Having Fun / Historical Inventions

Unit 8 is about the past. Reading I is a moral story, Having Fun: a son wants to hide a poor farmer's shoes for fun, but his father teaches him that real joy lies in giving. Reading II, Historical Inventions, describes how people used to live and introduces seven inventions, from the steam engine to the mobile phone. The grammar is the past simple, past continuous and past perfect, and used to for past habits. In writing you complete a story and write a narrative essay.

8.1 Reading I: Having Fun

Summary

One evening a father and son go for a walk and find a pair of old shoes on a path by a field. They seem to belong to a poor farmer working nearby. The son suggests some mischief: hide the shoes and watch the farmer search for them from behind the bushes. The father becomes serious: never make fun of a poor person with things they need — such things are precious to the poor. Instead, they put some coins in the shoes and hide.

The farmer comes, feels something hard, and finds the coins. He looks around for the giver in vain, then kneels, folds his hands and thanks God: now he can buy medicine for his sick wife and feed his starving children. The father is satisfied; the son's eyes fill with tears. When the father asks what the farmer would have done if the shoes had been hidden, the son answers that he has learnt that "real joy is not in taking things away, but in giving."

Theme/moral: true happiness comes from kindness and giving, not from troubling others. Characters: the son — playful, thoughtless at first, then sensitive; the father — wise, kind, a good teacher; the farmer — poor, hard-working, grateful.

Vocabulary (Exercises A and B)

A (similar meanings): a. mischief – misbehaviour (misconduct is close) b. precious – valuable c. vain – useless d. happy – cheerful (lively) e. hugged – embraced, cuddled

B: a. happy b. mischief c. vain d. hugged e. precious

Order of events (Exercise C)

d → c → b → a → e → f

Comprehension (Exercise D) — model answers

a. What did the son want to do with the shoes? He wanted to hide them and watch the farmer search for them, for fun.

b. How did the father react? He became serious and told his son never to make fun of a poor and weak person with the things they need; he suggested putting coins in the shoes instead.

c. What was the farmer going to do with the money? Buy medicine for his sick wife and food for his starving children.

d. What would the farmer's reaction have been if his shoes had been hidden? He would have been worried and troubled; he would have wasted time searching and may have had to go home barefoot, feeling sad and helpless.

e. What lesson did the son learn? That real joy is not in taking things away but in giving.

8.2 Reading II: Historical Inventions

The text first describes life in the past: pigeons used to carry letters, people did not use to have paper and printers, they used to walk or ride horses, there was no electricity or cell phone, and firewood was the main fuel. Then it describes inventions.

Invention (as in the text)	Person and date given in the text	Point made
Steam engine	James Watt, 1765, England — saw a kettle lid rising with steam	used by Stephenson in 1829 to drive a railway train; Stephenson = "father of the locomotive engine"
Motor car	Daimler, German engineer, 1885	swift, cheap; cheaper than building railway tracks for short distances
Electricity	Michael Faraday, "father of electricity"	light, heat, trains, factories, e-mail; hydroelectricity is called "white coal"
Aeroplane	Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur), USA, 1903	fastest travel; brings countries nearer
Spaceship	a large team; first spacecraft Sputnik 1 (Soviet Union), 4 October 1957, 83.6 kg	put into orbit by rockets; humans later landed on the moon
Radio / television	radio: Marconi (Italian), text says 1902; TV: John Logie Baird, text says 1939	news and music; radios now replaced by mobiles
Telephone / mobile	Bell, telephone, 1876; Reginald Fessenden, first wireless telephone, 23 Dec 1900; Martin Cooper led the team that made the first practical mobile phone	foundation of radio and mobile networks

Vocabulary (crossword)

Across: 2. wonder 6. artificial 7. realised. Down: 1. foundation 3. remarkable 4. telegraphy 5. expelled

Matching (Exercise B)

a. application of steam engine – vi. Stephenson b. motor car – v. Daimler c. electricity – i. Michael Faraday d. spaceship – iii. a group of scientists e. mobile phone – ii. Reginald Fessenden (first wireless telephone). (James Watt invented/improved the steam engine itself.)

Comprehension (Exercise C) — model answers

a. What incident inspired James Watt? As a boy he saw the lid of a kettle rising because of the pressure of steam from boiling water.

b. Mention a benefit of the motor car compared to the train. It is easier and cheaper to run cars on roads than to build railway tracks and run trains, especially for short distances.

c. Why is electricity called "white coal"? Because water, which looks white as it rushes down, is used to generate electricity, just as coal is burnt to produce power. (Strictly, it is hydroelectricity that is called white coal.)

d. Why is a spaceship thought to be a wonder? Because it can travel in space beyond the Earth's atmosphere, and it helped humans land on the moon.

e. When was the first spacecraft launched? On 4 October 1957 (Sputnik 1). Note: it went into orbit around the Earth, not to the moon.

f. How old are mobile phones? Their foundation goes back more than a century, to Fessenden's wireless telephone of 1900; the first practical handheld mobile phone was made in 1973, about fifty years ago.

8.3 Grammar I: Past simple, past continuous, past perfect

Tense	Form	Use	Example
Past simple	V2 (worked, went)	finished action at a past time	We didn't celebrate any festival last year.
Past continuous	was/were + V-ing	action in progress at a past moment; the longer background action	While they were having lunch, some guests arrived.
Past perfect	had + V3	the earlier of two past actions	Sonali had painted her house before she sold it.

Key patterns - long action (past continuous) when short action (past simple): Bipana was mending the roof when she fell off. - at this time yesterday → past continuous. - before / after / already / by the time → past perfect for the earlier action.

Textbook answers

Grammar I A: a. ii remained b. i were having c. ii were playing d. i had painted e. i was working (all day yesterday; iii worked is also grammatical) f. iii were queuing g. ii didn't celebrate

Grammar I B: a. was having b. heard c. had called d. Did you remember e. called f. had had g. had … been h. fell off i. had read

8.4 Grammar II: used to

used to + base verb = a past habit or state that is no longer true.

	Form	Example
Positive	used to + verb	She used to live in Italy.
Negative	didn't use to + verb	The Smiths didn't use to work much.
Question	Did … use to + verb?	Did you use to spend much money?
State	there used to be	There used to be a lot of trees.

Note: after did/didn't write use to (no -d).

Textbook answers

Grammar II A: the habitual forms are every used to (used to stay, used to start, used to go, used to do, used to work, used to work hard, used to create, did not use to go, used to engage).

Grammar II B: a. She used to live in Italy when she was five. b. We used to grow a lot of crops. c. Did you use to spend much money? d. There used to be a lot of trees in that jungle. e. William and Fiona used to go to school together. f. The Smiths didn't use to work much. g. What did you use to do in the evenings? h. Suhana didn't use to help her parents. i. People used to be helpful in the past.

8.5 Writing I: Completing a story

Writing I A (the misdirected e-mail): 1. d A busy couple used to live in Chicago 2. e They booked a hotel room 3. c his wife was planning to meet him there 4. f he accidentally left out one letter from her email address 5. a who had just returned home from her husband's funeral 6. b she screamed and fainted. (The joke: the widow thinks the e-mail is from her dead husband.)

Model answer — The Starfish (Writing I B)

It Made a Difference

One morning, a man was walking along a beach after a big storm. In the distance he saw a girl moving back and forth near the water. As he came closer, he found that thousands of starfish had been washed up onto the sand. The girl was picking them up one by one and throwing them back into the sea.

"Why are you doing this?" the man asked. "There are thousands of starfish here. You can't make a difference to so many of them. Stop wasting your time."

The girl listened politely. Then she bent down, picked up one more starfish and threw it into the waves. "It surely made a difference to that one," she said with a smile.

The man stood silent for a while. Then he too began to pick up starfish and throw them into the sea.

Moral: Every small good deed matters.

8.6 Writing II: A narrative essay

A narrative essay tells a real event in order. Answer what, when, where, what happened, how you felt, in the past tense, in 3–4 paragraphs.

Model answer — My Cousin's Birthday Party

Last Saturday, I attended the tenth birthday party of my cousin Aarav at his home in Baneshwor, Kathmandu. The party started at four in the afternoon.

When I arrived, the living room had already been decorated with colourful balloons and paper chains. About twenty children and their parents were chatting happily. At five o'clock Aarav cut a big chocolate cake while everyone sang "Happy Birthday". His grandparents put tika on his forehead and blessed him. Then we played musical chairs and passing the parcel; I was the last one out in musical chairs and won a small prize.

After the games, we had a delicious dinner of pulao, chicken curry and sel roti. Before leaving, I gave Aarav the story book I had wrapped the night before.

I felt very happy at the party because I met many relatives after a long time. It was one of the most enjoyable evenings of my holidays.

8.7 Pronunciation, speaking and project work

-ed endings (they are not all the same): /t/ – looked, finished, laughed; /d/ – belonged, surprised, remembered, believed; /ɪd/ – waited, folded, halted.

Speaking: In the past, people used to wash clothes in the river; now they use washing machines. When I was in grade 5, I used to walk to school; I didn't use to have a phone.

Project work: interview five elderly people about their youth and list what they used to and didn't use to do.

Idioms (Extra bit): a piece of cake (easy), call it a day (stop work), see eye to eye (agree — not "eyes to eyes"), burn the midnight oil, on cloud nine, cost an arm and a leg, out of the blue, rain cats and dogs, once in a blue moon.

Chapter summary

• Having Fun: the son planned mischief; the father put coins in the shoes; the farmer could buy medicine and food. Lesson: real joy is in giving.
• Inventions in the text: Watt (steam engine), Stephenson (locomotive), Daimler (car, 1885), Faraday (electricity), Wright brothers (aeroplane, 1903), Sputnik 1 (1957), Marconi (radio), Baird (TV), Bell (telephone, 1876), Fessenden (wireless telephone, 1900), Cooper (mobile phone).
• Past continuous = background action; past simple = interrupting action; past perfect = earlier action.
• used to / didn't use to / did … use to for past habits.
• Narrative essay: what, when, where, what happened, feelings.

Practice questions

Reading

1. Answer from the texts. [5]aWhere did the father and son hide?bWhat did the farmer feel when he put on his shoes?cWho flew the first aeroplane in 1903?dWhat did people use as their main fuel in the past?eWhich country launched Sputnik 1?

Answers — Reading

1. (a) Among the bushes. (b) Something hard — the coins. (c) Orville and Wilbur Wright. (d) Firewood. (e) The Soviet Union.

Grammar

2. Use the correct past form. [5]aI (read) a book when the power (go) off.bAfter he (finish) his homework, he (go) out.cAt 7 p.m. yesterday we (watch) TV.dThe film (start) before we reached the hall.
3. Rewrite with used to. [3]aMy grandfather smoked, but he has stopped.bDid you play marbles as a child?cShe didn't like vegetables.

Answers — Grammar

2. (a) was reading … went (b) had finished … went (c) were watching (d) had started

3. (a) My grandfather used to smoke. (b) Did you use to play marbles as a child? (c) She didn't use to like vegetables.

Writing

4. Write a narrative essay on "A Picnic I Will Never Forget". [5]

Answer — Writing

4. Four paragraphs: when and where, the journey and activities in order, one memorable incident, feelings and what you learnt; past tenses used correctly.