Class 12 Compulsory English Ecology and Environment Notes

Working with Words

A. The words/phrases in the box are from the text. Check their meanings in a dictionary and use these words to complete the given sentences.

• a. Logging is one of the main reasons behind the rapid deforestation in the world.
  • Answer: deforestation
• b. That’s one example of how the pandemic should be a wake-up call.
  • Answer: wake-up call
• c. Propane is a gas used as a fuel for cooking and heating.
  • Answer: heating
• d. Emergency teams are still clearing the debris from the plane crash.
  • Answer: debris
• e. What a transformation! You look great.
  • Answer: transformation
• f. My father made a New Year resolution to give up smoking.
  • Answer: resolution
• g. He has worked in the Army for two years. He hates that two-year stint.
  • Answer: stint
• h. Emissions from the factory are widely suspected of having a detrimental effect on health.
  • Answer: detrimental
• i. My father is an occasional smoker. He doesn’t smoke often.
  • Answer: occasional
• j. Redwood is a very tall type of tree that grows especially in California and Oregon.
  • Answer: tree / Oregon

B. Choose one word from each box to make sensible compound words.

• Rattle + Snake $\rightarrow$ Rattlesnake
• Sun + Flower $\rightarrow$ Sunflower
• Touch + Down $\rightarrow$ Touchdown
• Moon + Light $\rightarrow$ Moonlight
• Day + Dream $\rightarrow$ Daydream
• Fire + Works $\rightarrow$ Fireworks
• Water + Melon $\rightarrow$ Watermelon
• Basket + Ball $\rightarrow$ Basketball
• Pass + Port $\rightarrow$ Passport
• Wash + Cloth $\rightarrow$ Washcloth
• Weather + Man $\rightarrow$ Weatherman
• Grand + Mother $\rightarrow$ Grandmother
• Cross + Walk $\rightarrow$ Crosswalk

C. Match the following words/phrases related to the ecology with their meanings.

• Sustainability
  • Answer: To keep in existence; maintain. To supply with necessities or nourishment.
• Tree line
  • Answer: The height on a mountain above which the climate is too cold for trees to grow.
• Precipitation
  • Answer: Water that returns to the earth as rain, hail, sleet, or snow.
• Tropical Zone
  • Answer: The region between latitudes 23.5 degrees S and 23.5 degrees N.
• Kyoto Protocol
  • Answer: An agreement between countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (established in Japan in 1997).
• Pollutants
  • Answer: Substances that destroy the purity of air, water, or land.
• Geosphere
  • Answer: The soils, sediments, and rock layers of the Earth’s crust, both continental and beneath ocean floors.
• Deciduous
  • Answer: A plant that sheds all or nearly all its leaves each year.
• Ephemeral
  • Answer: An organism that has a short life cycle.
• Trash
  • Answer: Items that are discarded.

Comprehension

A. Choose the best answer.

• a. The author of the text above has the opinion that…
  • Answer: Julia Hill made her pastime in a tree for two years more.
• b. The sentence ‘Julia had occasional visitors’ indicates…
  • Answer: she had a few visitors now and then.
• c. The logging company managed 24 hour security service around the tree…
  • Answer: to discourage her from her campaign.
• d. Ms. Hill began to respond the loggers with songs and conventional conversations because…
  • Answer: she had unconditional love for all nature’s creations.
• e. Julia Hill climbed down the tree after 738 days…
  • Answer: when her demands were about to be fulfilled.

B. Answer the following questions.

• a. Who was Julia Butterfly Hill? How did Hill’s campaign gain popularity?
  • Answer: Julia Butterfly Hill was an activist who lived in a 200-foot-tall redwood tree for more than two years to draw attention to the continued clearcutting of California’s remaining redwood forests. Her campaign gained popularity when she started to have occasional visitors and media exposure.
• b. What made Hill start her mega campaign to save redwood trees?
  • Answer: When she arrived in the redwood forest, she was deeply gripped by its spirit. She dropped to her knees and began to sob upon seeing the clearcutting of redwood trees, which led her to start her mega campaign.
• c. What kinds of amenities were there to support Hill’s life in the tree?
  • Answer: Hill had a sleeping bag, a solar-powered cell phone for media interviews, and a single-burner propane stove to cook and heat water. She had very few necessities and no luxuries.
• d. Did Hill’s value of life change after her car accident? How?
  • Answer: Yes, Hill’s value of life changed after her car accident. She regarded the experience as a wake-up call; while her main focus before the accident had been work, she later realized that human value lies not in bank accounts, but in the legacies people leave behind.
• e. Deforestation causes natural calamities. What evidence do you have in the text to prove this?
  • Answer: The text shows that the cutting of redwoods destabilized the hillside, causing a mudslide that carried trees, stumps, and debris down into the town and left seven families without homes.
• f. How did the logging company try to discourage Hill in the early days of her sit-in?
  • Answer: The company tried to discourage her by hiring 24-hour security guards to harass her, cutting off supply deliveries, flying a helicopter at dangerously close range, felling a neighboring tree that nearly hit her platform, subjecting her to verbal abuse and death threats, and keeping her awake all night with floodlights, bugles, and air horns.
• g. How were the vagaries of nature unwelcoming to Hill?
  • Answer: She endured severe natural elements, including a 16-hour, 70-mph windstorm that shredded her tarps and ripped huge branches off the tree. During an electrical storm, lightning struck nearby, making her hair stand straight up.
• h. What is the purpose of the author to write a review on Hill’s book? Do you think the author stands for ecological sustainability? Give reasons.
  • Answer: The author’s purpose is to bring a spotlight to the issue of deforestation and its ill effects while highlighting what individual action can achieve. Yes, the author strongly stands for ecological sustainability through championing forest conservation.

Writing

A. Write a review of a book/film which you have read/watched recently.

• 1. Title of the Book: The Time Machine
• 2. Author: H.G. Wells
• 3. Country: United Kingdom
• 4. Language: English
• 5. First Published by: William Heinemann, London in 1895
• 6. Genre: Science Fiction Novel
• 7. Cost of the Book: Rs. 300
• 8. Publisher: Dover Publications
• 9. Edition and Copyright Year: April 3, 1995
• 10. Number of Pages: 80
• 11. Writing Style: Narrative
• 12. Characters: The Narrator (Hillyer), The Time Traveler, Eloi, Morlocks, Weena
• 13. Plot: A Victorian scientist invents a machine to travel through the fourth dimension (time) and journeys far into the future to the year 802,701, where humanity has split into two species: the Eloi and the Morlocks.
• 14. Summary: A group of dinner guests listens to a scientist explain his time-travel theory. The following week, he returns disheveled and shares his astonishing and cautionary tale about humanity’s distant future.
• 15. My Impressions: Wells uses time travel not just for scientific adventure, but as a brilliant social commentary on class divide. It remains a timeless classic that forces readers to reflect on societal progression.

B. Speech: Let’s Save the Trees and Protect Our Environment

• Draft:Good morning everyone, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on such an important topic: “Let’s Save the Trees and Protect Our Environment.” When we think of survival, air is the first element that comes to mind. Trees occupy vital ecosystems and act as our planet’s lungs, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing fresh oxygen. However, modern industrialization and deforestation are destroying this balance, causing global warming, soil erosion, and habitat loss. If we want future generations to inherit a liveable planet, we must stop deforestation and embrace afforestation. Let’s pledge to save trees and protect our environment today. Thank you for your patient hearing!

Grammar

B. Match the beginnings of the conversations with the correct endings.

• a. I’m going to Pokhara on holiday. $\rightarrow$ You said you were going on business.
• b. He’s a lawyer. $\rightarrow$ You told me he was a teacher.
• c. She’s had a baby girl. $\rightarrow$ You said she’d had a boy.
• d. I haven’t seen Binesh for ages. $\rightarrow$ You told me you’d seen him the previous week.
• e. I love these new boots. $\rightarrow$ You said you hated them.
• f. I only cheated in one exam. $\rightarrow$ You admitted you cheated in all your exams.
• g. She doesn’t speak Hindi or Chinese. $\rightarrow$ You told me she was fluent in both.
• h. He works in Kathmandu. $\rightarrow$ You told me his office was in Biratnagar.

C. Rewrite the sentences with the sentence beginnings given below.

• a. The principal said, “You can phone from my office, Rita.”
  • Answer: The principal said that she could phone from his office.
• b. “You must not neglect your duty,” said the teacher to the student.
  • Answer: The teacher told the student that he/she must not neglect his/her duty.
• c. The student said, “Sir, please, grant me a leave for two days.”
  • Answer: The student requested the sir to grant him leave for two days.
• d. I said to her, “Go to school or you will be fined.”
  • Answer: She was told to go to school or she would be fined.
• e. The headmaster said, “Don’t make any noise, boys.”
  • Answer: The headmaster asked the boys not to make any noise.
• f. “Work hard if you want to rise in life,” said the old man.
  • Answer: The old man suggested working hard if they wanted to rise in life.
• g. He said, “Goodbye, my friends!”
  • Answer: He said goodbye to his friends.
• h. She said to me, “Have a pleasant journey ahead.”
  • Answer: She told me to have a pleasant journey ahead.
• i. “Don’t give me the book, please,” Sharmila said.
  • Answer: Sharmila pleaded not to give her the book.
• j. “Where have you been these days?” she spoke on the telephone.
  • Answer: He asked on the telephone where I had been those days.
• k. The teacher said, “Have you submitted your assignments, students?”
  • Answer: The teacher asked students if they had submitted their assignments.

D. Complete the reported speech text based on Dinesh’s words.

He said he (1) had just got engaged. He told me that (2) they were getting married next month. He told me (3) they were going to Pokhara for their honeymoon. He mentioned that it (4) was all going to be very expensive. He said that his friend (5) was a photographer and he (6) would take the photos for them. He mentioned that they (7) would be having the reception in his parents’ garden. He admitted that (8) his mum was baking the cake for them. He said his sister’s band (9) was playing free for them. He said he (10) hoped I’d come to the wedding.