Prescribed by the National Curriculum & Textbook Board as a Textbook from the academic year 1998 ENGLISH FOR TODAY For Class Eight Writers M.S. Hoque Raihana Shams R.S. Shrubsall NATIONAL CURRICULUM & TEXTBOOK BOARD, DHAKA Published by National Curriculum K Textbook Board 69-70, Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka [All rights reserved by the publisher] Reprint: December, 2008 First edition: November. 1997 Revised and modified edition : November, 2000 Reprint : December, 2004 Reprint : December, 2007 Reprint : March, 2009 Computer Typesetting Color Graphic Ltd Cover Ahmed Ullah NCTB-Dhaka Illustrations Biplob Sarker Ainul Hoque Munna Design National Curriculum & Textbook Board For Free Distribution from academic year 2010 by the Government of Bangladesh PREFACE After the liberation of Bangladesh, new textbooks were developed on the recommendations of the National Curriculum & Syllabus Committee. English for Today for class eight was evaluated and rewritten by foreign consultants and local experts. Each of the lessons was put on trial in secondary schools in different parts of the country in 1993. This was followed by a workshop, attended by the secondary school teachers and English language specialists, for the revision of the syllabus and the textbook. The workshop was held at NCTB in Dhaka and consequently necessary revisions were made. The revised textbook was introduced into the schools in 1998. Development of curriculum, syllabus and textbook is a continuous process. In continuity with this process, the book has recently been, rationally re-evaluated and revised by a group of experts which included curriculum specialists, subject specialists, teacher trainers and classroom teachers. Attempts have been made to make the book free from errors as far as possible. The illustrations and the contents of the book have been modified and improved considerably in order to make them more helpful to the learners. In this revised textbook, effective communicative techniques integrated with existing traditional method have been introduced. The book will provide the learners with adequate scope of practice in language skill, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing. We hope this book will meet the needs of the students and the teachers which eventually will bring effective results. The publication of a teacher's guide is under process. The guide underlines a communicative methodology so that it may be easily understood and applied. The teacher’s guide will help the teachers to plan the lessons more effectively and teach the students in a communicative way. Moreover, in order to test the students' language skills sample questions have been incorporated into the teacher's guide. Any rational and constructive suggestion for the improvement of the textbook will be welcomed and incorporated in future editions. I am grateful to all who worked hard for evaluating the textbook and were involved in different stages of printing. All of our efforts will be fruitful and meaningful if the book serves our desired purpose and helps students in effective learning of English. Professor Md. Mostafa Kamaluddin Chairman National Curriculum & Textbook Board Dhaka CONTENTS Unit One: Making Things Function :Talking about practical activities Lesson Title Page 1. First Day At School: Part 1 … 1 2. First Day At School: Part 2 … 3 3. Let’s Make A Garden … 4 4. Let’s Discuss Gardening … 6 5. In The Headmaster’s Office … 8 6. Tools … 10 7. The Smithy … 11 8. Looking And Learning … 12 9. The Village Blacksmith … 14 10. Feeling Good! … 16 11. Making Things Beautiful : Part 1 … 18 12. Making Things Beautiful : Part 2 … 20 13. The College Pond … 21 14. Water Hyacinths … 23 15. A Discussion … 25 Unit Two: Talking About Things Function : Telling stories Lesson Title Page 1. Introducing Aesop … 27 2. Fables … 28 3. The Ant and the Grasshopper : Part 1 … 30 4. The Ant and the Grasshopper : Part 2 … 31 5. The Ant and the Grasshopper : Part 3 … 33 6. The Ant and the Grasshopper : Part 4 … 35 7. The Ant and the Grasshopper : Part 5 … 36 8. Planning For The Future … 38 9. Working For The Future : Part 1 … 40 10. Mr Anis Ahmed’s Story : Part 1 … 41 11. Mr Anis Ahmed’s Story : Part 2 … 43 12. Mr Anis Ahmed’s Story : Part 3 … 45 13. Working For The Future : Part 2 … 47 Lesson Title Page 14. The Little Plant … 48 15. Who Stole The Eggplants? Part 1 … 49 16. Who Stole The Eggplants? Part 2 … 51 17. Honesty Is The Best Policy : Part 1 … 52 18. Honesty Is The Best Policy : Part 2 … 54 19. Honesty Is The Best Policy : Part 3 … 55 20. Honesty Is The Best Policy : Part 4 … 56 Unit Three : Growing Up Function : Talking about feelings Lesson Title Page 1. Visitors … 58 2. Responsibilities … 60 3. The Accident : Part 1 … 61 4. The Accident : Part 2 … 62 5. Looking After Tunu … 64 6. Behaving Responsibly … 65 7. Young Heroes … 67 8. Another Accident … 69 9. The Visit … 70 10. The Celebration : Part 1 … 72 11. The Celebration : Part 2 … 74 12. The Celebration : Part 3 … 76 13. Rina’s Story : Part 1 … 78 14. Rina’s Story : Part 2 … 79 15. Rina’s Story : Part 3 … 81 Unit Four: Growing Up Socially Function : Discussing how people grow up in society 1. Robinson Crusoe … 83 2. The Man Who Wanted To Live Alone : Part 1 … 84 3. The Man Who Wanted To Live Alone : Part 2 … 86 4. The Man Who Wanted To Live Alone : Part 3 … 87 5. Contemplation : Part 1 … 89 6. Contemplation : Part 2 … 90 7. The Annual Cultural Week … At Nurpur High School … 92 8. Putting On A Play … 94 9. The Ghost … 96 Unit Five: Learning From Experience Function : Discussing How Knowledge is gained from experience Lesson Title Page 1. Knowledge : Part 1 … 101 2. Knowledge : Part 2 … 102 3. Knowledge : Part 3 … 104 4. Six Blind Men And An Elephant : Part 1 … 106 5. Six Blind Men And An Elephant : Part 2 … 107 6. Six Blind Men And An Elephant : Part 3 … 109 7. The Magician : Part 1 … 110 8. The Magician : Part 2 … 112 9. The Magician : Part 3 … 114 10. The Magician : Part 4 … 116 11. The Magician : Part 5 … 117 12. The Magician : Part 6 … 118 13. The Magician : Part 7 … 120 14. The Magician : Part 8 … 121 15. A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing … 123 16. Listening Comprehension Passages … 125 Unit One : Making Things Lesson 1 First Day At School Part 1 A Talk about the pictures and look at the questions. Then read the passage and answer them. 1 Why is Anwar feeling nervous? 2 How long has he been living in Nurpur? 3 What kind of place is Nurpur? This morning Anwar is feeling nervous.he is going to start a new class at a new school. Last year he was in class 7 at Sonapur High school in Rangpur District, but in December his family moved to Nurpur in Chittagong District. Like Sonapur, Nurpur is a small town. Now it is January and Anwar is going to join Class 8 at Nurpur High School. It is about one and a half kilometres from his home in the town, so he is going to walk there. Anwar Anwar went to his new school with his father one week ago. They saw the headmaster, Mr Nurul Alam. He was a serious, but kind man. “you’r going to enjoy Nurpur High School”, said Mr Alam. “It’s a very friendly place. Everybody will help you, So don’t feel worried.” But Anwar did worry. “A new school is a new experience,” he thought to himself. “I don’t know anybody. What are the teachers and students going to be like?” B Now ask and answer these questions. 1 Why is Anwar joining a new school? 2 How will he go there? 3 Who is going to help him at his new school? 4 Why did he feel nervous? 5 Why do we feel nervous of new experiences?