10 NCERT ENGLISH THINKING ABOUT LANGUAGE

Thinking about Language Question I: 1.     This play has been translated into English from the Russian original. Are there any expressions or ways of speaking that strike you as more Russian than English? For example, would an adult man be addressed by an older man as my darling or my treasure in an English play? Read through the play carefully, and find expressions that you think are not used in contemporary English, an d contrast these with idiomatic modern English expressions that also occur in the play. 2.     Look up the following words in a dictionary and find out how to pronounce them. Pay attention to how many syllables there are in each word, and find out which syllable is stressed, or said more forcefully . palpitations           pedigree malicious accustomed interfere principle embezzlement temporary implore evidence architect behavior thorough bred ...

Thinking about Language Question  I: This text is written in an old-fashioned style, for it reports an incident more than two millennia old. Look for the following words and phrases in the text, and try to rephrase them in more current language, based on how you understand them. •      give thee medicine for thy child •      Pray tell me •      Kisa repaired to the Buddha •      there was no house but someone had died in it •      Kinsmen •      M ark! Answer  1: >     Give you medicine for your child. >     Please tell me. >     Kisa went to the Buddha. >     There was no single house that had not lost a person. >     Kith and Kin...

Thinking about Language   Question : 1. What was Valli's deepest desire? Find the words and phrases in the story that tell you this. 2.     How did Valli plan her bus ride? What did she find out about the bus, and how did she save up the fare? 3.     What kind of a person is Valli? To Answer this Question, pick out the following sentences from the text and fill in the blanks. The words you fill in are the clues to your Answer. (i)    "Stop the bus! Stop the bus!" And a tiny hand was raised      _ (ii)   "Yes, I     go to town," said Valli, still standing outside the bus. (iii)  "There's nobody here      " she said haughtily. "I've paid my thirty paise like everyone else." (iv)  "Never mind," she said, "I can       . You don't have to help me...

Thinking about Language   Describing a Repeated Action in the Past To talk about something that happened regularly in th e past, but does not happen any longer, we use would or used to. Both would and used to can describe repeated actions in the past. (a)    Mij would follow me withou t a lead and come to me when I called his name. (b)   He would play for hours with a selection of toys. (c)    On his way home ... Mij would tug me to this wall. (d)   When I was five years old, I used to follow my brother all over the place. (e)    He used to tease me when Mother was not around. To describe repeated states or situations in the past, h owever, we use only used to. (We cannot use would for states or situations in the past.) So we do not use would with verbs like be, have, believe, etc. Look at the following sentences. (a)    When we...