English For Today chapter 4: Events and Festivals

Unit Four

Events and Festivals

Learning outcomes

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

• talk about events and festivals
• ask and answer questions and give opinions in a logical sequence
• infer meanings from the context.

Printed page 39

Lesson 1: Mother’s Day

A. Look at the picture and discuss the questions.

Figure

Description: A woman wearing a headscarf sits beside a young child, holding the child on her side with one arm. The child looks toward the camera.

1. What do you think the woman is to the child?

2. Why is she holding the child on her flank?

3. Can a mother be compared to anybody?

   “She can be compared with no other; This lovely lady is none but my mother.”

B. Listen to the audio and answer the questions that follow.

Listening text 2

C. Choose the correct answer.

1. According to ancient Greek myths Rhea is the a. mother of gods. b. goddess of love. c. goddess of wealth. d. goddess of health.
2. The name of Jesus Christ’s mother was a. Rhea. b. Mary. c. Anna. d. Anna Junior.
3. Julia Ward Howe was a. Dutch. b. English. c. Australian. d. American.
4. Mother's Day was first announced as a formal holiday in the USA in a. 1872. b. 1905. c. 1910. d. 1914.
5. In 1914 the American president was a. Roosevelt. b. Ford. c. Nixon. d. Wilson.
6. Which country doesn’t celebrate Mother’s Day on the 2^nd Sunday of May? a. Denmark b. The UK c. Italy d. Turkey

Printed page 40

D. Listen to the text again and answer these questions.

1. What country first observed Mother’s Day as a national holiday?
2. When is Mother’s Day now celebrated by most of the countries in the world?
3. How is Mother's Day usually observed?
4. Why should we observe Mother's Day?

E. Write a paragraph by answering each of the following questions.

1. Do you help your mother with her housework? How?
2. Do you celebrate Mother’s Day? If yes, when and how?

Lesson 2 : May Day

Figure

Labels: MAY, day Description: A raised clenched fist holding a tool, with splashes of ink-like shapes behind it. The word "MAY" is in large capitals, and "day" is written in script beneath it.

A . Look at the picture and talk about it.

1. What do you see in the picture?
2. Can you relate any historical event to this picture? What happened on this day?

B . Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

May Day or International Workers’ Day is observed on May 1 all over the world today to commemorate the historical struggle and sacrifices of the working people to establish an eight-hour workday. It is a public holiday in almost all the countries of the world.

Since the Industrial Revolution⁽¹⁾ in the 18^th and 19^th centuries in Europe and the US, the workers in mills and factories had been working a long shift, fourteen or even more hours a day.

On May 1^st in 1886, inspired by the trade unions⁽²⁾, half of the workers at the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company in Chicago went on strike demanding an eight-hour workday. Two days later, a workers’ rally was held near the McCormick Harvester Machine Company and about 6000 workers joined it. The rally was addressed by the labour leaders. They urged the workers to stand together, to go on with their struggle and not to give in to their bosses. At one point of the rally, some strike breakers started leaving the meeting place. The strikers went down the street to bring them back. Suddenly about 200 policemen attacked them with clubs and revolvers. One striker was killed instantly, five or six others were seriously wounded and many others were injured.

Printed page 41

The events of May 1, 1886 are a reminder that workers will continue to be exploited until they stand up and speak out to gain better working conditions, better pay and better lives.

Notes

1. Industrial Revolution: the period, especially in the 18^th and 19^th centuries Europe, when machines were invented and first factories were established.
2. Trade Union: an organisation that represents workers of mills and factories.

Questions

1. What does May Day refer to?
2. How long did the workers have to work in a day before the May 1 strike?
3. Why did the workers in Chicago go on a strike?
4. What do you learn from the events of May 1, 1886?

C. Fill in the blanks with the verbs given in the box. Put them into their correct forms.

add arrive begin do hear live send support tread work

Tania is a poor garment worker. She ______ in a big garment factory in Gazipur. She ______ in a slum with a few fellow workers. She works eight hours a day on a monthly salary of Tk. 3000/-. She does overtime to ______ some more money to her income. If she can save something, she ____ it to her father to ______ the family.

One day Tania was busy ______ her work in the factory. Suddenly she ____ someone shouting “Fire! Fire!” The workers were panic-stricken and everyone ______ to rush to the stairs. There were not enough staircases in the factory building. So some workers were _____ under the foot and others were injured in some other ways. However, the fire brigade ______ there in minutes and nothing serious happened.

Printed page 42

D. Now read the completed passage in C silently and answer the following questions.

1. Do you think Tania’s monthly salary is enough for her work?
2. Is the factory safe enough for workers? Why do you think so?
3. Do you have any suggestions for safety of factory workers? If so, what?

Lesson 3 : International Mother Language Day - 1

A. Look at the picture and talk about it.

1. What’s the picture about?
2. What’s the place in the picture?
3. Why was it built?

B. Read the text.

Figure

Description: A black-and-white photograph of a monument with several tall, slender concrete arches and rectangular frames rising at different heights, with trees behind it.

21 February is a memorable day in our national history. We observe the day every year as International Mother Language Day. The day is a national holiday.

On this day, we pay tribute to the martyrs who laid down their lives to establish Bangla as a state language in undivided Pakistan in 1952. The struggle to achieve our language rights is known as the Language Movement.

The seed of the Language Movement was sown on 21 March 1948 when Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan, declared in a public meeting in Dhaka that Urdu would be the only state language of Pakistan. The declaration raised a storm of protest all over the country. The protest continued non-stop, gathering momentum day by day. It turned into a movement and reached its climax in 1952. The government outlawed all sorts of public meetings and rallies to stop it.

The students of Dhaka University defied the law and brought out a peaceful protest procession on 21 February 1952. When the procession reached near Dhaka Medical College, the police opened fire on the students, killing Salam, Rafiq, Barkat, Safiur and Jabbar. As a result, there were mass protests all over the country and the government had to declare Bangla as a state language. This kindled the sparks of independence movement of Bangladesh.

Printed page 43

C. Complete the chart.

D. Match the words with their meanings.

E. Answer these questions.

1. Why do we observe 21 February as the International Mother Language Day?
2. What happened when Urdu was declared as the only state language of Pakistan?
3. “The seed of independence was sown on 21 February 1952”. Do you agree? Why?