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Showing posts from February 14, 2025

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 5 Consumerism

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 5 Consumerism Consumerism We spend money for different reasons. We buy foods, clothes or everyday essentials, pay for different services, entertain people, travel to places, help others in need or invest in business and thus spend money every day. In fact, spending is a part of our life. Spending may make us happy or unhappy depending on how and why we spend. When we spend money on things that we need and within our limit, it is good. When it becomes a compulsive behaviour, it makes life stressful. Unnecessary spending or spending beyond one's means has some bad effects. For one thing, it may lead to financial ruin or debt, and for another, it may create unhappiness within families. People who overspend are never satisfied with what they have. They always rush for brands, fashion items, designer clothes etc. Over a period of time it becomes an addiction which may eventually create psychological problems. Nowadays consumer i...

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 4 Meditation

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 4 Instant vacation : Getting there through meditation Meditation Training the mind can get us to a place of flow more quickly. Meditation is one way to exercise our mental muscles. There are many types of meditation, but they all have the same objective: calming the mind, observing our thoughts and emotions, and centering our focus on a single object. The basic practice involves sitting with a straight back and focusing on your breath. Anyone can do it, and you feel a difference after just one session. By fixing your attention on the air moving in and out of your nose, you can slow the torrent of thoughts and clear your mental horizons. The Archer's Secret The winner of the 1988 Olympic gold medal for archery was a seventeen-year-old woman from South Korea. When asked how she prepared, she replied that the most important part of her training was meditating for two hours each day. If we want to get better at reaching a state...

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 3 Food and Culture

HSC English First Paper English For Today - Unit 10 Lesson 3  Food and Culture Syed Mujtaba Ali, was an acclaimed Bengali author, academic and linguist. He was a travel enthusiast and his travelogues are regarded as precious gems in our Bangla literature. At some point of time between the two World Wars, Syed Mujtaba Ali set out on a ship from India on a journey to Europe. Leaving Sri Lanka behind, he sailed across the Arabian Sea, then along the coast of Africa, before reaching the Suez Port. Syed Mujtaba Ali's time in Egypt was punctuated by a number of funny anecdotes, both about the people and the pyramids. The following excerpt is from Syed Mujtaba Ali's travelogue, Tales of a Voyager (Jolay Dangay) where he gives a charming and insightful description of Egyptian food and language. Nazes Afroz translated the following excerpt. Our Bengali meals consist of five flavours of food-bitter, savoury, hot, sour sides and desserts. The English eat only sweet and savoury preparation...