The tortoise and the hare

There was once a hare who was always boasting of his speed. There is no one in the forest who can run as fast as I can, he told everyone, strutting up and down. Who wants to race me. The other animals were tired of hearing his boasting, but no one ever offered to race him until one day the turtle spoke up. I will race with you, he said in his slow way. The hare burst out laughing, and all the animals looked surprised, for everyone knew the turtle was the slowest of them all. Oho, chuckled the hare. That is a good joke. 

Why, I can beat you without half trying. Wait until you have won before you start to boast, said the turtle. 

So the race course was laid out, and all the animals gathered to see the start. The hare bounded off in  a great burst of speed that left the poor turtle far behind in the dust. Soon the hare looked back. Finding that he could not even see the turtle coming any more , he lay down in the shade of a big tree beside the road to wait a bit, just to make the finish of the race more exciting. 

But waiting made the hare sleepy, and he decided to snatch just a two-minute nap. The two minutes stretched on and on and still the hare slept in the shade of the big tree. All this time the turtle was plodding along the hot, dusty road. He came ever so slowly, but he kept right at it, and soon he passed the hare sleeping by the roadside. The turtle crawled past without making a sound to wake  the careless hare. 

When the hare finally woke up with a start, the line, far ahead, while all the animals stood by cheering. The hare had lost the race by being careless and cocky he could never boast again, and all the animals were glad of that.       

School is on its long journey and while I live in close contact to almost all my students I hear a lot of their daily stories. Mostly I feel sad and I would like to encourage each one of them this evening while giving the possibility to read the following lines:

Just enjoy reading and be your own judge.

It’s wonderful to be ‘man’, to be alive! To be an

ordinary person, to look at the sky, at the sun, at

the flowers and, in the evening, at the stars.

Watching children, laughing, playing, working,

hoping, loving, day-dreaming, being content, is a daily feast.

To be alive

To live simply and normally, to be good, not always

wanting everything, not to be jealous, not to nag or

complain, but to help, to do more, to comfort, to visit a 

sick person, to stand by if someone needs you, to make yourself tired for others, to fall off to sleep in a 

comfy chair, to eat and drink together… and all this

not because you must or because it’s important, but

because it makes sense to you, because you are

human, a fellow-man, because you’re alive.

Do you know the danger that threatens you these

days?

You live in the times of the ‘useful’. What purpose

does it serve? That’s what people ask. What use is

it? Will it pay? People weigh up the cost, the

efficiency and the end-product. People are busy.

People are pre-occupied. People are weighed down.

People calculate. Money must be the result. And

people forget that the beauty of life is found in

moments that are not calculated, when people are

living very ordinarily, very simply. People live longer

and longer but they are not happier and happier. They

begin by working in order to live and they end up working and forgetting to live. They haven’t grasped the essential thing in life. They still continue to believe that a person’s happiness lies in possessing more, eating well and living longer. In these days of so much

knowledge, how can people be so thick? Defend

yourself. You are not a machine made for one particular purpose. You are more than your function, more than your profession, your trade, your work.

You are first and foremost human, made to live, to

laugh, to have love, simply to be a good person.

And that is the only important thing in this world!

Hi there,

If you try to do the following exercises, the answers will be shown during your lesson in the class in the coming session.

fm

GERUND OR INFINITIVE

Q1 …… me if I’ve told you this before.

(a) Stopping                   (b) Stopped                         (c) Stops                    (d) Stop

Q2 All I can say at the moment is: Long ….. the company!

(a) live                     (b) lives                       (c) lived                    (d) living

Q3 Sometimes I wish I …… what the future holds.

(a) know                       (b) known                          (c) knew                        (d) knows

Q4 And at other times I’m glad I …… know what the future holds.

(a) didn’t                         (b) doesn’t                          (c) hadn’t                        (d) don’t

Q5 Let’s …… there tomorrow if it’s fine.

(a) going                         (b) gone                          (c) go                                (d) goes

Q6 Try …… the door really hard if you want to open it.

(a) pushing                        (b) push                               (c) pushes                          (d) pushed

Q7 Try ……. these irregular verbs by next week.

(a) learned                     (b) to learn                      (c) learns                       (d) learning

Q8 I really appreciate your …… me at this difficult time.

(a) helps                         (b) help                         (c) helped                           (d) helping

Q9 I’ll finish now and I look forward to …… you again soon.

(a) seeing                           (b) see                     (c) seen                          (d) having seen

Q10 Please come back soon and ……. the work you started two weeks ago.

(a) finished                              (b) finishing                     (c) finish                          (d) finishes 

Following you will find the same line of stories as before. It is taken from the bedtime story collection. Hope you enjoy reading it.

   The stray, the coal, and the bean

There was once an old woman who picked a mess of beans and made ready to cook them. She built a coal fire on her hearth, with a handful of straw to make it burn better. When the water in the beanpot began to bubble, one of the beans popped out and fell to the hearth. Near it lay a straw, which had fallen there, and soon a red-hot coal jumped out of the fire and joined them. The straw was the first to speak. How did you come here? He asked. I jumped out of the fire, answered the coal. 

If I hadn’t I should certainly have been burned to ashes. If the old woman had kept me in the pot, said the bean, I should have been cooked to pulp. My fate would have been no better, said the straw. All my brothers have turned to fire and smoke, and I would have been with them if I had not slipped through the old woman’s fingers.What shall we do now? Said the coal. I suggest that we go out into the world together answered the bean, since we have all been so lucky as to escape with our lives. The others agreed to this, and all three started out together. Soon they came to a tiny brook, without a bridge or stepping stones. They could not think how to get to the other side until the straw said: I will lay myself across, and you can go over me as if I were a bridge. Then the straw stretched himself from bank to bank, and the coal trotted out on the new bridge. When he got to the center, below suddenly filled him with terror, and he could not go another step. Gradually the straw got hotter and hotter and , until it charred and broke in two and fell in the brook. The  coal slipped down, hissing into the water and disappeared. The bean, which had been waiting on the bank, could not help laughing at this funny sight. 

It laughed and laughed until it burst. And would  have been the end of the bean, if the tailor traveling from town to town had not stopped to rest himself by the brook. He picked up the bean , took out a stout needle and black thread , and stitched it together again. And ever since, all beans have had a black seam.

Happiness is a choice, it is not a chance.

Because man follows the rhythm of the sea.

A human life is so wonderful, so unbelievable.

Year in year out,

day in day out, you move among people and things.

Some days the sun shines and you don’t know why.

You are at peace.

You see only the warm and good sides of life.

You laugh, you dance, you give thanks.

You work seems easy. You get on well with everyone.

You don’t know why. Perhaps you are sleeping well…

Maybe you’ve found a close friend

or you have a sense of security…

You would like this time of calm and deep joy

to last forever.

But suddenly everything changes.

It is almost as if too bright  a sun

has bought on the clouds.

 A kind of indefinable sadness comes over you.

Everything seems black,

You think that no one likes you anymore.

Any trifling thing seems to give you a reason to complain,

to grumble, to be jealous or to reproach.

You think things will go on and on like this,

That this mood will never lift.

And once again you don’t know why.

Perhaps you are tired.

You don’t understand it. Why must it be this way?

Because a human being is a piece of ‘nature’,

interwoven with days of Spring and days of Autumn,

With the warmth of the Summer and the cold of Winter.

Because man follows the rhythm of the sea-

ebb and flow.

Because our existence is a continuous repetition

of ‘living’ and ‘dying’.

If you grasp this, you can carry on,

with courage and trust.

for then you know in yourself that after every night

a new morning will come.

If you can accept this, you will be able to live through

the regular rhythm of ‘up’ and ‘down’,

more deeply, and with a sense of joy.

FUTURE TENSES

Q1 What …… be doing this time tomorrow?

(a) were you                  (b) did you                    (c) have you                  (d) will you

Q2 …… go if you like because I have to do some shopping.

(a) I’m                       (b) I’d                   (c) I’ll                       (d) I’ve

Q3 I…… simply wait until  she comes back.

(a) was                       (b) am                        (c) shall                     (d) do

Q4 He was quite definite about it and assured me he …… come.

(a) wil                            (b) shall                       (c) should                      (d) would

Q5 If they …… arrive late, they will have to get their own metal.

(a) do                            (b) had                        (c) would                      (d) will

Q6 I really hope I …… see you again.

(a) did                                 (b) shall                       (c) should                          (d) would

Q7 What …… happen to the family if he loses all his money?

(a) does                            (b) did                          (c) will                             (d) is

Q8 ……. be buying the house or haven’t you decided yet ?

(a) Did you                          (b) Have you                       (c) Were you                        (d) Will you

Q9 I’m sure they …… get married and live happily ever afterwards.

(a) did                         (b) have                         (c) will                      (d) would

Q10 What do you ……  to do when you leave school ?

(a) wanted                          (b) wanting                          (c) wants                             (d) want

Dear students,

I hope this evening is a little bit different from all those ones passed through the last three months. Such feelings seldom come into one's life. I think excitement is what is on the way for all those who go to school tomorrow. 

Having the feeling that you are doing something, is a great movement. Actually you are.

Good luck with the new season. Enjoy these days because they run fast.

fm  

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