On Saying Please – New Activities Std 12

On Saying Please by A G Gardiner is a lesson on Good manners and words of courtesy. Icebreaking, brainstorming activities and question bank solution are available here.

Glossary / Vocabulary on On Saying Please

ICE BREAKERS on On Saying ‘Please’

A. List the words of courtesy that we use in our daily life. Discuss them with
your partner and explain the purpose of using each 

B. Listed below are a few character traits of people. Some are positive traits,while others are not. Tick ✓ the ones you feel are desirable. ( Meanings of the words are provided. Students can tick now desirable traits. On Saying Please Activity) 

Conniving – conspiring
Insensitive – pretending ignorance
Sly- wise in practical affairs
Humorous – 
Naive – deficient in worldly wisdom
Benevolent – disposed to doing good
Aggressive – 
Scheming
Wise 
Egoistic
Manipulative – influence others in an artful way/ unfair way
Rude- 
Boastful 
Humble – not proud
Servile – slave like
Territorial- organised for home defence
Patronising – treating good
Generous – liberal 

Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits	Characteristic traits
Conniving	Insensitive	Sly	Humorous
Naive	Benevolent	Aggressive	Scheming
Wise	Egoistic	Manipulative	Rude
Boastful	Humble	Servile	Territorial
Patronising	Generous

C. Etiquette and manners are very important for a person to live in the society.
Read the following and put them in proper columns. On Saying Please Activity.
1. To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class.
2. To knock before you enter your Principal’s office.
3. To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee.
4. To be polite and courteous to others.
5. To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission.
6. To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically challenged or elderly
people on a bus or a train.

Appropriate.	Inappropriate.
1. To knock before you enter your Principal’s office.                      2.  To thank the person who offers you tea or coffee. 3. To be polite and courteous to others.	1. To receive phone calls while you are in a lecture or class. 2. To leave the classroom without the teacher’s permission. 3. To occupy the seats reserved for ladies or physically challenged or elderly people on a bus or a train.

An Astrologer’s Day

BRAIN STORMING On On Saying Please

(A1) (i) Form groups and explain the following words with examples. You can take help of your teacher.
• Humility – freedom from pride• Self-esteem – a confidence in oneself • Gratitude – thankfulness• Courtesy – respect• Generosity – big heartedness • Sympathy – compassion, pity• Empathy – experiencing the feelings of others

(A2) (i) Read the text On Saying Please and state whether the following statements are True or False. Correct the False statements.
(a) Bitter problems in day-to-day life can be solved by sweet words. True

(b) Great wars could have been avoided by a little courtesy. True

(c) Observance of etiquette in a normal situation is important but more important is their observance when the situation is adverse. True

(d) Words like ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ help us in making our passage through life uneasy. False

(e) The law permits anybody to use violence, if another person is discourteous.   False

(ii) Select the most appropriate sentences which suggest the theme of the essay.

(a) The essay tells us about courtesy, civility, morality, responsibility and control.

(b) The essay explores the difficulties that can be incurred by an individualwhen dealing with the public.

(c) One can keep one’s peace of mind without having to lower themselves to the level of the perceived offender.

(d) People with low self-esteem are generally difficult to work with and they look down upon others to get a feeling of superiority.
(iii) (a) Find the reasons for the lift-man’s uncivilized behaviour.
Ans : A passenger refused to say ‘Top-please’ to the liftman. The refusal hurt him acutely and damage his social standing. 

(b) List the people and their behaviour that made the passenger rude and ill-mannered.

(iv) Good manners are required in our daily life for making our social contacts more cooperative and friendly. Illustrate the behaviour of the polite conductor with different people in various situations.

Situation.	Behaviour
1. The writer’s sensitive toe was trampled on	The conductor said sorry with an apology and courtesy.
2. In the rainy season dealing with people	He would give the tips that there is room in the bus.
4. Dealing with children	as solicitous as father
5. Dealing with young people	as considerate as son
6. Dealing with a blind man	He took him across the road and see safe landing.

(v) Discuss and write the impact of good temper and kindliness on the society in the light of the good-mannered conductor from the lesson on saying please. 
Ans : The narrator pointed out that there was always fine weather on the polite conductor’s bus , and his civility, friendly feelings and humorous nature spreaded among the passengers. Kindliness is rewarded with kindness. 

(vi) ‘A modest calling can be made dignified by good temper and kindly feeling’.
Ans : Explain the statement with examples.

(vii) The service of the police is necessary for the implementation of law in our society. Do you think you require this service for good social environment?Discuss.

(A3) (i) • He committed the crime in broad daylight (not bright daylight or narrow darkness

• I had a cup of strong tea (not rich tea).

• The fast train is coming (not quick train).

Such words or group of words which habitually occur together and thereby convey meaning by association are called collocations. A collocation is a combination of words in a language that often go together.

Activity from the lesson On Saying Please

 (a) Find out the words in column ‘B’ which collocate with the words in column ‘A’.

Column A.	Column B.
regular	meal
mid day	concept
key	food
fast	exercise
try	decorated
richly	hard
free	jam
traffic	time
social	animal
wild	justice

Ans: regular exercise, mid day meal, key concept, fast food, try hard, richly decorated, free time, traffic jam, social justice,wild animal 

(b) Learning collocations is essential for making your English sound fluent and natural. Make collocations and use in your own sentences.

(ii) Sometimes while using a word in a sentence, we have to change its wordclass. We can make several more words from the root word.We can make several new words from the root word.I asked Sumit to my pencil for me. (sharp)

I asked Sumit to sharpen my pencil for me
Now read the following sentences and use the words given in the brackets. 
Change the word class and rewrite the sentences.
(a) Leena was eating a very crunchy 🍎apple and  enjoying it. (crunch)
(b) This picture looks colourful . (colour)
(c) I’m afraid that your behaviour is just not acceptable. (accept)
(d) I like my elder brother. He is very helpful . (help)

Complete the following table. Put a cross if a word class does not exist.

Sr.No.	Noun	Verb	Adjective	Adverb
1	absence		absent
2	alarm	alarm	alarming	alarmingly
3	attraction	attract	attractive	attractively.
4	ability	enable	able
5	admiration	admire	admiring	admiringly
6	agreement	agree	agreeable	agreeably
7	application	apply	applicable
8	avoidance	avoid	avoidable.	avoidably.
9	difference	differ	different	differently

(iii) Register often refers to the degree of formality of language, but in a more
general sense it means the language used by a group of people who share
similar work or interest, such as doctors or lawyers.
Imagine that your Principal or teacher is coming. When you meet him, you
would never say,
‘Hey, dude ! What’s up?’
This is a formal situation, so you would say ‘Good morning, Sir’.
In every situation, you use an appropriate expression according to the person.
The language you use, when you meet someone depends on their age, position
etc. There are formal and informal registers in spoken and written language.
Write appropriate expressions and words which you have to use while facing an interview

You are writing a letter of complaint. List the proper expressions that you would like to write. 
(a) I disagree.
(b) I have a different opinion.
(c) Kindly avoid this.
(d) I am sorry.

(iv) Distinguish between a legal offence and a moral offence on the basis of
the given text. Legal offence Moral offence
Burglary, Rude behaviour

Legal offence.	Moral offence.
Burglary	Rude behaviour
Assault and battery	Wound to self respect
To box people’s ears	Hurt feelings and emotions
Kick on the shins	Moral and intellectual damage

(v) Find out the meanings of the following phrases. Use them in your own
sentences.
(a) give and take (b) a black eye
(c) lower than the angels (d) knock someone down
(vi) Find out the words with prefixes and suffixes from the text and write them down.

Prefix.	Suffix
uncivil, uncouth, unfriendly, unpleasant.	requirement.         investment
discourtesy , disagreeable	compensation
incivility, inexhaustible	comfortable
Inconvenience	Infectious

(vii) Complete the table with polite expressions that we must use in our day to-day life.

Don’ts.	Dos.
I want a cup of tea	I would like to have a cup of tea.
Your work isn’t good	I am afraid your work isn’t good.  🙂
Send me the mail.	Send me the mail please.
Go away or leave me alone.	Please go away. Could you leave me alone?
You are wrong.	I am afraid you are wrong.
That’s a bad idea.	Thanks for the idea but it’s bad.

Grammar Section from On Saying Please

(A4) (i) Edit the given paragraph using a/an/the wherever necessary.

Rakesh is a/an ideal son who remains devoted to his father as he grows 
professionally to become a/the famous doctor. As his father grows old, he 
takes care to spend time with his father, bringing him tea in a/the morning 
and taking him out for a/the walk in an/the evening.

(ii) Spot the errors in each of the following sentences and correct the incorrect ones.
(a) Radha brought pens and distributed them between her five children. (among)
(b) Jayshree and Sujata sat besides each other in complete silence.(beside)
(c) His best friend Vijay was blind within one eye. (with)
(d) One could dare to encroach on his rights. (One’s)
(e) She was taken with surprise when she saw the famous Taj Mahal.(by)
(f) It is not possible to exchange the goods once the sale has been completed. (return)
(g) Dr. Sengupta has been trying to master the craft for the last five years. ()
(h) The top-ranking candidates will be appointed in senior jobs in banks. (to)
(i) She knows very well what is expected from her but she is unable to perform. (yet)
(j) They will put on a note in this regard for your consideration.(down)
(iii) Read the following sentence.
Santosh purchased a computer. He read the operating manual and followed the
instructions.
(a) He linked the monitor, keyboard and printer.
(b) He plugged in the main cable .
(c) He switched on the monitor at the back.
(d) When the light appeared on the screen, he placed the Day Disk in Drive A.
(e) He pushed in the disk until the button clicked out.
(It took about 30 seconds for the computer to load the programme.)
(f) He pressed the Drive button and the disk shot out .
(g) He replaced the Day Disk with the Document Disk.

(h) He pressed function key 7

Convert these sentences into passive voice by filling in the blanks.

The first sentence has been done as an example. (Answers are given in the brackets.)
Firstly the monitor, keyboard and printer were linked up. Then the —- (main cable)
—- was —- —–(plugged in). The monitor —- (was switched) at the back. When the light appeared on the screen, —- —- —- —– Day Disk was placed in Drive A. The disk —- — — (was pressed )until —– 
— —- —(the button clicked out). It took the computer 30 seconds to load the programme. The drive button —- —- —- was pressed and the disk shot out. The — —- — — (Day Disk was replaced) with Document Disk. Finally, the function key 7………………….( was pressed)
The word processor was then ready to use.

(A7) (i) Soft skills are required in all walks of life including careers and industries. 
They are increasingly becoming the essential skills of today’s work force. 
Soft skills are an integral part of finding, attracting and retaining clients 
also. Highly developed presentation skills, networking abilities, and etiquette 
awareness can help you win new clients and gain more work.

Vocabulary Test   Click on test to take the test. You will learn the meaning of the words while taking the test. Quick result for individual word. Choose the next option if you get wrong . Do it until you get the right option Spelling Test  After taking the above test , check your spelling and memory with the similar words. For the same test meaning are given you have to write the words .

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