Class 9th, English, Chapter 1: Ethics Character Building

Reading Comprehension Exercise 1

Guess the meanings of the words given and check the meanings from the glossary at the end of the book.

Ancestors	migrate	aggressive	hypocrites	pagans	harmony
prohibited	alliance	unified	consolidated	astray	beware
superiority	piety	legitimate	equitable	meritocracy	principle

Answer:

 

Words	Guessed Meaning	Meaning from the Glossary
ancestors	forefathers	family members who were before the grandparents
migrate	to move from one place to another	to move from one place to go or live in another place
aggressive	angry	likely to attack
hypocrites	a person with false appearance or beliefs	people who pretend to be what they are not
pagans	someone with no or little religion	people who do not believe in any f the main religions of the world
harmony	peace	understanding and accepting each others’ thoughts and feelings
prohibited	something not allowed	did not allow doing something
alliance	friendship	a kind of working relationship
unified	make one single unit	linked people together
consolidated	strengthen	made secure or strong
astray	keep someone away from the right path	away from the correct path or direction
beware	to be aware of something or someone	be careful
superiority	to be superior	to be higher in rank or position
piety	piousness	strictly following the teachings of one’s religion
legitimate	to make legal	according to the rules and laws
equitable	equal	fair and justice
meritocracy	according to merit	giving awards and positions to people according to their capability and performance
principle	rule, law	a rule for behaving in a certain way

 

Reading Comprehension Exercise 2

Choose any ten words from the list and use them in your own sentences.

 

Ancestors	migrate	aggressive	hypocrites	pagans	harmony
prohibited	alliance	unified	consolidated	astray	Beware
superiority	piety	legitimate	equitable	meritocracy	principle

Words	Sentences
ancestors	My ancestors belong to Afghanistan.
aggressive	My little sister is more aggressive than my elder brother.
harmony	They worked in perfect harmony in the textile mill.
prohibited	Eating pork is strictly prohibited in Islam.
alliance	The two countries made an alliance.
beware	Beware of the dog next door.
superiority	No one is superior in the eyes of Allah Almighty.
piety	The saint is known for his piety.
equitable	All the children must have an equitable share in their father’s property.
principle	The principle behind it is quite simple.

 

Reading Comprehension Exercise 5

Read the text and find out whether the statements are right or wrong. Tick the appropriate column. 

S. No.	Statements	Right	Wrong
1	The mission of the Prophet (S.A.W) continued for 23 years.	Yes
2	All the Quraish refused to accept Islam.		Yes
3	The City of Yathrib was less than 320 miles away from Makkah.		Yes
4	The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) decided to build a mosque at a place outside Yathrib before entering the city.	Yes
5	Today, Yathrib is called Madinat-an-Nabi.		Yes
6	The people of Madina agreed that Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) should settle their disputes.	Yes
7.	The Holy Prophet (S.A.W)  addressed such a large gathering of Muslims for the last time at Arafat.	Yes
8	Islam has different laws for the black and for the white people.		Yes
9	All human beings are children of Adam and dam was created from dust.	Yes
10	Only the people who heard the last sermon were supposed to follow it.	Yes

 

Reading Comprehension Exercise 6

The table has messages from the Last Sermon of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W). The first part of the sentence is given in column A and the second part is given in column B, in a jumbled order. Read the text, match the part in column A with the correct part in column B and write the answer in column C.

 

S. No.	Column A	Column B	Column C
1	Only those people were superior	a) to the people to whom they belong.	1      f
2	All Muslims were tied to each other	b) that were based on blood and wealth were useless.	2      g
3	The only thing that made one person better than the other	c) you may get hurt in return.	3      j
4	No Muslim had a right to things belonging to other Muslims	d) have rights over each other.	4     i
5	Satan will try to misguide you in small matters	e) as a sacred trust.	5     h
6	Therefore, all claims to superiority	f) who led a righteous life.	6     b
7	Return all things kept with you in trust	g) in the bond of brotherhood.	7      a
8	Both men and women	h) so be careful.	8       d
9	If you will hurt others	i) unless they gave these of their own free will.	9       c
10	Consider the life and property of every Muslim	j) was the goodness with which they led their lives.	10      e

 

Reading Comprehension Exercise 7

Complete the following statements.

1. Most of the Quraish refused to accept Islam because they thought that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) was _____________.

2. The day the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) entered Yathrib, marks the start of the __________.

3. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) invited the leaders of all the communities living in Madina to discuss ___________.

4. The three main points of the Charter of Madina were ______________.

5. In order to strengthen the position of the Muslims in Madina, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) took three major steps, which were ____________.

6. The farewell pilgrimage of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) is an important event for the Muslims because ____________.

7. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) asked the people in the gathering to listen carefully as ____________.

8. The Muslims can ensure that all people get their fair share by ___________.

Answer:

1. Most of the Quraish refused to accept Islam because they thought that the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) was against their gods and their ancestors.

2. The day the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) entered Yathrib, marks the start of the beginning of the Islamic calendar.

3. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) invited the leaders of all the communities living in Madina to discuss this matter.

4. The three main points of the Charter of Madina were the rights and duties of the Muslims and the Jews of  Madina, gave freedom of religion, and prohibited any alliance with the outside enemies.

5. In order to strengthen the position of the Muslims in Madina, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) took three major steps, which were the unification of different Arab tribes under Islam, carrying out social and religious reforms, and consolidation of administrative developments.

6. The farewell pilgrimage of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) is an important event for the Muslims because it was the first and last pilgrimage made by Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).

7. The Holy Prophet (S.A.W) asked the people in the gathering to listen carefully as they have to take these words to those who could not be present here today.

8. The Muslims can ensure that all people get their fair share by following the guiding principle of honesty and justice.

 

Language Practice Exercise 1

The following table has some second conditional sentences. The first part is in column  A and the second in column B, but in a jumbled order. Find the correct match from column B and write the answer in the answer column.

S.No.	Column A	S.No.	Column B	Answer
1	If all people in  Pakistan became honest	a.	if the students and teachers paid due attention.	1      g
2	I could easily get an A grade in my exams	b.	if they had an updated map of the area.	2      f
3	If our driver did not drive so fast	c.	they could visit all their friends.	3       d
4	The tourists would not be lost	d.	we would not be in hospital right now.	4       b
5	If they had the time	e.	if she presented it well.	5      c
6	If money grew on trees	f.	if I worked really hard.	6     h
7	Our schools would produce capable leaders	g.	the country would progress very fast.	7       a
8	Her idea would be accepted	h.	everyone would be rich.	8     e

 

Language Practice Exercise 2

Complete the following second conditional sentences by using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.

a) If she studied harder, …………………….. (get)

b) If you grew multiple crops on your land, ……………… (earn)

c) People would fly, ……………… (have)

d) If I owned a camera, ……………… (take)

e) They might win the match, …………….. (work)

f) If Abdullah lived with his family, …………….. (save)

g) My family would move to the city, ………… (allow)

h) She could become a good doctor, ………. (get) 

Answer:

a) If she studied harder, she would be able to get good marks.

b) If you grew multiple crops on your land, you would earn money.

c) People would fly if they had an airplane on time.

d) If I owned a camera, I could take amazing photographs.

e) They might win the match if they work hard.

f) If Abdullah lived with his family, he would not save much money.

g) My family would move to the city if my grandparents allowed it.

h) She could become a good doctor if she gets admission to a medical college.]

 

Language Practice Exercise 4

Correct the punctuation and capitalization in the following passage.

Forming habits
how does it take to form a new habit i looked for an answer the same way most people do nowadays is asked google the answer i got was 21 days it seemed that if you repeat a behaviour everyday for 21 days you can form a brand-new habit then i asked can one change all types of behaviour in 21 days or just some types i was not able to find an answer all i could find out was that if it was exercise smoking writing a diary or turning cartwheels you could do it 21 days the important thing was to maintain a chain of 21 days without breaking it

one psychologist mr mohan decided to do some research to find out if all new habits could be formed in just 21 days about 100 people from the multan university participated in the research they were asked to choose a behaviour that they wanted to turn into a habit that had to choose something they didnt already do that could be repeat every day what do you think the result was

the results showed that on average it took 66 days until a habit was formed however this does not mean that people werent able to form new habits in 21 days according to the study findings some habits could be formed in 21 days while some could take as long as 254 days so 21 days to form a habit is probably right as long as all you want to do is drink a glass of water after breakfast anything harder is likely to take longer to become a really strong habit and in the case of some activities much longer

Answer:

Forming habits
How does it take to form a new habit? I looked for an answer. The same way most people do nowadays is asked google, the answer I got was 21 days. It seemed that if you repeat a behaviour everyday for 21 days, you can form a brand-new habit. Then, I asked can one change all types of behaviour in 21 days or just some types? I was not able to find an answer. All I could find out was that if it was exercise, smoking, writing a diary or turning cartwheels, you could do it 21 days. The important thing was to maintain a chain of 21 days without breaking it.

One psychologist Mr. Mohan decided to do some research to find out if all new habits could be formed in just 21 days. About 100 people from the Multan University participated in the research. They were asked to choose a behaviour that they wanted to turn into a habit that had to choose something, they didn’t already do that could be repeat every day. What do you think the result was?

The results showed that on average it took 66 days until a habit was formed. However, this does not mean that people weren’t able to form new habits in 21 days. According to the study findings, some habits could be formed in 21 days while some could take as long as 254 days. So, 21 days to form a habit is probably right as long as all you want to do is drink a glass of water after breakfast. Anything harder is likely to take longer to become a really strong habit and in the case of some activities much longer.

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Writing Exercise 2

Write a descriptive essay of at least four paragraphs on any one of the following topics:

1) My village/town/city
2) A historical place
3) A scenic place
4) School playground

Answer:

1)                 My City

The day, since I opened my eyes in this world, I am in love with my city “Karachi”. It is one of the most largest, important and beautiful cities of Pakistan. It is the capital city of Sindh province. It has been given the title of “City of Lights” due to the hustle and bustle of the city people especially at the night time. My city enjoys moderate climate throughout the year due to its proximity to seaside. 

Karachi provides residence and shelter to approximately 18.5 million people. This makes it one of the largest populated cities in the world. It is the world’s fourth largest metropolitan area. In comparison to other cities of Pakistan, the literacy rate of Karachi is quite high. Karachi is known as “The bride of cities” because of its energy. It is also the city of “Quaid”. In this city, the graves of Miss Fatima Jinnah & Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan are also located.

My city Karachi is the country’s prime centre of trade, industry & banking thus, becomes the financial capital, business hub and the main seaport of the country. It is a house of largest corporations all those involved in shipping, entertainment, arts, advertising, fashion, textiles, publishing, medical research, and software development. Karachi is famous for it’s international airport, beautiful attractions including the Zoo, Sands Pit, Frere Hall, M.A. Jinnah Road, Clifton, Zaib-Un-Nisa Street, Manora, Hawks Bay. My city is also famous for its food such as Sindhi biryani, qorma, daleem, nihari, rabri, sheermall, etc. It has one of the largest fish markets in the country that offer people fresh fish, prawns, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc.

Karachi is one of the impressive, historical and largest business centres of Pakistan that is famous for various reasons such as industry, textile, trade, shipping, entertainment, etc. My city caters the needs and demands of not only its residents but supply manufactured consumer goods to the whole country in bulk. The people of Karachi are hospitable and friendly. I love my city that I never think of leaving my city ever in my life.

2) A Historical Place

Taxila one of the landmarks in the historical and archaeological affluence of Pakistan, is situated in the North-West of Rawalpindi some thirty miles away from the city. It is not only a place rich in its culture and civilization but depicts its importance due to the close association and influence of the great personalities of the past including Alexander and Asoka, one of the greatest and most illustrious figures of the sub-continent.

Taxila Museum is the most worth-seeing attraction for the tourists. It is also one of the oldest museums in Pakistan as it has some of the most valuable Buddhist relics and statues from 2nd century BC to 6th century AD. The articles that are displayed at the museum are very valuable and present the master craftsmanship of the Gandhara art. Tour guides are available at Taxila and the museum too, to give insight and detailed information to the tourists and hence they are the source of quenching people’s thirst for gaining historical knowledge.

Right at the entrance of the museum’s hall, people are welcomed by a huge silent stupa of Buddha. Apart from this, the hall owns a number of statues enclosed in glass cases. A dark room is there too where people can see expensive, antique jewellery enclosed in beautiful glass cases, the jewellery worn by the queens and princesses of that time. The museum also contains a large collection of coins from the period of the Indo-Greeks to the late Kushans. There are some 4000 objects displayed at the museum, including stone, stucco, terracotta, silver, gold, iron and semiprecious stones. The display consists of objects from the period 600 B.C to 500 AD.

Taxila and the Museum there are one of the oldest historical treasures of the world. Both the historical sites, reflect the time of Buddha, the way people lived, the pots and other stuff used by them, the coins and jewellery of ancient times, etc. Such places must be visited by people to understand and learn about the riches of the past.

3) A Scenic Place

Pakistan is blessed with a great number of beauties, among them Chitral Valley is the most prominent one. Chitral Valley is one of Pakistan’s most beautiful places to visit to cherish the beauty of nature at the fullest. One can find and enjoy the landscape of Chitral from icy mountain peaks to rivers to forests.

Chitral is bordered in the east with Gilgit-Baltistan, south-east Swat valley, north, and north-east by China and the Wakhan corridor of Afghanistan, and in the west by the Nuristan and Kunar provinces of Afghanistan. The most prominent language of Chitral is Khowar, apart from it more than ten other languages are spoken here. With respect to food, Chitral has a regional variance in contrast to many other cuisines of Pakistan. Some famous foods include Mantus, Pilaf, Salty buttered tea, green tea, and very bitter black tea, called Troq Chai, are all very popular as well. Honey, cheese and fresh fruits are also a staple part of the Chitrali diet.

Chitral is recognized not only because of its beauty but also due to its most historical cities and a tourist hub. This awesome valley is famous for mountaineering, trekking, fishing and hiking in addition to a number of beautiful tourist spots. If one wants to visit Chitral Valley, it is from July to September because it can get very hot during May and June.

All over the world, Chitral is famous for its polo grounds as the natural and most played sport in Chitral is Polo. One of the worth-seeing place in Chitral the museum that the government has established containing antiques, weapons and other stuff from the old times of monarchies. This museum helps in providing great knowledge about history and culture of Chitral and Kalash people. Next, to the museum, the other sight-seeing of the valley include Chitral National Park and Shahi Mosque. The people of Chitral are very friendly and hospitable. The valley is safe for the tourists and visitors. One can easily find hotels and guest rooms to have a comfortable, cozy stay at the valley. Hence, Chitral Valley is a scenic place of the Northern areas of Pakistan. We should try to explore our national beauties first rather than exploring the whole world around us.

4) School Playground

School life is the memorable part of one’s life. Especially the games and sports being played at the school playground with friends and class fellows. School playground holds significant place in school premises as it is the place where students as well as teachers can relax, chit chat, play games to relieve stress and remain fit and active.

School playground usually has border all around or sometimes a boundary made of red bricks. Most of the school playgrounds are covered with lush green grass. Sometimes school playground is divided into different sections. It may comprise of separate courts for playing badminton and tennis and big area devoted for other sports such as cricket, football, etc. Apart from playing, school playground usually has a row of tall, shady trees underneath which there lay a number of benches for the students to sit, eat their lunch, hold discussions or simply enjoy gossiping. These benches are the best spots in summer but in winter season, students love to sit in the sunshine on the smooth, green grass of the school playground to warm their bodies and gain strength for the rest of the school working hours.

School playground is also a witness of many games and sports competitions and events. Usually, once in a year, schools hold competitions that are being played in the school playground. It is the same school playground that is the best place for organizing science and arts exhibitions and funfair and meena bazaar, too.

In the nutshell, it can be said that school playground offers many benefits to students and teachers with respect to their health and fitness. It gives a chance to students to boost their energy level and release stress by chit chatting and playing games and sports of all kinds. Therefore, all the schools must give utmost importance on providing safe and proper playgrounds for the students and staff for their mental and physical well-being.

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Writing Exercise 3

Analyze the letters and discuss the following aspects:
a. To which newspaper’s editor was these letters written?
b. Are these letters addressed to a man or woman?
c. What problem has been identified in letter 1 and in letter 2?
d. Which of these letters gives reasons for the problem?
e. Which of these letters gives suggestions?
f. Do we know who wrote both these letters?
g. Why is the name of one writer missing? 

Answer:

a. Letter 1 is written to the editor of Daily Dawn and letter 2 is written to the editor of Express Tribune.

b. 1st letter is addressed to a man with salutation ‘Dear Sir’ and 2nd letter to a woman as it is written ‘Dear Madam.’

c. In letter 1, the problem of traffic accidents is highlighted whereas in letter 2, it is all about plastic bags, their disadvantages, and the request for banning these bags in Pakistan.

d. In both the letters, reasons are clearly identified and discussed in detail regarding the addressed problems.

e. Both the letters have suggestions that are to be taken by the government in order to get rid of the identified problems.

f. We don’t know about the writer of the 1st letter as the name is not mentioned whereas the 2nd one is written by Munir Altaf from Turbat.

g. The name of the writer of 1st letter is missing because the writer wants to keep his identity a secret that’s why he has written ‘A Concerned Citizen’ from Multan.

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Writing Exercise 4

Write a letter to the editor complaining about a problem/issue, of the letter given in the textbook.

Answer:
Letter to the Editor:
DATE:
The Editor,
Express Tribune,
Karachi.
Subject: Banning Plastic Bags

Dear Sir,

Preservation of nature is very important these days, not only because we have already ruined it to a great extent but in order to save the endangered animal and plant species. If we would not play our part in protecting our environment or preserving nature, we would have to pay a big amount in terms of the heavy losses our future generation is going to face.

Plastic bags are the most dangerous element in spoiling nature and causing  a number of deadly diseases that are taking lives of millions per year. They start out as fossil fuels and finally end up as deadly waste in landfills and the ocean. One of the basic problems of using plastic bags is that they are made up of such material that takes more than 500 years to breakdown.

Plastic bags are not only hazardous for human health and environment, they are also dangerous for others species as well. It happens that birds often mistakenly eat shredded plastic bags considering them as their food. In this way, the birds eat the toxic debris. When people throw plastic bags in rivers, seas, and oceans, fish and other sea species eat thousands of tons of plastic a year, thus transferring it up the food chain to bigger fish and marine mammals.

Pakistan is facing the problem of plastic bags since long, and it is struggling really hard to cope up with its copious plastic bag trash. Every year, Pakistan consumes tens of billions of single-use bags. It is estimated that plastic bags are causing a garbage ranging from 55 billion to over 112 billion.

In order to live a healthy life in a safe environment, the government of Pakistan should take necessary measures in this regard. Strict rules and regulations must be developed and followed. At collective level, we must try to avoid the use of plastic bags and especially stop throwing them in water bodies i.e. seas and rivers to save the life of marine mammals. Plastic bags should be replaced with reusable bags or cloth bags that are safer than plastic bags.  

X.Y.Z.

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Study Skills Exercise 1

One of the students wrote a story and gave it to the teacher. The teacher underlined the parts where there were errors and turned it back to the student to correct it and then submit it again.

Read the story. It contains many types of errors, grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, spellings, wrong words and so on. Correct all the underlined errors and rewrite the story.

The Wise King
A rich man was on his death bed. He told her sons to dig the ground under his cot and share the buried wealth, after his death, when he die, the sons start digging. one of them find a vessel full of jewels and parls, another a vessel full of gold and silver coins, the third one a vessel full of bones, and the first a vessel full dust. The last two quarreled with the first three and said that the riches should be shared equally amongst them? the first two did not agree.

Finally, all four decide to put their case before the king. The king listened to their story and decided that the on who got the jewels should keep them and the one who’s got the coins should also keep them. The other two brothers felt very sad when they heard this.

Then the king looked at the other two daughters and said that the one who had the vessel full of bones was to be the owner of the cattle left by her father, and the one with the vessel that has dust was to get all the land owned by the rich woman.

This decision by the minister has liked all the brothers. They amazed at the king’s wisdom. They were all satisfied and happy with the decision.

Answer:

The Wise King

A rich man was on his death bed. He told his sons to dig the ground under his cot and share the buried wealth, after his death, the sons started digging. One of them found a vessel full of jewels and pearls, another a vessel full of gold and silver coins, the third one a vessel full of bones, and the fourth a vessel full of dust. The last two quarrelled with the first two and said that the riches should be shared equally amongst them. The first two did not agree.

Finally, all four decided to put their case before the king. The king listened to their story and decided that the one who got the jewels should keep them and the one who got the coins should also keep them. The other two brothers felt very sad when they heard this.

Then the king looked at the other two sons and said that the one who had the vessel full of bones was to be the owner of the cattle left by his father, and the one with the vessel that had dust was to get all the land owned by the rich man.

This decision by the king was liked by all the brothers. They were amazed at the king’s wisdom. They were all satisfied and happy with the decision.

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Study Skills Exercise 2

The following story also has similar errors as the story in exercise 1. Read the story and try to find out the errors in this story. Underlined the potion where the error is and write the correct form.

The Four Seasons

There was a man who had four son, he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he send each of them, one by one, to go and to look to pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in autumn. When they had all go and come back, he called them together to describe what they had see. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted the second son said no if was covered with green buds and full of promise. The three son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and look so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed all of them; he said it was dropping with ripe fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his son that they were all right because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life. He tell them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season or on the basis of knowledge about only one aspect of his life. So, don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t judge life by one difficult season or people on the basis of one bad example.

Answer:

The Four Seasons

There was a man who had four sons, he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each of them, one by one, to go and to look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in autumn. When they had all gone and came back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said, “No, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.” The third son disagreed; he said, “It was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and look so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.” The last son disagreed with all of them; he said, “It was dripping with ripe fruit, full of life and fulfillment.”

The man then explained to his son that they were all right because they had each seen but only one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season or on the basis of knowledge about only one aspect of his life. So, don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t judge life by one difficult season or people on the basis of one bad example.