NEB Grade XII Compulsory English Note | Language Development | Unit- 9 Living in a Redwood Tree | Grace Wyatt

Unit 9

Living in a Redwood Tree

Working with words

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

rattle + snake= rattlesnake

sun + flower= sunflower

touch + down= touchdown

moon + light= moonlight

day + dream= daydream

fire + works= fireworks

water+ melon= watermelon

basket + ball= basketball

pass + port= passport

wash + cloth = washcloth

weather + man = weatherman

grand + mother= grandmother

cross + walk = crosswalk

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

a. sustainability - ii. to keep in existence; maintain. To supply with necessities or nourishment

b. tree line - i. the height on a mountain above which the climate is too cold for trees to grow

c. precipitation - iv. water that returns to the earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow

d. tropical zone- x. the region between latitudes 23.5 degrees S and 23.5 degrees N

e. Kyoto Protocol - 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

f. pollutants - vii. substances that destroy the purity of air, water, or land

g. geosphere - vi. the soils, sediments, and rock layers of the Earth's crust, both continental and beneath the ocean floors

h. deciduous – ix. a plant that sheds all or nearly all its leaves each year

i. ephemeral - viii. an organism that has a short life cycle

j. trash - v. items that are discarded

Comprehension

A. Choose the best answer.

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

i. did a wonderful job

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

ii. a few visitors now and then

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

ii. discourage her from her campaign

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

ii. had unconditional love for all nature’s creations

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

i. fulfilled

B. Answer the following questions.

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

Julia Butterfly was an American environmental activist who lived in a 200-ft-tall redwood tree for more than two years.

Her campaign gained popularity as she continued it against clearcutting of California’s remaining redwood forests.

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

Careless logging in redwood forest made Hill start her mega campaign to save redwood trees.

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?

Yes, Hill’s value of life changed after her car accident as she realized that our value as people are not in the stock portfolios and bank accounts, but in the legacies they leave behind.

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

A huge 20-ft-high mudslide carried trees, stumps and debris from that hillside down into the town, leaving seven families without homes.

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

The logging company resolved to starve her out or drive her away. They hired 24-hour security guards to harass her and to ensure her support team couldn’t deliver her supplies. She was menaced with a helicopter at a dangerously close range. She was verbally abused, threatened with violence, rape and death, kept awake with floodlights, and bugles and air horns were blown through the night.

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

One of her scariest times was a 16-hour, 70-mph windstorm. The wind shredded the tarps that surrounded her, and even ripped huge branches off the tree. Sleet and hail sliced through the tattered pieces of what used to be her roof and walls.

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 purpose of the author to write a review on Hill’s book is to provide a summary of Hill’s campaign, assess the value of the book and recommend it to the potential readers. The author seems to stand for ecological sustainability in the book review. He supports Hill’s campaign against logging in the Redwood forest, mentioning the hopeful side of her book. Also, he states that Hill and her team showed us we too could resolve to help mother nature and follow through with long term, committed action.

Critical thinking

Suppose ................ Julia Butterfly Hill. After staying one year in the tree, the government offered you ................... Write in about 200 words responding them that the money is a mean thing for you in comparison with the woods.

Money is a mean thing for us in comparison with the trees because it can't bring back the dead, whereas the trees can. The trees give us shade and oxygen, which money can't buy. Money doesn't make us happy, but the trees do. Money can boost the environment pollution, but trees lowers it. Trees have both religious and environmental value. Money makes people lose their spiritual spirit.

Trees are a symbol of life, and money is a symbol of death. Trees bring us happiness, and money brings us stress. It's time to start to appreciate the trees more, and focus on the things that money can't buy.

The trees are more important to us than money is. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that money isn't important. Money is very important, which helps us to survive. My campaign is not against any authorities or government. It is for the protection of redwood forest. I hope it can contribute to minimize the environmental decay. Trees are a vital part of natural world and we need to do everything to protect them

Join me in helping to save the trees and protect our environment. We can make a difference!

Writing

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

book review + movie review

B. Draft a speech on "Let's save the trees and protect our environment.'

Honorable chairperson, distinguished guest and dear friends!

I am glad to be given the opportunity present a speech on “Let’s save the trees and protect our environment.” I am sharing my views on it.

Our nature provides us numerous gifts like water, air, soil, rain, etc. and life to all living organisms. These living and non-living things comprise of our environment. All these gifts of nature make our earth a place worth living.

Unfortunately, our growing necessities have increased due to the growth in the human population, and our environment is constantly changing. New technologies are being developed that allow people to live and work in new ways. They are also the cause of environmental degradation. Life would not be imaginable without natural resources present on earth. Many of the natural resources are being used at faster rate as compared to their generation.

Only human beings with their power and ability can save our environment. Afforestation can be the ultimate solution for the conservation of our environment. Trees contribute to their environment by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. they also lessen the air temperature and reduce the heat intensity of the greenhouse effect by maintaining low levels of carbon dioxide.

Let’s save the trees and protect our environment.

Thank you!

Grammar

Reported Speech

B. Match the beginnings of the conversations with the correct endings.

a. I'm going to Pokhara on holiday.- vi. You said you were going on business.

b. He's a lawyer.-iii. You told me he was a teacher.

c. She's had a baby girl. -i. You said she'd had a boy.

d. I haven't seen Binesh for ages. - viii. You told me you'd seen him previous week.

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

f. I only cheated in one exam. -ii. You admitted you cheated in all your exams.

g. She doesn't speak Hindi or Chinese. - iv. You told me she was fluent in both.

h. He works in Kathmandu. vii.- You told me his office was in Biratnagar.

C. Change the following sentences into indirect speech.

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

...
Answer:
The principal told Rita that she could phone from his office.

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

...
Answer:
The teacher told the student that he had not to neglect his duty.

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

...
Answer:
The student requested his teacher to grant him a leave for two days.

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

...
Answer:
I told her to go to school or she would be fined.

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

...
Answer:
The headmaster told boys not to make any noise.

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

...
Answer:
The old man told me to work had if I wanted to rise in life.

g. He said, “Goodbye, my friends!”

...
Answer:
He bade his friends goodbye.

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

...
Answer:
She told me to have a pleasant journey ahead.

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

...
Answer:
Sharmila requested me not to give her the book.

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

...
Answer:
She asked where I had been those days.

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

...
Answer:
The teacher asked students if I had submitted my assignments.

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

Complete the text.

He said he’d just got engaged. He told me that he was getting married the following 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’d take the photos for them. He mentioned that they’d be having the reception in his parents' garden. He admitted that his mother 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.