1. Read the following text and answer the questions A and B:
The river Buriganga is an example of a dying river. A report published in the Daily Sun describes what has happened to the river Buriganga and why. Its water is polluted and a perpetual stench fills the air around it. But that is not what it was like before. The report says that the river had a glorious past. Once it was a tributary of the mighty Ganges and flowed into the Bay of Bengal through the river Dhaleshwari. Gradually, it lost its link with the Ganges and got the name Buriganga. The Mughals marveled at the tide level of the Buriganga and founded their capital Jahangirnagar on its banks in 1610. The river supplied drinking water and supported trade and commerce. Jahangirnagar was renamed Dhaka which grew into a heavily populated city with a chronic shortage of space.
The city paid back the bounty of the river by sucking life out of it! According to newspaper report, the Buriganga is dying because of pollution. Huge quantities of toxic chemicals and wastes from mills and factories, hospitals and clinics and households and other establishments are dumped into the river everyday. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4500 tons of solid waste everyday and most of it is directly released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of the Environment (DoE), 20,000 tons of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials, are released into the river everyday. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.
The river would need a monster's stomach to digest all the wastes mentioned above. There is a limit up to which it can put up with its cruel and thoughtless treatment. We the humans have successfully killed one of our rivers. There are other rivers in the country that are being subjected to similar thoughtless treatment. Unless we take care of our rivers, there may come a time when we will cry 'water', water' and find it nowhere.
[Unit-8, Lesson-1, Page-93]
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives: 1×5=5
(a) The word 'tributary' mentioned in the passage means —.
(i) rivulet (ii) lake
(iii) pond (iv) estuary
(b) The word 'marvelled' mentioned in the passage means.
(i) offended (ii) grief-stricken (iii) overwhelmed (iv) hurt
(c) The word 'toxic' mentioned in the passage means —.
(i) tasty (ii) healthy
(iii) moderate (iv) poisonous
(d) How did Dhaka city pay back the bounty of the river?
(i) By cleaning the river
(ii) By polluting the river
(iii) By purifying its water
(iv) By making it glorious
(e) The word 'identified' in the passage means —.
(i) excluded (ii) traced out
(iii) carried out (iv) teased
Answer to the question No. 1.A
(a) i. rivulet; (b) iii. overwhelmed; (c) iv. poisonous; (d) ii. By polluting the river; (e) ii. traced out.
B. Answer the following questions: 2×5=10
(a) According to the passage, what happened in the year 1610?
(b) What, according to the expert, are the primary sources of river pollution in and around Dhaka city?
(c) What amount of solid waste is produced in Dhaka city and where does it go.
(d) What does DoE say?
(e) What may happen if we do not take care of our rivers?
Answer to the question No. 1.B
a. In 1610, the Mughals founded their capital Jahangirnagar on the bank of the river Buriganga.
b. According to the experts, there are nine industrial areas in and around Dhaka city, which are the primary sources of river pollution. Those industrial areas are: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.
c. About 4500 tons of solid waste is produced in Dhaka city every day and most of it is directly released into the Buriganga.
d. DoE (Department of Environment) says that every day, 20,000 of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials is released into the river Buriganga.
e. If we do not take care of our rivers, one day, we will cry for water to drink, but find it nowhere.
Answer:
Bangla Translation
বাংলা অনুবাদঃ
ব্রিটিশ-বাংলাদেশি যারা ব্রিটিশ-বাঙালি নামেও পরিচিত তারা বাংলাদেশি অভিবাসীদের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ অংশ অথবা ঐ সকল বাংলাদেশি বংশোদ্ভূত যারা বিদেশে বসবাস করছে। প্রায় অর্ধেক ব্রিটিশ-বাংলাদেশি লন্ডনে বাস করে, বিশেষ করে পূর্ব লন্ডনের বিশাল এলাকায় যেখানে টাওয়ার হ্যামলেট সর্বাধিক নজরকাড়া।
আজ একজন পর্যটক যিনি লন্ডনে নতুন, ভালোভাবে বাংলা টাউন ভ্রমণের সিদ্ধান্ত নিতে পারেন যা শহরের শেষ পূর্ব প্রান্তে অবস্থিত। চমৎকার টিউব স্টেশনের পরে তাকে কিছু চিহ্ন অনুসরণ করতে হতে পারে যা মণিকা আলীর সবচেয়ে বেশি বিক্রিত উপন্যাস থেকে কুখ্যাতি অর্জনকারী একটি রাস্তা ব্রিক লেনকে নির্দেশ করে, যা দিয়ে চলচিত্রও তৈরি হয়েছিল। দুপুরের খাবারের জন্য সেখানে অবস্থিত বাংলাদেশি অনেক রেস্তোরাঁ থেকে তাকে একটি বেছে নিতে হতে পারে। রাস্তামুখী একটি টেবিলে বসে জানালা দিয়ে সে দেখতে পারে রাস্তার নামফলকগুলো শুধু ইংরেজিতে নয় বরং একই সাথে বাংলায়। রাস্তার ল্যাম্পপোস্টগুলো সবুজ লাল বাংলাদেশের পতাকার রং। বস্তুত সব জায়গায় সে দেখে বাংলাদেশি দৃশ্যমান নির্দেশিকা এবং বিশেষ করে এখানে সিলেটিদের উপস্থিতি। দোকানের সম্মুখভাগ বিজ্ঞাপন দেয় লন্ডন থেকে সিলেট যাত্রার বাংলাদেশ বিমানে (বাংলাদেশের জাতীয় এয়ার লাইন) এবং অন্যটি হলো এয়ার সিলেট- একটি ব্যক্তিমালিকানাধীন এয়ার লাইন কোম্পানী যা গঠিত হয়েছে ব্রিটিশ বাংলাদেশিদের দ্বারা। এখানে রয়েছে সোনালী ব্যাংকের নামফলক যা বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রায়ত্ত বাণিজ্যিক ব্যাংক। এখানে রয়েছে হিমায়িত মাছের দোকান যা সিলেটের সুরমা নদী থেকে আনা। সে দেখেছে দুজন প্রবীণ ধূসর লম্বা দাড়িওয়ালা লোককে যারা দোকানে ঢুকছে; তারা চাদর ও পায়জামা এবং মাথায় সাদা টুপি পরিহিত। সে দেখতে পাচ্ছে একদল চটপটে ও বাকপটু কিশোরী রাস্তা দিয়ে হেঁটে যাচ্ছে। একজন কালো বোরখা পরিহিতা এবং অন্যরা জিনস এবং লম্বা শার্ট সহ উজ্জ্বল চিক্চিকেহিজাব তাদের মাথায়। লন্ডন গাইড বুকে চোখ বুলিয়ে সে বাংলা টাউনে প্রতিবেশীর সম্পর্কে দেখে নিল।
২০০১ সালে ব্রিটিশ বাংলাদেশি নেতারা ২য় প্রজন্মের কর্মীদের নিয়ে টাওয়ার হ্যামলেট কাউন্সিলের মাধ্যমে ব্রিকলেন ও তার পার্শ্ববর্তী এলাকার জন্য বাংলাটাউন এর সরকারি মর্যাদা অর্জনে একটি সফল প্রচেষ্টা পরিচালনা করেন। রাস্তার নামফলক ও বিজ্ঞাপন প্রদর্শনের মাধ্যমে আশা ছিল এ এলাকাটি একটি ব্যতিক্রমি সাংস্কৃতিক পরিচিতির অধিকারী হবে যা পর্যটকদের নিকট আকর্ষণীয় হবে এবং এখানে অবস্থিত বাংলাদেশি ব্যবসার জন্য সুবিধাজনক হবে। বস্তুতঃ এ এলাকায় বাংলাদেশি বিখ্যাত স্থাপনা রয়েছে যেমন আলতাব আলী পার্ক, কবি নজরুল কালচারাল সেন্টার এবং শহিদ মিনার। বাংলাটাউন দাপ্তরিক পদবি নিয়ে এ বিখ্যাত স্থাপনাটি যথার্থভাবেই ব্রিটিশ বাংলাদেশিদের গৌরব। এগুলো ব্রিটেনে তাদের কষ্টার্জিত উপস্থিতি আর রাজনৈতিক কণ্ঠস্বরকে প্রকাশ করে।
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Passage-2
1. Read the passage and answer the questions following it
Nelson Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid to a multi-racial democracy, as an icon of peace and reconciliation who came to embody the struggle for justice around the world. Imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against white minority rule, Mandela never lost his resolve to fight for his people’s emancipation. He was determined to bring down apartheid while avoiding a civil war. His prestige and charisma helped him win the support of the world. ‘I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestation. I have fought it all during my life; I will fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days,’ Mandela said in his acceptance speech on becoming South Africa’s first black president in 1994,… ‘The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come.’ ‘We have, at last, achieved our political emancipation.’ In 1993, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor he shared with F.W, de Klerk, the white African leader who had freed him from prison three years earlier and negotiated the end of apartheid.
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives 5
a) What could be the closest meaning for ‘shackles of apartheid’ in the first paragraph?
i. Tentacles of domination ii. Bondages of slavery
iii. Manacles of racial discrimination iv. Chains of exploitation
b) The word ‘reconciliation’ in the first paragraph refers to
i. memorization ii. recall iii. reuniting iv. Change
c) ‘Resolve’ in the second paragraph could be replaced by
i. dissolve ii. determination iii. hesitation iv. Solution
d) Mandela spent around years behind the bars.
i. twenty ii. thirty iii. forty iv. Fifty
e) The best synonym of ‘chasm’ is
i. exposition ii. rift iii. harmony iv. union.
B. Answer the following questions 10
a) What, according to text, is apartheid?
b) Mention three great achievements in Mandela's life.
c) Why did Mandela want to break the manacles of apartheid?
d) What does the expression ‘I have fought it all during my life; I will fight it now, and I will do so until
the end of my days’ mean?
e) Do you find any similarity between Mandela and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman? If any, mention. Ans. to the Ques. No. Set-1
1A. Ans.:
a. iii. Manacles of racial discrimination, b. iii. reuniting, c. ii.determination, d. ii. thirty, e. ii. rift,
1B. Ans.:
a. According to text apartheid means the racial segregation prevailing in South Africa. It means the domination of the white over the black people of South Africa. Nelson Mandela is famous for breaking the manacles of apartheid from South Africa.
b. Though Mandela had to suffer a lot, his achievements were noteworthy. His frist achievement was to break the manacles of apartheid. His second achievement was to become the first black president of South Africa. His third achievement was to win the Nobel Prize.
c. Mandela wanted to break the manacles of apartheid because this very evil practice was responsible for the racial bigotry in South Africa. The manacles of apartheid confined the black people of South Africa inside the four walls of oppression.
d. This very statement is the expression of Mandela's firm resolution to fight against racial bigotry. Mandela had an absolute abhorrence towards race discrimination. He fought against it and was ready to fight against till his last breath.
e. I see some similarities between Nelson Mandela and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman fought respective countries. Finally, Mandela fought against the white rulers of his country. In the same way, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman fought against the Pakistani rulers. Then both of them were undisputable a presidents in their respective countries. Finally, both of them were would famous leaders.
Passage-3
3. Read the passage below and answer the questions following it.
Beauty is easy to appreciate but difficult to define. As we look around, we discover beauty in pleasurable objects and sights – in nature, in the laughter of children, in the kindness of strangers. But asked to define, we run into difficulties. Does beauty have an independent objective identity? Is it universal, or is it dependent on our sense perceptions? Does it lie in the eye of the beholder? -we ask ourselves. A further difficulty arises when beauty manifests itself not only by its presence, but by its absence as well, as when we are repulsed by ugliness and desire beauty. But then ugliness has as much a place in our lives as beauty, or may be more-as when there is widespread hunger and injustice in a society. Philosophers have told us that beauty is an important part of life, but isn’t ugliness a part of life too? And if art has beauty as an important ingredient, can it confine itself only to a projection of beauty? Can art ignore what is not beautiful?
Poets and artists have provided an answer by incorporating both into their work. In doing so, they have often tied beauty to truth and justice, so that what is not beautiful assumes a tolerable proportion as something that represents some truth about life. John Keats, the romantic poet, wrote in his celebrated ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ by which he means that truth, even if it’s not pleasant, becomes beautiful at a higher level. Similarly, what is beautiful forever remains true. Another meaning, in the context of the Grecian Urn-an art object-is that truth is a condition of art.
Poetry in every language celebrates beauty and truth. So does art. Here are two poems from two different times that present some enduring ideas about beauty and truth. The poems are by Lord Byron (1788-1824), an English poet of the Romantic tradition, and Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), an American poet who wrote about the human scene, love and death.
A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives. 1´5=5
(a) Which of the following has the closest meaning of the word “pleasurable”?
(i) dissatisfaction (ii) pain (iii) offend (iv) delightful
(b) What is the closest meaning of the word “incorporate”?
(i) embody (ii) corporation (iii) incorporeal (iv) intangible
(c) ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ is written by ——-.
(i) Lord Byron (ii) John Keats (iii) Wordsworth (iv) PB Shelly
(d) What does the word ‘tolerable’ mean?
(i) not so good (ii) bad (iii) moderately good (iv) tolerant
(e) Lord Byron is a ——– poet?
(i) Revolutionary (ii) Romantic (iii) Classical (iv) Modern
Answer the following questions. 2´5=10
(a) How can we discover beauty in our surroundings?
(b) How much place does ugliness have in our life?
(c) What is the name of the poet of “Ode and a Grecian Urn”?
(d) Do you get any definition of beauty from the poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’?
(e) What was Byron’s intention?
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