Read the paragraph below. Fill in the blanks with the noun forms of the verbs in brackets.

Martin Luther King’s…………….(contribute) to our history as an outstanding leader began when he came to the …………..(assist) of Rosa Parks, a seamstress who refused to give her up seat on a bus to a white passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second-class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean…………..(subjugate) and…………(humiliate) by the police and the legal system. Beatings, ……………..(imprison) and sometimes death awaited those who defied the system. Martin Luther King’s tactics of protest involved non-violent ……………..(resist) to racial injustice.

How did Mandela’s ‘hunger for freedom’ change his life?

Make a list of such pairs of nouns and verbs in the text.

Using the Definite Article with Names

You know that the definite article ‘the’ is not normally used before proper nouns. Nor do proper nouns usually occur in the plural. (We do not say: *The Nelson Mandela, or *Nelson Mandelas). But now look at this sentence from the text:

…..the decades of oppression and brutality…… produced the Oliver Tambos, the Walter Sisulus,……….of our our time.

Used in this way with the and/ or in the plural, a proper noun carries a special meaning. For example, what do you think the names above mean?

Choose the right answer.

(a) for example Oliver Tambos, Walter Sisulus,……..

(b) Many other men like Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu……/many men of their type or kind, whose names may not be as well known.

Did you choose option (b)? Then you have the right answer.

Here are some more examples of ‘the’ used with proper names. Try to say what these sentences mean. (You may consult a dictionary if you wish. Look at the entry for ‘the’).

1. Mr. Singh regularly invites the Amitabh Bachchans and the Shah Rukh Khans to his parties.

2. Many people think that Madhuri Dixit is the Madhubala of our times.

3. History is not only the story of the Alexanders, the Napoleans and the Hitlers, but of ordinary people as well.

Idiomatic Expressions

Match the italicized phrases in column A with the phrase nearest in meaning in column B. (Hint: First look for the sentence in the text in which the phrases in column A occurs).