UNIT 2 LEARNING TO INTRODUCE

Structure

Objectives
Warm Up
Reading Comprehension: Biography
Vocabulary
Grammar: The Simple Past Tense and The Past Perfect
Speaking: Learning to Introduce
Listening Comprehension: Social Chit-Chat
Writing: Describing a Friend
Let Us Sum Up
Answers

2.0 OBJECTIVES

In this unit you will read a biographical account of one of our famous
scientists Madam Curie. In turn, you will also be given practice in describing
people. You will use the context within the passage to find the meanings of
words. You will also learn to introduce people and engage in social chit chat.
To achieve accuracy in the language, we have given you practice in the simple
past and the perfect tense.

2.1 WARM UP

1. Do you like meeting people? Why?

2. Find out at least three ways of greeting in three parts of the world. For
instance, the Indians fold their hands.and say "namaste"

2.2 READING COMPREHENSION : BIOGRAPHY

Autobiography and Biography

An autobiography is a written piece on yourself written by you. It is always

written in the first person and talks about one's life , thoughts and experiences.
A biography is somecme writing on another person's life, thoughts and
experiences. People like reading about others who have led successful lives
because we sometimes model our lives according to the lives of people we
admire.

Here is an extract from a biography of Madam Curie written by Eve

Curie.

The life of Marie Curie is so interesting that one would like to tell her story
like a legend.
She was a woman; she belonged to an oppressed nation; she was poor; she Learning to Introduce
was beautiful. A powerful vocation summoned her from her motherland,
Poland, to study in Paris. There she lived through years of poverty and
solitude. There she met a inan wl~osegenius was akin to hers. She married
him; their happiness was unique. By the most desperate effort they discovered
a magic element, radium. This discovery not only gave birth to a new science
and a new philosophy, it provided mankind with the means of treating a
dreadful disease.

At the moment when the faille of the two scientists and benefactors was
spreading through the world, grief overtook Marie: her husband, .her
wonderful companion, was taken from her by death in an instant. But in spite
of distress and physical illness, she continued alone the work that had been
begun with him and brilliantly developed the science they had created
together.
rnb

The rest of her life resolved itself into a kind of perpetual giving. To the war
wounded she gave her devotion and her health. Later on she gave her advice,
her wisdom and all the hours of her time to her pupils, to future scientists who
TItr World Around Us came to her from all parts of the world. When her mission was accomplished
she died exhausted, having refused wealth and endured her honors with
indifference.

It would have been a crime to add the slightest ornament to this story, So I
have not related a single anecdote of which I am not sure. I have not defom~ed
a single essential phrase or so much as invented the colour of a dress. The
facts are as stated; that was her life.

Activity I
1. Sonle of these sentcnccs are "True" antl some are "False". Tick ( J )
the oncs that are True and cross (s)the ones that are False.
1. Madame Curie was French ( )
..
11. She discovered the element Radium ( )
iii. She had a very brilliant husband ( )
iv. She did what she did for wealth ( )
v. She worked hard in spite of bad health ( )

2. ( ' o n ~ l ~ l e tthe
e following sc~ltences using ir~formation from the
passage you have just read.
1. Madame Curie's story is almost like a
ii. She can be described as being
...
111. The discovery of radium is said to be
iv. She helped f ~ ~ t uscientists
re by
v. She refused
3. .-\nsner these questions in two or three sente~lces using
inforn~ation fro ~nthe passage:
I. What does the biographical extract on Madame Curie tell you
about her husband?

ii. Why is it said that Madame Curie 's life was one of perpetual
giving?

iii. What does the biographer say about the biography?

2.3 VOCABULARY

We can always find the meanings of words from the dictionary but sometimes
we need to try and find out the meaning from the text we are reading by
looking at the context.
Activity 2 Learning to Introduce

I. Find the words used in the reading passage that mean the same as
the words given below.
i. governed in-a cruel manner
..
11. forced her to go
...
111. state of being poor
iv. similar to
v. settled
vi. constantlcontinual
vii. completed
...
v111. not bothered about
ix. very tired
X. decoration
2. Find the odd one out in each of thefollowing sets, that is, the word
that does not belong to the set
I. anecdote story tale myth
11. vocation vacation job profession
...
111. solitude indifference loneliness isolation
iv. unique unusual exquisite special
v. dreadful honible terrible deadly
vi. distress unhappiness disbelief misery

2.4 GRAMMAR: SIMPLE PAST TENSE AND THE PAST

PERFECT
A. The Simple Past Tense
Look at these sentences .
They indicate that something has happened in the past.
1. She belonged to an oppressed nation
2. There she met a man whose genius was akin to hers.
3. Later on she her advise.. .
All the underlined words are verbs showing some action that took place in the
past. We say that these verbs are in the Simple Past Tense.
In the Simple Past Tense many verbs are formed by adding - d or -ed to the
verb.
Examples:
belong belonged
cook cooked
talk talked
work worked
Many other verbs, which end in a consonant, double the consonant before
adding - -ed

Examples:
stop stopped
crop cropped
stir stirred
T l ~ eWorld Arourid Us
But many other verbs have an irregular Simple Past Tense form.
Examples:
meet met
give gave
The Simple Past Tense is used to express actions or states which occurred in
the past and are now finished.
Note:
We often use the Simple Past Tense with words like:
yesterday last week
five days ago last Sunday
Activity 3
1. Rewrite the following sentences using the Simple Past Tense.
1. Yesterday I (talk) a great deal on the subject.
ii. He (become) the President last year.
...
111. We (get up) late yesterday.
iv. They (move) house last September.
v. He (die) in an accident last month..
B. The Past Perfect Tense
Look at these sentences:
1. She brilliantly developed the science they had created together.
2. She had spoken to me twice this morning.
The verbs in these sentences are in the Past Perfect Tense.
This tense is formed by the auxiliary had followed by the past participle
of the verb.
Examples : had created, had called , had eaten
The Past Perfect Tense is used to indicate that an action happened before
another action happened in the past.
Note: In cases where only one past action is referred to and where there is no
reference to another past action, the Simple Past Tense should be preferred to
the Past Perfect Tense.
2. Rewrite the following sentences using the Past Perfect Tense.
1. The farmers sowed the seeds after they (plough) their fields.
ii. We returned home late at night, my mother already (cook) the
food.
iii. She (wash) the dress before she went to bed.
iv. After we (wash) our hands we had dinner.
v. Abraham came after all the guests (go ) home.
3. Rewrite using the Past Simple or Past Perfect Tense.
1. He was perturbed when he (learn) of her accident.
..
11. After she (tell) the truth she was forgiven.
 ...
111. When the match (finish) we (rush) home. Learning to Introduce
iv. She (explain) the problem to the committee.
v. We (cook) the food before the guests came.
vi. Emma(go) to France last week. Before that, she never (be)
outside Ireland.
vii. When their mother (get) home, the children (eat) all the sweets.
...
v111. Yesterday I (meet) a man who (be) at school with my
grandmother.
ix. 1 (find) a letter on my desk that I never (open).
X. I (tell) Bob I couldn't go to the theatre, but he already (buy) the
tickets.
4. Complete the following paragraph using the correct Simple Past
or the Past Perfect forms of the verbs given in brackets:
Early in the morning Jim Corbett and his dog Robin went to the forest.
The previous evening Corbett (wound) a leopard. They went
to the spot Corbett (fire) from. Robin
(examine) the ground where the leopard (leave) a lot of
blood. Corbett (fire) at the leopard at short range.
He (see) the bullet enter the leopards' body. He -
(know) the leopard was dangerous as he (have) fifteen
hours to nurse his anger against men. Robin (lead)
Corbett into the thick jungle. Suddenly the dog (stop).
Corbett saw what (attract) the dog's attention. He
(see) the leopard's tail. He (see) the tip of
the tail moving. He knew the leopard would attack him. Corbett just
(get) the rifle on his shoulder when the leopard sprang
at them.
(Adapted from Jim Corbett: Man-Eaters of Kumaon.)

2.5 SPEAKING : LEARNING TO INTRODUCE

Introductions can be both formal and informal. We use different styles of

language in each case. Work in pairs and practise the following introductions
1. Informal
Amina : Hello , I am Amina. Who are you?
Jane : Hello, Amina . I'm Jane. I m pleased to meet you.
Ainina : So am I . Hi! Once again.
2. Formal
Work in groups of three and practise the following introduction
Mr.Raj Mohan : Good Morning, Mr. Phillips. I am delighted to meet you. I
would like to introduce my colleague Mrs. Rita Rana.
Mrs. Rita Rana this is Mr.Doug Phillips from our Head Office in New York .
Mr.Doug Phillips: Good Morning , Mrs. Kana. I am delighted to meet you.
Mrs. Rita Rana : Good Morning Sir, I hope you have a very pleasant stay in
Delhi.
Mr.Doug Phillips : I hope so too
The World Around Us 3. In the next iqput you will read about how we introduce an invited
guest at a formal function.
"Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, I have great pleasure in introducing
our Chief Guest for the evening Mr.Reed Grant , Chairman, Bell Electricals,
New Jersey . Sir , we are indeed delighted to have you with us on this
memorable evening."
Activity 4
Using the same format, introduce the following guests at a formal evening
function:
1. Mr.Lim Chang, Principal of ams sen
Junior College, Beijing
ii. Miss Alisa Brooklyn, Fashion Designer 'Top Apparels' U.K.

2.6 LISTENING COMPREHENSION: SOCIAL CHIT-

CHAT
Activity 5
1. Given below are remarks which are often required in social situations.
Match the following remarks in (A) with their answers in (B). Then
repeat them after the teacher.

i. Hello, how are you?

..
11. Thanks for the beautiful flowers.
...
111. How's business?
iv. Would you like to stop for coffee on the way home.
v. Have you got the time?
vi. How do you do?
vii. George sends you his regards.
viii. How did the meeting go?
ix. How do you take your coffee?
X. Right then, I'm off.

Good, a lot of issues got settled.

I'm fine thanks, and you?
Yeah, I'd love to. Where shall we go?
Very good indeed. Things are very busy just now.
Bye, see you later.
That's kind of him. How is George?
It was a pleasure. I'm so glad you liked them.
How do you do?
Black with two sugars please.
Yes, it's a quarter past five.
2. World Hello day takes place in November. This day is an opportunity
to celebrate World languages. You can now hear different people say
'hello' in different languages.
As-Salamu alaikum - Arabic
Marhaba - Turkish
 I-Iello Afrikaans Learning to Introduce
Shalom Hebrew
SalutIBonjour French
Guten Tag German
Hola Spanish
Ciao/Salve Italian
Konnichiwa Japanese
An Nyung Korean

2.7 WRITING: DESCRIBING A FRIEND

Activity 6
1. Your friend Lisa who lives in your country is likely to travel to
London. She does not know anyone in London. You, however, have a
friend in London whose name is Ellie Brown . Write a letter to Ellie
telling her something about Lisa , your friend. The letter begins like
this:

11/12/05
Dear Ellie,
How are you? I received yGur letter and was glad to hear that everything is
fine. I am writing to let you know that a friend of mine Lisa is visiting London
next week and I have asked her to meet you. Let me tell you something about
Lisa. .. ...

2.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, you read a biographical account of Madam Curie, the famous
scientist and humanist. You learnt to introduce in formal and informal
contexts. You listened to engage in social conversation and to say "hellos" in
different languages. Taking your cue from the biographical account, you
wrote about your friend in the form of an informal letter. You also practiced
the past and the simple past perfect tense.
.-

2.9 ANSWERS --

Reading Comprehension
Activity 1
1.
1.
11.
...
111.
iv.
v.

.... .. like a legend

.... a prodigy / t ery hardworking / very brilliant.
. . . . . .. the birth of a new science and a new philosophy / the means of
treating a dreadful disease.
Tlie World Around Us iv. ..... giving advice and sharing her wisdom.
v. .. .. ..wealth and honours.
3.
1. He was a brilliant person ,discovered Radium ,wonderfir1 companion ,
died early in life.
ii. Worked alone, devoted herself to the war wounded, advised her pupils
and future scientists, refused wealth, and was not concerned about the
honours bestowed on her.
...
111. Every anecdote is true, facts are stated as they are.

Vocabulary

Activity 2

1.
oppressed
..
1.
11. summoned
...
111. poverty
iv. akin
v. resolved
vi. perpetual
vii. accomplished
viii. indifferent
ix. exhausted
X. ornament

2.
1.
..
11.
myth
vacation
iii. indifference
iv. exquisite
v. deadly
vi. disbelief

Grammar

Activity 3

1.
i. talked
..
11. became
iii. got up
iv. moved
v. died

2.
1. had ploughed
..
11. had already cooked
iii. had washed
iv. had washed
v. had gone
c
b

tI
t
b

t
3.
1.
11.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
:.
vii.

4.
...
vni.
ix.
x.
learnt
had told
had finished, rushed
explained
had cooked
went, had (never) been
got, had eaten
met, had been
found, had (never) opened
told, had (already ) bought

had wounded, had fired, examined, had left, had fired, had seen, knew,
had had, led, stopped, had attracted, had seen, had seen, had got.

Activity 4
Listening

Activity 5
Learning to Introduce

i.
..
11.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
X.

Writing

Activity 6

Dear Ellie,

How are you? I received your letter and was glad to hear that everything is
fine. I'm writing to let you know that a fiiend of mine Lisa is visiting London
next week and I have asked her to meet you.

Let me tell you something about Lisa. She is a fairly easy going person, high
spirited and fun loving. She has an adventurous spirit. She loves traveling
and exploring new places, she enjoys all food and loves to try new cuisines.
So don't wony about her food. She is also very fond of theatre and music.
You could perhaps take her to see a play. You will have a great time with her.

I look forward to some news from you.

Yours lovingly
Aditya