SSC English First Paper-Unit Seven- People who stand out
Unit Seven: People who stand
out
A. Look at the above pictures of Partha Pratim Majumder. Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.
After we have studied this unit, we will be able
to.
• read and understand texts through silent reading.
• ask and answer questions.
• listen to an audio text for specific information.
Lesson: 1 | Zainul Abedin, the great artist
A. Read the text and answer the questions that
follow.
The pioneer of Bangladeshi modern art Zainul Abedin is widely acclaimed for his Bengal 'Famine
Sketches'. Through the series of sketches, Zainul not only documented the harsh
famine of 1943 but also showed its sinister face through the skeletal figures
of the people destined to die of starvation in a man-made plight.
He depicted these extremely shocking pictures with
human compassion. He made his own ink by burning charcoal and used cheap
ordinary packing paper for sketching. Using the ink and applying the brush
where necessary, he produced the drawings and sketches which later became
iconic images of human suffering.
Zainul developed a knack for drawing and painting
when he was a high school student. After completing high school, he took admission
in the Government School of Art, Calcutta (now Kolkata).
He graduated with the first position in first class
in 1938. He was appointed a teacher of the Art School while he was still a
student there. He also attended the Slade School of Arts, London during
1951-52.
Zainul Abedin is considered the founding father of
Bangladeshi art. He was an artist of outstanding talent and earned
international reputation. For his artistic and visionary qualities, he is
referred to as Shilpacharya meaning 'great teacher of art' in Bangladesh. He
was the first Principal of the first art school in Dhaka in East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh). He organized the Nabanna (harvest) exhibition in 1969. The
exhibition included a 65 feet long scroll portraying the rural East Pakistan in
phases from abundance to poverty.
This intensified the already heightened
non-cooperation movement against the Pakistan regime. The exhibition was
symbolic of the Bangalec artists' protest and a milestone in our struggle for
cultural and political freedom. ZainuTs dynamic style of work is evident in a
30 feet long scroll painting called Manpura, which was done to commemorate the
death of hundreds and thousands of people in the devastating cyclone of 1970.
He designed the pages of the Constitution of the
Bangladesh. He founded the Folk Art Museum at Sonargaon, and also Zainul Abedin
Shangrahasala, a gallery of his own works in Mymensingh in 1975.
The river Brahmaputra played a vital role in his
paintings and was a source of inspiration all through his career. Much of his
childhood was spent near the scenic river Brahmaputra. A series of water
colours that Zainul did as his tribute to the river earned him the Governor's
Gold Medal in an all-India exhibition in 1938. This was the first time that he
came into spotlight and this award gave him the confidence to create his own
visual style.
Zainul Abedin was born in Kishoreganj on 29
December 1914 and died in Dhaka on 28 May 1976.
[adapted from The Daily Star Thursday July 16,2012]
Questions
1 Write in detail how Zainul Abedin portrayed the
sufferings of people.
2 What influence did the river Brahmaputra have on
Zainul Abedin? How did he show this influence in his works?
3 What did these works earn him in his life?
4 How did his art help to intensify the
noncooperation movement against the Pakistani regime?
B. Look at the series of pictures below. Work in
groups and talk about them. Now briefly write about what each picture portrays.
C. Listen to the Audio and tick the word/i you
hear.
Listening text 4
1 The US Ambassador to Bangladesh considered Zainul
Abedin a
a great painter.
b popular painter.
c master painter.
d unique painter.
2 Zainul's ait gallery was set up in------.
a 1972.
b 1973.
c 1974.
d 1975.
3 The number of Zainul's artworks preserved in the
gallery is -----
a 53.
b 62.
c 65.
d 75.
4 The US Ambassador commented that the museum is a
global
a wealth.
b asset
c gift.
d treasure
5 The US Ambassador was in the gallery for
a 3 hours.
b 2 hours,
c 1 hour.
d Vi hour.
D. Listen to the text again and answer the
questions.
1 Where is Zainul's art gallery situated?
2 When did the Ambassador visit the gallery?
3 Who else were there with the Ambassador during
his visit?
4 Which artworks of Zainul did the Ambassador
specially mention?
5 How did the Ambassador feel after visiting the
gallery?
Lesson: 2 | The art of silence
A. Look at the above pictures of Partha Pratim Majumder. Work in pairs and discuss the following questions.
1 What is Partha Pratim Majumder doing in the two
pictures?
2 Describe his facial expressions.
3 Describe his physical features i.e. his age, how
he looks, what he is wearing, his hair style, etc.
Now write a short description of Partha Pratim
Majumder.
B. Read the text and choose the correct answer.
Before the beginning of human language,
communication took place between humans through signs and gestures. As humans
began to use their vocal chords, these silent gestures were no longer used as
the primary means of communication. But these did not completely disappear.
They evolved as a form of art which came to be known as 'mime'.
In a Bangladeshi village, a little boy came to know
about mime as he watched a performance in his village. He was so fascinated by
the show that he was determined to master this art. The name of that little boy
was Partha Pratim Majumder.
Majumder is undoubtedly a forerunner in the field
of mime in Bangladesh. He started as a musician and his keen sense of rhythm
helped him to let his limbs move and express his thoughts through gestures.
Partha Pratim Majumder is the first Bangladeshi to
take up mime as a profession. He performed in a number of television shows in
Bangladesh and gained popularity. In his mimes, Majumder depicted the
day-to-day life of the people-their sadness, tears as well as their happiness
and laughter.
Majumder's turning point came in 1979, when he was
asked to give a solo performance at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. The French
ambassador to Bangladesh at the time, Mr. Loic Moreau happened to be among the
audience. Mr. Moreau noticed the talent in Majumder. In 1981, the French
Government offered him a scholarship so that he could get professional training
in mime. This was the first time that a student was granted a French
scholarship in mime. Majumder started his training under the legendry maestro,
Etiene Decroux. Through Decroux, he met another celebrated mime artist named
Marcel Marceau. Marceau has transformed modern mime by taking it to an
unimaginable height.
Marceau was very impressed by the young Bangladeshi
talent and offered him a place in his school for mime, named 'Ecole
Internationale de Mimodrame de Paris Marcel Marceau1. This mime school is the
biggest and the best in the world.
During his three year training period, Majumder
practised 16-18 hours daily till each and every bone in his body would feel
like breaking.
After his time with Marceau, there was no looking
back for Majumder. He staged solo performances in England, Belgium, Germany,
Spain, Italy and the USA. French, Canadian and American TV channels
enthusiastically aired his shows.
In 2009, a French play featuring Majumder won the
"Moliere Award" which is the highest distinction in the French
Theatre
As a pioneer of the art of mime in Bangladesh and
for popularizing the artistic genre, Bangladesh Government honoured the artiste
with the "Ekushey Padok" in 2010.
The Government of France has also honoured him for
his contribution to the art of mime throughout the world with one of the
highest cultural awards of France titled "Chevalier de I' odre des Arts et
des Lettres" (Knight in the order of Arts and Letters) in the year 2011.
[Sources: The Star Magazine, a weekly publication
of The Daily Star, 27 January 2012 and Partha Pratim Majumder's Letter to
Chairman NCTB, 2 February 2013]
Questions: Choose the best answer.
1. Before the use of speech, communication took
place through........ language.
a) written
b) sign
c) spoken
d) art
2. In what form have the silent gestures evolved
into?
a) drama
b) cinema
c) mime
d) dance
3. In olden times the actors who performed mime
used to put white paint on their
a) limbs
b) body
c) face
d) hair
4. The word 'fascinated' in the second paragraph of
the text means
a) enchanetd
b) encouraged
c) silenced
e) upset
C. Read the text in B again. Say if the following
statements are true or false? If false, give the correct information.
1 The ancient Egyptian art shows that people at
that time interacted with one another through signs.
2 In ancient times, humans used a few words as the
primary means of interaction.
3 Partha Pratim Majumder is among the first few who
performed mime in Bangladesh.
4 The turning point in Majumder's life was when he
performed at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
5 Marcel Marceau's school of mime is in Barcelona.
D. Read the text in B again and write answers to
the questions.
1 What is*'mime'?
2 What helped Majumder to express himself clearly
while performing mime?
3 What did he depict through his performance at the
beginning?
4 Why was the French ambassador impressed when he
saw Majumder's performance?
5 Describe the awards in art and culture that
Majumder received. Why were they given to him?
E. Project: Do you know anyone who has skills to
perform a special feat?
Write about the person, covering the following
points.
• the first time the person came to know about it
• the time when the person began to practise it
• people who supported him/her
• his/her achievements/recognitions
If you do not know anyone, make a search and then
write about the person based on the above guideline.
Lesson: 3 | Flashback
A. Read the text and match column A with column B
below.
Partha Pratim Majumder was born in 1954 in Pabna to
a family of artistes. He spent most of his early years in his big ancestral
home, situated in a small locality known as Kalachandpara. At that time
Kalachandpara was well known for its cultural activities. There were festivals
and various types of cultural shows round the year. Majumder's father, a
photographer by profession was an art lover. He taught and inspired his son to
appreciate different forms of art.
Majumder went to live with his aunt in
Chandernagar, 30 kilometers away from Kolkata in 1966. It was there that he
first came across a mime artiste named Jogesh Dutta. The way Dutta narrated
stories without uttering a single word, left Majumder spellbound. He took
lessons on mime from Dutta in his mime academy in Kolkata from 1966 to 1972.
A
|
B
|
1.
Majumder was very much impressed
2.
He spent most of his childhood
3.
His father loved
4.
The people of his locality
5.
His father made
|
a.
loved art.
b.
him value all forms of arts.
c.
in his own village.
d.
were culturally active.
e.
when he saw Dutta's performance.
|
B. Read the statements below and form appropriate
questions for each statement.
1 The birth place of Partha Pratim Majumder is in
Pabna.
2 He was born in 1954.
3 He belonged to a culturally enlightened family.
4 Majumder's father inspired him to value art.
5 His forefathers' home was in Kalachandpara.
6 He spent his childhood enjoying different
cultural activities.
C. Listen to the Audio and complete the chart about
Partha Pratim Majumder.
Listening text 5
Year
|
Achievement
|
From
where?
|
Lesson: 4 | The beginning
A. Read the text and choose the best answer.
It was late summer, 26 August 1910. A little girl
was bom to a rich Catholic merchants' family of Albanian descent in a small
town called Skopje, Macedo¬nia. She was the youngest of the three siblings and
was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Who could imagine at the time that this little
girl would one day become the mother of humanity, loving and serving the
poorest of the poor. Yes, we are talking about none other than Mother Teresa.
At the age of 12, she heard a voice from within
that urged her to spread the love of Christ. She decided that she would be a
missionary. At the age of 18 she left her parental home. She then joined an
Irish community of nuns called the Sisters of Loreto, which had missions in
India.
After a few months of training at the Institute of
the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, Mother Teresa came to India. On May 24,
1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa
taught geography and theology at St. Mary's High School in Kolkata (then
Calcutta). However, the widespread poverty in Kolkata had a deep impact on
Mother Teresa and in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave
the convent and devote herself to caring for the poorest of the poor in the
slums of Kolkata.
1. What does ' mother of humanity' mean in the
text?
a a good mother
b a kind mother who has many children
c a mother who likes humans
d a mother figure who serves the poor like her own
children
2. Why did Mother Teresa want to be a missionary?
Because she heard
a the voice of her neighbours discussing it
b a voice in her dream.
c a voice within herself.
d the voice of her parents talking about it
3. Mother Teresa set out to join the missionary of
the Sisters of Loretoin the year
a 1927.
b 1928.
c 1929.
d 1930.
4. Mother Teresa took her first vows as a nun at
the age of
a 18.
b 19.
c 20.
d 21.
B. Read the text in A again and answer the
questions.
1 Where did Mother Teresa's ancestors come from?
2 Where was her father's home?
3 Why did she want to become a missionary?
4 What made her different from other girls at such
an early age? What words and expressions are used in the text to describe this
difference?
5 What did Mother Teresa do in the first seventeen
years in India?
C. Look at the picture and talk about her in pairs
Take the help of the questions given below.
1 How old is she? Why do you think so?
2 What is she wearing?
3 How has she worn it?
Lesson: 5 | The missionary
A. Listen to the Audio and fill in the gaps.
Listening text 6
To prepare herself to work with the________ ,Mother
Teresa look an inlensive medical________ with the American Medical Missionary
Sisters in________ India. Her first course of action in Kolkata was to________
children from die slums and start to teach them. Financial support and
volunteers came________ to give a hand to Mother Teresa in her work for________
. In 950 her group, now called the Missionaries of Charity, received________
starus as a religious community. Members took the________ vows of poverty,
chastity (purity), and________ , but they added a fourth vow — to give free
________ to the most poor.
The Missionaries of Charity received________
publicity, and Mother Teresa used it to________ her work. In 1957 they began to
work with lepers (those suffering from leprosy, which is a terrible infectious
disease). Gradually from one school they________ to nine elementary schools in
Kolkata. They also opened a home for________ and abandoned children. Soon
they were in more than Indian cities. Mother Teresa also visited other________
such as Sri Lanka, Australia. Tanzania, Venezuela and Italy to
begin new foundations.
Mother Teresa's group________ to expand throughout
the 1970s. They opened new________ in places such as Amman, Jordan, London,
________ ; and New York. By 1979 Mother Teresa's groups
had more than________ different operations in over
twenty-five countries around the world, with dozens more ventures to follow.
B. Read the completed text and say if the following
statements are true or false. If false, give the correct information.
1 Mother Teresa took a thorough medical training
from the USA.
2 At first she collected children from the streets
and gave them food and clothing.
3 She and her group started to look after and care
for the lepers.
4 It took them a long time to go to other cities of
India.
5 Mother Teresa went to several countries.
C. Read the text in A again and complete the
chart given below.
Dates
|
Events
|
D. Read the text in A again and answer the
following questions.
1 What did Mother Teresa initially do before
beginning to work for humanity?
2 How many vows did the Missionaries of Charity
take? What were they?
3 What did Mother Teresa and her group do? Now
write the answers in your exercise book.
E. Do you know anyone in your locality who helps
the needy and does so to make others happy? Write a short composition about
him/her.
Lesson: 6 | Love for humanity
Mother Teresa was moved by the sight of the sick
and dying on the streets of Kolkata. She founded a home for the dying destitute
and named it 'Nirmal Hriday', meaning 'Pure Heart'. She and her fellow nuns
brought the dying people off the streets of Kolkata to this home. They were lovingly
looked after and cared for. Since then many men, women and children have been
taken from the streets and carried to Nirmol Hriday. These unloved and uncared
for people get an opportunity to die in an environment of kindness and
love.
In their last hours they get human and divine love,
and can feel they are also children of God. The Missionaries of Charity try to
find jobs for those who survive, or send them to homes where they can live
happily for some more years in a caring environment. Regarding commitment to
family, Mother Teresa said, "May be in our own family, we have somebody,
who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who is feeling worried.
Are we there? Are we willing to give until it hurts
in order to be with our families, or do we put our interest first? We must
remember that love begins at home and we must also remember that future of
humanity passes through the family".
Mother Teresa's work has been recognised throughout
the world and she received a number of awards. These include the Pope John
XXIII Peace Prize (1971) , the Nehru Prize for Promotion of International Peace
& Understanding (1972) , the Balzan Prize (1978), the Nobel Peace Prize
(1979) and the Bharat Ratna(1980).
Mother Teresa died at the age of 87, on 5 September
1997.The world salutes her for her love and compassion for humanity. She has
taught us how to extend our hand towards those who need our love and support
irrespective of creed, caste and religion. The picture of Mother Teresa, draped
in a white and blue-bordered sari, with a wrinkled face, ever soft eyes and a
saintly smile, lives on in our mind.
C. Now say whether the following statements are
true or false. If false, give the correct information.
1 Mother Teresa was moved to see the diseases that
spread in the streets of Kolkata.
2 She opened a home for the orphans.
3 She and her group brought in the dying people
from the streets of Kolkata.
4 'Nirmal Hriday' was founded so that the poor
people who are dying can get love and care before death.
5 Mother Teresa said that humanity passes through
charitable organizations.
6 We have learnt from Mother Teresa how to come
forward to help only those who belong to a special caste.
D. Read the text in B again and write the answer to
the following questions in your exercise book.
1 Why do you think Mother Teresa won so many
awards?
2 What does 'Nirmal Hriday' stand for?
3 Why do you think the home is named 'Nirmal
Hriday'?
4 Why did Mother Teresa want the dying people to
feel that they too deserve care and love?
5 What are the things that we have learnt from
Mother Teresa?
Lesson: 7 | The wizard of Apple
1 What do you see?
2 Are you familiar with this logo?
3 What does this logo stand for?
4 Which company uses this logo for its products?
5 Do you know the logo of any Bangladeshi product?
6 Do you like it? Why/Why not?
B. Read about Steve Jobs.
Steven Paul Jobs (24 February 1955 - 5 October
2011) , most popularly known as Steve Jobs was the co-founder, chairman and chief
executive officer of Apple Inc. He was the pioneer of the personal computer
revolution. He was famous for his career in the electronic field of computers
and consumers. This became possible through the marketing of Apple computers.
In 1985, Jobs left Apple after losing a power
battle with the board of directors. He then founded NeXT, a computer platform
development company specializing in the higher education and business market.
Apple, however failed to bring up any new operating system during Job's absence.
Jobs returned to Apple as an adviser, and took control of the company as an
interim CEO. By 1998, Jobs brought Apple back to profitability from the verge
of bankruptcy. He supervised the development of iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone and
iPad. These devices are so simple and user friendly that even a child can
operate them.
He supervised the company's Apple Stores, iTunes
Stores and the App Stores too. The success of these products and services
brought about steady financial returns for several years and pushed Apple to
become the world's most valuable publicly traded company in 2011. This triumph
is regarded as the greatest turnarounds in the business history.
Steve Jobs has been highly acclaimed as a visionary
leader. He has changed people's perspective towards the computer and how they
use it, consume personal media and how they communicate with each other. Hence
iBooks, iPhones, iPods and iPads have become extremely popular. Jobs saw and
felt the need of Wi-Fi (wireless Internet connection) in laptops. It is he who
made Wi-Fi a standard feature of every laptop, and of many other devices
worldwide. So Jobs' dream to be anywhere anytime became a reality.
Jobs also co-founded and served as chief executive
of Pixar Animation Studios. He became a member of the board of directors of The
Walt Disney Company in 2006, when Disney acquired Pixar.
C. True or false? If false, give the correct
information.
1 Jobs spent his entire career working for Apple.
2 He became famous because he knew how to market
computers and keep the buyers happy.
3 He became the chairman of The Walt Disney
Company.
4 Jobs left Apple in 2001.
5 Jobs was a visionary.
D. Read the text in B again and answer the
following qustions.
1 Write about Jobs' successful career.
2 What does 'power battle' mean?
3 How did Jobs manage to bring Apple back to
profitability ?
4 Why was he called a visionary?
5 Why did Jobs feel that Wi-Fi connection was
needed in laptops?
E. Pairwork: Write a dialogue about the
contribution of Steve Jobs on ICT and do a role play.
Lesson: 8 | Jobs' childhood
A. Read the text and write answers to the questions
that follow.
A car mechanic Paul Jobs and his wife Clara Jobs
adopted Steve who was abandoned at birth. Paul and Clara loved Steve very much.
They made him feel that he was 'chosen' and very 'special'.
One of his colleagues, Del Yocam said about Steve,
"I think his desire for complete control of whatever he makes derives
directly from his personality and from the fact that he was abandoned at
birth."
Jobs' mother taught him how to read and write
before he went to the elementary school. So when he went to school, he found
out that he knew everything that the teachers were teaching. He got bored and
played pranks to keep himself busy. This continued for the first few years. It
was clear from his behaviour that he could not accept other people's authority.
He said, "I encountered authority of a different kind that I have never
encountered before, and I did not like it."
A turning point came when he was in grade four. His
teacher Imogene Hill watched him very closely for some time and soon found out
how to handle him and get things done by him. In order to get things done she
used to give him money and food. One day after school, she gave Jobs a workbook
with math problems in it. She said,"I want you to take it home and do
this." She showed Jobs a huge lollipop and said, "When you are done
with it, if you get it mostly right, I will give you this and five dollars.
"Within two days, Jobs solved the math problem and returned the book to
his teacher.
This continued for a couple of months and Jobs
enjoyed learning so much that he did not need any return. Also he liked his
teacher very much and wanted to please her. In Ms. Hill's class, Jobs felt he
was special. At the end of the fourth grade, Jobs did very well. It was clear
not only to Jobs and his parents but also to the teachers that he was
exceptionally intelligent. The school proposed that Jobs should skip two
classes and go into the seventh grade. This would mean that Jobs would find the
study challenging and he would be motivated to study. His parents had him skip
only one grade.
Source: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Questions
1 What do the words 'chosen' and 'special' mean in
the text. Explain.
2 Why didn't Jobs enjoy school?
3 What did he do to keep himself entertained?
4 Why couldn't Jobs accept other people's authority
at school? Why hadn't he come across other people's authority before?
5 Why did Jobs have the wish to control everything?
6 How did Jobs' teacher Imogene Hill keep him busy?
B. Match the words with their meanings as used in
the context.
Words
|
Meanings
|
adopted
|
deserted /left alone
|
abandoned
|
encourage
|
encounter
|
power
|
authority
|
mischiefs
|
pranks
|
legal y took and raised another's child
|
motivate
|
face
|
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