UNIT-IX

Ecology and Environment

Working with words

A. The words/phrases in the box are from the text. Check their meanings in a dictionary and use these words to complete the given sentences.

redwood, propane, occasional, wake-up call, logging, detrimental, stint, resolution, transformation, debris

a.       Logging is one of the main reasons behind the rapid deforestation in the world.

b.       That's one example of how the pandemic should be a wake-up call.

c.       Propane is a gas used as a fuel for cooking and heating.

d.       Emergency teams are still clearing the debris from the plane crash.

e.       What a transformation! You look great.

f.        My father made a New Year resolution to give up smoking.

g.       He has worked in the Army for two years. He hates that two-year stint.

h.       Emissions from the factory are widely suspected of having a/an detrimental effect on health.

i.        My father is an occasional smoker. He doesn't smoke often.

j.        Redwood is a very tall type of tree that grows especially in California and Oregan.

B. The words redwood, barefoot, single-burner, short-term, fast-paced, mudslide, windstorm and childhood from the above text are made of two words and they yield a new meaning. Compound words can be written in three ways: open compounds (spelled as two words, e.g., ice cream), closed compounds (joined to form a single word, e.g., doorknob), or hyphenated compounds (two words joined by a hyphen, e.g., long-term).

Choose one word from each box to make sensible compound words.

rattle, sun, touch, moon, day, fire, water, basket, pass, wash, weather, grand, cross

down, port, light, snake, cloth, mother, walk, flower, dream, man, ball, works, melon

Answer: Rattlesnake, sunflower, touchdown, moonlight, daydream, fireworks, watermelon, basketball, passport, washcloth, weatherman, grandmother, crosswalk

C.    Match the following words/phrases related to the ecology with their meanings.

Words/Phrases	Meanings
a.       sustainability	i.          the height on a mountain above which the climate is too cold for trees to grow (b)
b.       tree line	ii.         to keep in existence; maintain. To supply with necessities or nourishment (a)
c.       precipitation	iii.       an agreement between countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It was established in Japan in 1997 but didn't become international law until 2004 (e)
d.       tropical zone	iv.       water that returns to the earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow (c)
e.       Kyoto Protocol	v.         items that are discarded (j)
f.        pollutants	vi.        the soils, sediments, and rock layers of the Earth's crust, both continental and beneath the ocean floors (g)
g.       geosphere	vii.      substances that destroy the purity of air, water, or land (f)
h.       deciduous	viii.    an organism that has a short life cycle (i)
i.        ephemeral	ix.        a plant that sheds all or nearly all its leaves each year (h)
j.        trash	x.         the region between latitudes 23.5 degrees S and 23.5 degrees N (d)

D.    Pronounce the following pairs of words and notice the differences.

men /men/:           main /meɪn/                gem /dʒem/:             game /geɪm/                         

sell /sel/:               sale /seɪl/                    dell /del/:                  dale /deɪl/                    

pen /pen/:              pain /peɪn/                  bell /bel/:                 bail /beɪl/                    

well /wel/:            wale/weɪl/                    knell /nel/:              nail /neɪl/

met /met/:            mate /eɪ/                       hell /hel/:                 hail /heɪl/

shed /ʃed/:           shade /ʃeɪd/                   fell /fel/:                  fail /feɪl/

fed /fed/:             fade /feɪd/                      bed /bed/:                bade /beɪd/

bet /bet/:             bait /beɪt/                        pet /pet/:                  pate /peɪt/

set /set/:              sate /seɪt/                        get /geɪt/:                gate /geɪt/

let /let/:               late /leɪt/                         cell    /sel/:             sail/seɪl/

Comprehension

A.    Choose the best answer.

a. The author of the text above has the opinion that Julia Hill ……..

            i. did a wonderful job.

            ii. made her pastime in a tree for two years more.

            iii. chose redwood forest to learn environmental skills.

b. The sentence ‘Julia had occasional visitors’ indicates she had …….

            i. a host of visitors around the tree.

            ii. a few visitors now and then.

            iii. no visitors at all.

c.   The logging company managed 24-hour security service around the tree to …

            i. protect Hill from the wild animals.

            ii. discourage her from her campaign.

            iii. provide her with supplies.

d. Ms. Hill began to respond the loggers with songs and conventional conversations because she……

            i. was sorry for them

            ii. had unconditional love for all nature’s creations

            iii. wanted to influence them

e. Julia Hill climbed down the tree after 738 days when her demands were……..

            i. fulfilled.

            ii. partially fulfilled.

            iii. about to be fulfilled.

Answer:          a-i,       b-ii,     c-ii,      d-ii,     e-iii

B.    Answer these questions:

a.     Who was Julia Butterfly Hill? How did Hill’s campaign gain popularity?

Julia Butterfly Hill was an American environmental activist. Her campaign was mainly targeted at protecting redwoods in California from logging. When she lived in a 200-ft-tall redwood tree for more than two years to draw attention to the continued clearcutting of California’s remaining redwood forests, her campaign gained popularity.

b.     What made Hill start her mega campaign to save redwood trees?

Hill witnessed the clear-cutting of California's redwood trees on a trip to the west coast of the country. As a result, she began her mega redwood tree conservation effort.

c.     What kinds of amenities were there to support Hill’s life in the tree?

The amenities to support Hill’s life in the tree were a sleeping bag, a solar-powered cell phone for media interviews, and a single-burner propane stove to cook and heat water.

d.     Did Hill's value of life change after her car accident? How?

After her car accident, Hill's perspective on life really changed. She first focused on her work, but after her accident, she came to see that people's value was not measured by the stock portfolios and money accounts they had, but rather by the legacy they left behind.

e.  Deforestation causes natural calamities. What evidence do you have in the text to prove this?

The example in the text that a hillside in Stafford, California, had already been clear-cut serves as evidence that deforestation is what causes natural disasters like landslides. Additionally, only a few months before to Hill's arrival, a massive 20-foot-high mudslide brought trees, stumps, and other debris from that hillside into the village, affecting seven families.

f.      How did the logging company try to discourage Hill in the early days of her sit-in?

The logging company used a variety of tactics in the early stages of Hill's sit-in to try to demoralize her. To bother her and make sure her support staff couldn't provide her supplies, they recruited 24-hour security guards. A helicopter was approaching her at a dangerously close range. Hill almost fell when a nearby tree was destroyed, striking Luna's outer branches. She faced verbal abuse, death threats, rape, and violent threats, and was kept awake all night by air horns and floodlights.

g.     How were the vagaries of nature unwelcoming to Hill?

The logging company was not her only problem. Nature also hampered Hill's campaign to protect California's redwood forests. For instance, one of her scariest times was a 16-hour, 70-mph windstorm, one of the worst Northern California storms in decades. The wind tore the tents that surrounded her, and even ripped huge branches off the tree. Sleet and hail sliced through the torn pieces of what used to be her roof and walls. Every new gust flipped the platform up into the air, threatening to hurl her over the edge.

h.  What is the purpose of the author to write a review on Hill’s book? Do you think the author stands for ecological sustainability? Give reasons.

The main purpose of the author's review of Hill's book is to highlight the harm that deforestation does to the ecosystem. I believe the author supports ecological sustainability because she wants to show how Hill's fight for the preservation of redwood trees in America illustrates how deforestation causes environmental issues.

Critical Thinking

Suppose you are Julia Butterfly Hill. After staying one year in the tree, the government offered you five million dollars and requested you to drop the strike. Write in about 200 words responding them that the money is a mean thing for you in comparison with the woods.

Money does not make the earth a suitable place to live. Instead, a balance in the ecosystem is important to us. The absence of any living organism disrupts an ecosystem. An unbalanced ecosystem is not a good place to live for any living being. We cannot imagine our lives without woods. They are essential to our existence as they provide us with many essential things like shelter, food, wood, medicine, etc.

Money is nothing in comparison to plants. Trees and forests are incomparable. Without them, we are unlikely to survive. So, they are one of the most valuable and indispensable things to us. Money has monetary value in our lives solely because we exist. We are able to exist in this universe due to the balance in our environment, which is made possible by the presence of trees. Therefore, I cannot let these lovely trees be felled. These are far more precious than anything in the world. They are not only my life but also yours and the lives of other living creatures in the woods. The wildlife in the woods has the right to live and enjoy their lives. Your offer of money means nothing to me. I vow to keep them safe and let them remain there always.

Writing 

A.    Write a review of a book/film which you have read/watched recently.

Directed by          Yadav Kumar Bhattarai

Written by           Krishna Dharabasi

Based on               Jhola

Produced by        Malati Shah, Ram Gopal Thapa, Raj Timilsina and Sushil Shah

Starring                Garima Panta, Desh Bhakta Khanal, Sujal Nepal, Laxmi Giri & Deepak Chhetri

Cinematography Deepak Bajracharya

Released on          7 December 2013

Running Time     90 Minutes

Genre                   Historical and Cultural Movie

Country                Nepal

Language             Nepali

Jhola, released in 2013 is a Nepali film based on a story by writer Krishna Dharabasi. It is about Sati tradition that was prevalent in the Nepalese society until the 1920s in which wife had to immolate herself upon her husband's death, typically on his funeral pyre. The movie, directed by Yadav Kumar Bhattarai, features Garima Pant, Desh Bhakta Khanal, Deepak Chhetri, Laxmi Giri, Pralhad Khatiwada, etc. in the main roles. The movie can be categorized as a historical art movie.

The story of the film develops with the death of Kanchi’s (Garima Panta) husband who is 40 years older than her. As per the social rules and regulations, Kanchi has to die herself burning over the pyre of her husband. However, she manages to escape from this and survives. She begins residing in a cave in a neighboring jungle. Her son Ghanashyam, feeling lonely without his loving mother, goes to the jungle and discovers her in a cave. Even after Kanchi and her son are reunited, they are unable to live in the same society since the people there would still murder the women even if they had managed to survive Sati in some way. Ghanashyam comes up with a plan to move away from the community so they can start over. He tells his mother to remain in the forest and returns home with their possessions. Then he returns home and tells his aunt what happened in the bush while pleading with her to give his mother some clothes and food. Later, they are joined by Kanchi's brother-in-law and his wife, who help them flee the village. As Kanchi and his son Ghanashyam are ready to leave the village, they come upon a lady who they believe to be Sati but who is unable to go and is killed by the mourners.

The scenes in the film appear real and historical, however there is room for improvement. The film has a traditional appearance due to traditional tools like the dhiki, janto, madaani, etc. Additionally, ancient lights like ranko, diyalo, and a fireplace give viewers a sense of the past. The Kamara-Kamari custom, which is a kind of slavery, is also depicted in the film. Background music is composed of leaf music and traditional tunes, which is tempting to audience. The artists' ancient attire takes spectators to the past and gives them the impression that they are living in a period from centuries ago. The elderly may sense the time they spent as children, while young people can get a glimpse of our past. As a result, moviegoers of all ages may appreciate it.

The child actor and Garima Pant have both acted quite convincingly. Other artists have justified their roles as well. According to a report, Garima became ill after the scene in which she fled by swimming in the river was shot. Further, she said that she didn't take a bath or put on cosmetics throughout the shooting in order to give the real appearance that people, especially women, used to have due to hard work on the farm, at home, etc. in the past.

In conclusion, the historical film "Jhola" provides a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. The movie serves as a reflection of violence against women in the past. The film provides historical, cultural, and traditional insights in addition to entertainment. Although "Jhola" has certain flaws, it is a wonderful historical film. However, this might not be the movie for you if you like fights, singing, dancing, and having fun in movies.

B.   Your school is going to organize a speech competition on coming Friday. The subject of the speech is “Let’s save the trees and protect our environment.” Draft a speech using the following prompts.

Good morning, one and all!

Honorable chairperson, judges, teachers, dear friends, juniors, seniors, and all others present here.

First of all, I would like to thank the organizing committee for this opportunity. I am honored to have this chance to participate in this speech competition with the theme ‘Let’s save trees and protect our environment.’

Well, the earth on which we live is the natural world given to us by God. It includes plants and animals, soil, rocks, water, and air. It is the home of billions of living beings, and billions of trees serve as their main source of food, shelter, medicine, etc. In addition, our environment is composed of the entire air, soil, trees, water, etc. The co-existence of all humans can make this a good environment.

However, human beings are greedy, selfish, and consumerist. They think only of their benefits and cut down trees indiscriminately, resulting in many natural calamities. They regard themselves as the owners of the world and everything in it as their property. In the name of development, urbanization, industrialization, road construction, canal and dam construction, airport construction, etc., forests are being diminished, which not only causes a huge loss of trees but also the loss of homes for many organisms, contributing to the imbalance in the ecosystem.

I would finally like to suggest that humans control their greed or appetite for their personal benefits and save trees. They can have a good environment and live a quality life if they think beyond their personal benefits and save trees. Otherwise, they create a bad environment in which to live a bad life, endangering their own lives as well as the loss and extinction of many living beings from Wonderland. Therefore, I urge that we should save trees, which in turn protect our environment.

Thank you.

Grammar

Reported Speech

A.    Study the following expressions.

Interviewer:         Julia, can you share your experiences of living on the branches of a tree for two years?

Julia:                    It was wonderful! I can't express that in words.

Somebody reported the above expressions in the following way.

The interviewer asked Julia to share her experiences of living on the branches of a tree for two years.

Julia replied that it had been wonderful. She could not express that in words.

B.    Someone says something to you which contradicts to what they told you earlier. Match the beginnings of the conversations with the correct endings.

a.     I'm going to Pokhara on holiday.                  i.          You said she'd had a boy.

b.     He's a lawyer.                                               ii.         You admitted you cheated in all your exams.

c.     She's had a baby girl.                                   iii.        You told me he was a teacher.

d.     I haven't seen Binesh for ages.                    iv.        You told me she was fluent in both.

e.     I love these new boots.                                 v.         You said you hated them.

f.      I only cheated in one exam.                         vi.        You said you were going on business.

g.     She doesn't speak Hindi or Chinese.           vii.       You told me his office was in Biratnagar.

h.     He works in Kathmandu.                            viii.      You told me you'd seen him previous week.

Answer:          a-vi      b-iii     c-i        d-viii   e-v       f-ii       g-iv      h-vii

C.    Change the following sentences into indirect speech.

a.     The principal said, “You can phone from my office, Rita.”

The principal said that Rita could phone from his office.

b.     “You must not neglect your duty,” said the teacher to the student.

The teacher told the student that he/she must not neglect his/her duty.

c.     The student said, “Sir, please, grant me a leave for two days.”

The student requested sir to grant him/her a leave for two days.

d.     I said to her, “Go to school or you will be fined.”

I warned her to go to school or she would be fined.

e.     The headmaster said, “Don’t make any noise, boys.”

The headmaster told boys not to make any noise.

f.      “Work hard if you want to rise in life,” said the old man.

The old man suggested to work hard if we wanted to rise in life.

g.     He said, “Goodbye, my friends!”

He bade farewell to his friends.

h.     She said to me, “Have a pleasant journey ahead.”

She wished me to have a pleasant journey ahead.

i.      “Don’t give me the book, please,” Sharmila said.

Sharmila requested me not to give her the book.

j.      “Where have you been these days?” she spoke on the telephone.

She inquired on the telephone where I had been those days.

k.     The teacher said, “Have you submitted your assignments, students?”

The teacher asked students if they had submitted their assignments.

D.    These are the exact words Dinesh said to you yesterday.

"I've just got engaged! We're getting married next month. We're going to Pokhara for our honeymoon. It's all going to be very expensive. Luckily, my friend is a photographer, so he'll take the photos for us. We'll be having the reception in my parents' back garden. My mum is baking the cake for us, and my sister's band is playing free for us. I hope you'll come to the wedding.”

Now, you're telling your friend what Dinesh told you. Complete the text.

He said he had just got engaged. He told me that he was getting married next month. He told me    they were going to Pokhara for their honeymoon. He mentioned that it was all going to be very expensive. He said that his friend was a photographer, and he would take the photos for them. He mentioned that they would be having the reception in his parents' garden. He admitted that his mum was baking the cake for them. He said his sister’s band was playing free for them. He said he hoped I'd come to the wedding.