২. পাঠ আৰু কবিতাৰ সাৰাংশ (Summary of Poem & Lesson)

(A) কবিতাৰ সাৰাংশ: “The Wind and the Leaves” (জৰ্জ কুপাৰ)

In this lyrical poem, American poet George Cooper paints a charming picture of the arrival of autumn. The autumn wind personified as a playful friend calls out to the leaves on the trees, inviting them to come and dance across the meadows wearing their bright “dress of red and gold.” Hearing the wind’s call, the leaves flutter down eagerly. As they dance and fly over the brown autumn fields, they sing their soft songs and bid a heartfelt farewell to their longtime friends—the chirping cricket and the flowing brook—knowing that winter is approaching and their journey as fallen leaves has begun.

(এই সুন্দৰ কবিতাটিত আমেৰিকান কবি জৰ্জ কুপাৰে শৰৎ আৰু হেমন্ত ঋতুৰ এক অপৰূপ চিত্ৰ আঁকিছে। বতাহজাকে এজন মৰমিয়াল বন্ধুৰ দৰে গছৰ পাতবোৰক মাতিছে যাতে সিহঁতে ৰঙা আৰু সোণালী ৰঙৰ সাজ পিন্ধি মুকলি পথাৰত নাচি-বাগি খেলিব পাৰে। বতাহৰ মাত শুনিয়েই পাতবোৰ তললৈ কঁপি কঁপি সৰি পৰিল আৰু বতাহৰ লগত নাচি নাচি উৰি গ’ল। উৰি যাওঁতে সিহঁতে পুৰণি বন্ধু ঝিঁঝিঁ পোক আৰু সৰু নিজৰাটিক বিদায় জনালে কাৰণ শীতকাল সমাগত আৰু সিহঁতৰ বিদায়ৰ সময় আহি পৰিছে।)

(B) পাৰিবেশিক ভাৰসাম্য আৰু হাড়গিলা চৰাই (Ecological Balance & Hargila)

The chapter also highlights how everything in nature is interconnected. When leaves fall, they decompose and enrich the soil with nutrients, helping new plants grow. Nature maintains an ecological balance, but human activities and habitat destruction threaten many wild species. The Greater Adjutant Stork (locally called Hargila or Bortokola) is an endangered, majestic wetland bird that currently breeds only in Assam (India) and Cambodia. We must conserve wetlands and natural habitats to maintain ecological harmony.

(পাঠটিত প্ৰকৃতিৰ আন্তঃনিৰ্ভৰশীলতাৰ বিষয়েও আলোচনা কৰা হৈছে। সৰি পৰা পাতবোৰ মাটিত মিলি সাৰ হয় আৰু নতুন উদ্ভিদ গজাত সহায় কৰে। প্ৰকৃতিয়ে নিজৰ পাৰিবেশিক ভাৰসাম্য বজাই ৰাখে। কিন্তু মানুহৰ অপৰিকল্পিত কাৰ্যকলাপৰ বাবে বহুতো বন্যপ্ৰাণী বিলুপ্তিৰ পথত। তেনে এক বিৰল আৰু বিলুপ্তপ্ৰায় চৰাই হৈছে হাড়গিলা (বা বৰটোকোলা), যিয়ে বৰ্তমান সমগ্ৰ পৃথিৱীৰ কেৱল অসম আৰু কম্বোডিয়াতহে বংশবৃদ্ধি কৰে। প্ৰকৃতিৰ ভাৰসাম্য ৰক্ষাৰ বাবে আমি জলাশয় আৰু বনাঞ্চল সংৰক্ষণ কৰা উচিত।)

৩. পাঠভিত্তিক প্ৰশ্নোত্তৰ আৰু কাৰ্যাৱলী (Textbook Activities & Solutions) 

Activity 1(a) & 1(b): Vocabulary & Dictionary Meanings (শব্দাৰ্থ)

• Brook: A small, natural stream of water. (সৰু জুৰি / নিজৰা)

• Put on: Wear clothes or dress. (পিন্ধা)

• Farewell: An occasion when someone says goodbye; a departure. (বিদায় সম্ভাষণ)

• Miss: To feel the absence or loss of someone or something. (কাৰোবাৰ অভাৱ অনুভৱ কৰা)

• Meadow: A field of grassland. (ঘাঁহনি পথাৰ)

• Fluttering: Moving lightly and quickly through the air. (কঁপমান হৈ উৰি থকা)

• Cold: Having a low temperature; chilly. (ঠাণ্ডা / শীতল)

• Loud: Producing a lot of noise; high volume. (ডাঙৰ শব্দ)

• Summer: The warmest season of the year. (গ্ৰীষ্মকাল)

• Cricket: An insect that produces a chirping sound. (ঝিঁঝিঁ পোক)

Sentences using New Words:

1. Meadow: The sheep are grazing peacefully in the green meadow.

2. Fluttering: The dry leaves came fluttering down from the tall tree.

3. Brook: We sat beside a clear mountain brook to drink cold water.

4. Farewell: The students arranged a warm farewell party for their teacher.

Activity 1(c): Synonyms from the Poem (সমৰ্থক শব্দ)

• Breeze → Wind (বতাহ)

• Grasslands → Meadows (ঘাঁহনি পথাৰ)

• Wear → Put on (পিন্ধা)

• Leave / Depart → Go / Farewell (বিদায় লোৱা)

Activity 2: Rhyme Scheme Analysis (ছন্দ-ক্ৰম বিশ্লেষণ)

(a) Rhyming Pairs in Stanza 1:

• day – play

• gold – cold

(b) & (c) Rhyme Scheme:

• Stanza 1 follows the AABB rhyme scheme.

• For the given practice stanza:

  1. The sun is shining warm and bright, (A)

  2. Come and shelter beneath the tree. (B)

  3. The weary wind whirls soft and light, (A)

  4. While birds sing wild and free. (B)
     Rhyme Scheme: ABAB

(d) Completing Poem with AABB Rhyme Scheme:

• The wind blows gently through the trees,

• Flowers flutter, buzzing bees.

• Leaves and wind twirl over hills,

• Come one, come all swirl with thrills.

Activity 3(a): Multiple Choice Questions (সঠিক উত্তৰ বাছনি)

1. Which one of the following means ‘moving lightly and quickly’?
   → c) fluttering (উৰুঙা-উৰুংকৈ উৰি থকা)

2. What dress does the wind ask the leaves to put on?
   → b) dress of red and gold (ৰঙা আৰু সোণালী ৰঙৰ সাজ)

3. How did the leaves respond to the loud call of the wind?
   → a) by fluttering down one by one (তললৈ কঁপি কঁপি সৰি পৰি)

4. Who heard the wind’s loud call?
   → c) the leaves (গছৰ পাতবোৰে)

Activity 3(b): Comprehension Questions & Answers (প্ৰশ্নসমূহৰ উত্তৰ)

(i) Question: What does the wind ask the leaves to do?

• Answer: The wind asks the leaves to put on their dress of red and gold and come play and dance with it over the meadows.
  (বতাহজাকে পাতবোৰক ৰঙা আৰু সোণালী সাজ পিন্ধি তাৰ লগত মুকলি পথাৰত নাচিবলৈ আৰু খেলিবলৈ আহ্বান জনাইছে।)

(ii) Question: Why did the wind ask the leaves to wear a dress of red and gold?

• Answer: The wind asked the leaves to wear red and gold because with the arrival of autumn, green leaves naturally change their colours to bright red, yellow, and golden before falling.
  (বতাহজাকে পাতবোৰক ৰঙা আৰু সোণালী সাজ পিন্ধিবলৈ কৈছিল কাৰণ শৰৎ-হেমন্ত কালত গছৰ সেউজীয়া পাতবোৰ সৰি পৰাৰ আগতে স্বাভাৱিকভাৱেই ৰঙা, হালধীয়া আৰু সোণালী ৰঙলৈ সলনি হয়।)

(iii) Question: Give the ‘movement words’ used for the leaves in the poem.

• Answer: The movement words used for the leaves are fluttering, danced, and flew.
  (পাতবোৰৰ চলাচল বুজোৱা শব্দবোৰ হৈছে fluttering (কঁপি কঁপি সৰি পৰা), danced (নাচিছিল), আৰু flew (উৰিছিল)।)

(iv) Question: What did the leaves do after hearing the ‘wind’s loud call’?

• Answer: As soon as the leaves heard the wind’s loud call, they came fluttering down one and all, danced and flew over the brown fields, and sang their soft songs.
  (বতাহৰ আহ্বান শুনি সকলো পাত তললৈ সৰি পৰিল, মুগা পথাৰৰ ওপৰেদি নাচি নাচি উৰি গ’ল আৰু নিজৰ সুৰীয়া গীত গালে।)

(v) Question: What season is mentioned in the poem?

• Answer: The transition from Summer to Autumn (and the onset of cold winter) is mentioned in the poem.
  (কবিতাটিত গ্ৰীষ্মৰ অন্ত পৰি শৰৎ আৰু হেমন্তকালৰ আগমন তথা শীতৰ প্ৰাৰম্ভণিৰ কথা উল্লেখ কৰা হৈছে।)

(vi) Question: Which line in the poem indicates the passing of summer?

• Answer: The line “Summer is gone, and the days grow cold” indicates the passing of summer.
  (“Summer is gone, and the days grow cold” (গ্ৰীষ্ম পাৰ হ’ল আৰু দিনবোৰ ঠাণ্ডা হৈ পৰিল) শাৰীটোৱে গ্ৰীষ্মকাল শেষ হোৱাৰ কথা সূচায়।)

Activity 4: Poetic Devices — Personification & Alliteration (অলংকাৰ)

(a) Personification (মানৱাৰোপণ):

1. “Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day (The wind talks like a human).

2. Over the brown fields they danced and flew (Leaves dance like human beings).

3. Singing the soft little songs they knew (Leaves sing songs).

4. “Cricket, good-by, we’ve been friends so long” (Leaves bid goodbye to the cricket).

(b) Alliteration (অনুপ্ৰাস):

1. wind’s loud call / with me

2. singing the soft little songs

3. danced and down

Activity 6: Stanza-wise Explanations (স্তৱকভিত্তিক ব্যাখ্যা)

• Stanza 1: The wind invites the leaves to come and play in the meadows, putting on their autumn dress of red and gold, reminding them that summer has ended and the days are growing cold.

• Stanza 2: Hearing the wind’s call, all the leaves flutter down from the trees together, dancing and flying across the brown fields while singing their gentle songs.

• Stanza 3: The leaves lovingly bid farewell to their longtime companion, the chirping cricket, and ask the little flowing brook to sing a parting song, knowing they will be dearly missed.

Activity 7 & 8: Hargila & Ecological Balance (হাড়গিলা চৰাই আৰু পাৰিবেশিক সংৰক্ষণ)

• Local Name: Hargila / Bortokola (হাড়গিলা / বৰটোকোলা)

• Scientific Status: Endangered wetland bird.

• Breeding Habitats: Only in Assam (India) and Cambodia.

• Physical Features: Tall stature, long neck with a distinctive inflatable neck pouch, large strong beak, and a bald head.

• Diet: Carnivorous scavenger feeding on fish, frogs, snakes, and insects.

• Ways to Protect Nature:

  1. Protect and restore natural wetlands and marshlands.

  2. Prevent the cutting down of tall nesting trees (like Semul trees).

  3. Avoid chemical pollution and plastic dumping in water bodies.

  4. Spread mass awareness regarding biodiversity conservation.

Activity 9: Nature Crossword Puzzle (শব্দ-শৃংখল)

• Across:

1. The natural world around us → NATURE

2. Group of similar organisms → SPECIES

3. The home of an organism → HABITAT

• Down:
  4.  A community of interacting organisms and their environment → ECOSYSTEM
  5.  Something that no longer exists → EXTINCT
  6.  The third planet in the solar system → EARTH

Activity 11 & 12: Phonetics — Soft ‘c’ vs Hard ‘c’

Activity 15: Puns and Word Play (শ্লেষ)

• Pun: A clever use of a word with multiple meanings or sounds.

• “I’m purr-fect when I bake and spin!” (Cat’s ‘purr’ + ‘perfect’).

• “A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it is two-tired (too tired).”

• “The horse is a stable animal (lives in a stable / calm).”

Activity 16: Vowel Diphthongs

• Sound as in ‘ice’ / ‘time’ (/aɪ/): time, bright, sigh, light, high, bike, night, idle, item.

• Sound as in ‘aim’ / ‘pain’ (/eɪ/): aim, age, game, same, gain, came, rain, eight, vein, aid.

Activity 17: Grammar — Adverbs & Their Types (ক্ৰিয়া-বিশেষণ)

1. Adverb of Manner: beautifully, gracefully, quickly, loudly, truly.

2. Adverb of Place: here, there, out, down, everywhere.

3. Adverb of Time: soon, before, now, ago, early.

4. Adverb of Frequency: often, regularly, constantly, once, again.

5. Adverb of Degree: quite, almost, fully, very.

Sentence Analysis (Activity 17.c):

• i) The boy practised his speech regularly. → Adverb of Frequency

• ii) The phone kept ringing constantly. → Adverb of Frequency / Manner

• iii) I have heard this story before. → Adverb of Time

• iv) I was quite sure. → Adverb of Degree

• v) The people have gone out. → Adverb of Place

• vi) He responded quickly. → Adverb of Manner

Activity 18: Sentence Structure — Subject + Verb + Adverbial (SVA)

Underline the Adverbial Phrases (Activity 18.b):

1. The flowers bloomed at the break of dawn. (Time Adverbial)

2. The cat sat under the old wooden table. (Place Adverbial)

3. She crossed the road in a very careful manner. (Manner Adverbial)

4. We ran down the hill as fast as we could. (Manner Adverbial)

5. The children are playing in the park. (Place Adverbial)

6. I will see you in the morning. (Time Adverbial)