JSC English First Paper | Unit: Eight, Lesson: 2 | News! News! News! | News! News! News! (2)

Key words: bunk off mass people objective bias broadcast refer editorial informative educative

A. Look at the following pictures. Discuss with your partner what you see in them.

B. Read the text and answer the following questions.

'I eat rice every day. I play cricket. I don't bunk off school, blah...blah... blah....' These are common events. They happen every day or on some occasions.

Are these events news? Should they be published in newspapers? The answer is a big 'NO'. Then what is news anyway? What do we want to know from the medial 'When a dog bites a man that is not news, but when a man bites a dog that is news,' says Charles Anderson Dana.

The first thing is that the news should be a piece of information. Secondly, the information should be recent or new, and hence it is 'news'. Thirdly, mass people should take interest in it. Fourthly, it should be self-explained. That is, it should answer all the questions with who, which, what, where, when, why and how Finally, it should be objective. Recently, another aspect has been added: news is either printed or broadcast or on the internet.

There are opinions that the term 'news' comes from 'new'. Others say it is news because it comes from all directions: North, East, West and South.

Questions

1 What features should news have?

2 What is the difference between news and an event?

3 '.......it should be self-explanatory...'. What does 'it' mean here?

4 What are the opinions about the term 'news'?

5 What must be there in the information in a newspaper?

C. Pairwork. Find the following words/phrases in italics in the text in B. Discuss with your partner and try to guess their meaning from the context. Then look at the table below and match the words with their meanings in the right column. First one is done for you.

D. Work in pairs. Suppose, a man in your locality really bites a dog. Imagine you are a reporter and you interview the man. Share with your partner and write the dialogue. Then act that out in pairs. Use the 'why, when, what, etc' questions.

E. Look at the following comment.

The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper, —Thomas Jefferson Now make similar sentences from the following substitution table.

F. Ask and answer with your partner.

1 Do you read any newspaper/magazine?

2 When do you usually read it?

3 Which newspaper/magazine do you read?

4 What makes it different from other newspapers/magazines?

5 Which news items do you like most ---- international affairs, sports, movie, culture, politics, etc?

6 Do you share your favourite news item/s with your friend/s?

G. Write a paragraph on your habit of reading newspapers. You can take your cues from the questions in section F.

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 3 | News! News! News! (3)

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Six, Lesson: 8 | Going on a foreign trip | The destination

Keywords: fascinate   destination floating market

A. Read the text below and complete it with the right form of verb from the box. You can use one verb more than once if necessary.

be  wait  give  excited  nod  go  hold  take  ride  stand

Mita was........to see such a big airport. After completing immigration, they all came out of the airport. Mr. Mazharul Islam........to the taxi counter and bought a ticket. They stood in a line and........for their turn. Soon their taxi came and they all got into it. Mita's uncle........the driver his address, Happy Condo 18 Rachada Pisek Road.  The  driver........and started for the destination. Mita........very excited.   She........Zara's hand and whispered, " Oh Zara, I can't believe I'm here with you and I'm so happy. Mita had never........a car at such a high speed. She........a little scared. It........about one and a half hours to reach their destination. Mita's uncle paid the driver according to the metre. The driver........out their luggage, thanked Mr. Islam and drove away.

B. Read the text and answer the following questions.

Mita looked around and saw a garden of trees and flowers welcoming her. There was a small fountain at the middle of the garden, bringing in cool breeze. Mita loved the place.

Mita brought a suitcase as well as a piece of carry-on luggage. She carried her luggage to the elevator and pressed a button that said 6. Her uncle's apartment was on the 7th floor. It was a nicely done two- bedroom apartment. Mita and Zara were going to share the same room.

It was nearly 8 p.m. when they all got settled. They finished dinner and started to plan for the next day. Mita read about the floating market in the internet, and wanted to see one. "Well, then you have to wake up very early tomorrow. The market sits early in the morning and is over before noon. We are going to the Tha Kha floating market tomorrow," said Mr. Islam. "Wow!" cried out Mita and Zara together. "Thank you, uncle." "Thank you, dad."

Questions
1 Why did Mita think that the garden was welcoming her?
2 When did they all start to plan for the next day?
3 What did they plan to see?
4 Why would Mita and Zara wake up early the next morning?

C. Read the text in A and B and write what the following phrases mean in the text.
1 their turn
2 a little scared
3 bringing in
4 said 6
5 got settled

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 9 | The Tha Kha floating market

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Six, Lesson: 4 | Going on a foreign trip | Boarding the plane

Key words: seize enclosed formality gel

A. Read the text and answer the following questions.
Mita, Zara, Mr and Mrs Islam all sit at the lounge. They all have hand luggage with them. Mr Islam asks, " Mita, Zara, are you two carrying any liquid, lotion, gel or cream in your carry-on luggage?" "I have a small lip gel in it. Why Uncle?" "Well, if it is a very small one, there is no problem. But if you've more than 100 ml, you have to put it in the checked-in luggage. These are not allowed on board in hand luggage. For security reasons, the officials who do the baggage checking will seize and throw them away". Mita, Zara, Jhuma Islam and Mazharul Islam go through the security checking and wait in the enclosed area. All the formalities are done. Now they are waiting to board the plane.
Mita, Zara and her parents board the plane after their row number is announced. Mita gets a window seat. Her seat number is F23 C. Zara sits beside her on an isle seat and her parents sit behind them.

Questions
1 Who had a small lip gel in the hand luggage?
2 How much liquid or gel is allowed to carry in hand luggage?
3 Why are liquid, gel and cream not allowed on board a plane?
4 Which row is Mita sitting in?

B. Listen to the teacher/CD and complete the chart. First one is done for you.

Ul, L4 B
Listening text: 3

Announcement	Information
1. Destination	1. Bangkok
2 Name of the Airways	2.
3 Flight no.	3.
4 Row numbers of passengers called first to board	4.
5   Rows called for boarding last	5.
6  Final call for boarding	6.

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 5 | Announcements on board (1)

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Five, Lesson: 8 | Making a difference | The children's song

A. Read and recite the poem.

The children's song
Land of our Birth, we pledge to thee
Our love and toil in the years to be;
When we are grown and take our place
As men and women of our race.

Father in Heaven, Who loves all,
Oh help Thy children when they call;
That they may build from age to age,
An undefined heritage.

Teach us to bear the yoke in youth,
With steadfastness and careful truth;

That, in our time, Thy Grace may give
The Truth whereby the Nations live.

Teach us to rule ourselves always,
Controlled and cleanly night and day;
That we may bring, if need arise,
No maimed and worthless sacrifice.

Teach us to look, in all our ends,
On Thee for judge, and not our friends
That we, with Thee, may walk uncowed
By fear or favour of the crowd.
Teach us the strength that cannot seek,
By deed or thought, to hurt the weak;
That, under Thee, we may possess
Man's strength to comfort man's destress.

Teach us Delight in simple things,
And Mirth that had no bitter springs;
Forgiveness free of evil done,

And Love to all men, 'neath the sun!
Land of our Birth, our faith, our pride,
For whose dear sake our fathers died
Head, heart and hand through the years to be!
Rudyard Kipling

Word notes :
pledge : make a promise
toll : hard work
lovest : love
thy : your
undefiled  : pure
heritage  : the history, traditions, buildings and qualities that a country has had for many years and that are an important part of the country's character
yoke  : a piece of wood that holds two oxen together, while ploughing or pulling a cart
bear the yoke : shoulder the great responsibility

B. Read the poem silently and answer the questions.
1 What do the children promise to their motherland?
2 What do the children ask God to teach them?
3 Do you like the poem? Why?

If you want read the next unit please click the link below:
Unit Six: Going on a foreign trip

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Five, Lesson: 4 | Making a difference | A man who loves trees

Key words: profession   sapling   passion   gigantic mission

A. Read the text.

At the farthest corner of Bangladesh there is a village called Tarapur. In this village there lives a man named Kartik Poramanik. He is a hair dresser by profession, but a nature lover at heart. His passion is to plant saplings, which grow into gigantic trees. He started planting trees when he was only 10 years old. He remembers what his father once told him, "My son, you can earn the blessings of God by planting trees". He has never forgotten what his father told him. At present he is 63 years old. He has planted hundreds of trees in his village. Many of the trees are now 35-40 years old.

Once there were hardly any trees in this village. Kartik used to go to different houses for his job. At times he would get tired in the scorching sun, but there were no trees under which he could sit and rest for a while. Thinking how people suffer in the heat, Kartik began his tree-planting mission. Occasionally Kartik would wake up early in the morning, take one or two labourers with him and set out to plant trees. He would walk long distances to plant trees, carrying with him some dry food and water. He would pay all the expenses from his own pocket. Kartik has planted trees beside the roads, in and around the bazar, schools and colleges, open fields and many other places.

At times it so happened that Kartik would go to water his plants at 10 or 11 p m. People asked him, "Kartik, are you mad? What are you doing so late at night?" Kartik would smile and say, "What to do, sir. I have to work hard the whole day to earn money for my family. I don't get time during the day. But my trees would die if I don't water them. So I come late at night to look after them."

Even today this old man continues planting trees as many as he can. A man, who can hardly sign his name, is leaving his signature all around in nature.
(adapted from The Prothom Alo, December 2, 2003)

B. True or false? If false, give the correct information.

1. He planted the first tree 50 years ago.
2. Katrik borrowed money from others to plant trees.
3. He would plant trees around his hut only.
4. At times Kartik would water his trees at night because he felt lazy during the day.

C. Choose the best answer.

1. Kartik was a.......by profession.
a. cultivator
b. tree planter
c. day labourer
d. hair dresser

2. His mission is to make the village green by......   
a. cultivating paddy in the fields
b. growing grass in all the fallow land
c. planting fodder for the cattle
d. planting many trees

3. Some of Kartik's trees are big and......   
a. great
b. gigantic
c. enormous
d. kingly

4. Some of his trees are.......years old.
a. 15-20
b. 25-35
c. 35-40
d. 40-45

D. Read the text again and answer the following questions.

1. Who is Kartik Poramanik?
2. How do you understand that he is a nature lover?
3. Why did he plant trees?
4. What do you understand by the saying, "A man, who can hardly sign his name, is leaving his signature all around in nature"?

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 5 | The truthful dove (1)

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Five, Lesson: 2 | Making a difference | Flash back

Keywords: stunned admiration adolescent heed

A. Read the text.

Shamima started to tell us her story. Listening to her, we were stunned and at the same time our hearts were filled with admiration for her. It was 1995. Shamima was 15 years old. She got promoted to class 8. Shamima had all the dreams of an adolescent. She wanted to bring about a change in her life. She wanted to see happiness in her family too. She knew she could fulfill her dream by completing her education and getting a good job.

Fifteen-year old Shamima's dreams were nipped in the bud. Her father wanted to marry her off against her will. Marrying off a girl under 18 is against the law in Bangladesh. Shamima did not want to get married. But nobody paid any heed to her. They arranged her marriage with a man much older than her. All her tears and protests went in vain. Shamima was married off to Kamal Uddin Joardar.

B. Choose the best answer.

1. Shamima's story.......everyone.
a. fascinated
b. astonished
c. shocked
d. worried

2. Shamima thought about the welfare of her.......   
a. family
b. friends
c. cousins
d. neighbours

3. Shamima did not want to get married because she wanted to complete her education but nobody......her.
a. talked to
b. listened to
c. took care of
d. looked after

C. Read the text again and answer the following questions.
1. How long ago did Shamima begin to tell her story?
2. What did Shamima dream of?
3. Did Shamima's dream come true? What happened?
4. How old is Shamima now?

5. As an adolescent, what are your dreams?

D. Write about a person who has suffered or struggled like Shamima. Use the following phrases :
    ■ pay heed to
    ■ nip in the bud
    ■ in vain

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 3 | Ever beautiful Shamima

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: Five, Lesson: 1 | Making a difference | The beginning

Key words : typical extraordinary will-power determination aspect spirit defying

A. Read the text and tick the best answers to the following questions.

There is a small village called Bhabanipur in Jhenaidah. It is a typical Bangladeshi village. People here spend their day-to-day life mostly working in the fields and doing household work. In this ordinary village, there lives an extraordinary woman named Shamima Akhter Maya. Shamima's willpower and determination have made her extraordinary. She has seen the most cruel aspect of life. But the cruelty could not defeat her spirit. She has come out as a winner, defying all the odds of life.

Shamima is now 32 years old. She has only one son named Ashikur Rahman Kanok. She runs a small boutique called 'Oikko Nari Kollayan Shangstha' in her village. Let's hear from Shamima, how she succeeded in setting up her boutique.
(adapted from Prothom Ado, June 17, 2005)

1. Bhabanipur is a typical Bangladeshi village. The underlined word means
a. unusual
b. usual
c. famous
d. infamous

2. Shamima is an extraordinary person. Here the underlined word means
a. common
b. simple
c. amazing
d. normal

3. The people of determination succeed in the long run.
Here the underlined word means
a. willpower
b. weakness
c. strong desire S    
d. wish

4. Shamima has faced the darkest aspect of life. Here the underlined word means
a. appearance
b. position
c. characteristics
d. piece

5. The tragedy in Shamima's life could not defeat her spirit. Here the underlined word means
a. ghost   
b. soul   
c. strength   
d. wisdom
   
B. Read the text again. Now match the phrases with the meanings.

1	day-to-day life	unkind happenings in life
2	household work	become victorious
3	cruel aspects of life	everyday life
4	come out as a winner	difficulties of life
5	all the odds of life	having all the regular features of a Bangladeshi village.
6	typical Bangladeshi village	domestic chores

C. Read the text again and answer the following questions.
1. What type of village does Shamima live in?
2. What do the people of 'Bhabanipur' village usually do?
3. What has Shamima done to make herself extraordinary?

D. Write a paragraph about Shamima from your imagination. In your paragraph write what Shamima should do for the good of her own family as well as the other families in the village.

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 2 | Flash back

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: 4, Lesson: 6 | Check your reference | Meanings of words

A. Look at the questions below and read the following text. Now discuss in pairs.

1. What do you do when you want to know the meaning of a word?

2. How can a dictionary help us?

A dictionary gives us the meaning/meanings of a word. Example sentences are given to show how the words are used. They also help to make the meaning clear. A word may have more than one meaning.

The word 'dry' (adj) has a number of meanings. Three of them are given here.

(i) not wet, not damp, not sticky: The river becomes dry during the summer.

(ii) with very little rain: I hope the weather remains dry during our picnic.

(iii) not interesting: His speech was quite dry.

Sometimes the synonyms and antonyms given with words help to understand the meanings of words.

B. Find at least two meanings for each of the following words from the dictionary page in Lesson 3. Do the activities in pairs, using a dictionary.

fit   fitness   fitter   fitting fitted

Now make your own example sentences showing their meanings.

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 7 | Synonyms and antonyms

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JSC English First Paper | Unit: 4, Lesson: 5 | Check your reference | Looking up words in a dictionary

A. Talk in groups about the text in Lesson 4 and about the questions below. Then read the text.

1. Is there any connection between the alphabet and a dictionary?

2. What do you understand by alphabetical order?

The words in a dictionary are presented in alphabetical order. It follows the alphabetical order of letters. It means words starting with the letter D will be before the words starting with the letter E. In the same way words starting with the letter F will come after the words starting with E.

Again the words starting with the same letter are also arranged one after another in alphabetical order in the dictionary. For example, the words dark, doctor and deep all start with the letter D. These words appear in the dictionary in the order of dark, deep and doctor.

To find the words with a letter, look at the words at the top of the page.

While doing the activities, use a dictionary or a dictionary page as much as you can.

B. Arrange the following words in alphabetical order.

entertainment, knowledge, culture, art, painting, thought, interest, heritage, yellow, future

C. Work in pairs. Arrange the following words under the letter ' S' in alphabetical order as they appear in the dictionary.

single     should   system   sufficient

solar      source   steel   sweet

D. Find and write the words coming between the words 'tea' and 'technique' under the letter 't' in your dictionary.

E.  Show in which order are the following words arranged in Lesson 3.

fit   fitted   fitful fitness   fitting   fitter fitment

If you want to read the next lesson of this unit please click the link below:

Lesson: 6 | Meanings of words

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