Class 9 English Lesson 14

Look at the picture and talk about human evolution.

👉 The image provided illustrates the various phases of human development from antiquity to the present. Anatomically, it is thought that Homo heidelbergensis, the ancestor of modern humans, first appeared in Africa around 300,000 years ago. As they migrated out of Africa, they gradually displaced the local populations of archaic humans. All humans have historically lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers. Agriculture and permanent human settlement came into being during the Neolithic Revolution, which started in Southwest Asia around 13,000 years ago (and separately in a few other locations). Forms of governance emerged within and between communities as populations grew larger and denser, and numerous civilizations rose and fell.

Reading I

Look at the following pictures and answer these questions.

a. What is the name of the invention shown in the picture?

👉 The invention shown in the picture is Sun Stone which is also known as the Aztec Sun Stone. It was a type of calendar used before the 16th century.

b. Who was it developed by?

👉 It was developed by the Aztecs — the Native American people who lived in northern Mexico at the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century.

The Maya Empire

A. Match the following words from the text with their meanings.
👉

a. drought — a long period of time when there is little or no rain

b. excel — to be very good at doing something

c. hieroglyph — a picture representing a word, syllable, or sound

d. dominant — more important, powerful, or easy to notice than other things

e. concentration — a lot of something in one place

f. invasion — an instance of a large number of people or things arriving somewhere

g. excavation — digging ground to look for old buried buildings or objects

B. Find the words in the text and fill in the crossword puzzle.

Across
2. people who follow each other in time or order — succession

4. a loss of power, prosperity or status — downfall

5. complete with regard to every detail — thorough

6. a union or association formed for mutual benefit — alliance

Down

1. complete disorder and confusion — chaos

2. very complicated and detailed — elaborate

3. to use all of something so that there is none left — exhaust

C. Choose the correct answer.

a. When did the Maya Civilisation reach its height?

👉 i. sixth century AD

b. Why were the Mayas unlikely to be invaded by the Mesoamericans?

👉 ii. They were concentrated in a particular area.

c. What has fascinated researchers about the Mayas from the southern lowlands?
👉

i. the stone cities

 ii. the cultural differences

d. Which period of the Maya Civilisation is considered the golden age?

👉 i. The Medieval Period

e. Whom did the Mayas consider their god?

👉 ii. the king

f. According to scholars, which of the following is NOT the cause of Maya downfall?

👉 iii. foreign invasion

D. Match the paragraph numbers with respective information.
👉

a. I — iii. achievement by the Maya civilisation in different sectors

b. II — iv. places where the Mayas live

c. III — v. categories of the places where the Mayans lived

d. IV — i. occupation of the earliest Maya society

e. V — ii. number of people in the Maya civilisation

f. VI — vi. spirituality of the Mayan people

g. VII — viii. time when the downfall of the Maya Civilisation started

h. VIII — vi. spirituality of the Mayan people

E. Why is the study of history important to us? Prepare a mindmap of your thoughts and discuss with your friends.

👉 History is the study of past events, particularly those that pertain to a specific location or topic that is human-related. History is very important to us because it teaches us about past human life, our ancestors and their activities, our traditional cultures, people’s way of life, and other things that are related to the past. We can observe and comprehend how people and societies behaved in the past by studying history. For instance, by considering the past, we can assess war even when a country is at peace. Additionally, we can use this knowledge and experience to not only improve upon our flaws and past errors.

Grammar I

A. Compare what Samita said in the past and what she says now. Now, make sentences using used to/didn’t use to/never used to as in the example.

👉

1. Samita didn’t use to drink tea but now she likes tea

2. Samita used to play the piano but now she hasn’t played it for years.

3. Samita used to be very lazy but now she works very hard.

4. Samita didn’t use to like cheese but now she eats a lot of cheese.

5. Samita used to have a dog but it died two years ago.

6. Samita used to work as a hotel receptionist but now she works in a bookshop.

7. Samita used to have a lot of friends but now she doesn’t know many people.

8. Samita never used to read newspapers now she reads them daily.

B. Rewrite the following sentences using used to or didn’t use to.

a. I lived with my parents.

👉 I used to live with my parents.

b. Did you swim in the river every summer?

👉 Did you use to swim every summer?

c. He never smoked.

👉 He didn’t use to smoke.

d. I played tennis at school.

👉 I used to play tennis at school.

e. Villagers walked for hours to reach the nearest health post.

👉 Villagers used to walk for hours to reach the nearest health post.

f. There was a dense forest around the village.

👉 There used to be dense forest around the village.

g. What did you do in your childhood?

👉 What did you use to do in your childhood?

h. I didn’t write stories.

👉 I didn’t use to write stories.

i. Did people travel by airplanes?

👉 Did people use to travel by airplanes?

j. Where did you go to deposit your money?

👉 Where did you use to go to deposit your money?

Writing I

A. Read the following story carefully. Then give it a suitable title.

👉 The best title for the given story would be “Tit for Tat“.

B. Develop readable stories based on the given outlines.

a.

👉 Once upon a time, there was a king who used to live with his people in his kingdom very happily. However, powerful enemies attacked the kingdom one day, and the king was defeated. The king with his army ran away from the kingdom and hid in the nearby forest. After some months, they reunited, built a strong army, and attacked their enemies in order to chase them away from their kingdom. Unfortunately, they were again defeated. This happened not only one or two times but six times. At the sixth time, the enemies chased the king out of the nearby forest too. The king saved his life by hiding inside a cave far away. Now, the king had no hope of getting his kingdom back and he was sad and depressed. When the king was inside the cave, he saw a spider trying to climb the wall. The spider tried for the sixth time but failed. Only on the seventh time, the spider succeeded. Watching this, the king got motivated. He thought, “If an insect like a spider doesn’t lose hope and tries again and again to achieve success, then why should a human like me lose hope so early?” Then, the king organized his army, trained and motivated them well, attacked his enemies, and finally, defeated them to regain his kingdom in the seventh attempt.

Moral: Don’t lose hope; try again and again until you succeed.

b.

👉 Once upon a time, there were two boys in a village near a forest. They were very good friends until one day they went to the jungle to collect firewood. While walking, a bear suddenly appeared in front of them and came toward them. Both friends were very afraid. To save his life, one friend climbed a tree quickly while the other couldn’t climb and was helpless, losing hope of survival. Suddenly, an idea struck him and he lay down on the ground as if dead. The bear came near and smelled him, then went away. The friend who climbed the tree came down and asked what the bear said. The friend calmly replied that the bear told him to beware of friends who run away in danger.

Moral: Be aware of friends who run away in danger.

Reading II

Look at the pictures and answer the following questions.

a. What are these currencies?

👉 The first one is a Nepali 1000 rupees note, the second is a Nepali 2 rupees coin, and the third is an American 100 dollar note.

b. What would happen if we didn’t have money?

👉 If we didn’t have money, we wouldn’t be able to buy and sell anything because money is necessary to exchange goods and services.