CLASS XI: HALF YEARLY EXAM: PARAGRAPHS NUCLEAR FAMILY-ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGS Nuclear family is the popular family type of the present type. As the name suggests, a nuclear family refers to the small family type which consists of a man, his single spouse and children. With the changes in the present world the old type of family-the extended family type-has yielded to the nuclear family type. Nuclear families are now on the rise as people are getting educated and more civilized. People now understand it better that extended family or polygamous marriage system is more problematic than it bears any advantages. Though there are still many extended families in the rural areas of the country, people are now leaving their extended family lives and getting accustomed to living in the cities. Kinship is declining and relationships within the nuclear families are getting intensified. Nuclear family is getting more and more popular day by day for its different advantages. Environment in a nuclear family is almost calm and quiet. As the number of members is very few, a member has the opportunity to enjoy his or her own world uninterruptedly. There is no accommodation problem, nor any noise or confusion, nor any pressure of work. Everything seems to be well decorated and disciplined. Life in a nuclear family seems to be rosy as there is no want of anything. It seems to more easy to lead one’s life in a planned way only in a nuclear family. But sometimes life becomes unbearable for the feeling of loneliness, lack of the scopes of sharing feelings with others etc. Despite some disadvantages nuclear family is gaining more popularity throughout the world. EXTENDED FAMILY-ADVANTEGES AND DISADVANTAGES Extended family is the old and almost outdated type of family. An extended family consists of a man, his one wife or more, his married and/or unmarried sons, daughters-in-law, unmarried daughters and grandchildren. As the number of members is many, an extended family always has a chaotic environment. It always holds a festive look as there is always a function or celebration. Guests keep on coming on these occasions and create an atmosphere of noise and confusion. An extended family seems to be loaded with many jobs and duties. A member of an extended family is always preoccupied with work. A student faces more problems than others. Moreover, if he is an examinee, he has to face a more unfavourable situation as for the noisy and interrupted environment he cannot concentration on his study. It is also quite common for a member in an extended family to face the accommodation problem. One has to share one’s bedroom with others, let alone a separate reading room. One has to shoulder other member’s share of work if he or she gets married or go outside for few days. One seems to be keeping on one’s toes to serve other members in the family. However, an extended family has also some advantages like sharing of feelings, emotions and opinions, mutual cooperation and providing psychological support. But to keep pace with the modern world people are now no more interested in extended family type. MY FAMILY Family plays a very vital role in our society. It can be said otherwise that family plays the fundamental roles in our life. It can also aptly be called the basis of a nation. In the present time family is becoming increasingly important for it multifarious roles. It works as an economic and welfare institution in our society. It socializes and brings up children and provides psychological support to them whenever necessary. Being a social being I also live in a family which is extended or large in nature. It is not polygamous; rather all the nearest relatives live here jointly. Hence our family can be called a joint family. Despite its having some disadvantages, I feel better living in an extended family like ours. There are almost nineteen members in our family. They are my mother, four married brothers, their wives and children. My mother plays the key role in our family. She can be considered the umbrella for us. Everybody pays due respect to her and follows her commands and instructions. My married sisters and their husbands come to visit us occasionally, so do their children. When there is nay special programme or occasion, the house gets crowded and noisy and, of course, cheerful at the same time. It seems that there is no shade of sorrow or unhappiness in an extended family. All are helpful to each other and there is a nice understanding among them. I enjoy being a member of this family to my heart’s content. I am proud of my family. COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE Communicative competence is a term in linguistics which refers to a language users grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and when to use utterances appropriately. Communicative competence is a concept introduced by Dell Hymes and discussed and redefined by many authors. Hymes original idea was that speakers of a language have to have more than grammatical competence in order to be able to communicate effectively in a language; they also need to know how language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes. So, ‘communicative competence’ refers to the ability to use a language appropriately in different situations. There are two ways of developing communicative competence in a language. The first is acquisition which is similar to the way people develop ability in their mother tongue. It is a natural, subconscious process in which users are not usually aware of acquiring a language. They are aware only of the fact that they are using the language to communicate. In non-technical terms, acquisition is ‘picking up’ a language spontaneously. It may also be called ‘implicit’ learning. On the other hand, the second way of developing communicative competence in a language is learning that language. It refers to conscious knowledge of a language, knowing the rules of language use, being aware of using them, and being able to talk about them. In non-technical terms, learning is to know consciously about a language. It may also be called ‘explicit’ learning. Language specialists believe that acquiring a language is more successful and longer lasting than learning. Therefore, to emphasize the importance of communicative competence, teachers these days encourage learners of a second language to practise and experience the language in different situations where they are involved in communicating with others, so that they can develop their communicative competence. IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING ENGLISH At present English has almost reached the acme of importance as an international or a global language. Nowadays correspondence, communication, commerce, cooperation and other activities have increased a lot across the world. Different countries and nations have to communicate for these purposes. Interdependence among these countries is also increasing rapidly. For these reasons the necessity of English is increasing day by day. English has a cosmopolitan character. For this reason English has the highest claim to be used as an international language. It is not only the language of the English people, but spoken daily by several millions of people. This has become the only language of different international organisations. The number of English speaking people is rapidly increasing. As a language, English has not merely cosmopolitanism in flexibility, but also universality in applicability. The influence of English is dominant in the East as well as in the West. English is being taught as a compulsory subject in most of the schools in Europe, Asia and Africa. Many countries have accepted the language as a second language. In this way English has become the single inter-communicating term of the world. The importance of English in the spread of civilization, in the cultivation of science and literature, is certainly immense and valuable. English has become a must for getting better jobs and even better salaries. It appears that a man without any knowledge of English lives in the world but with a dead body and soul. HOW TO LEARN COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH English is treated as a lingua franca to communicate internationally. It is widely used and accepted as a medium of international communication. It helps to get higher education. It is also helpful to get good jobs. So, the importance of learning English is self explanation. To make better communicated in the globalizing era one must learn communicative English. Communicative English is meant to use such English language that serves communication of all types. Communicative English is a vital part of English language. There are four communicative approaches to language learning -- reading, writing, listening and speaking. Reading and writing are productive skills, while listening and speaking are receptive skills. A student needs to read a write-up with rapt attention; s/he has to read it comprehensively. They have to attend to other two skills in the same ways. They must have to be attentive listeners to be good speakers. There is a saying that “To be a good speaker, be a good listener”. Thus, a student needs all these skills to keep abreast with the current rat-race world. S/he has to be familiar with the current goings-on and other phenomenal changes in the world. The first thing s/he has to do is to adopt some self-study approaches to develop their communicative English language. They should read English newspaper thoroughly. If words hamper them while reading the paper, they have to enhance their stock of vocabulary, because it is the portal to holistic approach to language learning. They must have to write on any current issue everyday following their grammatical rules. They should try to speak English with others randomly ignoring the right or wrong. All things considered, a student follows all these approaches to develop their communicative English language. PASTIMES/LEISURE ACTIVITES The thing we do regularly for enjoyment rather than work is called pastime. In other words, pastime means one’s activities on one’s leisure. It differs from place to place. In our country pastime varies in respect of locality. In the village, we see men passing their leisure by chatting. They also indulge in some games and sports, namely ha-du-du, boat race, kiting, etc. Some village people have their pastimes by doing social activities. Some take part in cultural activities like ‘Jatra’, ‘Jari-gan’, etc. In the town, we see people spending their leisure by taking part in the discussion on political issues at tea-stalls. In this scientific era, their pastimes have changed. They are fond of spending their leisure before television. They watch programmes on different satellite channels. The younger generations are very much fond of cricket and hence they prefer sports channels. The women in the city are fond of watching drama and films on television. The Chinese spend their free time with their family members in parks. The Japanese love sports and spend their time in playing baseball, golf and practising martial arts. Students spend their leisure in English clubs or art clubs or doing skate boarding. Thus pastimes vary from region to region. The pastimes which are common all over the world are watching television, reading books, collecting stamps, sight-seeing, gardening, walking, gossiping, fishing, going on picnics, etc. I have a keen interest in photography. That is why, it is my favourite pastime. MY FAVOURITE PASTIME My favourite pastime is playing football. Five years ago, my father asked me to watch a football match. After that match, I became interested in the game. I pestered my mother day and night to buy me a football. My mother finally agreed after one long week of incessant nagging.The moment I received the ball, I dashed down the stairs to the neighbourhood field which belongs to Mohammadpur Preparatory Secondary School. I started kicking the ball around. Just like bees are attracted to honey, a lot of young boys were attracted to my football. Since then, I have been playing football with this group of budding footballers. With constant practice, I have improved in my football skills. Now I am capable of dribbling, heading, striking and dummying. Only yesterday, I scored a hat-trick while playing a match with my friends. I was as proud as a peacock. My father and I are avid supporters of Manchester United Football Club which recently won three gold trophies. I never miss any of their matches. We are proud owners of many football magazines and posters depicting great players like Neymar, Messi, Christiano Ronaldo, David Beckam, Mickael Silvestre and Andy Cole to name only six. My favourite outfit is a threadbare MUFC outfit. Football is a very special game as it is the only game invented by man where you can use only your legs except for the goalie. Football builds up ones muscles, stamina and strength. I draw a lot of pleasure from my favourite pastime. AIR POLLUTION The environment is made up of different natural and man-made elements. Air is the first and foremost important element of our environment. Without getting air i.e. pure air, no creatures can survive in this world. But air is being polluted because of various reasons. Smoke is the main culprit that causes tremendous air pollution. Man makes fires to cook food, make bricks, and melt tar for road construction and to do many other things. Fires create smoke and pollute the air. Railway engines and power houses create smoke by burning coal and oil. Mills and factories also belch a lot of smoke. Buses, trucks and cars use petrol and diesel oil. These too emit smoke. All these kinds of smoke pollute the air. Again, the world is producing millions of tons of domestic rubbish and toxic industrial waste each year. The disposal of these wastes is seriously polluting the environment by polluting air. This pollution creates many kinds of diseases like heart disease, bronchitis and asthma. If air pollution is allowed to go on in this way the whole country will face a great problem. If we fail to prevent air pollution, our coming general will not get a sound and healthy environment. So we have to attempt measures in order to prevent air pollution. WATER POLLUTION Our rivers are getting alarmingly polluted. This polluted water is detrimental to health. Chemical fertilizers and insecticides used by the farmers are washed away into rivers. They get mixed with water and pollute it. Mills and factories throw their waste products containing poisonous chemicals into rivers and pollute water. Again, motor launches, steamers and even sail boats pollute water by throwing oil, food waste and human waste into the rivers. Often human waste and filth from unsanitary latrines and katcha drains run into the water of rivers and canals and thus pollute water. Polluted water causes various kinds of diseases and sometimes causes death to men and animals. Cholera, typhoid, dysentery etc. can be caused by polluted water. So, we must prevent the pollution of water by any means. We must not allow any kind of poisonous chemicals and wastes to get mixed with water so that it can be kept clean and pure. Above all, we should develop our civic sense against such pollution. If we do so we can ensure a healthier and happier life for all. SOUND POLLUTION Sound pollution is one of the serious pollution of the environment. Like many other pollution is endangering our living and the environment. Sound is produced from the vibration of anything. So, sound is a common phenomenon of the environment. The normal tolerance limit of sound is 45 decibels. Serious harm can be caused to people if they are regularly exposed to sounds exceeding 70 decibels. Because of the growth of urban population, the increasing use of machines in our everyday life, indiscriminate use of hydraulic horns and loudspeakers and sounds produced from the construction sites are the major causes of sound pollution. On an average people in the cities are exposed to sounds ranging from 30 to 90 decibels or even more. In some places of Dhaka city people face a great sound pollution. Sound pollution here has reached such a level that people find the city environment disgusting and unbearable. Due to sound pollution people are suffering from different types of mental and physical problems such as deafness and aggressiveness in their behaviour. It is time to address the problem immediately with a greater attention and sincerity. Many developed countries are trying to control sound pollution by careful town planning and developing public awareness. Laws should be enacted to make people follow certain rules in their mode of life. EARTHQUAKE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES Earthquake is one of the dangerous natural disasters. It refers to the sudden violent movement of the earth’s surface, sometimes causing great damage. Earthquakes are of different levels. Destructions depend on the acuteness of the levels of earthquakes. According to the Richter scale, the scale for the measurement of the level of earthquakes, earthquakes can be from 1 to 10 levels on the scale. The damage caused by earthquakes can be of different degrees according to the extremity of the shakes. Researches show that serious damage is caused by the earthquakes of 8 Richter scale. Bangladesh lies in an active earthquake zone. But the experts are divided into their opinions about the possibility of earthquakes and the danger related to it. One section of experts is of the view that the recent recurrences of quakes should be taken as major earthquake. Another section believes that the concern should not be amplified, because although there are a number of fault lines in the geographical area comprising Bangladesh, none of them is active enough to pose a major threat. Yet none of the sections of the experts rules out the possibility of a major earthquake and the dangers that might be associated with it. Alarmed by the recurrences of earthquakes in the recent years, all the experts have called for the development of an earthquake building code that all buildings should follow as mandatory. Concern becomes deeper when question arises about the safety of the buildings of the Dhaka city. Experts always call for a planned development of the city. They and even the Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakhya (RAJUK) believe that it is inevitable for us to maintain a planned city development including an earthquake resistant building code which should be followed by the buildings as mandatory. EDUCATION Education means to change the behaviour of human nature. So, we receive education in order to adapt ourselves to the new and changing situation. Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (SM) instructs us to learn. He says, “Learning is essential (Farj) to all Muslim men and women.” He equated one literate non-believer with ten illiterate believers. The purpose of education is to enlighten the individual and developed him/her capacity to the limit. Education ennobles our mind, refines our sensibility, broadens our outlook and helps us become aware f our rights and responsibilities. It gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, our eloquence in expressing them and a force in using them. Education was institutionalised in Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt and China before the birth of Christ and soon after the art of writing was invented. The condition of education in Bangladesh is not so satisfactory. The literacy rate in Bangladesh is about 65%. The literacy rate of the female is lower than that of the male. We should remember that education is one of the basic needs of a human being and is essential and is essential for any kind of development. Education provides us with an enlightened awareness about things and this awareness is the prerequisite for social development. We can develop Bangladesh by arranging education for all. The country should ensure science-based education for all her citizens. Prepared by: Monayem Khan Nizam (MKN) Lecturer in English (EM-DS) RUMC
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 09:26:00 +0000
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