Tuesday, October 27, 2009

A Thousand and One Nights



The legendary Persian Queen Scheherazade telling her ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS stories to King Shahryar

Every day, King Shahryar married a new virgin , and every day he
would send yesterday's wife to be beheaded. This was done in
anger , having found out that his first wife had betrayed him. He
had killed three thousand such women by the time he was introduced to
Scheherazade, the vizier's * daughter .

Against her father's protestations, Scheherazade volunteered to spend one night with the King. Once in the king's chambers, Scheherazade began to tell the king a story.

During the long night, the king lay awake and listened in awe as Scheherazade told her first story. Scheherazade stopped in the middle of the story. The King asked her to finish, but she said there was not enough time, as dawn was breaking. So the king spared her life for one day to finish the story. The next night, Scheherazade finished the story, and then began a second one, even more exciting, again stopping halfway through, at dawn. Again the king spared her life for one day to finish the second story.

And so the king kept Scheherazade alive day by day as he eagerly anticipated her finishing the previous night's story. At the end of one thousand and one nights, and one thousand stories, Scheherazade told the king that she had no more tales to tell him. During these one thousand and one nights, the king had fallen in love with Scheherazade and had had three sons with her. So, having been made a wiser and kinder man by Scheherazade and her tales, he spared her life and made her his queen.
*vizier = high officer or minister of state in various Muslim countries
VOCABULARY

Read the story. Look at the sentences, and try to define these words from the context.

1. virgin (noun) E v e r y d a y, King S h a h r y a r married a n e w v i r g i n ,
a. an airline company
b. a person who has never had sex
c. a stewardess

2. beheaded (verb)
E v e r y d a y h e w o u l d s e n d y e s t e r d a y ' s w i f e t o b e b e h e a d e d .
a. got a hair cut
b. behaved badly
c. had her head cut off

3. betrayed (verb)
H i s f i r s t w i f e had betrayed h i m.
a. cheated on him
b. cooked for him
c. married him

4. protestations (noun)
Against her father's protestations, Scheherazade volunteered to spend one night with the King.
a. praises
b. objections
c. help

5. volunteered (verb)
a. worked without pay
b. worked with pay
c. studied at school

6. chambers
Once in the king's chambers, Scheherazade began to tell the king a story.
a. kitchen
b. bedroom
c. living room


7. in awe (in = preposition awe = noun object of the preposition)
The king listened in awe as Scheherazade told her first story.
a. sitting on the bed
b. happily living’
c. a mixed feeling of fear and wonder
8. dawn (adverbial noun)
She said there was not enough time, as dawn was breaking.
a. morning
b. evening
c. night

9. spared her life
So the king spared her life for one day.
a. didn’t kill her
b. changed her
c. talked to her

10. alive (adj.)
So the king kept Scheherazade alive day by day
a. awake
b. asleep
c. living

11. eagerly (adverb)
He eagerly anticipated her finishing the previous night's story.
a. really interested
b. very helpful
c. sadly

12.anticipated (verb)
a.thought ahead
b. stopped
c. continued

13. tales (noun)
She had no more tales to tell him.
a. pictures
b. stories
c. writings




GRAMMAR
1. Please circle all the past tense verbs (21) in the story (one is past progressive)
2. What are the subjects and the infinitives?




3. There are four past perfect verbs in the story. (HAD + past participle of a verb)

What did his wife do to him?
a.

By the time he was introduced to Scheherazade, what had he done to his wives?
b.

As she was telling him these tales, what happened to the king?
c.

Over all these 1001 nights, she not only told him all those stories, what happened to Scheherazade?
d.

Please tell me about two things that happened n the past -- one before the other. The first thing will use the PAST PERFECT TENSE.

YOUR TURN
e. _________________________________________________________



4. PASSIVE voice is NOT A VERB TENSE

It is used when the subject becomes the object. S V O
For example: regular order of sentences is S V O Sally threw the ball.
PASSIVE voice: verb (to be) + past participle
S V
S V O The ball was thrown (by Sally).
a. A man robbed the woman.

S V
aa. The woman was robbed on the bus (by a man). PASSIVE voice

S V O
b. Most of the students have done all their homework.

S V
bb. All the homework was done by most of the students. PASSIVE voice


b. What are the PASSIVE VOICES USED IN THIS STORY? Talk to your partner and see if you can identify them. (4) Write the sentences from the story.




Look for the verb (be) + a past participle Subject Verb and NO object.

1.

2.

3.

4.
YOUR TURN
Please write a pair of sentences, the first with a Subject, Verb, and an Object.
Then write the same sentence in the PASSIVE voice using the verb to be + past participle with only a Subject and that verb.



COMPREHENSION AND CONVERSATION
Please talk to your partner and then write complete sentences to answer these questions.

1. Why did King Shahryar behead all his wives?


2. What did Sheherazade volunteer to do?




3. Why did the king spare Sheherazade’s life?




4. How did Sheherazade save her own life?




5. What’s your opinion about what Sheherezade did?
________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Farmer, the Son, and the Donkey


A farmer and his son were walking their donkey to market, where they were going to sell him. They had not gone far when they met a bunch of giggling girls.
“Look there!” cried one of them. “Aren’t they a foolish pair to be trudging along on foot when one of them could be riding?”
When the farmer heard this, he told his son to get up on the donkey. They then went along happily until they came to a group of men talking by the side of the road.
“My, my!” said one of the men. “Just look at that young fellow riding in comfort while his poor old father has to walk.”
“Get off that donkey, you lazy boy!” shouted another, “and let your father ride.”
Right away, the son slid off the donkey, and the farmer took his place. Before they had gone far, they passed a group of housewives.
“Why, you heartless old fellow!” cried several of the women at once. “How can you ride when your poor tired child can hardly keep up with you? What mean fathers there are nowadays!”
So the good-natured farmer pulled his son up behind him, and they both rode along on the donkey’s back. When they reached the town, a villager pointed at them. “Tell me,” he asked the farmer, “is that donkey yours?”
“Yes,” replied the farmer.
“I would never have thought so,” said the villager, “from the way you load him down. You should be ashamed of yourself! The two of you are better able to carry that poor beast than he is to carry you.”
“You are right!” agreed the farmer. Then he and his son got down from the donkey’s back.
How could they possibly carry the donkey? The farmer puzzled over this for a long time. Then at last an idea came to him. Cutting a think branch from a nearby tree, he trimmed it into a stout pole. With some difficulty, he and his son tied the donkey’s feet to the pole and lifted both the pole and the donkey to their shoulders.
By the time they reached the town bridge, a whole crowd of people had gathered to hoot and laugh at the funny-looking sight. The donkey, frightened by the racket, took it into his head to kick at the ropes. All of a sudden, he pulled loose from the pole and tumbled off the bridge into the water. Since he was unable to swim, he soon drowned.
The farmer and his son hung their heads in shame and started back home.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The moral of this story is this:
If you try to please everyone, you may end up pleasing no one at all.

VOCABULARY
Look at these words from the story and choose the meaning from a, b, or c.
1. giggling (adj.) “a bunch of giggling girls”
a. sewing
b. laughing
c. dancing

2. foolish (adj.) “Aren’t they a foolish pair?
a. stupid
b. smart
c. determined

3. trudging (verb) “They were trudging along on foot.”
a. tripping
b. running
c. walking in a heavy-footed laborious way

4. fellow (noun) “That young fellow was riding in comfort.”
a. a young man
b. a young woman
c. to be behind someone

5. slid off (verb) “The son slid off the donkey.”
a. took the lid off
b. bell down from
c. felt shy

6. heartless (adj.) “He’s a heartless man.”
a. having a bad heart
b. in love
c. lacking kindness

7. cried (verb) “Several women cried at once.”
a. felt very sad
b. shouted
c. talked softly

8. at once (adverbial “noun”)
a. by themselves
b. at the same time
c. for the first time


9. hardly (adverb) “The child can hardly keep up with you.”
a. barely; with difficulty
b. very difficult
c. certainly

10. mean (adj.) “What mean fathers there are nowadays!”
a. bad-tempered, nasty, unsympathetic, hard-hearted
b. definite
c. for men only

11. nowadays (adverbial “noun”)
a. in your free time
b. a long time ago
c. during the present time

12. good-natured (adj.) “The good-natured farmer pulled his son up behind him.”
a. healthy
b. easy-going and cheerful
c. vegetarian

*13. poor (adj.) “That poor beast is carrying too heavy a load.
a. used when you feel sorry for someone
b. having llittle money
c. dirty

POOR in idioms: “You poor thing!”
“Poor you!”
“Poor guy/girl”

14. beast (noun)
a. a monster or dragon
b. any four-footed animal used for labor, food or sport
c. a bird

15. trimmed (verb) “He trimmed the tree into a stout pole.”
a. tripped over some wood
b. cooked with wood, like a barbeque
c. to make neat by clipping or to cut the excess

16. stout (adj.)
a. short
b. fat
c. tall

17. hoot (verb) “The whole crowd of people gathered to hoot and laugh at the
funny-looking sight.”
a. to shout, especially in a negative way
b. to ask who
c. to vote

18. funny-looking (adj.)
a. a joke
b. handsome
c. strange or odd; not good-looking

19. racket (noun) “He was frightened by the racket.”
a. lots of noise
b. something used to play tennis with
c. a rocket ship

20. pulled loose (verb) “He pulled loose from the pole.”
a. got free
b. got tied up
c. got lost

21. to please (verb)
a. to give enjoyment or pleasure; to satisfy
b. to place something down
c. to call the police

GRAMMAR
PAST TENSE VERBS
1.Please circle all the past tense verbs in the story.
2. How many past tense verbs did you circle? __________________
3. Choose 5 of those past tense verbs and write your own sentences
YOUR TURN
a_______________________________________________________________

b. _________________________________________________________________

c._________________________________________________________________

d._________________________________________________________________

e. _________________________________________________________________





B. There are 3 PAST PERFECT VERBS in the story. HAD + past participle
Please write these here:

a.___________________ b.___________________ c. ___________________

PAST PERFECT TENSE is used when two past tenses are in the same sentence, one thing happened before the other. For that first happening, use the PAST PERFECT.
For example:
I had already eaten dinner when my husband came home from work.
By the time my husband came home, I had already eaten dinner.

Which happened first? Your dinner or your husband’s coming home?

Because I had already graduated from college, I got a good job.

Which happened first? Your graduation or your getting a good job?

They had not gone far when they met a bunch of giggling girls.

Which happened first? Their going far or their meeting the girls?

Please try writing a sentence using past perfect tense. You may use ALREADY or
BY THE TIME to help you with the idea of something happening FIRST.
YOUR TURN: _____________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

C. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS “Is that donkey YOURS?”

Possessive pronouns are possessives used WITHOUT NOUNS.

MINE YOURS HIS HERS OURS YOURS THEIRS

(as opposed to possessive adjectives which are used with nouns.)
My book/books Your book/books His book/books Her book/books
Our apartment Your car/cars Their child/children

Please write a pair of sentences to show me you understand the difference:
For example:

a. I love my new car, and she loves her car.
aa. I love MINE, and she loves HERS.

b. We drove to the hospital to see their new grandson.
bb. All the babies were cute, but THEIRS was the cutest.

YOUR TURN:

c. ___________________________________________________________

cc . ___________________________________________________________

D. WHAT used in sentences of surprise with an exclamation point.
This is NOT A QUESTION, so the subject and verb are in regular order. S V

“What mean fathers there are nowadays!”

Examples: What + (plural or non-count noun) and

a. What beautiful/awful weather we’re having!
b. What tender meat this is!
c. What delicious vegetables you cooked!

YOUR TURN: ___________________________________________________
What a + (singular noun)

a. What a delicious dinner you cooked!
b. What a terrific time we had at your party!
c. What a mess you made in the kitchen!

YOUR TURN: ___________________________________________________

E. TOO adjective + A singular noun + infinitive (This is a negative idea.)

Examples: a. This is too heavy a box for me to carry.
b. Lance is too short a person to play basketball.
c. My grandmother is too weak a woman to climb up the stairs.

YOUR TURN: ___________________________________________________

[ or You could say it this way: (TOO adjective + noun)
aa. This box is too heavy for me to carry.
bb. Lance is _______________________________
cc. My grandmother is ______________________________________ ]


COMPREHENSION AND CONVERSATION
Talk to your partner and then write your answers in complete sentences.

1. Why were the farmer and his son walking their donkey to market?



2. Who rode on the donkey first and why?



3. Who rode on the donkey next and why?



4. Why did the farmer and the son decide to get off the donkey?



5. What finally happened?



6. What does the moral of this story mean? Tell me in your own words what this means:
If you try to please everyone, you may end up pleasing no one at all.

©gati2009

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Letter to Dad

An old Italian was living alone in Chicago. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was a difficult job because the ground was very hard. His only son, Vincent, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:
Nov. 3, 2009
Dear Vincent,
I am feeling pretty sad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my tomato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. I know if you were here, my troubles would be over. I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Love,
Papa

A few days later, he received this letter from his son:

Nov. 6, 2009
Dear Papa,
Don't dig up that garden. That's where I buried the bodies.
Love,
Vinnie
At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents
and
the local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son:

Nov. 8, 2009
Dear Papa,
Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Your loving son,
Vinnie

VOCABULARY
1. How do you describe people from various countries?

a. from Italy (the) Italians He’s (an) Italian.
b. from China _______________________________________________
c. from France _______________________________________________
d. from India _______________________________________________
e. from Korea _______________________________________________
f. from Russia _______________________________________________
g. from Sweden _______________________________________________
h. from the United States ________________________________________
i. from Mexico _______________________________________________
j. from Burma (Myanmar) ______________________________________
k. from Afghanistan __________________________________________
l. from Iraq _______________________________________________
m. from Guatemala___________________________________________
n. from El Salvador ___________________________________________
o. from Brazil _______________________________________________
p. from Ruanda _______________________________________________
q. from South Africa __________________________________________
r. from Kenya _______________________________________________
s. from Nigeria _______________________________________________
t. from _____________________________________________________

2. Can you define these words by looking at the sentences from the story? Try to guess their meanings (DO NOT looking them up in your dictionary) and choose a, b, or c.
1. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden.
annual
a. daily
b. weekly
c. yearly
2.. . . the ground was very hard.
ground
a. the dirt (earth)
b. his job
c. his occupation
3. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.
predicament
a. job
b. difficult situation
c. future problem
5. I’m feeling pretty sad.
pretty
a. beautiful
b. very
c. cute
6. I’m getting too old to be digging up a garden plot.
plot
a. a piece of land
b. the story
c. flowers
7. Go ahead and plant the tomatoes now.
Go ahead
a. Get out of jail
b. Stop
c. You have my permission
8. That’s the best I could do under the circumstances.
Under the circumstance/s
a. under the table
b. because of the situation I am in.
c. for you

3. What’s the difference between His only son and He has one son ?




4. What’s the difference between “in jail” and “in prison”.






GRAMMAR
1. Find all the verbs in the story. (29)
Subjects Verbs Tense Infinitive
1. An Italian was living past continuous to live
2. He
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.

2. TOO, meaning MORE THAN
too + adjective (+ infinitive)

a. I’m just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot.
b. He’s too tired to eat tonight.
c. My daughter bought a pair of shoes but they’re too tight on her feet.
d. Too much money makes some people greedy.
e. I have too many things to do tonight.
Pick any two adjectives and write two sentences using TOO.
f.

g.______________________________________________________________________

3. Superlatives with adjectives
Irregular single-syllable adj. ending in “y” 2-or-more-syllable adjectives
the thinnest the heaviest, the most expensive
the best,
the cleverest the most clever


Please write three of your own sentences with superlatives.

a.____________________________________________________________________

b. ____________________________________________________________________

c. ____________________________________________________________________




4. LIKE
a. expression: It looks like (As I see it, in my opinion)
It looks like I won’t be able to plant my tomato garden this year.
It looks like a beautiful day today.
Your Turn:
_____________________________________________________________________

b. look like (comparing two people or two situations
You look like your mother.
She looks like (as if) she’s going to cry.
Your Turn:
_____________________________________________________________________

c. like (as) (the same as)
I know you would be happy to dig the plot for me, like in the old days.
Butter tastes [or doesn’t taste) like margarine.
She is like her mother (in actions, not in looks).
Your Turn:
_____________________________________________________________________

d. the verb like (enjoy)
I like rice.
I like to fish.
I like fishing.
Your Turn:
_____________________________________________________________________

5. A FEW
Please read the examples and then write your own sentences on the lines.
1. A few days later (said when you are telling about a past event)

We went to a party on Saturday night. A few days later, a guy, whom I met at the party, called me.

A. ___________________________________________________________________

2a. A few days from now (when you are telling about what event will happen)
2b. In a few days (when you are telling about what event will happen)

I just got my paycheck. In a few days from now, I’m going to deposit it in the bank.
In a few days, I’ll be starting a new job.

B. ___________________________________________________________________

[DIFFERENT meaning with “for”:
I will be in Las Vegas for a few days. (for 3 or 4 days)]

3. A few days ago (when you are telling about an event that already happened,
3 or 4 days in the past)
My husband went to Los Angeles a few days ago, and he won’t be home for a week.
He’ll be home in a week (from now).

C. ___________________________________________________________________

You can do the same with a year/month/week/hour/day/minute later,
In a year/month /week/hour/day/minute from now,
a year/month /week/hour/day/minute ago

Choose a time period + later, from now, ago and write three more sentences.

D. ___________________________________________________________________

E. ___________________________________________________________________

F. ___________________________________________________________________


6. THIS NEXT LAST


This morning/afternoon/evening//day/night/week/month/year
The next______ morning/afternoon/evening//day/night/week/month/year
Last night/week/month/year yesterday (NOT LAST DAY)


G. ___________________________________________________________________

H. ___________________________________________________________________

I. ____________________________________________________________________


COMPREHENSION Answer the questions by writing in complete sentences. And CONVERSATION
1. What is the ethnic background of the father?
_____________________________________________________________________
2. Where was the father living? __________________________________________________________________
3. Who was Vincent? __________________________________________________________________
4. Where was Vincent? _________________________________________________________________
5. Who is Vinnie? __________________________________________________________________
6. What does Vinnie mean when he writes about the “bodies”? __________________________________________________________________
7. Why did the FBI agents and the police dig up the entire area in the father’s garden? _________________________________________________________________

8. What is your opinion of Vincent (Vinnie)? Tell me why. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________