Shilpi Somaya Gowda (C1)

A Before you start

Answer the questions with a partner.
1. Does gender discrimination exist in your country?
2. If so, what form does it take? What are the causes? Is anything being done to combat it?
3. What do you know about discrimination against women in the Middle East and Asia?
4. Have you read Shilpi Somaya Gowda's novel Secret Daughter?
5. If not, what do you think it's about, judging from the title?
B Listen and answer
Read these statements. Then listen (without reading) and choose the correct answer.
1. Shilpi Somaya Gowda
a) was born in India and raised in Canada.
b) was born in Canada and now lives in the USA.
c) was born in Canada and brought up in the USA.
2. Her novel Secret Daughter is set in
a) India. b) the USA. c) both these countries.
3. The estimated figure of 100 million quoted in the United Nations report refers to the number of
a) unwanted baby daughters killed or abandoned at birth in the last 50 years.
b) females that have been killed in the last 15 years.
c) girls and women that have gone missing in the last 50 years.
4. Shilpi's Indian relations
a) are well-off and fairly educated.
b) are highly educated city-dwellers.
c) live in a poor rural area.
5. Gender discrimination varies in different parts of India.
a) True. b) False. c) The article doesn't say.
6. Indian women have very little power within the family.
a) True. b) False. c) The article doesn't say.
C Read and answer
Read the article and answer the questions.
1. What information does the article give you about the plot of the novel Secret Daughter.
2. In what areas of Indian society does Shilpi suggest gender discrimination is strongest?
3. What extreme forms does discrimination sometimes take?
4. When did Shilpi learn about these practices?
5. What idea inspired Shilpi to write the novel?
6. Why is Indira Ghandi mentioned in the interview?
D Learn it! Use it!
Complete these sentences with words from the glossary. (You may have to adapt the expression in
some way; e.g. change the subject, or change from singular to plural.)
1. We decorated the garden with coloured lights to _______ the mood for the party.
2. The student's report was criticised because it didn't _______ the sources of the data.
3. The solution he put forward isn't likely to get to the _______ of the problem.
4. Tom became _______ that his lifestyle was ruining his health.
5. The stone cottage is in a beautiful _______ in the Welsh mountains.
6. When King Charles II of England married the Portuguese Princess, Catherine of Braganza, he
received the cities of Mumbai and Tangier as her _______ .

E Ready for CAE? (Paper 3: Use of English, Part 4)

Think of one word only which can be used appropriately in all three sentences.
1. The man went to the police station and _______ he had been robbed of his wallet.
Jean _______ damages against her local supermarket after slipping on a wet floor.
A serious motorway accident _______ five lives last night.
2. It's ten past nine. You're _______ your favourite TV programme.
Rob looks sad. I suppose he's _______ his girlfriend.
I got to the end of the novel and found that the last page was _______ .
3. Nineteen sailors were _______ when their ship sank off the coast of Devon last night.
I calculated I had _______ over 10 by buying the camera on the Internet.
My parents always _______ their vegetable peelings and gave them to a local pig farmer.
4. If you're late, I'll _______ you to the station in my car.
The company is _______ by two partners.
I'm exhausted. I'm going upstairs to _______ a bath.
5. At the end of the meeting, the international leaders _______ for a group photograph.
It's time we _______ a very important question.
The undercover policeman _______ as a drug addict in order to arrest the drug dealer.
F - Write about it
Write a review of a novel you've read recently. Include the following in your review.
- information about the author
- setting, period, main characters, synopsis of the story
- what you thought of the book

Answers
B Listen and answer
1. b 2. c 3. c 4. a 5. a 6. b
C Read and answer
1. It's about an unwanted baby girl who is abandoned at an orphanage in Mumbai and is adopted by
a couple living in San Francisco. The plot revolves around how the girl's life chances are changed
by her having the same opportunities as anyone who is brought up in the West. 2. In poor,
uneducated, rural societies. 3. Killing unwanted baby daughters, murdering wives for their dowry,
and forcing widows to commit suicide. 4. She says she has always been aware of them. 5. The
idea that among the baby girls killed at birth, there was probably someone destined to become a
great leader, a great scientist, or a great artist. 6. She's mentioned as an example of the
contradictions to be found in India where, despite strong gender discrimination, a woman was able
to hold the office of prime minister for many years.
D Learn it! Use it!
1. set 2. quote 3. root 4. aware 5. setting 6. dowry
E Ready for CAE?
1. claimed 2. missing 3. saved 4. run 5. posed