II. Read.
I was a postman in a remote area of Myanmar. Once a month I went downtown to collect the post and then walked from village to village, which were far away from each other. In each village, I delivered and collected the post. I also used to read and write letters for the villagers. Most of them were illiterate. I also passed on the news I had heard from the town and the other villages. The people treated me well. It was a hard job but I loved it.
U Sein Tun
from Myanmar
My mother came from Baffin Island. She used to live in an igloo: a domed house built from blocks of ice. The house had only one room for all the generations: grandparents, parents, brothers, unmarried sisters, and sometimes other relatives. Everyone worked together to survive the Arctic winter. Men went out hunting while women stayed at home making clothes and preparing food. When they had to travel far, they rode on dogsleds. At night they used to entertain themselves by telling and acting out stories. They danced to drum music too.
Akycha from Canada
* Find the words which mean:
Story 1. 16. not able to read or write: ………………………………
17. tell: ………………………………
18. behave towards (somebody): ………………………………
Story 2. 19. a cubed chunk: ………………………………
20. to live in difficult conditions: ………………………………
21. a vehicle that travels over snow: ………………………………
** Discuss the questions.
22. Why did the postman have to walk from village to village?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………23. Why were most villagers illiterate?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………24. Why did the people in Baffin Island use ice blocks to build their houses?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………25. Why did each house have only one room?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
* Find the words which mean:
Story 1. 16. not able to read or write: ……………… illiterate.………………
17. tell: …………………pass on……………
18. behave towards (somebody): ……………treat (someone)…………………
Story 2. 19. a cubed chunk: ………………block………………
20. to live in difficult conditions: ……………survive…………………
21. a vehicle that travels over snow: ………………sled………………
** Discuss the questions.
22. Because there were no other means of transport available.
23. Because there was no school in the villages
24. There were no other materials available in that deserted land and there were no easy means to transport materials from other places to the island.
25. It was impossible to build a big house with several rooms in the ice and snow and people felt safer living in communal groups.
