English 1st paper

Unit One

A glimpse of our culture

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

* read and understand tests through silent reading
* infer meaning from context
* ask and answer questions
* write answers to questions
* write short compositions

Lesson 1 : Our folk songs

Key Words : folk,musical,instruments
A Work in pairs. Read out the musical instruments and answer the following questions.

dotara	Sarinda	guitar	Bamboo flute	drum
Tabla	piano	harmonium	Ek-tara	violin

     

1.       Can you sing a song?

2.       Can you play any of these musical instruments?

3.       Do you know anybody who can play any of these instruments? Tell me what you know abut her\him.

B  Read the text and answer the following question.

Folk songs are songs sung in the traditional style of a community or country. Here the traditional style includes the themes, words and tunes of the songs that have we existed for a long time among the common people.

We have a rich history and collection of folk songs in Bangladesh. Of them, Palligiti, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Jari, Sari, Gambhira, Lalongiti, Palagaan, and songs of Hason Raja are very popular. The traditional musical instruments are usually played with these songs.

Questions

1.       Who usually likes our folk songs?

2.       Can you name some well known folk singers?

3.       Do you like folk songs? If you do, who is your favourite folk singer? Which song or songs do you like most?

4.       Look at the musical instruments in A above and say which instruments go well with the folk songs.

5.       Discuss in groups whether the modern instruments like the guitar and the piano could be played with the folk songs.

 

       C Discuss in groups and write a paragraph on the following question.

Do you want more or less programmes on folk songs on our TV channels? Why?

Lesson 2: Nakshi Kantha

Key words: quilt    artistic    commercially    traditional    demand    pattern  

 

A   Look at the picture and the questions. Them ask and answer the questions with your partner.

1.       What do you see in the picture?

2.       What is it called?

3.       Have you seen it before? Where?

4.       What do we do with it?

B  Now read the text to know about Nakshi Kantha.

Nakshi Kantha is a kind of embroidered quilt. The name was taken from a Bengali word `naksha’ which means artistic pattern. It is a kind of traditional craft and said to be indigenous to Bangladesh and West Bengal in India. The art has been practiced in rural Bengal for centuries. The name `Nakshi Kanthar Math’ was published in 1929.

Traditional kanthas are made for family use. Old or new cloth and thred are used to make this quilts. Mymensingh, Jamalpur, Ranshahi, Faridpur, Bogra and Jessore are most famous for this craft. Now it is produced commercially. You can find them in many expensive handicraft shops in cities. The quilts are now in great demand because of the colourful patterns and designs embroidered on them.

C  Write a paragraph describing how the nakshi kantha is made. Start like this: Old or new cloth and coloured thread are needed. First the cloth is folded, then ……

D  Do you like a nakshi Kantha or an ordinary Kantha? Why?

E  Complete the sentence with clues given

Bengali       patterns       embroidery       years       fashion       art      rural        designs       quilt       noksha

1.       Naksha means artistic ……………… .

2.       The name was taken from a ………….. word ……………. .

3.       The art has been practiced in …………… Bengal for …………….. .

4.       Nakshi Kanthas are now sold in …………. Shops.

5.       Nakshi kanthas are in great demand because of their colourful ………… and ………… .

6.       Nakshi kanthas are a kind of …………… .

                                                                                                                                                                                     

          

F  Write down five questions for the completed statements in E above.

One is done for you.

1.        What dose naksha means?

G  Work in pairs. Ask and answer all the questions. Now write 3-4 more questions on the text given in B above.

Lesson 3:  Our ethnic friends (1)

Key words:   ethnic   region   majority   shifting

A   Look at the question and discuss in groups:

      Have you heard the word ‘ethnic people’? Can you tell what it means?

      Now look at the pictures. Then discuss the following questions.

1.       Do you know where these people live in Bangladesh?

2.       What are they called?

B   Now read the text.

The ethnic people in Bangladesh hold a very important place in the culture of the country. The majority of this people live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The other live in regions  of Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Sylhet. They live in forest areas, in the hills and in rural areas. They practice Jhum cultivation. They clear a piece of land in forest, prepare it and sow seeds in it. They are mostly farmers. By religion they are Hindus, Christians or Buddhist. They speak their own mother tongues. Some of them are the Chakmas, the Marmans, the Tipperas and the Moorangs who live in the Hill tracts. The Santals live in Rajshahi. The Khasias and the Monipuries live in Sylhet and the Hajongs and the Garos in Mymensingh.    

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

1.       All the ethnic people of the country live in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

2.       Most of them are farmers.

3.       By religion all of them are Buddhists.

4.       The Moorangs are an ethnic group.

5.       They practice jhum cultivation.   

D   Ask and answer the question in pairs.

1.       Where do you find the Marmans?

2.       What language do you speak at home?

3.       Where and how do they do the Jhum cultivation?

Lesson 4:   Our ethnic friends (2)

Keywords: characteristics     communities     maize     poultry

A   Look at the picture and talk with your partner about them. Then read the text.

Most of these ethnic people living in Bangladesh have some common characteristics. They have their own lifestyles.

They build their houses on bamboo or wooden platforms called ‘machang’. Rice is their staple food. They eat vegetables, maize and fish, poultry and meat. Their kitchen utensils are bamboo, wooden and earthen pots which they make themselves. Men wear lungis and women wear thamis or sarongs and angis. Women weave their own clothes.

 Hunting and fishing are their favourite pastimes. They are fond of songs, music, dances, theatre and fairs. Traditional musical instruments used are bugles made from buffalo horns, drums and bamboo flutes. Wrestling is a popular sport for them.

B   Find the answers from column B to the questions in column A and write them in complete sentences.

A	B
1.       Where do the ethnic people build their houses?	A traditional musical instrument made from a buffalo horn
2.       What are their favourite pastimes?	Clay, bamboo and wood
3.       What is a bugle?	rice
4.       What do the women wear?	On the wooden or bamboo platforms
5.       What are their kitchen utensils made of?	Fishing and hunting
6.       What are their staple food?	Thamis or sarongs and angis

C    Complete the paragraph. Use the word below to fill in the gaps. There are more words then necessary.

Lungi    sport    earthen    machang    weave    wrestling    song   rice   fishing   lifestyles   wooden   bugle

The tribal people follow their                     .

The platform they build their house on is called                      . Men wear                    . Women                            

Their own cloths. Their staple food is                     . They are fond of songs, dance, music, and                    .

                         is their favourite sport.

D   Imaging you are Sajeed and you have a Marma friend called Masing. Now write a dialogue asking and answering questions about dress, food, songs, sport and pastimes of both of you.               

Lesson 5 : Bangladeshi cuisine

Key words: cuisine   platter   molasses

A   Look at the pictures and discuss in pairs.

1.       What do you see in the pictures?

2.       Which foods are seen in the pictures? Do you prepare/eat them at home?

3.       Of the foods, which one is your favourite? Why?

B   Read the text below and answer the following true-false questions.

Bangladeshi cuisine is rich and varied with the use of many spices. We have delicious and appetizing food, snacks and sweets.

Boiled rice is our staple food. It is served with a variety of vegetables, curry, lentil soups, fish and meat. Fish is the main source of protein. Fishes are now cultivated in ponds. Also we have fresh-water fishes in the lakes and rivers. More then 40 types of fishes are common. Some of them are carp, rui, katla, magur (catfish), chingri (prawn or shrimp). Shutki or dried fishes are popular among the people of Bangladesh.