English - Lesson 7: (TMA) " The shoeshine" - written by Sasthi Brata

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English - Lesson 27: "The parrot who wouldn't talk" written by Ruskin Bond (PUBLIC EXAMINATION)

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 First, let's read the lesson (Meanings of Vocabulary are given in brackets) The Parrot who wouldn't talk ‘You are no beauty! Can’t talk, can’t sing, can’t dance!’ With these words Aunt Ruby would taunt the unfortunate (unfortunate: unlucky or  unhappy ) parakeet, who glared morosely ( morosely: gloomily)   at everyone from his ornamental ( ornamental: decorative)  cage at one end of the long veranda of Granny’s bungalow  in north India. In those distant days, almost everyone – Indian or European – kept a pet parrot or parakeet,  or ‘lovebird’ as some of the smaller ones were called.  Sometimes these birds became  great talkers, or rather mimics,  ( mimic: one who imitates )  and would learn to recite entire mantras (religious chants)  or admonitions ( admonition: advice,  warning)  to the children of the house, such as ‘Padho, beta, padho!’ (‘Study child  study!’) or for the benefit of boys like me,  ‘Don’t...
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English - Lesson 1: "SNAKE BITE" - Shankar ' Life with Grandfather' a story from the collection (PUBLIC EXAMINATION)

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SNAKE BITE   One day I saw a small snake in the compound. It was crawling ( crawling: moving  slowly pulling the  body along the ground ) along slowly but when it  saw me, it moved away quickly and hid itself in a coconut shell.  I quietly went near and  closed the mouth of the coconut shell with a stone.  Then I took the shell and ran to  Grandmother. “Look, Grandma,” I cried, “I have caught a snake.” “Snake?” asked Grandmother in alarm . ( in alarm: in anxiety,  (here) in fear ) She was shocked. She cried for help. Grandfather  came running.  When he learnt ( learnt: gained  knowledge (here) was  told )  that I had a snake in the shell, he snatched the shell and  threw it away. ( shell: hard outer  covering of coconut or  nuts ) The snake crawled away and disappeared behind some bushes.  Grandfather warned me  never to go near a snake, because snakes were very dangerous. Later in the evenin...
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English - Lesson 25: (TMA) "Once Upon a Time " - A poem by Gabriel Okara

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  Once Upon a Time Once upon a time, son, they used to laugh with their hearts and laugh with their eyes: but now they only laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block-cold eyes search behind my shadow. The poet tells his son about the behaviour of people in the past and in  the present, in the olden days and in the modern world.  He remembers  a time when people had true feelings for one another who laughed and spoke face to face looking at their eyes. They would laugh  from the heart and meet one another with genuine feeling. In present times, people laugh formally by showing their teeth and eyes without any warmth of feeling. P eople have inculcated a habit of accepting shadows rather than accepting real people. There was a time indeed they used to shake hands with their hearts: but that’s gone, son. Now they shake hands without hearts: while their left hands search my empty pockets.    But today in  the modern, busy world people often greet ...
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