8TH ENGLISH (TL) 2- SANDALWOOD TREES

Subject: English (Third Language)

Class: 8th

Board: Karnataka State Board (KSEEB)

Prose 2 : The Girl Who Saved the Trees!

A Blind Girl’s Brave Act: How Sunanda Protected Our Precious Trees

Summary of the Lesson

English Summary:

This story is about a girl named Sunanda who lives near a forest. A terrible landslide makes her lose her parents and her eyesight. Her headmaster, Raogaru, and his wife, Mami, take care of her. Sunanda is sad at first but slowly learns to live in her dark world. She realizes that people are cutting down trees illegally, which causes landslides. Even though she can’t see, her other senses become very strong. One night, she goes into the forest and finds out that the police head constable, Mudaliar, is involved in stealing sandalwood trees. She tells Raogaru everything. Raogaru reports it to the police headquarters. Because of Sunanda’s bravery and help, the illegal tree-cutting group is caught. Sunanda gets a reward, and Raogaru admits her to a special school for the blind so she can learn a useful skill for her future.

Marathi Summary (मराठी सारांश):

ही कथा सुनंदा नावाच्या एका मुलीची आहे जी जंगलाजवळ राहते. एका भयंकर भूस्खलनामुळे ती तिचे आई-वडील आणि दृष्टी गमावते. तिचे मुख्याध्यापक, रावगारू आणि त्यांची पत्नी, मामी, तिची काळजी घेतात. सुनंदा सुरुवातीला दुःखी असते पण हळूहळू आपल्या अंधाऱ्या जगात जगायला शिकते. तिला कळते की लोक बेकायदेशीरपणे झाडे तोडत आहेत, ज्यामुळे भूस्खलन होत आहे. जरी तिला दिसत नसले तरी, तिची इतर इंद्रिये खूप तीक्ष्ण होतात. एक रात्री ती जंगलात जाते आणि तिला कळते की पोलीस हेड कॉन्स्टेबल, मुदलियार, चंदनाची झाडे चोरण्यात सामील आहे. ती रावगारूंना सर्व काही सांगते. रावगारू हे पोलीस मुख्यालयात कळवतात. सुनंदाच्या शौर्यामुळे आणि मदतीमुळे, बेकायदेशीर झाडे तोडणाऱ्या टोळीला पकडले जाते. सुनंदाला बक्षीस मिळते आणि रावगारू तिला अंधांसाठी असलेल्या एका विशेष शाळेत प्रवेश देतात जेणेकरून ती तिच्या भविष्यासाठी एक उपयुक्त कौशल्य शिकू शकेल.

Glossary / Difficult Words

Answers to the Questions

I. VOCABULARY

A. Make nouns from the words given below by adding -ness or -ity, (for some words we need to add just -ty-or-y}-

A. Add ‘un’ ‘in’ ‘dis’ ‘il’ ‘im’ to form the opposites of the following words:

1. legal – illegal

2. comfort – discomfort

3. curable – incurable

4. steady – unsteady

5. possible – impossible

B. Underline the two words which have the same or nearly the same meaning:

1. buy, receive, purchase, desire, reward

2. learn, remember, memory, recollect, recite

3. clean, gather, create, arrange, collect

4. easy, cheat, false, confuse, incorrect

5. show, describe, secret, reveal, order

C. Write the other genders:

C. Write the other genders:

Follow the example:

man – woman

1. father – mother

2. uncle – aunt

3. sir – madam

4. headmaster – headmistress

5. husband – wife

II COMPREHENSION

A. Answer the following questions in a word, a phrase or a sentence each:

1. Where did Sunanda live?

Ans. Sunanda lived near Karimunai village in the Eastern Ghats.

2. Who looked after Sunanda when she lost her parents?

Ans. Raogaru, the headmaster, and his wife, Mami, looked after Sunanda.

3. Why are trees cut down by man?

Ans. Trees are cut down by man for various reasons like industrial development and also illegally for wood.

4. What did Sunanda hear in the forest at night?

Ans. Sunanda heard a low whirring noise and men speaking in the forest at night.

5. Why did Sundanda have to go to Ootacamund?

Ans. Sunanda had to go to Ootacamund to give her statement at the police headquarters.

6. Where did Raogaru want to admit Sunanda?

Ans. Raogaru wanted to admit Sunanda in the National School for the Blind.

B. Answer the following questions in two to three sentences each:

1. How did Sunanda lose her eye-sight?

Ans. Sunanda lost her eyesight when a stone hit her head during a terrible landslide. This happened when she was thirteen years old and was out with her parents.

2. What was happening in the forest?

Ans. Illegal felling of sandalwood trees was happening in the forest. Some men were cutting down valuable sandalwood trees at night to sell them, and the police head constable, Mudaliar, was involved in this illegal activity.

3. How was Sunanda rewarded by the police department?

Ans. Sunanda was rewarded by the police department because she helped them unravel a sandalwood racket. Her bravery and keen observation helped the police catch the people involved in the illegal cutting and stealing of sandalwood trees.

C. Read the following extracts and answer the questions that follow:

1. “I’m so different from the other girls now”

a. Who said this?

Ans. Sunanda said this.

b. Why is the speaker different ?

Ans. The speaker is different because she had lost her eyesight and was now blind.

c. When was it said ?

Ans. It was said when Raogaru wanted to send her back to school after she lost her parents and eyesight.

2. “He says no one can break a single twig”

a. Who does ‘he’ refer to ?

Ans. He’ refers to Mudaliar

b. To whom was this said ?

Ans. This was said to Sunanda

c. Why did ‘he’ say so?

Ans. Because sandalwood trees are well protected.

III LANGUAGE

A. Make nouns from the words given below by adding -ness or -ity, (for some words we need to add just -ty-or-y}:

1. Ans. honesty
2. Ans. equality
3. Ans. activity
4. Ans. weakness
5. Ans. ability

B. Use of ‘one another’ and ‘each other’:

1. Ans. The brothers had a strange dislike for each other.
2. Ans. True religion teaches us to love one another.
3. Ans. Karna and Arjuna hated each other.
4. Ans. We must always help one another.

C. Study the following words carefully that stand for a group or a collection of something:

A cluster of trees

An army of soldiers

A class of students

Now, discuss with your partner. Fill in the blank with the most ap-propriate words from the given below.

books, stamps, players, rain, keys, ships, shoes, stones

1. a fleet of ships
2. a library of books
3. a shower of rain
4. a team of players
5. a collection of stamps
6. a bunch of keys
7. a pair of shoes
8. a heap of stones

D. Choose the correct word given in the bracket to complete each sentence:

1. Ans. Anand, can you see yourself (yourself, himself)?
2. Ans. Alice and her (her, she) friend danced together.
3. Ans. These (these, this) are teachers of our school.
4. Ans. Which (who, which) of the girls is Amala?
5. Ans. That (they, that) is your book.
6. Ans. That car belongs to them (them, they)

E. Use suitable question words and complete the following sentences:

Who, whom, what, which, whose, when, where, how, why are some of the words that are used to make questions.

1. Ans. When is your birthday? How old are you?
2. Ans. Who are you? What do you want?
3. Ans. Where is your house?
4. Ans. Where are you going? With whom are you going?
5. Ans. Whose pen is this?