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Unit 13 Lesson 7
What would you call him?
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• read a short story
• guessed the meaning of specific words from the context
• selected appropriate adjectives relevant to the text
• identified some antonyms beginning with 'un-'
• written the gist of the story
A Read the following story and then do the exercises that follow. Also think of an appropriate title for the story.
Zayed saw him everyday. A little slip of a boy. He wouldn't be more than 10 years but he looked smaller from years of undernourishment. In ragged half-torn shorts, he looked hardly eight. He must have been quite fair but layers of dirt and grime had turned his skin almost dark brown. The original shades of fair skin could however be detected in places. With large dark eyes, he could have been a pretty child under proper care.
"Eight anas, sir. Give me eight anas only" Zayed and his friends were very familiar with this voice. Whenever they sat down on the stairs of the Medical College after their classes, he would come running. Today Zayed and his friends were in a good mood.
"Hey You! Come here." They started asking him questions. What came out was quite pathetic. He didn't know where his parents were, neither did he remember them very well. Left on the streets of Dhaka to fend for himself, he lived with two older boys in a makeshift hut.
How many square meals a day? None. A slice of bread bought with begged money, some leftover rice from hospital attendants was all that he lived on. The well of human kindness in Zayed swelled up. What a pity! A little boy unloved, underfed, left on the streets to fend for himself. How cruel could life be? Did he have a name? Oh yes. 'Robi' - the sun. A son of the streets, almost eclipsed by dirt and the negligence of society.
"What's your dream? Do you have any dreams?" asked Zayed. Yes indeed. Robi had dreams like everybody else. But his dreams weren't very lofty - a plate full of rice, big pieces of chicken and sweets. Zayed and his friends were surprised. "Is that all? Come on. I'm going to make your dream come true" said Zayed. Robi couldn't believe his ears. Was he making fun of him? Playing a cruel trick? No he wasn't. In ten minutes Robi found himself seated on the bench of a small cafe behind the medical college with bowls full of rice, beef and chicken curry spread in front of him. "Aha! Aha!" was all Robi could say between delightful gulps of rice and meat going down his throat. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be true - Robi eating to his heart's content, sitting in a restaurant among respectable people. If only he could have a square meal like this every day. If only ...
B From your reading of the story what do you think is the meaning of the following words and phrases? Don't look up a dictionary. Try to guess the meaning from the text.
"layers of dirt and grime", "a makeshift house", "a square meal", "leftover rice", "swelled up", "eclipsed", and "fend".
C Why do you think Robi kept saying "Aha! Aha!" when he was eating? The following adjectives express his feelings. Cross out the ones that are not appropriate.
excited, surprised, hungry, delighted, annoyed, ecstatic, embarrassed, bored,
terrified, grateful.
D We often use the prefix "un-" to make the opposite of a word. Find three examples of such words in the text and write them down. What are the opposites of these words?
E Imagine you are telling the story to a friend who hasn't heard it before. Rewrite the story in your own words in brief. Don't use any reported speech.
Focus:
Skills.
Intensive reading, writing.
Functions.
Reporting, narrating, expressing feelings.
Grammar/Structure.
Past tense (continuous and simple), adjectives describing feelings, prefix "un", opposites.
Vocabulary.
excited, delighted,
annoyed, ecstatic, embarrassed, bored, terrified.
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Unit 13 Lesson 7
What would you call him?
Objectives: By the end of the lesson you will have
• read a short story
• guessed the meaning of specific words from the context
• selected appropriate adjectives relevant to the text
• identified some antonyms beginning with 'un-'
• written the gist of the story
A Read the following story and then do the exercises that follow. Also think of an appropriate title for the story.
Zayed saw him everyday. A little slip of a boy. He wouldn't be more than 10 years but he looked smaller from years of undernourishment. In ragged half-torn shorts, he looked hardly eight. He must have been quite fair but layers of dirt and grime had turned his skin almost dark brown. The original shades of fair skin could however be detected in places. With large dark eyes, he could have been a pretty child under proper care.
"Eight anas, sir. Give me eight anas only" Zayed and his friends were very familiar with this voice. Whenever they sat down on the stairs of the Medical College after their classes, he would come running. Today Zayed and his friends were in a good mood.
"Hey You! Come here." They started asking him questions. What came out was quite pathetic. He didn't know where his parents were, neither did he remember them very well. Left on the streets of Dhaka to fend for himself, he lived with two older boys in a makeshift hut.
How many square meals a day? None. A slice of bread bought with begged money, some leftover rice from hospital attendants was all that he lived on. The well of human kindness in Zayed swelled up. What a pity! A little boy unloved, underfed, left on the streets to fend for himself. How cruel could life be? Did he have a name? Oh yes. 'Robi' - the sun. A son of the streets, almost eclipsed by dirt and the negligence of society.
"What's your dream? Do you have any dreams?" asked Zayed. Yes indeed. Robi had dreams like everybody else. But his dreams weren't very lofty - a plate full of rice, big pieces of chicken and sweets. Zayed and his friends were surprised. "Is that all? Come on. I'm going to make your dream come true" said Zayed. Robi couldn't believe his ears. Was he making fun of him? Playing a cruel trick? No he wasn't. In ten minutes Robi found himself seated on the bench of a small cafe behind the medical college with bowls full of rice, beef and chicken curry spread in front of him. "Aha! Aha!" was all Robi could say between delightful gulps of rice and meat going down his throat. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be true - Robi eating to his heart's content, sitting in a restaurant among respectable people. If only he could have a square meal like this every day. If only ...
B From your reading of the story what do you think is the meaning of the following words and phrases? Don't look up a dictionary. Try to guess the meaning from the text.
"layers of dirt and grime", "a makeshift house", "a square meal", "leftover rice", "swelled up", "eclipsed", and "fend".
C Why do you think Robi kept saying "Aha! Aha!" when he was eating? The following adjectives express his feelings. Cross out the ones that are not appropriate.
excited, surprised, hungry, delighted, annoyed, ecstatic, embarrassed, bored,
terrified, grateful.
D We often use the prefix "un-" to make the opposite of a word. Find three examples of such words in the text and write them down. What are the opposites of these words?
E Imagine you are telling the story to a friend who hasn't heard it before. Rewrite the story in your own words in brief. Don't use any reported speech.
Focus:
Skills.
Intensive reading, writing.
Functions.
Reporting, narrating, expressing feelings.
Grammar/Structure.
Past tense (continuous and simple), adjectives describing feelings, prefix "un", opposites.
Vocabulary.
excited, delighted,
annoyed, ecstatic, embarrassed, bored, terrified.