XII - 1.2 On Saying "Please" ( ICE BREAKERS & BRAINSTORMING )

XII - 1.2 On Saying "Please", 

1.2 On Saying “Please”

                      - Alfred George Gardiner

ICE BREAKERS

Ø List the words of courtesy that we use in our daily life. Discuss them with your partner and explain the purpose of using each.

 

                                        Thank you-when we get something

                                         Good morning-when we greet or meet someone

                                     You ‘re welcome-when someone thanks us

                                           Excuse me- when we want someone to allow

Words of courtesy             I’m glad-when someone asks us

                                             Please-when we want something

                                              Sorry-when we hurt someone

                                            Forgive me-when we wrong or mistake

 

  Listed below are a few character traits of people. Some are positive traits, while others are not.

Tick    √   the ones you feel are desirable.

 

Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits
Conniving                         insensitive                    Sly                                                Humorous          √   Naïve                                           Benevolent        √	Aggressive           √   Scheming             Wise                    √   Egoistic                 Manipulative        Rude	Boastful                      Humble                   √   Servile                       Territorial                  Patronising                                                Generous                √

 

Ø Etiquette and manners are very important for a person to live in the society.

Read the following and put them in proper columns.

1.    To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class.

2.    To knock before you enter your Principal’s office.

3.    To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee.

4.    To be polite and courteous to others.

5.    To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission.

6.    To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically challenged or elderly people on a bus or a train.

Appropriate	Inappropriate
1    To knock before you enter your Principal’s office	1   To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class.
2    To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee.	2  To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission.
3    To be polite and courteous to others.	3    To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically      challenged or elderly people on a bus or a train.

  

BRAINSTORMING

(A1) (i) Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.

·       Humility –humble, act of being humble.

-         Ex - It requires great humility to overcome hubris. OR

-                The humility of good persons attracts people.

·       Self-esteem- belief in oneself; self-respect

-         Ex- if you have no self-esteem, you can’t respect others.

·       Gratitude- a feeling of thankful appreciation for favors or      benefits received; thankfulness

-         Ex- I extend gratitude to my parents for their love and support.

·       Courtesy- polite behavior and the showing of proper manners 

-         EX- I went to post office, where I was greeted with the utmost courtesy.

·       Generosity- the quality of being generous; unselfishness

-         Ex- I thanked him for his generosity and donated thousand rupees bill to his mission.

·        Sympathy- A feeling of pity, compassion

-         Ex- Aaryan received too much sympathy in the last few weeks. 

·        Empathy- the ability to understand the thoughts feelings or emotions of someone else.

-         EX- Mother had empathy with small children.  OR

-                I did not have empathy for the character.

 

  (A2) (i) Read the text and state whether the following statements are True or False. Correct the False statements.

(a) Bitter problems in day-to-day life can be solved by sweet words.

-         True

(b)                       Great wars could have been avoided by a little courtesy.

-         True

(c) Observance of etiquette in a normal situation is important but more important is their observance when the situation is adverse.

-         True

(d)                       Words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ help us in making our passage through life uneasy.

-         False

-         Words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ help us in making our passage through life easy.

(e)The law permits anybody to use violence, if another person is discourteous.

-           False   

-         The law does not permit anybody to use violence, if another person is discourteous.  

 (ii) Select the most appropriate sentences which suggest the theme of the essay.

(a) The essay tells us about courtesy, civility, morality, responsibility and control.

(b)                      The essay explores the difficulties that can be incurred by an individual when dealing with the public.

(c) One can keep one’s peace of mind without having to lower themselves to the level of the perceived offender.

(d)                      People with low self-esteem are generally difficult to work with and they look down upon others to get a feeling of superiority.

 

-         (a) The essay tells us about courtesy, civility, morality, responsibility and control.

-         (d) People with low self-esteem are generally difficult to work with and they look down upon others to get a feeling of superiority.

 

         (iii) (a) Find the reasons for the lift-man’s uncivilized behaviour.

- The passenger’s impolite behaviour

- The passenger said only ‘top’ whereas the lift-man expected ‘top please’

- Perhaps the lift-man felt that passenger’s behaviour was slur upon his social standing.

 

List the people and their behaviour that made the passenger rude and ill-mannered.

-  Housemaid        wife          cook   

 

                   

   passenger     Lift-man      employer

(iv)  Good manners are required in our daily life for making our social contacts more cooperative and friendly.

       Illustrate the behaviour of the polite conductor with different people in various situations.

-                     Situation	-                     Behaviour
1. The writer’s sensitive toe was trampled on	The conductor said sorry with an apology and courtesy.
2. In the rainy season dealing with people	The conductor would run up to call the passenger inside the bus.
3. Dealing with old people	The conductor behaved like a son.
4. Dealing with children	The conductor cared like a father.
5. Dealing with young people	The conductor indulged in some merry jest with them.
6. Dealing with a blind man	The conductor took the blind man across the road or round the corner, or otherwise safely on his way   OR The conductor took the blind man safely on his way.

(v) Discuss and write the impact of good temper and kindliness on the society in the light of the good-mannered conductor. 

-The polite bus conductor had a fund of patience and he had a gift for making passengers comfortable. If the conductor is good mannered, kind & has the qualities of courtesy, the journey will be pleasant and comfortable. Because of his polite and cheerful nature, he will behave nicely with every passenger and will create sweet and healthy atmosphere in the bus. Thus, everybody in his bus will find a pleasant journey.

(vii) The service of the police is necessary for the implementation of law in our society. Do you think you require this service for good social environment? Discuss.

-         Yes, I agree that the service of the police is necessary for the implementation of law in our society. I think that this service is required for good social environment as follows-

-         Police typically are responsible for maintaining public order and safety,

-         To enforce the law & to make public or society aware of it.

-          To prevent criminal activities for good social environment, 

-         To detect, investigate criminal activities and make the environment healthy.

-         To bring discipline to the society.

-         Police participate in different social activities and create awareness about law.

 (A3) (a) Find out the words in column ‘B’ which collocate with the words in column ‘A’.

A	B	ANSWERS
regular	meal	Regular exercise
Mid-day	Concept	Mid day meal
Key	Food	Key concept
Fast	Exercise	Fast food
Try	Decorated	Try hard
Richly	Hard	Richly decorated
Free	Jam	Free time
Traffic	Time	Traffic jam
Social	Animal	Social justice
Wild	justice	Wild animal

Learning collocations is essential for making your English sound fluent and natural. Make collocations and use   in your own sentences.

.     Big -  Mistake                      city                                                                                                                    surprise                     elephant

                 Hall                             ship

                 House                         car

    Well-    dressed                    managed

                  Shot                            hit

                  Arranged                  cooked

                 Done                   trained

Sometimes while using a word in a sentence, we have to change its word class. We can make several more words from the root word.

        We can make several new words from the root word.

        I asked Sumit to                    my pencil for me. (Sharp)

       I asked Sumit to sharpen my pencil for me.

       Now read the following sentences and use the words given in the brackets.

       Change the word class and rewrite the sentences.

(a) Leena was eating a very   crunchy   apple and obviously enjoying it. (crunch)

(b) This picture looks colourful. ( colour )

(c) I’m afraid that your behaviour is just not acceptable. (accept)

(d) I like my elder brother. He is very helpful. (help)

 Complete the following table. Put a cross if a word class does not exist.

	Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
1	absence	absent	absent	absently
2	alarm	alarm	alarming	alarmingly
3	attraction	attract	attractive	attractively
4	enabler	enable	able	ably
5	admiration	admire	admirable	admiringly
6	agreement	agree	agreeable	agreeably
7	application	apply	applicable	applicably
8	avoidance	avoid	avoidable	avoidably
9	difference	differ	different	differently

 

(iii) Write appropriate expressions and words which you have to use while facing an interview.

(a) May I come in?

(b)                 Excuse me

(c) Could you repeat that please?

(d)                 I’m sorry

(e)                 Thanks so much

You are writing a letter of complaint. List the proper expressions that you would like to write.

(a) I disagree

(b)                 I wish to draw your attention to

(c) I would suggest that……….

(d)                 I wish to complain about……..

(e)                 I am really dissatisfied with…….

(iv) Distinguish between a legal offence and a moral offence on the basis of the given text.   

Legal offence	Moral offence
Burglary	Rude behaviour
Violence	Discourtesy
Assault (physically)	Vulgar mind
Revenge	Unfriendliness / discriminate
Kick	Insult / intellectual damage

 

(v) Find out the meanings of the following phrases. Use them in your own sentences.

 (a) give and take- a free exchange of ideas or opinions

Ex- In the ideal family, there has to be some give and take.

 (b) a black eye –damaged, a mark of shame with honor

Ex- These slums are a black eye to our city.

Ex- Your behaviour will give the family to a black eye.

 (c) lower than the angels –less than perfect

             Ex-some students are lower than the angel in mathematics.

(d) knock someone down - to hit to push someone

              Ex-She was knocked down by a car.

(vi)  Find out the words with prefixes and suffixes from the text and write them down.

Prefix	Suffix
Uncivil	requirement
Inconvenience	Engagement
Unknown	Penniless
discourtesy	Luckily
Ill-mannered	cheerful

Prefix	suffix
Uncouth	Reasonable
disadvantage	Agreement
Self-respect	physical
Lift-man	Politeness

(vii) Complete the table with polite expressions that we must use in our day-to-day life.

Don’ts	Dos
I want a cup of tea.	I would like to have a cup of tea.
Send me the mail.	I would be grateful if you could send me the mail.
Go away or leave me alone.	Would you give me a minute?   OR Sorry, I’m bit busy right now
You are wrong.	Actually, I don’t think you are wrong OR I think you might be mistaken
That’s a bad idea.	I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.
Your work isn’t good.	I’m not quite satisfied with this work. OR To be honest, this needs some improvement

 

(A4) (i) Edit the given paragraph using a/an/the wherever necessary.

Rakesh is a/an ideal son who remains devoted to his father as he grows professionally to become a/the famous doctor. As his father grows old, he takes care to spend time with his father, bringing him tea in a/the morning and taking him out for a/the walk in an/the evening.

 

-           Rakesh is an ideal son who remains devoted to his father as he grows professionally to become a famous doctor. As his father grows old, he takes care to spend time with his father, bringing him tea in the morning and taking him out for a walk in the evening.

 

  (ii) Spot the errors in each of the following sentences and correct the incorrect ones.

(a) Radha brought pens and distributed them between her five children.

-         Radha brought pens and distributed them among her five children.

 

(b)                Jayshree and Sujata sat besides each other in complete silence.

-         Jayshree and Sujata sat beside each other in complete silence.

 

(c) His best friend Vijay was blind within one eye.

-         His best friend Vijay was blind in one eye.

 

(d)                One could dare to encroach on his rights.

-         One could dare to encroach upon his rights.

 

(e)She was taken with surprise when she saw the famous Taj Mahal.

-         She was taken by surprise when she saw the famous Taj Mahal.

 

(f)   It is not possible to exchange the goods once the sale has been completed.

-         It is not possible to exchange the goods after the sale has been completed

 

(g) Dr. Sengupta has been trying to master the craft for the last five years.

-         Dr. Sengupta has been trying to master the craft since the last five years.

 

(h)                The top-ranking candidates will be appointed in senior jobs in banks.

-         The top-ranking candidates will be appointed to senior jobs in banks.

 

(i)   She knows very well what is expected from her but she is unable to perform.

-         She knows very well what is expected of her but she is unable to perform.

 

(j)   They will put on a note in this regard for your consideration.

-         They will put up a note in this regard for your consideration.

  (iii) Read the following sentence.

            Santosh purchased a computer. He read the operating manual and followed the instructions.

(a)He linked the monitor. Keyboard and printer.

(b)                He plugged in the main cable.

(c) He switched on the monitor at the back.

(d)                When the light appeared on the screen, he placed the Day Disk in Drive A.

(e)                 He pushed in the disk until the button clicked out.

(It took about 30 seconds for the computer to load the programme.)

(f)  He pressed the Drive button and the disk shot out.

(g) He replaced the Day Disk with the Document Disk.

(h)                He pressed function key7.

Convert these sentences into passive voice by filling to the blanks. The first sentence has been done as an example.

-         Firstly, the monitor, keyboard and printer were linked up. Then the main cable was   plugged in.

The monitor was switched on at the back. When the light appeared on the screen, the day Disk was placed

In Drive A. The disk was pushed in until the button was clicked out. It took the computer 30 Seconds to load the programme. The drive button was pressed and the disk shot out. The Day Disk was replaced with Document Disk. Finally, the function key 7 was pressed.

The word processor was then ready to use.

   

                                                                  

ANUP MHETRE

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                  WALCHAND COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCE, SOLAPUR