that night, father asked, “Where is the boy?” TO “He is asleep.” T “Already!” O “He didn’t have a wink of sleep the whole of last night,” said his N mother. “Where is he sleeping?” “In his usual place,” mother said casually. “He went to bed at seven-thirty.” “Sleeping beside his granny again!” father said. “No wonder he wanted to be asleep before I could return home. Clever boy!” clutched : held tightly, tumbling : falling helplessly, burglar : a person who enters a building in order to steal (house breaker), scout : one who is trained in doing acts of public service, not have a wink of sleep: couldn't sleep, notorious : evil-minded. 8  Mother lost her temper. “You let him sleep where he likes. You needn’t risk his life again.” Father mumbled as he went in to change, “All right, molly-coddle and spoil him as much as you like. Only don’t blame me afterwards.” Swami, following the whole conversation from under the blanket, felt tremendously relieved to hear that his father was giving him up. Check your Understanding Share your responses 1. Who cried, “Aiyo! Something has bitten me”? 2. Who did father, cook and a servant stumble upon? 3. Why were congratulations showered on Swami? ED 4. Do you think Swami really wanted to join the police? If not, what did he want to be? H IS 5. Did Swami muster up courage to sleep alone after the burglar BL EP S incident? R TB 6. Who supported Swami - His mother or his granny? U BE @K Think about the text 1. A report about a boy in the newspaper was an unexpected event in TO Swami’s life. Justify. 2. Swami made a comment on the newspaper report. Was he right? How T did his view differ from that of his father? O 3. What desperate attempts did Swami make to escape from his father? N 4. Why did Swami conclude that his father’s proposition was frightful? 5. As the night advanced, Swami felt that something terrible would happen to him. What would it be? How would it happen? 6. There was absolute silence in the room. In spite of it, some noises reached Swami’s ears. What were they? 7. Narrate Swami’s dreadful experience when he was lying under the bench. molly-coddle : treat someone very kindly and protect the person too much from anything unpleasant. 9 8. How was Swami honoured by his classmates, teacher and the headmaster? 9. Why did father want Swami to sleep alone in the office room? 10. Who do you think was wiser, Swami or his father? Justify your preference. 11. Why did Swami feel relieved at the end? 12. Suppose you are Swami of the story. Write a brief letter to your friend describing how you helped to catch a burglar in your house. 13. Some words describing the characters of the story ‘A Hero’ are given in brackets. Put them in the appropriate columns. (caring, protective, innocent, tricky, authoritative, disciplined, helpless, nervous) ED Swami’s father Mother Granny Swami H IS BL EP S R TB Enrich your vocabulary U BE @K Task 1. Homophones – Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and different spellings. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words. TO 1. We had _____________ many apples to carry. (too/two) 2. I ___________ a horse at the Marina Beach. (road/rode) T O 3. Did you have a ____________ for lunch? (pear/pair) N 4. The books are over __________ on the shelf. (their/there) Task 2. Fill in the blanks by choosing the appropriate word and complete the story. This is a__________(storey /story) told by a__________ (night/ knight). Once he received a letter. When he_________(red/ read) it______(through/ threw), he could not believe his own eyes._____________(Far/For), it was written________(buy/ by) none other than the queen of the land. She asked him to meet her_____(at/ yet) a secret place. The knight was 10 in a fix. But he thought_____(of/ off) a plan to tide over this problem. He______________(vent/ went) to the meeting place, not alone, but along with his___________(fair/ fare) wife. Can you guess what happened then? Task 3. Scramble the letters to form words. See the meaning clues in brackets. 1. a t r t e f l_____________________________________ (praise) 2. b o u d t _____________________________________(suspect) 3. r a g t e d y________________________________ (unhappy ending) 4. r a g f e n m t ________________________________ (a piece) 5. r a e t l _____________________________________ (careful) 6. c a c s r i y t________________________________ (short supply) ED 7. y m t s a t h p e i c ________________________ (not cruel) H IS Listen and comprehend BL EP S Answer the following : R TB U 1. Why do you think the audience, on hearing the dialogue, burst into BE @K laughter? 2. Try to repeat the words as delivered by the actor. 3. If you had been the actor, how would you have said it? TO Speak well T O Language function: Refusing invitation. N Imagine the headmaster meets Swami after the burglar incident. He offers an invitation. But, Swami refuses it politely. Read the dialogue. Headmaster : Swami, if I’m not wrong, you still look nervous. Swami : Me? No… no… no… not at all sir. I’m all right. Headmaster : That’s good. How did you find that there was a burglar in the room? You've done a great thing 11  Swami. In fact, we've decided to honour you. Come on. Swami : Many thanks, sir. I’d love to be there. But I’ve an important function at my grandpa’s house. Er…not now sir. Headmaster : How about next week? Swami : That’s a good idea, but let me think about it. Headmaster : Ok Swami. Language function: Accepting Invitation Imagine you are Zakir. You have been invited by your friend to be present at the award winning ceremony, occasioned by his winning three first places in a sports competition. Accept the invitation. ED Look at the dialogue and practise in pairs. H Vasu : Hi, Zakir how’re you? IS BL EP S Zakir : I’m fine. Vasu, you look wonderful. Anything special? Are the R TB competitions over? U BE @K Vasu : Yes, I've some good news to tell you. I won three medals –all first places. Zakir : That’s fantastic. Come on. Let’s celebrate. TO Vasu : That’s why I have just come here to see you. The sports authorities are going to have an award winning ceremony, T tomorrow, at the town hall. It will be at 4 in the evening. I want O you to be there. N Zakir : Hurray! Certainly I’ll be there not at 4, but even earlier. Let’s have sweets now. Come on. Vasu : Oh, sure. Imagine that Swami receives advice from his father and his granny. How would Swami say that he accepts it or refuses it? Write a dialogue using the expressions given below. 12 Accepting- a. That’s a very good idea. Thank you. b. Of course! I didn’t think of that. Many thanks. c. Thank you for suggesting it. I think I will. d. I think I must do that. e. Yes, I will. It’s very good of you to make the offer. f. That’s very kind of you. I will. Refusing - a. Thank you for the suggestion. I'll certainly think about it. b. That may be a good idea. Let me think about it. c. I think, on the whole, I'd rather not. Thank you all the same. d. It is certainly a possibility. May I think about it? ED e. That's very good of you but I am not sure I want to. f. Do you mind if I didn't? I know you are being kind. H IS In pairs, play the roles of Swami and his father. You can modify BL EP S the content of the story to suit your conversation using the expressions R TB mentioned above. U BE @K Self-assessment Read the statement and put a tick mark in the appropriate box. Sl.No. Statement Yes No To some TO extent T 1. I was able to present the dialogue taking roles. O N 2. I have knowledge of different language functions to accept or refuse an invitation politely. 3. I can use different language functions to accept or refuse invitation politely in my conversation. 4. I can speak with proper stress, pause, intonation, facial expression and clear pronunciation. 5. I can modify the content of the story to suit my conversation using correct expressions. 13  Read and respond Task - 1 : A man went to an astrologer. Astrologer : Come my child, your name is Suraj Khanna. Khanna : Yes, indeed! Astrologer : You have two sons and two daughters. Khanna : How true! Astrologer : You bought four kilos of sugar and five kilos of rice yesterday, and there are five members of your household remaining after your parents passed away. Khanna : I am impressed. But can you tell me about my future? ED Astrologer : Okay then. Come back with your horoscope booklet H tomorrow. And, here, take your ration card back. IS BL EP S Answer the questions below : R TB U 1. Mr. Khanna was surprised at the astrologer’s prediction. What BE @K made him feel so? 2. Why wasn’t the astrologer able to predict Mr. Khanna’s future? 3. In the conversation given above, who do you think has better common sense? TO Task - 2 : My brother, an Army doctor, was part of the UN peacekeeping T mission in the Congo. At the end of the one-year term, his O Congolese commander awarded him a letter of merit that N ended with “…… and he worked hardly to restore normalcy in the region.” Which word in the passage above gives the opposite meaning of what was meant to be said? Task - 3 : Look at the cartoon. Interpret it orally with your partner. What is funny as shown in the cartoon? 14 Learn grammar through communication Use of Modals : Some sentences are given below : a. Rewrite them beginning with the clue given in brackets. b. Identify the language function. One example is given. e.g.: Is it alright if I sit here? (Begin with ‘could……’ ) Function - Seeking permission. Sentence rewritten: Could I sit here? 1. Please return my library books. (Begin with ‘ will’ ______________) Function ________________ ED 2. The files are heavy. I’ll carry them for you. H (Begin with ‘would’______________) IS Function_____________ BL EP S R TB 3. That’s your essay. Perhaps you will have no objection if I see it. U (Begin with ‘May ________’ _________) BE @K Function ______________ 4. Let me switch on the fan, OK? (Begin with ‘Do you’ _________’ __________) TO Function__________________ 5. ‘Bring the books to my office.’ T O (Begin with ‘would’ ________’ __________) N Function _______________ Make reference Task - 1: Look at these (partial) dictionary entries. lorry n BrE : a large motor vehicle for carrying heavy goods. truck n 1. BrE : an open railway vehicle for carrying goods. 2. AmE a large motor vehicle: BrE lorry 3. A simple vehicle for carrying goods which is pushed or pulled by hand. 15 These entries tell us that a. lorry is a word in British English. (This is indicated by BrE;some dictionaries say ‘Brit’ instead.) b. truck in British English means an open railway vehicle, not a motor vehicle. c. In American English (‘AmE’ or, in some dictionaries, ‘US’), truck means a motor vehicle – the same as lorry. d. truck can also mean a simple vehicle pushed or pulled by hand, that is, a hand pulled(or hand-pushed) cart, in both British and American English. Although British English and American English are largely the same, there are some differences between them in the spelling, pronunciation and meanings of words. Dictionaries give us information on these differences. ED Task - 2 : Now look at the following dictionary entry. H IS windbag n infml derog. A person who talks too much and bores people. BL EP S What does ‘derog’ here mean? It means that the word windbag R TB is derogatory, that is, a person will feel insulted if he/she is called a U BE @K ‘windbag’. Certain words in every language are derogatory and it is useful to know about them in order to avoid causing offence without intending so. Task - 3 : With the help of a dictionary, find out what you can understand about the following words : TO 1. cheque and check as nouns. 2. hire and rent as verbs. T O Suggested reading: N 1. Malgudi Days - R.K. Narayan 2. The play ‘Poli Kitty’ (Kannada) - T. P. Kailasam 3. The Story Teller - Saki 16  Do the project Collect information about Sri K. Raja Rao, a well known Indian writer in English. Fill in the blanks and write a short paragraph about him. Name : ____________________________________ Date of birth : ____________________________________ Year of death : ____________________________________ Education : ____________________________________ ED His novels : ____________________________________ H IS His short stories : ____________________________________ BL EP S R TB Awards won by him : ____________________________________ U BE @K His work you like most: _______________________________ Other details if any: ___________________________________ Know about the author TO T O R.K. Narayan is widely considered to be one of N the greatest Indian English novelists, who is known for simple and unpretentious writing style. He is best known for his works set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. His works include Swami and his Friends, The Bachelor of Arts, The English Teacher and The Financial Expert. His novel, The Guide was adapted for film and it won the Sahitya Academy Award. He highlights social content and provides a feel for his characters through everyday life. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament. Good friends don't let you do stupid things... alone. 17  POETRY Before you read You might have noticed some childish habits and desires in your grand mother. Examples are given. Can you think of some more? Make a list of them. a. Playing with marbles. b. Flying kites. c. Riding a bike. ED d. _____________________________________________________________ H e. _____________________________________________________________ IS Now, here is a poem, as the very title suggests, about a grown BL EP S up woman continuing childish habits and desires. R TB U Listen to the poem (Your teacher reads/recites the poem) BE @K Grandma Climbs a Tree -Ruskin Bond TO T O N 18 Read the poem My grandmother was a genius. You’d like to know why? Because she could climb trees. Spreading or high, She’d be up their branches in a trice, and mind you When last she climbed a tree she was sixty-two. Ever since childhood, she’d had this gift For being happier in a tree than in a lift; 6 And though, as years went by, she would be told That climbing trees should stop when one grew old- And that growing old should be gone about gracefully- She’d laugh and say, ‘Well I’ll grow disgracefully, I can do it better’. And we had to agree; For in all the garden there wasn’t a tree 12 ED She hadn’t been up, at one time or another H [Having learned to climb from a loving brother IS when she was six] but it was feared by all BL EP S That one day she’d have a terrible fall. R TB U The outcome was different-while we were in town BE @K She climbed a tree and couldn’t come down. 18 After the rescue, The doctor took Granny’s temperature and said, ‘I strongly recommend a quiet week in bed’. TO We sighed with relief and tucked her up well. Poor Granny! For her, it was like a brief season in hell. T O Confined to her bedroom, while every breeze N Whispered of summer and dancing leaves. 24 But she had held her peace till she felt stronger. Then she sat up and said, ‘I’ll lie here no longer!’ And she called for my father and told him undaunted That a house in a treetop was what she now wanted. My dad knew his duties. He said, That’s all right- You’ll have what you want, dear. I’ll start work tonight.’ 30 in a trice : very quickly, outcome : what actually happened ; hold ones’s peace: keep quiet, undaunted : without hesitation. 19  With my expert assistance, he soon finished the chore: Made her a tree - house with windows and a door. So granny moved up, and now every day I climb to her room with glasses and tray. She sits there in state and drinks sherry with me. Upholding her right to reside in a tree. 36 Understand the poem 1. The speaker in the poem does not call his grandmother ‘childish’. What else was she according to him? Why does he consider her to be so? {lines 1-4} 2. Grandma had been in the habit of climbing trees for a very long period. Identify the lines that suggest this. 3. Look at the lines 7 and 8. ‘She would be told.......’ Who do you think would tell her so? ED 4. Do you find anything odd in the reply given by the grandma? If H so, why do you think it is odd? { lines 10-11} IS 5. Others had feared that granny would fall from a tree one day or BL EP S the other. Did this happen? Or did something else happen? { lines R TB U 15-18} BE @K 6. What had the doctor recommended? What was the reaction of the kids to this advice? 7. Quote the lines which suggest how wholeheartedly granny enjoyed climbing a tree. TO 8. ‘My dad knew his duties’. What did he think his duty was? 9. Look at the picture given below the title. Quote the lines that T might have guided the artist to draw that. O N Read and appreciate A. 1. Read the poem again. Does the behaviour of grandma strike you as unusual? If so, support your view quoting her ways and responses to others. One is done for you. Grandma climbing a tree. (way 1) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (response) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (response) chore : task, sherry : yellow or brown coloured wine, upholding : making clear to the world. 20  2. ‘Growing old gracefully’ is an expression used in the poem. Discuss with your partner whether what the grandma was doing was graceful or otherwise. 3. Both the narrator (speaker in the poem) and his father were very considerate towards Grandma. Substantiate the statement with textual support. 4. If you were to divide the entire poem into two parts, which line would you pick up to be the beginning of the second part? Why? B. 1. Have a close look at the rhyme-scheme. Write at least 5 pairs of the rhyming words. e.g. said - bed. 2. ‘‘It was like a brief season’’. Name the figure of speech in the sentence. What are the two things compared? Explain. 3. ‘For being happier in a tree than in a lift’. What is suggested ED through this line? Exchange your views with your partner. H 4. ‘There was not a tree, she hadn’t been up’ is an expression. IS Rewrite the above sentence without using ‘not’ (note : the meaning BL EP S should be the same). R TB U Give some more examples from outside the text to illustrate the BE @K effective use of double negatives. C. Read the line ‘she would be up in the branches in a trice.’ What picture do you get in your mind when you read this? May be it TO is the picture of grandma climbing a tree deftly even like a monkey. T Now read the following lines and say what pictures or images that O come to your mind. N Try to draw these pictures if you can : 1. An aged woman confined to bed. 2. Every breeze whispered of summer and dancing leaves. 3. Being happier in a tree than in a lift. 4. I will grow disgracefully. 21 Read and enjoy Who, Me? - Joyce Armor There is a kid who lives with us Who no one’s ever seen. He’s the guy who broke our vase And painted Fluffy green. He drew the funny pictures On my brother’s bedroom door, And left those worms to shrivel up Inside my dresser drawer. He also took my favorite cookies ED From the cookie jar, H And put a tuna sandwich IS In the brand new VCR. BL EP S R TB In fact, he does most everything U That you might think is bad. BE @K Of course he isn’t really real... Just don’t tell Mom and Dad. Know about the poet TO Ruskin Bond : Born in Kasauli in 1934, Ruskin Bond now lives in T O Missouri. He wrote his first novel, ‘The Room on the Roof’, when he N was seventeen and has written more than thirty books for children. ‘Grandma Climbs a Tree’ shows Bond’s great ability to enjoy unusual events and actions. In his autobiography, ‘Scenes from a Writer’s Life’, Bond talks about his Calcutta granny as a strange person who sat alone in the evenings playing Patience, a card game. 22  UNIT - 2 PROSE Before you read Study the picture. Some people are looking at the accident with an expression of shock and anxiety. ED H IS BL EP S R TB U BE @K If you had been there at the place shown in the picture, how would you have reacted? TO T Begin with I would have O N Share your reactions with your friends. 23 Read on. “There’s a Girl by the Tracks!” -Deven Kanal Nobody dared to go where this youngster did... 1. As the Mumbai suburban electric train made its 20-second, 6:32 p.m. halt at a station, commuters swarmed out and into its 12 packed coaches. It’s a regular scene in and around India’s most populated metropolis. Having just managed to squeeze herself into a ladies’ compartment, 21-year-old call centre ED executive Roma Talreja tried to settle into a corner near the door. The train hurtled ahead and Roma, jammed between other women, was trying H IS to find some space to stand safely on when she suddenly got pushed, lost her tenuous foothold and panicked. BL EP S R TB U 2. Her hands reached for the steel railing above, but finding only air, BE @K Roma was thrown out of the coach. The clattering roar of the train muffled the thud of her fall on to the ground more than a metre below. She was knocked senseless. 3. Standing near the door of another train speeding in the opposite TO direction, 20-year-old Baleshwar Mishra couldn’t believe what he had just seen - a young woman in a black salwar-kameez lying next to the T tracks. Meanwhile, gasps and screams emanated from his compartment. O “There’s a girl by the tracks!” the voices cried out. N 4. Impulsively, Baleshwar went and grabbed the train’s red emergency chain and pulled it down frantically. The train screeched, slowing down. He then surveyed the compartment full of wary faces. “Let’s go and help her!” he shouted. But nobody volunteered, afraid of getting involved, of being inconvenienced perhaps. suburban : of a place outside a city, commuter : one who travels to work place daily, swarm (v): rush, hurtle : move fast, tenuous : weak or shaky, panic : Suddenly feel frightened, clattering : making a loud sound, muffled : silenced, thud : low sound, gasp : a deep breath taken when surprised, emanate : come from, impulsively : without any thinking, frantically : with no hope, wary: worried. 24 5. His heart hammering his chest, Baleshwar shoved himself to the door, and jumped off the still-moving train. As he landed on the ground, a burst of pain shot up in his ankle. But there was no real damage. He got up to find part of his old rubber slipper’s sole torn off as a result of his fall. But Baleshwar started to sprint back between the tracks as his train picked up speed again and disappeared. Check your understanding Share your responses 1. “It’s a regular scene.” What was regular about the scene? (para – 1) 2. “Roma Talreja tried to settle into a corner near the door in the train.” ED Was she right in doing this? What would you have done if you were there? 3. “There's a girl by the tracks,” the voices cried out. H Whose voices do you think those were? IS 4. Baleshwar was impulsive in taking a decision because………………………… BL EP S R TB (Fill in the blank appropriately.) (para – 3) U 5. The dictionary says ‘callous’ means ‘unconcerned’. BE @K In this situation, who do you think were ‘callous’ towards the accident? 6. ‘Baleshwar rushed to help the girl.’ His movement has been described with verbs like ‘shoved’. Identify two more such verbs/verbal phrases in paragraph (5). TO Read on T 6. Baleshwar was so far away from Roma, he couldn’t see her. “I hope O N I’m not too late,” he thought, gasping for breath. After running for several minutes, he found her sprawled by the side of the tracks. “Behenji, aap theek hai?” he asked [Sister, are you okay?]. But there was no response, and no help in sight. They were alone somewhere between two stations five kilometers apart in Thane district, which borders Mumbai. 7. Baleshwar could see blood flowing out of a gash behind the young shove : push roughly, sprint : run very fast, sprawled : lie stretched, gash : a deep cut. 25 woman’s head. Saying a silent prayer, he lifted the five-foot-two, 50-kilo Roma gingerly and made his way across the tracks, looking out for trains and searching for a way out. He crossed through some shrubbery, and followed the direction of the sounds until he found the road. “My sister is injured,” he implored motorists who drove by. “Please help me take her to a hospital.” But no one stopped. 8. That morning on December 10, 2010, a Friday, Roma Talreja arrived at the call centre bright and early. The B.Com graduate from Pune had been working there for two years, loving her job, talking and connecting to customers, and making new friends there. After work she went to the cafeteria, where she and her friends joked, laughed and made plans for the weekend. Then, heading home alone after her shift, Roma was looking forward to having supper with her parents and brother, and a long phone chat with her fiancé Vijay. 9. Baleshwar Mishra has a very different story. The lanky youngster from ED Mirzapur, UP, is an unemployed high-school dropout who’d recently come to Mumbai. Living with his two older brothers, his job hunt had proved H fruitless. Now he was treading water, and had resigned himself to the IS fact that he was running out of options. He had spent his day with a BL EP S friend, grabbed lunch and watched a movie. As Baleshwar boarded the R TB train home, he pondered over his future. But, all he could now think of U was saving a stranger’s life. BE @K Check your understanding Share your responses TO 1. Where did Baleshwar find Roma at last? 2. “Behenji, aap theek hai?” But there was no response and no help in sight. T O Why was it so? Read paragraph 6 and answer. N 3. Fill in the table with appropriate details. State they Reasons for Name Age Education Profession boarding belong to the train Roma Baleshwar Mishra gingerly : nervously, implore : request, fiancé : the man that a woman is engaged to, lanky : tall and thin, treading water : making no progress. 26 Read on 10. Innumerable motorists drove by, some even slowing down to see the young man struggling to hold the blood-covered woman in his arms. Just when he had begun to lose hope, a tempo-truck pulled over and its driver, a middle-aged man who spoke Gujarati, stepped out. ED H IS BL EP S R TB U BE @K 11. “Help me,” Baleshwar pleaded, and the man helped Baleshwar lay Roma down in the back of his truck. Baleshwar was quickly telling the driver what had happened when a traffic policeman arrived. “Take the girl to Airoli,” suggested the cop, “there’s a hospital there.” But Baleshwar TO disagreed. Airoli was at least 10 kilometres away. 12. “There’s a closer place I know of,” said Baleshwar. Ten minutes T later, they arrived at a small hospital where nurses helped take the young O N woman in. But as the facility lacked personnel and equipment, the on- duty physician wasn’t able to do more than give basic first aid. He advised that she be moved to a nearby hospital. 13. Baleshwar and the driver had no choice but to move her back into the truck. When the vehicle lurched forward, Roma stirred and her eyes fluttered open. “What’s your name?” asked Baleshwar, who was with her in the back of the truck. personnel : staff, lurched : moved unsteadily, fluttered : opened slightly. 27  “Roma,” she managed to grind out. “Whom can I call?” he asked quickly, fearing that she would black out once more. “My brother Dinesh,” she said, slowly giving him Dinesh’s cell phone number. Baleshwar memorized it and watched as Roma’s eyes soon lost focus and rolled back into the darkness. 14. “Chacha, can I borrow your mobile?” Baleshwar asked, and the driver passed him his phone. Dinesh Talreja was wrapping up his day at his marketing job at a retail outlet in Ulhasnagar when his phone rang from a number he didn’t recognize. “Dineshbhai?” a young voice asked. “Your sister Roma has fallen ED off a train and we’re taking her to Divine Hospital in Ghansoli.” H “I’m on my way,” said Dinesh, rushing towards his motorcycle. IS Check your understanding BL EP S R TB U Share your responses BE @K 1. Who volunteered to help Baleshwar? 2. “Roma stirred and her eyes fluttered open.” What could have made her react so? TO 3. Some details of Roma’s brother are given in paragraph 14. Read and fill in the columns appropriately. T O Name Job Place Vehicle N Read on 15. Roma arrived at Divine Multi-Speciality Hospital and Research Centre minutes later. Dr Anil Agarwal, the medical director there, seeing the extent of Roma’s injuries, admitted her immediately to the ICU without any paperwork. to grind out : to say something with some effort, black out : to become unconscious, wrap up : close the day's business, outlet : a shop,(here). 28 16. He asked Baleshwar to hang around until Roma’s family arrived. That was when they noticed that the driver, having done all he could, had slipped away with his truck. “Oh, I couldn’t thank him,” Baleshwar thought. 17. Roma was still unconscious. But her X-rays showed that although the injuries looked severe, all she needed were deep wound sutures. There would be no lasting damage, but Dr. Agarwal believes she could have bled to death had nobody helped her. When she finally opened her eyes that night, her brother and fiancé were by her side. She could barely speak, just nodded and fell asleep again. 18. When Baleshwar came to meet her the next morning, Roma was still partly sedated. On his way, Baleshwar had even revisited the spot ED where Roma had fallen, looking for her belongings because Dinesh had H told him that her cell phone and handbag were missing. Not far from IS the spot, a railway employee assured Baleshwar that some of Roma’s BL EP S belongings had been found. R TB U 19. “How are you feeling?” Baleshwar asked Roma. “I’m okay,” Roma BE @K whispered. 20. In a few days, Roma made a full recovery. “I can’t imagine what would have happened if Baleshwar hadn’t been there,” she says, amazed TO to learn of the manner in which she had been rescued. T “I think it’s astonishing that a stranger would jump off a train and O risk his life for me. I can never repay Baleshwar.” N “I’m new to Mumbai, but I’ve noticed that people here are afraid,” says Baleshwar, who is still looking for a job. “They fear getting trapped in the courts or with the police.” So why did he do it? “She needed help,” Baleshwar puts it simply. “That day it was Roma. Tomorrow it could be you or me by the tracks, bleeding and alone.” hang around: wait, suture: a stitch that is used to sew a wound together, barely speak: not able to speak, partly sedated: half awake due to drugs. 29 Check your understanding Share your responses 1. “Oh, I couldn’t thank him,” Baleshwar thought. Who do you think he couldn’t thank? 2. Why did Baleshwar revisit the spot where Roma had fallen? 3. Baleshwar got some assurance from a railway employee. What was that? 4. Roma said, “I think it’s astonishing”. What was astonishing? Think about the Text 1. Some incidents relating to Roma Talreja are given below. Put them in the right order. ED a. Roma lost her foothold. H b. The train hurtled ahead. IS c. Roma was thrown out of the coach. BL EP S d. Roma was jammed between two women. R TB e. Roma panicked. U BE @K 2. Baleshwar jumped into action to save the girl. His actions in doing so are given in a jumbled manner. Set them in the right sequence, as in the text. a. Baleshwar crossed the track. b. He carried the girl. TO c. He saw the girl bleeding. d. He requested motorists to help him. T O e. He prayed silently. N 3. Write briefly the personal details such as qualification and Profession of Roma Talreja and Baleshwar Mishra after discussion with your classmates. 4. “Take the girl to Airoli,” suggested the cop. But Baleshwar disagreed. Why did he do so? 5. Some incidents mentioned in paragraph 12 are given in a jumbled order below. Arrange them sequentially. a. The on - duty physician advised Baleshwar to take Roma to a nearby hospital. b. Baleshwar and Roma Talreja arrived at a small hospital. 30  c. The nurses in the hospital helped Baleshwar to take the young woman in. d. The hospital lacked the facility and personnel to treat Roma. 6. Was Baleshwar right in asking Roma her name while she lay in a critical condition? Justify your answer. 7. “Baleshwar had a good memory.” Do you agree? Give examples to support your view. 8. The doctor at the Divine Multi -Speciality hospital admitted Roma without any formalities. What made him do so? 9. If Baleshwar had not come forward to help Roma, what would have happened to her? 10. How did the truck driver help Baleshwar? 11. Baleshwar felt that people of Mumbai were afraid. What were they ED afraid of, in his opinion ? H 12. The Dalai Lama says, “Love and compassion are the true religions to IS me. But to develop this, we do not need to believe in any religion.” Does this relate to the lesson “There is a Girl by the Tracks”. How? BL EP S Discuss with your friends. R TB U BE @K Enrich your vocabulary Task 1 : Verbs related to different actions are given below. Pick them and put them in their respective columns. Note that some words may fit into more than one column. Refer to a dictionary if necessary. TO grab, pray, squeeze, glance, chat, snatch, plead, peep, beg, shove, T talk, clutch, implore, rush, stare, hold, appeal, dash, gaze, articulate, O run, speak, ask, look, go N Words related to Observing Moving Holding Speaking Requesting 1 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 4. 4. 4. 4. 4. 5. 5. 5. 5. 5. 31 Task 2 : Use the above words meaningfully to fill in the blanks in the following sentences. You can change the form of the word if required. One example is given. 1. Five of us squeezed ourselves into the back seats. 2. English people love to about the weather. 3. Arun Shaila close and wiped away her tears. 4. I haven’t to Steve about all this. 5. All club members have been to attend the annual meeting. 6. Sudha over her shoulder. 7. The thief has away her purse and ran. 8. Would you mind to fetch the kids from school? 9. Veena me to fetch water. ED 10. Many people are unable to the unhappiness they feel. H IS Look at these sentences used in the text, as also the phrases BL EP S u