SERENE

E- Text Book for B.A. /B.S.W. First Semester

Generic English (Basic)
Effect from 2021-22 as per NEP syllabus

EDITORS
Prof. P. Kannan

Smt. Shanta Patil Kulkarni

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 CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Sonnet 127: William Shakespeare

Chapter 2: No Anklet bells for her: Manjeri S. Isvaran
Chapter 3: Environment Pollution: Extracted from Manorama Year

Book 2013

Chapter 4: Lessons from China: Captain Gopinath

Chapter 5: An Educational Travelogue: Rhonda
Chapter 6: Appointment with Love: Sulamith Ish-Kishor
Chapter 7: A Letter to Nature : Deepshikha Goutham
Chapter 8: Translation
Model Question Paper Pattern
Model Question Paper

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 Chapter 1
Sonnet 127
William Shakespeare
Introduction

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and an actor,

widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world‘s
greatest dramatist. His works are about life, love, death, revenge, grief, jealousy,
murder, mystery and magic. He is known for his 154 sonnets and 37 plays. His
popular plays are Mid Summer Night‘s Dream, King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, The
Merchant of Venice, Henry IV, etc. Shakespeare‘s 154 sonnets are divided into
two sections: The first section contains the sonnets 1- 126 which are addressed
to a young man, a good friend of the author who again appears in the second
section; and the poems from 127- 152 are the ―Dark Lady‖ sonnets.

―Sonnet 127‖ is one of his best sonnets. It is the first poem in the Dark
Lady sequence of sonnets. These sonnets deal with the speakers (Usually
considered to be William Shakespeare himself) and his relationship with his
mistress, the Dark Lady. This sonnet is concerned with what is beautiful and
how the concept of beauty is changing.

Sonnet 127
In the old age black was not counted fair,
Or if it were, it bore not beauty‘s name;
But now is black beauty‘s successive heir,
And beauty slandered with a bastard shame:
For since each hand hath put on Nature‘s power,
Fairing the foul with Art‘s false borrowed face,
Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower,
But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace.
Therefore my mistress‘ eyes are raven black,
Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem
At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack,
Sland‘ring creation with a false esteem:
Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe,
That every tongue says beauty should look so.

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Glossary:

Bore : dull, hold

Heir : Successor
Slander : False Statement, defame, insulted
Foul : Filth, loathsome, ugly
Profane : Worldly, disgraced,
Raven : dark black like crow
False esteem: false self respect
Woe : Sorrow, distress
Comprehension:

1. Critically appreciate the poem Sonnet 127.

2. Why Black is considered so beautiful according to the poet?

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 Chapter 2

NO ANKLETBELLS FOR HER

Manjeri S. lsvaran
Introduction
Manjari Isvaran who hails from Tanjavur in Tamilnadu, was an essayist,
poet and a short story writer. He has to his credit more than 10books. He is
considered the pioneer of this genre of short story. He is a typical Indian writer
who confines himself to the life of the low and middle class in the erstwhile
Madras state. He manages to write skillfully from different angles on a wide
variety of subjects.

Isvaran is close to earth and keenly alive while depicting the womanhood.
His stories begin leisurely but end up with some authorial comments or
psychological reflections. His other stories are Naked Shingles, Sivaratri, A
Madras Admiral, etc. The present story ―No Anklet Bells for Her‖ recaptures
the momentary bliss that the girl Annakali enjoyed when she felt herself
transformed into a great dancer.

NO ANKLET NELLS FOR HER

THE Hillman Minx was parked alongside the winding kerb, then under
repair. It was one of the most populous parts of the City, a trade centre; the
pavement, in frequent stretches, was seamed with cracks, smudged and
gangrenous; for here lived the homeless poor, cooking their food and washing
their rags, sousing water all about from blackened pails and heaping up little
mounds of muck and scum. Here children fought children, wallowed in the dirt,
bawled and whimpered; and amid the mess of broken pots, tin-cans, pieces of
jute bags, tattered clothes, coarse worn-out mats and broomsticks, stretched or
squatted big and small women, stunted, loose-limbed, hair disheveled, dress
disordered, some suckling babies, some picking lice from the head of one
another and squashing them between nails, same as monkeys do, chatting,
gossiping, quarrelling, cursing obscenely, and breaking into panicky cries
whenever a naked brat ventured beyond the domain and ran the risk of being
crushed under the wheels of a passing bus. A short distance off, a diesel-engine
was mixing up cement and gravel; its rattling sound came as a warning to these
paupers that in another day perhaps they will have to be on the move farther
away. Over the length of the pavement already repaired small puddles of water

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were kept stagnating, fed by a hydrant close by, to harden the concrete. And the
puddles were the temporary breeding place for mosquitoes.
Spick and span the Hillman seemed to have just emerged out of the show
room of an automobile firm. The enamel of its body was pure lapis lazuli,
emulating the azure of the sea and sky. To one who had an eye for beautiful
things, it was more than beautiful; its streamlined contours shot at perfection,
and the fact that it was wholly out of harmony with the drab surroundings
amidst which it stood heightened the impression that the exceeding physical
charms which mortals had when the race was young and which they had lost
through an unhinging civilization, they had by some curious ingenuity,
transferred to inanimate objects to the point of fullest articulation.
It was afternoon and the sun was a bit sulky, being worried by patches of
idling summer clouds. The croup of the car shone like cheval-glass swung on
uprights. Facing it appeared a little girl, nine or ten years old, spare and brown,
with an oval face so tremblingly alive that the nose was all nostrils and the eyes
were a round inquiry into this uncommon happening. Her hair though scanty
was black as a crow‘s wings; at the moment it was plastered down with oil and
plaited; and the pig-tail at the nape of her neck was short and curved like the tail
of a pup. Up to her waist she was clad in her own swarthy skin, the rest of her
dress was a piece torn from an old, old saree which allowed no scope for further
stains and stitches. A string of pink beads almost choked her slender throat,
around her wrists were a pair of glass bangles. There was something absurd and
amusing about her half-naked, undeveloped figure, her honest pleasure at her
own smart appearance; her dark skin shone darker by contrast with her white
teeth which showed, lifting her upper lip, by the prominence of the incisors.
Catching her reflection in the croup of the car which shone like cheval-
glass, amused, fascinated, the thin girl, the dusky girl began to dance. Now
mincingly, now trippingly, she advanced and retreated; her arms were akimbo,
then her palms were joined; with nods of head and roving eyes, she lingered a
step, languished an instant; bending and swaying, wheeling round and round,
and every now and again smiling at her image cast on the mirror bright back of
the car, she disported. Maybe she remembered vaguely, when she smiled, the
painted eunuchs she had seen dancing before shopfronts during the Pongal
Festival. No ballerina that pirouetted on a stage that changed under changing
lights and shadows, with an auditorium bewitched before her starry eyes and the
symphony of the orchestra falling divinely on her ears, no devadasi that did her
natya in the temple in the presence of the decorated idol of god or goddess

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could have been so ecstatic as was this child of the gutters. She danced. The
open road was her audience, the din of traffic her background music. She
danced, her gaiety unabated, her gaze fixed on the rear of the car.

Suddenly a cry came, cutting through the noise of the traffic:-

―Annakkili! Annakkili !‖

Unheeding the girl went on, imitating steps, gesturing with fingers.
The call was repeated with the shrillness of a scream. She turned her look
in the direction of the call. It was her mother who stood a few yards away on the
edge of the kerb. Not far from her was a stove burning with a smoky fire and
obscuring the earthen pot on it. The girl knew at once that her mother was an-
gry; she noticed the smoky stove and remembered about the raw rice for kanji
waiting to be thrown into the water that wanted some more dry leaves and twigs
to make it boil.
―So this is how you are collecting twigs,‖ barked the woman who
obviously had seen in what manner the girl had been engaging herself. Her
temper rose; sewer slang and brothel oaths tumbled and wriggled like maggots
out of her mouth, and the world for a frightful instant seemed to have shrunk to
such narrow proportions as to be dominated by everything vile and coarse in the
female of species. ―Come, you harlot, I shall peel the skin off your back. Want
to be a dancing girl, do you? One day I‘m sure you‘ll go on the streets.‖
The girl hung back hesitant for fear her mother would rush up to beat her,
and saw presently a well-dressed young lady, chic as a film star, with some
packets under her arm and a vanity bag in her hand, stopping short while about
to get into her car and staring stunned for a moment at her mother who was
abusing her so foully. Then there was the sharp slam of a door and the car had
driven away quietly, quickly.
Her illusion was broken; and once again the monotony of ordinary life
pursued its course.

Glossary:

Anklet bells: Ornamental rings with small bells worn around the anklet
Hillman Minx: a four cylindered British Car which was famous during
1950

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Kerb : a line raised stones separating the footpath from the road
Seamed with : marked with
Sousing : spattering (throwing) water
Muck(slang): dirt, filth
Scum : dirt on the surface of still water
Whimpered : cried complainingly
Disheveled : untidy
Spick and span: clean and bright
Lapis lazuli : bright blue colour
Emulating: trying to appear
Croup of the car: the portion above the back of the car
Cheval glass: full length adjustable mirror frame
Nape: the back of the neck
Gangrenous : affected with decay
Panickly : feeling sudden fear
Brat :bad mannered child
Incisors: front teeth adapted for cutting
Akimbo: with the hands on the hips and elbows bent forward
Ballerina: a woman dancer
Pirouetted: whirled about on one foot or on the toes as in dancing
Swarthy skin : dark skin
Comprehension:

1. Explain the activities of the pavement dweller at the trade centre.

2. Describe the appearance of the little girl- how does the writer view her
dance?
3. What is the reason for the mother‘s anger?
4. Justify the title of the story.

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 Chapter 3
Environmental Pollution

Extracted from Manorama Year Book 2013

Introduction

Environmental pollution is nothing but the contamination of the physical

and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that
normal environmental processes are adversely affected. It is triggered by the
introduction of harmful materials such as gaseous pollutants, toxic metals and
particulate matter into the atmosphere, sewage, industrial effluents, agricultural
runoffs and electronic wastes into water bodies. It causes long term health issues
like heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory diseases, etc. Air pollution can also
cause long term damage to our nerves, brain, kidneys, liver and other organs. If
we think seriously on these issues, it is not hard to realize that we have been
recklessly and dangerously engaged in the altering of our natural ecosystem. So
it is the need of the hour to wake up and think seriously about solving this major
problem.

The word ‗pollution‘, originally a Latin word ‗pollutionem‘: means to

make dirty. Environmental pollution is a serious problem of the industrialized
societies because people have converted the life- supporting systems of the
entire living world into their own resources and have vastly disturbed the
natural ecological balance. Serious degradation and depletion ‗have been caused
through overuse, misuse and mismanagement of resources to meet the human
greed.
Environmental pollution is defined as the unfavorable alteration of our
surroundings, wholly as a by-product of man‘s activities through direct or
indirect efforts of changes in the physical, chemical and biological
characteristics of land, air or water that harmfully affect human life or any
desirable living thing. Human population explosion, rapid industrialization,
deforestation, unplanned urbanization, scientific and technological
advancement, etc. are the major causes of environment pollution.
Air Pollution: Due to air pollution, the composition of the air is changing all
over the world, especially in industrialized countries. Air pollution results from
gaseous emission from industry, thermal power stations, domestic combustion
etc. Most of the gaseous and particulate air pollutants are products of burning of

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fuels. Burning of coal mainly produces carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and fly-
ash. Lead, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides are added to the atmosphere
from automobile exhaust.
Nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide together are responsible for acid
rain. Carbon monoxide is highly toxic and impairs oxygen-carrying capacity of
blood. Several cases of death are reported every year from carbon monoxide
poisoning from gas heaters, heating devices and coal mines. Lead which is
emitted by automobile is known to hamper hemoglobin formation. Compounds
containing chlorine and fluorine, especially the chlorofluorocarbons, are widely
used as propellants and as refrigerants. They cause ozone depletion in
stratosphere. Air-borne solid and liquid particulates are emitted by various
industrial processes such as blasting, drilling, crushing, grinding and drying
which may cause lung diseases if inhaled.
Hemoglobin is known to absorb NO2 more easily than oxygen. About 80
to 90% NO2 inhaled is easily absorbed into the bloodstream. This reduces the
oxygen-carrying capacity of blood. NO2, causes lung tissue to become weaker
and thus causes lung cancer and emphysema (breathing problem due to the
breakdown of be air sacs in the lungs, which then progressively diminishes the
ability of the lungs to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood stream).
Thus, NO2 causes bronchitis and broncho-pneumonia. In the presence of
sunlight, NO2 reacts with hydrocarbons to produce ozone, a highly toxic gas,
known to cause asthma.
Water Pollution: Water pollution adversely changes the quality of water. It dis-
turbs the balance of ecosystem and causes health hazards to humans and
animals. Water becomes polluted by the presence or addition of inorganic,
organic or biological substances.
Effluents from factories, paper mills, sugar mills, tanneries, urban and
rural sewage are let into rivers. Water pollution also occurs due to the use of
pesticides and fertilizers in agriculture. Enrichment of water by nutrients (esp.
nitrate and phosphates) results in eutrophication of lakes and water bodies. This
results in excessive growth of algae and depletion of dissolved oxygen in the
lake. Oil spills from oil tankers also cause marine pollution. Various harmful
chemicals like DDT can enter into the food chain through polluted water.

Noise Pollution: Noise can be defined as unwanted sound. Whether a sound is

pleasant or a noise depends upon loudness, duration, rhythm and the mood of
the person. The most immediate and acute effect of noise pollution is

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impairment of hearing, anxiety and stress and in extreme cases fright.
Physiological manifestations: Increase in the rate of heart beat, constriction of
blood vessels, digestive spasms and dilation of pupil of the eye. Loudness is
measured in terms of decibels (dB). Just audible sound is about 10dB, a whisper
is 20dB, and a normal conversation is 35-60dB. Sound beyond 80dB can be
safely regarded as pollution as it harms the hearing system. WHO has fixed
45dB as the safe noise level for a city.
PM 10 and PM 2.5 : PM stands for particulate matter and the numbers 10 and
2.5 are diameter of particles in micrometer (Mm). The particles less than 10 Mm
diameter which are called respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) can
enter into human nasal tract, and particles smaller than 2.5 Mm can reach
further inside up to terminal bronchi and alveoli in the lungs. It may cause
serious lung diseases, tumour, cancer, etc.

Radioactive Pollution: Radioactive pollution is related to all major life

supporting systems - air, water and soil. Radioactivity is a phenomenon of
spontaneous emission of alpha, beta and gamma rays as a result of
disintegration of atomic nuclei of some elements. Man-made sources of
radiation pollution are mining and refining of radioactive material, production
and explosion of nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants and fuels, and
preparation of radioactive isotopes. All organisms are affected by radiation
pollution. In high doses, radiation can cause death. Long or repeated exposure
can cause cancer and leukemia and induce mutation.

Soil pollution:The soil pollutants include pesticides, fertilizers, industrial

wastes, mining wastes, salts, radioactive materials, tin, iron, lead, mercury,
aluminum and plastics. Pesticides adversely affect the micro-organisms present
in soil. In addition to this, pesticides enter human food chain either through
plants or through water which accumulates as surface runoff or leaches down in
the ground water with pesticide dissolved in it. Poisonous wastes render soil
unfit for crop production. The dangerous metals like fluoride and arsenic when
present in soil, contaminate not only the crops, but also ground-water.

Deforestation: Deforestation is a threat to the economy, quality of life and

future of the environment. Main causes of deforestation in India are: explosion
of human and livestock population, increased requirement of timber and fuel
wood, expansion of agriculture land, enhanced grazing and construction of

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infrastructure along the .mountains. Ideally 33% of land of a country must be
covered by forest. Damage caused by deforestation: Intensified soil erosion,
accentuated floods and drought and loss of precious wild life. India is losing
about 1.5 million hectares of forest cover each year. Nearly 1 % of the land
surface of India is turning barren every year due to deforestation. In the
Himalayan range, rainfall has declined 3 to 4% due to deforestation.

Afforestation: It restores ecological balance of all ecosystems, maintains bio-

logical diversity, acts as catchments for soil, conserves water, prevents floods
and protects lives of tribal people. So, massive afforestation programme of in-
digenous and exotic fast growing species would be needed for protection of
forests on suitable land including wasteland. Only a massive social forestry pro-
gramme can meet the demands of local people for fuel, fodder and timber.

Glossary:

Depletion : Reduction
Effluents : Liquid waste or sewage discharged into river/sea
Algae : the simplest of plants without roots, leaves, flowers or
seeds
Isotopes : one or two or more forms of an element differing from
each other in weight of atoms
Comprehension: Write short notes on:

1. Meaning of environmental pollution and its types.

2. Solution for the environmental pollution
3. Health issues related to environment
4. Difference between Deforestation and Afforestation.

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 Chapter 4
Lessons from China
Captain Gopinath

Introduction

Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath is an Indian entrepreneur,

the founder of ‗Air Deccan‘. A retired Captain of the Indian Army, an author
and a politician. The present lesson is an extract from his autobiography
―Simply Fly‖, published in 2010. The book is about the journey of a boy from a
remote village, who went from riding a bullock cart to owning an Airline, a
journey of an entrepreneur who built India‘s first and largest low-cost Airline.

After quitting the Indian Army in the late 1970‘s, he went back to his
farm land, converting a piece of barren land to set up a farm of ecologically
sustainable silkworm rearing which he had learnt from his travel to China. He
has won the ‗Rolex award‘ for this work.

Lessons from China

Meanwhile, the visit to Thailand and China was organized. This was in
1995-96. We spent the first two weeks in Thailand and were in China for about
twenty days. In that country we travelled to the province of Guangzhou and
were taken to the deep interiors. We saw and experienced Chinese agriculture at
first-hand. I noted a similarity between Chinese and Indian villages, in terms of
the poverty, ignorance, and lack of hygiene. The principle occupation in the
villages was farming. People were largely naive and uneducated. The trauma of
communism was slowly making way for the trauma of capitalism. There were a
few scattered shops. Farmers owned property. The government had redistributed
land that had once been collective property. Peasants owned anything between
half an acre to two acres. It was a time when there was a huge social churning
going on and, stunned by its own economic success, China was unable to
integrate vast populations of the rural uneducated poor into the mainstream of
largely urban islands of prosperity.
Silk farmers produced cocoons and sold them to government-owned
mills, the size and scale of which truly surprised and amazed me. China is the
country credited with the origin of silk. There is a legend about how it came to
India. Some 2000 years ago a Buddhist monk was supposed to have smuggled a

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few moths out of China and brought them to India. They laid eggs and the story
of Indian silk began.
The Chinese created a habitat for the silkworm indoors. They evolved a
method of breeding cocoons and drawing out yarn on a spinning wheel. This is
their contribution to the silk industry. They bred the worm in such a way that
one single variety produced more silk than the others. They evolved worms
that—fed on mulberry—to an exclusive fine breed that yielded the finest
gossamer thread and had the finest lustre. The West has always shown a
preference for the fine varieties of silk produced in China and Japan.
India has been producing silk for over 2000 years. The industry produces
many varieties of worms. Mysore silk is among the most famous and is
produced by a variety of worms native to Karnataka, the regions of Kunigal,
Chamarajanagar, Kolar, Mysore, Bengaluru, and Ramanagaram abounding in
this variety of worm. The yarn produced is used to weave Benares and the
Kanjeevaram silk saris. It is silk that is wonderfully suited to Indian fabrics,
lending them the peculiar stiffness that gives the saris the right fall and
crispness. Weavers throw in woofs of gold thread to make the saris look grand.
The classic Kanchi, Benares, and Dharmavaram saris are rich in texture and
weight.
There is another variety of silk in India which is harvested by native
forest dwellers. The tribal people pick the cocoon from the forest trees, made by
worms that feed on a variety of forest leaves from oak and castor oil plants. The
silk produced by these cocoons has its own distinctive texture and colour, and is
amenable to traditional methods of weaving and printing. They produce
varieties of silk such as moga, eri, and tussore. The original Indian silk may
have been derived from native varieties. Indian farmers later bred them. India
also has a greater variety of silk traditions than China. In China, silk is accorded
the status of family heirloom on the lines that gold ornaments in India are
passed on from generation to generation. Chinese emperors wore grandly
crafted silk robes and silk slippers. India however produced silk both for the
rich and the commoner and has perhaps more varieties of weaving and printing
techniques.
I became aware of some of these techniques and traditions as a farmer. I
was interested in understanding Chinese techniques and looked for them when I
visited that country. However, in the immediate aftermath of communism,
China had not accorded the kind of importance silk originally held. In the
process Japan assumed a leadership position in silk, India was the second largest

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producer at the time with China in the third place, and Thailand following it.
However, after China decided to open up its economic sphere, in a style typical
of the Chinese, the government set-up massive silk yarn and textile mills.
Overnight, China became a giant in silk production and began unprecedented
dumping in India. The Indian silk farmer reeled under this onslaught. This was
the backdrop of my visit to China. I visited mills and workshops. The size and
scale of their industry was overwhelming, and they had acquired the most
sophisticated machinery. The West loved the soft, lustrous silk produced in
China of a kind which in the past was made in Italy, France, and Switzerland.
These countries had the machinery needed to lend a lustrous finish to the silk.
Silkworm disease and shortage of labour led to a collapse of silk farming in
Europe, and was part of the large shift that took place there from manufacturing
to services. The European silk industry eventually collapsed, surviving in only a
few insignificant pockets as a cottage industry. Japan, India, China, and
Thailand took over. The Chinese silk farmer was given a massive support to
boost silk production as the Chinese government decided to produce for the
West and imported sophisticated machinery for this purpose. Virtually
overnight China became the world‘s leading production centre. Being a
communist economy with total state control, they changed policy to an
investment-oriented regime and bulldozed their way. Japan slid from its position
as number one, with China soon regaining its top slot with India a distant sec-
ond. China‘s unimaginably explosive economic growth, dating to as far back as
in 1995, simply astonished me during my visit.
Silk farmers in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had been hard hit and
were going bankrupt. They protested ‗government apathy‘ and wanted the
government to salvage their industry. They said that the Chinese government
had been able to control the import of silk into their country while ours had not
been able to follow suit.
A new regime was beginning to operate in international trade. General
agreement on tariffs and trade became more inclusive and more globalized.
Trade barriers broke down, textile manufacturers were told they could import
yarn if they were in a position to match the value of import with export. When
things go wrong, we find it easiest to go for the government‘s jugular, though it
is true that governments often make rules to suit particular industries.
I am not an economist but I understood the complexity of world trade as a
farmer and an entrepreneur. The issue of raw silk yarn imports from China, on
one hand while protecting Indian silk farmers was always complex. I pondered

15
about this while touring the large Chinese cities. I wondered at the scale of
progress and the social changes they had brought about, but such reflections
were tinged with a sense of sorrow. The cities were experiencing unprecedented
escalation in business activities. Along a 150 km stretch of road from
Guangdong to a rural town, the name of which I forget, there was not a square
centimetre of vacant land. The highway was dotted on either side by marble and
granite-cutting mills that were feeding the insatiable appetite of the construction
industry and providing for the new high-rises and the development activity in
Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong.
The government campaign to attract foreign investments was
wholehearted. The hotel in which I was accommodated boldly solicited in-
vestment proposals. The government advertisement publicized a free trade zone
in Guangdong, just outside my hotel. It said investments in the free trade zone
were eligible for tax benefits, income tax breaks, and concessional tariffs, with
single window clearance. The government sought to impress upon foreign
guests at the hotel where China had kept its doors ajar, with economic free trade
zones open to foreign investment.
Anticipating a flow of foreign investors, China had built massive five-star
hotels to accommodate them. I had seen hotels of such a scale only in Las
Vegas. Compare the 300 to 400 hotel rooms offered in India‘s best five-star
hotels to the five-thousand-room hotels of Las Vegas. The social infrastructure
had also changed beyond recognition with more hospitals, schools, parks, and
nightclubs.
The Chinese realized that for infrastructure nightlife was crucial if
investors were to be wooed to visit the country. I do not mean legalized or
licensed prostitution as in Amsterdam or Las Vegas but good restaurants, pubs,
theme parks, music, and places to unwind after a hard day‘s work. Nightlife
implied that these amenities and attractions would remain open throughout the
night. Expatriates appreciate such facilities because, separated from family and
friends, they usually work late into the evenings. Notwithstanding the wholesale
development that was taking place across China, including economic, physical
and social infrastructure, there was one thing that saddened me. In the midst of
all this I could see the future- massive devastation of the countryside. I could
visualize large tracts of farmland and wilderness built over by massive
construction projects, relentless mining, and the bulldozing of everything that
stood in the way of development‘.

16
 China was taking a giant step forward and was the envy of many other
emerging economies. It seemed to have overtaken India in many areas. Deep
within me, however, I did not want India to follow China‘s path to
development. This path of irreverent modernization made me fearful for India‘s
future. These feelings were in line with the lessons I had learnt on the farm.
Besides, China‘s experiment would have important consequences both for India
and rest of the world. Destroying the topsoil to create buildings would
ultimately mean destroying the world. In China I could sense disaster waiting to
unfold. The picture was the same everywhere: in the countryside, in district
towns, in sleepy hamlets, and in busy cities. On the positive side, the frenetic,
relentless pace of industrialization had taken China twenty years ahead of us. It
actuated a train of thought in my mind: what did China do to become what it is
today?

Glossary:

Naïve : person showing lack of wisdom

Trauma : emotional response to a terrible event

Churning : shaking

Habitat : natural home for animals, birds

Gossamer : fine filmy substance of cobwebs spun by spider

Amenable : open suggestion

Reeled : make secret information known to other

Salvage : rescue

Jugular : skilled in keeping several objects

Insatiable : Impossible to satisfy

Ajar : slightly open

Expatriates : person living or working in a country other than

his country

Frenetic : fast and energetic

17
Reeled : loose one‘s balance

Jugular : of the neck or throat

Comprehension:

Write Short notes on:

1. Similarity between India and China as seen by the writer.

2. History behind the origin & development of silk faming in India.
3. China, No1 in silk business.

18
 Chapter 5
An educational travelogue
By Rhonda
Introduction
The remarkable definition of Education according to Vivekananda is
―Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man‖. Here, the
word ‗manifestation‘ means something already exists and is waiting to be
expressed. The main focus in learning is to make the hidden ability of a learner
manifest. The author is a business woman and visits many places but this time
she took vacation mainly to visit some campuses for the sake of her 17year old
daughter, these days are very interesting to her. So, she narrates her travel to
various colleges in the east coast of the US. The experiences she shares are very
curious and interesting.

21.03.2009

As I write this it is 6:10 a.m. EDT, 5:10 a.m. CDT. I‘m no stranger to business
travel and weird hours, but this isn‘t a business trip - it‘s supposed to be a
vacation. The goal - to give my 17-year-old daughter the chance to visit some
college campuses on the East Coast of the US. The result - a VERY interesting
few days. Let‘s start on Monday. We drove from Portland, CT, to Bennington,
VT, to visit a campus there. Our Garmin decided that the most direct route was
not necessarily the quickest (and we had an appointment), so it took us through
upstate New York for a ways. After Bennington we decided to make the short
trip to New Hampshire because it was the only New England state my husband
and 1 had never visited. By the end of the day we had been in five states. This is
a bit tough for those of us who live in Texas to imagine. Bennington College
was also interesting. With only about 600 students, it still manages to offer
myriad majors. One student, after several semesters, decided to create her own
major in ―scientific journalism.‖ If only I‘d known. I did it the hard way.
Tuesday we visited two more campuses in Connecticut. Wednesday we spent
most of the day traveling from Connecticut to Washington, D.C. The goal of the
Washington part of the trip was to meet up with one of my husband‘s former
professors from the Colorado School of Mines. This man kicked off the
inaugural Guy T. McBride program for the humanities 30 years ago and, since
retiring, has spent most of his time in the DC area. He is originally from India

19
but has made his home in the US for several years. His charge was to give us an
―insiders‘ tour‖ of our nation‘s capital. What a sobering experience! Here is a
man who speaks with an accent telling three American citizens thousands of
things about our country and capital that we never knew. We spent an entire
morning in the Library of Congress, learning about the architecture and the
paintings and just about everything else the building had to offer. We saw books
that originally belonged to Thomas Jefferson. We were allowed to enter the
private reading room used only by members of Congress and met the delightful
woman who supervises it in the mornings, who told us all about the ebony
inlays in the floor, the fact that the inlaid wood patterns and the beautifully
sculpted marble fireplace were both created by the same artist, and even the
rumor that a wooden box near the doorway was once a place for unruly
Congressmen to stash their alcohol (but not their guns) so that brawling didn‘t
occur during the legislative process. That afternoon my daughter soaked up the
National Museum of Natural History, introducing me to skulls of scary-looking
things long before I‘d had a chance to read their names on the display (she‘s a
bit of a paleontology nerd). Then it was off to my favorite stop of the tour - the
Newseum. This is a relatively new museum showcasing everything to do with
the First Amendment, freedom of speech. But it mostly focuses on the media,
housing everything from a studio where kids can practice being news reporters
to an incredibly moving 9-11 exhibit. I could have spent hours there. There was
even a display about digital technology that asked visitors to ponder the use of
blogs in the pursuit of disseminating news. Hmmm ... Our final stop, after dark,
was the Vietnam War Memorial. I‘ve only ever been there during the day; at
night it‘s an eerie experience. We were joined by a man who could have been a
docent - he knows as much about the history of the wall as anyone you could
hope to meet - but is actually a homeless disabled vet who is routinely denied
benefits from the Veterans Authority. The college search is barely in its infancy.
But opportunities for ―higher learning‖ seem to abound.

Source: https://www.hartenergy.com/opinions/educational-travelogue-
121964

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Glossary:

Weird: peculiar, queer

Myriad: countless

Ebony : very dark, heavy black

Brawling: fight, quarrel in a rough way

Paleontology:Branch of science concerned with fossil animals and plants

Disseminating: spread, disperse

Eerie : strange and frightening

Docent: instructor, lecturer, teacher

Comprehension:Write short notes on:

1. The educational travel that Rhonda undertook for her daughter.

2. Share your experience of your visit to an educational institution.
3. Your expectation from an educational institution.

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 Chapter 6
Appointment With Love
Sulamith Ish-Kishor
Introduction

Sulamith Ish- Kishor was an American writer, known for her

religious and children‘s literature. Born in London she moved to New York
when she was just 13. She began writing at the age of 5yrs. She wrote widely
and was published in several magazines. ―An Appointment With Love‖ is
considered a Classic story. It is about the meeting of two people who have long
been sharing a special affection for each other from afar. Lt. Blanford was an
Army officer who finds warmth and understanding from a lady whom he only
met in the front page of a book:Miss Hollis Meynell. After thirteen months they
finally meet personally but the soldier‘s expectations of the woman turned out
to be the opposite of it. But he was tested by the lady by substituting herself
with a passing woman. The story was published in a 1943 edition of Collier‘s.
Her other works are Our Eddie‘, ‗A Boy of Old Prague‘, ‗The Bible Story‘,
‗Friday Night Stories, ‗Jews to Remember, etc. She was a National Jewish Book
Award winner for her work ―A Boy of Old Prague‖ in 1964.

Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New
York‘s Grand Central Station. The tall young Army Officer lifted his sun-
burned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was
pounding with a beat that shocked him. In six minutes he would see the woman
who had filled such a special place in his life for the past thirteen months, the
woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had sustained him
faithfully.
Lt. Blanford remembered one day in particular, with worst of the fighting
when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy planes.
In one of his letters, he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and
only a few days before this battle, he had received her answer: ―Of course you
fear ... all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my
voice reciting to you: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I shall fear no evil, for Thou art with me. . . ― He had remembered, and it
had renewed his strength.
Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.

22
 A girl passed close to him, and Lt. Blanford stared. She was wearing a
flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl
was only about 18, and Hollis Maynell had told him she was 30. ―What of it?‖
he had answered. ―I‘m 32.‖ He was 29.
His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. ―Of
Human Bondage‖ and throughout the book there were notes in a woman‘s
writing. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man‘s heart, so
tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the book plate: Hollis Maynell.
He got hold of a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had
written, she had answered. The next day he had been shipped out, but they had
gone on writing. For thirteen months she had faithfully replied. When his letters
did not arrive, she wrote anyway and now he believed he loved her and she
loved him.
But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had
explained. ―If your feeling for me had any reality, what I look like won‘t matter.
Suppose I‘m beautiful. I‘d always be haunted that you had been taking a chance
on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I‘m plain, (and
you must admit that this is more likely), then, I‘d always fear that you were only
writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don‘t ask for my
picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall
make your own decision.‖
One minute to six... he flipped the pages of the book he held. Then Lt.
Blanford‘s heart leaped. A young woman was coming toward him. Her figure
was long and slim: her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears. Her
eyes were blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale
green suit, she was like springtime come-alive.
He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose,
and as he moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips.
―Going my way soldier?‖ she murmured.
He made one step closer to her, then he saw Hollis Maynell.
She was standing almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40,
her hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick ankled
feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes. But she wore a red rose on her rumpled
coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away.
Blanford felt as though he were being split in two, so keen was his desire
to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had

23
truly companioned and upheld him; and there she stood. He could see that her
pale plump face was gentle and sensible; her gray eyes had a worn wrinkle.
Lt. Blanford did not get hostile. His fingers gripped the worn copy of
Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but
it would be something precious, a friendship for which he had been and must be
ever grateful...
He squared his shoulders, saluted and held the book out towards the
woman, although even while he spoke he felt the bitterness of his
disappointment.
―I‘m Lt. Blanford and you... Miss Maynell. I‘m so glad you could meet
me. May.. .may I take you to dinner?‖
The woman‘s face broadened in a tolerant smile. ―I don‘t know what this
is all about, son,‖ she answered. That young woman in the green suit who just
passed gave me a rose to wear and said that if you asked me to go out with you,
I should tell you she is waiting in the restaurant across the street. She said it was
some kind of a test.‖

Glossary:

Provocative: Challenging, offensive, exciting, annoying

Tucked: inserted, put in

Rumpled: ruffled, untidy

Hostile: adverse, unfriendly

Comprehension:

1. What is the theme of the short story ―An Appointment with Love‖?
Explain.
2. Sketch the character of Lt. Blanford.
3. ―An appointment with love‖ is really an exciting story, Do you agree?
Explain.

24
 Chapter 7
A letter to nature
Deepshikha Gautaum

Introduction
Deepshika Gautam is a student of Banasthali Vidyapeeth persuing her
graduation in B.A.L.L.B. She is a blogger, writes at ‗The Girl who Writes‘. She
also writes for newspapers. She likes to explore new things. She writes about
topics like ‗The Pain she goes through‘, ‗The purpose of the supreme law of
land‘, ‗The Mobile Evolution‘, ‗The School of My Dreams‘, Indian Considered
for their Moral values‘, Influence of Media on Society‘, etc.

In the present letter she writes about Save Nature and Save Life. She
stresses on the point that when mother earth nurtures us why are we destroying
it? She urges human beings to take care of the earth which can in turn save our
life.

Nature is the most beautiful gift of God given to humankind. It gives us almost
all the sources which help humankind to live.
The humans have needed to survive, and thrive, which is provided by the
natural world around us: food, water, medicine, materials for shelter, and even
natural cycles such as climate and nutrients.
Earth Day seems as good a day as any to remind ourselves what nature gives us
free-of-charge. Here then is a selective sampling of nature‘s importance to our
lives: freshwater, pollination, seed dispersal, pest control, medicines, fisheries,
soil health, vast biodiversity and abundant wildlife, climatic regulations,
mountains etc.
Freshwater is the utmost requirement of humankind, without water we cannot
survive more than a few days.
In agriculture, pollination is very much required. As the insects, birds and some
mammals are also part of our nature, they pollinate the world‘s plant. Around
80% of the world‘s plants pollinate in this way only. Again, nature does this for
us.
Many plants require other species to move their seeds from parents plant to a
new plant which is done by birds, rodents, elephants and bats.
After research, it was found that agricultural pests have natural enemies which
include birds, spider, parasitic wasps and flies etc, control the pests. Again
nature does this for saving our crops.

25
Again good health of the soil is the home for plants. Nature has given us
medicines of almost all diseases like HIV - fighting drugs, neem leaves,
penicillin etc. Research says that less than 1% of the world‘s known species
have been fully examined for their medicinal value. Fisheries also provide
livelihoods, both directly and indirectly, for around half a billion as it is the
source of protein. The natural world helps regulate the Earth‘s climate.
Ecosystems such as rainforests, peatlands, and mangroves store significant
amounts of carbon, while the ocean captures massive amounts of carbon
through phytoplankton. Biodiversity produces food, fibres, wood products; it
cleans water, controls agricultural pests, pollinates and dispersers the world
plants; and provides recreation, such as bird watching, gardening, diving, and
ecotourism.
As we all are very thankful to nature for providing us with all the things to make
our life more easier & convenient but do we pay our thanks to nature? Sorry to
say but we have started considering nature also a part of our life after the
alarming situation. We have realised its importance when we are just about to
lose it. This letter to nature is not only to thank it but to apologize for being too
late in such realisation. Do we follow the ―‗save water, save a life?‖ No,
actually not, only those areas where the water has been lost know the phase of
its scarcity. We are exploiting our water resources by putting wastes into it. We
are cutting forests for our necessities, exploitation of forests. It is said that the
more the trees would be cut, the more will be planted but where, do we have
land for it? No, even after planting them & the time they take to grow will lead
us to the phase of the scarcity of oxygen. Although soil is renewable, it is also
sensitive to overuse and degradation often due to industrial agriculture,
pollution, and fertilizers. Some of the world‘s most important and promising
drugs are being endangered because of deforestation. Recently fire in Amazon
forest led in death of 2 million animals again the loss of biodiversity. The
disastrous climatic conditions are because of greenhouse gases and ozone layer
depletion.
These all things which we are facing is the reflection of what we give to the
nature for the gifts which it is giving from a very long time but it is sorrowful to
say that these gifts wouldn‘t be continued more.
It can conclusively be said that there is utmost need to focus towards nature. It
is a humble request to save it for our future generations. Taking care of the
world is the duty of every human being. Our planet is our home and we should
take care of it as if it were our child. You have worked very hard and learnt a lot

26
about how our attitudes and habits can negatively impact our environment. You
also learnt how we can change our attitudes to stop or diminish the world‘s
degradation and destruction. Now it‘s your job to spread the word and let
everyone know how important and vital it is to take care of Mother Nature. The
planet Earth thanks you very much!
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/read

Glossary:

Thrive: Grow well, vigorously

Pollination: transfer of pollen

Biodiversity: Variety of life

Phytoplankton: floating plants(microscopic)

Rodents : gnawing mammals like rat,mice, squirrels

Peatlands : type of wetland

Comprehension:

Write Short notes on:

1. The ideas of Deepshika to save nature and save life.

2. Measures to save the nature around us?
3. Our role in saving our nature in general?

27
 Chapter 8

Translation from Kannada to English & English to Kannada

Translation is an art of transforming the linguistic entities from one

language into another language. According to Ghazala(1995) the word
translation generally used to refer to all the process and methods used to convey
the meaning of the source language(SL) into the target language(TL) without
causing any loss to the original message. Translation is necessary for the spread
of information, knowledge and ideas. It is absolutely necessary for effective and
empathetic communication between different cultures.

Translation is a process based on the theory of extracting the meaning of

a text from its present form and reproduce that with a different form of a second
language. It is a general belief that being bilingual is essential to be a translator,
but it is not true. Being bilingual is a prerequisite but translation skills are to be
built and developed on the basis of one‘s own experience and adaptive skills.

A translator should meet three important requirements to be a good

translator. They are (a) familiarity with the source language, (b) familiarity with
the target language and (c) familiarity with the subject matter to perform the
work successfully.

Based on this concept, the translator finds the meaning behind the forms
in the source language and does best to reproduce the same meaning in the
target language using the TL forms and structures to the best of one‘s
knowledge. Naturally, the form and the code get changed while the message
remains unchanged.

Translation plays a vital role in the life of students. Learning to translate

is the need of the hour as it has become compulsory in all competitive exams. It
helps students to understand the connection between languages and explore the
potential of both of them. It is a necessary and natural activity, because many
foreign words are used in common usage and hence they need to be decoded.
Keeping this in mind the NEP has introduced translation as a compulsory
component in the curricula. Here the students learn to translate sentences of all
types. Following examples can be used as class exercises.

28
Translate the following five sentences from Kannada into English:

1. ¤£Àß ºÉ¸ÀgÀÄ K£ÀÄ?

2. CªÀ¼ÀÄ JµÀÄÖ ªÀÄzsÀÄgÀªÁV ºÁqÀÄvÁÛ¼É!
3. ¤Ã£ÀÄ ¨sÀ«µÀåzÀ°è J£ÁUÀ®Ä EaÒ¸ÀÄwÛÃAiÀiÁ ?
4. ¤ªÀÄä CdÓ£ÀªÀgÀ ªÀÈwÛ AiÀiÁªÀÅzÁVvÀÄÛ ?
5. £ÀªÀÄä HgÀÄ vÀÄA¨Á ¸ÀÄAzÀgÀªÁVzÉ.

Translate the following five sentences from English to Kannada:

1. I am 18 years old.
2. Which is your native town?
3. Please bring me a glass of water?
4. How beautiful is the Taj Mahal!
5. I don’t want to go to college today.

Note: Try to translate more and more different types of sentences.

29
 Question Paper Pattern

BA/B.S.W.I Semester

Basic English

Text: “SERENE”
Total Marks : 60
Q I: Essay type questions on Chapter 11,12 and 16
(one out of two) (1x10=10 Marks)
Q II: Short notes (two out of four) (2x5= 10 Marks)
Q III: a) Comprehension (5 Marks)
b) Letter Writing (5 Marks)
c) Email Writing (5 Marks)
d) Listening and Hearing (Short Notes) (5 Marks)
Q IV:
a) Introducing oneself (5 Marks)
b) Requesting/inviting/agreeing/disagreeing/seeking advice (5 Marks)
c) Linkers (5 Marks)
d) Question tags (5 Marks)

Internal Marks :
2 Internal tests 10+10
Practical classes on Translation 10
Assignment/Seminar/Project/Attendance, etc 10
----------------
Total 40

30
 Model Question Paper

Time: 3 hours BA/B.S.W.I Semester Max Marks: 60

Basic English

Text: “SERENE”

Q I: Answer any one of the following 1x10=10

Marks
1. Critically appreciate the poem ―Sonnet 127‖.
2. Sketch the character of Lt. Blenford.
3. Justify the story ―No Anklet Bells for her‖.

Q II: Write Short notes on any two of the following: 2x5= 10 Marks
1. Environment pollution and its types.
2. Ideas of Deepshika to save nature.
3. Reasons for Rhonda to visit educational institutions.
4. History behind silk coming to India.

Q III: Receptive Skills:

A) Comprehension 5x1=05 Marks
Read the following passage and answer the following questions:
The grandeur of a drawing room and a living room is best felt when there
is an element of nature‘s pride possession – a tree, or an indoor plant, or even
for that matter a sapling. Children as of now get to see less greenery and more
of technology driven software parks. Fortunately, we can bring the world of
fauna to our homes. Today, Interior decoration has become a passion and a
dictum for healthy living. The art of growing indoor plants in small pots with
branches neatly trimmed gives rise to small, neat plants. Plants can be grown in
the house all year round. Of late Bonsai has attracted the attention of one and
all. Botanists describe bonsai as ornamental trees or shrubs grown in a pot and
artificially prevented from reaching their normal size. The Japanese specialize
in bonsai and Ikebena – the art of lower arrangement.
1. What can increase the grandeur of a drawing room?
2. Children now a days see more of ------parks.
3. What has become the dictum for healthy living?
4. How do Botanists describe bonsai?
5. Give one word for the art of flower arrangement.

31
B) Letter Writing (5 Marks)
Write an application for the post of an English teacher in a private school.
(C) Email Writing (5 Marks)
Draft an email to your Principal requesting her to give you one week
leave.
D) Listening and Hearing (Short Notes) 5 Marks
Explain the difference between Listening and Hearing.

Q IV: Productive Skills

a) Introduce yourself before your interviewer. 1x5=05 Marks

b)Construct dialogues for the following: any two

2x21/2=05 Marks
1. Requesting your friend to attend your marriage.
2. Inviting your boss to your birthday party.
3. Seeking advice for your higher education.

c) Fill in the blanks with suitable sentence Linkers 5x1=05 Marks

1. The movie is very interesting ---- it is liked by all.
2. We can‘t go out ----- it is raining heavily.
3. I went for a walk-------the rain.
4. He is quiet and shy ---- his sister is lively and talkative.
5. The man is lame -----he is independent.
(because, so, but, despite, yet)

d) Add suitable question tags to the following sentences: 5x1=05 Marks

1. I am busy,
2. It is not a joke,
3. She has not completed her degree,
4. He is really handsome,
5. Nothing has changed,

-------xxxxx-----

32