Prescribed by the National Curriculm & Textbook Board as a Textbook from the academic session 2013 ENGLISH FOR TODAY Classes 9-10 Writers Raihana Shams Md. Zulfeqar Haider Goutam Roy Surajit Roy Majumder Md Abdur Razzaque Naina Shahzadi Editor M S Hoque NATIONAL CURRICULUM & TEXTBOOK BOARD, DHAKA Published by National Curriculum & Textbook Board 69-70, Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka [All rights reserved by the publisher] Trial Edition First Publication : October 2012 Text Developement Coordinator Mohammad Humayun Kabir Computer Compose Laser Scan Ltd. Cover Sudarshan Bachar Sujaul Abedeen Illustrations Prohlad Karmaker Design National Curriculum & Textbook Board For Free Distribution for academic year 2010 by the Government of Bangladesh. Printed by : Preface The secondary curriculum has been revised in the light of National Education Policy 2010, which emphasises learning English as an intarntional language for communicating locally and globally. The English For Today textbooks have been developed to help students attain competency in all four language skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. The development of curriculum, syllabus and textbook is a continuous process. In continuation of it, this book has been developed and rationally evaluated by a group of experts, which included curriculum specialists, subject specialists, teacher trainers and classroom teachers. The contents and illustrations of this book have been developed in order to suit the learners' age and cognitive level. The book emphasises practising language skills through a variety of meaningful and enjoyable activities. The publication of teacher's guide is under process. The teacher's guide will help teachers plan lessons more effectively and teach students communicatively through teaching learning activities. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the curriculum developers, writers, illustrators and coordinator who worked under tremendous time constraints. Without their sincerity, commitment and hard work, it would not have been possible for NCTB to develop the English textbook 'English For Today', making it available to teachers and students all over the country by January 2013. As the textbook was developed within a very limited time, there is room for further development. Attempts have been made to make the book free from errors as far as possible. Any constructive suggestions for the improvement of the textbook will be welcomed and incorporated in future editions. I also sincerely thank all involved in the production and publication of this textbook. If this book is used properly, it will no doubt facilitate learning English at the desired level. Prof. Md. Mostafa Kamaluddin Chairman National Curriculum & Textbook Board Dhaka Content Unit Title Page No. Unit One Good citizens 1 Unit Two Pastime 15 Unit Three Events and festivals 32 Unit Four Are we aware? 47 Unit five Climate change 65 Unit Six Our neighbours 81 Unit Seven People who stand out 103 Unit Eight World heritage 124 Unit Nine Unconventional jobs 136 Unit Ten Dreams 146 Unit Eleven Renewable energy 157 Unit Twelve Roots 171 Unit Thirteen Media and e-communications 186 Unit Fourteen Pleasure and purpose 198 Unit One Good citizens Learning outcomes After we have studied the unit, we will be able to narrate incidents. participate in discussions. listen and understand others. describe something in writing. English For Today 2 Lesson 1: Can you live alone? A Look at the pictures and discuss in pairs the following questions. 1 Can you live alone in a house? 2 Make a list of the problems you think you will have if you live alone in a house, e.g. having accidents, cooking, etc. Picture 1 Picture 2 B Read the story and answer the questions that follow. Long ago, a young man found life in the family in his village full of problems and sufferings. Quarrels, ill-feelings, jealously, enmity - all were part of everyday life there. So he left his house and went to a jungle to live by himself. There he made a nice little hut with wood, bamboo and reeds. “Ah, how happy I am here!” said the man to himself. But one day he found some mice in his hut. The little creatures soon made holes in his blanket. So he brought a cat to kill the mice. The cat needed milk. So he brought a cow. The cow needed grass and hay. So he brought a cowboy. English For Today 3 The cowboy needed food. So he took a wife to cook meals. Then children were born to them, and the man found himself again in a family. So nobody can live alone, unless they are either angels or devils. People need food, shelter, companions and cooperation. They need to help each other. And if they live in a family or community, their need can be fulfilled. Hence living in society can make people good and happy citizens. C (Books shut) What five things did the young man do in the jungle? Now divide into groups of five. Tell the story to the groups sequentially. D Answer these questions. First discuss in pairs, then write the answers individually. 1 Why did the young man leave his house? 2 Where did he make a hut? What did he make the hut with? 3 Was the man happy in his hut? 4 How did he find himself again in a family? 5 Where and how can a person be happy? 6 What is the moral of the story? E Look at the pictures (a---j). Read the following texts (1---10) and match the pictures with the texts. Write the numbers of the texts next to a, b, c, etc. The first one is done for you. 4 English For Today a … ……. b …………. c ………….. d …………. e ………… f ………….. g …………. h …………. i …………… j ………… English For Today 5 1 As people live in a community or society, they often have problems. A family may have a problem with a particular member (a son / daughter) who keeps bad company. So they discuss to solve the problem. 2 To prevent theft or robberies, constant security measures are often necessary within the village / city area. 3 A community may have a problem like they don’t have a primary school in the village or locality. So the people need to discuss the issue in a meeting and find out how to set up a school for their children. 4 Cooking should not be exclusively a woman’s job. 5 Young learners must cultivate virtues and acquire knowledge and skills to prepare themselves to carry out their roles as good citizens. So they need to study formally in the institutions. 6 To establish peace and harmony among the people in a locality / village, often experienced, elderly people mediate between quarrelling people. 7 Only studying at school is not enough for the young learners. They must also acquire knowledge and skills at home as well as from media, clubs, sports, libraries and so on. 8 The people in a society / locality often need to buy things at home. So there are vendors selling necessary things. 9 In a village or locality often roads need reservicing for easy movement of people and transport. 10 Side by side with acquiring knowledge and skills, the youths must cultivate good qualities like having genuine sympathy for the weak and the poor, helping the needy, showing respect for others and having a strong sense of dignity of work. F Discuss in pairs and write an answer to this question: What can we do at home and in the locality to become good citizens? 6 English For Today Lesson 2: Knowledge, skills and attitudes A Discuss in groups this question: What do you need in addition to food, shelter, company, etc. to become a good citizen? B Read the text. To be a good citizen, you have to prepare yourself to do good work in society. Well, then how can you prepare yourself? First, you need knowledge. Today’s society is knowledge-based. Without knowing modern sciences, technologies including ICT and other necessary subjects, you will have difficulty living a good life. The other areas you, as a good citizen, should have knowledge about are: our country, its constitution, geography and people our state, its executive and legislative powers our judicial system our government and its structures and functions our history, cultures, traditions, literature, moral values and religions our socio-economic activities and educational system Second, you need skills to do things. Knowledge is not enough. You must be able to apply your knowledge to do things practically. Finally, knowing and doing things will bring about a change in your behaviour towards others. This behavioural change will show your attitudes towards others, that is, it will show how you think and feel about a person or thing. English For Today 7 Let’s take an example. Suppose you, as a student, need to know about ‘group work’ in the classroom. So you ask yourself or your teacher or anybody, “What is group work?” Or you may find about it in a book. In this way, you can know, or you may have the knowledge, about group work: To do group work, the class has to be divided into groups. Each group is to do some tasks given by the teacher or in the textbook. The group members will discuss and share ideas and points, and finally one member will write the answer. All this is knowledge about group work. Then you start working in groups. In each group you take turns discussing points, answering questions, etc. In this way you actually do the task. Your teacher may monitor and help you to do the work. Lastly, through regular group work it is expected that there will be noticeable changes in your behaviour. Possible changes are: You will develop the attitude of freely mixing and talking with your classmates and teacher.