Review Activity : Present Tense

Look at the two pictures below carefully. They almost look alike, but there are some differences. Write a short paragraph comparing the two pictures. First you describe the setting- where you think the people are and what they are doing. Then you write about the similarities and the differences between the two pictures.
hints: cafetaria / college canteen / fast food shop?... Two boys and two girls... One man and a woman... Their looks/ hair/ dresses/expressions.... Menu/ food etc. There are eight differences. Can you find them?

Presentation-1
The following passage is taken from the book “Totto-Chan” by Japan's popular TV personality Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. In it she presents a series of childhood recollections about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II. The English translation is by Dorothy Britton.

Totto-Chan
One afternoon, near the ticket gate at Jiyugaoka Station, two boys and one girl slightly older than Totto-Chan were standing together, looking as if they were playing “stone, paper, scissors.” But she noticed they were making a lot more signs with their fingers than usual.

What fun it looked! She went closer so she could get a better view. They seemed to be holding a conversation without making a sound. One would make a lot of sounds with his hands, then another who was watching, would immediately make a lot more different signs. Then the third made a few more and they all burst out laughing without making much sound. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. After watching them for some time, Totto-Chan came to the conclusion that they were talking with their hands.

“I wish I could talk with my hands, too,” she thought enviously. She considered going over and joining them, but she didn't know how to ask them with her hands. “Some day I'm going to learn how to talk to people with my hands,” she thought.

But Totto-Chan didn't know yet about deaf people, or that those children went to the municipal deaf and dumb school in Oimachi, the last stop of the train she took to school each day.

Totto-Chan just thought there was something rather beautiful about the way those children watched each other's fingers with shining eyes, and she wanted to make friends with them some day.

Activity 1: Irregular Verbs
All verbs have a present and past form. The letters -ed are added to most verbs to form their past tense. But some verbs are different and they don't end with -ed in their past forms. These are called <>irregular verbs.<>
Underline the irregular verbs in Presentation-1 and then write down the present form of the verbs. You should be able to find at least five.

Activity 2: True or False
Read the following sentences and say if they are true or false. If false, then say why you think so.
i) The boys and the girl were Totto-Chan's friends
ii) They all went to the same school.
iii) The two boys and the girl were having a lot of fun.
iv) They called out to Totto-Chan to go and join them.
v) The two boys and the girl couldn't hear.
vi) Totto-Chan was shocked to see the children talk with their hands.

Language Focus:
-We use the Past Simple to talk about events in the past which we see as finished. We can use it to talk about a point in time or a period of time.
For example:
I had a dream last night.

When she was one and a half years old, Helen became ill.

We often use the past simple with expressions such as yesterday, last week, in 1952, when I was in school, three days ago, etc.

- We use the Past Continuous to talk about things which were in progress at, or during, a particular time in the past.
For example:
At this time yesterday, I was practising football in school.
She noticed that the children were talking with their hands.

Activity 3: Filling in the blanks
Use the right form of verbs given below to complete the following passage from the life story of a famous woman, Helen Keller. Two have been done for you.

Until she was seven years old, Helen Keller was blind, deaf and mute. But her teacher, Anne Sullivan, with her determined efforts and untiring love helped Helen learn to read and write and speak.

leave, know, live, discover, find, come, write help, need, can feel, cannot say, learn

When she was one and a half years old, Helen became ill. This sickness (1) left her blind and deaf. Since she could hear no sounds, she did not learn to talk.
Helen (2) lived in a dark and silent world for more than five years. In this world without sound, she 3____ only what she could touch and smell and taste. She 4__________ hunger and cold, but she 5_________ to herself, “I am hungry.” She could not say, “I am cold”.
Helen had not discovered the secret of language. She could not communicate with other human beings. But, because she was human, she 6_______ to communicate. Helen finally 7_______ the secret of language. Years later, she 8________ a book about her life.
When Helen was seven years old, Anne Sullivan, a teacher 9_______ to live in her house. By patient teaching, Miss Sullivan 10________ a way to lead Helen out of her sightless, soundless world. This woman 11________ Helen to discover the secret of language.
Helen mastered sign language and later 12_________ to speak. She became a highly educated woman.

(From Helen Keller and Ann Sullivan)

Presentation-2

ANDRE

I had a dream last night. I dreamed
I had to pick a Mother out.
I had to choose a Father too.
At first, I wondered what to do,
There were so many there, it seemed,
Short and tall and thin and stout.

But just before I sprang awake,
I knew what parents I would take.
And this surprised and made me glad:
They were the ones I always had.

-Gwendolyn Brooks

Activity 4: Right form of Verbs
Underline all the verbs in the above poem. Now write down the present tense form of the verbs used in the past tense, and the past tense form of those in the present tense. Example:

Present tense
have
pick
Past tense
had
picked

Activity 5: Making Questions in the Past Tense
Here is an imaginary dialogue between the child of the poem and a friend. Write down the missing questions to complete it.
: I had a strange dream last night.
: ___________________________?
: I dreamed that I was standing in a vast meadow surrounded by hundreds of parents.
: ___________________________?
: It was strange because I had to do something very funny.
: __________________________?
: Well, I had to choose a father and a mother for myself from amongst them all.
: ____________________________?
: No, I didn't know who to choose. All the pairs seemed strangers to me. I didn't think I knew any of them!
: ___________________________?
: I looked at all the pairs. They were smiling at me and were waiting. And suddenly I saw myself walk down to a beautiful pair of parents. I held my hands out to them and made my pick.
: _________________________?
: Oh, yes. I was very, very happy, and surprised, too.
: _______________________?
: I was surprised because I suddenly realised I had chosen my own parents that I always had.
: ____________________?
: Nothing else happened. I woke up and ran to my parents and hugged them tight.