Chapter 7-II : Glimpses of India - Coorg

Thinking about the Text

Question: 1

Where is Coorg?

Answer:

Coorg or Kodagu is the smallest district of Karnataka. It is situated midway between Mysore and the cbastal town of Mangalore.

Question: 2

What is the story about the Kodavu people’s descent?

Answer:

The fiercely independent people of Coorg are descendents of Greeks or Arabs. A section of Alexander’s army moved South along the coast and settled here only when they were unable to return to their country. These people married among the locals. This is the story about the descent of Kodavu people.

Question: 3

What are some of the things you now know about?

1. the people of Coorg?
2. the main crop of Coorg?
3. the sports it offers to a tourists?
4. the animals you are likely to see in Coorg?
5. its distance from Bangalore and how to get there?

Answer:

1. They are fiercely independent people and have descended from the Greeks or the Arabs.
2. Coffee is the main crop of Coorg.
3. It mostly offers adventure sports which include river rafting, canoeing, rappelling, rock climbing and mountain biking.
4. The animals likely to be seen in Coorg are macaques, Malabar squirrel, langurs, slender loris, elephants etc.
5. By road, it is around 250 – 260 kilometres from Bangalore.

Question: 4

Here are six sentences with some words in italics. Find phrases from the text that have the same meaning. (Look in the paragraphs indicated)

1. During monsoons it rains so heavily that tourists do not visit Coorg. (Para 2)
2. Some people say that Alexander’s army moved south along the coast and settled there. (Para 3)
3. The Coorg people are always ready to tell stories of their son’s and father’s valour. (Para 4)
4. Even people who normally lead an easy and slow life get smitten by the high energy adventure sports of Coorg. (Para 6)
5. The theory of the Arab origin is supported by the long coat with embroidered waist-belt they wear. (Para 3)
6. Macaques, Malabar squirrels observe you carefully from the tree canopy. (Para 7)

Answer:

1. to keep visitors away
2. As one story goes
3. are more than willing to recount
4. The most laidback individuals become converts to
5. draws support from
6. keep a watchful eye

Thinking about the Language

Certain words ‘go together’. Such ‘word friends’ are called collocations. The collocation of a word is ‘the company it keeps’. For example, look at the paired sentences and phrases below. Which is a common collocation, and which one is odd? Strike out the odd sentence or phrase.

a. ‘How old are you?’

‘How young are you?’

b. a pleasant person a pleasant pillow

Answers:

1. The odd sentence is ‘How young are you?’
2. The odd phrase is ‘a pleasant pillow’.

Question: 1 Here are some nouns from the text.

‘culture’ ‘monks’ ‘surprise’ ‘experience’ ‘weather’ ‘tradition’

Work with a partner and discuss which of the nouns can collocate with which of the adjectives given below. The first one has been done for you.

‘unique’ ‘terrible’ ‘unforgettable’ ‘serious’ ‘ancient’ ‘wide’ ‘sudden’

Answer:

1. culture : unique culture, ancient culture
2. monks : __ serious monks, unique monks, ancient monks ___
3. surprise: ___ unique surprise, sudden surprise, unforgettable surprise, terrible surprise _____
4. experience: __ unique experience, terrible experience, unforgettable experience, wide experience ____
5. weather: ___ terrible weather, unforgettable weather, sudden weather _____
6. tradition: ___ unique tradition, ancient tradition ____

Question: 2

2. Complete the following phrases from the text. For each phrase, can you find at least one other word that would fit into the blank?

		Missing	Alternate word
1.	tales of	__________	__________
2.	coastal	__________	__________
3.	a piece of	__________	__________
4.	evergreen	__________	__________
5.	plantations	__________	__________
6.	bridge	__________	__________
7.	wild	__________	__________

Answer:

	Missing	Alternate word
1.	valour	bravery
2.	town	belt, village
3.	heaven	cake
4.	rainforests	jungle
5.	coffee	tea, banana
6.	rope	steel, concrete
7.	creatures	animals