Unit 08 :
“A Fault confessed is half redressed”
Upper Intermediate
Objective
To be able to know more about idioms and expressions.
Vocabulary
Read and know the meaning the words used in the article.
1. face /feɪs/
to accept that something unpleasant is true and start to deal with the situation
This is one of the many problems faced by working mothers.
2. beat /biːt/
to defeat or do better than
Simon always beats me at tennis.
3. trick /trɪk/
an action that is intended to deceive, either as a way of cheating someone, or as a joke or form of entertainment
She played a really nasty trick on me – she put syrup in my shampoo bottle!
4. anticipate /ænˈtɪs.ə.peɪt/
to imagine or expect that something will happen
We don’t anticipate any trouble.
5. scared /skerd/
frightened or worried
He’s scared of spiders.
6. fellow /ˈfel.oʊ/
used to refer to someone who has the same job or interests as you, or is in the same situation as you
She introduced me to some of her fellow students.
Quick Reading
Read the short passage.
All of us commit mistakes knowingly and unknowingly.
When we do it knowingly and hurt others, we must definitely take responsibility for it and face the punishment.
When we do that people around us will not consider it as a big crime and will only appreciate our honesty. Thus the intensity of the crime will come down and they will be ready even to pardon us.
Raju was a student of class V and was a very naughty boy. Although he was intelligent he always scored low marks in Mathematics since he did not like the subject at all.
Moreover the math teacher was a very strict lady who beat the children severely if they did not get full marks in their class tests. Many times, Raju was a victim of such harsh treatment and he wanted to teach the teacher a lesson.
So one day he decided to play a trick on the lady teacher. He took a rubber scorpion that looked as good as a live one and placed it on the table, knowing fully well that the teacher would open it to take a piece of chalk.
As he had anticipated the teacher opened the drawer and saw the scorpion and screamed in fright and then fainted. All the students rushed forward to lift the teacher. Hearing the commotion, the headmaster came along and arranged for first aid to be given to the teacher.
The headmaster was very angry when he realized that the students had played a prank on the teacher. He demanded to know who had done it. Raju was very scared to own up and so kept quiet.
When no student came forward the headmaster decided that all the students should be punished. On hearing this some of the students started crying. Raju felt very bad that his fellow students had to face punishment on account of him and decided to own up to his mistake.
Raju told the headmaster that he had played the prank and apologized profusely asking him to spare the other students from punishment.
Raju also told the headmaster that he had done it only because he could not bear the beatings of the math teacher. Although the headmaster was angry with Raju, he was happy that he had spoken the truth.
The headmaster asked Raju to apologize to the math teacher and let him off with a light punishment warning him not to attempt anything similar again.
The math teacher was also called aside by the headmaster and advised not to punish the children so severely in future.
Discussion
Answer the questions with your teacher.
- Do you agree in the statement “ All of us commit mistakes knowingly and unknowingly”?
- Who is Raju?
- What did Raju do in the story?
- How did their math teacher react on what Raju did?
Discussion for you
Answer the questions with your teacher.
- How would you react if you are in Raju’s situation?
- Will you do the same thing as Raju?