Weekly Bulletin – Level 2 Issue 6 November 2016
Developing Career Skills
Better Employment for a Better Life
Exercise 1
Read the following text, filling in the blanks with suitable conjunctions of time. Use at
least three different conjunctions.
Alexander The Great
Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia. Greeks like to say that he was Greek but
he was in fact Macedonian. At that time the Greeks, who were educated and
prosperous, thought of the Macedonians as very different.
Alexander’s father Philip was a strong king who increased the power of the
Macedonian kingdom. His mother was Olympias a princess of Epirus. Both of his
parents wanted the best of everything for their son so, when Alexander was only 13
years old, they hired the great philosopher and teacher, Aristotle, as his tutor.
Aristotle taught the young boy Science, Medicine and Philosophy all of which
Alexander continued to study in his later life. Unfortunately Aristotle and Alexander
quarrelled later on because of their differences of opinion on the status of foreigners.
Aristotle saw all foreigners as barbarians, uneducated and uncivilized people, while
Alexander wanted to include foreigners as well as Macedonians as full citizens of the
great empire which he established.
It can be seen that Alexander had a brilliant mind which was always open to new and
unusual ideas. He was a military genius and this was seen in his conquests as far
away as India.
……… Alexander was 16 Philip went off to fight and left his son in charge of
Macedonia. This decision shows that he knew how capable his son could be. Four
years later, in 336 BC, Philip died and Alexander became king. Some of the areas
Philip had conquered thought that such a young man would not be a strong king, and
they could get rid of Macedonian rule. But Alexander quickly defeated Thebes, which
was the first city to go against him, and he treated the Thebans very harshly so no one
else dared to revolt.
………… Greece was safely under his control, he began his conquest of the world. First
he crossed over from Europe into Asia and marched against the great Persian Empire,
and in 334 BC he defeated Darius the 3rd. He always treated defeated Kings with
respect. …… he found Darius had been killed by the Persians themselves, he gave him
a royal burial. He then married a Persian Princess and made it clear that he saw the
Persians as partners of his empire, not a conquered race. He then conquered Egypt
and founded Alexandria which became one of the ancient world’s greatest and most
prosperous cities.
Unit 6
Study Focus
• Relative Pronouns and
Clauses
• Making Chronological Charts
• Reflexive Pronouns and
Reflexive Verbs
• Pauses and Emphases for
Effective Speaking
• Mapping
Important Announcement
In previous Units we have
practiced what are known as Soft
Skills, namely skills that help us to
work more effectively. Most
important of these perhaps is the
ability to communicate with other
people, to react positively to them
and to encourage them to react
positively to you. But it is also
important to work systematically,
and for this you must learn to think
systematically. There are two
important exercises here to
develop this, putting events in
order and then putting ideas in
order.
In 327 BC Alexander invaded India and defeated King Porus, a powerful ruler of the
area across the Indus river. There is a story that Porus was brought in chains before
Alexander who asked him, “How shall I treat you?” “As a King,” Porus answered
proudly. Alexander was impressed and allowed Porus to govern his former kingdom in
his name.
Unfortunately Alexander’s troops were now tired. Alexander was spending a great deal
of time talking to Indian philosophers and wise men. He was developing a reputation
for being a wise man himself as well as a fearless conqueror. The troops however
wanted to go home, and in the end Alexander had to give in to their request. He continued his explorations on the way back,
however, and he and his troops marched back ……. his admiral Nearchus explored the Persian gulf.
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Sadly, Alexander died soon after he got to Babylon, in present day Iraq. He was only 33 at the time. …….. he died he had not
designated a successor and his empire fell apart. However, apart from the memory of his achievements, he left behind much
that has influenced the world. The many cities that he founded continued to be centres of culture and civilization from Egypt to
Central Asia. Buddhist statues were transformed by his introduction of Greek models, to create a new style called Gandhara art.
And still in Pakistan there are tribes who claim to be descended from the great Iskander and his soldiers.
Exercise 2
Find answers to these questions in the text.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
Where was Alexander born?
Who was his tutor?
How old was Alexander when he became King?
Whom did he defeat first?
Whom did he defeat first when he set out to conquer the world?
In which country was King Porus?
Why did Alexander turn back after his victory in India?
Who was Nearchus?
Where is Babylon?
What is Gandhara art?
Exercise 3
To what do the pronouns italicized above refer? You may need to think carefully about the sense to understand the difference
between the two occurrences of ‘his’ near each other.
Note the two pronouns that are underlined. These are called relative pronouns. They link two sentences together, and you will
later study how this is done. For now, remember that both ‘who’ and ‘which’ are pronouns. The first refers to people, and the
second to animals and things. The object form of ‘who’ is ‘whom’ and the possessive form is ‘whose’. Learn to recognize these
when you find them in your reading, and to identify to whom or what they refer.
Say whether or not the following sentences are correctly constructed. Correct those that are wrong.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
I read the book which you gave me.
The teacher whom we like best has gone to another school.
The students which practiced hard did well in the sports meet.
The girl who book I borrowed is absent today.
The school whom we attended has classes only till Grade 9.
Murali who took five wickets became Man of the Match.
Venus, who is the Morning Star, is also the Evening Star.
Everest, which is the highest mountain in the world, is in the Himalayas.
The girl whom captains the netball team also did best in the Ordinary Level Exam.
The lady whose watch I found was very grateful.
Exercise 4
Give the meanings of the words highlighted in the text. Meanings for five of them are given here, but you should work out the
meanings of the others. Sometimes the meaning is indicated by other words in the passage.
Rich, navy commander, very clever man, appointed, position
Exercise 5
Ask questions to which the underlined phrases provide answers. Begin your questions with the following words – how, where,
when, whom, what
Exercise 6
Make sentences, with the name of a King as the subject, based on the passage and using these prepositions – of, in, by, from,
against – matching them with nouns from this list – Babylon, Porus, Persians, Persia, Aristotle
Identify five other prepositions that occur in this passage and use them in sentences of your own.
Exercise 7
Rewrite the second and third paragraphs of the text in the present tense.
Identify the full verbs in the second paragraph with their subjects, and say which of them take objects and which complements.
Exercise 8
Draw up a chronological chart of the events of Alexander’s life. Have columns for the years in which various events took place
and how old he was at these times.
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Exercise 9
Mark on a map the various places mentioned in this passage. How many of them are in present day Greece? Write down the
various countries that you find now on the route Alexander would have taken from Macedonia to India.
Note that, though there is now a country called Macedonia, present day Greece also has a Province called Macedonia, and it
was in this Province that Philip had his kingdom and Alexander was born.
Exercise 10
Look at the two phrases that are highlighted and italicized in the text above. They include another type of pronoun, which is
known as a reflexive pronoun.
Study the following table, filling in the blanks with regard to the pronouns you have learnt already.
Subject
I
Possessive
Adjective
You
Us
You
Reflexive
His
Hers
Its
Theirs
Myself
Yourself
Himself
Herself
Itself
Ourselves
Yourselves
Themselves
The reflexive pronoun is used for two different purposes. One is for emphasis, when you want to stress the noun to which it
refers. Thus, in the examples above, you want to emphasize first, that Darius was killed by his own people the Persians, second
that it was significant that Alexander, a famous soldier, was also known as a wise man.
The second usage is when the subject of the sentence recurs in the sentence, usually as the object, but sometimes after a
preposition. Look at the following sentences –
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
I hurt myself when I fell.
She went by herself to Galle.
He bought the tickets for his sister and himself.
I asked myself whether I really needed so much tuition.
They blamed themselves for the defeat.
Similar to this is the use of reflexive pronouns with what are known as reflexive verbs. There are very few of these, but you
should try to use them correctly. The most common of these is ‘enjoy’ which is a transitive verb, ie it must take an object. If you
use it referring to the subject’s own general enjoyment, you must follow it with a reflexive pronoun.
The following are all correct –
1.
2.
3.
4.
I enjoyed the music but I thought the dancing was terrible.
She enjoyed herself at the party.
He enjoyed the match even though we lost.
Enjoy yourselves at the concert, but come back early.
The following however are wrong
1. I enjoyed at the party.
2. She enjoyed with her sister while they were in Kandy.
Similar verbs are ‘interest’ and ‘concern’. You can say either
1. I am interested in cricket.
2. She was concerned about the refugees.
Or
1. I interest myself in cricket.
2. She concerns herself with the refugees.
But it is wrong to say
1. I interest in cricket.
2. She concerns about the refugees.
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Say whether the following sentences are correct. Correct those that are wrong. Identify whether reflexive pronouns have been
used for emphasis, or as a necessary part of the sentence.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
I made myself a sandwich.
She made the sandwiches herself.
They studied by themselves for the examination.
I found the answers myself, by looking up an encyclopaedia.
He himself invited them to the party, though he knew he would not enjoy if they came.
The Chairman of the Selectors appointed himself captain, though he himself had decided to retire a few months earlier.
Since the Treasurer himself has said our income will be large this year, you concern too much about the expenditure.
He designed the house himself, including the doors that close by themselves.
My mother herself gives him tuition, but my brother does not interest in his studies.
He cut himself on the pieces of the mirror which he himself had broken.
Pauses and Emphases
If you stop in the wrong place when you speak, you can cause much confusion. Examples of what can happen are shown very
clearly in a passage written by Shakespeare, whom many think the greatest writer in the world. He mainly wrote plays, and in
one of them he introduced a group of people who were putting on a play. But they were not professional actors, and their
phrasing was not always correct.
Here are two extracts from the passage in which they ask pardon from the audience if they got things wrong. The punctuation is
wrong, and gives the opposite idea from what they intend. Can you correct them? The first extract should consist of just one
sentence, the second extract of two sentences. Remember that capital letters are used at the beginning of lines in poetry, so
you should not replace these with simple letters even if they do not start a new sentence.
If we offend, it is with our good will.
That you should think we come not to offend,
But with good will. To show our simple skill,
(Four corrections needed)
Our true intent is. All for your delight
We are not here. That you should here repent you,
(Six corrections needed)
As you can see from the above, the points at which we pause can affect the meaning of what we intend to communicate. In
addition, we can use pauses for effect or emphasis.
There are many ways in which we can emphasize a particular word or phrase to attract the listener’s attention to it. Among
these are.




Saying the word louder
Pausing before or after the important word
Using a gesture to emphasise what we are saying
Using facial expression
Remember that a pause in the right place at the right time gives YOU:



time to breathe
time to consider what it is you’re going to say next
time to receive, and digest the feedback you’re getting from your audience
A pause in the right place at the right time gives YOUR AUDIENCE:



time to let the images or ideas you’ve given them ‘flower’ in their minds
time to summarize what’s been said
time to prepare for what may be coming next
Read the following passage aloud quickly, pausing as little as possible, only to make sure you do not tangle up the words. Then
read it carefully, with suitable pauses to make clear what you are saying and to emphasize what you think is important.
If a Hottentot taught a Hottentot tot
To talk ere the tot could totter,
Ought the Hottenton tot
Be taught to say aught, or naught,
Or what ought to be taught her?
If to hoot and to toot a Hottentot tot
Be taught by her Hottentot tutor,
Ought the tutor get hot
If the Hottentot tot
Hoots and toots at her Hottentot tutor?
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Conversation – At the market
Pretend you are at the market. Fill in the blanks in the following sentences with suitable words from the list below. Then divide
into pairs and construct and practise your own dialogue at the market.
How much are the ……….?
They cost 60 ……. for a kilo.
Please ……. me 500 ……… What about the dried …….?
That ……. 300 rupees for a ………
That’s too expensive. How much are the sprats?
They’re 200 rupees a kilo.
Give me ……. a kilo. I also need four ………How ……… is one?
………… rupees.
So four will be sixty. That’s too ……. Give me three.
Anything …….?
Yes, I’d like some gotukola to make a ………. How much is a ………?
Just ……… rupees.
That’s very ……. Give me two bundles.
That will be 20 rupees. And …… we have a special ……. for yoghurt. You get three cups for the price of two.
No, thank you. I make ……… at home myself.
coconuts, today, costs, give, ten, kilo, much, rupees, fish, cheap, brinjals, grams, mallun, curd, expensive, deal, else, bundle,
fifteen, half,
Present the dialogue so that the seller sounds persuasive to the buyer. You may add words or phrases to create a positive
effect.
Technical Descriptions
A hammer
A hammer is an important tool in many trades. It is a hand tool. It delivers a blow to an object. It is used to drive nails, fit parts,
forge metal, and break objects apart. It consists of a handle and a heavy head. The head is made of metal. The handle is made
from wood, steel or composite materials. Wooden handles can be replaced when worn or damaged. The handle of the hammer
helps in several ways. It keeps the user’s hands away from the point of impact. It provides a broad area for gripping by the hand.
The handle allows the user to maximize the speed of the head on each blow.
Read the above passage and name the two parts of a hammer
•
•
This passage is in the present tense.
Divide the underlined verbs (except for the first ‘be’ verb) into active and passive.
A trowel
Now look at the trowel that is pictured below and write a paragraph about it, on
the above pattern. You can use the words and phrases that are given.
•
•
•
•
•
A tool
Pointed metal blade and a handle
For breaking up earth, digging small holes
Used by masons
For breaking bricks, levelling, spreading, or shaping substances such
as cement, plaster or motor.
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A Cooling System
The picture given below is a cooling system of a car. Look at the picture carefully and read the passage on the cooling system to
understand how the system functions. Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the given verbs as you read.
The cooling system of a car ___________ (are designed, is designed) to dispel the heat generated by the internal combustion
engine. Although some cars______ (have, has) air-cooled engines, most _____ (have, had) water-cooled engines.
The water-cooled system _________ (consisting, consists) of a radiator, a fan and a fan belt, radiator hoses, a water pump, a
thermostat, and water jacks around each cylinder in the engine block. Propelled by the water pump, water mixed with antifreeze
________ (circulates, circulated) through the engine block and _________ (flowed, flows) through hoses to the radiator, where it
_________ (are cooled, is cooled). In the radiator, water _______ (flew, flows) through tubes cooled by air drawn through the
radiator by the fan. A fan belt ________ (passes, passing) through pulleys on the crankshaft and the fan, rotating the fan, which
in turn (operates, operated) the water pump. The thermostat _________ (controlling, controls) the water temperature; it
_________ (opens, opened) a valve that lets water pass through the cooling system once the water in the engine block
___________________ (has reached, reaching) a set temperature.
Further exercises
Get into pairs and select one of the following - Shovel, Mouse, Hand Saw – find information about it if you do not know enough
already, and write a paragraph describing it.
In groups, write an account of a refrigerator or of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) on the pattern of the one you read about a
Cooling System. Find information if you do not have it already. Present your account to the class and answer questions.
Conversation
The class has decided to find out more about Alexander’s journey. Fill in the blanks in this conversation with suitable words
taken from the list below or, in the case of proper nouns, from the passage.
Teacher
Students
Teacher
Students
Teacher
:
:
:
:
:
Students :
Teacher
:
Students :
Teacher :
First, Alexander went …… from Macedonia into Greece.
Then he ……. the Aegean Sea and landed in Turkey.
In which ……… is Turkey?
Turkey is in Asia whereas Greece is in ……….
Alexander defeated Darius in Turkey. Darius was King of …., which is now known as Iran. However, instead of going
straight there, Alexander went down the Mediterranean …… into Egypt where he founded the city of ………
Then he turned back and marched ……. towards Persia where he took over the ……. of Darius. After that he went
south east to ……...
Actually first he went north east into Central Asia, which is an area of high……. He built several new ……… there, and
only then did he go south again and cross the …… river into India.
Then he conquered Porus, but after that his soldiers wanted to get back home.
But it was a long and tiring ………, for he took them through the ………. Many of them died of thirst, before the army
finally got back to the cities of Persia.
coast, desert, cities, mountains, throne, journey, crossed, south, east, continent
Looking at a map of Sri Lanka, construct and act out a dialogue in which one of you describes a journey from Kalutara to
Trincomalee while the others ask questions. You may ask about the towns that you pass on the journey and the rivers you cross.
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More Exploration
Exercise 13
Read the following passage, filling in the blanks in the first five paragraphs with suitable relative pronouns or conjunctions. Find
two clauses where relative pronouns have to be understood.
Fill in the blanks in the last four paragraphs with suitable prepositions or pronouns.
America and the beginnings of European rule
The Europeans discovered America because they were looking for India. ….. the Turks conquered Constantinople, they did not
allow Europeans to trade with Asia through the countries they now ruled, as had happened earlier. Especially for the Western
Europeans, the restrictions on travel eastward were a problem and so they decided to try to find a direct sea route.
This now seemed possible, …… they had understood that the world was round. They no longer feared that they would fall over
the edge …… they sailed far south or west. The Portuguese, a seafaring nation since they were situated on the southwestern
seaboard of Europe, led the way. Bartholomew Dias got to the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa in 1485, and thirteen years
later Vasco da Gama got across to India.
Meanwhile an even more adventurous navigator, Christopher Columbus, was convinced that, ……. the world was round, he could
get to India by sailing west. He was an Italian ……… was supported by the Queen of Spain, so that in 1492 he was able to sail
west with three ships.
When they saw land, Columbus thought he had got to India, which is how the West Indies, the islands he first saw, got their
name. The people he took back to Spain were called Indians, a name ……… is still used, modified to Red Indians for the original
inhabitants of North America ……… they used to paint their faces.
Columbus travelled to America four times, ……… he only got to the mainland of the continent on one of those voyages.
Meanwhile all Europe had learned about this new continent that was rich and fertile, and within a hundred years they took it
over completely. They were helped by the fact that the Indians ……. lived there had no immunity to some diseases the
Europeans brought with them. The two powerful empires that existed at the time, the Aztecs in Mexico and the Incas in Peru,
were weakened by smallpox and the plague shortly before the Spanish, led by Cortes and Pizarro, finally conquered them. The
Spanish were also helped by their possession of gunpowder, which the American Indians had not known before, and by the
hesitations and original attempts at hospitality of each king with ………. they dealt.
The Spanish concentrated …… Central and South America, which were the richest parts of the country, and had therefore
developed the most advanced civilizations. Taking away the gold and silver …… Spain was ……. main motive, but they also found
lands that could be settled. The populations that had been there before grew less so quickly that they were easily conquered
and reduced to mere labourers. In some parts, the islands …… the West Indies for instance, the local peoples almost vanished,
so slave labour was brought over ……. Africa.
In North America, which was much less attractive an area in those days, the existing population was less, and generally
nomadic. The British and the French who arrived in those parts soon got rid of the people, sometimes destroying ……, by war or
through disease, sometimes driving them farther westward. In the south of what is the present day United States, the French
and the British who settled there developed plantations, using slaves from Africa, as in the West Indies. In the more northern
parts the settlers practiced less labour intensive farming as they had done in Europe, and managed on …… own.
Colonialism in the Americas then was very different from what was happening in Asia during this period, when the Portuguese,
followed by the Dutch and then other Europeans, set up trading posts to obtain goods to sell back …… home. In almost every
place they went to they let the inhabitants continue with their existing lifestyles and governments, provided they continued to
supply the goods required for trade.
In the Americas however, the indigenous people became subject to European countries, and their culture and languages were
subordinated to ……… of the dominant Europeans. In North America there were hardly any people left to go through this process,
but the Indians of Central and South America, as well as the blacks brought over originally …… slaves, have for almost five
hundred years now been Christians in what have become Spanish or Portuguese or English speaking countries.
Exercise 14
Match the italicized words or phrases above with the meanings below. Note that two of them are similar in meaning.
changed, not settled, resistance, beneath, reason, requiring comparatively fewer workers, native, under, preventive measures,
uncertainty
Exercise 15
Give short answers to the following questions
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who prevented the Europeans from traveling to Asia by land?
When did Vasco da Gama get to India?
From which continent were slaves taken to America?
Which were the richest parts of America?
Who helped Columbus on his explorations?
Say whether the following statements are true or false. Correct those that are false.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
America lies to the east of Europe.
America was discovered by Europeans in the 15th century.
Many of the original Indians still live in the West Indies.
The main reason for the Spanish going to America was to settle there.
South America had rich civilizations at the time the Europeans got there.
Exercise 16
Look at the highlighted words, which function as adjectives to the words before which they appear. They do not describe any
qualities of those nouns, but are used to indicate something about the size of the group to which the noun belongs.
All means the whole of the group, taken together so a plural noun is used.
Every also means the whole of the group, but goes with a singular noun.
Each means every member of the group, taken individually.
Some means more than one but not all members of the group.
Many means several but not all members of the group.
Few means more than one but not many.
Any means a single member of the group, but not a particular one.
No before a noun means no member of the group.
These are all determiners, like the articles ‘a’ or ‘the’ that you have already studied. They give you an idea about whether a
whole group is described or only some part of it.
Read the following paragraph All students in my class like English but only some students study hard. Each student has a textbook, but not every
student brings the textbook to class. Any student can ask questions from the teacher, but many students are shy to do
this.
This can also be written as follows –
Every student in my class likes English but not all students study hard. All students have textbooks, but only some
students bring the textbook to class. Every student can ask questions from the teacher, but few students are confident
enough to do this.
Notice which determiners take singular verbs and which plural ones. Notice also how two determiners function as opposites, so
that by introducing a negative you can say the same thing using either of them.
Either means one of two things, and neither means not one or the other of two things. So you can say –
I thought either Mala or Ravi would win the race but neither did.
Both of them take singular verbs. If you use ‘Either…or’, or ‘neither…nor’ the verb agrees with the nearest subject, eg ‘Neither
my father nor my mother likes ice-cream so my sister or I get to eat their share.’
Say which of the following sentences are wrong, and rewrite them correctly.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Every teacher have a record book.
All teachers like to read books.
Each student get two books for English every years, but many students forget to bring both books to every English classes.
Some student has lost their workbooks.
Any student like to learn English, but only few students can understand all lesson in the book.
Exercise 17
Mark the places mentioned here on a map. Write a letter Vasco da Gama would have sent home describing his journey to India
and the places he passed. Remember to note the directions in which he traveled, and what lands he passed, on which side.
Exercise 18
In groups of six find out more about the following, and prepare a project in which each person writes a brief account of one of
these people. Remember to arrange your project in chronological order
Ferdinand Magellan, Zheng Ho, Pizarro, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Marco Polo
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