Read and understand a range of text using monitoring visualization strategies to interpret texts.

READING COMPREHENSION

You are welcome to today’s lesson.

Have you been to an Athletics game before?

I hope you had lots of fun. I will be glad if you share your experience to your friends.

We will be reading a short passage about Athletics competition.

In this passage you will meet new words and those you are familiar with. Don’t forget to use your dictionary to find words you don’t understand.

• The aim of this lesson:
• Is to help you read fluently to build confidence.
• Engage in meaningful interaction with text and peers.
• Monitor for understanding and self -correct where necessary.
• Make connections with what is read to own experiences.

Athletics Competition

Keywords: competition, discus, baton, team-mate, nicknames, hurdles

A. In pairs, read the passage below.

A few years ago, there was an athletics competition between Ghana and Nigeria at the Accra Sports Stadium. This is the story about the competition. Every competitor did very well but the Ghanaian women did better than the Nigerian women. Beatrice Kankam won the hundred-metre race in 12.7 seconds. Christie Boateng, too, won the two hundred-metre race in 24.7 seconds. The Ghanaian women also won the 400 metre, the 800-metre and the 1500-metre races easily.

Rose Hart won the discus throw and GraceLaing won the javelin throw. The Nigerian women won the long jump and the high jump.

The most interesting event was the women’s 4×100-metre relay race. It was the last event of the competition. Ghana’s runners were Beatrice Kankam, Cecilia Akowua, Christie Boateng and Alice Anum. Beatrice started the race. She ran very fast and beat Nigeria’s first runner by about two metres. But when she was passing the baton to Cecilia, the Nigerian ran faster and overtook Cecilia. Just before they passed the baton again, ran very fast and overtook the Nigerian. Then Christie got the baton. She also ran so fast that when she was passing the baton to her team-mate, Nigeria’s third runner was about six metres behind her. Christie gave the baton to Ghana’s fourth runner, Alice Anum. Alice ran very fast with Nigeria’s fastest runner behind her. The Nigerian athlete ran very fast and tried really hard to overtake Alice before the last bend, but Alice ran as fast as a hare and won the race. The Nigerian runner was about ten metres behind Alice.

As they were running, the spectators cheered very loudly. They shouted the Ghanaian athletes’ nicknames as soon as the athletes got the baton. Beatrice Kankam’s nickname was ‘BK’. Cecilia was called ‘The Boy’. As Christie ran, the spectators clapped and shouted, “Ghana’s Flying Queen,’ and when it was the turn of Alice, it became ‘Baby Jet! Baby Jet!’

Nigeria had a very strong men’s team. Nigeria’s Ogun won the pole vault event. He cleared 4.1 metres. Nigeria also won the long jump, the hurdles and the discus throw. Busanga won the javelin throw for Ghana. He threw the javelin at 58.06 metres. The Ghanaian men were very fast runners. Bukari Bashiru won the hundred metres and A. O. Lawson won the 200-metre race for Ghana. Bashiru, Lawson, Mends and Amu won the

4×100 metre relay race. B. K. Mends, M. F. Okantey, Mike Ahey and Adjun-Tetteh won the 4×200 metre relay race in 1 minute 31 seconds.

The 400-metre race was one of the most interesting events of the competition. It was won by Ghana’s runner, F.A. Owusu in 48.3 seconds. J.A.Addy of Ghana was second.

E. C. Nyarko won the 800 metres and J. K.Aduakwa won the 1500 metres. The last men’s event was the 4×800 metre relay race. Ohene Ansah, Aduakwa, Asante and Nyarko were in Ghana’s team. All of them were very fast runners. Ohene Asare started the race and finished long before the Nigerian runner. After Aduakwa had received the baton from Ohene-Asare, he ran very fast indeed. While Aduakwa was giving the baton to Asante, Nigeria’s second runner was about 40 metres behind him. The spectators began to clap their hands and shout, “Ea-sy! Ea-sy!” Nyarko, Ghana’s fourth runner, happily took the baton from Asante. Some spectators shouted, “Finish hard!” and Nyarko ran as fast as a hare. Now, as Nyarko was winning, the shouts changed to “Gha-na! Gha-na!”

Ghana won the competition with 132 points while Nigeria scored 121 points. The Nigerian competitors said, “Well done!” to their Ghanaian friends, and added, “We shall win when you come to Nigeria next year.”

B. Answer the following questions.

1. Where was the competition held?

2. Name four of Ghana’s athletes and their events.

3. How many people run a relay race?

4. Name the three events the Nigerian men won. 

5.Which three events did the Ghanaian women win?

6. Which team won the competition?

7.Where are they going to have the next competition?

 8. Which country’s athletes said they would win the next competition.

C. Find out the meanings of the following words and use five of them in sentences of your

1.competition

2. sports stadium

3. javelin

4 boton

5.overtake

6. spectators

7. cheered

8, nickname

D Say True or False to these statements,

1. The athletic competition was held between Ghana and Togo.

2 The Nigerian women won the long jump competition. 3. One runner in the Ghanaian team was Alice Anum.

4.As the races were going on, the spectators cheered very loudly

5. Busanga won the javelin throw for Ghana.

6. The nickname for Alice was ‘Baby Jer. 7.One of the most interesting events of the competition was the 400 metre race.

8.The last men’s event was the 4×100 metre race.

9.All the Ghanaian athletes were very fast runners.

10. Nyarko ran as fast as a hare..

E.Construct a sentence each with the following words.

1.year

2. stadium

3. woman

4.event

5. team-mates

6. athlete

7. spectator

8.runner

9.competition

10. friend

UNIT 2

ORAL LANGUAGE

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

One Good Turn Deserves Another

Keywords: chamber, roaring, stealthily, squeezing, snares, lodged, gnaw

A. Pay attention and listen to your teacher as he/she reads the passage to you.

Once there lived Squirrel in the forest. He burrowed deep into the ground. Deep in the ground he made two chambers. In one chamber, he put dry leaves and kapok. This was his bedroom. In the other chamber he kept his food there. That was his store. The food he put there included palm-nuts, groundnuts and casava. Everyday, he went round in the forest in search of food.

There were other animals in the forest. Some of them fed on leaves and grass. Lion was the only animal that killed and fed on other animals. Many of the animals were afraid of him so they always avoided him. They hid in the bush when they heard Lion roaring. Others ran and hid in holes or climbed trees and hid in the branches. Lion also killed fowls, goats and sheep of farmer Kwawyena.

One day Squirrel was looking for food. He came across Lion who had fallen fast asleep after eating a whole Squirrel walked stealthily to where Lion was sleeping. He found small particles of goat meat around him. Squirrel began to pick the meat carefully Unfortunately, when he picked a piece of meat from the mane of Lion, it suddenly woke up. He quickly grabbed

Squirrel. He wanted to kill him by squeezing him. Squirrel began pleading to Lion. He said “Great one, don’t kill me”. If you allow me to go, I’ll save your life one day. Lion laughed and said. How can this little animal save me? I will allow you to go because you’ve made me laugh today Squirrel quickly ran away into its hole.

Farmer Kwawyena tried various means to kill Lion with his double-barrel gun. He failed. He began to set snares to catch Lion. One hot afternoon, Lion was looking for an animal to catch when he was suddenly caught in one of the snares. He did all he could but could not free himself. He began to shout. None of the animals was prepared to help Lion fact, they were even happy to see Lion suffer and die. Squirrel heard of the cries of Lion. He quickly ran to where Lion was. Lion could not come out of the snare because it was made of strong and tiny nylon ropes. Each time Lion wanted to use his teeth to cut the rope, the ropes lodged in between his teeth. Squirrel used his sharp teeth to gnow the nylon ropes. Soon a big hole was made. Lion forced himself out of the snare. He embraced Squirrel and thanked him for saving his life. Squirrel said “One good turn deserves another” You saved my life and I have also saved yours. Lion promised never to harm Squirrel or his children. When farmer Kwawyena came to visit his snare, he was very disappointed. He said “Lion has escaped again. He will continue to kill my animals. I will certainly kill him one day”. He did not know that it was Squirrel that had freed him,

B.Answer the following questions

1. What did Squirrel put in his bedroom?

2. What food did Squirrel put in his store?

3. What did the animals feed on?

4.Why did the animals avoid Lion?

5.When did the animals hide in holes or in the branches of trees?

6. How did Squirrel wake Lion up?

7. How did Lion plan to kill Squirrel?

8.Why did Lion allow Squirrel to go away?

9. How did the animals feel when they heard Lion shouting?

10. Why was Lion not able to free himself from the snare!

C. In pairs, read the following expressions as used in the passage.

1. burrowed deep: dug well

ii, tried various means: made all efforts

iii. come out of the snare: free himself of the trap.

D. Say True or False to these statements.

1. Squirrel put dry leaves and kapok in one of his chambers.

2. The food squirrel kept included palm nut, groundnuts and meat. 3. Snake was the only animals that killed and fed on the other.

4. Many of the animals were afraid of squirrel. 5. The animals hid in the bush when they heard Lion roaring.

E. Construct a sentence each with the following words

1.catch(ed)

4. laugh(ed)

2. promise(d)

5. prepare(d)

3. escape(d)

3

READING

COMPREHENSION

Ghana’s Natural Resources-Water

Keywords: streams, springs, chlorine, A in pairs, read the passage below.

variety, technology

Every living thing needs three important things in life, namely, air, water and food. We breathe air into our bodies to live, we drink water so that our bodies become strong and we eat food to make our bodies grow. Thus, without air, water and food, we cannot live in this world.

We use water for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing. It is also used for building houses and cooling engines. In addition, water is used in factories. It, similarly, helps us to grow crops and other plants.

Where then do we get our water from? We get water from a variety of sources. Some of the sources are rain, rivers, streams, springs, lakes and wells. When it rains, people collect the

water in tanks, barrels, pots, buckets and other water containers. Naturally, streams and rivers begin from rocks, hills or mountains.A river may also start from a spring underground. Spring water rushes out of the ground to form a pool. Its water is cold, but we also have hot springs in some parts of the world.

Through modern Science and Technology, people build dams or rivers, streams and

springs. The dam is made by building walls or a concrete fence to catch and hold the water back. The water from the dam is used for drinking and for watering crops on farms. The water held develops into a lake – a large pool of water with land surrounding it.

Often, the water in such lakes does not flow out. Since the water does not flow out, it is not

very fresh. Therefore, people who drink water from lakes boil and cool it before using it. People who live far away from rivers, streams, springs and lakes dig wells. They dig the ground until they get to water underground. Water from deep wells is good for drinking because it is normally clean and pure. Water from shallow wells is not very good because dirty things fall into them.

As of now, most cities, towns and villages enjoy pipe-borne water. The people just have to go to a standpipe and draw water. Some people even have water-pipes in their homes.

The Ghana Water Company supplies all the pipe-borne water from the sources mentioned earlier, but these sources do not always provide clean and pure water. In order to make the water pure and safe for drinking, alum and chlorine are added to it.

Chlorine kills the germs in the water while the alum takes away the dirt that sull remains in the water. The clean water is stored in huge concrete tanks. Then the water is pumped through pipes by machines to cities, towns and villages.

B. Answer these questions. 1. Every living thing needs three important things for life. What are they?

2. Name three uses of water to human beings.

3. How many sources of water does the writer state in the passage?

4. Where do streams and rivers begin from?

5.What is a dam?

6. What is the name of the man-made lake in Ghana? 7. Which company in Ghana is responsible for water supply?

8.What two chemicals are added to water to make it clean and safe?

C. Select the correct answers to complete these statements. to live. (air/gas)

1. We breathe 2. For our bodies to become strong, we drink,

3.

also makes our bodies grow well. (Food/Water)

4. Rivers and streams start from 5. Spring water is either hot or

6. Normally, a dam forms a

4. provide: give 7. collect: harvest

2. variety: different 5. earlier: before

(lake/river)

D. In pairs, read the meanings of the words underlined in the passage.

1. similarly: again

(cold/gas)

3. sources: ways 6. dirt: filty

DEN

(water/drugs)

(rocks/trees)

UNIT 5

READING

COMPREHENSION

Festivals In Ghana – Odwira

Keywords: festival.celebrate, A. In pairs, read the passage below.

gong. durbar, palanquins,

mourning

There are many festivals Ghanaians celebrate all over the country. Odwira is one of them. Odwira Festival is about many things that happened in the past just like the Ngmayemi Festival of the Krobos, the Asafotufiam Festival of the Adas, the Bakatue of the Edinas, the Akwambo of the Ajumakos, the Agonas, the Enyans and the Gomoas and the Aboakyer Festival of the people of Winneba.

Odwira is celebrated in either September or October. In the Akan areas, the year is divided into nine Adaes with each Adae made up of forty days. It is during the ninth Adae that Odwira is celebrated because that marks the end of the year.

In the month of October, Alhassan visited his friend, Fifi, who came from Akwapem

Akropong. Luckily, that was the time of the festival and the following were the things he went

to witness. After the eighth Adae, there should be neither drumming nor loud noise-making

at Akropong. Everybody was quiet and waiting for the big festival which lasted for a week.

The first Odwira was Monday. On this day, the men went to the bush to weed and clear the path that led to the place where only chiefs were buried. Women and children were not

allowed to go to such a place. The Odwira was and is still called Kwabena Ayesu Benada. This was a happy day because everybody could begin to eat the new yam. People carried fresh tubers of yam on their heads and walked through the town,

But Wednesday was a sad day set aside for mourning. Everybody wore red or block mourning clothes. People remembered, wept and mourned for those who died during the year. Neither the Omanhene nor his people should eat on that day but there was a lot of drinking and drumming. Then came Thursday, another happy day. Many people ate their best food: yam fufu with light

soup and drank a lot of drinks.. The Omanhene sprinkled “at” about in the house and in the town for the gods to enjoy for looking after the people throughout the year. On the same Thursday, the stools were taken

to a stream for cleansing. That is the meaning of Odwira: making the people clean. On Friday, there was a durbar held to end the festival. The Omanhene, the Queen Mother and all the other chiefs and sub-chiefs in and outside Akropong rode in palanquins.

People held beautiful umbrellas over the heads of the chiefs. The men beat drums and gong The women sang and praised the chiefs, and the chiefs danced with state swords in their

hands.

Then the Omanhene sat among the other chiefs to receive homage from people The Omanhene also pledged his support for the people of Akwapem and those of the whole Ghana. On Saturday night, there was a special Odwira dance and on Sunday, the Omanhene and all

the people went to church to thank God for His protection. These were the activities Alhassan went to see and he was told by his friend that these were the activities carried out annually.

3. Answer the following questions. 1.What does Odwira mean?

2. How many Adoes do the Akans have in a year? 3. Why is Kwabena Ayesu Benada a happy day?

What did the people do on Odwira Thursday?

5.Who rode in palanquins on the durbar day?

6 What happened on Saturday night?

7.What happened on Odwira Sunday?

C. Here are the names of six places and festivals mixed up. Match the names of the festivals

against the right places.

Place

Festival

1.Ada

Ngmayemi

2.Akwamu

Aboakyer

3. Edina

4. Krobo

Odwira

Akwambo

5.Winneba

Asafotufiam

6.Agona

Bakatue

D Give the meaning of the words underlined as used in the passage..

celebrate

marks

lasted

sprinkled praised

pledge

Explain the following expressions as used in the passage.

Looking after

for cleansing

to receive homage