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TOD
AY AND TOMORR
OW
TODA
OMORRO
Don't tell me of tomorrow;
Give me the man who'll say
That, when a good deed's1 to be done,
"Let's do the deed today."
2
We may all command the present,
If we act and never wait,
But repentance3 is the phantom4
Of a past that comes too late!
Don't tell me of tomorrow,
There is much to do to-day,
That can never be accomplished5,
If we throw the hours away.
Every moment has its duty,
Who the future can foretell6?
Then why put off till tomorrow
What today can do as well ?
J.E. Car
penter
Carpenter
1. deed- /di;d/(n) - a thing that somebody does
2. command -/kJ'mA;nd/(v) - to control
3. repentance-/rI'pentJns/(n) - the fact of showing that you are sorry for something wrong that you have
done
4. phantom- /'f&ntJm/(n) - a thing that exists only in your imagination
5. accomplish-/J'kVmplIS/(v) - to succeed in doing or completing something
6. foretell /fO;'tel/(v) - to know or say what will happen in the future, especially by using magic powers.
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Text Book for General English
About the poem
This is a simple but forceful poem. It teaches us that we should not put off till
tomorrow what we can do today. What is the use of saying later that we did not
do this or that. As we do not know what future has in store for us, we should not
let precious moments go waste but should make full use of present.
EXERCISES
Word Power
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
Match the following words with the rhyming ones:
A
–
B
say
–
late
wait
–
as well
foretell
–
ever
never
–
away
Give antonyms of the following words:
give
________________
late
________________
always
________________
few
________________
Complete the following lines of the poem:
Every .................. has its duty,
Who the future can ....................?
Then, why put off till.......................
What .................... can .....................?
How Much Have I Understood?
Answer these questions:
1.
What does the poet mean by saying ‘every moment has its duty’?
Text Book for General English
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2.
What type of man does the poet want ?
3.
How can we control the present ?
4.
Why should we not throw the hours away ?
5.
What does the word 'foretell' mean ?
6.
Give the central idea of the poem.
Listening Time
(a)
The teacher reads the following passage twice. The students listen
to the teacher carefully and supply the missing words in the following
sentences:
Radium is one of the rarest of metals. The discoverer of this magic metal
was Madame Curie. She was born in Poland in the year 1877. Known as
Marie or Maria to her parents and friends, she lost her mother when she
was only ten years old. This was a terrible blow to her.
(i)
Radium is one of the rarest of....................................
(ii)
The discoverer of this magic metal was ....................................
(iii)
She ................... born in .................... in the .......................... 1877.
(iv)
She lost ........................... when she was only...........................old.
(v)
This was a .................................... blow to her.
Listen carefully to the following words and encircle the odd ones that don't
rhyme with the other words in each series:
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(i)
may
lie
say
gay
(ii)
never
entire
ever
saver
(ii)
throw
grow
know
vow
(iv)
duty
beauty
pretty
cutie
(v)
can
man
ran
fine
Text Book for General English
Speaking Time
Prabhat has recently visited the great Stupas at Sanchi and noted the following
details in his diary. He reads it in the class room and everybody discusses the visit
with Prabhat.
Date - 22 July 2007
Day - Sunday
Today I went to see the stupas of Sanchi with my friend Akhilesh. We
saw the big stupa first and then went to see the smaller ones. We stayed
there for about eight hours and came back in the evening by train.
On the basis of the above description in the diary, discuss with one of your
friends' visit to any place. Use the following questions:
When did he go there?
Where did he go?
How did he go there?
Place that he saw there?
How many days did he stay there?
Writing Time
1.
It is always good to follow a daily routine. Use the following clues and prepare your
daily routine.
Clues : time for — waking up, meals, studying, playing watching TV / listening to
the radio, reading newspapers / magzines, etc.
2.
Write the poem “Today and Tomorrow” in the prose form in your notebook.
T hings to do
1.
Suppose it is Sunday. Discuss with your friends about their schedule for that day
and the next day. Talk to them the next day and list the items of work they have done
or the books they have read.
2.
Collect a poem having the similar idea and read it out in class.
Text Book for General English
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