New vocabulary: Strategy, Reason, Swift, Chew, Endanger, Mention, Guess, Consist of, Camouflage, Escape, Recognize.
6.1 Ask and answer the following questions with your partner. Then, share your answers with the whole class.
নিচের প্রশ্নগুলো জোড়ায় জোড়ায় পড়ো ও উত্তর দাও, এবং শ্রেণির সবার সাথে তোমাদের উত্তর শেয়ার করো।
a) What are the texts you usually read?
b) Do you face difficulties understanding them?
c) Can you remember a text you didn't understand?
d) What was the text about? Was it a poem, essay, newspaper article, story or something else?
e) Why didn't you understand the text? List your reasons in the given space.
Your answer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.2 Time to know some new words! (এসো, নতুন কিছু শব্দ শিখি।)
Read the words in column A and their meanings in column B in pairs/ groups. Then, ask another group/pair the meaning of each word to check if you understood.
দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় নিচের কলাম দুইটি পড়ো। এরপর সবাই শব্দের অর্থ বুঝেছে কিনা জানার জন্য একে অন্যকে শব্দার্থ জিজ্ঞাসা করো।
| Words | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Antelope | A swift-running deer-like animal |
| Ruminant | An animal that brings back food from its stomach and chews it again like a cow |
| Eurasia | A combined continent consisting of both Europe and Asia |
| Horn | One of the hard bone/bony growths on the head of an animal |
| Calf | Baby antelope |
| Herd | A large group of animals of one kind live and move together |
| Tree shoots | The part of a plant that comes up above the ground when it is just beginning to grow, or a new part that grows on an existing plant |
| Column A | Column B |
|---|---|
| Subspecies | Eager to learn or know |
| Endangered | An animal that lives mostly by killing and eating other animals. |
| Exotic | The process of having babies |
| Guess | To form an opinion without knowing |
| Predators | Someone/something is in danger |
| Curious | To decide something |
| Determine | One of the types of a particular species |
6.3 Now, read the article on 'Antelope' and the conversation between Rodoshi and Kanko that follows.
এবারে অ্যান্টিলোপের ওপর একটি লেখা এবং রোদসী ও কংকোর মাঝের কথোপকথনটি পড়ো।
Antelope
The term 'antelope' is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminants that are local to many countries in Africa and Eurasia. Talking about the antelope, its horns are the most interesting parts.
The size and shape of antelopes' horns vary greatly. If escape is not an option, antelopes are capable of fighting back. Baby antelope which is called a calf is an easy target. That is why the mother keeps it in a secret location until it becomes stronger. It uses its horns to fight against the lion, which lived in a herd. It is difficult to determine how long antelopes live in the wild. Antelopes eat tree shoots, leaves, plants, grasses and flowers. A number of subspecies are endangered. Many species of antelope are imported to other parts of the world, especially the United States, for exotic game hunting.
The conversation between Rodoshi and Kanko:
Rodoshi: Hey Kanko! How is it going?
Kanko: Fine.
Rodoshi: What is that in your hand?
Kanko: It's an article.
Rodoshi: Article about what?
Kanko: I am not sure. I have been trying to understand what it is about but no luck so far.
Rodoshi: Let me see. Kanko: Sure.
Rodoshi: It talks about something called "Antelope".
Kanko: What is an antelope?
Rodoshi: It's some kind of animal, I think.
Kanko: How did you guess it?
Rodoshi: Look. In the 2nd paragraph, there is a sentence about its food habit. It eats food, so it will be an animal.
Kanko: Right. Wait, wait, look at the 6th sentence, they have babies. A baby antelope is called calf. And lions and other predators hunt them.
Rodoshi: Yeah, the baby cow is called a calf but it is not about a cow. Let's find out where it lives.
Kanko: We don't know anything about it. How do we find out?
Rodoshi: Firstly, we can find out the word "live". Then read that full sentence if there it is or not.
Kanko: The word live' isn't used here. Now, what can we do?
Rodoshi: Read again the first and last line. Here three countries' names are mentioned but the last one, is the United States imports antelopes, so it is not its living space. The last two are likely to be.
Kanko: But why is this paragraph written?
Rodoshi: If there was a picture of it or a headline of this paragraph, we could easily understand. But now, to find out this we have to read it carefully.
Kanko: One thing I noticed in the last part, nowadays it is endangered, I think it would be an awareness-increasing report about antelope.
Rodoshi: Most probably but this article also does not explain properly. But now I am quite curious about it.
Kanko: We can ask our teacher about it tomorrow.
Rodoshi: Okay. See you tomorrow then. Bye. Kanko: Bye.
6.4 Read the conversation again and complete the following sentences with meaningful words/phrases.
কথোপকথনটি পুনরায় পড়ো এবং অর্থপূর্ণ শব্দ দিয়ে বাক্যগুলো সম্পূর্ণ করো।
a) Rodoshi and Kanko are talking about …………………………………………………………………………………………
b) Antelope is a kind of animal that …………………………………………………………………………………………………..
c) After reading the article Rodoshi and Kanko couldn't understand ……………………………
d) Rodoshi and Kanko guessed Antelope is an animal because ……………………………………..
e) To find out where Antelopes live ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..
f) To find out the meaning of any written text……………………………………………………………………………….
g) Pictures and headlines…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
6.5 Let's learn some ways/strategies that can help us understand a reading text better.
এসো, কীভাবে আরো সহজেই একটি লেখা পড়ে অর্থ বোঝা যায় সে নিয়ে কিছু টেকনিক শিখি।
1. Read and reread carefully: The first thing that you can do is to read and reread a written text, again and again, to understand it better. 2. Check your knowledge about the topic: Before reading a text, think how much you know about the topic. When you are reading, think about what you want to know about the topic. After reading, think about what you have learned about the topic. This KWL (known, want to know, learned) technique will help you understand a text better. 3. Use Contextual clues: Contextual clues are the words or sentences found within the paragraph or passage to help you understand the meaning of the words or text better. If you look closely, you will find definitions, synonyms, antonyms or examples of the unknown word/topic in the text. For example: In the following text, suppose the word 'arrogant' is a new word to you. By using contextual clues, you can understand the meaning of the word. Asif said to me, "My cousin is so arrogant! He always thinks he is more important than any of his cousins." Now, can you guess the meaning of the word 'arrogant' using contextual clues? Your answer may be - Arrogant is a bad/negative quality as Asif's cousin always thinks himself better than other cousins. Or, you can say- Arrogant means someone who thinks of himself more important than others. So, using contextual clues is a very effective technique to understand a text. Again, there are two types of reading- Skimming and Scanning. Skimming is reading something quickly to get a general idea about the topic. On the other hand, Scanning is to get specific details. For example, when you read a newspaper, you just read the headlines of the newspaper to get an idea. That is Skimming. But sometimes, you find one or two news items interesting and you read those in detail which is Scanning. |
6.6 Now, read the conversation between Rodoshi and Kanko again. Then, find out the steps of the contextual clues technique they used to understand the text about Antelope. Later, in pairs/groups, fill in the following blanks with meaningful words. One is done for you.
রোদসী এবং কংকোর কথোপকথনটি পুনরায় পড়ো। এবার, তারা লেখা থেকে কীভাবে অ্যান্টিলোপ সম্পর্কে জেনেছে সেই টেকনিক খুঁজে বের করো। তারপর, জোড়ায় জোড়ায় অথবা দলগতভাবে অর্থপূর্ণ শব্দ দিয়ে বাক্যগুলো সম্পূর্ণ করো। একটি তোমাদের জন্য করে দেওয়া হলো।
a) The steps of the contextual clues technique that Rodoshi and Kanko used to understand "What is an Antelope?"
Steps: Rodoshi and Kanko found out-
1 about their ___ (food habit)
2. that they have ___ which is called ____
3. ___ and ___ hunt it.
Finally, they understood that Antelope is ___.
b) The steps of the contextual clues technique that Rodoshi and Kanko used to understand "Where does Antelope live?"
Steps: Rodoshi and Kanko found out-
1. the word___.
2. the ___ and ___ line.
3. the United States ___ Antelopes.
Finally, they decided that it lives in ___ and ___.
c) The steps of the contextual clues technique that Rodoshi and Kanko used to understand "Why is this paragraph written?"
Steps: Rodoshi and Kanko found out-
1. pictures or___.
2. the antelopes are in ___.
Finally, they understood that the paragraph is written to ___ about Antelope.
6.7 Now in pairs/groups read the following situations and identify whether you will use skimming or scanning.
এবারে, দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় নিচের ঘটনাগুলো পড়ো এবং তুমি স্কিমিং অথবা স্ক্যানিংয়ের মাঝে কোনটি ব্যবহার করবে তা নির্বাচন করো।
| Types of situations | Types of reading |
|---|---|
| You are searching for the meaning of the word 'Delight' in the dictionary. | 1. |
| You were searching for the meaning of a word in a dictionary. You got the word and read the meaning. | 1. 2. |
| You need to call your class teacher. So, you are reading the school diary to find out his/her number. | 1. |
| You are going to order a gift for your mother on her birthday. So, you are checking the products of an online shop. | 1. |
| You are in your school library. You are checking the catalogue for a specific book. | 1. |
6.8 Read the list of reasons you have written in activity 6.1. Now, in pairs/ groups discuss the reasons again and make the necessary changes to the reasons. Use the following table to do this activity.
অ্যাকটিভিটি ৬.১ এ থাকা তালিকাটি পড়ো। এবারে দলগতভাবে অথবা জোড়ায় জোড়ায় নিজেদের মাঝে আলোচনা করো এবং প্রয়োজনীয় পরিবর্তন আনতে পারো। এজন্য নিচের টেবিলটি ব্যবহার করতে পারো।
For example-In your list, one of the reasons is "new words". But now you came to know that you didn't use contextual clues.
| Previous List of Reasons | Present List of Reasons |
|---|---|
| 1. New words | Unknown/New words and didn't use contextual clues. |
6.9 Now, in a group of 6-8 and read the text you have got. Then, discuss the meaning of the text following the strategies you have learnt in this unit. Later, explain the strategies you applied to understand the meaning of the texts to the whole class.
ছয় থেকে আট জন করে দল গঠন করো এবং নিচের লেখাটি পড়ো। এবার, এই পাঠে পড়া কোনো একটি পদ্ধতি অনুসরণ করে লেখাটির অর্থ বের করো। তারপর, শ্রেণিকক্ষে সবার সাথে তোমার ব্যবহৃত পদ্ধতি নিয়ে আলোচনা করো।
Text-1
Earlier chocolate was so precious that it was used as money! Now we use chocolate every day and on special occasions, such as birthdays, Mother's Day, and Friendship Day. Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which grows near the Equator. After four years, the trees start to produce pods. Farmers open the pods and take out the seeds. Vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and other spices are added to the ground-up seeds.
The origin of chocolate is interesting. As early as 2,000 years ago, people of the Americas were mixing cacao beans, water, and spices to make a drink. In 1502, Christopher Columbus brought cacao beans back to Spain. People later learned how to change chocolate from liquid to solid. And by 1847, they were enjoying chocolate candy bars!
Text-2
A World of Water
Nearly 75% of the earth is covered by water. There is water above ground called surface water such as lakes, swamps, rivers, and water that's under the ground called groundwater. Water even exists in the sky! That is called vapour. So, water is everywhere.
We have a lot of water but unfortunately, we can't drink most of it. Ninety-seven and a half percent of the earth's water is salt water, which we can't drink. The rest is fresh water, which we can drink. 70% of our drinking water is frozen- like the Hubbard Glacier. Also, we can reach 30% of our groundwater. And most of that is polluted. In fact, we can only drink about 1% of the world's fresh water.
Text-3
My Robot
My personal robot 'Pinku' will teach you a new language. It has speech recognition and facial recognition. So, it recognizes your face or your voice when you talk to it. This robot can recognize pictures and objects. So, if you show it your cell phone, it will tell you how to say "cell phone" in English or any other language. It has voice recognition, so it can correct your pronunciation too. The best thing is that it tells jokes and sings songs! It's a girl, but there are more designs, including animal robots!
Text-4
Don't Panic!
Suppose you are using your mother's cellular phone and you drop it in the water accidentally. Now, what should we do? Cell phones are extremely durable. They can survive rain, but they are not all waterproof yet. Therefore, if you want to save it, you need to be quick and follow these steps:
1. Take your phone out of the water quickly. Don't turn on the phone.
2. Take out the battery and remove the SIM card, if your phone has one.
3. Dry your phone carefully for ten minutes. (Note: If the phone was dropped in salt water, clean it first with fresh water.)
4. Dry each part of the phone for twenty minutes. Don't switch your phone on yet.
5. Put the phone in a bowl of dry rice. Leave it overnight. Moisture will soak into the uncooked rice during the night.
6. Wait 24 hours. Then test your cell phone: insert the battery and switch it on. If nothing happens, find some dry rice and put the phone in again.
After a phone goes for a swim, most people buy a new one. But it's possible to save a wet phone. Just be patient and don't panic!
Text-5
Cheetahs and Lions
The cheetah and lions are big cats that live in Africa. Both animals are predators. That means that if they see prey, they hunt the prey for food. The lion is not as fast as the cheetah, but it is bigger and stronger than the cheetah. The cheetah uses its spots for camouflage. The lion does not have any spots. The lion is as good as the cheetah at attacking its prey. Both cheetahs and lions live for about 10-20 years.
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