English For Today chapter 5: Humans and Environment

Unit Five

Humans and Environment

Figure: Sketch: Charlie Mackesy

After we have studied the unit, we will able to

• understand the relationship between human beings and nature
• sympathise with the different species living on planet earth
• read and understand texts
• ask and answer questions
• write the main ideas in our own words

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Lesson 1: The Little Bird

Key pharases: bird-catching net, gasping for breath, caged bird, let it go, picture books

A . Look at the sketch and discuss with your classmates what you see in it:

Figure

Description: A boy stands at the right, holding open the door of a wooden bird cage that hangs on a wall. A small bird is inside the cage.

B . Read the story by Leo Tolstoy and answer the questions that follow:

It was Seryozha's birthday, and he received many presents: tops, hobby-horses and picture books. But the best gift of all was from his uncle. It was a net for catching birds.

A little board was attached to a frame on which a net was stretched. Grain was sprinkled on the board, and then the net was set out in the yard. When a bird flew up and perched on the board, the board would turn over and the net would fall.

Seryozha was so happy that he came running to his mother to show her his net.

His mother said, “It's not a nice toy at all. What do you want to do with little birds? Why do you want to torment them?”

“I'll put them in cages. They’ll sing, and I'll feed them.” Seryozha got some grain, sprinkled it on the little board and set the net out in the garden. He stood next to it, waiting for birds to come flying down. But the birds were afraid of him and did not come near the net.

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Seryozha went in to dinner and left the net in the garden.

When he came to look at it after dinner he saw that the net had fallen and a little bird was thrashing about under it. Seryozha was very excited. He caught the bird and took it into the house.

“Look, Mamma! I've caught a bird. It must be a nightingale.

Oh, how fast its heart is beating.”

His mother said, “It's a siskin. Don't torment it. Let it go.”

“No, I'll feed it and care for it.”

Seryozha put the siskin in a cage, and for two days he fed it grain, changed its water and cleaned the cage. On the third day, he forgot about the siskin and did not change its water.

Then his mother said to him, “See? You forgot all about your little bird. I think you had better let it go.”

“No, I won't forget. I'll give it some fresh water now and clean the cage.”

Seryozha stuck his hand into the cage and began cleaning it, but the siskin became frightened and beat its wings against the cage. Seryozha cleaned the cage out and went for water.

His mother saw that he had forgotten to close the little door and called after him, “Close the cage door, Seryozha, or your bird might fly out and hurt itself.”

No sooner had she said this than the siskin found the door, spread its wings happily and flew across the room to the window. But it did not see the glass pane. It hit the pane and fell to the windowsill.

Seryozha came running, picked up the little bird and took it back to the cage. The siskin was alive, but it lay on its breast with its little wings spread out and was breathing jerkily.

Seryozha began to cry.

“Mamma! What'll I do?”

“There's nothing you can do now.”

Seryozha did not leave the room that day. He kept gazing at the siskin. The siskin lay on its breast as before, breathing jerkily.

When Seryozha went to bed that night the siskin was still alive.

Seryozha could not fall asleep for a long while. No sooner would he close his eyes than he would imagine the siskin lying there, gasping for breath.

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When Seryozha went up to the cage the next morning he saw the siskin lying on its back with its legs curled up. It was dead.

Never again did Seryozha catch another bird.

Figure

Description: Inside a barred cage, a bird lies on the floor on its back. A diagonal stick runs from the top of the cage down to the floor across it. A small dish is at the left and a trough is at the right.

C . Match the words in Column A with their meanings in Column B;

D. True or False? If False, write the correct statement:

a) Seryozha’s mother was happy with the bird-catching net.

b) Seryozha caught a siskin using the net.

c) Seryozha forgot to feed the bird on the second day.

d) The siskin flew into the window after escaping from the cage.

e) Seryozha’s mother helped him catch the bird.

f) Seryozha never tried to catch another bird after the siskin had died.

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E. Answer the following questions:

1. What did Seryozha receive as a gift from his uncle?
2. Why did Seryozha's mother not like the idea of catching birds?
3. What kind of bird did Seryozha catch in the net?
4. How did Seryozha take care of the bird at first?
5. If you were in Seryozha's place, what would you have done differently after catching the siskin?

F. Make a list of birds in your locality and categorise which are wild and which are domestic?

Lesson 2: Poems about Nature

A. Look at the image and discuss in groups the possible answers to the questions:

Figure

Description: Several Canadian geese flying in a V-shaped flock across a cloudy sky, with a larger goose in the foreground on the right. Below them is a flat landscape with a tree on the left, fields in rows, and tall grass at the bottom edge.

1. What could be the colours of the field, the trees and birds?
2. Where are the birds going?

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B. Now read the poem by Rachel Field and answer the questions that follow:

Something Told the Wild Geese

Something told the wild geese It was time to go. Though the fields lay golden Something whispered, — "snow".

Leaves were green and stirring, Berries, luster-glossed, But beneath warm feathers Something cautioned, — "Frost".

All the sagging orchards Steamed with amber spice, But each wild breast stiffened At remembered ice.

Something told the wild geese It was time to fly,— Summer sun was on their wings, Winter in their cry.

-Rachel Field

Note:

lustre-glossed – shiny and smooth. cautioned – gave a warning. sagging – hanging down or sinking. amber – a warm, yellow-brown colour. stiffened – became hard or tense. steamed – gave off steam or mist.

C. Answer the following questions:

1. What makes the geese decide to leave?
2. What happens to the leaves and berries in the poem?
3. What changes in nature tell us that winter is near?

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D. Read another poem on nature:

Green Escape

--Joseph Auslander

I have turned my face Away from streets and crowds To a windy place And clouds.

I have turned from skyscrapers That scratch out the sky, From wet newspapers Always whipping by.

I have taken away my heart, I will give it again To be split apart By wind and rain.

I will stand like a stone All day in the grass Where the bees drone And pass and repass.

I will watch them brush Gold across their legs, Hear the bird at hush Over her eggs.

I will hear the wild swan Lift high and harsh His crooked clarion Across the marsh.

Where the jewel-weed hangs, Where the spotted stream runs, Where the green beetle bangs Bronze on bronze—

Rooted in the deep ground, The sky tugging at my hair, There will I be found— There!

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Note:

skyscrapers – very tall buildings. whipping – moving quickly or being blown around by the wind. drone – a continuous, low humming sound, like bees make. repass – to pass by again. clarion – a loud, clear sound, like a trumpet. marsh – wet, grassy land, often near water. jewel-weed – a type of plant with bright orange or yellow flowers. rooted – fixed firmly in place, like a plant in the ground. tugging – pulling something with effort.

C. Write a synonym and an antonym for each word from the poem.

D. Answer the following questions:

1. Why does the speaker turn away from the streets and crowds?
2. What does the speaker hear and see in the grass?
3. How does the speaker describe the sound of the swan?
4. Where does the speaker want to be found at the end of the poem?