Studying English... : March 2021

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

EXERCISES for today

1. Influence of mobile communication....

2. Voting for your favorite TEAM video (on a Movie)

3. Video Presentation of the English Course

Monday, March 8, 2021

ANECDOTES

maneesha m

Today our class teacher took us to a zoo. I was quite excited about the trip because I love animals. However, it turned out to be one of the saddest experiences of my life.

We saw many birds and animals in the zoo. Alas! They didn’t look happy in their cages. There were colorful parrots and lovebirds. They looked sad in their small enclosures. I am sure they miss the blue skies. The plight of the lion, tiger and leopard was not much better either. They were kept inside tiny cages. They are well-fed and they also receive medical attention whenever they show signs of illness. Yet, they looked tired and unhealthy. I guess that is a result of their sedentary life. They get absolutely no opportunities to walk or run. They pace their small cages up and down looking restive and angry.

I am not saying that zoos are bad. They do protect many endangered species. Still it hurts me to see wild animals caged for our entertainment. I know I can’t do anything for them but I can’t help feeling bad for them. I don’t think I will visit a zoo again.

deemol davis

What an memorable day was today! I wake up early in the morning and went for a walk.

While I was passing through my village road, i saw a little girl floating in the river. I rescued her. I still can’t believe that I did it. How could I do this? Where did it I get the courage from? I don’t know. I was going to the temple when I heard a child yelling for help from the riverbank. I rushed there and saw a boy shouting for help. His sister had fallen into the river and he couldn’t swim. Neither could she. I saw her flapping with her arms. I also cried for help hoping that someone would come but when I saw nobody anywhere near the river I gathered the courage and jumped into the water. By then, the girl was beginning to sink. I swam with all my strength and managed to get hold of her hair. While it is true that I can swim holding her head above water while swimming back to the shore was quite a challenge for me. Luckily, by the time we reached the shore people had gathered and someone gave her emergency medical aid and rushed her to hospital. Everyone praised me for saving the life of a child putting my own life at risk. I felt both happy and proud.

RAHUL PB

Dear Diary,

Life is full of surprises. I couldn’t sleep the previous night. The next morning the results of the Board were to be announced. Then suddenly at 9 am, we heard a telephone ring. I ran to receive it. My Principal was on the line. “Congratulations my boy! You have topped the list of successful candidates in the place Zone. We are proud of you!” He also congratulated my parents.Then started the non-stop congratulatory messages from my teachers, class fellows, friends and relatives. My parents were busy in distributing ‘laddoos’. I felt like a celebrity. And a celebrity I was. Two correspondents of leading news channels came to interview me. I only felt that nothing succeeds like success and thanked my stars.

DIARY ENTRIES

Melda Johnson

Sunday

07-03-2021

Dear Minni,

I have been dying to tell you what happened today. I suppose this is the best day of my life so far.

I started my day by waking up at 5 am. I rushed to guest room for correcting the answer sheets of model exam after making the black coffee. By 6.30 am I completed my work. Afterwards the busy schedule of my life started. Made dosa and chutney for breakfast. Sambar, beans curry and egg roast for lunch. I ran to bathroom and take a quick bath. By 9.00 am my hus dropped me at school.

After signing in teacher's attendance register, I went to 10 A class with biology answer sheets. Then I distributed answer sheets to students and I am so happy that all of them got very high marks. As a teacher that was a proud moment.

I reached back home by 4.30 pm. After having my evening tea I spent my time in garden. After watering the plants I went to bathroom and take a bath.

By 7.00 pm I gave remedial class to backward students those who are preparing for their SSLC examination through Google meet. After an hour session l spent time with my family. Then after having dinner and prayer, I went to sleep.

Blessy Wilson

It was another beautiful day in my life..As usual , I woke up at 5 AM ,had my morning routines that include watching the morning prayer and the news on the television.. Today I had to make the breakfast a little faster as it was Sunday and we all had to go to the church at 8 AM..So, began the day freshly by going to the church. I came back at 10:15 AM..The next thing that had to be done was to make the lunch and till 12 noon I was busy with that.. At 1:15 PM I had my lunch with my family.. After that we all were busy with arranging our home for a meeting that had to be conducted in our home at 3PM with the neighbours...It began at 3 PM and ended up at 4 PM. We then set back our home to the normal manner..Then I went to my vegetable garden and spent almost one and a half hours over there.. Since I spent there more time , all my evening routines got a bit late to be finished. So , quickly I bathed up my little boy , then I had my bath and by 8 PM everything was set for the dinner. As I had to take rest for a while , I watched the television with my family for a few minutes..Then we had the evening prayer which was followed by the dinner. Before ending up the day ,I watched the news channel for a while as usual..And now , by 10:30 PM I am going to my bed to get rid of all the tiredness of today as well as to begin well a new day...

Thank you Lord for this day.

Arathi M

Dear diary,

Today I woke up at 5:00 AM in the morning , did all my household chores and went to the hospital. I reached the hospital at 8:00AM sharp and went to the changing room to get changed for my duty. Today I had corona duty , so I had to wear the PPE kit. Walking through the isolation ward is really hard. Moreover it makes you really sweaty and uncomfortable. But being a nurse you have to risk your life and your pleasure to help others relieve their pain and sufferings.There was a patient in the ward who had corona , we tried our best to save him but we couldn't. The sad truth of losing someone beloved is devastating. I know the pain his family will be going through but the only thing we could do is pray for his soul. Before leaving the hospital I had to do some works at my department. After that I left the hospital at 5:00 PM and got home at 6:00 PM in the evening. Being a nurse isn't an easy task , it's really hard but when you see someone's face lit up by the care you gave them that's the best feeling you will ever get. Iam really exhausted by the work at the hospital but Iam happy that I made the right decision to be a nurse. Every nurse is drawn to nursing because of the desire to care, to serve and help others. Nursing is an art of helping others and making their lives a better one by giving them all the love and affection one can offer. Iam proud to be a nurse.

MERLIN

A Day In My Life

I woke up at 4:45 a.m as usual,and got refreshed after having done my daily morning activities. After having my bed coffee, I began to study at 5:00 a.m. I feel that this time is a bit darker than it was,during the months of of January and February. Today was the second day of my model exams. I was a bit nervous as I was having my maths and Chemistry exams today. Even though I was nervous, there was no changes in my habit of falling asleep during my studies. I was feeling dizzy and my mother woke me up during each 15 minutes.

By 6 o'clock, I went to get the newspaper and got updated about the latest news. I resumed my studies by 6:30, and I felt refreshed after going through the newspaper. Those were the last hours of preparation for my exams and I was careful not to miss even a single second. I spend an extra 30 minutes for my studies today and was in a rush since I got up from my studies only at 8:30. I was in a hurry and thus asked my brother to help me iron my uniform meanwhile I had my breakfast and went to take a bath. My mother had prepared my lunch box and water bottle when I returned. I quickly put up my uniform and got ready by 9 o'clock and waited for my friend to arrive. He arrived by 9:05 and we had our usual ride to the school and reached there bye 9:10.

I had my final preparations along with my friends and entered to the exam hall by 9:30. By noon,we finished our first exam and got out to have lunch. We had promised not to discuss about the exam as it would only increase our anxiety. By 2 o'clock,we got in for our second exam after having small preparations for about 15 minutes. It was easier than the first one and we got out by 4:00.

We hang out with our friends for a while and took our ride back to home. It was 4:30 when I got back home. I took a bath and put my dresses to wash and had the tea and snacks my mother had prepared. I spent a few minutes on my phone and sat to study by 6:15 and continued upto 8:00. I was not completely concentrated during these hours,as I got up in between, to share about my day with my family members,and lso as I got distracted by my phone.

By 8 o'clock, all my family members assembled to have our prayers which lasts for half an hour. After that,we had our dinner and spent some time talking about our day. Usually, I go to sleep after all these by 9:30. But,these are my exam days and I had to prepare better for them. Therefore, I continued my studies while my family members went to their beds. I sat alone, for two more hours and put up my efforts to my studies,after which I got up, brushed my teeth,had a small prayer,and went to bed.

Saturday, March 6, 2021

What is READING ?

What do you do when you are reading?

You are either scanning(looking for an information) or skimming (trying to understand something).

How should we read?

We should not read word by word but phrase by phrase. A word is say "a" and a phrase is "a table". So a phrase is a more meaningful piece of information than a word.

How should we use our vision while reading?

While reading try to stretch your eye span ie., you should try to see a word phrase rather than just a word so that you can take in more information while reading thus multiplying your reading speed.

Why should we try to keep increasing our reading speed?

Many a time, to understand a text we may have to read it many times (re-reading). So we would be at a disadvantage in such situations if we take a longer time to read the full text because then we would hardly get time to read it more than once. This might happen in exams like IELTS etc. where the text given for reading may not be easy to comprehend when read only once. So our reading score may become lower than those who read faster or who are speed readers.

What are the other skills of good readers?

Good readers have a vast vocabulary making them familiar with most of the words commonly used by writers and they also have a verbal reasoning power ie., guessing the meaning of a word from the context.

What are the habits of good readers?

To become good readers one needs to read a wide variety of reading materials from different fields like articles and essays, fiction and non-fiction, literary and scientific etc. Confining our reading to a particular kind of content or becoming a follower of a particular style of information limits our reading potential.

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Passage for Reading 6

While talking about their dreams most of the participants spoke about becoming college lecturers, govt. employees, working abroad etc. A simple logic to be followed here while following your dreams is to keep your focus on your efforts that you are taking now or going to take, thinking of that dream. Achieving the dream is not that important. More important is focusing on your present moments and being in love with what you are doing now for the realization of that goal. For eg., if a person wants to become a singer in life, if that's what is her goal, then her dream instead of becoming a singer can be to keep improving her abilities and skills as a singer, to be a more versatile singer, to look for opportunities to participate and assess her qualities vis-a-vis other participants etc. Having a goal is important but focusing on the efforts in that direction is more important. More than thinking about your dream one should be enthusiastic about the actions required for realizing the dream.

One can even dare to say that "I don't want to be a singer...who cares whether I become a singer or not...But nothing can stop me from being in love with singing. For me it's all about experiencing the pure joy, the moment of self realization, the happiness of reaching out and uniting with the universe and touching the heights of excellence within me by finding the real me. The journey is all inside, not outside.

Here you are defining your dream, you are in control, you have the power and responsibility, you are in driver's seat. And above all you live every moment, with happiness.

Passage for Reading 5

Human beings have been gifted with the power to smile and laugh but not everybody can laugh at themselves. Laughing at our own failures, weaknesses, follies, mistakes, drawbacks, shortcomings, defects, limitations is a gift which only a few have. And those who have it are happy and de-stressed because they don't have to appear confident, self-assured, wise and smart always. They can relax, try new things, explore new ways of doing something, think of new possibilities as they don't carry the burden of invincibility upon their shoulders.

Shakespeare says about the human life through the eponymous character of Macbeth :

"Life's nothing but a walking shadow, a poor player strutting and fretting his hour upon the stage. And then is heard no more. It's a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing."

Passage for Reading 4

Which sentence given below is the most powerful in terms of belief?

If I get a job in an International company, I will go places.

If I started a business, I would earn a lot of money.

If I had got a job in government service I would have become very happy.

Now in these sentence types using the three IFs, the first sentence is spoken by a very confident person having a very strong belief, the second by a not very confident person having a weak belief and the third by somebody who is living in the past.
So by changing the IF pattern in a sentence, can we enhance our confidence and belief in a particular outcome? The answer is clear from the above example.

Passage for Reading 3

In the name of culture, is it right to impose a patriarchal values on the modern, knowledge based 21st century society is a question which every citizen should ask at this point in time. In a macho world the defining values have always been speed, survival and succeeding to the next level at any cost. A lot of human values like compassion, kindness, forgiveness, benevolence, sharing etc. have been compromised in this mad race for getting "success". But it is a good sign that some of the human values like cleanliness, respect for all genders, non-violence, honesty, conversational temperament, empowering the weaker sections, respecting the old, education without punishment are being endorsed. Let us work towards a model of success where people are happy and free to discover their true "selves".

Passage for Reading 2

When you find yourself in a situation where an argument becomes inevitable, argue by asking questions to the other person which is rational, makes him/her think, very specific and based on the particular issue without any emotional outbursts that can harm your cause. There should not be any kind of personal remarks or generalizations because then the whole event takes another turn and also the situation can become difficult to control. Always let's understand that this incident is not going to be the end of anything but just a part of life which can empower your character to face bigger battles in future. And above all, find a bigger purpose to succeed, to counter the opposite arguments and that purpose should be beyond "self", ie., not based on selfish motives. If such a purpose is identified and understood then we are just driven by the sheer power of the universal consciousness and the result of the argument is no longer an issue to worry . Every moment thus becomes cherishable.

NB 1 Never put your stakes in a particular outcome which is not in your hands. Never expect anything from an conflict that can make you, your life better. Expect the best results for all. Expect universal peace and happiness and let things happen for the betterment of all, the secret of a win-win argument.

NB 2 Always think of your "SELF" as bigger than an argument. Let's not limit the vastness of our "selves" to a particular outcome. We are all much wiser than we think. We all have bigger roles to perform. Our life and our world doesn't end anywhere.

Friday, March 5, 2021

Feedback - Using Phrasal verbs and Idioms.

All the teams in the last exercise put together a great show. You were able to put across your views in a simple and effective manner. All the team members pulled themselves together and got the best out of their teams. In the end you put up a fabulous video presentation. You really pulled out all the stops to achieve this perfection....so kudos to all the teams....way to go folks.

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Thursday, March 4, 2021

EXERCISE FOR STUDENTS - A VIDEO PRESENTATION of an essay.

All the teams are requested to choose the right people for three more positions in addition to their team leader's position. These positions are:

1. A TEAM EDITOR : to collect all the speeches (audio)and do editing.; to be the team's technical expert.

2. A SPEECH EDITOR : to collect all the speeches (text) and do correction and editing work; to be the team's words.

3. A TEAM SPEAKER : to speak for the team; to be the team's voice.

Now let's think of a topic for the team essay ,to be presented in a video format. For doing this video essay presentation, all the team members are requested to send their photos to their team editor. After doing this, let us debate on a topic and the views of the team members will become the content of the speech to be delivered by their team speaker and then edited using their photos and the speech in the background by the team editor.

So all the team members are requested to send their views on the topic to their team speaker. The topic to think and give your views is:

YOUR LIFE DURING THE DAYS WHEN THE FIRST LOCK DOWN WAS ANNOUNCED IN APRIL LAST YEAR...HOW DID YOU SPEND YOUR DAYS AND WHAT WERE YOUR FEARS AND ANXIETIES AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO OVERCOME THEM.

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EXERCISE FOR STUDENTS - A VIDEO PRESENTATION of a discussion

Today we did a discussion on "Influence of Movies on Popular Culture". Now there's a follow up activity for the teams. Each team has to choose a movie as their favourite. It can be in any language; liked and enjoyed by all the team members. Now the team leader has to individually ask the team members how and why that particular movie was able to influence so many people,their attitudes and behaviour. The team leader should collect all the audio speeches of the team members about that movie and compile it as their team speech. The teams can also use pictures from that movie and make a video with speeches of team members heard in the background. The video or audio presentation should not be more than five minutes and the team leader should make sure that all their members have participated using their technological, creative and communicative skills.

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Wednesday, March 3, 2021

PASSAGE 1

Friends and Comrades,

The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. I do not know what to tell you and how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the Father of the Nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that. Nevertheless, we will never see him again as we have seen him for these many years. We will not run to him for advice and seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not to me only, but to millions and millions in this country. And it is a little difficult to soften the blow by any other advice that I or anyone else can give you.

The light has gone out, I said, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light. The light that has illumined this country for these many years will illumine this country for many more years, and a thousand years later, that light will be seen in this country and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts. For that light represented something more than the immediate past, it represented the living, the eternal truths, reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient country to freedom.

All this has happened when there was so much more for him to do. We could never think that he was unnecessary or that he had done his task. But now, particularly, when we are faced with so many difficulties, his not being with us is a blow most terrible to bear.

A madman has put an end to his life, for I can only call him mad who did it, and yet there has been enough of poison spread in this country during the past years and months, and this poison has had an effect on people’s minds. We must face this poison, we must root out this poison, and we must face all the perils that encompass us, and face them not madly or badly, but rather in the way that our beloved teacher taught us to face them.

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Home Assignment 3

"WRITING A DIARY " EXERCISE

Write on the topic "A day in my life" of a person whom you know well. You should write using the pronoun "I" starting from the time when you wake up from the bed till you go to bed describing in chronological order all the various actions done by you on a typical day of yours.

Click here to watch a day in the life of a NURSE.

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Choose your favourite speech.......

Good morning everyone.

Today I take this opportunity to describe an incident that happened in my life that changed my view about a person. This happened a few years ago while I was in high school. I had a friend who was very beautiful and she was loved by everyone in the class. I was really happy because I thought she was very nice and had a good character. But little did I know how she was from inside. She was my best friend, the only friend I really loved but she never cared the way I did. I always used to give her a lot of gifts just as she wanted. So whenever I got a chance I brought the most expensive gifts that I could give her. Everything was going well until she told me that if I didn't give her gifts like before she was going to unfriend me. I was really shocked by this behavior of hers. Then I started to realise a thing that she never considered me as her friend, she was just using me as a bait to get advantages from me. Now that I think about it I realise how stupid I was because I was just like a puppet controlled by her. People just look on the outside and judge others. It is obvious that people are getting hurt because of these misconceptions. The moral of the story is that "all that glitters is not gold". So always choose a friend wisely, never look on the outside and judge others. As it is said don't judge a book by its cover.

Thank you

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A warm good morning to one and all who have gathered here. Respected dignitaries on the dais and my dear friends,I am so happy to be here in my school again after a long time and extremely happy to see you all together again.As I stand here I would like to share you an experience of mine during the past 2 years.. As most of you and our teachers might know , I was a late comer to the school , probably half an hour since the class starts... I had been warned by the principal many times but later , knowing the truth he excused me...Let me share it with you too....

The first 6 months of my higher secondary life went very smoothly. In the morning I had my school bus picking me up from home to school and in the evening back to home.. There were no other difficulties other than the studies. But everything changed after 6 months. Highway construction began through ny road and all the vehicles including my school bus were blocked from passing through the road..So daily I had to walk 1 km in the morning and the same in the evening to reach home..If I was late for a few seconds, I would be late for half an hour at school..And that was what happened always...When my plus two life began ,the hardships were doubled.. Because I had my tuition class in the evening and I reached home at 7 .30 pm..I had to walk to my home at night. As my father was not at home my mother used to come to pick me up from where I got off from the bus..It was a great misery for both of us. And the tiredness I felt was indescribable.One and half years passed like that. Remembering all the difficulties that I had all through the year , I studied well as I wanted the best result for my hardwork. And it came true. I got the best result in the exams and the pleasure I experienced is beyond explanation.I am sure that I would not have experienced such a happiness now ,if I had not experienced such a difficult situation then..So dears , from my own experience I tell you that " WHAT IS EARNED WITH HARD LABOUR IS EATEN WITH PLEASURE "...So don't get tired on your difficulties. Just go on and you will definitely find success at last....

Thank you...

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Good morning to all

Respected principal , teachers and my dear little brothers and sisters .As you know I am an Alumna of this school. First I am thanking the principal for giving me this opportunity to deliver a small speech to my little brothers and sisters. The school is a place where all our memories are hidden and school life was the best time of my life I think many people has the same opinion. It is a time we develop our personality, attitude towards facing problems and most importantly we study how to handle things systematically. When I was at yours age I was very weak in studies .But now I am standing before you and it's only because of my hard work. Since I said I worked so hard you must be thinking that I had become 1st in my class but that is actually a misunderstanding. I was an average student . Since I was very genuine and I tried my best I was satisfied with my work. I would like to say that success doesn't mean to come first in all ,but to contribute all you can without worrying about your disability. So "The capacity to learn is a gift ,the ability to learn is a skill, willingness to learn is a choice "I am concluding my speech by saying that you all have the capacity to learn but it's your choice to use it or not . And also I would like to say that learning means the interest to know not by-hearting. When you have interest learning is not that hard .

Thank you

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Good morning all,

First of all I'm glad to speak in front of you.Hope you all are fine.I would like to share with you a small speech and it may be useful for you. We all have this question at some point in our life "why can't life be all sunshine and rainbows" but as we move forward on our journey we started to realize that life is not a fairy tale. A bloom flower withers away,a calm sea can have huge tides, sunny day can change into thunderstorm,similarly good things in life won't last forever it is a universal law which can't be changed.When I was little I was fascinated by the starry night sky. As soon it was dusk I will rush to an open space with my little telescope to gaze at the beauty of the night sky ,I spend hours and hours looking into spectacular painting done by the nature ,of course incidentally I used to spot some meteoroids. Then I started to wonder why should the sun rise to wash away the night sky? What a foolish question to ask....the happiness I found seeing the night sky only lasted till the dawn ...I had to wait till the next night to see the sky again...but when I thought about it more I had a realization we appreciate the night sky because we doesn't see it all the times ...So my dear friends, Good things in life won't last forever if it was so we would never learn to appreciate the beauty in it...

Thank you.

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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

A letter

From

Amy Justin

Green villa

Kozhikode

MLA Koduvally

Block Panchayath

Sir,

Subject: Regarding the actions of the administrators and stray dog issue

I am a citizen of your block panchayath. I want to share my opinions regarding the actions of the administrators and to notice stray dog issue faced by us.

There are a number of stray dogs wandering through our locality.It creates a mess on the roadside by tearing the garbage bags kept for disposal.The continuous barking of dogs at night is disturbing.Whenever people walk through the road the dogs follow and try to bite them.Nowadays people are afraid of going out due to these dogs.

I appreciate the timely action of administrators.The fixing of transformer has vanished the voltage issues in our locality.The roads are wide and smooth.Nowadays travelling through these roads is very comfortable.Thank you for your beautiful work.

I humbly request you to take necessary action against the above mentioned problem.