Phrasal verbs for Madhyamik Students ( Continuation........)

                                   Phrasal verbs for Madhyamik Students ( Continuation........)

Page no-290

1. He rises early in the morning. ( He gets up early in the morning. )= get up
2. The brothers used to quarrel every day. ( repetition ) fall out
3. Tagore was born in a rich family. ( Tagore came of a rich family. Don't use the preposition 'in' after' came of. )=come of
4. Overeating affects one's health. ( Overeating tells upon one's health. )= tell upon

Page no-304
All the sentences are repetitions.

Page no-321
Two of the sentences are repetitions.

1. Nobody should hate the poor. ( Nobody should look down upon the poor. )= look down upon.
2. Now Test Papers are published in December. ( Now Test Papers are brought out in December. )= brought out

Page no-340

1. The situation requires quick action. ( The situation calls for quick action. )= call for
2. Shun your bad habits. ( Give up your bad habits. )=give up
3. His name has been eliminated . ( His name has been cut out. )= cut out
4. This one is a repetition.

Page no-361

1. I visited  the office of my father. ( I called at the office of my father. )=call at
2. The bulldozer needs to be removed from here. ( The bulldozer needs to be carried away from here.) =carry here
3. The engine emits carbon-dioxide. ( The engine blows off carbon-dioxide. ) blow off
4. Such hard work will affect your health. ( This is a repetition )= tell upon

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My good friend Ranjit is an enthusiastic reader and critic of my blog. Fortunately my other friends do not bother about  what I read or write. Except two of them. One is Ramkrishna Pal. he is an admirer. He generally likes whatever I do but he does not read my blog. The second person is Debnath who is more a brother than a friend. he himself is a teacher of English in a  HS School. Barring these two mu other friends just give it a pass which is as it should be. Grammar has never been in anybody's favourite list of must read. Ranjit is already fed up with the mundane problems that I have been dishing out for the last one month or so. he has raised a very interesting question. Between English grammar and Bengali poetry --which one one should choose? My vote is definitely for poetry in general and Bengali poetry in particular. Your knowledge in grammar will not make you a better poet. So I am always for lyrical language.

Having said that I would submit with all the humility at my command that the language you read and write and speak should be correct. It will give you tremendous confidence if you feel sure that what you are saying or writing is grammatically correct. Therefore basic knowledge of English Grammar is a must for the Bengali medium students. My blog is for that section of the learners. I just wanted to share what I have learnt from various sources. I am also learning with you. Take care and keep well.
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Phrasal verbs or group verbs for Madhyamik Students.

                                  

                                      -----------------------------------------------------------------------

There are hundreds of phrasal verbs in English. At first we shall concentrate on those which are very common yet very important for the Madhyamik Students. We have chosen them from                                        the ABTA Test Papers for 2015. 

At the outset a few words about phrasal verbs. When a verb take a preposition after it and forms a single unit it sheds its original meaning to a great extent and  acquires a new meaning. With the change of each preposition the meaning of the phrasal verb keeps on changing. The second point to remember is that you can use the main verb in any tense you like. You can still use the single-word verb if you like. It is your choice. But if you use phrasal verbs you language will sound better, It is a kind of ornamentation if you please. There are hundreds of phrasal verbs in English. You will learn to use them as you grow up. For the Madhyamik students there are about 100 phrasal verbs. In the following lessons we shall deal with them first. Shall we begin ?

Page-19

1. I have read the book. ( I have gone through the book. ) =go through
2. The strike was withdrawn. ( The strike was called off. ) = call off
3. The summer started early this year. ( The summer set in early this year. )=set in
4. The baby resembles its mother. ( The baby takes after its mother. )=takes after

Page no-63

1. He abolished the system. ( He did away with the system. )=do away with.
2. Cholera has spread suddenly in our locality. ( Cholera has broken out in our locality. ) =break out
3. How did you get it / ( How did you come by it ? )= come by
4. I have not read  all the instructions. ( I have not gone through all the instructions. )= go through

Page no-78

1. The two families quarreled over a piece of land. ( The two families fell out over a piece of land.) = fall out 
2. I cannot digest your insult. ( I cannot put up with your insult. )= put up with.
3. All the rules may not be written in that book. ( All the rules may not be laid down in that book.)= lay down
4. Is there anything the price of which has not increased ? ( Is there anything the price of which has not gone up? ) go up

Page no-101

1. The teacher failed to remember  the name of the student. ( The teacher failed to call up the name of the student. )=call up

The other three questions are repetitions. So we have skipped them here. 

Page no-117

1. The price of essential commodities is rising day by day (The price of essential commodities is going up day by day.)= go up
2. The travelers started early in the morning. ( The travelers set out early in the morning.) set out
3. We wear new dresses during puja. ( We put on new dresses during puja. )=put on

Page no 136

1. The enemy had to surrender at last. ( The enemy had to give in at last. ) = give in
2. Who can tolerate such an insult / ( Who can bear with such an insult ?)=bear with
3. Please remove your shoes before you enter the temple. ( Please take off your shoes before you enter the temple.) = take off
4. The old lady died quite peacefully. ( The old lady passed away quite peacefully. )=pass away

Page no-152

1. You should decrease your expenses. ( You should cut down your expenses. )=cut down
2. Capital punishment must be abolished. ( Repetition)
3. He will be cured soon. ( He will come round soon. ) =come round
4. The police chased the thief. ( The police ran after the thief.)= run after

Page no-166.

1. She was reared by her aunt. ( She was brought up by her aunt.)= bring up
2. The patient has recovered. ( The patient has come round. )=come round
3. He examined the documents. ( He looked through the documents. )=look through
4. You should arrive in time. ( You should turn up in time. ) turn up

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spk-9/8/15

 When the choice is between a book of poems and an English grammar I will always opt for the former...................

 My friend has asked me a very simple question. I will always choose a book of poem. Suppose you have been banished to an isolated island for a year. You can take seven books with you. What will be your choice Ranjit? Here are my choices; Rabindranath, Jibonanada, Shamsur Rahman, Keats, Shelly, Wordsworth and Sakti or Joy Goswami. All books of poems.
English grammar is never an interesting choice. But when you are learning English as a second language you have no alternative but to learn the basic rules of grammar. Students studying in English medium schools do not depend on grammar to learn the language. When you read all the subjects in English , listen to your teachers regularly you learn the structure , pronunciation and syntax of the language automatically. You must be a good listener if you want to be a good speaker. There is no better way for learning a language.The main problem with the Bengali medium school is that English is taught as another subject and in 99% cases it is taught in Bengali. How can you learn the nuances of a foreign language if it is taught in your mother tongue? English is a stressed and accented language while Bengali is a non-accented simple language. How can you overcome this basic problem? You need a language laboratory in every school to enable the students to perfect their pronunciation of the English words. I don't think any school in West Bengal has such facility. So we have no alternative but to take the help of English Grammar and follow the ' learning through translation/ re-translation method. It is essential to possess a good grammar and a good dictionary . In fact, we need two good dictionaries, one for English too Bengali and another for Bengali to English. If you can a third one for English to English, nothing could be better for you. Okay, I have said more than enough on this topic. Let us now concentrate on some tricky problems.
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• I hope you have learnt how to transform a sentence in the active voice into passive voice and vice versa. You have surely noticed that some verbs take two objects -one animate and the other inanimate object.
• Example= Sukanya gave Apratim a beautiful gift on his birthday. In this sentence the verb ' gave' has two objects--a) Apratim( an animate object ) and b) a beautiful gift ( an inanimate object. You can make one of these two objects as the subject in the passive voice. What should you do? My suggestion is: Make the animate object and retain the inanimate object as it is. So the answer would be.= Apratim was given a beautiful gift on his birthday by Sukanya.
• When should we use "let'' in the passive voice? First of all we have to remember that ''let'' is a very formal word. It is a very '' unemotional'' and '' non-personal '' word. These are my observations and definitions. Please don't blame the English language. I know many will find fault with me and give me a severe dressing down. I am prepared for that and I offer my sincere apologies to them. Now let me explain what I mean to say. Let me say it. Study the following sentences in the active voice: a) Shut the door. b) Maintain silence in the library. c) Let him do it. d) Respect your parents. e) Let him have his say. f) Give me a chair to sit on. 
• How do you transform the above mentioned sentences into passive voice? a) Shut the door.= Let the door be shut or You are asked/ ordered/ requested to shut the door. Which one would you prefer? My choice is= Let the door be shut. because it is an impersonal comment, neither a request nor an order.  b) Maintain silence in the library.= Let silence be maintained in the library. or Silence should be maintained in the library. Which one would be your choice? My choice is= Silence should be maintained in the library. Because it is the right thing to do. c) Let him do it. You can do it in two ways =a) Let it be done by him or b) He should be allowed to do it. I would choose the first one because it is less complicated and informal. d) Respect your parents.( Because it is your duty.) = Your parents should be respected. ( Many do not respect their parents ) and never= Let your parents be respected. d) Let hive have his say. = He should be allowed to have his say. Do not use 'let'in the passive voice in this case. f) Give me a chair to sit on. ( There is an implicit request in the tone of the sentence ) So= You are requested to give me a chair to sit on. I hope iI have been able to make my point clear to you.

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Today is 22 Shrabon. It is a very memorable day for us Bengalis. Rabindranath Tagoore breathed his last on this day 74 years ago. But he is and always will remain in our memory. We pay our humble tribute to him on this day.

.

Rabindrath's last journey by train

Madhyamik grammar lessons

                  Madhyamik grammar lessons----------

I have not yet touched the phrasal verbs and articles and prepositions. I intend to discuss about those problems after finishing the grammatical problems. Perhaps you have noticed that there are many repetitions . These problems are not difficult at all if you know the basic rules of grammar. We have reached almost at the finishing line. So let us start our lessons without any further delay:

Page-709
Q. It may rain. Then I will not go. ( Join with ''if'' )
A. If it rains I will not go.. ( It is a complex sentence with an adverb clause. You may call in a conditional sentence. )
Q. " How many will you eat, old man ?" the vendor said. ( Direct to indirect speech )
A. The vendor asked the old man how many he would eat.
Q. Don't think I am unaware of your mischief. ( Turn into an interrogative sentence )
A. Do you think i am unaware of your mischief ?
Q. Although the load was light it was too much for the old man.9 Make the sentence from complex to simple 0
Q. In spite of the load being light it was too much for the old man.
Q. What do you want ? ( change the voice from active to passive )
Q. What is wanted by you ?
Q. Poor as he was, he was happy.( oencemit 'as' )
A. Though he was poor he was happy. (Complex sentence. We can also write it as a simple sentence= In spite of being poor he was happy )
Page-725 (we shall do this page at the end )
Page-735 " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "
Page--741-2 " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "
Page--748 ----------------------------------'' '' '' ''
Page-754
Q. We did not support him. You did not support him. ( Join the sentence with neither.....nor)
A. Neither did  you nor we support him.
Q. We should always --------(courage) students to excel. ( Rewrite the sentence by adding a prefix withe verb given in the bracket .)
A. We should always encourage students to excel .
Q. We invited Proffesor Chatterjee to preside over the meeting. ( Frame a wh-question with 'whom'' )
A. Whom did you invite to preside over the meeting ?
Page-764
Q. They had finished their dinner. They immediately went to bed. ( Join with "AS soon as.....)
A. As soon as they finished their dinner they went to bed.
Q. If you don't work hard from now onwards, you cannot hope to pass. ( Unless and re-write the sentence )
A. Unless you work hard from now onward, you cannot hope to pass.

There are 5 to 6 question papers wher the teachers have deviated from the norm. They have set some interesting grammatical problems for the students to solve. Before we attempt to solve them we should have discussion on some important issues. Till then ...........
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spk-8/8/15

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose

We all know that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and the then Brtish Government had no love lost between them. He had tremendous hatred against against the British Government because they had unleashed inhuman torture and  atrocities  against the innocent Indians. Yet he sat for the ICS Examination in deference to his father's wish. He came out with flying colours and stood fourth in the Examination. In the Viva voce test he was asked some interesting and difficult questions because the wanted to fail him. One of the question was a) How many buckets of water are there in the ocean? Subhash replied,'' It depends on the size of the bucket." The interviewers were stumped. The second question was b) What is the difference between a soldier and a woman? They thought they had called Subhsh on the wrong foot. How wrong they were! Subhash gave them a brillisnt answer: A woman powders her face and a soldier faces the powders. The examiners were stunned.

  Now let us discuss one point here. English language has become the most popular international language not for nothing. It is a very rich and expressive language . One of the most important features of this language is its elasticity flexibility. Subhash Bose had used the two words FACE and POWDER both as nouns and verbs in the same sentence. ''A woman powders( verb ) her face (noun) and a soldier faces (verb) the powder.(noun). Subhash was a brilliant student. he had acquired mastery over the language. But you can also use many nouns as verbs in English. Take the help of a good dictionary and prepare yourself. Let me give you a short list. Use the following words both as nouns and vers in separate sentences.

mother, father, head, face, mouth, nose, eye, hand, back, share, care, smell, look, rain, water, storm, school, know, dream, sleep, walk, talk, lecture, demand, supply, export, import, issue, issue, use.....

I know you can do it. Give it a try. Don't shy away from the task. ( We generally use the word SHY as an adjective. But in this sentence I have used it as a verb.)
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                                         Madhyamik Test Papers: Grammar Problems
Page-643
Q. Do you know that I am forced to carry diseases? ( Change into passive voice )
A. Is it known to you that I am forced to carry diseases? ( Passive )
Q. The dog said to the wolf,"" Alas! What an irregular life you lead !" ( Direct to indirect speech )
A. The dog exclaied in sympathy and said that the wolf led a very irregular life. ( Indirect speech )
Q/ I shalll tell you what the necessity of climbing a tree is. ( From complex to simple )
A. I shall tell you about the necessity of knowing to climb( climbing) a tree. ( simple)
Q. The Grecian Urn is the most beautiful object in the room. ( Change to positive degree )
A. No  other object in the room is as beautiful as the Grecian Urn. ( Positive degree )
Page-659
Q. A man opened the door. He welcomed me warmly. ( Join into a complex sentence )
A. The man who opeened the door welcomed me warmly. ( Complex with an adjective clause 0
Q. Don't tell him anything. ( from active to passive )
A. Let he ( him) be told nothing. / You are instructed/ ordered not to tell him anything. ( passive )
Q. Ishant could bowl faster than Munaf. ( Change the degree )
A. Munaf could not bowl as fast as Ishant. (coild)= Positive degree..
Q. My doctor told me,'' the climate of this city won't suit you." ( From direct to indirect. )
A. My doctor told me that the climate of that city would not suit me. ( Indirect.)
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spk-7/8/15

Let us study these sentences............

1. Lionel Messi headed the ball into the goal.
2. Nobody can stomach such insult.
3. My father shoulders the financial responsibility of our family.
4. You should not judge people on the face value.
5. We have booked 3 rooms in a five star hotel.
6. My friend Tanmoy is eying a beautiful girls from a long time.
7. If you commit a crime you will surely face the music
8. A new agreement was inked this morning between the two companies.
9. A school master trains the minds but a station master minds the trains.
10.He handed his resignation letter to the manager of the concern.

In the above-mentioned sentences we have used some nouns as verbs. You can write hundreds of sentences like these. It gives you a lot of freedom and flexibility in expressing your thoughts. Don't be afraid. Just consult a good dictionary and start writing whatever you like.
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Madhyamik Test Papers-----continuation

Page-676(not now)
Page-690
Q. It is extremely foolish to waste time in reading trash. ( Make it interrogative )
A. Is it not extremely foolish to waste time in reading trash ?
Q. It is easier to preach than to practice. Turn into positive degree )
A. To practice is not as easy as to preach.
Q. "No', said the child,'' I won't kneel for if I do I shall spoil my new breeches.'' ( Direct to indirect )
A. The child refused to kneel for he felt that if he did  so it would spoil his new breeches.
Q. Children under three are not admitted to the school. ( From passive to active voice )
A. The school authority does not admit children under three.
Q. The boy 'appeared' to be deaf. ( use the adverb form of the verb'appeared' )
A. Apparently the boy was deaf.
Q. The fact is so evident that it does not require any proof. (Rewrite using '' too..to'' )
A. The fact is too evident to require any evidence. ( simple sentence )
Q. If you do not waste you will not want. ( Make it compound )
A. Waste not, want not.
Q. Cross only when it is green. ( turn into negative )
A. Don't cross unless it is green.
Q. You may go. You may stay here. Y ou must do one of the two. (Join into a compound sentence)
A. Go or stay here. ( Either go or stay here )
Q. How you behave with him is important. Success depends on it. ( Join into a complex sentence with a nominal clause.)
A. Success depends on how you behave with him. ( nominal clause object to the prposition 'on' )
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Jumping for joy is great exercise for your heart

                                     Live your life to the full

Our life is actually very simple. We make it more complex because most of  us don't know how to live. When we were young we had very few needs. A child who is born in a very poor family was not less happy than a child who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Children are neither poor or rich. Most of them are happy because they have fewer needs and demands. The problems begins as we grow up into life. Others make our life more complicated and complex. I don't have the solution to this problem so let me stop here delivering a sermon. My friend from Durgapur has raised a very important question. How should we use the word but a sentence ? The obvious answer would be; use it as a conjunction. But what about this sentence? But for his help I would have been ruined. or None but politicians are responsible for the mess that we are in. or I could not but cry in that situation. Are these 'buts' conjunctions? The answer is NO,. We promise to discuss it as soon as I am ready with my answer. It is also a learning process for me. I am not at all ashamed of admitting that I don't know all the answers. I am also a learner like you. Thanks Ranjit for your valuable inputs. Now let us enjoy readind this poem.

                                                   
                                                       
                                                            
                          '' Jumping for joy is great exercise for your heart."  

                                        Most people tend to put off living, and
                                             endure their life instead of enjoying their life.
                                         While the reality is that joy and inner peace don't just
                                          Show up.You need to create them. A happy person
                                             is not a person with certain set of circumstances.
                                              but rather a person with certain set of attitudes;
                                          therefore, don't just exist,.....live life. Experience
                                           everything, go out and make mistakes and exploit the
                                                 countless opportunities to learn something along the way
                                                 Enjoy yourself, have fun-be a little crazy and weird ,
                                            Do not try to be perfect; take responsibility for.
                                               your own happiness. Joy is a choice. A small flower
                                             at our garden,. Baby's smile. Sunrise like simple
                                            beauties of life can also bring happiness to your life
                                                provided if you have the attitude. You can create joy
                                 
                                                     when you change your faulty beliefs and thoughts.
                                                     And remember , joy is more than happiness
                                                        health and wellness.
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spk-6/8/15