+1 English based on new syllabus study materials

ABE’S FIRST SPEECH

Abraham Lincoln is one of the greatest of American Statesmen. He is known for his celebrated speeches. This lesson is the story of his first speech as a little boy.

One day Little Abe and his companion Dennis Hanks attended a political meeting. Both boys were unhappy with the views of the speaker. Dennis told Abe that he could make a better speech than the campaign orator. Then Abe decided to stand on a dry goods box and delivered a speech. That speech attracted the attention of the crowd and won him great applause. Here Abe’s friend Dennis encouraged him and it helped him to get confidence.

We can see everybody has some potential in them. The reasons why some people are unable to showcase them are because of 1. Lack of opportunity 2. Lack of confidence 3. Lack of training in public speaking 4. Lack of encouragement from friends 5. Lack of reading habits

Q1. Do you think greatness as an innate trait? Is it acquired by the successful or thrust upon them?

According to me most great people have an innate trait of greatness. If you read the biography of great people like Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller and Thomas Alwa Edison we can see they possessed the traits of curiosity. They had so much determination and the will power to achieve greatness. Greatness is acquired by most people. Gandhi for instance was an extremely shy person as a student. In the beginning he was a failure as a lawyer. But because of his determination and hard work he developed certain skills. Those skills helped him to be a great man. Gradually he became a great leader of the country. He is now respected by people all over the world. But some of the Kings and politicians have greatness thrust upon them simply because they are born in a well-known family. In my opinion, truly great people should possess certain traits like hard work, perseverance, determination and honesty.

Q2. Write some qualities which will make the people great. A) Hard work, creative thinking, determination, perseverance, initiative and confidence

HIS FIRST FLIGHT by LIAM O’ FLAHERTY

The short story “His First Flight” by Irish author Liam O’ Flaherty is about a family of seagulls. He narrates vividly how a frightened seagull learns to fly. This story is a metaphorical representation of a human’s need to be independent and confident. This story highlights the importance of independence and self confidence. At the same time it emphasizes the utmost need of living beings to remain involved in family life.

Once a young seagull was standing alone on a rock in the sea. He was very much afraid of flying. His parents taught his sister and two brothers how to fly and dive for fish. They tried their level best to teach the young seagull to fly but in vain. One day his parents thought a plan to teach him the art of flying. All the members of the family flew away to another rock and left him alone. They did not give him anything to eat. The young seagull was maddened with hunger. He even tried to walk to the edge of the rock. He stood there on one leg and closed his eyes to attract the attention of his family. He saw his mother tearing a piece of fish. He begged his mother to give him food. But mother was putting him alone only to teach him a lesson. After some time she took a piece of fish in her beak and came flying over him. When she reached over him she became motionless in the air. She did not get down on the rock. She wanted to give the young seagull an incentive to fly. The young seagull bent forward and jumped at the fish. But his mother flew upward. So he lost his balance and flew down from the rock into the space. He became very much frightened. After a moment he felt his wings spreading upwards. He flapped his wings and soared upwards. His parents and siblings flew around him to encourage him. They were extremely happy and they all expressed their joy on his successful flight. Through this wonderful story, the author provides a psychological insight into life’s problems and the ways of overcoming them. This story relates the importance of independence and self confidence.

“To dominate the Fear” is the central idea of this story. Flaherty is a great Irish novelist and essayist and short story writer. He was a keen observer and was interested in sea-life. He spent much time on sea shore and studied the life of seagulls quite closely. Through this story the writer conveys the moral of having self-confidence and self-reliance. The parents can support us to a certain extent but not forever. So we all should try to become independent in our own way.

I WILL FLY by Dr. APJ ABDUL KALAM

“I Will Fly” is an adapted version of Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s speech delivered in 2011 at Paravur Village near Kochi. Dr. Kalam believes that the ignited mind of the youth is the most powerful resource on the earth, under the earth and above the earth. He inaugurated a programme called “Sasthrayaan” which means the propagation of science. The mission of Sasthrayaan was to ensure the preparation of about two thousand students from different schools to make them eligible for engineers, scientists, doctors and civil servants. Kalam’s inaugural address was on the topic “Science Empowers the Nation”. After the address, many raised their hands to ask questions. Abdul Kalam shares in this unit the relevance of a question asked by a teenager. The boy expressed his fear to talk to his teachers and friends. He admitted that he had not yet asked any question in his class. The boy really wanted to become a marine engineer. Dr. Kalam was completely surprised. He appreciated the boy for asking that question and recited a beautiful poem named “I Will Fly”. He instilled courage and confidence in the boy by reciting that poem. He asked him to fly using his wings of goodness, trust, potentialities, greatness and confidence. He also encouraged all of them to be unique by fighting the hardest battle in life. Surely all these things will help us to reach the destined place in a unique way.

QUEST FOR A THEORY OF EVERYTHING BY Kitty Gail Ferguson

Stephen Hawking was born on January 8, 1942, in Oxford, England. At an early age, Hawking showed a passion for science and the sky. At age 21, while studying cosmology at the University of Cambridge, he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Despite his physical disabilities, he has done ground-breaking work in physics and cosmology. His several books have helped to make science accessible to everyone.

Born to Frank and Isabel Hawking, he had an ordinary childhood. But by the time he was eight he was seriously thinking about becoming a scientist. In 1959, at the age of seventeen, Hawking went to Oxford to study natural science and to specialize in physics. Later he took a Ph.D from Cambridge specializing in theoretical physics. At the age of twenty-one he contracted a rare disease, “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis”. It was a terrible disease. There was no known cure for this. In 1965, he got married to Jane .Jane liked his intelligent, eccentric and rather arrogant nature. Besides he was interesting and witty. As a student in Cambridge, Hawking used to ask unexpected and penetrating questions to the most distinguished scientists.. His reputation as a ‘genius’, ‘another Einstein’ began in his Cambridge days. He started writing a book about the universe in 1980. Before completing that book, he had to undergo a tracheotomy operation. After this operation he could not make any vocal sound. Now he continues his work with the help of a computer programme called Equalizer. This programme allowed Hawking to select words from the screen. In 1988 he published his work, “A Brief History of Time”. This book contains a number of paradoxes and unique ideas.

“IF”…A Poem by Rudyard Kipling

The poem “If” is a didactic poem wriiten by Rudyard Kipling. It is a well-known poem. It gives sound advice to young people for a successful life. It is considered as the most beloved poem of Kipling. The poem is addressed to Kipling’s son John. The theme of the poem is manhood and leadership. The word “if” is repeated to describe each action that should or should not be done to achieve manhood in his son’s life. Throughout the poem, Kipling combines contradicting ideas. Kipling advises the younger generation to follow the cardinal virtue of patience, mental equilibrium, courage, devotion and detachment for achieving success and honour in worldly life.

The central idea of the poem “If” is that success comes from self-control and a true sense of the values. In the first stanza, he shows his readers the ideal way to act during times of acute crisis. A man must not lose heart because of doubts or opposition. The poet advises the readers to be strong for taking the responsibility of life bravely. He also advises not to indulge in blame games. A person must have enough confidence to believe in himself and his potentials when everyone else hates him. Thus this poem is about becoming mature and adult. The writer is putting his own experiences into it. This poem compares and contrasts the right and wrong decisions that one person can make in their journey to adulthood.

The second stanza reminds us the correct way to pursue one’s goals in life. He asks his readers to dream because dreams are important. But at the same time, he advises them that their dreams must not lose sight of reality. He also tells not to be changed by victory or failure in life. He advises them that defeat should not affect their life. He also tells to treat every defeat and tragedy as a chance to learn another lesson. In the end of the second stanza, he reminds the readers that the journey towards success is never an easy ride. The poet gives us courage saying that strength lies in getting past the traps. We should not lose heart when we see our words twisted by people. Thus he prepares his readers to have strength, patience and courage in dealing with all these adversities.

In the third stanza, the poet says that risks must be taken in life and hopes must not be lost if things do not work out the desired way. The poet says that a man must be able to risk all his achievements while aiming towards bigger goals. He gives the readers enough courage saying that if you don’t succeed “try again”, without being discouraged.

Towards the last stanza, the poet says to stay true to ourselves and not to forget who we are. He also instructs to make our actions and words meaningful and powerful. Thus the poet wants his readers to become a true man who can fit well with all sections of society. He asks his readers to mingle with the common crowd without losing their individuality. Money often makes people stone-hearted. The poet warns his readers against the evil effects of money.

The concluding lines say that” “if you do not waste time but spend each second fruitfully then the earth is yours”. He also adds that “you will be successful in life”. Time if wasted will never forgive you but if his readers can make the most out of the time no force can stop them from conquering the world.

Thus the poem “If” is really an advice to the younger generation. This poem is written in the tradition of “The Book of Proverbs” in the Holy Bible. All these contain useful principles for a practical and successful life.

The poem employs iambic pentameter. Each line has five feet with one stressed and one unstressed syllable. The tone of the poem is informative and didactic. The mood of the poem is philosophic and reflective.

MODEL QUESTIONS FROM THE FIRST UNIT GLIMPSES OF GREATNESS

1.     NARRATING EXPERIENCE FROM YOUR LIFE.

2.     PREPARE SUITABLE CAPTIONS FOR PICTURES

3.     EXPRESS VIEWS IN A SPEECH

4.     PREPARE REVIEWS AND APPRECIATIONS ON PASSAGES AND POEMS

5.     PREPARE PROFILE

6.     NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES

7.     WRITING LETTERS AND E MAIL

8.     PREPARE INTERVIEW(QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES)

9.     COMPREHENSION OF A PASSAGE

10.   EDIT THE PASSAGE

11.   PREPARE TREE DIAGRAM AND TIME LINE

12.   PREPARE NOTES ON A PASSAGE

13.   USAGE OF COHESIVE DEVICES AND COLLOCATIONS

14.   USAGE OF CONDITIONALS

COHESIVE DEVICES: You can use words or short phrases which help to guide your reader through your writing, and to link sentences, paragraphs and sections both forwards and backwards. Good use will make what you have written easy to follow; bad use might mean your style is disjointed, probably with too many short sentences, and consequently difficult to follow. Your mark could be affected either way.
The best way to "get a feel" for these words are through your reading. Most textbooks and articles are well-written and will probably include a lot of these cohesive devices. Note how they are used and try to emulate what you have read. Do make sure though that you fully understand their meaning: incorrect use could change completely what you're trying to say. Try to use a variety of expressions, particularly in longer pieces of writing.
Don't forget "AND"! Two short sentences are often best connected together with this little word.

Always ask yourself what the exact relationship is between the sentences or parts of sentences. Are you leading to the result of something? Are you making a deduction? Are you introducing some contradictory evidence or ideas? Your choice of word or phrase obviously depends on this. And always check in a good dictionary if you're not quite sure about a word's use or its position in a sentence. Remember that punctuation will affect what you use.

Insert the best alternative

1 Polls show that Tony Blair is the most popular Prime Minister this century. ______________ , there are even members    of his own party who are uneasy with his approach.

In particular

However

For instance

2 There are some slight variations in temperature, but ________________ 26 to 27ºC should be expected.

consequently

otherwise

as a rule

3 The two main Channel Islands, ________________ Jersey and Guernsey, are much closer to France than to England.

for example

namely

in particular

4 It was announced that nurses' working hours would be increased by 25%. ______________ , even fewer trainee nurses     are expected to join the profession.

As a result

So that

Likewise

5 Sales of CDs have experienced a small but steady fall over the past 12 months. _____________ , vinyl records have    seen an increase in their share of the market, up to 1.7%.

Above all

Correspondingly

In contrast

6 The Vice Chancellor explained that in light of the current financial climate and because of unexpected bad debts, it would be necessary to peg salary levels at their current level for all grades of staff. ______________ , no-one was getting a pay rise.

Nevertheless

In other words

Similarly

7 It is clear, therefore, that the situation in Brazil will improve only slowly. ______________ the economic problems being experienced in Japan, the outlook is slightly more optimistic.

Furthermore

In comparison

With reference to

8 In order to try to reduce car use in the inner cities, the government has announced new restrictions on company parking spaces and ______________ , a new tax on individual car use.

as well as

in addition

in the same way

9 Essays must be handed in by the deadline, ______________ they will not be marked.

obviously

otherwise

as a result

10 ______________ it has been shown that fractures can occur at even relatively low pressures, the use of the material should not be completely discounted.

Nevertheless

Because

Even though

ANSWERS:
1. However indicates that what follows is something of a contradiction or an exception.

2. As a rule shows you are about to make a generalisation.

3. (Namely) You are actually naming the two islands mentioned, so namely is used.

4. (As a result) The second sentence is a result or consequence of the first. So that must be followed by a verb.

5. (In contrast) The second sentence contrasts vinyl with CDs

6. ( In other words):The second sentence says the same as the first, but in a much simpler way (reformation)

7. (With reference to)The second sentence deals with a new aspect/point.

8. (In addition to)The second sentence deals with a new aspect/point.

9. (Otherwise) The second part is a consequence of the first.

10.(Eventhough) The idea of concesssion again; the second part is somewhat unexpected.

ž  COLLOCATION:  Collocation refers to two or more words that often go together. Here’s an example of how to use it so that it sounds natural, since that’s the way to use it:

Natural English...	Unnatural English...
the fast train fast food	the quick train quick food
a quick shower a quick meal WHY COLLOCATION IN ENGLISH	a fast shower a fast meal

ž  First of all, your language will be more natural and more easily understood.

ž  Secondly, you will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.

ž  Finally, it is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks rather than as single words.

ž  There are several different types of collocation made from combinations of verb, noun, adjective etc. Some of the most common types are:

ž  Adverb + Adjective: completely satisfied (NOT downright satisfied)

ž  Adjective + Noun: excruciating pain (NOT excruciating joy)

ž  Noun + Noun: a surge of anger (NOT a rush of anger)

ž  Noun + Verb: lions roar (NOT lions shout)

ž  Verb + Noun: commit suicide (NOT undertake suicide)

ž  Verb + Expression With Preposition: burst into tears (NOT blow up in tears)

ž  Verb + Adverb: wave frantically (NOT wave feverishly)

THE USAGE OF CONDITIONALS (IF)

          If you don’t water flowers, they die. 

           If you have a headache, stop watching TV.

The first conditional refers to the present and future.                 
            It expresses a possible condition and
              its probable result in the future.

1. The 'zero' conditional, where the tense in both parts of the sentence is the simple present:

IF' CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE
If + simple present If you heat ice If it rains	simple present it melts. you get wet

In these sentences, the time is now or always and the situation is real and possible. They are often used to refer to general truths.

2. The Type 1 conditional, where the tense in the 'if clause is the simple present, and the tense in the main clause is the simple future

IF' CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE
If + simple present If it rains If you don't hurry	Simple future you will get wet we will miss the train.

In these sentences, the time is the present or future and the situation is real. They refer to a possible condition and its probable result.

3. The Type 2 conditional, where the tense in the 'if' clause is the simple past, and the tense in the main clause is the present conditional:

IF' CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE
If + simple past If it rained If you went to bed earlier	Present conditional you would get wet you wouldn't be so tired.

In these sentences, the time is now or any time, and the situation is unreal. They are not based on fact, and they refer to an unlikely or hypothetical condition and its probable result.

4. The Type 3 conditional, where the tense in the 'if' clause is the past perfect, and the tense in the main clause is the perfect conditional:

IF' CLAUSE	MAIN CLAUSE
If + past perfect If it had rained If you had worked harder	Perfect conditional you would have got wet you would have passed the exam.

In these sentences, the time is past, and the situation is contrary to reality.