1. Read the passage and answer the questions following it
I stand before you today with a heart overflowing with grief. You are fully aware of the events that are going on and understand their import. We have been trying to do our best to cope with the situation. And yet, unfortunately, the streets of Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur are awash with the blood of our brothers. The people of Bengal now want to be free, the people of Bengal now want to live, and the people of Bengal now want their rights. What have we done that was wrong? After the elections, the people of Bangladesh voted as one for me, for the Awami League. We were to sit in the National Assembly, draft a constitution for ourselves there, and build our country; the people of this land would thereby get economic, political, and cultural freedom. But it is with regret that I have to report to you today that we have passed through twenty- three tragic years; Bengal’s history of those years is full of stories of torture inflicted on our people, of blood shed by them repeatedly. Twenty- three years of a history of men and women in agony! The history of Bengal is the history of a people who have repeatedly made their highways crimson with their blood in 1952; even though we were the victors in the elections of 1954 we could not form a government then. In 1958 Ayub Khan declared Martial Law to enslave us for the next ten years. In 1966 when we launched the six point movement our boys were shot dead on 7 June. When after the movement of 1969 Ayub Khan feel from power and Yahya Khan assumed the reins of the government he declared that he would give us a constitution and restore democracy; we listened to him then. A lot has happened since and elections have taken place.
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives 5
a) What could be the closest meaning for 'cope with' in the first paragraph?
i. To avoid something ii. To struggle for
iii. To face and deal with iv. To come into contact
b) The word ‘grief’ in the first paragraph refers to—.
i. sorrow ii. despair iii. melancholy iv. Gloom
c) 'Constitution' in the second paragraph could be replace by—
i. organization ii. charter iii. principles iv. Temperament
d) Blood shedding was — affair in the history 23 years.
i. a repeated ii. a rare iii. an everyday iv. a never happening
e) The best synonym of 'inflict' is—.
i. impose ii. withhold iii. take iv. levy.
B. Answer the following questions 10
a) What, according to text, is a constitution?
b) Mention three events of blood shedding in the history of Bengal.
c) Why did Ayub Khan fall from power?
d) What does the expression 'Bengal's history of those years is full of stories of tortures inflicted on our people, of bloodshed by them repeatedly' mean?
e)Do you find any leadership quality of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in his speech? If any, mention.
Ans. to the Ques
A. Ans.: a. iii. to face and deal with b. i. sorrow c. ii. charter d. i. a repeated e. i. impose.
B. Ans.:
a. According to the text, constitution means the rules to run a country. It is set of the highest rules of a country.
b. We, the Bangalis, gave blood many times. In 1952 we gave blood for our mother tongue. In 1966 our people blood. After the election of 1970 we also gave blood.
c. Ayub khan fell from power because of the political agitation. He imposed Martial Law which was opposed by us. Due to our movement against him, he was compelled to fall from power.
d. The expression means that from the very beginning of the birth of Pakistan our people gave blood. We were exploited by the Pakistani rulers. We were tortured by them.
e.Yes, I find the great qualities of leadership in the speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In his speech I find that he had the quality to inspire people. He also showed his political prudence in his speech.
Bangla Translation
বাংলা অনুবাদঃ
ভাইয়েরা আমার,
আজ দুঃখ-ভারাক্রান্ত মন নিয়ে আপনাদের সামনে হাজির হয়েছি। আপনারা সবই জানেন এবং বোঝেন। আমরা আমাদের জীবন দিয়ে চেষ্টা করেছি। কিন্তু দুঃখের বিষয়, আজ ঢাকা, চট্টগ্রাম, খুলনা, রাজশাহী, রংপুরে আমার ভাইয়ের রক্তে রাজপথ রঞ্জিত হয়েছে। আজ বাংলার মানুষ মুক্তি চায়, বাংলার মানুষ বাঁচতে চায়, বাংলার মানুষ তার অধিকার চায়।
কী অন্যায় করেছিলাম আমরা? নির্বাচনের পর বাংলাদেশের মানুষ সম্পূর্ণভাবে আমাকে ও আওয়ামী লীগকে ভোট দেন। আমাদের ন্যাশনাল অ্যাসেম্বলি বসবে, আমরা সেখানে শাসনতন্ত্র তৈরি করব এবং এ দেশকে আমরা গড়ে তুলব; এ দেশের মানুষ অর্থনীতি, রাজনীতি ও সাংস্কৃতিক মুক্তি পাবে। কিন্তু দুঃখের বিষয়, আজ দুঃখের সাথে বলতে হয় ২৩ বছরের করুণ ইতিহাস বাংলার অত্যাচারের, বাংলার মানুষের রক্তের ইতিহাস। ২৩ বছরের ইতিহাস মুমূর্ষু নর-নারীর আর্তনাদের ইতিহাস।
বাংলার ইতিহাস এ দেশের মানুষের রক্ত দিয়ে রাজপথ রঞ্জিত করার ইতিহাস। ১৯৫২ সালে রক্ত দিয়েছি; ১৯৫৪ সালে নির্বাচনে জয়লাভ করেও আমরা গদিতে বসতে পারিনি। ১৯৫৮ সালে আইয়ুব খান মার্শাল ল’ জারি করে ১০ বছর পর্যন্ত আমাদের গোলাম করে রেখেছে। ১৯৬৬ সালের ছয় দফা আন্দোলনে ৭ই জুন আমার ছেলেদের গুলি করে হত্যা করা হয়েছে। ১৯৬৯ সালের আন্দোলনে আইয়ুব খানের পতন হওয়ার পরে যখন ইয়াহিয়া খান সাহেব সরকার নিলেন, তিনি বললেন দেশে শাসনতন্ত্র দেবেন, গণতন্ত্র দেবেন; আমরা মেনে নিলাম। তারপর অনেক ইতিহাস হয়ে গেল, নির্বাচন হলো।...................
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Passage-2
1. Read the passage and answer the questions A and B.
My brothers,
I stand before you today with a heart overflowing with grief. You are fully aware of the events that are going on and understand their importance. We have been trying to do our best to cope with the situation. And yet, unfortunately, the streets of Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur are awash with the blood of our brothers. The people of Bengal now want to be free, the people of Bengal now want to live, and the people of Bengal now want their rights.
What have we done that was wrong? After the elections, the people of Bangladesh voted as one for me, for the Awami League. We were to sit in the National Assembly, draft a constitution for ourselves there, and build our country; the people of this land would thereby get economic, political, and cultural freedom. But it is with regret that I have to report to you today that we have passed through twenty-three tragic years; Bengal's history of those years is full of stories of torture inflicted on our people, of blood shed by them repeatedly. Twenty-three years of a history of men and women in agony!
The history of Bengal is the history of a people who have repeatedly made their highways crimson with their blood. We shed blood in 1952; even though we were the victors in the elections of 1954 we could not form a government then. In 1958 Ayub Khan declared Martial Law to enslave us for the next ten years. In 1966 when we launched the six point movement our boys were shot dead on 7 June. When after the movement of 1969 Ayub Khan fell from power and Yahya Khan assumed the reins of the government he declared that he would give us a constitution and restore democracy; we listened to him then. A lot was happened since and elections have taken place........
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives. 1☓5 = 5
(a) What is the closest meaning of the word 'grief'?
(i) agony (ii) happy (iii) worry (iv) disaster
(b) What does the phrase 'cope with' mean?
(i) deal in (ii) deal out (iii) survive (iv) deal with
(c) Bengal's history of twenty three years is full of —.
(i) oppression (ii) humiliation (iii) deprivation (iv) all of the above
(d) What is the closest meaning of 'agony'?
(i) painful (ii) anguish (iii) miserable (iv) suffering
(e) 'The people of Bengal now want to be free, the people of Bengal now want to live and the people of Bengal now want their rights.'- What does it mean?
(i) people want independence (ii) people want to survive
(iii) people want to have their rights (iv) all of the above
(f) The text starts with "My brothers'. Here 'brothers' are —.
(i) Pak army (ii) People of Bengal (iii) People of Pakistan (iv) Pakistani rulers
(g) Which is the closest meaning of the phrase "heart overflowing with grief"?
(i) heart filled with agony (ii) cheerful moment
(iii) heart full of joy (iv) happiness
(h) The word 'events' in the first line of the text refers to —.
(i) sports (ii) language movement
(iii) liberation war (iv) oppressive acts of Pakistani rulers
(i) The word 'awash' means —.
(i) filled (ii) spotted (iii) painted (iv) scattered
(j) Which one of the following has the closest meaning of the word 'crimson'?
(i) colour (ii) fade (iii) make (iv) wash
(k) Which of the following is synonymous of the word 'unfortunately'?
(i) unluckily (ii) happily (iii) with sad (iv) hardly
(l) What does the word 'torture' in the text refer to?
(i) martyrdom (ii) rack (iii) pain (iv) affliction
(m) The word 'aware' means —.
(i) informed (ii) sharp (iii) sensitive (iv) mindful
(n) What is the closest meaning of the word 'situation'?
(i) site (ii) locality (iii) seat (iv) state of affairs
(o) The word 'draft' refers to —.
(i) sketch (ii) draw up (iii) design (iv) rough
(p) The closest meaning of the word 'regret' is —.
(i) grieve (ii) shame (iii) remorse (iv) miss
(q) The word 'inflict' means —.
(i) impose (ii) deal (iii) apply (iv) lay
(r) What is the closest meaning of the word 'launch'?
(i) float (ii) open (iii) begin (iv) propel
(s) What does the phrase 'fall from power' mean?
(i) descend (ii) rise (iii) give up (iv) pass
(t) The word 'assume' refers to —.
(i) believe (ii) fancy (iii) adopt (iv) think
(u) The closest meaning of 'restore' is —.
(i) remove (ii) fix (iii) recover (iv) revive
(v) The word 'happen' means —.
(i) appear (ii) befall (iii) follow (iv) result
Answer (A):
(a) (i) agony (b) (iv) deal with (c) (iv) all of the above (d) (ii) anguish (e) (iv) all of the above (f) (ii) People of Bengal (g) (i) heart filled with agony (h) (iv) oppressive acts of Pakistani rulers (i) (iii) painted (j) (i) colour (k) (i) unluckily (l) (iv) affliction (m) (i) informed (n) (iv) state of affairs (o) (ii) draw up (p) (iii) remorse (q) (i) impose (r) (iii) begin (s) (i) descend (t) (iii) adopt (u) (iv) revive (v) (ii) befall
B. Answer the following questions. 2☓5 = 10
(a) What is the reason of Bangabandhu's heart being overflowed with grief?
(b) What events were going on mentioned in the passage?
(c) How would the people of Bengal get economic, political and cultural freedom?
(d) Discuss what happened in the following years.
1952, 1954, 1958, 1966 & 1969
(e) What happened after the election of 1954?
(f) What characteristics of the people of Bengal do you find from the text?
(g) Where and when did Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman deliver his historic speech?
(h) What did he say about the will of the people of Bengal?
(i) What did he say about the twenty three tragic years of Bengal?
(j) What would the elected members have to do after the general election?
(k) Give a short description of the history of Bengal as said by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
(l) Who is the speaker of this speech? When did he make this speech?
(m) What, according to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, do the people of Bengal want?
(n) When did Ayub Khan declare Martial Law and why?
(o) What did Yahya Khan declare?
(p) How did Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman address the people in his historic speech?
Answer (B):
(a) The situation of the then East Pakistan is the reason of Bangabandhu's heart being overflowed with grief. During that period, the Pakistani rulers' tyranical acts cross the tolerance limit. For this reason, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman felt his heart overflowing with grief.
(b) The events that were going on were very serious and pathetic. The streets of Bengal were crimson with blood of many peace loving people. The people of Bengal were devoid of their basic rights as well as political and cultural rights.
(c) After the victory in the elections of 1954, the Pakistani rulers did not allow the people of Bengal to form government. If it happened then the people of Bengal would get economic, political and cultural freedom.
(d) 1952: We shed blood for achieving the right of our mother tongue.
1954: Awami League won the election but could not form government.
1958: Ayub Khan declared Martial Law for next ten years.
1966: Six point movement was launched.
1969: The Mass movement of 1969 took place and Ayub Khan fell from power.
(e) In 1954, though Awami League won the election but they could not form government. As a result the dream of the people of Bengal to sit in the National Assembly, draft a constitution, get political, economic and cultural freedom were shattered.
(f) From the text it is clearly seen that the people of Bengal were peace loving. They had tremendous tolerance power. But there were other sides of their characters. They knew well how to revolt against tyranny and they were not to yield.
(g) Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his historically significant speech at the then Race Course ground in Dhaka in the afternoon of 7 March, 1971.
(h) About the will of the people, Bangabandhu said that the people of Bengal wanted to be free, wanted to live and wanted to gain their rights.
(i) About the 23 tragic years of Bengal, Bangabandhu reported that Bengal's history of those years is full of stories of torture inflicted on the people and of repeated bloodshed.
(j) After the general election, the elected members would have to sit in the National Assembly, draft a constitution for themselves (country) and build the country so that the people would get economic, political and cultural freedom.
(k) As said by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the history of Bengal is the history of a people who have repeatedly made their highways crimson with their blood. They shed blood in 1952 for the establishment of Bangla as one of the state languages of the then Pakistan. Even after winning the 1954 election they were not allowed to form a government. Therefore, the history of Bengal is a history of humiliation, deprivation and oppression.
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