Class 11, Language Development Unit 19, Travel and tourism

 

Unit -19

Travel and Tourism

 "Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less travelled by." Robert Frost

 

Reading

Discovering West Nepal- The Wild Frontier

Megan Leung

 

Before you read

a. Have you ever visited western Nepal? Describe your experience.

Ans:- Yes, I have visited western Nepal. In 2073 B.S., I visited Ghalegaun and Bhujung which is popular scenic tourist destination with an elevation of 2,100 metres above sea level in Lamjung District.  The village is situated at approximately 108 km northwest of Kathmandu and 12.5 km northeast of Pokhara, The beautiful tourist village is surrounded by Annapurna Circuit. It is located in the north central part of Nepal at the foothill of Lamjung Himal. The path up to Ghalegaon from Basi Sahar, Lamjung was really difficult. The home stay service there was really amazing. I liked the way the hosts welcomed us. The typical food I had there is still memorable.

 

b. Do you like travelling? Why do people travel?

Ans:- Yes, I like travelling. People travel to different places for different purposes. Nature lovers travel to different places to observe the beauty of nature closely. Educationalist and researchers visit different places for educational purposes. Researchers travel to different places for their research projects. Folk song composers travel to different people for collection of folk songs and music. Sociologists and anthropologists travel to different places to study people and society and so on.

 

c. Do you know the name of this temple? Where is it located?

Ans:- The name of this place is Muktinath which is located in Mustang district of western Nepal.

 

Ways with words

Active Sentences	Passive Sentences
They destroyed the building.	The building was destroyed (by them).
Are they meeting him at the station?	Is he being met at the station (by them)?
She handed me the plated.	I was handed the plate. The plate was handed to me.
I enjoyed taking the children to the park.	Taking the children to the park was enjoyed by me.
They agreed to postpone the meeting.	It was agreed to postpone the meeting.
I don’t like people laughing at me.	I don't like being laughed at.
She likes people taking her photograph.	She likes having her photograph taken.
Who build the Taj Mahal?	Who was the Taj Mahal built by?

x

A. Find the words from the text which mean the following.

a. became fuller and softer by shaking- fluffed

b. sound mental health - sanity

c. consisting of or easily breaking into small pieces - crumbly

d. neither very hot nor very cold - temperate

e. land that does not have enough water to support the growth of plants -  arid

f. only slightly warn - lukewarm

 

B. Find the meaning of the following words in an English dictionary, write their word classes and use them in your own sentences.

 

hazy, frontier, lush, flip-flops, altitude, fatal magnificent

 

i. hazy (adj) - misty/foggy; It was a beautiful day but quite hazy.

ii. Frontier (noun) - a line or boarder separating two countries; The success of science and technology is extending the frontier of knowledge.

iii. Lush (adj) - luxuriantly growing vegetation; She glanced around the lush hills. 

iv. flip-flops (noun) - light sandals; I love wearing flip-flops in summer.

Altitude (noun) - height above the sea level; The air temperature differs at different altitudes.

v) fata (adj) - causing death; Her husband's death is fatal blow on her. 

vi) Magnificent (adj) - extremely beautiful, elaborate or impressive; The was a magnificent sunset this evening.

 

C. make a list of the Nepali words used in the text and write their English equivalents.

For example: didi (Nepali) - elder sister (Engish) 

bideshi (Nepali)                   - foreign (English)

Tatopani                                - lukewarm water

raksi                                       - wine

bahini                                     - younger sister

mathi                                     - up

tala                                         - down

sutne                                      - sleep

panipuri                                - water balls/water bowels

pani                                        - water

 

Comprehension

Answer these questions.

a. How did the author feel when she saw a colorful rooster in the western Himalayas?

Ans:-  When the author saw a colorful rooster in the western Himalayas, she felt as if it fluffed its roseate flumes at her as though to say "Yes, bideshi, it's all real." Furthermore she felt the roster glancing her for a brief moment and winked at her.

 

b. How does she describe the houses on the trails of western Nepal?

Ans:- Most of the houses are made of stone above a river, under a rock, that look too crumbly to live in.

 

c. What does she mean when she says "I walked towards a village 15 kilometers further as the crow flies"?

Ans:- She says, "I walked towards a village (Sibang) 15 kilometers further as the crow flies." It means the distant between the two villages is 15 kilometers straight.

 

d. Describe the village Thankur in brief.

Ans:- In the village named Thankur, there are only two houses. The village is located in an arid region. There is not much human mobility. Shiny and rainbow colored large birds called Himalayan monal are found there. 

 

e. What happened when she reached Jumla and how was she relieved?

Ans:- She was ill by the time she reached Jumla. She had suffered of an unknown virus and a bad tummy. She met an American who gave her medicine. She also had water bowels there. The medicine and water bowels helped her recovery.

 

f. How does the author describe the bucket water in Khali Lagna?

Ans:-  In Khali Lagna she is offered a bucket of water in the outhouse by a woman. The surface of water is frozen but the water underneath the layer of ice is surprisingly lukewarm.

 

g. How was Rara Lake on the day she reached there?                

Ans:- The quiet lake was filled with freshwater. Himalaya was glistening in its dark blue glory welcoming the visitors. The ground was decorated with magnificent sky scrapping pine trees with giant pine cones. Aquatic bird coots were moving over the crystal clear water, sometimes diving under water and reappearing again.

 

 

Critical Thinking

a. It is said that travelling a place equals to reading three books. Do you agree? Why?

Ans:- I agree with the statement "Traveling a place equals to reading three books." People learn variety of experiences like cultures, rituals and places through different sources. Chiefly, reading useful books and traveling to new areas provide us with a huge amount of information. Basically, a group of people think that books help us to know this information. However, some people believe that self-observation during a journey give us a better understanding of what we wanted to learn. I strongly believe that traveling can help someone much more than anything else. Since, traveling has so many benefits in comparison with just reading a limited number of texts.

 

First, books only gave you a general view about the subject and you have to accept the writer’s understandings toward subject of the book. As a result, it provides you with a one side judgment which cannot assist you to deduct a good concept of the book’s main subject. For example, when you begin to read a book to learn something about a specific matter like Nepali people's culture and rituals you can just extract some general ideas about them which may not satisfy you in a number of issues. In addition, books do not cover every aspect of an experience and you can only learn about the parts of the subject that included in the book.

 

Second, generally, books were gathered or written by a small limited number of people who reflect their own ideas and understandings about the book’s subject. As we know history had many misconceptions and diversions. So, if someone tends to learn some reliable information, I totally believe that he must observe that matter himself and asks a lot of related folks which hold true reliable information. Therefore, traveling is the best way for executing of this act.

 

Also, in some occasions books and texts provides us with controversial and vague info about something that we wanted to learn. It may write so many things around the subject but won’t give us a straight conclusion. Furthermore, it may write by a radical writer who wanted to cover his own ideas. This can lead to a huge misguidance for the readers who haven’t seen the fact closely.

 

In conclusion, books and traveling are two major paths which we could use for finding and extracting new information in our life. Each of these has its own benefits and deficiencies. However, I think that traveling may provide us with more accurate information.

  

b. The author spent five-week long walk along the western Himalayas. Do you think it was adventurous? Why?

 

Ans:- In this travelogue, the Philippine freelance writer, Megan Leung describes her adventurous experience of visiting western Nepal under the title "Discovering West Nepal- The Wild Frontier". Any journey becomes adventurous when the traveler visits a new, unusual and exciting place. In this travelogue, the author describes her adventurous journey of West Nepal which covers 25% regions of Himalayan area of Nepal.  She explores hidden oddity and marvelous natural beauties flourished in West Nepal. She chooses to travel such a place where few tourists have gone. She chooses to walk through Dhaulagiri Circuit which is geographically, a steep slope with snow-capped Himalayan peaks, including Mt. Dhaulagiri which is the sixth highest peak of Nepal and the world’s seventh highest mountain. In this trek she has to walk up and down from one lush green hill to another, through warm temperate forests, under giant spider webs, to explore natural beauties and Nepalese culture and lifestyles. Trekking through glaciers, crossing rivers, walking through arid regions, spending cold nights at high altitude, walking in the snow being frozen is a challenging task. That’s why this journey is really and adventurous one.

 

 Grammar

 A. Study the following table

 

B. Complete these sentences using the verbs given in the brackets.

a. Letter are delivered by the postman every day. (deliver)

b. This bag was found in the bus yesterday. (find)

c. The gate is locked at 7:00 pm every evening. (lock)

d. I was invited to the party last week. (invite)

e. The telephone was invented by Graham Bell. (invent)

f. Muna Madan was written by Devkota. (write)

g. How much money is stolen in the robbery? (steal)

h. Do you know cheese is made from the mill? (make)

i. I was born in Kathmandu, but was grown up in Dhangadhi. (grow)

 

C. Change the following sentences into passive.

 

a. I didn't fix the problem

Ans:- The problem was not fixed by me.

 

b. Police protect the town.

Ans:- The town is protected by police.

 

c. John's mother raised him in a small town.

Ans:- John was raised in a small town by his mother.

 

d. Someone painted the building last year.

Ans:- The building was painted last year.

 

e. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.

Ans:- Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.

 

f. Some students study grammar on the internet.

Ans:- Grammar is studied on the internet by some students.

 

g. Someone had broken the window by 3:00 p.m.

Ans:- The window had been broken by 3:00 p.m.

 

h. A strange man was watching us.

Ans:- We were being watched by a strange man.

 

i. Tokyo will hold the Olympics in 2020.

Ans:- The Olympics will be held in Tokyo in 2020.

 

j. We are working on the report right now.

Ans:- The report is being worked on right now.

 

k. My manager has told him to arrive earlier.

Ans:- He has been told to arriver earlier by my manager.

 

l. They could not have made the mistake.

Ans:- The mistake could not have been made by them.

 

m. I hope they are going to hire me soon.

Ans:- I hope I am going to be hired soon.

 

n. I don’t like people staring at me.

Ans:- I don’t like being stared at.

 

o. She likes people waving at her.

Ans:- She likes being waved at her.

 

p. Who told you the story?

Ans:- Who was the story told to you by?

Who were you the story told by?

 

q. Is he repairing the bicycle?

Ans:- Is the bicycle being repaired by him?