English

Tell your desk mate what you think is common in the two sentences.

Practice Exercise 2

Complete the following sentences.

Practice Exercise 3

Answer the following questions:

1. When do you arrive at school?

2. Who came late yesterday?

3. Who knows how to draw?

4. What time does school start?

5. When does school finish?

II. The present simple tense is also used to discuss hobbies. For example:

1. Who collects stamps?

    Gasaro collects stamps.

3. Who plays computer games?

    Tabaro plays computer games.

5. Who reads novels?

    Mukashema reads novels.

Complete the following sentences

1. ............................. likes reading newspapers.

2. ............................. like travelling.

3. ............................. likes listening to music.

4. ............................. watching movies.

5. ............................. reading novels.

6. Many teenagers like ..................................

7. Young children like ....................................

8. Elders like ....................................................

9. Entertainers ................................................

10. Basketball players ......................................

III. The present simple tense can also be used to show the condition which a person

or an object is in. For example:

1. The classroom is dirty.

2. The floor is neat.

3. I am unwell.

4. Math is an interesting subject.

5. The bell is loud.

The present simple tense is additionally used to state a person’s occupation. For example:

1. Patrick is a teacher.                                                                3. She is a prefect

2. Stella is a pilot.

Practice Exercise 5

Match the parts in column A with the correct ones in column B.

Practice Exercise 6

Answer the following questions in complete form. For example:

What is your name?

Answer: My name is Mukankusi.

1. What is your favourite subject?

2. How many Maths lessons do you have per week?

3. How many English lessons do you have per week?

4. How long does it take to walk from home to school?

5. How long does it take to finish an English assignment?

6. What do you study in the morning?

7. What subject comes last in the timetable?

IV. The present simple tense can also be used to indicate a relationship. For example:

1. We are her students.

2. He is our teacher.

3. These books are ours.

4. Peter and Jane are classmates.

V. The present simple tense can be used to express feeling and emotions. For

example:Our teacher is happy today

5. Daniel is bored.

6. The head teacher is disappointed with the exam results.

Practice Exercise 7

Use the following words to complete the sentences that follow.

rains, graze, plays, works, keeps, sweeps, bakes, enjoys, love, organises, swims, are

1. My father ................ cows and sheep.

2. Buregeya ................ criticising others all the time.

3. Tom and Joane ................ my classmates.

4. The geography teacher ................ for field trips every term.

5. Once in a while, it ................ in the afternoon in our village.

6. Teachers ................ students who work hard.

7. The Olympic gold medalist ................ in the pool every afternoon.

8. Animals from the park ................ in the school field at night.

9. Mr. Abdalla ................ as the school clerk.

10. The head teacher ................ the piano in the church on Sundays.

11. A warm wind ................ across the field every early afternoon.

12. My mother ................ for breakfast in the evening.

Activity 2

1. Pair up with your desk mate and practise asking and answering questions about the

    activities you do while at school. One of you should ask the questions while the other

   answers. After you have finished, change roles.

2. Write five sentences that describe your friend. For example: My friend lives in Kigali.

3. Write ten sentences about the subjects you study in school. For example,

   a. Maths is my favourite subject.

   b. English is my best subject.

   c. I like Biology.

Extra Exercises

  a) Fill in the blank spaces below with what you are likely to do. Use other verbs apart

      from those in brackets.

       For example:

    Mary likes talking fluently.

1. You stop ................ around aimlessly. (sitting)

2. She dreams ................ school early. (finishing)

3. She prepares ................ melodiously in the concert. (singing)

4. He walks ................ excitedly. (talking)

5. They plan ................ by all means. (winning)

b) Answer the following questions. Write your answers in full.

1. When do you come to school?

2. How long did you take to study at night?

3. How many lessons do you study in a week?

4. How old are you?

5. Where do you put your pen?

6. What do you see in the teacher’s office?

7. When do you speak Kinyarwanda?

8. How often do you use French?

D. Writing

Descriptive writing

Activity 3

In pairs, try out this activity.

1. What is the size of your partner/ friend?

2. What is the colour of this sweater?

3. What is the shape of the school flag?

4. What is your school desk made of?

    Your answers are likely to have these words: square, rectangle, wood, tall, short, huge,

     small, blue, green, metal and so on. These words are used to describe people, animals

     and things.

Describing places and objects

In describing a place, an object or a creature, we ask the questions that follow. This enables

us to get as many details as possible.

1. What does the place, object or creature look like in terms of:

    a) Size, for example: big, small, tall, short.

    b) Colour, for example: green, brown, black, yellow.

    c) Shape, for example: square, oval, irregular, round.

    d) Age, for example: new, old, young.

    e) Material, for example: cotton, leather, wooden.

2. Where applicable, the following questions can also be asked.

    a) What does it smell like? For example: good, awful.

    b) What does it taste like? For example: sweet, bitter.

    c) What sounds are associated with it? For example: bang, roar.

    d) How does it feel? For example: smooth, rough.

The ability to describe somebody or something is very important. Description makes people

to get a clear picture of what you are talking about. In order to write a good descriptive

composition, you need to give many details. You should give imaginative comparisons.

Describing a person                                                             

In describing things, we only deal with their outward characteristics.

However, when we describe people, we say how they look and at

the same time talk about their character. Here is what you can

include in such descriptions:

         a) The physical appearance of the person in terms of size and skin colour. Also, talk about the hair, clothes and shoes.

         b) His or her actions; for example how she walks or eats.

         c) What he or she likes and dislikes.

         d) What others say about him or her.

         e) What you think about him or her.

All the above points will bring out the character of the person. For

example:

‘He has shaggy hair and unpolished shoes.’ From this description,

we can conclude that this person is careless.

Activity 4

Below is a description of a person. Try to create a mental picture of the person

described as you read and then answer the questions that follow.

Mesmerised, the two boys watched − they actually stared with their eyes popping out as

she approached. Was she real or simply a dream? She was quite unlike anybody they had

ever seen. Her height was the most striking feature; so tall was she that the boys thought

the flag post at their school was shorter.

Her long shiny hair curled in spirals. It danced beautifully around her elegant shoulders

as she walked. Her face was something to behold. It was as flawless as china-ware. Her

eyes were beautifully set. They shone brightly with love and compassion. She had natural

eyebrows. They arched as if to worship the brilliant stars that her eyes were. The eyes of

the boys were reverted to her mouth. It had opened in a beautiful smile to reveal white

teeth. Her teeth shone like glass in the sunshine.

    Her red dress looked soft to the touch, like a kitten’s fur. It fitted her perfectly. Actually,

it complemented her goddess-like figure. Her feet were in beautiful black leather shoes.

One could tell she was very comfortable in them.

 Her walking revealed no pride whatsoever. Instead, it was measured and purposeful. On

reaching the two little boys, she bent down and picked both of them up. She took one in

each arm. Ah! Her perfume was fresh and tantalising.

  “Hello there,” she greeted them. Her soothing musical voice sounded like dripping

honey.

   She was the National Beauty Queen and had come to observe life in the slums. Her aim

was to inform the public about the problems of the poor.

 

   No wonder the media had been raving about her. They were raving about not only her

beauty, but also her humility and compassion. The little boys simply thought that she was

stunning. She was an angel dropped straight from heaven right into the middle of the slum.

Questions

1. What do you like best about the woman’s:

    a) Physical looks?

    b) Way of dressing?

    c) Actions?

       Give reasons for your answer.

2. What can you say about her character?

Practice Exercise 8

Write a description of your favourite person using the guidelines learnt in this section. Start by outlining the details in a table like we did in section A.

Practice Exercise 9

Working in groups, read the following account. Thereafter, sketch the compound described.

The 20-acre school compound has been divided into paddock-like rectangles. The fields

occupy the largest portion. The tuition and administration blocks are set apart from the

dormitories which are to the north of the compound. Neatly-kept bottle-brush tree fences

mark the boundaries of the various small rectangles. The teachers’ quarters are next to the

dormitory areas at the north eastern end of the school compound. To the west, between

the field and the classrooms, is the colonial-period school hall joined to the smoky kitchen.

Huge circular pillars support the roof of the hall. The school field is at the south eastern

side of the compound.

  There are flower beds around the administration and tuition blocks. The classrooms

form a ‘U’ comprising twelve classrooms, two laboratories and a library. The laboratories

and the library make the southern side of the ‘U’. The administration block is like a tilde

on top of the U and has two doors, one opening to the classrooms and the other to the

assembly ground, beyond which there is a path leading to the gate through the fields.

The various pavements and paths around the blocks are impeccably clean. Many are the

mornings when you will hear a thousand swish-swishes as girls tidy up the paths in the dim

morning light. There are hardly any security lights around the school and the few available

ones are promptly switched off at five thirty in the morning. The students have to use

torches to tidy up the compound and water the flower beds that are a luxuriant green

even in the middle of the hot, sultry January season.

Practice Exercise 10

Construct correct sentences from the table below. Write them in your exercise book.

E. Little laughter

TEACHER: What are you writing?

PUPIL: A letter to myself.

TEACHER: What does it say?

PUPIL: I don’t know. I won’t get it till tomorrow.