The Boatman’s Gift - Summary- Pamela Michael B.Ed. first year Compulsory English

The Boatman’s Gift by Pamela Michael

Summary

The essay” The Boatman’s Gift ” is written by female writer Pamela Michael in a narrative form. She has included an experience of her journey to Laos, a landlocked mountainous country with no railroad. It has domestic airlines and few roads.  It has rich civilization and natural beauty. She visited Laos and enjoyed her journey.

She had three options to reach Laos: air, land, or water. She decided to fly instead of several days of anxious land or river journey. She enjoyed rugged mountains, thick green forests, breathtaking highlands, freshwater rivers, wooden houses, ancient Buddhist temples, Laotian architecture, shops, and villages. She found that Laotians had tolerance, forgiveness, and compassion even though they had suffered much during nine years of the US bombing in the war.

She visited an ancient city, Luang Prabang, in Laos.  It’s known for its many Buddhist temples. It is rich in architecture, culture, and traditions. Her journey by air from Vientiane (capital of Laos) to Luang Prabang was enjoyable, although Laotian airlines were known as dangerous airlines.

The different customs and traditional historic artifacts drew her attention and connected her with the people of Laos. She compared their living status and food with her California and found them more exotic. Similarly, she found that fish, rice, and different varieties of fresh vegetables were common among them.

She took photographs of the beauties of Laos. While she was changing the film of her camera, a boatman offered her to visit Buddha caves. Unfortunately, she found batteries were dead in her camera they were impossible to replace in that remote place. She thought without her camera her stay there would be meaningless. When the boatman knew her intention he advised her that she could enjoy the beautiful scenery with the camera of her natural eyes. This knowledge was a gift to the writer from the boatman.

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A Horseman in the Sky Summary

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A Horseman in the Sky Summary B.Ed. first year Compulsory English

"A Horseman in the Sky" highlights the destructive impact of the war on a single family. The central character is a young Virginian, named Carter Druse, a Union soldier from the South who must make a terrible decision between his family and his duty. 

“A  Horseman in the Sky” is a play written by Ambrose Bierce. It is the time during American Civil War. One morning Carter Druse, main character of the play, tells his father Mr. Druse that he wants to join the union army who are against slavery system and detachment (टुक्रा , अलगाव )of the states of America. As his father is against the union army and he is in confederate army, he is not too happy with his son and calls him a traitor (देशद्रोही).  By joining the union Carter will be against his own state. Yet Mr. Druse respects his decision and tells him that he must always do his duty. Cater and his father decide not to tell it to Carter’s mother because she is her health is too bad and Carter’s this decision may make her health worse. Leaving sick mother Druse goes in soldier for the nation.

Carter is in his duty. He falls asleep on duty, when he wakes up he sees an enemy soldier, on a cliff opposite  to him. He is a confederate soldier sitting on his horse. A moment later he is shocked to see the man is his father. There comes two alternatives for him either to choose duty or to choose family. Then he remembers his father’s  advice. Finally he shoots at the horse causing the horse and the rider falling down from the cliff. One soldier witnesses the horse and Confederate soldier fall off the cliff and seemingly fly through the air.  It appears like a horseman in the sky.

In this way he unwillingly  kills his father. It shows that soldiers are sad after the war ended because the enemies were their own relatives.  War caused emotional pain. Bierce explores the themes of duty and family in this story. Carter Druse claims a strong sense of duty to his chosen cause, but seems to focus more on his rebellion against his father. 

Class 11 Unit 1 Compulsory English : Education and Humanity : Education First : Malala Yousafzai

 Unit 1 Education and Humanity : Education First : MalalaYousafzai

“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” - Aristotle Reading 

Ways with words A.  page no.(7)

A.  Find the words from the text which mean the following. 

a. a messenger or representative, especially one on a diplomatic mission 

envoy

b. the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect 

dignity

c. harm done to someone in response to harm 

revenge

d. a person who holds extreme views in political or religious matters

 extremist

e. sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others 

compassion

f. a person who is believed to speak for God 

prophet

g. the study of the nature of knowledge, reality and existence

philosophy 

h. the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage or destroy 

violence

i. an unreasonable dislike of a particular group of people or things

prejudice

B. Match the words on the left with their opposite meanings on the right. (question)

a. honour            i. kindness 

b. innocent         ii. literacy 

c. brutality         iii. guilty 

d. forgiveness    iv. disgrace 

e. illiteracy         v. punishment

Answer:

a. honour            i. disgrace 

b. innocent         ii.  guilty

c. brutality         iii. kindness 

d. forgiveness    iv. punishment

e. illiteracy         v.  literacy

C. Using dictionary 

 

Dictionary contains at least three forms of information about a word: pronunciation, word class and meaning.

 Look at the following dictionary entry of the words ‘humanity’ and ‘humanize’ (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 9th edition):

humanity/hjuːˈmænəti/ noun1 [U] people in general: He was found guilty of crimes against humanity. 2 [U] the state of being a person rather than a god, an animal or a machine: The story was used to emphasize the humanity of Jesus. united by a sense of common humanity3 [U] the quality of being kind to people and animals by making sure that they do not suffer more than is necessary; the quality of being humane: The judge was praised for his courage and humanity. OPP inhumanity 4(the) humanities [pl.] the subjects of study that are about the way people think and behave, for example literature, language, history and philosophy: The college offers a wide range of courses in the arts and humanities.

humanize(BrE also -ise) /ˈhjuːmənaɪz/ verb~sth to make sth more pleasant or suitable for people; to make sth more HUMANE: These measures are intended to humanize the prison system. 

a. Study the dictionary entry above and answer these questions. (page no - 8)

i. What is the headword in the first entry? 

humanity is the headword in the first entry.

ii. How many meanings of the word ‘humanity’ are given? 

There are four meanings of the word 'humanity' given.

1) people in general

2) the state of being a person rather than a god, an animal or a machine

3) the quality of being kind to people and animals by making sure that they do not suffer more than is necessary; the quality of being humane

 

4) the subjects of study that are about the way people think and behave, for example literature, language, history and philosophy

iii. What do the abbreviations U, OPP, pl, and sth stand for?

The abbreviations U, OPP, pl, and sth stand for:

U - uncountable

OPP - opposite

Pl- plural

sth- something

 

iv. What is the British English spelling of ‘humanize’?

 humanize(BrE also -ise) humanise

v. How is the word ‘humanize’ pronounced?

/ˈhjuːmənaɪz/ 

ह्यूमनाइज़

vi. If we say Every person should have the sense of humanity, which meaning of ‘humanity’ is applied?

the quality of being kind to people and animals by making sure that they do not suffer more than is necessary; the quality of being humane

 

b. Arrange the following words in alphabetical order. 

i. advance analysis amuse assure allergy attain aid anxiety acute agreement 

   acute advance agreement aid allergy amuse analysis anxiety assure attain

ii. smoke small smart speaking smelling smoothly smuggler smashed smearing smallpox

    small smallpox  smart smashed smearing smelling smoke smoothly smuggler speaking

 

iii. terminal terminate terminology termite terms terrace terrible terribly territory terror

     terminal terminate terminology termite terms terrace terrible terribly territory terror

 

c. Make a list of five new words from the reading text. Using a dictionary, write their meanings and use the words in sentences of your own.

Compassion –करुणा(pity) – He has shown extreme compassion towards injured people.

 

Envoy- प्रतिनिधि, दूत  (ambassador) – King's envoy conducted the programme very well.

 

Prejudice-  पूर्वधारणा (preconception) – Every person must remove prejudices about different countries.

 

Extremist-  उग्रवादी, अतिवादी – (a person who holds extreme political or religious views, especially one who advocates illegal, violent, or other extreme action.) Due to extremists lots of  countries are still suffering a lot.

 

Shield- कवच (armor) – Everyone has to shield oneself with unity and togetherness.

 

 Comprehension (8)

 Answer the following questions. 

a. Why did the speaker receive thousands of good-wishes cards and gifts from all over the world?

 

On the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot her on the left side of her forehead. She was seriously injured; therefore, for her fast recovery, she received thousands of good-wishes cards and gifts from all over the world.

 

b. According to the speaker, what are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers struggling for? 

 

According to the speaker, hundreds of human rights activists and social workers are struggling for achieving their goals of education, peace and equality.

c. What has she learnt from Gandhi?

She has learnt the philosophy of non- violence from Gandhi Jee.

d. In what sense is peace necessary for education? 

In many parts of the world wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools. Therefore, peace is necessary for education.

e. According to the speaker, what are the main problems faced by both men and women?

Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems faced by both men and women.

f. What is Malala calling upon all governments?

 

Malala is calling upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world, to fight against terrorism and violence, and to protect children from brutality and harm.

g. What is the main message of this speech?

 

There must be schools and education for every child’s bright future. Education is the most powerful weapon to fight against illiteracy, poverty, injustice and terrorism.

One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.

Education is the only solution. Education first.

 

Grammar 

 

Word classes 

 

A. Word class refers to the category of words of similar form or function. Another name of word class is a parts of speech. In the text below, certain words are underlined. While you read, try to identify which word class they belong to. 

Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. These nationwide closures are impacting over 60% of the world’s student population. Some 1 billion students and youth across the planet are affected by school and university closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Several other countries have implemented localized closures impacting millions of additional learners. UNESCO is supporting countries in their efforts to mitigate the immediate impact of school closures, particularly for more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, and to facilitate the continuity of education for all through remote learning.

The Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO seeks to facilitate inclusive learning opportunities for children and youth during this period of sudden and unprecedented educational disruption. Investment in remote learning should both mitigate the immediate disruption caused by COVID-19 and establish approaches to develop more open and flexible education systems for the future. The Global Coalition members and prospective members are encouraged to pledge for the protection of learners’ personal information, privacy and security.

In the text, the underlined words belong to different word classes or parts of speech.

governments - noun 

temporarily - adverb 

affected - verb 

and - conjunction 

in - preposition 

immediate - adjective 

the - determiner 

B. Classify the underlined words into different word classes. 

a. The man who is wearing glasses is my uncle’s friend.

     

     who – relative pronoun

     wearing - verb

     my- possessive determiner

 

A relative pronoun is one which is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously.

b. I bought a round table in the supermarket.

    ‘

    round - adjective

    the - determiner

 

c. Alas, she is dead.

   

    Alas – interjection  (interjection are used to express sorrow, regret, compassion or grief.)

    is - verb

 

d. Hari works very hard all the time but his wife is very lazy. 

   

  hard – adverb  

  but - conjunction

  wife - noun

  very – adverb

 

adjectives are used to provide additional information about a noun or a pronoun, i.e. people, places, animals and things.

adverbs are used to give extra detail about a verb, adjective or adverb.

 

e. I have never been to Japan.

   

    never -adverb

    to – preposition