English : Unit 2 : Prose : Hobby Turns into a Successful Career
Warm up
Look at the pictures. Discuss in pairs and share your answers with your friends.
1. What is the girl doing?
Painting
2. What is the man doing?
Cooking.
3. Will you like doing it? Why?
Yes. I like cooking. I can prepare for my taste and so i like.
4. Do you like gardening? Why?
Yes. It is a good hobby done during our spare time.
5. What are the benefits of listening to music?
Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity. Our heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. Regular cycling increases the strength of our muscles and bones. It keeps you fit always.
Section I
Glossary
unique (adj) – distinctive / uncommon
exhaust (v) – tire out
energises (v) – give energy
passionate (adj) – intense/ heartfelt
accurately (adv) – exactly
fiction (n) – imaginative writing
spare (adj) – extra
Questions Answers
Read and Understand
A. Say true or false.
1. Mani’s hobby is playing cricket. [Answer: False]
2. Hobbies are unique to people. [Answer: True]
3. People have hobbies only to pass time. [Answer: False]
B. Choose the correct answer.
1. Mani imagined a world with .
a) music and musicians
b) building and sculptures
c) magic and magicians
[Answer: (c) magic and magicians]
2. When Mani started writing things, he was unable to .
a) describe them accurately
b) describe them fluently
c) describe them imaginatively
[Answer: (a) describe them accurately]
3. Mani feels writing is like ___________.
a) painting the voice
b) engraving the voice
c) designing the voice
[Answer: (a) painting the voice]
Section –II
Glossary
impairment (n) – disability
miniature (adj) – very small of its kind
accomplished (adj) – fulfiled
magnifying (adj) – enhanceing
exhibited (v) – show or reveal
revitalise (v) – re-energise
Questions Answers
Read and Understand
A. Write true or false.
1. Ajay Garg is an artist. [Answer: True]
2. Asha Devi taught Ajay the miniature painting. [Answer: True]
3. Ajay displayed 150 paintings. [Answer: True]
4. Ajay was awarded by the Indian president Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. [Answer: True]
B. Answer the following questions.
1. What was Ajay gifted with?
Answer: Ajay was gifted with a skill of painting.
2. How was he honoured?
Answer: He was honoured by the Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with a national award of accomplishment.
3. What is Ajay’s current goal?
Answer: Ajay current goal was to re-energies the dying art of traditional Miniature Indian paintings.
4. Does Ajay’s hobby become a successful career? How?
Answer: Yes, Ajay’s hobby has become a successful career because his work became popular all throughout India, the United States and the United Kingdom. He has also become the executive member of the ‘Deaf and Dumb’ Association in Rajasthan.
Section –III
Glossary
accommodates (n) – sufficient space for
trophies (n) – a decorative cup given as a token of victory
shattered (v) – break , damage or destroyed
Questions Answers
Read and Understand
A. Fill in the blanks.
1. Mani’s grandfather noticed it and helped him by reading bedtime stories.
2. Ajay mastered the techniques of Preparing colours and brushes.
3. Ilavazhagi won her first match against her father.
B. Choose correct synonyms for the italic word.
1. Writing is a unique hobby
a) common
b) beneficial
c) uncommon
d) separate
[(c) uncommon ]
2. Ajay started to paint happily.
a) depressed
b) joyfully
c) unhappily
d) sadly
[(b) joyfully]
3. Miniature paintings depict Indian culture.
a) warp
b) portray
c) twist
d) falsify
[(b) portray]
C. Choose correct antonyms for the italic word.
1.Ajay suffered an injury.
a) sorrow
b) endure
c) hurt
d) mourn
[Answer: (b) endure]
2. Ajay mastered the techniques of painting.
a) skilled
b) proficient
c) unskilled
d) experienced
[Answer: (c) unskilled]
3. Ilavazhagi won world championship in 2008.
a) win
b) succeed
c) lost
d) well-skilled
[Answer: (c) defeat]
D. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences.
1. What happened to Ajay at the age of three?
Answer: Ajay suffered an injury at the age of three. He was treated, but that treatment left him permanently deaf.
2. What did Asha Devi teach Ajay?
Answer: Asha Devi taught Ajay the old and dying technique of ‘Traditional Indian Miniature Painting’.
3. Why writing is beneficial according to Mani?
Answer: According to Mani, writing opens his mind to think beyond the little things with a broader mind. It makes him more passionate about his life, and learn new things.
E. Answer the following questions in 100 words.
1. How did Ajay’s father find his son’s talent?
Answer: Ajay Kumar Garg’s childhood was going well, until he suffered an injury at the age of three. Ajay was treated, but that treatment left him permanently deaf. His parents tried many hospitals to cure his disability but it was useless. One day, his father bought him a paint set to play. Ajay started painting happily on the walls and floors. He looked happy, while using the paint set. Soon Ajay father realised that Ajay was talented in painting. When Ajay was five years, a court artist of Dholpur, Shri Sua Lalwas impressed with Ajay’s work. He took Ajay with him and started training him.
2. Write a note on Ilavazhagi.
Answer: Ilavazhagi was one among the many to achieve their dream amidst all odds. Her father was a district-level champion in carom. He used to put her on the Carom board to listen to the sound of strikers and coins. Her father took her to the local clubs frequently. When llavazhagi won her first match against her father, she gained confidence. This confidence led her to win the Asia Cup, SAARC Cup and the world championship. She won a lot of trophies. She won the 2008 Indian National Carom Championship and became a world champion in the women’s singles. Her passion for Carom made her succeed in life.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS
Very Short Questions with Answers.
1. What is a hobby?
Answer: Hobby is an activity we enjoy doing in our free time.
2. What is your hobby?
Answer: My hobbies are Reading and Singing.
3. What does the term ‘pastime’ mean?
Answer: The term ‘pastime’ means, an activity regularly done for enjoying rather than work. To pass the leisure time relaxingly.
4. Who is the best friend for a reader while travelling in a train?
Answer: Books are the best friends for a reader while travelling alone in a train.
5. Name any two socially useful hobbies.
Answer: Cooking and Painting.
Short Questions with Answers.
1. What was Mani’s problem?
Answer: Mani had difficulty in reading and writing.
2. What did his Grandfather do?
Answer: His grandfather helped him by reading bedtime stories.
3. Why does Mani say that writing is a unique hobby?
Answer: Mani says that writing is unique because most people don’t want to exhaust themselves in their spare time.
4. What did Ajay’s father buy him?
Answer: Ajay’s father bought him a paint set to play.
5. What was Ajay gifted with?
Answer: Ajay was gifted with the practice of creating images on a grain of rice.
6. Who was Irudayaraj?
Answer: Irudayaraj was a fish-cart driver, who used to transport materials like pipes to make a living.
7. Who did Ilavazhagi beat in the women’s singles?
Answer: Ilavazhagi beat P. Nirmala in the finals of Carom World Championship with 25-11, 25-11 victory.
Paragraph Question with Answer.
1. How beneficial was the hobby of writing to Mani?
Answer: Mani felt the hobby of writing very beneficial to him. He felt writing is like ‘painting his voice’. When he got free time, he picked a pen and a notebook. He started writing stories, poems and sometimes about his feelings. His mind used to relax, when he poured his thoughts as words. His imagination is at its best, when he writes things. Writing opened his mind to think beyond the little things with a broader mind. It made him more passionate about his life and learn new things. It also helped him in school too and made him a good writer.
Vocabulary
Singular and Plural
We have seen how to form plural from singular for certain nouns and now we are going to see the other forms of plurals.
Compound words
Compound words are formed when two or more words are put together to form a new word with a new meaning.
Some important compound words using (NOUN + NOUN)
Some important compound words using (GERUND + NOUN)
Some important compound words using (NOUN + VERB)
A. Match the following compound words and write them:
B. Choose the best answer to make a compound word
1. Which can be placed after ‘soft’?
a) play
b) ware
c) run
d) cycle
[Answer: software]
2. Which can be placed before ‘light’?
a) Try
b) sun
c) horse
d) cat
[Answer: sunlight]
3. Which can be placed after ‘safe’?
a) chair
b) guard
c) shop
d) van
[Answer: safeguard]
4. Which can be placed after ‘blue’?
a) cane
b) print
c) see
d) land
[Answer: blueprint]
5. Which can be placed after ‘water’?
a) food
b) stick
c) fall
d) out
[Answer: waterfall]
VOCABULARY ADDITIONAL
Singular& Plural
Write the plural from of the given words:
Singular : Plural / Answer
1. boy : boys
2. tax : taxes
3. city: cities
4. mouse : mice
5. teeth : tooth
6. aircraft : aircraft
7. basis : bases
8. formula : formulae
9. man-servant : men-servants
10. proof : proofs
COMPOUND WORDS
Match the following compound words and write them:
First-word : Second-word : New word / Answer
hand – man – handwritten
over – mark – overload
child – light – childhood
watch – load – watchman
safe – hood – safeguard
moon -written – moonlight
river -guard – riverbed
land – bed – landmark
Choose the best answer to make a compound word:
1.Which can be placed after ‘key’
a) ball
b) board
c) mark
d) cut
[Answer: keyboard]
2. Which can be placed before ‘office’
a) food
b) chair
c) cycle
d) post
[Answer: post office]
3. Which can be placed after ‘blue’
a) green
b) shop
c) cross
d) land
[Answer: blue-cross]
4. Which can be placed before ‘come’
a) school
b) play
c) out
d) go
[Answer: outcome]
5. Which can be placed after ‘dining’
a) shop
b) table
c) food
d) port
[Answer: dining table]
Listening
Gardening is an art
Gardening is a delightful pastime. One can grow vegetables, fruits and flowers in one’s own garden. If you do not have open spaces near your home for maintaining a garden you can set up a garden on your roof! All you need are a few old buckets or tubs, some mud and seeds to plant.
Did you know? The horticulture society of Tamil Nadu gives soil bags with seeds to promote gardening in our houses! Stamp collection is nothing but collecting stamps from envelops that come by mail. This hobby is known as philately. We learn about different leaders, important days on seeing the stamps! We can also exchange rare stamps with our friends.
Many people are fascinated to collect coins from different countries. Sometime relatives who visit or work in other countries bring and give the coins of the foreign country to us! This hobby is known as numismatics. Some others take interest to collect seashells. It is said that there are more than 1,00,000 shell species found in the sea shores. The rarest, the most valuable, and the most beautiful shells are found in the Indo- Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean regions.
Cooking is one of the oldest hobbies. It is now even considered a life-skill to know how to cook. We all should try and learn to cook! Painting can help unleash your creative side. Painting allows you to tap into the thoughts, desires, and feelings in your head and translate them into something beautiful.
Painting relaxes our mind and helps focus better, so go ahead and pick up a paintbrush. Teaching is a fun and useful hobby. Teaching helps us understand what we have learned better. It also helps us to help other children. If we are good at teaching then, one day we can even become a good teacher! Web-browsing helps us collect information about the latest medical invention, the new technology for phones and news about our society and country. It is an amazing hobby where we can learn about things that are thousands of kilometres away with just a few clicks! We can also share all the wonderful information with our friends.
Questions on passage
1. What is Philately?
Answer: Stamp collecting hobby is known as philately.
2. What is Numismatics?
Answer: The hobby of collecting coins from different countries is known as numismatics.
3. Do you know where the rarest and the most beautiful shells are found?
Answer: The rarest and the most beautiful shells are found in the Indo-Pacific, Caribbean and Mediterranean regions.
4. Painting can help unleash your creative side. How?
Answer: Painting allows you to tap into the thoughts, desires and feelings in your head and translate them into something beautiful. It relaxes our mind and helps us to focus better.
5. What is your friend’s hobby? How does it differ from yours? Discuss and write
Answer: My friend’s hobby is web-browsing. It is different from my hobby of gardening. His hobby is an amazing hobby. We can learn about things that are thousands of kilometres away with just a few clicks. We can also share all the wonderful information with our friends.
Speaking
Role-play the conversation in the class.
Manoj: Hi Priya! How are you?
Priya: I am fine, and what about you?
Manoj : I am fine too. What are you doing in this early morning?
Priya : I am taking care of my garden.
Manoj : Oh! What a beautiful garden it is !
Priya : It is beautiful as I work every day in it.
Manoj : Who helps you in your work?
Priya : Myself have done this. It is my hobby and I have cultivated vegetables.
Manoj : Oh! that’s nice. How long have you been doing this?
Priya: I have been doing this for three years.
Monoj: What vegetables are grown here?
Priya: Tomatoes, Chillies, Brinjals, Lady’s fingers and some greens.
Monoj: Wonderful! You have a mini vegetable market here.
Priya: Of course, My mother uses these vegetables for cooking.
Monoj: It is a very good idea.
Priya: Yes it is! You benefit a lot by this.
Monoj: It is good for our health because we don’t use any chemicals here.
Priya: Exactly! Gardening also develops green atmosphere and the environment.
Monoj: It’s interesting. Let me also do this.
Continue this conversation with friends having atleast five to ten dialogues each.
Writing
Hints Developing
* Read the hints twice or thrice carefully.
* Understand the passage well.
* Be careful to connect as naturally as possible the various points given in the text.
* Arrange the matter in two or three paragraphs.
* Give a suitable title.
Example :
Hints
Farmer in a village – had a hen – golden egg – farmer became rich- selling golden eggs- he is greedy – an egg everyday – not enough – thought to get all eggs – kill to get all eggs – killed the hen – found no eggs – farmer is very sad.
The Greedy Farmer
There lived a farmer in a village. He had a hen. The hen used to lay a golden egg every day. The farmer used to sell the golden egg in the market and got huge amount of money. Soon, he became rich. The farmer was very greedy. He thought, “At present I get an egg every day. This is not enough. Why should not I get all the eggs at a time? I must kill the hen to get all the golden eggs at a time.” And the greedy farmer killed the hen. He did not find any egg. He was very sad now.
Develop the following hints:
1. Tortoise – hare – forest – tortoise walking- seen by a hare- hare laughs – tortoise speed – tortoise sad – bet – race tortoise moving- slow speed -hare moves – fast – sleeps- tortoise – reaches winning point – first – wins the bet.
Answer:
The Tortoise and the hare
A tortoise and a hare lived in a forest. Once, the hare saw the tortoise walking slowly with a heavy shell on his back. The hare laughed at the speed of the tortoise. The tortoise felt sad. The hare was very proud of himself and challenged the tortoise for a race. The tortoise agreed. They started the running race. The hare ran very fast. But the tortoise walked very slowly. The proud hare rested under a tree and soon slept off. But the tortoise walked slowly and steadily and reached the winning point. At last, the tortoise won the bet.
2. Akbar – Birbal – courtiers jealous of Birbal – ask Akbar – test Birbal wiseness – Courtier puts a question – How many crows in Agra – Birbal asks for a week – everyday sitting on the terrace looking at the crows- after a week – courtier asks – Birbal says 156757 crows – asks the courtier to check- Akbar laughs.
Answer:
Akbar and Birbal
Akbar was a great Mughal emperor. Birbal was his Minister. He was a wise man and Akbar always praised his wit and intelligence. His courtiers were jealous of Birbal. One day, Akbar asked his courtiers to test Birbal’s wiseness. A courtier puts a question to him. He asked him ‘how many crows were there in Agra. Birbal asked time for a week. Birbal used to sit on the terrace every day, looking at the crows. After a week, the courtier asked him to tell the answer. He answered that there were 156757 crows in Agra. He asked the courtier to check, if he is right. Hearing this, the King laughed heartily, admiring his wit.
3. A wood cutter – cutting wood – dropped his axe in the pond – started weeping – angel appeared – asked what the matter was brought a golden axe – from the pond – wood cutter did not accept – brought a silver axe – not accepted – brought an iron axe – accepted – pleased with the honesty – offered all the axes to him.
Answer:
The woodcutter and the axe
Long ago, there lived a woodcutter in a small village. One day, while cutting wood, he dropped his axe in the pond. He tried hard to get it back, but he was unable to do so. He started weeping. An angel appeared before him and asked him what was the matter. She brought a golden axe from the pond and gave it to him. The woodcutter did not accept it. Next, she brought a silver axe and gave it to him. The woodcutter did not even accept this. At last, she brought him an iron axe and gave it to him. The woodcutter accepted that it was his axe. The Angel was pleased with his honesty and offered all the three axes to him.
Grammar
Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun.
Kinds of Adjectives
Adjectives of Quality
show the kind or quality of a person or thing.
Example:
Kolkata is a large city. He is an honest man.
The foolish old crow tried to sing.
This is the Grammar of the English language.
Adjectives of Quality answer the question : Of what kind ?
Adjectives of Quality
describe the quantity of something.
Example:
I ate some rice.
He showed much patience.
He has little intelligence.
We have had enough exercise.
He has lost all his wealth.
You have no sense.
He did not eat any rice.
Take great care of your health.
He claimed his half share of the booty.
There has not been sufficient rain this year.
The whole sum was expended.
Adjectives of Quantity answer the question: How much?
Adjectives of Number
show how many persons or things are meant, or in what order a person or thing stands.
Example:
Each hand has five fingers.
Few cats like cold water.
There are no pictures in this book. I have taught you many things.
All men must die.
Here are some ripe mangoes. Most boys like cricket.
There are several mistakes in your exercise.
Sunday is the first day of the week
Demonstrative adjectives
point to “which” noun or pronoun you’re speaking about. These four words will help you spot demonstrative adjectives -this, that, these, those.
Example:
This lady is stronger than Maha. That boy is industrious.
These books are good.
Those girls must be encouraged.
Demonstrative Adjectives answer the question: Which?
Interrogative Adjectives
Interrogative adjectives pose a question. They need a noun or pronoun by their side.
Example:
What manner of man is he? Which way shall we go?
Whose book is this?
Degrees of comparison
Oh! They all say that they run fast. So who will win a race?
We need to compare their speed to help them decide. For example let us think that the ostrich runs at 40 km/hr, the deer at 60 km/hr and the cheetah at 80 km/hr.
We can see that the speed of the ostrich is lesser than the speed of the deer. The speed of the deer is lesser than the speed of the cheetah.
There are three ways to compare. That is positive, comparative and superlative. These are known as degrees of comparison.
Now, let us see how the word ‘fast’ changes to show us how fast each of them run.
The ostrich runs fast.
The deer runs faster than the ostrich.
The cheetah is the fastest of all.
We can see that the adjective ‘fast’ is changing form to show how fast each of them run in
comparison to the other.
So, the cheetah, the fastest of all will win the race.
We add – er with the adjective to make it comparative and – est to make it superlative. Let us see some examples:
For most one syllable adjectives you make the comparative form by adding -er and – est for superlative form.
Monosyllabic adjectives
If the adjective already ends in e, you just add -r.
One syllable adjectives ending in e
For some adjectives you need to double the last letter before you add -er. You do this when the last three letters of the word have the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant.
One syllable adjectives that need a double letter
For adjectives ending in y, you make the comparative form by changing the y to an i, then adding -er.
Adjectives ending in y
Disyllabic Words
For most words with two syllables or more, you make the comparative form by adding the word more before the adjective.
Two syllable adjectives
The exceptional case
a. Fill in the blanks
Let’s compare two things.
1. Which is faster? A train or a plane?
Answer: A plane is faster than a train.
2. Which is cheaper? Gold or Silver?
Answer: Silver is cheaper than gold.
3. Which is larger? City or village?
Answer: A city is larger than a village.
4. Which is bigger? A sea or an ocean?
Answer: An ocean is bigger than a sea.
5. Which is taller? A giraffe or a camel?
Answer: A giraffe is taller than a camel.
Let’s compare three things.
A donkey – a horse – an elephant (strong)
A donkey is strong.
A horse is stronger than a donkey.
An elephant is the strongest.
1. Town – city – village (quiet)
Answer: A city is quiet.
Town is quieter than the city.
The village is the quietest.
2. Istanbul – Moscow – London (populated)
Answer: Istanbul is populated.
Moscow is more populated than Istanbul.
London is the most populated.
3. Windy weather – warm weather – rainy weather (good)
Answer: Windy weather is good.
Warm weather is better than windy weather.
Rainy weather is the best.
4. Ocean – river – lake (deep)
Answer: River is deep.
Lake is deeper than the river.
Ocean is the deepest.
5. The USA – Russia – Spain (large)
Answer: Spain is a large country.
The USA is larger than Spain.
Russia is the largest country.
6. The Mahanadi – The Cauvery – The Ganga (long)
Answer: The Cauvery is a long river.
The Mahanadi is longer than the Cauvery.
The Ganga is the longest river in our country.
7. Chennai – Hyderabad – Bangaluru (modern)
Answer: Chennai is a modern city.
Hyderabad is more modern than Chennai.
Bengaluru is the most modern city.
8. Giraffe – Horse – goat (tall)
Answer: Giraffe is the tallest animal.
The horse is taller than a goat.
Goat is not as tall as a horse.
9. Elephant – Cat – Dog (strong)
Answer: An elephant is the strongest animal.
A dog is stronger than a cat.
A cat is not as strong as a dog.
10. Maharastra – Tamilnadu – Rajasthan (hot)
Answer: Maharastra is not as hot as Tamilnadu.
Tamilnadu is hotter than Maharastra.
Rajasthan is the hottest state.