1. LIFTING THE VEIL

1. 1. LIFTING THE VEIL • David worked in a company in Thailand. • Once David had to take a Chinese business man for sight seeing. • In the evening they went to a restaurant. • There was a music and dance show. David was not interested because he had seen it many times before. • He met a blind man there. The blind man was a Belgian. He lost his eye sight when he was a teenager. But he enjoyed travelling.

2. He asked David to explain everything in detail. David explained about the musicians and the dancers. He felt it so interesting. • He described about the dancer’s nails. The blind man wanted to touch the nails. • David requested the manager of the show . The blind man could touch the golden nails of the girl. • The blind man thanked David. • David felt thankful to the blind man. He has lifted the veil in front of his eyes. • David understood the power of seeing.

3. 2. The Lake Isle of Innisfree • This is a poem by WB Yeats. • He says that he wants to go to Innisfree. • He wants to build a small house, a garden and a bee hive there. • He wants a peaceful life. • He is tired of the city life. • So he has decided to go to Innisfree.

4. 3. The Reason • The hunter went to the forest. • He didn’t get any rabbit. He was very disappointed. • After supper, he lay down to sleep. • A rabbit came in his dream and began to talk. • The rabbit said that all the animals in the forest were giving signals to them.

5. They worked like a trade union. • Their common enemy was the man. • So the animals helped the rabbits to escape from the hunter. • Even the hunter’s cow was supporting the rabbits. • The hunter was angry. • But his dog did not cheat him. So the animals hated the dog.

6. 4. Beautiful Mandakini • Ruskin Bond describes his travel to the Himalayas. • He saw the river Mandakini on his way to Kedarnath and liked it very much. • The valley was so beautiful. • He spent some time in Guptkashi. • It was a nice climate there. • He heard stories about the man-eating leopard and the bhookhartal bus. • He saw an ancient temple there. • Then he proceeded to Kedarnath.

7. 5. The Road Not Taken • This is a poem written by Robert Frost. • The poet was walking in the woods. • He reached a point where the road diverged into two. • He stood there confused. • The first road was travelled by many people. • The second road was rough and less travelled. • He decided to take the second road. • He did not know where it would take him. • But he knew that it would make all the difference in his life.

8. 6. Autobiography of Mark Twain. • Mark Twain wants his autobiography to be published after his death. • Only then he could write honestly and freely. • In the first chapter, he describes about his village. • The village had only a hundred people and 2 roads. • The houses were made of wood. • The church was also made of wood and it stood on poles. • Pigs and dogs came under the church and disturbed the sermon.

9. 7. Albert Schweitzer • This is a biography of Albert Schweitzer. • He was born into a rich family. • When he finished college he decided to do charity. • He came to know that the tribes in N.Africa did not have any medical facilities. • So he studied medicine and became a doctor. • He went to Africa and set up a hospital in Lamberene. • He had to face many problems there. • He appointed Joseph to interpret his language. • He spent most of the day in treating his patients. • The tribals were happy with his treatment.

10. 8. The Evolution of English • The first people in Britain were Celts. They were farmers. Their language was known as Celtic language. • Then, the Romans conquered the land. They killed the Celts. They wanted minerals. Their language was Latin. • The next invaders were Anglo-Saxons. They were agricultural people. Their language formed the base for English. • Then came the Christian Missionaries. They brought Greek and Latin languages to England.

11. In AD 793, the Vikings from Denmark invaded Britain. Their language was Norse. (Danish) • In AD 1066, the Normans attacked the country. Their language was French. They ruled for 300 years. • Later 3 languages dominated in England- Latin, French and English. • English became more popular after the invention of printing press. • Now English is a global language.

12. 9. The Gift of Language. • The main difference between man and animals is that man can speak and animals cannot. • Man has the power of language for communication. • Language uses words, which are the symbols of something else in the world. • There are many theories about the origin of speech. • There are around 200 language families and 7000 languages in the world. • Language has 2 forms – spoken and written. • Spoken form came before written form. • The written form uses script to represent ideas. • There are 2 types of script – Syllabic and Alphabetic.

13. 10. Karma • Sir Mohanlal was a barrister. • He hated Indian culture and Indians. • He always spoke in English and dressed like the English people. He talked only to the English people. • His wife, Lachmi was an ordinary Indian woman. • She did not know English, she spoke in Hindi. She was very friendly to every one. • Once, they were travelling somewhere.

14. Sir Mohanlal got into the first class compartment and Lachmi boarded the ladies’ compartment. • Two English soldiers came to the first class compartment. • They had no tickets, but they wanted to sit there. • They behaved very rudely to him and pushed him out of the train. • Sir Mohanlal’s pride of English culture came to an end.

15. 11. As I Grew Older. • This is a poem by Langston Hughes. • When he was a child he had a dream. • The dream was bright like the sun. • But as he grew up, a wall rose between him and his dream. • The wall became so high that his dream disappeared behind the wall. • He realized that he had to break the wall to achieve his dream. • The wall represents the racial discrimination. • The poet was black. So he was a victim of discrimination. • He wanted to fight against this social injustice.

16. 12. A Fable for Tomorrow. • This passage is taken from the book “Silent Spring” written by Rachel Carson. • This is about the past and present of a town. • The town was green, beautiful and peaceful in the past. • Then, a white dust fell on the town. • After that, the town became dull and lifeless. People and animals died of strange diseases. • The writer refers to the industrial pollution that is affecting the world badly. • She suggests that we should take some immediate action to save the world from a big tragedy.

17. 13. Interview with Vandana Shiva • Vandana Shiva is an Indian environmental activist. • Here she talks about her views on afforestation, conservation of natural resources, women’s rights, sustainable agriculture and bio diversity. • She says that women are actively participating in environmental issues. • She suggests that the local people should be given the right to protect the natural resources. • In her view, women have great role in agriculture.

18. 14. The Sacred Earth • This is a speech made by Chief Seattle, a tribal chief in America, in 1854. • The natives had to surrender their land to the government. • At this point Chief Seattle gave a speech to say that the Red Indian tribes considered their land very precious. • He spoke about the differences between the white people and his tribal people. • The whites never respected the land and killed animals unnecessarily. They also polluted the land. • But the Red Indians kept their land pure and clean. They considered every animal and man in the world as the members of their family. • The Chief reminded the whites that everyone in this world was the part of the same web. So if even one strand of the web was broken the whole balance will get lost.

19. 15. On Killing a Tree • This is a poem written by Gieve Patel. • He protest against deforestation in this poem. • He says that a tree grows up slowly consuming the earth and becomes strong. • It is not easy to kill the tree. It will grow again. So if you want to cut it you will have to pull it out of its roots. • The poem suggests that the tree feels immense pain when we cut it down. And it struggles for its survival on earth. • The poem also hints at the cruelty and selfishness of man.

20. 16. The Never-Never Nest • Jack and Jill were living comfortably in a good house with all facilities like radio, piano, furniture, car etc. • Aunt Jane was surprised by their comforts. She knew that Jack’s income was not enough for these luxuries. • Jack told Aunt Jane that it was all purchased in the hire-purchase scheme. • He had more loans than his income. • Aunt Jane was very upset and gave them 10 pounds to settle at least one deal. • Jill sent the amount to the doctor, as her delivery expenses were also made in instalment scheme. • This drama criticises man’s greed for luxury and also suggests that hire purchase system is a trap.

21. 17. The Case for the Defense. • Mrs. Parker was murdered in Peckham. • Mrs. Salmon witnessed the murderer. • When the case came in the court, Mrs. Salmon said that she saw Adams coming out of Mrs. Parker’s house that night. • The defense lawyer presented the twin brother of Adams and asked Mrs. Salmon to identify the murderer. • The twins looked exactly alike. So Mrs. Salmon could not tell whom did she see that night.

22. Adams was acquitted for lack of evidence. • Outside the court there was a big crowd. • When the twins came outside, one of them fell on the road and a speeding bus hit him. He died on the spot. • The other Adams looked at Mrs. Salmon. She felt fearful.

23. 18. True Love • Milton Davidson was a 40 year old computer programmer. • Joe was his personal computer. • Milton had developed so many programmes in Joe. So Joe was a very advanced computer. • Milton wanted to get married to the ideal woman. • He programmed Joe to find his perfect match. • Joe secretly collected the database of all women and selected some women. • This was illegal. But Milton had programmed Joe to do manipulations.

24. Milton interviewed the women, but did not like any of them. • So he elaborated the programme for a mental match. He expanded his database with all incidents from his life, his likes and dislikes etc. • Joe began to understand Milton like a human being. He was now able to think and feel like a human. • Joe found the exact match for Milton. • Her name was Charity Jones. • But the day before Charity arrived, Milton was arrested. • Joe had informed the police about Milton’s manipulations. He had fallen in love with Charity.

25. 19. The Express. • This is a poem by Stephen Spender. • The poem describes about the beauty and power of an express train. • The train starts from the station in a slow movement. Then she gathers speed and makes different noises. • She moves across different places without caring anything. • The train is the symbol of industrial revolution. • The poet suggests that even in the age of industrialisation, imagination and romanticism will not die out.

26. 20. Pride and Prejudice • This is a novel by Jane Austen. • The Bennet family has 5 daughters – Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia. • Mrs. Bennet is always worried about her daughters’ marriage. • Bingley and Darcy come to stay near the Bennet’s house. • Jane and Bingley fall in love. Bingley proposes to Jane. • Elizabeth and Darcy hates each other in the beginning. They have misunderstandings aboout each other. But later everything is clear and they also fall in love.