AN AFRICAN VILLAGE

S.No.  Words  Meanings

 Being active, A thing that a
 1.  Activity person or group does or has
done.
 2.  Agriculture  Farming
 3.  Aluminium  Light silver white metal
 4.  Beans  An edible seed
 5.  Beast  Wild-animals
 6.  Bush-dwellers  People living in bushes
 7.  Century  One hundred
 An area surrounded by fences or
 8.  Compounds walls that contains a group of
buildings
 9.  Consists  Composed of
 A very large area of land, such
 10.  Continent as Africa or Asia, that consists of
several countries. .
 11.  Courtyard  Compound
 12.  Cultivate  To grow
 13.  Circular  Round in shape
 14.  Dense  Thick
 15.  Earthenware  Pot made of clay
 16.  Electricity  Power, Energy
 17.  Export  A product or service sold abroad.
A. Comprehension:

Q.1: How many independent countries are there in Africa?

What was it called first?
Ans. After Asia, Africa is the second largest Continent and it
consists of more than thirty-five independent countries. It was
once called the "Dark Continent". Because its northern parts
have had relations with Europe and Asia for many centuries but
very little was known about other parts till the middle of the
19th century.
Q.2: Where is Nigeria? 
Ans. Nigeria is in  West  Africa. Nigeria is the most thickly
populated of all the African countries. It is also the largest
country of West Africa.
Q.3: What sort of country is it? OR Give a brief account of
Nigeria?
Ans. Nigeria is mainly an agricultural country. It is the largest
country of West Africa and is the most thickly populated of all
the African countries. Most of its inhabitants are farmers who
live in villages. A great part of Nigeria is covered with a dense
forest which thins out into bush in the north. The bush consists
of scattered trees with heavy undergrowth in the form of thick
bushes and grass.
Q.4: What is the bush area made up of ?
Ans. A great part of Nigeria is covered with a dense forest
which thins out into bush. The bush area is consisted of scattered
trees with heavy undergrowth in the form of thick bush and
grass.
Q.5: Where do most Nigeria farmers live?
Ans. Most of the Nigerian are farmers and live in the villages or
farmer's settlements which are scattered in the bush where they
cultivate the land. They construct huts and live in those huts.
These Nigerian villages may consist of a dozen to about three
dozen huts.
Q.6: What is the roof of farmers hut made of?
Ans. The roof of farmers hut was also made of thatched which is
a thick layer of straw, grass, reeds, or palm-leaves. Some of
these are circular in shape while others may be square or
rectangular. A narrow opening was left for entrance on the side
toward the sun. 
Q.7: What is the centre of activities?
Ans. The courtyard of the house is the main  centre of all
activities. Women do all types of work including cooking and
washing and the children play there.  They only use rooms for
resting purposes.
Q.8: What are their food crops?
Ans. The crop, which is edible and we use as food are called
food crops. The main food crops of Nigeria are plantains,
potatoes, yarns, ground nuts and pepper. 
Q.9: What are their cash crops?
Ans. The crop which is export to other countries are called cash
crops and the  most important Nigeria’s cash crops are palm oil
and cocoa. The products of these crops are the major exports of
Nigeria.
Q.10: Who tends the food crops?
Ans. Food crops are usually tended by the women.
Q.11: Who tends the cash crops?
Ans. The cash crops are tended by men.
Q.12: What is made from cocoa beans?
Ans. From the fruit of cocoa tree, yield beans which are
grounded into powder which forms chocolate.

C (i). For each word in list ‘A’ find a word or phrase of similar

meaning from list ‘B’.
Synonyms
1. Courtyard – Compound
2. Link – Join
3. Dense – Thick
4. Explore – Search
5. Introduce – Acquaint
6. Century – One Hundred
7. Majority – More than half
8. Cultivate – to grow
9. Facility – Convenience
(ii). Find in list 'B' word or phrases opposite in meaning to words  in
list ‘A’ .
Antonyms
1. Dense – Thin
2. Majority – Minority
3. Remote – Near
4. Major – Minor
5. Independent – Dependent
6. Interior – Exterior
7. Export – Import
E. (i) Fill in the blanks with:
Shall, Will, Should, Would:
1. I think I shall  go to the Karachi next week.
2. You  should not tell a lie.
3. We shall  fight to the last men.
4. This office  will  remain open till midnight.
5. I shall be grateful if you kindly grant me a pass.
6. The train would have arrived now.
7. Should our motherland need it, we will  lay down our lives for it.
8. You should respect your elders.
9. Had you been there, it would never have happened.
10. They  should not violate any condition of this contract.

(ii). Fill in the blanks with appropriate prepositions:

1. Please introduce me to your father.
2. He is not acquainted with my parents.
3. This machine is fitted with automatic control.
4. You are not fit for this job.
5. A round nail does not into  a square hole.
6. He has passed the examination and is not looking for a job.
7. The police are on the look out for the robbers.
8. Look for the meaning of this word in the dictionary.
9. He promised to look  into this matter.
10. We look up at  you to solve our problems.

(iii) Change into Passive Voice

1. A road links his village to the town.
Ans. His village is linked to the town by a road.
2. A snake in the grass stung his barefoot.
Ans. His barefoot was stung by a snake in the grass.
3. He cannot rear any cattle on his farm.
Ans. No cattle can be reared by him on his farm.
4. Their father settled the dispute between the brothers.
Ans. The dispute between the brothers was settled by their father.

(iv). Change into Active Voice

1.This lamp was lit by the servant.
Ans. The servant lit this lamp.
2. The soldier was ordered by the officer to report to him.
Ans. The officer ordered the soldier to report to him.
3. By whom was this blanket patched?
Ans. Who patched this blanket?
4. Was this land cultivated by the land owner himself?
Ans. Did the Land owner cultivate this land himself?
F. Composition 
Q.1: Describe in 70 to 80 words the huts of a farmer in
Nigeria? What do you know about the huts of Nigerian
Villages? OR Describe the building style of Nigerian farm?
Ans. Nigerian village may consist of a dozen to about three
dozen huts in different styles. 

The types of huts a farmer built in past:

Formerly a farmer's hut was a single room. It was built very
simply. Thick branches of trees were stuck in the ground in a
large circle. These branches were joined at the top and bound
firmly together. Thus a cone-shaped room was made. The spaces
between the branches were filled up with straw, and the roof was
also thatched with a thick layer of straw, grass, reeds, or palm-
leaves. A narrow opening was left for entrance on the side
toward the sun. 

The types of huts a farmer built in these days:

Now, bigger and better huts are built and more modern building
methods and materials are used. A farmer's house may now have
two or more rooms. It is built round a compound. Some of the
rooms have four walls with a door opening on to the courtyard,
while others have only three walls with a veranda. The walls are
made of wood and are plastered with mud. The roof is still
thatched with grass, reeds or palm leaves. Some of the houses
are circular in shape while others may be square or rectangular.

Q.2: Describe in 100 to 110 words a day in the life of a

Nigerian farmer and his wife?
Ans. The life a Nigerian villager is a model of hard work.
Farmer usually does all the work related to agriculture. They
cannot rear cattle on account of a kind of fly whose sting kills
the cattle and causes sleeping sickness among human beings. In
the absence of cattle, the farmer has to plough the fields with his
hands, carry load to the market and walk long distances. They
tend cash crops. 
women do the household work. Their courtyard of the house is
the center of all activities where women work and cook food.
they look after their children. They also look after the food crops

Q.3: Describe the changes that are coming or likely to come

soon in the life of the bush dwellers in Nigeria. OR State the
changes and developments made in Nigeria?
Ans. Nigeria is still in process of progress. The bush-dwellers
are being introduced to the modern facilities of transport and
communications. Once their small villages are linked by road
with towns and cities, buses and cars, electricity and tube-wells,
radios and televisions, schools and hospitals would come within
their reach.
G. Idioms:
1. To shed crocodile tears: to weep insincerely, or
hypocritically
Example: Don't be deceived by that beggar's crying. They
just shedded crocodile tears.
Exercise: They were not all sorry when he died. They just
pretended to be crying.  (Substitute the idiom)
They were not all sorry when he died. They just shedded
crocodile tears.
2. To feel like fish out of water: To feel out of place
Example: I was the only one who spoke English and felt like
a fish out of water in that group.
Exercise: Being the only educated man in that village, I feel
out of place there.  (Substitute the idiom)
Being the only educated man in that village, I feel like a fish
out of water there.
3. To nip in the bud: To stop evil in the early stages
Example: Bad behaviour in children must be nipped in the
bud.
Exercise: The plot to overthrow the government was
detected and crashed before it could be realized.  (Substitute
the idiom)
The plot to overthrow the government was detected
and nipped in the bud.
4. To turn over a new leaf: To reform, to behave better
Example:  The criminal promised the judge that he
would turn over a new leaf.
Exercise: The teacher pardoned the boy on the condition that
he promised to behave better in future.  (Substitute the
idiom)
The teacher pardoned the boy on the condition that he
promised to turn over a new leaf.