buyingDiploma in TESOL
Section A
1) a) Questions to the text.
- Why does the story have such a title?
- What is the main idea of the story?
- Where did the story take place?
- What hobbies did the emperor have?
- What was the most favourite hobby of the emperor Akbar?
- Where did the dealer want to buy more horses?
- How much money did the dealer receive from Akbar?
- Who was to compile a list of the ten biggest fools in India?
- T/F: Birbal made the list in two days, because he couldn’t think of so many fools.
- Why was Akbar surprised when he was reading the list of fools?
- Was Birbal right to put Akbar’s name at the top of the list?
- When did Birbal promise to remove the emperor’s name from the list?
- Why do you think Akbar gave money to the dealer so easily?
- Do you think Birbal was a wise man?
- Would you do the same if you were Birbal?
- Do you think Birbal was afraid of his emperor? Why? Why not?
- How could the story end? Do you think the dealer would return with horses?
- How would you react to the situation with the list if you were Akbar?
- Do you think it is important to trust people?
- Trust is like an eraser; it gets smaller and smaller with every mistake. Do you support this idea? Discuss in a class.
- What is the key sentence in the story?
- How often do you think of the consequences of your actions?
b) This story can be used with 11-13 year-old students or with students of a lower intermediate level of language acquisition, who can already express their thoughts and feelings. They can easily comprehend the main idea of the text, draw conclusions about its message and express thoughts referring to their own experience.
i) Listening Comprehension
1) What was Akbar’s title? (He was an emperor).
2) Where did the story take place? (The story happened in India).
3) What hobbies did the emperor have? (He was fond of playing chess, flying kites, listening to stories of other lands, and collecting horses).
4) What was the most favourite hobby of Emperor Akbar? (He liked to collect good horses)
5) What country did the dealer want to travel to in order to buy horses? (He was going to Afghanistan).
6) How much money did the dealer receive from Akbar? (The emperor gave him 200 silver rupees for the team of horses and 200 rupees to bring more horses).
7) Why was Akbar surprised when he was reading the list of fools? (He was surprised because his name was at the top of the list).
8) Was Birbal right to put Akbar’s name at the top of the list? (He was right, because Akbar acted carelessly).
9) On what condition did Birbal promise to remove the emperor’s name from the list? (He promised to cross out Akbar’s name if the dealer came back and brought horses).
10) Did Akbar deserve to top the list of the biggest fools? (He deserved it, because what he did was a careless action).
11) Why do you think Akbar gave money to the dealer so easily? (He was too naïve to think that the dealer might not return with horses).
12) Do you think Birbal was a wise man? (Birbal was really a clever man, as he could help his emperor to admit his mistake).
13) Do you think Birbal was afraid of his emperor? Why? Why not? (He was not afraid of Akbar. He was courageous enough to voice his opinion directly).
14) Why does the story have such a title? (The story has such a title because the list of fools helped Akbar to realize his mistake).
15) Was the emperor really a fool or was he just a naïve man? (He was a naïve man rather than a fool, as he trusted people too much).
16) Did the emperor consider Birbal’s opinion about the situation? (Akbar considered Birbal’s opinion and admitted his mistake).
17) Do you think Birbal was the emperor’s servant? (He might be his servant, though he could possibly be Akbar’s adviser).
18) How could the story end? Do you think the dealer would return with horses? (No, he wouldn’t. That is why the emperor would learn a lesson from this situation).
19) Do you think it is important to trust people? (Trust is an important thing, though one should be very careful trusting strangers in order not to be fooled or hurt).
20) What is the key sentence in the story? (A possible answer: “You gave money to a stranger, and you didn’t ask who he was or where he came from. Isn’t that foolish?”).
ii) Intensive Reading Worksheet
1) Which of the things was not the emperor’s hobby?
a) flying kites;
b) playing draughts;
c) collecting horses;
2) Where did the dealer want to go to buy more horses?
3) What doe the word-combination “a team of horses” in the second paragraph mean?
4) What is the monetary unit of India?
5) Find the word combination which does not mean “at the top”:
a) at the summit
b) atop
c) at the foot of
6) Why were Akbar’s eyes wide open when he was reading the list?
7) Was the emperor offended by Birbal’s deed?
8) What is the message of the story?
9) How can you characterize the emperor? Birbal?
10) What lesson did Akbar learnt from the situation?
2. The Plate of Mangoes
One evening the emperor and his wife sat on a terrace near the River Jumna and ate mangoes. The man sucked the juice from the mangoes. Then he put skins and seeds on a plate in front of the empress. When Birbal came in to talk to the emperor, there was a big pile of mango peel.
The emperor showed his naughtiness and said, “Look, Birbal, how many mangoes the empress has eaten! She is so greedy”.
His wife got angry with him, when Birbal said, “It is perhaps because of the man she lives with”.
“What do you mean?” asked Akbar. “Do you want to say that I am greedy? You see that the plate is in front of her”.
“Yes, I can see, but the empress ate only the pulp of the mangoes. And you have eaten all the skins and seeds too”.
The woman started laughing and Akbar understood that he was fooled again.
The task was to re-write the text in simple English that is to make it suitable for learners of elementary level. The original story was written with continuous forms of the past. I changed it into simple past to provide clear understanding by the readers. Though, the task was not difficult, some information was omitted to avoid ambiguity. Therefore, the essence of the story was kept, but the language is plain and all stylistic devices are not included. The story can be used with elementary learners to develop their reading competence.