To Loathe or Not to Loathe A1. Class Debate Read the title of the text. It presents two situations.

Recollect your knowledge and experience about snakes. Which side would you like to take? To loathe or Not to Loathe. Express your opinions firmly State clearly your opinion Reasons for your opinion Listen to the points made by your opponent Give examples to prove your point Make use of body language Pay attention to time

A2. Discuss Draw a picture of snake of your imagination. You know the characteristic features of a snake. Discuss with your partner the following points: Poisonous snakes Non-poisonous snakes Uses of snakes Touch of snakes Add your points Do you know? There are many misconceptions about snakes. The facts are different from what the people think. Do you believe in these? For example look at the following facts: Snakes do not drink milk Snakes do not take revenge Add some more information about misconceptions and facts. You may visit a library or collect information from internet A3. Listen Just listen to the reading of the first three paragraphs. Do not look into the text. Afterwards complete the following sentences. Do not discuss with your partners. i. Study of amphibians and reptiles is called ii. Slang word for the search of herps is -------iii. The snake that was caught was -----------

iv. v.

The writer went to meet ----------------The writer learnt a lesson that venomous snakes -------

To Loathe or Not to Loathe

Part I Over the past few months I have been assisting some young friends who are budding herpetologists. Herpetology, for the uninitiated, is the study of amphibians and reptiles. In order to introduce them to herping (slang for the search of herps), I took them out to a nearby forest at night. My friends were excited and wanted to know how many snakes they will get to see. Not wanting to play spoilsport, I gently broke the news to them that herping was tough, arduous work, with only chance encounters with snakes. Sure enough, we did get to see a few frogs that night, but no snakes. A few days later, I got a call from them. We have caught a snake! I went over to meet them, and sure enough, they had caught a slender black snake with pairs of white bands across the body. Who caught it and how? I asked. One of my young friends replied, well, we saw the snakes in our courtyard in a corner, A great commotion followed, we surrounded the snake, and I caught it with my bare hands! whoops! The snake they had caught was the Common krait (Bungarus caeruleus). My young friend was fortunate. The Common Kraits bite can be fatal. It is one of the four venomous snakes found in urban India, along with the Spectacled Cobra, Russels Viper, and the Saw-scaled Viper. Despite the recklessness of my young colleagues, the whole incident taught us a lesson-most venomous snakes do not unnecessarily bite humans. They might do so if threatened, but otherwise, most snakes will just slither away harmlessly. The Krait looks very similar to the Common Wolf Snake, which is a common, docile and non-venomous snake that often enters homes. Kraits, too, enter homes occasionally, and people mistakenly handle it, assuming that it is not Venomous. The only way to be absolutely certain is to examine the scales on the back of the snake. Unlike the Common Wolf Snake, the Common Krait has hexagonal scales along its back.

Glossary Spoilsport: Commotion: Slither away:

person who spoils the enjoyment of others noisy confusion recklessness not thinking of consequences. slide or slip un-steadily

A4. Now read Part I and after discussing with your partner answer the following questions: 1. What is herpetology? 2. Name the four venomous snakes found in India. 3. What is the only way to ascertain the identity of kraits? 4. How was it proved that most venomous snakes do not bite humans? 5. Why is it not easy to catch snakes? 6. What lesson does Part I give us? 7. Why are common people afraid of snakes? A5. Oh! No snakes! Look at the following pictures of different venomous snakes that are mentioned in the text. Working in groups, try to describe them. Pictures of four different snakes. A6. Be a snake lover You have come across many misconceptions regarding snakes. Interview your neighbour and find out why people hate snakes rather than love them. A7. Draw snakes Draw a picture of a snake that you would like. Describe whether it is venomous or non venomous. Is it imaginative or does it exits? A8. True or False Read Part II and state whether the following statements are true or false. 1. The scales on the body of krait are hexagonal. 2. Many people loathe snakes. 3. Snakes have no role to play in the ecological cycle. 4. Ophidiophobia means fear of tigers. 5. Snakes skin picks up odours. Part II We took the Krait into the nearby forest and put it down on the ground. The two-feet-long reptile immediately coiled up and tucked its head under its body,

something that Kraits do quite often. I took a long, hard look at it s scales, and indeed, it was hexagonal. The snake made no attempt to flee, allowing me to take a few photographs, including one of its scales. Every now and then, its tongue flickered out. A snakes tongue picks up odours, so the Krait was obviously checking what deodorant we had on! After ascertaining we were clean (and no I do not wear any cologne), the snake slithered off into the foliage. Snakes have an undeserved reputation for being evil and many people loathe them. I recall a training session that I had recently conducted in Meghalaya with locals from Garo Hills. During the training session, I showed them a picture of a snake and asked the people in the room Isko dekhne pe kya karte ho? (What do you do when you see this?). The immediate response was Maar dete hai! (We kill it). In turn, I gently let the team to dwell on what the snakes eat. And the response I got was rats, which was correct. A little more prodding and I got the participants to figure out for themselves that snakes are significant predators of rodents and perform an important role in controlling their population, thereby reducing the damage to crops in the fields and stored grains. Very soon I had people nodding in the room with the realization that the web of life meant that by killing snakes, they were actually doing rodents a favour and harming themselves! For all the ophidiophobic (ophi = snake, phobia = fear) people out there, more people in India die in road accidents than from snake bites. So give up your fear and watch out for vehicles the next time you cross the road, instead of fearing snakes! Glossary: Tucked: Foliage: Prodding: Predators:

put leaves of tree or plant stimulus animals that kill and eat other animals

A9. Now read Part II again and after discussing with your partner answer the following questions; 1. What does a snake check with its tongue? 2. What do the people in Meghalaya do when they see a snake? 3. What did the people realize after they met the writer? 4. Paragraph 6 and 7 mention two habits of the Krait. Find them out.

5. Snakes have an undeserved reputation. What is the reputation? Why is it undeserved? 6. How did the writer make the villagers understand that snakes are their friends? 7. What qualities make the writer an environmentalist? 8. Why are the snakes considered eco-friends? A10. Order Look at the following sentences taken from Part II. Put them in proper order as they appear in the text. 1. So, give up your fear of snakes. 2. I showed them a picture of a snake. 3. I asked. What do you do when you see this? 4. Very soon, people realized the importance of snakes. 5. We kill it they replied. 6. I recall a training session at Meghalaya. 7. I got the participants to realize that snakes are predators of rodents. A11. Dialogue The writer had a dialogue with the locals from Garo hills. What could be the writers intention behind the dialogue? Here is an imaginative dialogue between the writer and the locals. Work in pairs and complete it. You can refer to the t ext again. The writer: Locals: The writer: Locals: The writer: Locals: The writer: Locals: The writer: Locals: The writer Locals The writer: Locals: The writer Locals: Do you kill a snake if you find one? yes! Do you think they are your enemy? _______________________ Now tell me, what do the snakes eat? Rats Are rats your friends? _____________ Are they your enemy? __________ Why? They damage the crops. And who eats them? _______ So the snake helps you, doesnt it? ______

The writer: Locals:

Now, tell me who is your real friend? _______ .

A12. Word register Think of all the words associated with snakes, their movements, their sounds, etc. List them down. A13. Linkers I. Look at the following sentences: 1. A few days later, I got a call from them: 2. In turn, I gently led the team to dwell on what the snakes eat. 3. Very soon, I had people nodding in the room. 4. So, give up your fear. 5. Sure enough, we did get to see a few frogs that night. What role do these underlined words / phrases perform? Do you know what they are called? They are used to link two sentences so that continuity of the thought is maintained. Work in pairs. Using the words / phrases given in the brackets, fill in the blanks. (although, on the other hand, due to, therefore, however, despite, because) 1. _______ I felt tired, I decided to go to the party. 2. She didnt go to the party ___________ she felt tired. 3. _______ the bad weather the picnic was cancelled. 4. _______ feeling tired, I went to the party. 5. She felt tired after her long journey _____, she decided not to go to the party. 6. I felt tired after a long day at work ______. I went to the party because I wanted to see Jasmine. 7. Parties can be fun when youre in the right mood. _____ when youre tired they can be a strain. II. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Observe the following sentences. Most venomous snakes do not unnecessarily bite humans. Many people loathe them. We did get to see a few frogs that night, but no snakes. It is one of the four venomous snakes found in urban India. More people in India die in road accidents than of snake-bites.

What is the function of these underlined words / phrases? What do they tell us about? Do they tell us about the quantity or amount or numbers?

Work in pairs, Using the words / phrases given in the brackets, fill in the blanks. (plenty of, a few, lots / plenty of, too much, enough / any) 1. Make sure you get ________ sleep at least eight hours every night; but dont sleep _____ _____ or you wont have time to study! 2. Be regular. Its better to study for ___ ____ minutes every day than for an hour once a week. 3. ______ practice is the key to improving your speaking and listening. So take every opportunity you get to speak and listen. 4. Make sure you revise the subjects you have studied. If you dont do _____ revision, youll forget everything. A14. Prefix Read the following words the text. Unnecessarily, mistakenly, non-venomous All these words begin with prefixes, un-, mis-, non- These are prefixes which make opposite of a verb, noun, adjective or adverb. 1. Working in pairs find few more examples of words from the text having one of these. 2. Make opposites of the following words using any of these prefixes. Understand, violence, cooperation, kind, deed, conduct, natural. A15. Prepare your own definitions. Read the following statements. Herpetology is the study of amphibians and reptiles. The above statement gives us a definition of Herpetology, doesnt it? Can you give definitions of the following? Take help of a dictionary, if you need. 1. Ornithology 2. Zoology 3. Astrology 4. Meteorology 5. Sociology

A16. Vocabulary Read the following word. Ophidiophobic As you know it contains two words Ophio = snake and phobia = fear It means fear of snakes. Now make word for each of the following group of words. All the words end in phobia. i. Fear of water (aqua) ii. Fear of thunder and lightning (bronto) iii. Fear of school (scoliono) iv. Fear of fire (pyro) v. Fear of sound (acoustic) Find some more from a dictionary A17. Definitions Now that you have prepared definitions of the words given in Activity 15. Give one word for the following: One who studies the behavior of the society = Sociologist One who studies Environment is = One who studies about animals is = One who study about Planets and Heavenly bodies = One who studies about life of birds = A18. Antonyms Choose the correct opposite word for the words given below: 1. Arduous a. Hard b. easy c. comfortable 2. Slender a. Thick b. weak c. tender 3. Fatal a. deadly b. injurious c. non injurious 4. fortunate a. unfortunate b. misfortunate c. lucky 5. gently a. softly b. roughly c. smoothly A19. Project Poster making competition

Form groups. Prepare a poster on the theme Save snakes Be a Sarpamitra! Discuss using the following points and the way in which you will present. Use bullet points and attractive presentation. Use coloured pen. Contribution of snakes Misconceptions and facts Appeal to be the member of the club Activities planned by the club Fees for membership Venue and time Prepare slogans Draw a sketch and a logo of your club

A20. Preparing a Report Imagine that a snake show was held in your school. A Sarpamitra from your town/city was invited on the occasion. Prepare a report of the programme to your school magazine. What is a report? A report is a detailed account of some event/incident that has taken place. The main aim of any report is to provide accurate, easy to understand and unbiased account. Now to write a report? Here are some hints 1. Be precise and accurate 2. Make the layout attractive 3. Keep to the point. Do not give any irrelevant information 4. Give eye-catching title 5. Make paragraphs 6. Write - objectively

********