Activities on The Felling Of The Banyan Tree.

The Felling of The Banyan Tree
A1 Complete the following statements by using words from the extract.
1. The poet’s house was on the ……
2. Trees are regarded as ………
3. According to poet’s grandmother felling tree is a ……
4. The banyan tree is compared ………

1. The poet’s house was on the hill
2. Trees are regarded as sacred
3. According to poet’s grandmother felling tree is a crime.
4. The banyan tree is compared to problem and house.
A1 State whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements.
1. The banyan tree was a problem because its roots lay deeper.
2. The banyan tree was as tall as the poet’s house.
3. The age of the banyan tree was fifty years.
4. The poet was unafraid and fascinated to watch the cutting of the banyan tree.
1. The banyan tree was a problem because its roots lay deeper. True
2. The banyan tree was as tall as the poet’s house.False
Correct statement:The banyan tree was three times taller than the poet’s house
3. The age of the banyan tree was fifty years. False
The age of the banyan tree was two hundred years.
4. The poet was unafraid and fascinated to watch the cutting of the banyan tree. False
The poet was afraid of and fascinated to watch the cutting of the banyan tree.
A1. Arrange the following statements in order as they occur in the extract .
1. The poet’s father massacred all the trees.
2. The poet’s father asked the tenants to leave.
3. The banyan tree stood as a hurdle.
4. The structures on the hill were pulled down.
1. The poet’s father asked the tenants to leave.
2. The structures on the hill were pulled down.
3. The poet’s father massacred all the trees.
4. The banyan tree stood as a hurdle.

A 1 Complete the web


A2. ‘But the huge banyan tree stood like a problem.’ Name and explain the figure of speech. Write one more example of your own of simile.
Simile: The 'banyan tree' is compared to 'problem'by using the word like. 1. She used to sing like a nightingale.

A2. Find out an example of each: 1. Antithesis 2. Repetition
Antithesis : We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter. 'terror and 'fascination' are opposite ideas brought together.
Repetition : Fifty men with axes chopped and chopped. The word 'chopped' is repeated for the poetic effect.
A2. ‘Its trunk had a circumference of fifty feet.’ Identify the figure speech and explain. Write one more example of it.
Alliteration : The consonantal sound 'f' is repeated pleasingly. Another example : Soon afterward we left Baroda for Bombay.
A3. Pick out the expressions that give pictorial quality to the extract.
The expressions that give pictorial quality to the extract are as follows: 'the huge banyan tree', 'roots lay deeper' , the banyan tree was three times as tall as our house', 'trunk had a circumference of fifty feet', 'aerial roots fell to the ground'.

A3 There are some words in the extract which are associated with the ‘killing’ of the banyan tree. Pick them out from the poem and write them down.
The word which are associated with the 'killing' of the banyan tree are 'massacred', 'slaughter', 'felling' 'cut down' 'sawing' 'chopped'.
A3. Discuss ‘ Trees are the saviors of mankind.
A4. Write four lines on the importance of trees.

First Term Activity Sheet

href="https://1drv.ms/w/s!Aha4tGuNsG2ugwy1vw7kpdjc1pTA">First Term Activity Sheet Std 12 English

Practice Time : The Jamun Tree

Read the extract, read the activity and do all the activities.
A1. The events in the extract have been arranged in a jumbled way. Rearrange them in a proper sequence.
1. At night the gardener gave the man some rice and dal to eat.
2. All the bystanders came forward to lend a hand in removing the man from under the tree.
3. A Superintendent stopped the bystanders from removing the tree.
4. A man lay crushed under a tree.
Ans : 4,2,3,1
OR
A1. State whether the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements.
1. The tree had fallen in the lawn of the Agricultural Department. False Correct: The tree had fallen in the lawn of the Industries Department.
2. The people in the industries Department agreed to remove the tree. False Correct : The people in the industries Department fumed.
3. In the evening the matter was referred to the Horticultural Department. True
4. The jurisdiction of the Agricultural Department is limited to foodgrains and agriculture. True
At lunch time a big crowd had gathered round the man who lay crushed under the tree. There were as many suggestions as there were tongues. Some enterprising clerks from among the crowd decided to take the matter in hand without waiting for orders from the high – ups. They were about to get down to the job when the Superintendent came running, a file in hand.
“We can’t remove the tree ourselves,” he said waving the file. “The issue in hand concerns a tree which comes under the purview of the Agriculture Department and rightly so. I’ll mark the file urgent and send it to the Agriculture Department. As soon as orders are received from there, I’ll have the tree removed.”
Next day a reply came from the Agriculture Department. The tree, it said, had fallen in the lawn of the Industries Department. And so, it was entirely up to the Industries Department whether to remove the tree or let it remain where it was.
The people in the Industries Department fumed. They wrote back that the responsibility for removing the tree squarely rested on the shoulders of the Agriculture Department. The Industries Department was very clear in its mind. Removing the tree was none of its concern.
The second day the file kept moving from table to table. The reply came in the evening – the matter was being referred to the Horticulture Department. The tree, the Agriculture Dept. Pointed out, was a fruit – bearing tree. The jurisdiction of the Agriculture Department did not extend beyond food grains and agriculture. The jamun tree, it emphasized, was a fruit tree and hence it came under the jurisdiction of the Horticulture Department.
At night the gardener gave the man some rice and dal to eat. The police had by now moved in to prevent the people from taking the law into own hands and shifting the tree from its place. A constable took pity on the man and allowed him to be fed.
A2 Complete the statement:
'There were as many suggestions as there were tongues.' This statement implies that........
Ans: This statement implies that all the people who gathered round the man under the tree suggested plans to bring out the man. Everyone has its own suggestion. They pitied the man and talked about the pros and cons of their plans.
A3. Draw and complete the flowchart about pushing the responsibility of removing the fallen tree to save the man under it.



A4 Find the meanings of following words:
A. Onlookers - bystanders B. Very angry -fumed C. stressed - emphasized D. to stop doing something - to prevent
A5. Suggest the immediate action to take to remove tree and save man.
A6. Do as directed.
1. As soon as orders are from there, I’ll have the tree removed. (Rewrite using ‘No sooner….. than’)
No sooner are orders from there than I’ll have thhe tree removed.
2. Removing the tree was none of its concern. (Rewrite using infinitive form the underlined word.)
To remove the tree was none of its concern.

Practice Time : Schooling on the Streets

Read the extract, read the activity and do all the activities:

A1: Complete the statements choosing the appropriate words from the extract.
1. The Door Step school is established in Mumbai in……..
2. The Door Step school expanded to ……… in 1993.
3. The school has reached over …….. children.
4. In the school the language of instruction is………
Ans: 1. 1988 2. Pune 3. 50000 4. Marathi

Established in Mumbai in 1988 responding to a massive need for literacy in the slums, the Door Step School builds its program to address three major needs: school enrolment, education for those not in school and retention to help those in school thrive and stay in school. Expanding to Pune in 1993, the Door Step School has impacted over 50,000 children.
The Door Step School is truly a school at one’s doorstep. The organization sets up a classroom in a particular area and gathers children there for learning. The team goes there every day and conducts regular classes. This particularly helps those who can’t send their children to school due to distance and time issues. The programmes are tailor made for the groups that they serve. In Pune, the language of instruction is Marathi. When asked why English was not introduced to the children, Rajani replies thoughtfully, “We are not against any language. Our experience tells us that a child can pick up his mother tongue or the regional language quickly. One must understand that these are students with no educational background. They are what we can call first generation learners. Most of the municipal schools in the city are Marathi medium. So while enrolling them in the mainstream school, it’s essential that they know good Marathi. Also, when they come to us, they can hardly read and write in the language that they speak and hear, learning a foreign language is far more difficult. The other factor is the dropout rate. Keeping all this in mind, we think that children must read and write in their own language till the time they are with us.”
In Pune, the main focus of the Door Step School is educating on construction sites. “We conducted a survey and found that lots of young children move into the city with or without their families to work on construction sites. Earning the daily bread is a challenge and education thus remains a distant dream. We try and reach out to such children and as a result, today, we are operating on over distant dream. We try and reach out to such children and as a result, today, we are operating on over 100 construction sites in the city. However, there are several challenges. The opening as well as the closure of the sites is not in our hands. When the site is completed, the labour moves out and so does the child. This results in a high dropout rate.
A2: Give Reason : English was not introduced to the children.
A child can pick up his mother tongue quickly. The children were hardly able to read and write their mother tongue. Learning a foreign language like English is far more difficult for them. So English was not introduced to the children.
A3: Find out the challenges the Door Step School face in educating children.
The challenges the Door Step School face in educating children are as follows – The children are from not educational background. They do not stick to one place as they move when the construction site is completed.
A4: Give one word for the following expressions
a. Leave school before the course is finished - dropout
b. The action of keeping something rather than losing it -retention
c. Made for a particular person or purpose - tailor-made
d. To follow the progress and development of someone - track

A5: Education always opens doors for a brighter future. Give examples to support the statement.
Education enables us to live a better life. It helps us get skills required to lead life. Education opens many career options for us. Famous personalities like Dr A.P.J Kalam, Dr Ambedkar and Indira Gandhi reached to great height.
A6: Grammar:
1. It’s essential that they know good Marathi.(Choose and rewrite the Simple Sentence from the given alternatives)
a. It being essential they know good Marathi.
b. Knowing good Marathi is essential for them.
c. They know good Marathi and it is essential.
d. Essentially they know good Marathi.
2. The opening as well as the closure of the sites is not in our hands.(Rewrite using ‘neither…nor’)
Neither the opening nor the closure of the sites is in our hands.

Rapid Reading : The Joy Of Learning

1) Complete the statement:
The narrator was the worst nightmare for every teacher in the school because she disrupted each class.
2) Describe the personality of Mr. Kaplan, in two or three sentences.
Mr. Kaplan was young and handsome with blue eyes and blond hair.He seemed to be a carefree. He was dressed in Calvin Klein jeans and V-neck sweater.He kept talking in the class and hold the attention of the students.
3) Choose the statements which show the narrator's previous view about learning.
1. There could be joy in learning.
2. School is not about learning and joy.
3 She did not believe that learning could be about her, the learner.
4. Learning history is mystery.
4) State true or false about the activities done in Mr. Kaplan's class.
1. The students lay down on the floor and imagined they were slaves. True
2. They pretended to cross the high seas on ships.True
3. They skipped the class of Mr Kaplan.False
4. They pretended to fight the Civil War and sign the Declaration of Independence.True
5) Describe the method of Mr. Kaplan’s teaching.
Mr Kaplan adopted the method of active participation of students in learning. He sidelined the boring and tedious textbooks.He arranged different activities in the class to make students realize real experience of learning.
6) Complete the statements
1. The school management wanted to fire Mr. Kaplan becausehe did not stick to the curriculum.
2. The narrator opposed the idea of firing Mr. Kaplan because he was the best teacher in then school.
3. The principal warned the students that they would be suspended for walking out of the school in support of Mr Kaplan.
4. There were tears in Mr. Kaplan's eyes becausehe was moved by the affection of students and parents

Activities on Poetic Creativity

1.1 The Person I Am Looking For

A4. Rewrite the following lines replacing the underlined words:
If you accept counsel without getting sour
And re-assess yourself in the light thereof
Act: If you accept advice/suggestion/ without getting bitter/irritate/angry
And re-examine/re-check/introspect yourself in the sunrays/brightness/focus thereof
(Do not write all options suggested.)

2.1 I Ran Into A Stranger

A4 Frame four poetic lines on the following situations using a rhyming pattern:
“While introducing great personalities, we praise them very highly and talk about their qualities, but while speaking about our friends we may not follow the same trend.”
The above situation is written in the structure of prose. Simply breaking sentences into lines will be poetic structure. Let the students know the structural difference between prose and poetry. Let them practice the pattern of rhyme scheme such as aabb, abab,abba
Activity: 1. While introducing great personalities,
We praise them very highly and talk about their qualities,
But while speaking about our friends
We may not follow the same trends
Activity 2 . While introducing great personalities,
While speaking about our friends,
We do not follow the same trends.
We praise the great very highly and talk less of friend’s qualities.

Activity 3.
While introducing great personalities,
And speaking about our friends
We praise the great very highly and talk less of friend’s qualities.
Why do we follow the different trends?
Activity 4
For great personalities we have a lot of praise.
As if it is a craze of todays.
But the praise we forget for friend.
Praising friend is not today’s trends.

3.1 Suburbs

Life is beautiful, enjoy it. Don’t run after money, don’t destroy it or you will be a fool.
Based on this theme compose two poetic lines of your own.
Activity 1
Run not after money to make you fool
Life is a thing of beauty to enjoy cool.
Activity 2
Don’t run after money. Life is beautiful.
Don’t destroy it or you will be fool.
Activity 3
Enjoy the beauty of life
Money stabs you with greed’s knife.

4.1 Old Women

Compose four poetic lines keeping in view your parents’ love and care for you and your accountability for them.
Activity 1
How can we forget?
The love and care
The parents, with us share
Are we not accountable to see
Their life is set?


Activity 2
O dear mom, O dear dad!
We pledge never to make you sad.
You are our dearest mentors,
We will always be your protectors.

5.1 The Felling Of the Banyan Tree
Compose tow poetic lines against the cutting of trees.
Activity 1
When you cut the trees, you cut your life short.
When you uproot the tree; it will damage your heart.
Activity 2
Do not cut trees, it’s not fair.
It will deprive you of fresh water and air.
6.1 Nation’s Strength
Activity 1
Ask the red dust of empires passed away
-------------------------------------------------------
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And their glory to decay.
Add two poetic lines to with rhyme scheme pattern of ‘ abba’
Ask the red dust of empires passed away
Is it the sword? Is it the blood?
That turned their stones to rust with bleeding flood
And their glory to decay.


7.1 Peace Is A Woman And A Mother
Her daughter in Hiroshima
And her sons in Vietam
………………………………….
………………………………………..

Compose the last two lines of your own using the names of countries and the names of cities rhyming with each other
Activity 1
Her daughter in Hiroshima
And her sons in Vietam
Her moms in Kohima
And her sisters in Suriname.

8.1 Concrete Jungle
Compose two more lines to rhyme with following lines
Activity 1
No more woods
No more natural goods.
Want of foods
Loss of moods.
Activity 2
No more woods
No more natural goods.
No more happy moods
No more natural foods.


…………………………………

Rapid Reading : The Girl With An Apple

Extract : ‘My brothers and I were………………………………. a hunk of bread or, better yet, an apple.
A1 Complete the statements using words/expressions from the extract.
1. The writer and his brother were transported to …………….. Germany
2. The work given to Hermon at Buchenwald was …………..to load the dead into a hand cracked elevator.
3. Hermon was identified as ……….. 94983
4. Hermon and his brother were sent to …….. Schlieben
A1. Characters: Enlist the characters that appear and are referred to in the extract.
The characters that appear are Hermon, his brother and a little girl. The characters that are referred to in the extract are Hermon’s mother.
A1.Theme: Arrange the statements in order to get the central idea of the extract.
1. After a couple of days he spotted a girl on the other side of the camp’s fence.
2. The writer and his brother were taken to the concentration camp.
3. Once he dreamt that his mother would send him an angel.
4. They were issued uniforms and identification numbers.
Language: A1 Point out the words / expressions related with war and its effects exploitation
The words related with war , exploitation and its effects are ‘transported in cattle car’, ‘concentration camp’, ‘issued uniforms and identification numbers’, ‘camp’s crematorium’
A2. Add an imaginary paragraph before the extract. 2
It was the period of Second World War. The Nazi were seeking for the Jew. One day a troop of Nazi army reached our village. They started picking every single Jew from our village. I was playing with my brothers in the backyard of my house. I heard the footsteps and screaming of a group of people. We hid behind the lonely tree in the backyard. One of the soldier’s eyes fell on us and he rushed to lift us. We were put into a cattle car. I looked for my parent in the car in vein.

Extract : We were in Theresienstadt ………………. I was starting to settle in.
A1: Theme : Choose the correct option and rewrite the statements.
1. The girl with an apple/ Mother is called an angel.
2. The writer escaped from the camp at Buchenwald / Theresienstadt.
3. At 10 A. M. / 8 A. M. the writer heard shouts and saw people running in the camp.
4. The writer was trained in electronics in England/ America.
A1. Language: Point out the vivid description employed in the extract.
Ans : In the following lines we find vivid description- ‘ there was commotion’ ‘ I heard shouts, and saw people running every way through camp’ ‘The gates swung open’ .
A1. Plot: State the role of different countries in the escape and settlement.
Ans : (The writer was sent to Germany to keep in concentration camp. From there he was taken to Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia.) At Thereseinstadt the writer was scheduled to die in gas chamber. Somehow troops of Russia liberated him. In England he was kept in a hostel and given training in electronics. He served in the U. S Army during Korean War.
A2. Write the gist of the extract.
Ans: The writer, his brothers and other inhabitants of the camp were liberated by Russian troops. The writer owes his survival to the apple girl whose goodness saved his life. After getting liberated, he went to England. There he got training in electronics. Then he moved to America. His brother Sam also was there. In America he opened his electronics shop to settle in.


Extract 3 ' We piled back......... I have never let her go.'
A1. The extract tells us about human relationship. Explain.



A2 Write a piece of dialogue between Roma and the writer Herman.
(Scene: Sid in driver’s seat, Roma and Herman in back seats )
Roma: (in a soft tone) Where were you during the war?
The writer: (looking towards her) In the camps. And you?
Roma: My family was hiding on a farm in Germany, not far from Berlin?
The writer: ( surprisingly) Weren’t you caught ?
Roma: My father knew a priest who got us Aryan papers.
The writer : Thank god. You didn’t witness the sufferings of the people in the camp
Roma: I know it. I saw a boy in the camp. I would throw him apples every day.
The writer: Did he tell you one day not to come back?
Roma: (In an amazement)Yes
The writer : That was me. I’m not letting you go. Will you …..m…marry me?
Roma : (blushing) You’re crazy.







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