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Unit 1 |
Critical Thinking |
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Reading |
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Before You Read
a. What are critical thinking skills?
Critical thinking skills are the abilities that help a person analyze, evaluate, and reason logically about information before making a decision or forming an opinion. They involve thinking clearly, objectively, and creatively, rather than just accepting ideas at face value.
Some examples of critical thinking skills:
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Analysis: Breaking information into parts to understand it better.
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Evaluation: Judging the credibility and relevance of information.
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Inference: Drawing logical conclusions from evidence.
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Problem-solving: Finding effective solutions to challenges.
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Self-reflection: Recognizing your own biases and assumptions.
In short, critical thinking is thinking smart and carefully instead of automatically or emotionally.
b. How do critical thinkers solve problems? Guess the steps they follow while tackling a problem.
Critical thinkers usually follow certain steps when tackling a problem. You can think of it like a step-by-step method:
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Identify the problem – Clearly understand what the problem is.
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Gather information – Collect all relevant facts, data, and opinions.
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Analyze the information – Look at the evidence carefully and identify patterns or issues.
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Consider alternatives – Think about different ways to solve the problem.
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Evaluate alternatives – Weigh the pros and cons of each solution.
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Make a decision – Choose the most logical and effective solution.
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Implement the solution – Put the chosen solution into action.
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Reflect and review – Check if it worked and learn from the process.
💡 Tip: Critical thinkers are also open-minded—they don’t get stuck on one idea and are willing to change their approach if new evidence appears.
Read the following text and do the given tasks.
There was a lot of shuffling around when the bell rang and everybody got up to
leave. I checked my schedule and it said my next class was English, room 321.
I didn’t stop to see if anyone else from my homeroom was going my way: I just
zoomed out of the class and down the hall and sat down as far from the front
as possible. The teacher, a really tall man with a yellow beard, was writing
on the chalkboard.
Kids came in laughing and talking in little groups but I didn’t look up.
Basically, the same thing that happened in homeroom happened again: no one sat
next to me except for Jack, who was joking around with some kids who weren’t
in our homeroom. I could tell Jack was the kind of kid other kids like. He had
a lot of friends. He made people laugh.
When the second bell rang, everyone got quiet and the teacher turned around
and faced us. He said his name was
Mr. Browne, and then he started talking about what we would be doing this semester. At
a certain point, somewhere between A Wrinkle in Time and Shen of the Sea, he noticed me but kept right on talking.
I was mostly doodling in my notebook while he talked, but every once in a
while I would sneak a look at the other students. Charlotte was in this class.
So were Julian and Henry. Miles wasn’t.
Mr. Browne had written on the chalkboard in big block letters:
P-R-E-C-E-P-T!
“Okay, everybody write this down at the very top of the very first page in
your English notebook.” As we did what he told us to do, he said: “Okay, so
who can tell me what a precept is? Does anyone
know?”
No one raised their hands. Mr. Browne smiled, nodded, and turned around to
write on the chalkboard again:
PRECEPTS = RULES ABOUT REALLY IMPORTANT THINGS!
“Like a motto?” someone called out.
“Like a motto!” said Mr. Browne, nodding as he continued writing on the board.
“Like a famous quote. Like a line from a
fortune cookie. Any saying or ground rule that can motivate you. Basically, a precept is
anything that helps guide us when making decisions about really important
things.”
He wrote all that on the chalkboard and then turned around and faced us. “So,
what are some really important things?” he asked us.
A few kids raised their hands, and as he pointed at them, they gave their
answers, which he wrote on the chalkboard in really, really sloppy
handwriting:
RULES. SCHOOLWORK. HOMEWORK.
“What else?” he said as he wrote, not even turning around. “Just call things
out!” He wrote everything everyone called out.
FAMILY. PARENTS. PETS.
One girl called out: “The environment!”
THE ENVIRONMENT.
He wrote on the chalkboard, and added:
OUR WORLD!
“Sharks, because they eat dead things in the ocean!” said one of the boys, a
kid named
Reid, and Mr. Browne wrote down SHARKS.
“Bees!” “Seatbelts!” “Recycling!” “Friends!”
“Okay,” said Mr. Browne, writing all those things down. He turned around when
he finished writing to face us again. “But no one’s named the most important
thing of all.” We all looked at him, out of ideas.
“God?” said one kid, and I could tell that even though Mr. Browne wrote “God”
down, that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. Without saying anything else,
he wrote down:
WHO WE ARE!
“Who we are,” he said, underlining each word as he said it. “Who we are! Us!
Right? What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn’t that the
most important thing of all? Isn’t that the kind of question we should be
asking ourselves all the time? “What kind of person am I?
“Did anyone happen to notice the plaque next to the door of this school?
Anyone read what it says? Anyone?”
He looked around but no one knew the answer.
“It says: ‘Know Thyself,’ ” he said, smiling and nodding. “And learning who
you are is what you’re here to do.”
“I thought we were here to learn English,” Jack cracked, which made everyone
laugh. “Oh yeah, and that, too!” Mr. Browne answered, which I thought was very
cool of him. He turned around and wrote in big huge block letters that spread
all the way across the chalkboard:
MR. BROWNE’S SEPTEMBER PRECEPT: WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING RIGHT
OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND.
“Okay, so, everybody,” he said, facing us again, “I want you to start a
brand-new
section in your notebooks and call it
Mr. Browne’s Precepts.” He kept talking as we did what he was telling us to do.
“Put today’s date at the top of the first page. And from now on, at the
beginning of every month, I’m going to write a new Mr. Browne precept on the
chalkboard and you’re going to write it down in your notebook. Then we’re
going to discuss that precept and what it means. And at the end of the month,
you’re going to write an essay about it, about what it means to you. So by the
end of the year, you’ll all have your own list of precepts to take away with
you.
“Over the summer, I ask all my students to come up with their very own
personal precept, write it on a postcard, and mail it to me from wherever you
go on your summer vacation.” “People really do that?” said one girl whose name
I didn’t know.
“Oh yeah!” he answered, “people really do that. I’ve had students send me new
precepts years after they’ve graduated from this school, actually. It’s pretty
amazing.” He paused and stroked his beard.
“But, anyway, next summer seems like a long way off, I know,” he joked, which
made us laugh. “So, everybody relax a bit while I take attendance, and then
when we’re finished with that, I’ll start telling you about all the fun stuff
we’re going to be doing this year—in English.” He pointed to Jack when he said this, which was also funny, so we all
laughed at that.
As I wrote down Mr. Browne’s September precept, I suddenly realized that I was
going to like school. No matter what.
- R.J. Palacio (excerpt from Wonder)
Working with words
A. Find the words from the text that match with the following meanings.
a. Shuffle walking by dragging one's feet along or without lifting
them fully from the ground
b. Doodle drawing pictures or patterns while thinking about something else
c. Plaque a piece of flat metal with writing on it
d. Precepts a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought
e. Sneaky move or go in a furtive or
stealthy way
B. Consult your teacher and define the following thinking skills.
a. Convergent Thinking
Convergent thinking is the ability to bring together different ideas or pieces
of information to find
one correct or best answer to
a problem. It focuses on logic, accuracy, and following steps to reach a
single solution.
b. Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is the ability to generate
many different ideas or possible solutions
to a problem. It encourages open-ended thinking, imagination, and exploring
multiple perspectives without judging ideas immediately.
c. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to
analyze, evaluate, and judge information carefully. It involves questioning assumptions, examining evidence, identifying
strengths and weaknesses, and making well-reasoned decisions or conclusions.
d. Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is the ability to
produce original, innovative, and useful ideas. It involves using imagination, combining ideas in new ways, and thinking
beyond traditional or familiar patterns to solve problems or express ideas.
Comprehension
Answer the following questions.
a. Who was Jack? How did he make children laugh?
Jack was a student in the class. He made children laugh by cracking jokes
and making humorous comments.
b. Why are “Sharks” important to Reid?
Sharks are important to Reid because they eat dead things in the ocean and
keep it clean.
c. What does Mr. Browne think about the most important thing?
Mr. Browne thinks that the most important thing is who we are and the kind
of person we become.
d. What is that has not been noticed by the student?
The student had not noticed the plaque near the school door that says “Know
Thyself.”
e. How did Jack make fun of the English class?
Jack made fun of the class by joking that he thought they were there to
learn English.
f. What were the students going to do at the end of the month?
The students were going to write an essay about the monthly precept.
g. What particular act of students surprised a girl student?
The girl was surprised that students mailed postcards with their personal
precepts to Mr. Browne.
Critical thinking
a. Have you made your own precept after you read this lesson? What is it?
Share it with your friends.
Yes, I have made my own precept after reading this lesson.
My precept is:
“Always be honest, even when it is difficult.”
This precept reminds me to act truthfully and responsibly in every situation
and to treat others with fairness and respect.
b. According to Josh Lanyon, “If there was one life skill everyone on the
planet needed, it was the ability to think with critical objectivity.”
Justify this statement with your logic.
The statement is true because critical objectivity helps people think
clearly and make fair decisions. When we think objectively, we do not let
emotions, personal bias, or pressure influence our judgment. This skill
helps us understand situations better, solve problems wisely, and respect
different opinions. In today’s world, where misinformation is common,
critical thinking allows people to judge what is right or wrong and make
responsible choices in life.
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Writing |
Write an email to your friend explaining an interesting class you had.
Dear Friend,
I hope you are doing well. I want to tell you about an interesting class I had today at school.
It was our English class, and the teacher, Mr. Browne, spoke about something called a “precept.” He explained that a precept is a rule or saying that helps guide us in life. He asked us what the most important thing in the world is, and finally told us that it is “who we are.” His precept for the month was, “When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”
The class was very engaging, and everyone participated actively. It made me think deeply about my own behavior and choices. I really enjoyed the lesson and felt inspired by it.
Do write back and tell me about your classes.
Take care.
Best wishes,
Your friend
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Grammar |
Question tag
A. Study the following examples.
a. You are tired, aren’t you?
b. He left Kathmandu, didn’t he?
c. Your father never touched alcoholic drinks, did he?
B. Rewrite the sentences adding appropriate question tags
a. Gill does
not know Ann, does he?
b. I’m very
patient, aren’t I?
c. They’d
never met me before,
had they?
d. Listen
carefully, will you?
e. Let’s
have a break, shall we?
f. Let us
invite them, will you?
g. Hari used
to live in France as a boy,
didn’t he?
h. You’d
better not take a hard drink,
had you?
i. Sheep eat
grass, don’t they?
j. Mr. Pande
can speak nine languages,
can’t he?
k. She’s
finished her classes,
hasn’t she?
l. She
barely managed to reach the goal,
did she?
m. Don’t let
him swim in that pond,
will you?
n. There are
lots of people here,
aren’t there?
C. Read the following situations. What do you say in these situations? Use
question tags.
a. The sky is full of cloud. You can see lightning and hear thunder.
It’s going to rain soon, isn’t it?
b. You want to pay the taxi fare but you are short by 100 rupees.
Shyam, you have a hundred rupees, don’t you?
c. You have met a stranger at a party and you want to have a
chat with him/ her. ……,…….?
You’re enjoying the party, aren’t you?
d. You came out of the film hall with your friend. You enjoyed the film.
The film was good, wasn’t it?
e. You and your friend listened to a comedian on the stage and
felt spellbound by his/her performance.
He gave an excellent performance, didn’t he?
f. You think your friend’s father has arrived from the US but
you are not sure.
Your father has arrived from the US, hasn’t he?
g. You think Susan will join the new job tomorrow but you are
not sure
Susan will join the new job tomorrow, won’t she?
h. Your friend’s hair looks too short.
You have got your hair cut very short, haven’t you?
i. You want to go for a picnic with your friends in class.
Let’s go for a picnic, shall we?
j. You want permission from your father to go for a walk.
Let me go for a walk, will you?
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Listening |
A. Look at the pictures and answer these questions.
a. Do you know these personalities? Who are they?
b. What are they famous for?
B. Listen to the audio and fill in the blanks with the appropriate
words/phrases.
a. Young people are the ………….. for all the worries.
b. According to the speaker, nothing is easy and ……………
c. The speaker spent …………… in the plane last year.
d. Jack loves a unique idea, not a ………………….
e. Jack suggests the young people accepting every ………….
situation as training for success.
f. The ………….. exam starts after college life.
C. Do you agree with the advice of the speaker? Why? Give your reasons.
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Speaking |
Expressing disappointment
A. Act out the following dialogue. A: I'm not
happy.
B: What's wrong?
A: Oh,
I didn't get that job.
B: What a bummer!
A: Yeah, I wish I had prepared better for the interview.
B: Maybe you were just nervous.
A: If I
had only thought about how my experience applied to the position.
B: Well, I'm sure you'll do better next time.
A: I
hope so. I'm sick of this job.
B: Every job has its ups and downs.
A: Let's have a coffee.
B: That's something that never disappoints me.
B. Underline the expressions in the above dialogue that express
disappointment. Can you add some more expressions?
C. How would you express disappointment in the following situations?
a. You missed the birthday party of your close friend because
you were unwell.
b. You had to go to school on time, but as it happened, you
found the tyre of your bicycle flat.
c. You have arranged to go for a picnic with your friends. But
it is pouring with rain.
d. You went to the cinema with your friend to watch a
newly-released film, but as it happened, there was ‘Houseful’ sign
outside.
e. You could not secure A grade in class 11 in English.
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Project work |
Invite some students of Grade XI and ask them these three questions. Write a
paragraph based on their answers and share it with your friends. a. What are
you CURIOUS about?
b. What are you CONCERNED about?
c. What do you want to CREATE in the world?