Ch 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World & The Ant and the Cricket

General
Learning a language means using it for a wide variety of
purposes. Language is best acquired when attention is focused
on meaning, not on form.
Words and phrases not closely related to objects and action
remain empty and lifeless to young learners. Language comes
alive when presented in meaning-making contexts.
Words/phrases that are used to accomplish many useful
purposes follow a certain system inherent in the language itself.
Learners become familiar with the system through continuous
exposure to the language in meaning-focused situations.
Interaction, discussion and sharing of ideas among learners
provide opportunities that elicit ‘real’ information about them
and their experiences and opinions.
Encourage learners to work in pairs and small groups and let
them go beyond the textbook by providing a variety of
language inputs for spontaneous and natural use of language.
Build on the exercises given in the textbook and design more
tasks/activities in keeping with learners’ interests, needs and
surroundings. Employ free-response exercises (with more than
one possible response).
Promote reading habits through story reading (not merely
teaching stories as texts), story retelling, choral reading, shared
reading, etc.
Create class libraries for exchange of books and shared
reading. The library may also move with children to the next
higher class.
Poems need not be taught line by line, word by word. You may
give a model reading but let every child read the poem on her/his
own to feel the richness of language, rhythm and music of words.
Exercises accompanying the poem are more for understanding
the poem as a whole than for teaching language items.
Advertisement is also literary genre. You will find that some
advertisements have been given on the inner covers of the
textbook. Have a discussion in the class on these concerns. You
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2 Honeydew
may ask them to do a project on these social issues and concerns.
Such as educating the girlchild, environment protection.
Encourage learners to tell new stories, narrate anecdotes,
compose short poems in English or their own language, talk
about pictures, illustrations in the book and cartoons in
newspapers/magazines. Don’t get anxious about the errors they
will make. Constant exposure, practice and correction in the
form of feedback will help them improve themselves by and by.
Every page has a column for words and meanings. Encourage
children to write down other words they find difficult, along
with their meanings, in this column.
UNITS 1-3
The Best Christmas Present in the World
Some suggestions given below are applicable to all prose lessons
in the book.
A war story against the backdrop of Christmas, a festival
marked by family reunion, exchange of presents and universal
bonhomie. Connie, aged 101, receives a present from a stranger
whom she mistakes for her long-awaited husband. What is
the present — the letter or the mistaken identity of the visitor?
Spend about 20 minutes discussing the dates and events given
under Before you read. Since the answers are given later in the
book, the focus should be on the nature of each event — whether,
in human terms, the event recalls defeat and destruction or
endeavour and success. Let children express their own views.
Even if their observations do not reveal any understanding of
the nature of events, the discussion session will provide an
excellent base for initiating work on the story under reference.
The story is sectioned into three parts. Parts II and III may be
sectioned further according to convenience and time available.
Discuss each illustration with reference to the story.
Illustrations are given for better comprehension and sharper
visual appeal.
Comprehension Check at the end of each section is a recall of
what children have read so far. Design while-reading
comprehension exercises in the form of factual comprehension
questions, multiple choice questions and/or completion of
sentences, etc.
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Notes for the Teacher 3
Here is one example in three formats:
Factual or inferential comprehension (Answer the question
in your own words.)
Why is Jim ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’?
Multiple choice (Mark the right answer.)
Jim is ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’ because
(i) he didn’t know how to do it.
(ii) he wishes he had done it first.
(iii) he didn’t want to do it.
Sentence completion : (Choose the right item and complete
the sentence.)
But it is true, _______________, that Fritz began it.
(much to my delight / shame / dismay)
A related item here is the use of ‘begin’ and ‘start’ in appropriate
contexts.
Use ‘begin’ or ‘start’ appropriately in the following sentences.
(i) What time do you _________ work in the morning?
(ii) If we want to get there, we should ___________ now.
(iii) The film ___________ at 7 pm.
(iv) No matter how you try, the car won’t ___________.
Very often ‘begin’ and ‘start’ can be used in the same way,
though ‘start’ is more common in informal speech. [See
sentences (i) and (iii)]
In some constructions only ‘start’ can be used. [See
sentences (ii) and (iv)].
Questions under working with the text to be answered orally,
later to be written in the copy book.
At the end of the lesson, draw children’s attention to the two
quotations given in the box. Let them discuss how the story
illustrates the same ideas. Then, ask them to find sentences in
the story which appeal to them most. Here are some examples:
We agreed about everything and he was my enemy.
No one dies in a football match. No children are orphaned.
No wives become widows.
I know from all that happened today how much both armies
long for peace. We shall be together again, I’m sure of it. (It’s
a good example of the use of ‘irony’ in the story.)
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4 Honeydew
The Ant and the Cricket
Spend about 15 minutes eliciting, and listening to, fables or
fable-like stories from children, preferably in their own
language(s). Help them retell one or two in English by providing
appropriate words and phrases.
The story about the Sun and the Wind at the end of ‘Glimpses
of the Past’ may be used here. Ask them if it’s a fable, though
there are no animals in it.
Try the following writing task.
Rearrange the following sentences to construct a story. Start
with sentence 4.
1. One cold day, a hungry grasshopper came to the anthill
and begged for a little something to eat.
2. He replied, “Alas! I spent all my time singing and playing
and dancing, and never thought about winter.”
3. One ant asked him how he had spent his time during
summer and whether he had saved anything for winter.
4. A nest of ants had been occupied all through the summer
and autumn collecting food for winter.
5. They carefully stored it in the underground chambers of
their home.
6. Then we have nothing to give you.
7. Thus, when winter came, they had plenty to eat.
8. People who play and sing all summer should only dance
in winter.
9. The ant answered.
Find three adjectives in the first stanza associated with summer
and spring.
Find four phrases/lines in the same stanza associated with
the onset of winter.
Suppose the last line of the first stanza were to be rewritten as
‘Oh! What will become of me? Says the cricket.’ Would you
find it acceptable in the poem? If not, why not?
Speak the words given below. Ask children to write the word,
and against it two new words that rhyme.
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· sing ____________ ___________
· crumb ____________ ___________
· through ____________ ___________
· wished ____________ ___________
(Last sound in ‘crumb’ is ‘m’. In ‘wished’ it is ‘t’.)
Activity 4 under working with language needs patience and
time. Punctuation in writing sentences is an important teaching
point. Since the activity is to be taken up in groups, there will
be several versions of each sentence to begin with. Encourage
children to discuss why only one version is grammatically
acceptable and not the other.
The Tsunami
A natural calamity causing huge destruction and loss of life
andproperty. Alongside the story of deep sorrow are reassuring
details of courage, survival and resilience.
While covering sections and sub sections of the text, focus on
situations in which children realise the importance of doing
whatever possible to save human and animal life, to participate
in relief work and to understand the concept of disaster
management.
Elicit their comments on, and reactions to, the stories of
Meghna and Almas. Focus on values such as courage, care
and compassion in the bitter struggle for survival and
rehabilitation.
The activity under Before you read is like an elementary
geography lesson. Map reading along with language work
(asking/answering questions, spotting location/ direction and
describing them with precision) is a good example of softening
subject boundaries and conforming to the idea of language
across the curriculum. Use other maps from the geography/
history textbook for further practice.
While dealing with ‘Active/Passive voice’ (working with
language: Activity 3), provide samples of texts exemplifying
the use of passive voice such as short newspaper reports and
descriptions of processes/experiments. As far as possible, avoid
a mechanical transformation exercise confined to isolated
sentences. Try a simple exercise given here.
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6 Honeydew
Complete the passage using passive forms of the verbs given
in brackets.
Olive oil ________ (use) for cooking, salad dressing, etc.
Olives_____ (pick) in autumn when they are ripe. They
______(shake) from the trees and ________ (gather) up, usually
by hand. Then they _______ (grind) to a thick paste which
_______ (spread) onto special mats. The mats then ______ (layer)
up on the pressing machine which will gently squeeze them to
produce olive oil.
The last activity under speaking and writing is a step towards
reducing the gap between children’s life at school and their
life outside the school.
Geography Lesson
Children already know words like ‘aeroplane, airport’, etc.
Draw their attention to words like ‘jetliner’, ‘jet engine’ and
‘jetlag’ in the following activity.
(i) Match items under A with those under B
A B
Jetliner • fatigue/tiredness after a long flight
Jetlag • rich social group flying around the
world for business or pleasure
Jet engine • aircraft powered by a jet engine
(the) jet set • engine that emits high-speed hot
gases at the back when it moves
forward.
(ii) Check the meaning of ‘jet black’ and ‘jetsam’ in the
dictionary. Complete the idiom : jetsam and _________
Today, if there is a border dispute or any other contentious
issue between two countries, an organisation called the United
Nations acts as a mediator to keep peace and order in the world.
Encourage children to gather information about the UN and its
constituent bodies.
Peace Memorial Park is the only park of its kind in the world.
It is in Hiroshima, Japan, and marks the spot where the first
atomic bomb was dropped on ___________ (Children will
remember the date and event if they recall the activity under
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Before you read in The Best Christmas Present in the World).
A mini project could be planned on this.
Ask children to draw a map of their locality/village depicting
its physical features and distances between places, etc.
Recite and write on the blackboard the following poem and
discuss the items given at the end of the poem.
Wake
gently this morning
to a different day.
Listen
There is no bray
of buses,
no horns blow.
There is only
the silence
of a city
hushed
with snow.
Name a few cities in India which the poem reminds you of.
Which words/phrases in the poem evoke images different from
those suggested by ‘the silence of the city’?
Glimpses of the Past
‘Glimpses’ of the history of our country to be understood
through pictures with strips of text for support. Children have
a natural enthusiasm for this kind of material in the textbook.
Children may read the comic strip aloud. Then they break up
into small groups, discuss what they have read and write a
summary. Each group presents its summary one by one. The
whole class then enters into a general discussion, and a
consolidated draft of the composition is prepared with the active
support of the teacher.
Conversely, divide the class into small groups. Let each group
look at and describe a set of pictures (assigned to them) and
construct their own text. Texts thus produced can be put
together to form a coherent story, to be edited for accuracy.
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If necessary, texts may first be produced in the child’s own
language and the teacher can help them to reformulate these
in English. For children fluent in English, this may be an
opportunity to formulate equivalent texts in their own
languages.
Some details of each ‘glimpse’ of the past may be had from the
history textbook of the same class. The history teacher may
be invited to facilitate the activity.
Picture reading under speaking and writing to be attempted
in the same manner.
Creating a comic (Activity 5) will be great fun if children can be
persuaded to draw/learn to draw matchstick figures. Enlist
the help of the art teacher.
Macavity – The Mystery Cat
Have you ever wondered why people generally communicate
with their pet dog mainly in English?
What would you say to persuade your cat to leave the mouse
alone? Try to say it in English.
Which sentence about Macavity has been repeated four times
in the poem? Why has it been repeated? Think about it.
Mention a couple of ‘crimes’ discovered in the kitchen, and
your Macavity was nowhere to be seen.
a fiend in feline shape
Does it remind you of a similar expression about a wolf? What
is it, and what does it mean?
Here are four lines about someone’s cat. Read them and say
whether it is a mystery cat.
My kitten walks on velvet feet
And makes no sound at all.
And in the doorway nightly sits
To watch the darkness fall.
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Before you read
There are some dates or periods of time in the history
of the world that are so significant that everyone
knows and remembers them. The story you will read
mentions one such date and event: a war between
the British and the Germans in 1914. Can you guess
which war it was?
Do you know which events the dates below refer to?
(a) 4 July 1776 (b) 17 December 1903
(c) 6 August 1945 (d) 30 January 1948
(e) 12 April 1961 (f) 20 July 1969
The answers are on page 23.
I
I spotted it in a junk shop in Bridport, a roll-top desk.
The man said it was early nineteenth century, and oak.
I had wanted one, but they were far too expensive. This
one was in a bad condition, the roll-top in several pieces,
one leg clumsily mended, scorch marks all down one
side. It was going for very little money. I thought I could
restore it. It would be a risk, a challenge, but I had to
have it. I paid the man and brought it back to my
workroom at the back of the garage. I began work on it
on Christmas Eve.
I removed the roll-top completely and pulled out the
drawers. The veneer had lifted almost everywhere — it
spotted it:
saw it; found it
(informal)
scorch marks:
burn marks
was going for:
was selling for
(informal)
restore:
(here) repair
veneer:
a thin layer of
plastic or
decorative
wood on
furniture of
cheap wood
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Honeydew10
looked like water damage to me. Both fire and water had
clearly taken their toll on this desk. The last drawer was
stuck fast. I tried all I could to ease it out gently. In the
end I used brute force. I struck it sharply with the side of
my fist and the drawer flew open to reveal a shallow space
underneath, a secret drawer. There was something in
there. I reached in and took out a small black tin box.
Sello-taped to the top of it was a piece of lined notepaper,
and written on it in shaky
handwriting: “Jim’s
last letter, received
January 25, 1915.
To be buried with
me when the
time comes.” I
knew as I did
it that it was
wrong of me to
open the box,
but curiosity
got the better of
my scruples. It
usually does.
Inside the box there was an envelope. The address
read: “Mrs Jim Macpherson, 12 Copper Beeches, Bridport,
Dorset.” I took out the letter and unfolded it. It was written
in pencil and dated at the top — “December 26, 1914”.
Comprehension Check
1. What did the author find in a junk shop?
2. What did he find in a secret drawer? Who do you think had
put it in there?
II
Dearest Connie,
I write to you in a much happier frame of mind because
something wonderful has just happened that I must tell
taken their
toll on:
damaged
stuck fast:
shut tight
scruples:
feelings that
make you
hesitate to do
something
wrong
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The Best Christmas Present in the World 11
you about at once. We were all standing to in our trenches
yesterday morning, Christmas morning. It was crisp and
quiet all about, as beautiful a morning as I’ve ever seen, as
cold and frosty as a Christmas morning should be.
I should like to be able to tell you that we began it.
But the truth, I’m ashamed to say, is that Fritz began it.
First someone saw a white flag waving from the trenches
opposite. Then they were calling out to us from across
no man’s land, “Happy Christmas, Tommy! Happy
Christmas!” When we had got over the surprise, some of
us shouted back, “Same to you, Fritz! Same to you!” I
thought that would be that. We all did. But then suddenly
one of them was up there in his grey greatcoat and waving
a white flag. “Don’t shoot, lads!” someone shouted. And
no one did. Then there was another Fritz up on the
parapet, and another. “Keep your heads down,” I told the
men, “it’s a trick.” But it wasn’t.
One of the Germans was waving a bottle above his
head. “It is Christmas Day, Tommy. We have schnapps.
We have sausage. We meet you? Yes?” By this time there
were dozens of them walking towards us across no man’s
land and not a rifle between them. Little Private Morris
was the first up. “Come on, boys. What are we waiting
for?” And then there was no stopping them. I was the
officer. I should have stopped them there and then, I
suppose, but the truth is that it never even occurred to
me I should. All along their line and ours I could see
men walking slowly towards one another, grey coats,
khaki coats meeting in the middle. And I was one of
them. I was part of this. In the middle of the war we
were making peace.
You cannot imagine, dearest Connie, my feelings as
I looked into the eyes of the Fritz officer, who approached
me, hand outstretched. “Hans Wolf,” he said, gripping
my hand warmly and holding it. “I am from Dusseldorf.
I play the cello in the orchestra. Happy Christmas.”
standing to:
taking up
positions
trenches:
long deep
ditches in the
ground where
soldiers hide
from the
enemy
Fritz:
(here), a name
for a German
soldier (Fritz is
a common
German name)
Tommy:
a common
English name,
used here to
refer to British
soldiers
that would be
that:
that was all;
that was the
end of the
matter
schnapps
(pronounced,
sh-naps):
a German
drink made
from grain
cello:
a musical
instrument
like a large
violin
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Honeydew12
“Captain Jim Macpherson,” I replied. “And a Happy
Christmas to you too. I’m a school teacher from Dorset,
in the west of England.”
“Ah, Dorset,” he smiled. “I know this place. I know it
very well.” We shared my rum ration and his excellent
sausage. And we talked, Connie, how we talked. He spoke
almost perfect English. But it turned out that he had
never set foot in Dorset, never even been to England.
He had learned all he knew of England from school,
and from reading books in English. His favourite writer
was Thomas Hardy, his favourite book Far from the
Madding Crowd. So out there in no man’s land we talked
of Bathsheba and Gabriel Oak and Sergeant Troy and
Dorset. He had a wife and one son, born just six months
ago. As I looked about me there were huddles of khaki
and grey everywhere, all over no man’s land, smoking,
laughing, talking, drinking, eating. Hans Wolf and I
shared what was left of your wonderful Christmas cake,
Connie. He thought the marzipan was the best he had
ever tasted. I agreed. We agreed about everything, and
he was my enemy. There never was a Christmas party
like it, Connie.
Then someone, I don’t know who, brought out a
football. Greatcoats were dumped in piles to make
goalposts, and the next thing we knew it was Tommy
against Fritz out in the middle of no man’s land. Hans
Wolf and I looked on and cheered, clapping our hands
and stamping our feet, to keep out the cold as much as
anything. There was a moment when I noticed our
breaths mingling in the air between us. He saw it too
and smiled. “Jim Macpherson,” he said after a while,
“I think this is how we should resolve this war. A football
match. No one dies in a football match. No children are
orphaned. No wives become widows.”
“I’d prefer cricket,” I told him. “Then we Tommies
could be sure of winning, probably.” We laughed at
that, and together we watched the game. Sad to say,
marzipan:
a sweet
covering on a
cake made
from sugar,
eggs and
almonds
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Connie, Fritz won, two goals to one. But as Hans Wolf
generously said, our goal was wider than theirs, so it
wasn’t quite fair.
The time came, and all too soon, when the game was
finished, the schnapps and the rum and the sausage
had long since run out, and we knew it was all over.
I wished Hans well and told him I hoped he would see
his family again soon, that the fighting would end and
we could all go home.
“I think that is what every soldier wants, on both
sides,” Hans Wolf said. “Take care, Jim Macpherson.
I shall never forget this moment, nor you.” He saluted
and walked away from me slowly, unwillingly, I felt.
He turned to wave just once and then became one of
the hundreds of grey-coated men drifting back towards
their trenches.
That night, back in our dugouts, we heard them
singing a carol, and singing it quite beautifully. It was
Stille Nacht, Silent Night. Our boys gave them a rousing
chorus of While Shepherds Watched. We exchanged
carols for a while and then we all fell silent. We had had
our time of peace and goodwill, a time I will treasure as
long as I live.
dugout:
a shelter for
soldiers made
by digging a
hole in the
ground and
covering it
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Honeydew14
Dearest Connie, by Christmas time next year, this
war will be nothing but a distant and terrible memory.
I know from all that happened today how much both
armies long for peace. We shall be together again soon,
I’m sure of it.
Your loving, Jim.
Comprehension Check
1. Who had written the letter, to whom, and when?
2. Why was the letter written — what was the wonderful thing
that had happened?
3. What jobs did Hans Wolf and Jim Macpherson have when
they were not soldiers?
4. Had Hans Wolf ever been to Dorset? Why did he say he knew it?
5. Do you think Jim Macpherson came back from the war? How
do you know this?
III
I folded the letter again and slipped it carefully back
into its envelope. I kept awake all night. By morning I
knew what I had to do. I drove into Bridport, just a few
miles away. I asked a boy walking his dog where Copper
Beeches was. House number 12 turned out to be nothing
but a burned-out shell, the roof gaping, the windows
boarded-up. I knocked at the house next door and asked
if anyone knew the whereabouts of a Mrs Macpherson.
Oh yes, said the old man in his slippers, he knew her
well. A lovely old lady, he told me, a bit muddle-headed,
but at her age she was entitled to be, wasn’t she? A
hundred and one years old. She had been in the house
when it caught fire. No one really knew how the fire had
started, but it could well have been candles. She used
candles rather than electricity, because she always
thought electricity was too expensive. The fireman had
got her out just in time. She was in a nursing home
now, he told me, Burlington House, on the Dorchester
road, on the other side of town.
burned out:
destroyed by
fire
boarded-up:
covered with
wooden
boards
muddle-
headed:
confused
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Comprehension Check
1. Why did the author go to Bridport?
2. How old was Mrs Macpherson now? Where was she?
I found Burlington House Nursing Home easily enough.
There were paper chains up in the hallway and a lighted
Christmas tree stood in the corner with a lopsided angel
on top. I said I was a friend come to visit Mrs Macpherson
to bring her a Christmas present. I could see through
into the dining room where everyone was wearing a paper
hat and singing. The matron had a hat on too and
seemed happy enough to see me. She even offered me a
mince pie. She walked me along the corridor.
“Mrs Macpherson is not in with the others,” she told
me. “She’s rather confused today so we thought it best
if she had a good rest. She has no family you know, no
one visits. So I’m sure she’ll be only too pleased to see
you.” She took me into a conservatory with wicker chairs
and potted plants all around and left me.
The old lady was sitting in a wheelchair, her hands
folded in her lap. She had silver white hair pinned into a
wispy bun. She was gazing out at
the garden. “Hello,” I said. She
turned and looked up at me
vacantly. “Happy Christmas,
Connie,” I went on. “I found
this. I think it’s yours.” As I was
speaking her eyes never left my
face. I opened the tin box and
gave it to her. That was the
moment her eyes lit up with
recognition and her face
became suffused with a sudden
glow of happiness. I explained
about the desk, about how I
had found it, but I don't think
she was listening. For a while
lit up:
became bright
with happi-
ness, excite-
ment
suffused with:
(glow of
happiness)
spread all over
her face
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Honeydew16
she said nothing, but stroked the letter tenderly with her
fingertips.
Suddenly she reached out and took my hand. Her
eyes were filled with tears. “You told me you’d come home
by Christmas, dearest,” she said. “And here you are,
the best Christmas present in the world. Come closer,
Jim dear, sit down.”
I sat down beside her, and she kissed my cheek. “I
read your letter so often Jim, every day. I wanted to
hear your voice in my head. It always made me feel you
were with me. And now you are. Now you’re back you
can read it to me yourself. Would you do that for me,
Jim dear? I just want to hear your voice again. I’d love
that so much. And then perhaps we’ll have some tea.
I’ve made you a nice Christmas cake, marzipan all
around. I know how much you love marzipan.”
MICHAEL MORPURGO
Comprehension Check
1. Who did Connie Macpherson think her visitor was?
2. Which sentence in the text shows that the visitor did not try
to hide his identity?
1. For how long do you think Connie had kept Jim’s letter? Give reasons for
your answer.
2. Why do you think the desk had been sold, and when?
3. Why do Jim and Hans think that games or sports are good ways of resolving
conflicts? Do you agree?
4. Do you think the soldiers of the two armies are like each other, or different
from each other? Find evidence from the story to support your answer.
5. Mention the various ways in which the British and the German soldiers
become friends and find things in common at Christmas.
6. What is Connie’s Christmas present? Why is it “the best Christmas present
in the world”?
7. Do you think the title of this story is suitable for it? Can you think of any
other title(s)?
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1. Look at these sentences from the story.
I spotted it in a junk shop in Bridport... The man said it was made in
the early nineteenth century… This one was in a bad condition…
The italicised verbs are in the past tense. They tell us what happened in
the past, before now.
(i) Read the passage below and underline the verbs in the past tense.
A man got on the train and sat down. The compartment was empty
except for one lady. She took her gloves off. A few hours later the
police arrested the man. They held him for 24 hours and then freed
him.
Now look at these sentences.
The veneer had lifted almost everywhere. Both fire and water had
taken their toll on this desk.
Notice the verb forms had lifted, had taken (their toll).
The author found and bought the desk in the past.
The desk was damaged before the author found it and bought it.
Fire and water had damaged the desk before the author found it
and bought it.
We use verb forms like had damaged for an event in the ‘earlier
past’. If there are two events in the past, we use the ‘had…’ form for
the event that occurred first in the past.
We also use the past perfect tense to show that something was
wished for, or expected before a particular time in the past. For
example, I had always wanted one…
Discuss with your partner the difference in meaning in the
sentences below.
When I reached the station, the train left.
When I reached the station, the train had left.
(ii) Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
My little sister is very naughty. When she __________ (come) back
from school yesterday, she had __________ (tear) her dress.
We __________ (ask) her how it had __________ (happen). She __________
(say) she __________ __________ (have, quarrel) with a boy. She
__________ __________ (have, beat) him in a race and he __________
__________ (have, try) to push her. She __________ __________ (have,
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Honeydew18
tell) the teacher and so he __________ __________ (have, chase) her,
and she __________ __________ (have, fall) down and __________
__________ (have, tear) her dress.
(iii) Underline the verbs and arrange them in two columns, Past and Earlier
past.
(a) My friends set out to see the caves in the next town, but I stayed
at home, because I had seen them already.
(b) When they arrived at the station, their train had left. They came back
home, but by that time I had gone out to see a movie!
(c) So they sat outside and ate the lunch I had packed for them.
(d) By the time I returned, they had fallen asleep!
Past Earlier past
2. Dictionary work
By the end of the journey, we had run out of drinking water.
Look at the verb run out of in this sentence. It is a phrasal verb: it has
two parts, a verb and a preposition or an adverb. Phrasal verbs often
have meanings that are different from the meanings of their parts.
Find these phrasal verbs in the story.
burn out light up look on run out keep out
Write down the sentences in which they occur. Consult a dictionary and
write down the meaning that you think matches the meaning of the
phrasal verb in the sentence.
3. Noun phrase
Read the following sentence.
I took out a small black tin box.
The phrase in italics is a noun phrase.
It has the noun — box — as the head word, and three adjectives
preceding it.
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Notice the order in which the adjectives occur — size (small), colour
(black) and material (tin) of which it is made.
We rarely use more than four adjectives before a noun and there is no
rigid order in which they are used, though there is a preferred order of
modifiers/adjectives in a noun phrase, as given below.
4. The table below contains a list of nouns and some adjectives. Use as
many adjectives as you can to describe each noun. You might come
up with some funny descriptions!
1. In groups discuss whether wars are a good way to end conflicts between
countries. Then present your arguments to the whole class.
2. What kind of presents do you like and why? What are the things you keep
in mind when you buy presents for others? Discuss with your partner.
(For example, you might buy a book because it can be read and re-read
over a period of time.)
determiner modifier 1
(opinion,
feeling)
modifier 2
(size, shape, age)
modifier 3
(colour)
modifier 4
(material)
head word
a/an/
the
nice/lazy/
beautiful
tall/
round/
old/young
red/white/
light/dark
silk/cotton/
woollen
woman
man/
table/chair
Nouns Adjectives
face
building
water
circular, striped, enormous, multicoloured,
round, cheerful, wild, blue, red, chubby,
large, medium-sized, cold
elephant
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1. Imagine that you are Jim. You have returned to your town after the war. In
your diary record how you feel about the changes you see and the events
that occur in your town. You could begin like this
25 December, 1919
It’s Christmas today, but the town looks…..
Or
Suppose you are the visitor. You are in a dilemma. You don't know whether
to disclose your identity and disappoint the old lady or let her believe that
her dear Jim has come back. Write a letter to a friend highlighting your
anxiety, fears and feelings.
2. Given below is the outline of a story. Construct the story using the outline.
A young, newly married doctor _______________ freedom fighter
_______________ exiled to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by the
British _______________ infamous Cellular Jail _______________ prisoners
tortured _______________ revolt by inmates _______________ doctor
hanged _______________ wife waits for his return _______________
becomes old _______________ continues to wait with hope and faith.
Honeydew20
War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity; it destroys
religion, it destroys states, it destroys families.
— Martin Luther
This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of
all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face
to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even
though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.
— Erich Maria Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front
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A fable is a story, often with animals as characters, that conveys
a moral. This poem about an ant and a cricket contains an idea
of far-reaching significance, which is as true of a four-legged
cricket as of a ‘two-legged one’. Surely, you have seen a cricket
that has two legs!
A silly young cricket, accustomed to sing
Through the warm, sunny months of gay summer and spring,
Began to complain when he found that, at home,
His cupboard was empty, and winter was come.
Not a crumb to be found
On the snow-covered ground;
Not a flower could he see,
Not a leaf on a tree.
“Oh! what will become,” says the cricket, “of me?”
At last by starvation and famine made bold,
All dripping with wet, and all trembling with cold,
Away he set off to a miserly ant,
To see if, to keep him alive, he would grant
Him shelter from rain,
And a mouthful of grain.
He wished only to borrow;
He’d repay it tomorrow;
If not, he must die of starvation and sorrow.
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Says the ant to the
cricket, “I’m your servant
and friend,
But we ants never
borrow; we ants never
lend.
But tell me, dear cricket,
did you lay nothing by
When the weather was
warm?” Quoth the cricket,
“Not I!
My heart was so light
That I sang day and night,
For all nature looked gay.”
“You sang, Sir, you say?
Go then,” says the ant, “and dance the winter away.”
Thus ending, he hastily lifted the wicket,
And out of the door turned the poor little cricket.
Folks call this a fable. I’ll warrant it true:
Some crickets have four legs, and some have two.
adapted from Aesop’s Fables
accustomed to sing: used to singing; in the habit of singing
famine: scarcity of food; having nothing to eat
lay nothing by: save nothing
quoth: (old English) said
Honeydew22
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1. The cricket says, “Oh! what will become of me?” When does he say it,
and why?
2. (i) Find in the poem the lines that mean the same as “Neither a borrower
nor a lender be” (Shakespeare).
(ii) What is your opinion of the ant’s principles?
3. The ant tells the cricket to “dance the winter away”. Do you think the word
‘dance’ is appropriate here? If so, why?
4. (i) Which lines in the poem express the poet's comment? Read them aloud.
(ii) Write the comment in your own words.
If you know a fable in your own language, narrate it to your classmates.
The Ant and the Cricket 23
Answers to Questions on page 9.
(a) American Declaration of Independence.
(b) Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first flight, remaining in the air
for 12 seconds and covering 120 feet.
(c) Hiroshima Day: an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in Japan on
this day.
(d) Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
(e) Yuri A. Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth.
(f) Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon.
2019-2020

Ch 1 The Best Christmas Present in the World & The Ant and the Cricket

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