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).

A	B
1. I was not unmindful of the fact	(i) had not forgotten; was aware of the fact (ii) was not careful about the fact. (iii) forgot or was not aware of the fact.
2. when my comrades and I were pushed to our limits	(i) pushed by the guards to the wall. (ii) took more than our share of beatings. (iii) felt that we could not endure the suffering any longer.
3. To reassure me and keep me going	(i) make me go on walking. (ii) help me continue to live in hope in this very difficult situation. (iii) make me remain without complaining.
4. the basic and honorable freedoms of earning my keep.	(i) earning enough money to live on. (ii) keeping what I earned. (iii) Getting a good salary.

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.

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.

In groups, discuss the issues suggested in the box below.

Then prepare a speech of about two minutes on the following table.

(First make notes for your speech in writing).

True liberty is freedom from poverty, deprivation and all forms of discrimination.

•Causes of poverty and means of overcoming it.

•Discrimination based on gender, religion, class, etc.

•Constitutionally guaranteed human rights.

Looking at contrasts

Nelson Mandela’s writing is marked by balance: Many sentences have two parts in balance.

Use the following phrases to complete the sentences given below:

(i) They can be (ii) I was born free

thought to love

(iii) but the triumph (iv) but he who

Over it. Conquers that

Fear

(v) to create such

Heights of character

1. It requires such depths of oppression

…………………….

2. Courage was not the absence of fear

……………………..

3. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid ……………………

4. If people can learn to hate…………………

5. I was not born with hunger to be free.