GAGE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Communicative English Language Skills II

ENLA 1022

Address

https://gagecollege.net/

Tel: +251 11 465 2067 /09 05818181 / 09 88415600

P.O. Box: 23115

Email: - [email protected]

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

JANUARY, 2024

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 Unit I : LIFE SKILLS
Introduction

In this Unit, you will read a passage on ‘Life Skills’. You will discuss what life skills incorporate
and the importance of learning them with your partners. Understanding the concept, you will
engage in activities that help you develop your speaking, reading and writing abilities. Besides,
you will consolidate the note-making skill you have been introduced in ‘Communication Skills
I’.

The grammar lesson focuses on ‘Active’ and ‘Passive’ voices. I hope you adequately know about
them, but at this level we will briefly review what they are and you will focus much on applying
them in oral and written reports. The knowledge of the active and passive voices helps you to
present oral report and write academic reports such as lab reports. As Natural Science students, for
instance, you do experiments and your experimental reports require the use of passive voices in
most cases. So, the study helps you to use accurate language forms in your reports. Social Science
students also need the study of the voices to write good reports.

Unit Objectives

Students are expected to:

• identify different components of ‘life skills’ so that they can actively apply them in life;
• become successful in living a community successfully and endeavor to execute skills to
solve problems that may occur in their community;
• develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities in different areas including
‘life skills’; and

• know the ‘voices’ in grammar and apply them in academic writing to enhance their writing
and reporting quality.

The first part of the Unit is a reading passage on ‘Life Skills’. Answer the following leadquestions
before you read the passage.

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Activity 1.1: Discuss the following questions in groups before you read the passage below.

1. What are life skills? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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2. What are the basic elements of life skills? ---------------------------------------------------------
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3. What is the importance of knowing about life skills? --------------------------------------------
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4. Did you have life skills training? If you had, please share what you were trained about and
how you were trained to your group. ----------------------------------------------------------
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5. How did the training help you to manage your life? ---------------------------------------------
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THE CONCEPT OF LIFE SKILLS

While many experts discuss the importance of life skills, many still question what exactly represent
such skills. As shall be shown, there is no single answer, but there are a variety of overlapping
definitions, which highlight the most significant forms of life skills.
Activity 1.2
Instruction: The following questions are based on the paragraph you have just read.
Before you read the succeeding paragraphs: a) Group yourselves and
discuss the questions with your group members; and
b) write its summary in a very short sentence.
1. What is the main idea of the paragraph? --------------------------------------------
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2. What do you think the next paragraphs will be about? ------------------------------
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In practice, the term life skills is also used in several other ways, including to refer to livelihood
skills, such as how to set up a business; to refer to practical self-care skills such as how to plan and
prepare healthy meals or how to brush one’s teeth, etc.; to refer to skills used to deal with specific
risk situations, such as saying “no” in the face of peer pressure etc.
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The concept life skills involves personally responsible choices. These skills enable people to
maximize their own choices, to enhance their personal well-being and to improve their quality of
life. When people are being personally responsible they are in the process of making choices that
maximize their happiness and fulfillment. Personal responsibility is a positive concept wherein
people are responsible for their well-being and for making their own choices within the givens of
their existence. Life skills therefore, are the component skills through which people assume –
rather than avoid – personal responsibility for their lives. These skills enable people to make
positive contribution which can lead to improvement of their lives.

Elias (1990) as mentioned by WHO (1994) notes that life skills are skills to carry out effective
interpersonal relationships and to make choices and resolve conflict without resorting to actions
that will harm oneself or others. Adding to this, WHO (1994) further defines life skills as skills
that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. This
generic type of skills includes decision-making, problem-solving, self-awareness and
communication skills. TACADE (1990) views life skills as personal and social skills required by
young people to function confidently and competently with themselves, with other people and with
the wider community.

Peck and Hong (1988) cited in Tsatsi (2001) state that life skills are skills which enable people to
care for themselves in a supportive environment, and are concerned with independence in selfcare,
understanding the environment and living with others. Skills also enable people to make decisions
concerning life situations. From a practical point of view Peck and Hong (1988) as mentioned by
Tsatsi (2001) outlined the following life skills. Firstly personal skills, which refer to those skills
that are necessary to establish and maintain a network of appropriate and meaningful relationships,
interests and support systems e.g. developing friendships, leisure interests, environmental and road
safety, communication, social life, sexual relationships and marriage. Personal skills are also of
great importance for especially young people to fully understand the influence of peer pressure.
Secondly, home management skills, which include theoretical and technical knowledge necessary
to live safely, comfortable and healthy. Skills such as budgeting, nutrition and hygiene may serve
as examples. Thirdly, self-reliance skills, which include those skills, which are necessary for the
individual to be able to organize his/ her own life and to maintain and utilize the resources, they
need.

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The effective acquisition and application of life skills influence the way people feel about
themselves and others, and equally influence the way people are perceived by others. According
to WHO (1997) life skills contribute to peoples’ perceptions of self-efficacy, self-confidence and
self-esteem. Life skills therefore, play an important role in the promotion of individuals’ mental
well-being. The promotion of mental well-being contributes to people motivation to look after
themselves and others, the prevention of mental disorders, and the prevention of health behavior
problems. Life skills open doors and enable people to help themselves (Potgieter, 2004).

Life skills are also framed as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals
to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life” (WHO, 1997). Described in
this way, skills that can be said to be life skills are innumerable and the nature and definition of
life skills are likely to differ across cultures and settings.

However, analysis of the life skills field suggests that there is a core set of skills that are at the
heart to skills-based initiatives for the promotion of the health and well-being of children and
adolescents (Brack & Hill, 2000).

In the context of this study life skills are self-helping skills that enable people to help themselves.
As such they are aimed at empowering people. People who possess life skills are more adequate
to fulfill their potential and meet their needs. Potgieter (2004) notes that a wide variety of skills
can be selected for inclusion in a life skills programme for adolescents. The selection depends
largely on the target condition, which the client system faces. For this study life skills include
acquisition of self-reliance skills such as decision-making, problem solving, critical thinking,
selfawareness, assertiveness training, communication conflict resolution etc. A detailed discussion
of these skills will follow later in this chapter.

A final topic of interest in conceptualizing the concept life skills is the place of belonging in
defining life skills. Both the WHO (1994) and American School Counseling Associations (ASCA,
1994) as mentioned by Anderson and Okoro (2000) imply that all life skills no matter at what level
or dimension, must include the ability to facilitate a sense of belonging. Belonging plays a key role
in the growth and development of self-esteem, social skills and initiative while creating a sense of
belonging does not mean being a “buddy” and always getting along, it does mean that a person is
always welcomed into a group as long as they do not try to harm or disrupt the group. It also means
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that assertive communication and truth exist. It includes a sense of safety, both physical and
emotional (Brack and Hill, 2000; Anderson & Okoro, 2000).
Activity 1.3.
Instruction: The following questions are based on the paragraphs you have
read above. Before you proceed reading the passage, do the
following activity in your group.
1. Did you find that your prediction was right after you have read the
above paragraphs? ---------------------------------------------------------------
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2. Discuss the concept of ‘life skills’ in your group based on your

readings above. ------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. Write the summary of the concept of ‘life skills’ in a very short

paragraph cooperatively. -------------------------------------------------------
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The need for belonging is also emphasized by Alfred Adler (1870-1937) as cited by Brack and Hill
(2000: 24) who concluded that, as part of human nature there is a strong innate potential for kinship
and belonging to the human race. Each person is born with a natural desire to belong to a group,
such as family or culture, and to contribute to the growth and well-being of that group. It is a
genetic need or genetic potential and it simply exists in everyone at birth. As noted above, an innate
or genetic potential is a potential capability, which is likely to be developed if a person is given
the right opportunities. Without the right opportunities this need can be distorted or destroyed
(Baron & Byrne, 2003; Brack & Hill, 2000).

According to Brack and Hill (2000) what is important to note here is that belonging, the ability to
pursue meaningful relationships and contribute to society, is not automatic, it needs to be
consciously developed and when it is developed, it is intrinsically rewarding. However, people
have to actually learn ways of trusting others, giving and accepting care and being sincere. Adler

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(1870-1937) as cited by the above-mentioned authors, states that learning these skills is
intrinsically rewarding because the skills fulfill a genetic potential. Furthermore, because this need
is rooted in a strong genetic potential the fulfillment of the need for belonging is also a prerequisite
for emotional well-being. When the need for belonging is not met, a person may easily become
aloof, manipulative and self-centered. When the feeling of belonging and interpersonal
connectedness develops, a sense of social interest, co-operation and equality emerges. Belonging
is met by obtaining results, which provides closer relationships with others, and competence is met
by obtaining results, which are useful in many ways.

Basically belonging consists of forming a bond with other individuals. Belonging is a social
component of normal human development. It allows a person to express his or her social interest
in a healthy and mutually reciprocal manner that builds upon strength of all group members./
Activity 1.4.

• Write a brief conclusion to the above passage.

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Activity 1.5:

Instruction: Answer the following questions in groups based on the information in the passage.

1. What are the values of interpersonal relationships? ----------------------------------------------

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2. How do personal life skills help young people to understand the effect of peer pressure? -
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3. How is the sense of belonging developed? ---------------------------------------------------------
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 What is its importance? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---
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Instruction: Write ‘true’ if the statement is correct and ‘false’ if the statement is incorrect
according to the passage.

1. Life skills lead to dependency on others because interpersonal communication promotes

dependency on others.
2. Life skills are hardly important for people to develop interpersonal skills because they
lead people more to develop personally responsible choices..
3. According to the information in the passage, one who is good at life skills is effective in
organizing and leading his life.
4. Innate or genetic potential cannot develop after birth.
5. The fulfillment of emotional well-being is a pre-requisite to belonging.

Instruction: Choose the most appropriate alternative based on the information in the passage.

1. Making personally responsible choices includes all except one.

a) Maximizing choices to improve one’s life.

b) Avoiding personal responsibility.

c) Taking responsibility for one’s well-being.

d) Making choices for enabling one’s happiness.

2. One of the following is an example of home-management skills.

a) Developing friendship c) Marriage
b) Road safety d) Budgeting
3. What will happen when the need for belonging is not fulfilled? A person may be______
a) assertive c) self-centered
b) happy d) communicative

4. Potgieter (2004) mentions that life skills include the skill of:

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 a) decision-making c ) creating conflict
a) critical thinking d) A&B
4. According to the American School Counseling Associations (ASCA, 1994), all life skills
must incorporate the ability to enhance:
a) A sense of belonging c) Critical thinking
b) A feeling of responsibility d) empowering people
5. As stated by Brack and Hill (2000), what kind of ability will be intrinsically motivated if
it is well developed?
a) Problem solving c) Pursuing meaningful rapport
b) Assertive d)Decision making

Instruction: According to the passage, what do the following words/pronouns refer to?

1. ‘these’ (paragraph 3, line 1)_______________________________________

2. ‘they’ (paragraph 3, line 3) _______________________________________

3. ‘those’ (paragraph 5 line 6)________________________________________

4. ‘their’ (paragraph 9, line 3) _______________________________________

5. ‘this’ (paragraph 11, line 7) ________________________________________

6. ‘it’ ( paragraph 13, line 2) _________________________________________

Instruction: Guess the meanings of the following words as they are used in the reading
passage.

1. well-being (Para 3, line 5)________________________________________

2. self-awareness (Para 4, line 5) ____________________________________
3. peer pressure (Para 5, line 10) _____________________________________
4. self-efficacy (Para 6, line 3)_______________________________________
5. self-esteem (Para 6, line 7) _______________________________________
6. framed (Para 7, line 1) ___________________________________________
7. innumerable (Para 7, line 3) _______________________________________
8. core (Para 8, line 1) _____________________________________________
9. kinship (Para 11, line 3) _________________________________________
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10. pursue (Para 12, line 2) __________________________________________

Note
Types of Conclusions Essay conclusions are, as a rule, no more than one paragraph in
length. To have a lengthier conclusion is to introduce a new topic or bring in too much
information to neatly wrap up the essay. Many students are under the impression that the
conclusion should be a summary of the essay, touching on all the points as a reminder to
the reader. While this may be true in some disciplines (especially, within the social
sciences), it is not the most creative or interesting way to conclude an essay for your English
class. Instead, consider one of the following possibilities as you write your concluding
paragraph.
The Embedded Conclusion
In some cases, especially with a narrative essay that tells a personal story in chronological
order, the conclusion can be the last paragraph of the body. For instance, if you are telling
the story of how you learned the English language, and the last paragraph brings us to your
current state of increased confidence mixed with lingering cautiousness, then that last
paragraph gives us a solid place to part company.
Example:
I am now studying English in an ESL class at Cabrillo College. I know this is not the last
leg of my journey, for I have a lot more to learn about American idioms and phrasing.
However, even as I struggle, I feel more confidence than ever before. I am so far getting
“A” grades on all my written assignments. Still, I will always feel cautious, like I am
walking on egg shells, as I try to use a language that is so different from the one I was born
into in a land faraway.

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The Retrospective Conclusion
For a narrative essay, or for any essay that uses chronology or traces an historic movement,
you may want to consider the retrospective conclusion. This concluding paragraph uses
“hindsight” to consider what came before with new insight gained from experience.

Example:
Ten years ago, I would never have believed that I would be living in the United States and
using English to buy groceries and make new friends. I would have fainted at the thought
of writing professional documents in the English language. Nonetheless, here I am, writing
an English essay in my first college English class and expecting to receive an

“A.” Time will tell how far my English studies will take me.

The Reflective Conclusion

The reflective conclusion is similar to the retrospective kind, but it allows a broader train
of thought as one considers the various themes, lessons, or insights that have emerged from
the essay writing experience.

Example:
In choosing to approach life’s challenges from a passive position, many teens see their bad
choices as a result of their circumstances. Whether it’s an unwanted pregnancy, a drug
addiction, or an abusive relationship, girls especially can make excuses so that they don’t
have to change. I wish I could tell them that they don’t have to be imprisoned by their past
choices—it’s never too late to take charge of your destiny.

The Projective Conclusion

This type of conclusion works especially well for research papers but can be used for most
expository essays and some narrative ones as well. It involves projecting a future outcome
of the circumstances you describe. It may project the negative results of a social issue if it
remains unresolved or a threat to humanity. In other contexts, this conclusion

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 can state a need for further research in an area to enhance our understanding, or it could
predict an interesting, unexpected outcome based on current trends.

Example:
A crisis continues to brew in our school systems where it is no longer the case of just bullies
turning to serial violence. As we saw in the Columbine shootings, even victims of chronic
bullying, in an attempt to fight back and regain some power or dignity, are taking up arms
and gunning down their classmates. Case after case shows us that criminal violence
amongst school-aged children in America is not limited to just males or pinned to any one
ethnicity or socioeconomic class. It is a crisis of the generation gap increased by rapidly
changing technology and a lack of real communication. Unless we start talking to each
other, more of our youth will die, and children will be safer on the streets than they are in
the schoolyard.

The above four types of conclusions are not meant to limit you but to give you guidance as
you apply your own unique stamp of creativity to your essay. The most important factor
in writing your conclusion is that you give yourself enough time to experiment with a few
possibilities. Don’t deny yourself the creative thrill of that final flourish!

Part II Grammar: Active and Passive Voices

The grammar lesson for the Unit is ‘Active and Passive Voices’. What are active and passive
voices? Can you give us examples? Read an article below and underline the verbs in the passive
voice.

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 Active and Passive Voices

Activity 1.6: Identifying passive verb forms.

Instruction: Read the following magazine article. Pay special attention to verbs in the passive voice
and underline them.

The Academy Awards are given out every year to recognize outstanding work of movie actors,
directors, and others who are part of the movie-making industry. These awards, called Oscars, are
presented in a formal ceremony in Hollywood. Several people are nominated in specific categories,
such as Best Movie, Best Actor, Best Music, and Best Costumes. One nominee is chosen to receive
an award in each category. When the awards ceremony started in 1929, 15 awards were presented
and the ceremony was attended by only 250 people. Tickets cost $10, and anyone who could afford
a ticket could attend. Today about two dozen Oscars are presented. Tickets are no longer sold to
the general public; invitations are sent only to people involved in making the movies and to their
guests. Today the awards are presented in the 3400-seat Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Until 1941,
the winners’ names were already known before the ceremony and published in newspapers the
night before the ceremony. Now the winners’ names are placed in sealed envelopes and the
envelopes are not opened until the night of the ceremony. Since 1953, Oscar night has been
televised and broadcast all over the world. This show is seen by hundreds of millions of people.
Viewers watch as their favorite movie stars arrive looking beautiful and hopeful.

Activity 1.7.

Instruction: In your group list down the verbs in passive voice below.
1. ------------------------------ 8. ----------------------------------
2. ------------------------------ 9. -----------------------------------
3. ------------------------------ 10. ---------------------------------
4. ------------------------------ 11. ---------------------------------
5. ------------------------------ 12. ---------------------------------
6. ------------------------------ 13. ---------------------------------
7. ------------------------------ 14. ----------------------------------
Now, discuss in your group how the above verbs were formed.

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 The Passive Voice: Form

To help you understand the passive and active voices, their forms in different tenses are briefly
given to you in the following Table. The active verb forms of different tenses are given in italics
under the ‘Active’ column, while their passive forms are provided under the ‘Passive’ column in
bold and italics.

Activity 1.8:

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. What did you notice in the passive forms? ---------------------------------------------------------

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2. What are the changes made in each tense? ---------------------------------------------------------
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3. What are the different changes made between the active and passive voices? ----------------
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4. What inclusions have you noticed? -----------------------------------------------------------------
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5. Tell your answers for questions 1-4 to your group members. If you find differences between
your answers, try to convince each other referring to the example active and passive forms
of different tenses in Table 1.1 below.

Note: Reading the following Table, compare active voice and passive voice in different
tenses.

Table 1.1: Active and Passive voices in different tenses

Tense Active Passive = Be + Past Participle
Simple Present. A committee chooses the winner. The winner is chosen by a
committee

Present Continuous They are presenting an award now. An award is being presented now.
Future They will pick the best movie. They The best movie will be picked. The

are going to pick the best movie. best movie is going to be picked.

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 Simple Past They announced the winner’s name. The winner’s name was announced.
Past Continuous They were interviewing the winners. The winners were being
interviewed.

Present Perfect They have chosen the best movie. The best movie has been chosen.
Modal You can see the movie on DVD. The movie can be seen on DVD

Activity 1. 9:

Instruction: Write the correct active or passive forms of the verbs in brackets and list them in the
spaces provided below. Take care of the tense you use. Numbers 2, 8 and 12 are done
for you as an example.

My sister and I -------- (1. grow up) and went to school in Jamaica. We were educated (2. educate)
according to the British system. In 1997 we -------- (3. give) the opportunity to come to the United
States. We decided to finish high school before leaving our own country. We -------- (4.concern)
that the education in this country might not be as good as the one we had there, and we wanted to
improve our English too.

My colleagues A, B, and I, ------------ (5. design) an experiment to test the impact on worker
perceptions of well-being when domesticated cats ------------- (6. allow) to freely roam various
work environments in which the subjects were normally employed. Three test environments ------
--- (7. select) for our experiments: a law office, a laboratory in which experiments ----------- (8.
perform) using laboratory rats, and an automobile assembly line. One-way mirrored glass
panelswere installed (9.install) to allow video cameras to record the activity and researchers to
observe the same and take notes. We secretly inserted observers directly into the work
environment. These observers posed as outside contractors and ------------ (10. uniform) as
maintenance and cleaning staff, coffee and water service vendors, and similar supporting
personnel. The observers ------------ (11. draw) from the students who had been matriculated (12.
matriculate) into the experimental psychology courses from which this study ------------- (13.
develop) as an example of such studies generally.

Now, in your group, list down the verbs forms (active or passive) in the above story.
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 1. ------------------------------- 7. ---------------------------------

3. ------------------------------- 9. ---------------------------------

4. ------------------------------- 10. ---------------------------------

5. ------------------------------- 11. -------------------------------
6. ------------------------------- 13. -------------------------------
Activity 1.10: Paragraph writing using active and passive verb forms.

Context: Create a news report (fictional or real) about an environmental event such as a fire,
earthquake, drought, heavy rain, flood etc. Select a location (city or country) and present
it to the class, pointing out your use of the passive tense throughout.

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Activity 1.11: Writing a paragraph using active and passive verb forms based on the
garment production steps given below.

Context: Garment Production Process, steps

Garment production is an organized activity. It consists of the following steps.

laying checking marking

finishing cutting

pressing stitching packaging

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Activity 1.12

Instruction: Ask senior History and Biology students to give you their story developed and
experiment report. See how they applied Active and Passive Voices. As an
alternative to this, you can bring examples from other sources (books, internet)
and present it to your group members.

Part III Speaking

Activity 1.13:

Instruction: The purpose of this activity is to have you think about your own problem solving
experiences either in your village or in a school situation. Read the scenarios given
to you below, think about what your steps can be and tell problem-solution to your
group members.

1. Senait’s friend is stressed about an upcoming test. Senait already took the test and got
100%, so she knows all the answers already. Should she:
a. Just give the answers to her friend
b. Use her knowledge to coach her friend
c. Not get involved at all
2. Zelalem overhears two students bragging about having posted some inappropriate images
of a female student online for a joke. Should he:
a. Mind his own business
b. Report the incident to the school principal
c. Confront the boys and defend the student
3. A friend tells you that he/she has been receiving anonymous bullying messages online.
You suspect that certain people are guilty. Would you:
a. Tell your friend just to ignore them
b. Encourage them to report the abuse
c. Risk confronting the ones you suspect
Note
Interpersonal skill is the ability to interact with people through effective listening and
communication. It is important for you to have interpersonal skills because it helps you
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 connect with people and benefits your personality development too. Generally, you learn
interpersonal skills at school itself with your teachers and classmates. I want you to evaluate
yourself about your application of the interpersonal skills.

Activity 1.14: Which of the following interpersonal skills did you apply and/ or develop during
your group activities? Rate your application of or engagement in each of the
interpersonal activities.
Interpersonal Engag ement Rate Explain how you
skill applied it

Very good Good Satisfactory Poor

Active listening
Teamwork
Responsibility

Dependability
Motivation

Leadership

Flexibility
Patience
Empathy

Part IV Writing

Activity 1.15: Discuss the problem you encountered at school; and then write it in a short
paragraph
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Instruction: In your group, ask each other about a time when you encountered a problem at
school. Answer the questions below given as facilitation steps to your discussion.
Did you follow the same process to solve the school-related problem?
• What kind of problem was it?
• What happened?
• What factors did you have to consider when finding a solution?
• What steps were taken to resolve this problem?
• Who made the decision about how the problem was resolved?

UNIT II
SPECULATIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SCIENCE
In this Unit, you will read about an Ethiopian scientist who discovered the medication to Bilharzia.
From your reading, you will learn about how scientists observe situations and endeavor to
experiment to find important things to people. What important things have you observed in your
environment which will be an initiation for you to search more on them?

The grammar lesson will be about future tense. Do you know the different forms of future tense?
Do you know their functions?

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Based on your reading, you will practice writing and speaking in English being in groups. Before
you read the passage, answer the following lead-in questions.

Unit Objectives

Students are expected to:

• understand how scientific investigation can be carried out;

• develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities in different areas including;
and

• know the future tense forms and use them in their speech and writing, when appropriate.

Activity 2.1. Pre-reading questions

Instruction: Answer the following questions in groups before you read the passage.

1. Do you an Ethiopian scientist who has important discovery? Who is he? What did he
discover? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2. Scientific discovery serves to construct and integrate scientific knowledge. Some people
say that the discovery helps develop technology, addresses societal issues, solves everyday
problems, satisfies curiosity and builds knowledge. Can you put these values in order of
importance with justification? -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. Which of the following statements do you accept? Explain why you have accepted it
(them)?
a) New scientific knowledge may lead to new applications.
b) New technological advances may lead to new scientific discoveries
c) Potential applications may motivate scientific investigations.

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Now, read the passage.

Grassroots attack on bilharzia

(by Mike Muller, a freelance journalist specializing in Third World affairs)

An African researcher has made encouraging progress in using a pesticide from an indigenous
plant to combat bilharzia-the parasitic disease that afflicts 250 million people in the Third World.
Over the past five years, an experiment has been going on in Ethiopia which has made encouraging
progress in the fight against a disease that ravages three continents. The village of Adwa in
northern Ethiopia is already remembered in African history as the place where the 19th century
Italian colonizers were halted. Now, it is the setting for a new initiative against a harder and more
insidious enemy-the bilharzia parasite.
Activity 2.2.
Instruction: The following questions are based on the paragraph you have just read. Before
you read the succeeding paragraphs: a) Group yourselves and discuss the
questions with your group members; and b) write its summary in a very short
sentence.
1. What is the main idea of the paragraph? ----------------------------------------------------------
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2. What do you think the next paragraphs will be about? --------------------------------
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Bilharzia ranks with malaria as one of the most widespread and serious parasitic diseases in the
world, afflicting an estimated 250 million people in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the
Caribbean. It is transmitted through contact with contaminated water. So, unlike malaria with its
more democratic vector, bilharzia is invariably a problem among poorer communities in the
developing countries. It is a debilitating disease rather than a fatal one. It can take years for tissue
damage caused by the parasite to manifest itself in the form of internal bleeding and malfunctions
of the bladder, liver, and intestines. The disease saps energy and shortens the life span but it does
not contribute obviously to mortality statistics.

Perhaps, for these reasons it has not been the focus of any major health offensive-outside of
mainland China. Treatment is possible although expensive and pointless in communities where
reinfection is almost inevitable. In isolated irrigation schemes, the disease has been limited by

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eradicating the parasite’s intermediate host with commercial pesticides. But these solutions are not
practicable for most poor rural communities.

It is in this context that the work of Dr.Aklilu Lemma of the Haile Selassie University in Addis
Ababa is important. Dr.Lemma has just completed the field work of a five year pilot bilharzia
control project in Adwa. Such control programmes have been carried out before but in this one
there is a vital new factor. The key to it is a pesticide produced from a locally occurring plant. The
availability –and low cost in foreign currency –of the plant extract may make bilharzia control
practicable on a community scale in Ethiopia and probably other countries as well.
Activity 2.3.
Instruction: Answer the questions below based on the paragraphs you have just
read.
1. What are the ideas of each of the paragraphs above? -----------------------------
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2. How are the ideas related? -------------------------------------------------------------
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3. Write the summary of the paragraphs above in three or four lines. -------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Life cycle

The parasite responsible for bilharzia has a life cycle which is dependent on an intermediate hosta
common species of water snail-for transmission to the final host. Eggs from the mature parasite
are continually excreted by infected persons or animals. If they reach water, they hatch into an
intermediate form which seeks out a snail host. In the snail, after further transformations, the
parasite begins to release numerous ‘cercariae’ the form which affects man. These cercariae can
penetrate skin, so any contact with infected water is enough to transmit the disease.

Bilharzia can be controlled by eradicating the snails by keeping humans (and their waste) away
from water bodies that could be infected. Treatment itself is of little value for even if all human
22
carriers were temporarily cured, the parasite population could be maintained by infected animals.
Even if all affected communities were provided with safe water, washing facilities and toilets,
farmers and fishermen would still be vulnerable and children would still swim in rivers. So in
practice, snail eradication has to be the focal point of any control programme.
Activity 2.4:
Instruction: Answer the following questions in your group.
1. Make notes on the ideas in the above two paragraphs. Then,
a) How do express the life cycle of bilharzia in one or two sentences?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
b) How is bilharzia controlled? ------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What do you think Dr. Lemma’s finding will be as a solution to the
problems we face because of bilharzia? ---------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Lemma’s present work on bilharzia control started almost by accident. While conducting a
survey of the snail population along a stream in northern Ethiopia, he found a large number of dead
snails just downstream from a village washing place. Upstream and further downstream there was
an abundant population of live snails. Investigation revealed that the “soap” used by the villagers
for washing clothes-ground berries of a plant called endod-had molluscicides as well as detergent
properties.

Further investigation showed that Sundried ground endod kills snails at a dilution of 15-30 ppm
and that it has a very low toxicity to mammals and plants. The endod bush (Phytolacca docecandra)
is popular with villagers in northern Ethiopia as a hedge and the berried can be bought locally.

In 1969, Dr. Lemma began a field trial at Adwa. The idea was to control the snail population in the
two streams that cross the village by regular application of endod and to check the effectiveness
of these efforts by observing, among other factors, the incidence of infection amongst local
inhabitants, particularly young children. A preliminary survey in 1971 showed that the incidence
had already dropped dramatically-from 50 to 15 percent –and the final results are expected to show
an even further decline. The large decline in the rate of infection among one to five year-olds has

23
been particularly encouraging as this group became vulnerable to infection after the control
programme began.

While the field programme was progressing, Dr.Lemma worked for a while at the Stanford
Research Institute in California to elucidate the structure and functions of the active ingredient in
the endod berry, to examine its properties, and to develop a sample extraction technique to
concentrate it. He established that a butanol extract comprising 20 percent of the berry weight is
effective at dilutions of two to three ppm, which is in a comparable range to available commercial
products.

Other avenues of research are still open. Dr. Lemma wants to see villagers encouraged to use endod
as soap. But with an eye to social trends he is also investigating the possibility of formulating a
detergent cum molluscicide from the endod. In Adwa and elsewhere villagers have begun to take
cardboard cartons of synthetic detergent to the streams with them. There is also a need to develop
improved strains of the plant and to overcome if possible the loss of potency that was observed
when the plant was cultivated in East Africa.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the Adwa project is its simplicity. Endod berries are bought in
the local market. They are ground, a few hundred kilos at a time, in the mill usually used by the
villagers for grinding chili peppers. The endod is applied along stream banks with watering cans
every three to eight weeks. The control programme for a community of about 20 000 involves only
three people full time and much of their work is part of on-going research.

The simplicity of the project contrasts dramatically with the procedures necessary when the more
expensive synthetic molluscicides are used. The consequence of this was highlighted by a
Rhodesian health worker who wrote “due to the more or less stringent requirements in dispensing
molluscicides the application generally rests with specially trained personnel. Snail control can
therefore be carried out with little or no cooperation from these people who are being protected.”
The irony is that community involvement is essential if any bilharzia control programme is to be
successful. Here Lemma believes that his current work can make an impact. “Community
involvement through health education, active participation by the people involved and the
systematic application of locally grown and processed endod should become routine. These

24
activities by individuals, families, and villages when developed become a truly self-help form of
health control.”

Activity 2.5:
Instruction: Write a conclusion of your own to the passage above.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 2. 6:

Instruction: Answer the following questions based on the information in the passage.

1. What are the three continents that were ravaged by Bilharzia? ---------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What are the symptoms of Bilharzia? --------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Why is it easy to apply Aklilu’s pesticide in developing countries? ---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Why is malaria’s vector considered ‘democratic’ by the author? -------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Why did the author describe the discovery of the cure for Bilharzia at Adwa incidental? --
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

25
 6. What made the project on Endod different from other projects in health? --------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. How is Bilharzia transmitted to humans? ----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 2.7:

Instruction: The following words are taken from the reading passage you have read. Use the
word that has a similar meaning with the word in italics in the following sentences.

ravage insidious afflict invariably debilitate offensive inevitable vital

vulnerable abundant toxicity dilution potency dispense

1. It occasionally happens that a change in concentration affects the chemical action that
occurs
2. This acute infection of the brain is almost similarly fatal.
3. What we're accomplishing with Howie is important; we can't stop doing it.
4. That is the deceptive nature of gambling that must be controlled.
5. The teacher felt she needed to give out compliments to each student so that they could feel
better about themselves.
6. The public work suffers from the consequences of white ants.

Part II Grammar: Future Tense

Activity 2. 8:

Instruction: Answer the following questions in groups.

1. What are future tenses? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

26
2. What are the different forms of future tenses?-----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Read the following passage on the ‘Mystery Guest’ and underline the future tense
indicators.

The Mystery GUest

Justin and Megan have a surprise for their two

children, Sally and Timmy. They are going to
have a special guest soon. "Can you guess who
it will be?" Megan asks.

Sally and Timmy take turns guessing.

"Will Grandma visit us soon?" Timmy asks. Megan tells Timmy that Grandma is not going to
visit soon.

"Is Uncle Bill going to stay with us again?" Sally asks. Justin tells Sally that Uncle Bill is not
going to stay with them again.

Justin and Megan give their children another hint. "She is going to arrive in about 6 months,"
Megan says. "And she is going to stay with us for a very long time."

27
 "Where will she sleep?" Sally asks. Megan and Justin tell Sally that their special guest is going
to sleep in their bedroom at first. Then, she will have her own bedroom.

Sally and Timmy ask a few more questions, but they cannot guess who the special guest will
be. "Who is going to visit us?" Sally and Timmy ask at the same time. "Well," Justin says,
"you probably haven't noticed yet, but your Mother is pregnant! She is going to have a baby!"

"You are going to have a new little sister in 6 months!" Megan exclaims. Timmy and Sally
cannot believe what they hear!

Sally is excited. She knows that she is going to be a good big sister. "I am going to have a
sister!" Sally shouts.

Timmy groans. "I wish I was going to have a brother," he says.

Megan and Justin hug their children and laugh. They know that Sally and Timmy are going to
love their new little sister!

.4. Now discuss the forms of the future tense in your group. Can you guess the meaning of each
of the future sentences?

Notes
In the following table, you are provided brief notes about the different forms and functions of the
future tense in English with examples. Read and understand them.

Tense Uses Examples

I am meeting Eliza at 4:00 tomorrow afternoon.

Present progressive Rick is not attending the meeting.
Arrangements Is Julia coming to the event?

I am going to start eating healthier foods.

We are not going to miss a single episode this season!

Intentions Are you going to clean your room?

28
Be going to Predictions based on Be careful! You are going to spill your tea!
current circumstances
There are no clouds in the sky.
It is not going to rain.

The light is red. Is the car going to stop?

I will pay you back tomorrow.

Promises We will not forget Mom’s birthday.

Will you take the dog for a walk?

I am bored. I will take a short break.

Instant decisions It is too cold. I will not go outside.

Will you have juice or tea?
Simple
future I think you will enjoy this book.

Caroline will not arrive on time.

Predictions
Will people take vacations in space someday?

Wendy will be 30 next week.

The sun will not set before 7:00 tomorrow evening.

Future facts What time will the sun rise tomorrow?

All aboard! The train leaves in five minutes.

Simple present Time tables and Academic activities do not begin until February.
schedules
Does Theodore’s plane arrive soon?

Activity 2.9:

Instruction: Write the words in brackets in the appropriate forms of the future tense.

A Wonderful Plan

Allison and Nate, a brother and sister, live together in an apartment. They attend university in the
same city, so they live together to share expenses. Their parents live in a different city, but they
are visiting their children this weekend. In fact, they (arrive) at the airport in about an hour!

29
Nate and his older sister talk about all the arrangements they made for their parents’ visit.

“Okay, so we (go) to the concert tonight, right?” Nate asks.

“That is right,” Allison replies. “We are seeing the orchestra at 7:00pm.” “Are we (go) to the

museum tomorrow, then?” her brother asks.

“Yes, I reserved tickets for the special exhibition on mummies,” Allison says. “Are you coming

with us or are you meeting with your study group?”

“No, I am definitely going with you to the museum,” Nate answers. “I love mummies! All right,

so we are picking Mom and Dad up in about an hour.” “Yes, I (leave) in five minutes,” Allison

says.

Nate is confused. “What do you mean? We are both (go), right?”

“Of course not!” Allison laughs. “Look at this place! I was very busy making all the reservations

and getting all the tickets. We did not clean at all!”

“Oh no, you are right!” Nate looks at the messy living room and remembers all the dirty dishes in

the kitchen. “What will we do?”

“Do not worry, my dear brother,” Allison says, smiling. “You know I always have a plan.”

“Is a cleaning service coming?” Nate asks. “Are Mom and Dad staying in a hotel?”
“No, silly!” Allison replies. “No one (come) to help us clean.”

“Then what is your wonderful plan? What are we doing to get the apartment clean? Mom and Dad
are arriving in just forty-five minutes!” Now Nate (get) really nervous.

“Not to worry,” Allison reassures her brother. “I am driving to the airport to pick them up, and

then we are all going to a new art gallery that just opened. We are taking a guided tour for an hour.”

“How does an art gallery tour get the house clean?” Nate wonders.
30
“That does not clean the house! Remember that you (stay) here, little brother,” Allison says, giving
him a hug before she walks to the door. “This way you will have lots of time! I (go) out to have
fun with Mom and Dad because I am a wonderful daughter, and you (stay) here to clean the whole
apartment because you are a wonderful son!”

Activity 2. 10

Instruction: Construct as many future sentences using be+ going as possible based on Sara’s
schedule given in the table below. Write sentences as the example given.

Sara’s Schedule

Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Morning doctor’s meet with return attend go to gym

boss library conference
appointment
books

buy
groceries for attend buy food for
the week
Afternoon go to gym go to gym conference party

movie with do work dinner with do the dinner with

reports girlfriends ironing parents
Evening Dave

Ex. What is Sara going to do on Sunday morning? She’s going to visit her grandmother.

1. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31
 3. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 2.11:

Instruction: Choose the correct word from the list below to complete the sentences using the “going to”
structure. hang / wear / practice / get / ask / visit / write clean / study / exchange / quit /
take /
give / fix

Ex. My brother sent me a letter last week. I’m going to write him back tomorrow.

1. My house is very dirty. I it tomorrow.

2. Miriam is going to a party next Saturday. She her new red dress.
3. Robert bought a new painting at the art show. He it over the sofa in his living room.
4. The hockey championship is next month. The boys week. every night next

5. Jack hates his job. He next week.

Activity 2.12:

Instruction: Write the following sentences using ‘will + inf.’ to indicate a future action. Do the
exercise as in the example given.

Ex. Bob is going to take his driver’s test tomorrow. He didn’t practice.

He’ll probably fail. or He probably won’t pass.

1. It’s raining. Worku doesn’t have an umbrella.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Zinash has a very bad cold.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

32
 3. Sileshi didn’t sleep well last night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Elias loves movies. There is a new movie playing at the theater tonight.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Selamawit ate too much dessert last night and now she has a stomachache.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part III Speaking

Activity 2. 13:

Instruction: Discuss the following in groups comparing the given ones below based on the
information in the passage.

1. Bilharzia versus (vs) malaria

2. Endod vs other commercial pesticides

Part IV Writing

Activity 2.14:
Instruction: Write a short paragraph on each of the following.
1. Endod as a pesticide
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The lesson you learnt from Dr. Aklilu
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
33
 3. Local herb
- You ask someone who knows about herb medicines and write about: a)
What it is,

b) What it cures,
c) The process of its preparation, and the lesson you learnt about the local medicine,
and
d) What measures you would take about it in future (taking Dr. Aklilu as a model).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unit III Environmental Protection

Unit three has a reading passage about environmental challenges. There is also a supplementary
reading for this Unit at the end of the Module. The grammar focuses on modal verbs.

34
Objectives of the unit

At the end of the unit, you are expected to:

• become aware of the environmental problems and how they can be resolved;
• determine to participate in environmental protection;
• develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities; and
• understand and employ modal verbs in academic discussions and academic writing.

References

Azar, B. S. (2003). Fundamentals of English grammar. Longman.

Eggenschwiler, J.,& Biggs, E.D. (2001). Writing: Grammar, Usage, and Style. New York.
Hungry Minds. Inc

Lucy, J. A., & Lucy, L. A. (Eds.). (1993). Reflexive Language: Reported Speech and Meta
pragmatics. Cambridge University Press.

Murphy, R. (2012). English Grammar in Use. Ernst Klett Sprachen.

Naylor, H., & Murphy, R. (2007). Essential Grammar in Use. Supplementary Exercises. With
Answers. Ernst Klett Sprachen

Before you read the passage, answer the following general questions in a group.

Activity 3.1. Pre-reading questions

1. What are the different environmental challenges currently facing the world? ----------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What are the common natural and man-made environmental disasters that recurrently occur
in Ethiopia? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. What are the effects of natural and man-made disasters? ----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What measures do you think the government and the people should take to solve the
environmental challenges in Ethiopia? -------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. What do you think you can do to protect deforestation in Ethiopia? ---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, read the passage below. While you are reading, you will find in-text activities that will help
you develop your note-making ability, select salient points from your reading and predict
concerning the next parts in the reading. The discussion of the activities and the summary writing
will help you develop your English language proficiency in speaking and writing.

Environmental Challenges A river

ran through it

The River Murray used to be compared to America's Mississippi. During the 19th century, paddle
steamers were a familiar sight along its lazy green-grey currents, ferrying goods from town to
town. Covering an area of more than one million km2, the Murray basin carries water from the
tropical north in Queensland to the Darling River, and from the Murray's source in the Snowy
Mountains to the outskirts of Adelaide, 1,500 miles downstream.

Nearly 60 years ago, the Snowy Hydro scheme was opened. The scheme promised to provide a
reliable supply of water to the Murray. The dry, fertile country to the west was transformed into
dairy pastures, orchards and lush rice fields. Years of over-allocation for irrigation, as well as
drought, has resulted in a pitifully low stream level. In June 2006, the catchment area received an
inflow of 700 gigalitres. A year later, it had plummeted to 300 gigalitres. (One gigalitre is
1,000,000,000 litres.)

36
 Activity 3.2
Instruction: Answer the following questions based on the paragraphs you have just
read.
1. What is the central idea of the paragraphs above? ---------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. What is the cause for Murray’s water level reduction? ---------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some people question whether climate change is the cause. Louise and Andrew Burge are farmers
but they refute evidence that the current drought is driven by climate change. They showed me a
series of old photographs showing the Murray in drier conditions than now. 'Global warming
represents a herd mentality with a herd mentality for the solutions,' she said.

According to a UN report, per capita, Australia's emissions of greenhouse gases are among the
highest in the world. As the drought bites, the conflict between farmers, traditionally portrayed as
rampant land-clearers, and environmentalists, is brought to the fore. In reality, while all the farmers
I spoke to were global warming sceptics, they were passionate conservationists. Many farmers
argue that the current drought is very similar to that of the 1890s and 1940s.

Nonetheless, the effect on rural towns all along the Murray is acute. Figures from the Reserve Bank
reveal that rural debt has doubled from £10bn in 1999 to £20bn in 2005. In Deniliquin, 20 minutes
from the Burges' farm, the wide streets are eerily quiet. That evening, in the empty Federal Hotel,
I meet Wayne Cockayne, a 44-year-old whose eyes stare into the mid-distance. 'This town's gone
backward,' he says, taking a sip on a Diet Coke. 'In 1979, when I left school, the town was
prospering. Now farmers' children are leaving the land.'

For the past four years, Cockayne hasn't made a cent from the cereals on his 3,000-acre property
20 miles south of Deniliquin. This year he had to pay for water to be trucked in to flush his toilet.
37
He grits his teeth. 'I know about depression,' he goes on. 'I locked myself in at home for four days.
Then I got in the family car and drove into town. A friend found me slumped over the steering
wheel crying. I never thought I'd be a person who would suffer from it.'

'In the first seven years, I had, on average, two people a year from the farming community who
presented with depression,' Dr Harry von Rensburg tells me in his surgery in Barham, 60 miles
west of Deniliquin. This year he is 'actively managing' more than 120 farmers, including some of
the most high-profile landowners in the district. A psychologist comes once a week and has backto-
back appointments. 'If we could get her twice a week we would fill that.' A national mental health
report stated that one farmer commits suicide in Australia every four days. I ask Dr Von Rensburg
whether this figure is accurate.

Absolutely. In the past three years there have been eight suicide attempts here. A handful are on
suicide watch - their spouses or children have taken control of firearms.' He leans back in his big
black chair. 'Shooting is the most favored method; second is hanging.' Von Rensburg puts this
dramatic increase down to the drought's longevity and the uncertainty it brings. 'People are asking
themselves, will this be ongoing? Are we going to see our landscape change? Will we survive?'

Neil Eagle is another farmer who questions climate change. He is the grand old man of orchard
farming in the region, a sprightly 73-year-old with large, dirt-encrusted hands and a deep, rumbling
voice. He refuses to be beaten. Eagle's family has been living around Eagle Creek since 1870. 'As
far as temperature changes go, in the Forties and Fifties it was definitely hotter than it is now,' he
says. 'I don't agree with the doom and gloom merchants that the sea is going to rise.'
He gives a wry smile. 'It's become nearly a religion, this idea of global warming.'

Activity 3.3
Instruction: Make notes on the above paragraphs and:
a) discuss the ideas in your group,
b) write a summary of the ideas in three or four sentences.

38
But some 300 miles west of Eagle Creek, in South Australia, Anne Jensen is witnessing a collapse
of entire ecosystems on the floodplains. In the Nineties, one local from Kingston-onMurray
described this as a 'garden of Eden' for river red gums, some 400 years old. Today it resembles a
graveyard. Jensen sees the 'hundreds of thousands of trees' dying in the Lower Murray as 'a
combined effect of a man-made drought in the river system, together with the severe natural
drought which is proving to be the last straw'.

The twisted, ashen-grey branches of the black box eucalyptus and river gums are stark indicators
of the region's deteriorating health. These hardy trees require natural flooding to survive. They
have done without a decent drink for over a decade. 'If we got a flood in the next two to three years
we could save the river, but only with enormous amounts of rain.'

A mile from Kingston is Banrock Station. More famous for its crisp white wines than its pioneering
conservation strategies, this vineyard pumps profits back into restoring the local wetlands. It has
had considerable success, but due to the minimal amount of water in the Murray allocated for the
environment, and the rising salinity, they can only achieve so much. What has struck me is that if
temperatures continue to rise globally, as predicted, what is happening now in Australia will occur
in other regions where countries share one river system - the Euphrates in the Middle East, the
Mekong in Asia. The World Bank estimates that by 2025, about 48 countries will experience water
shortages, affecting more than 1.4bn people, the majority in under-developed regions. Here in
Australia, at least the economy is robust and competing groups whose livelihoods depend on the
dwindling flow of the Murray can sit down and talk. Where rivers cross borders, it won't be a case
of negotiating and compromise - it will be war.

The future of many Australian farmers hangs in the balance. Last year the drought whittled 1% off
the national economy, and this year reduced the available annual milk supply by more than a billion
litres. During Australia's winter, the blistering summer is still several months away. But Professor
Mike Young warns that already 'Adelaide is in a very frightening situation. If it doesn't rain and
the dams don't fill, there isn't enough water in the system to supply the city.'

39
 Activity 3.5
Instruction: Write a conclusion of your own in a very short paragraph.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 3: 6
Instruction: Answer the following questions based on the information in the passage. Do the
activity in groups.

1. What was observed on the Murray River? ---------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What's a gigalitre? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. What two groups are in conflict? --------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What has happened to farmer debt? ----------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. What evidence has the Burge family got against climate change? ------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Why is Wayne Cockayne unhappy? ----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Someone described Murray as a 'garden of Eden' and a ‘graveyard’. Why is that so? -------
40
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. What does Neil Eagle mean when he says 'It's become nearly a religion, this idea of global
warming'? (para. 9)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. When it comes to sorting out climate problems over water, what advantage does Australia
have over some other areas of the world? ----------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

10. What is meant by 'a wry smile' (para. 9)? In what other ways can we describe a smile? ----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 3. 7

Instruction: Find out words from the passage that mean the words and phrases below.
1. changed completely -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. fell very dramatically -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. reject ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. uncontrolled ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. very serious ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. strangely and worryingly ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part II Grammar: Modal Verbs

The grammar part in this Unit is about modal verbs. What are modal verbs? What are the purposes
of using them? Which of the following verbs do you know? What are their functions?

can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, ought to, will, would

41
These verbs are auxiliary verbs that provide additional and specific meaning to main verbs in
sentences.

Do the following activities based on your previous knowledge on modal verbs. I will give you a
brief note for you to recall your past lessons in the middle of the grammar section. When you do
the activities, please do them in groups because you can share ideas and learn more about the verbs.

Activity 3.8:

Instruction: Match the two columns to identify the use of each modal verb.
No Statements Use
1 Zeberga should call Almaz soon after their first date. a. obligation

2 Almaz should be happy to get his call. b. possibility

3 Zeberga calls but she doesn’t pick up, she must be working. c. low probability
4 No problem, he can call her back later. d. rational probability

5 Later he tells her they could go out to dinner again. e. certainty

6 She says she may be available Friday. f. polite request
7 Zeberga asks if he can call her back Friday morning. g. permission

8 She says she could be in a meeting, the afternoon is better. h. advice

9 Friday afternoon, Zeberga asks: May I pick you up at 6 pm? i. capacity

10 He must be on time to make a good impression. j. suggestion

Answers

1. ---------------- 2. ------------------ 3. --------------- 4.--------------- 4. -

------------ 5. ------------------- 6. -------------- 7. -------------- 8.

-------------- 9. ---------------------------10. -----------------

Activity 3.9:

Instruction: Match each statement to a sentence with the same meaning.

42
No Statement Meaning

1 Tinsae must write a report tomorrow. a. She needs to help him, or the report will not
be finished on time.

2 Tinsae couldn’t write it yesterday. b. Rahel’s boss says she is allowed to help
Jack.

3 Rahel says she can help him tomorrow. c. Tinsae will have to write a report tomorrow.

4 She has to help him, or the report will not be d. Rahel says she will be able to help him
finished on time. tomorrow.

5 Rahel’s boss says she may help Jack. e. Tinsae wasn’t able to write it yesterday.

Answers

1. ---------- 2. ----------- 3. ----------- 4. ----------- 5. -------------- Activity

3.10:

Instruction: Complete each of the spaces in the text below by using a phrase from the following
list.

may have landed might have done this

must have used up all the food can’t have been easy may have discovered

the island should have done this could have been part might have been gods

must not have landed

Easter Island

Easter Island, 3,000 km off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean is very far from land. Today, it
is a small island with few people or trees, but at one time a lot of people lived there. Scientists
believe that the original inhabitants _____________________________________ by accident.
43
Around 100 people _______________________________ on the western coast of the island. But
then the number of inhabitants increased too quickly. Scientists agree that the inhabitants
_________________ _________________ on the island and finally all died. The Easter Island
statues are famous, but nobody knows why they are there or why there are so many. The statues
_____________________________ or Easter Island __________________________ of a much
bigger island. The statues are very large and heavy, so they ________________________ to move.
Scientists still do not know how the inhabitants. _________________________.

Notes on Modal verbs and their functions

Modal verbs are those helping verbs, which express the ‘mode’ or ‘manner’ of the actions indicated
by the main verbs. They express modes such as ability, possibility, probability, permission,
obligation, etc. The most commonly used modal verbs s are shall, should, will, would, can, could,
may, might, must, ought to, used to, need and dare.

Modal verbs are used to:

• Ask permission—----- may, can, could Examples: May I come in?
Could I use your pen, please?

• Make a request—--------- can, could

Example: Could you please give me the doctor’s telephone number?

• Express a possibility—may, might, could Example: It might rain during the

night.

• Give advice or suggestion—--------- should

Example: You should wear a helmet while riding your motorbike.

44
• Express necessity or compulsion—----------- must, have to Examples: We must
slow down while driving in front of a school.
I have to submit my project by tomorrow.

• Express prohibition
Example: You must not talk loudly in the library.

• Express a promise or intention—---------- will, shall Example: I will mail you my

address.

• Express a wish—may
Example: May you have a long life!

A modal verb does not change according to the number or person of the subject.
Examples: He can learn. I can learn. You can learn.
They can learn. We can learn.

A modal verb is always used with a verb in its basic form. The modal takes the tense while the main
verb remains in its dictionary form.
Examples: I can run. I may run.
I could run. I might run.

Modals can be used alone in response to a question.

Examples: Can you sing? I can.
Will you sing? I will.
Will you come? I may./I will.

Modals, when joined with ‘not’ to form a negative, can be contracted.

Examples: I cannot run. I can’t run.

45
I do not run. I don’t run.

46
47
I will not run. I won’t run.

48
Activity 3.11:
Instruction: Complete the text below with the given phrases in the box.

can’t be can’t have could take may get may not have might be
must be must be

As a result of the flooding, as many as 10,000 families 1--------- homeless, although the figure is
only an estimate. ‘The emergency services are working hard, but I’m sure they 2------------- more
than 20 helicopters. It 3 -----------days to reach everyone and take them to safety,’ said an aid
worker in the area. ‘Conditions for those families still waiting to be rescued 4 --------- very difficult.
There 5 ------------- any clean water to drink and everyone 6 -------------- very cold.’
Worryingly, more rain is forecast, so the floods 7 ------------- worse in the next few days. The
emergency services 8 time to reach everyone before the waters rise again
Answers
1. ---------------------------------- 5. ---------------------------------
2. ---------------------------------- 6. ----------------------------------
3. ---------------------------------- 7. ---------------------------------- 4. ---------------------
-------------

Activity 3. 12:

Instruction: Read the reference material below and read about modal verbs and share what you
have read to your group members. (If you don’t find this book, refer to any material
available to you)
Reference material
Thomson & Pertinent (1986). A Practical English Grammar. Oxford University Press: UK.

Part III Speaking

Activity 3.13:

49
Instruction: Rationally argue with your partner on the following debatable statements. Try to
provide evidences to support your argument.

1. Nuclear energy will end.

2. Almost all the rainforests will disappear.
3. The climate will get worse.
4. The next generation will care more about the environment than the present.
5. People will destroy the earth.

Activity 3.14:

Instruction (a): The following are some of the causes of environmental problems. Discuss each of
them in your group and propose solutions.
Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming Desertification

Deforestation Loss of Biodiversity Disposal of Wastes

Acid Rain Overfishing Urban Sprawl

Water Pollution Population Growth Waste Production.

Instruction (b): Which of the above causes are common in Ethiopia? What do you think you can
do to solve the environmental problems personally and with the community?

Part IV Writing

Activity 3. 10:

Instruction: In your group, discuss the causes and solutions for ‘global warming’ provided in
the table below, and then write a short paragraph based on the given conceptual
terms.
Causes pollution
Ozone layer
Global warming
deforestation

Solutions recycling
Hybrid car
Alternative energy
50
 Unit IV

Indigenous Knowledge
In this you Unit, you will read two passages. One of them was written by Mkapa and the other by
an Ethiopia, Birhane Asfaw. The second reading passage is added for you to learn more about
indigenous knowledge and it is added as a supplementary reading in the final paper of this course
Module.. I have added only few activities in the second passage because my interest is to give you
more opportunities to reading.

The grammar part in this unit focuses on ‘direct and indirect (reported) speech’. The grammar
lessons are not new to you, but they are helpful to you to remember what you had studied before
in high schools, and hopefully they will give deeper understanding. They are relevant because you
will use them in academic discourse and in other fields as well.

Objectives of the Unit

At the end of the Unit, you are expected to:

• create aware of the importance of indigenous knowledge;

• apply important indigenous knowledge together with scientific knowledge;
• develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities; and
• understand and use direct and indirect speech in speaking and writing.

Activity 4.1: Pre-reading questions

Instruction: Answer the following questions in groups before you read the passage.

1. What is indigenous knowledge? --------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do you know community knowledge in your local area which is useful for development,
medicine, or any other? Share it to your group members ----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. What is your view about indigenous knowledge as compared to scientific knowledge? ----

51
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Different countries claim the origin of human beings is their own country. What do you
say about their claims? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, read the passage below and do the activities (both in-text and after reading all) developed
based on it.

A Local Pathway to Global Development

By Benjamin Mkapa

In Laetoli, near Olduvai Gorge, Northern Tanzania, paleontologists have found footprints of early
hominids, presumably two adults and a child, idealized as father, mother and child. We do not
know where the three walkers in the “cradle of mankind” came from, where they went and what
their plans were. But it is reasonable to assume that they were capable of speech they would have
shared thoughts, ideas, knowledge, while walking along the plain some three and a half million
years ago. Ever since humans walked on earth, they have sought more knowledge to feed their
families, stay healthy, argue with their neighbors, getting a better understanding of their
environment or just have some distraction from an otherwise rather challenging life. For hundreds
of millennia, local needs and constraints and day-to-day challenges drove the quest for knowledge.
Scientific approaches to knowledge generation, as we know them today are, historically speaking,
a very recent phenomenon. These modern approaches have brought about tremendous results: we
have the capacity to feed more than six billion people satisfactorily; vaccinations protect our
children from once deadly diseases, we communicate with the help of satellites around the globe
and we compete on global market places with our products. Yet, despite these achievements, we
still have crises of hunger, HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, isolation, and conflicts and abject poverty. While
the debate on the causes of poverty is not closed, we have learned that science and technology
alone cannot provide all the answers or solutions to these unsolved problems or how we can
overcome living in a disparate world characterized by unequal distribution of wealth and
opportunities.

52
 Activity 4.2:
Instruction: Answer the following questions.
1. What is the central idea of the paragraph? --------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What is the cause for the need of knowledge development? -----------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Based on the information in the above paragraph, what do you think the author
will be writing about in the succeeding paragraphs? ---------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As scientists struggle to respond to global challenges, they have increasingly distanced themselves
from local ways of solving problems. Local solutions were even discriminated against as
hindering progress, outdated, “old wives tales” or simply just unfashionable. As we “modernized”
our societies, a “degree” in traditional or indigenous knowledge was not planned for. Hence, we
overlooked its potential as a resource and even further neglected the knowledge that women and
men, families and communities had developed themselves for centuries. Indigenous knowledge
(IK) is a resource that can help to solve local problems, a resource to help grow more and better
food, to maintain healthy lives, to share wealth, to prevent conflict, to manage local affairs, and
thus contribute to global solutions. Indigenous knowledge has contributed to building solidarity
in communities affected by globalization and shielded them against some of its negative impacts.
There is no one of the Millennium Development Goals to whose achievement indigenous
knowledge cannot contribute.

IK has helped to reduce hunger and poverty in India, it has improved primary education and
enrollment by using local language as a means of instruction in West Africa, it has enabled men in
Senegal to understand the impact of female circumcision on women and empowered women to
move towards eradicating the practice, it has helped to reduce child mortality in Eritrea and
maternal mortality in Uganda, it provides primary healthcare to millions of Africans, it has helped
communities in Mozambique to manage their coastal natural resources, and it has helped to build
partnerships between the weak and the strong in Ghana to share wealth.

53
Sixty persuasive arguments and yet we find it difficult to convince so many scientists, politicians,
development experts and administrators to systematically use indigenous knowledge in the
development process. The plural of anecdotes is not evidence, they say; scientific proof for most
of its claims has yet to be found. However, for the communities where indigenous knowledge has
worked, these cases are not anecdotes but reality. Had they waited for the scientific proof for the
treatments they received from local healers, four thousand HIV/AIDS patients in Tanga, Tanzania
without access to modern antiviral drugs would not have been alive today. But these sixty cases
provide more lessons than just the benefits of the particular practices or approaches to
development. The most pertinent ones relate to ownership of development, local capacity,
selfreliance, and empowerment. Ownership has been at the center of the development discourse
over the last years. The sustainability of many externally induced development projects hinges on
the ownership by the beneficiaries. When building on indigenous knowledge, ownership does not
even arise as an issue. Indigenous knowledge is locally managed and owned.

Studying, understanding and building on the knowledge of communities will substantially reduce
the risk of failures of the development approach and the investments by governments and bi- and
multilateral donors. The increased sustainability does not only arise from particular indigenous
practices that would be included in the context of a development project. The very process of
learning from the community recognizes the community and the bearers of indigenous knowledge
as partners in development who bring as much, if not more to the process as the providers of global
knowledge.
Activity 4.3:
Instruction; Answer the following questions.
1. What are the advantages of the indigenous knowledge? ----------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What are the important points scientists, politicians and others missed about
indigenous knowledge? ------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Capacity building essentially assumes a vacuum on the side of the beneficiaries of capacity
building efforts, ever so often camouflaged by the term capacity strengthening. Undoubtedly,
African farmers, communities, administrators, engineers and politicians have much to learn to cope
with an increasingly complex and ever changing economic and political global environment. Yet,
have communities and farmers not coped with an ever-changing environment in the past? Political
54
experiments, inadequate institutions to market their crops or failing services have not prevented
them from prevailing and adapting to find their own solutions to survive. The communities not
only have knowledge about practices, they also have knowledge of how to adapt to adverse
environments, institutions and policies. These cases tell us differently. Communities are eager to
learn and share, because their environment teaches them one lesson almost on a daily basis: only
those who learn will prevail. Self-reliance is a genuinely local approach to development—no less
so in an economic sense. When the late President Nyerere first promoted self-reliance after
Tanzania’s independence, learning was a primary means for the country’s development. If the
orthodox sciences were as open to learning from indigenous knowledge, as local communities are
ready to learn from others and the outside world, both sides would benefit substantially.
Empowerment is a central icon of the development discourse. Development planners and
implementers go great lengths to help empower the poor, the women, the vulnerable. The cases in
these IK Notes teach us that empowerment cannot come from the outside. Lasting empowerment
is self-empowerment. The communities, farmers, women, innovators, teachers whose stories are
presented here have all chosen to empower themselves.

Activity 4.4:
Instruction: Write a concluding paragraph to this passage in groups.

Activity 4.5:

Instruction: Answer the following questions based on the information in the passage.

1. How did the author know the three people were family members and were capable of
speech?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What do you say about the three people found in Tanzania compared to Lucy in Ethiopia?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Why were people inspired to develop their knowledge?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What is the author’s idea concerning indigenous knowledge compared to scientific
knowledge?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

55
 5. What are the advantages of indigenous knowledge to development?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. What is your view concerning indigenous knowledge?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. How do you think one can influence African farmers, communities, etc to cope with the
economic and political environment?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8. Describe self- reliance and self- empowerment in the development discourse.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activity 4.6:

Instruction: The following words are the opposite meanings of words used in the passage. Find
the words which have opposite meanings to the given ones below.

1. unconvincing ---------------------------------------------------------------------
2. discord --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. restricted -----------
-----------------------------------------------------------
4. increase ----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. peculiar ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Part II Grammar: Reported speech

Activity 4. 7: Identifying Quoted and Reported Speech

Instruction: Read the following paragraph and underline the reported speech, and circle any
quoted speech. Then, discuss about their differences between the two in your group

Maria recently returned from a conference in Dubai and told her colleagues about her trip there.
She said that the architecture of Dubai was fascinating, with many new buildings of glass and steel.
Of course, she also saw the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. Some of her friends went up
to the top, but Maria said she didn’t because she has a fear of heights. “I don’t even like being on

56
a second-story balcony, so the Burj Khalifa was definitely out of the question for me!” Maria said
that there were many shopping centers in Dubai, but that they were expensive. The weather was
“unbelievably hot.” On her last night in Dubai, Maria and her friends went on a dinner cruise on a
small boat in the harbor. There was music and great food, and they could see the lights of the city
as the boat cruised through the harbor. “It was the perfect ending to two weeks in Dubai,” she said.

Activity 4.8.

Instruction: Find the reported speech in the following dialogue in group.

Mum: Good morning, dear. Good morning. What’s the matter?

Mark: Dad says that he’s lost his voice.

Mum: He has lost his voice! He can’t. It must be a joke. Come on, dear. Don’t joke.

Mark: I’ll make a nice cup of tea. You’ll soon get your voice back.

Susan: How did you lose your voice, Dad?

Mark: He says he went to the football match last night.

Susan: And you shouted so much you lost your voice.

Mark: Yes, he shouted so much he lost he lost his voice.

Susan: Did you win?

Mark: No, they lost.

Mum: Here is a nice cup of tea. Would you like something to eat?

Mark: He says he would like some toast with honey.

Susan: Why honey, Mum?

Mum: Because honey is good for your throat.

57
Activity 4. 9:

Instruction: Read the following dialogue and change the sentences into reported speech
developing a paragraph. Discuss the paragraph you have developed in a group.
Explain how you changed the direct speech into indirect speech to your group
members.

Dialogue

‘Ma’am? …. You’re needed, Ma’am.’ ‘Wh "Where

are you?" - My friend asked me.

"What will you choose?" - They asked me.

"Are you flying soon?" - He wanted to know soon.

"May I help you?" - The porter asked me.

"Have you set your alarm clock?" - He asked me alarm clock.

"Is Prague the capital?" - We needed to know whether the capital.

"Would you rather dance?" - Peter asked me rather dance.

"How long have you been standing here?" - He wanted to know how long.
"What do you do?" - She wondered.

"Do you want it?" - Joe asked me it.

"Where did you live?" - They wanted to know.

"Why are you reading this magazine?" - He was curious to know magazine at?’ Reluctant to move,
Senait opened her eyes and saw Ayele enter the room.

‘Welcome, Ayele. What brings you?’ inquired Senait.

‘Magic, of the strangest kind,’ replied Ayele, his voice shaking.

‘Oh?’ said Senait, wanting to know more.

58
‘Do you remember the babe that Eragon blessed?’ he asked.

Senait didn’t answer. She just nodded.

‘I’ve been asked to take you to her’, Ayele explained.

‘Asked? By whom? And why?’ she demanded.

‘A boy on the practice field told me that you should visit the child. He said that you would find it

interesting. He refused to give me his name. Well, I thought you should know.’

Ayele looked embarrassed. ‘I asked my men questions about the girl, and I heard things… that

she’s different.

(Adapted from Paolini, 2005)

Activity 4.10

Instruction: Read the following story and change the direct speech sentences into reported speech
developing a paragraph. Discuss the paragraph you have developed in a group.
When you discuss each of the group members’ paragraphs, explain how you changed
the direct speech into indirect (reported) speech to your group members.

Merhawit had told us that it was easy to ‘acquire’ the monkeys. I reached very slowly very gently
for one particular monkey. He looked at my hand, considering it. Then I scratched the little
monkey’s back. And as I did I closed my eyes and focused my thoughts on the monkey. He became
quiet, like he was in a trance. That’s how animals usually are when they’re being acquired.

I absorbed the monkey DNA into me.

59
‘This should be especially easy’, Rahel commented as she finished acquiring a different monkey.
‘These monkeys aren’t direct relatives of Homo Sapiens, but still, most of our DNA will be
identical’.

‘Or in Natanym’s case, ninety-nine point nine percent,’ Rahel interjected.

‘Yes, it’s like the fact that Rahel’s DNA is actually ninety-nine percent identical to Malibu Barbie’
Natanym shot back.

‘Could we concentrate here?’ I said impatiently.

‘Merhawit, did you have any problems with the monkey?

‘s mind when you morphed?’ Rahel asked.

‘No. Except….. Well they are very much excitable.’

I concentrated on a mental image of the monkey. And very quickly, I began to feel the changes. I
shrank and brown fur sprouted from my arms and legs. My lips puffed out to form a big muzzle.
The largest change was the tail. It came shooting out from the base of my spine.
‘Hey, the tail is neat,’ Rahel said. ‘Try moving it. Just like an extra hand.’

‘That was an easy morph,’ Merhawit replied.

(Adapted from Animorphs, 1997)

Activity 4. 11:-

Instruction: Change the direct speech into indirect speech in the following dialogue, and write it
in a paragraph.

Betru: "What are you doing here, Tedla? I haven't seen you since June."
Tedla: "I've just come back from my holiday in Nekemte."

Betru: "Did you enjoy it?"

60
Tedla: "I love Ireland. And the people in Nekemte were so friendly."

Betru: "Did you go to Shambu?"

Tedla: "It was my first trip. I can show you some pictures. Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

Betru: "I must arrange a couple of things. But I am free tonight."

Tedla: "You might come to my place. What time shall we meet?"

Betru: "I'll be there at eight. Is it all right?"

Your answer

Betru asked Tedla ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note
When you change the direct speech into indirect speech, you will change verb tenses,
pronouns, adverbs of time and place.
Activity 4.12: Read about direct and indirect speech from books, make notes and present
your notes to your group members about:
a) How statements, questions, and other types of sentences are changed from direct to
indirect speech; and
b) The tense, pronoun and adverb changes to your group members.

Part III Speaking

Activity 4.13:

Instruction: Discuss the following points in groups.

1. How do you justify that human life began in Ethiopia, and Lucy’s remnants are acceptable?
61
 2. Debate on: Indigenous knowledge is more important than scientific knowledge vs
scientific knowledge is more important than indigenous knowledge
3. Tell your friends about a herbal medicine people in your community use. Do you appreciate
the people using it? What is your opinion about herbal medicines?

Part IV Writing
Activity 4.14:

Instruction: Write a paragraph on the following point.

1. Write a paragraph on the points you agree and disagree with the author of the above text.
Give reasons for your agreement and disagreement.
2. Write a paragraph about the advantages or disadvantages of using herbal medicines.

UNIT V

CULTURAL HERITAGES
In this Unit, you will read about cultural heritages. Read also a supplementary passage on cultural

heritages at the end of the Module. The grammar point you will study will be ‘relative clauses’.

Unit Objectives

At the end of the Unit, you are expected to:

• identify man-made and natural heritages;

• be aware of the importance of cultural heritages in national development;
• develop your speaking, listening, reading and writing abilities; and
• understand and use relative clauses in your oral and written discourses.

Activity 5.1: Pre-reading questions

62
Instruction: Answer the following questions in groups before you read the passage.

1. What are heritages? What do they include?

• Heritages are: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• They include: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. State the Ethiopian heritages registered in UNESCO. -----------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Describe the heritages you listed in no. 2. ------------------------------------------------------------ -

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Welch (2014) defined heritage as “The past made present”. Explain it. --------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Why should we pay attention to heritages? ------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. What values can heritages have to society? -----------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. What is indigenous heritage? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

CULTURAL HERITAGE

What is it? Why is it important?

What is heritage?

63
Don’t let the 8,400,000 Google hits to this question bewilder you. Simply put, heritage is the past
made present. Heritage is anything valued by people today that was also valued by previous
generations. Heritage is what we have accepted as gifts from those who came before us. Heritage
is our inheritance of land, language, ecosystems, knowledge, and culture.

Are there different kinds of heritage?

Yes. Heritage includes land, physical and material objects, monuments, and sites, as well as
intangible beliefs, customs, knowledge and traditions. Heritage may be built, written, recited,
remembered, re-enacted, worn, displayed, and taught. Examples of heritage include the Flamenco
dance, Plymouth Rock, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, Machu Picchu and the
Inca trail system, the uniform of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the lyrics of Bob Dylan.

Heritage is everywhere. Heritage may occupy or be composed of urban, rural, agricultural,

manufactured, or backcountry settings. Much heritage is deeply rooted in specific landscapes and
regions (e.g., Swiss cheeses, Aboriginal Australian song lines), but heritage can also be portable
(Japanese kimonos, Italian stone masonry). Heritage may bear the unmistakable signature of an
individual master (e.g., Bill Reid’s wood carvings; M.C. Escher’s mathematical lithographs) or
may have been crafted by thousands or people over many generations (e.g., Angkor Wat, the

Great Wall of China). It may be central to group or regional identity because of its’ natural

character (e.g., California’s Redwoods, Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro).

Why should I pay attention to heritage?

Heritage is a fundamental source of individual and group identity, vitality, and solidarity. Heritage
is a universal process by which humans maintain connections with our pasts, assert our similarities
with and differences from one another, and tell our children and other young people what we think
is important and deserves to be part of the future. Heritage is not just “out there.” Heritage guides
each of us from within on a daily basis. Heritage is a powerful source of practical suggestions on
what to wear, what to eat, how to behave. Clothes, foods, stories, songs, and the patterned actions
of the people around you influence your values and preferences. Heritage is one of the ways you
determine right from wrong, beautiful from repulsive, meaningful from ridiculous, and so on. The
preferences embedded in what we think, say, and do are important building blocks for

64
communities, regions, and nations. Be mindful of your heritage, for it helps determine your destiny
and that of your descendants!

Is all heritage valued?

Yes and no. By definition, heritage only exists and is perpetuated by virtue of the meanings people
assign to it. Different people find and apply different values (cultural, spiritual, aesthetic, scientific,
economic) to otherwise identical objects and places. Heritage may be cherished and protected at
all costs by one group of people while being despised or used as symbolic targets by others. For
example, the colossal Buddha statues in Bamiyan Province, Afghanistan, once beloved as icons of
religious faith and regional identity, were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.

Not all heritage is tied to positive values and pasts. For example the Nazi concentration camp at
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, and the Fort Apache and Theodore Roosevelt School National
Historic Landmark, Arizona, are heritage sites that have been preserved as cautionary memorials
for humankind. Negative heritage is also carried forward in stories, songs, poetry and other oral
and literary traditions.

Is indigenous heritage different than other kinds of heritage?

Again, the answer is yes and no. All peoples possess the inalienable right to manage their heritage,
but Indigenous peoples were denied that right for a long time (and many still are). The term
“Indigenous” has come to stand for peoples who have historical continuity with land and who have
been affected by foreign political, legal, cultural, and economic impositions. As a result, the
heritage of many Indigenous peoples has been destroyed or taken over by newcomers. For
example, in 2013 developers in Belize demolished the 2000-year- old Nohmul temple without
consulting contemporary Maya descendants. In the United States, the National Park Service allows
rock climbing to continue on the natural formation, referred to in English as
“Devil’s Tower,” despite the fact that recreational use is seen as sacrilegious by Native Americans
who conduct ceremonies there. Because of the past and ongoing harms to Indigenous heritage, it
is imperative that those engaging with Indigenous people and their heritage today do so with the
utmost care and respect.

Who makes heritage?

65
 You do! Every human has values and preferences that translate into thoughts, words, and decisions
about what to keep and what to cast away or leave behind. Over the course of days, months, years,
and decades, these decisions combine with the decisions made by others to result in your heritage
legacy. What will you leave behind for others to value?

Activity 5. 3: Answer the following questions based on the information in the passage above.

1. What does the writer want to say when he writes ’heritage is the past made present’? ---------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Why could heritage be an individual, group and national identity? --------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Why do people give negative and positive values to heritages? ------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part II Grammar: Relative clauses

Activity 5.3:

Instruction: Discuss the following questions in your group.

1. What do you know about relative clauses? How are they formed? ----------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. What are defining and non-defining relative clauses? ------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
3. Underline the sentences with relative clauses in the following dialogue. Explain their uses.

A: Jack! Welcome back! How was the trip?

B: I am very exhausted. You know, I was annoyed with the man who sat next to me on the plane.
He talked all the time.
66
A: Oh, really? What did he talk about?

B: Actually, it was unbelievable. He was talking about my friend, Grace, the whole time. He was
in love with my friend whom he met last year but left him after only a month.

A: Oh! What a small world.

Activity 5.4:

Instruction: Select the correct relative pronoun from the list given and complete the blank space
in each of the following sentences.

Where When Who

Which Why Whose

1. This is a restaurant ------------- you can find many different cuisines from around the
world.

2. The moment ------------------ I found out the exam results was one of the worst times
in my life.

3. Those ------------------ are eager to join the Spanish class should sign up by
tomorrow.

4. Los Angeles, --------------------- is one the most visited tourist destinations, is a

fascinating city.

5. I would like to know the reason --------------- you decided not to join us.
6. The Amazons, ---------------- warrior nature is stressed in Greek mythology, have
been a popular subject for the movie industry.

7. The Early Bronze Age was a period -------------- the climate was significantly
warmer and drier than today.

8. Anyone ---------------- is interested in mountaineering should have enough physical

strength to endure the harsh conditions.

67
 9. Creating a website ---------------- is accessible to color blind people can make a big
difference.

10. One of the reasons ---------------- most of us change is because we need to adjust and
adopt to the changing life conditions.

11. The 19th century artist, --------------- name I couldn’t remember, was very prolific at
his time.

Answers

1. ------------------- 2. ------------------------ 3. --------------------- 4. ------------------------- 5. ----------

----------- 6. ---------------------- 7. ---------------------- 8. -----------------------------

9. ---------------------- 10. --------------------- 11. ------------------------------- Activity 5.5:

Instruction: Underline the pronoun that best completes each sentence.

1. Do you know anyone which/ who can repair cigarette burns on clothes?

2. It’s usually children from deprived backgrounds that/ which cause the worst
problems.

3. The Council provides bins in that/ which waste paper can be deposited for recycling.

4. Address the reference ‘to who/whom it may concern’, as it’s very formal.

5. The town hall clock played a different tune at twelve every day, which/ what amused
the locals and attracted tourists.

6. There’s a lucky person in this hall who/ whose lottery ticket has just won them 7,
000,000 Birr.

7. Why don’t you tell the police which/ what you told me yesterday?

8. The film is set in the period where/ when the divide between rich and poor was much
greater than it is now.

68
 9. You can put the photo whichever/ wherever you think it looks best.

Activity 5.6:

Instruction: In pairs, read the paragraph about birth order. Complete each sentence with who,
whom, that, or whose. The first one is done for you as an example.

Birth order researchers have discovered some interesting information (1. that 1) can help us
understand our colleagues better. Do you have a difficult boss (2. -----------) authoritarian
personality makes your life difficult? If so, your boss might be a firstborn child. Children (3. -----
--) are born first are often more authoritarian than their younger siblings. Do you have a coworker
(4. --------------) is passive, but particularly creative and insightful? This person may be a middle
child. People (5..------------) have both older and younger siblings are often passive because their
older siblings were responsible for their well-being when they were young. The creativity (6. -----
--------) they exhibit might be the effect of their having spent a lot of time on their own due to
having to share parental attention with their older and younger siblings. People (7. -----------------)
you work with (8. -------------------) are controlling may be youngest children. These people are
also likely to be more social than co-workers (9. -----------------) are middle children. Of course,
these are only generalizations. There are countless factors (10. ----------------

--) help form people’s personalities, but birth order research may shed some helpful light on

people’s behavior in the workplace.

Activity 5.7:

Instruction: Complete the passage with suitable relative pronouns. There may be more than one
possible answer:

How would you feel if you suddenly had to stop using Facebook or Twitter? For people
...................... lives revolve around social networks, this would be a big sacrifice. However, that is
exactly what Alicia Keys, .............................. has more than 2.5 million followers on Twitter,
decided to do. She also asked other celebrities like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Serena Williams
and Elijah Wood to do the same. It happened on 1stDecember, 2010, ..................... is World AIDS
day. This is a day ................. the world pays special attention to this terrible disease, ....................
69
has killed so many people. These celebrities stopped using Facebook and Twitter until their fans,
...................... get the usual news direct from the stars, donated $1 million to an AIDS organization
called Keep a Child Alive.

Your answers

1. ----------------------------- 4. ------------------------------------
2. ----------------------------- 5. ------------------------------------ 3.
----------------------------- 6. -----------------------------------

70
 Notes
Defining relative clauses
Defining relative clauses specify a noun or pronoun in the main clause and
are necessary if we want to understand the meaning of a sentence. e.g. 1. I
saw the girl who was outside our house. 2. They wanted the picture
that cost two pounds.
The relative pronouns ‘who’ and ‘that’ help us express what girl or picture we are
talking about. Other pronouns which serve a similar purpose include which, whose and
whom. Commas are not used in defining relative clauses. When using defining relative
clauses in informal speech and writing, the relative pronoun can be left out completely
if it refers to the object of the relative clause. e.g.
1. This is the shirt that I bought.
2. This is the shirt I bought.

3. The girl who I like isn’t here yet.

Non-defining relative clauses
Non-defining relative clauses do not specify nouns and pronouns; they only describe a
preceding noun or pronoun. Unlike defining clauses, they are written with commas.
e.g. 1. My father, who is 65 now, still works.
2. His car, which cost nearly 20,000 pounds, is broken.
The connective relative clauses do not specify or describe the preceding nouns or
pronouns, but only develop the story.
e.g. 1. I gave the letter to James, who sent it to London.
2. She passed me the salt, which fell on the floor.

Part III Speaking

Activity 5.8:

Instruction: Discuss the following points with your group members

1. Explain the cultural heritages existing in your region to your group members.

71
 2. Tell your group members about which of our national heritages you like most.
3. Discuss what you have done and what you should do our cultural heritages.

Part IV Writing
Activity 5.9:

Instruction: Write an essay on the following topics.

1. We have to preserve our cultural heritages.

2. Cultural heritages have multiple advantages to our country.
3. Our roles in valuing our cultural heritages.

72
 Supplementary reading for Units 3-5

A. Supplementary reading for Unit 3 Environmental Problems

In recent decades, many environmental problems have increased as the result of human activities
and unplanned management of the technological development those interference ecosystems.
Therefore, a dispute between the importance of conservation and preservation of ecosystems to
protect environment and the necessity to satisfy human desire by sacrifice the environment has
been arise across the world. According to Glossary of Environment Statistics the term
“environmental protection” can be defined as the prevention to conserve and preserve the standard
healthy level of environmental media by reducing the production of pollutants or polluting
substances in environmental media (1997).Various human activities have induce many undesirable
effects to the environment which can be threatening human health, economic, natural resources
and gene pool of ecosystems such as pollutions, greenhouse effect, global warming and soil
erosion. In this essay, it is arguable that the environmental protection is worth for fight due to the
several reasons. Firstly, the environmental pollution is one of the main reasons why we should
fight to protect environment. Besides, global warming is also another reason caused by the
deforestation. Furthermore, warm climate change and flood also increase the opportunity of spread
out pests and vector diseases.

Pollution can be divided into four types; water pollution, air pollution, thermal pollution and sound
pollution. Fossils fuels used in most factories, petroleum and gas usage for vehicle is the major
cause of air pollution. Environment pollution can also be an addition harmful substance that could
affect human health and human life (Gan, 2006). Given the above, environmentalist should fight
for a better environment because pollutions caused by burning of fossil fuels will results in severe
environmental problems such as the occurrence of acid rain due to the production of sulphur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen monoxide (NO). Casiday and Frey mentioned that combustion process
73
not only increases the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere but it is also the
main source in producing high level of nitrogen monoxide(NO) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). These
are the two major reactants that cause the formation of acid rain. Acidity of acid rain changes the
pH of the river water and lakes which then disrupt the nature habitat of aquatic organisms and
reduce the chance of survival of aquatic organisms, for example fishes cannot survive due to lack
of oxygen. In addition, the insoluble aluminum ions added to the water can causes water to become
poisonous which can also be known as water pollution (1998, internet). For example, Norway has
blamed that the sea and lakes are poisoned by the formation of acid rain for many years due to the
unclean air pollution that comes from Britian’s power stations (Nova Science In The News, 1997,
internet).

Since the global concentration of carbon dioxides have increased given the reasons of combustion
of fossil fuels and also human activities such as deforestation. The reasons for deforestation are
usually resulted from cutting down the forests for lumber logging and also for building a new
farming for animal. Forest can also be known as “carbon sink” because trees can be used as an
absorber of carbon dioxide in the environment and in returns release some oxygen to the
atmosphere. However, unplanned deforestation activities have significantly reduced the
concentration of oxygen (O2) and caused the rise in temperature of the Earth. Christopher
Monckton also emphasizes that every doubling the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere is sufficient to rise the global surface temperature by 3.26 °C (2008, 3). Rise in global
temperature will significantly caused ice melting, for instance, according to the My Eco Project
Organization, the reports of ice melting at Arctic Retreat prepares in the late summer 2007
surprised the experts that every week, the Arctic sea ice is continuously melting and the amount of
melted ice can fill up to as large as two Britain country (2009, internet). Meanwhile, the
consequence of ice melting at Arctic has increased the sea water levels. According to the evidence
gathered by Shepherd and his team, they found that the sea water level has increased by 2.6%
which has the same volume with 49 microns per year spread across the oceans from over the world
due to the distinct value between the density and temperature of ice and sea water (University Of
Leeds, 2010, internet). In addition, the polar bear will also face extinction in the future due to
global warming. Based on the report from National Geographic News, several studies that have
been conducted by the U.S. government has shown that melting of Arctic’s ice that caused by the
global warming will endangered two-thirds of the world’s polar bears and cause them to face
74
extinction by 2050 (Roach, 2007, 1). Given the above fact, environmentalist should fight for a
better environment and save our earth.

Furthermore, environmental protection should be implemented due to warm climate changes and
flood which heighten the risks of spread out pests and vector diseases. Some infectious diseases
such as malaria, dengue, cholera and encephalitis can also spread out rapidly throughout the whole
area by mosquitoes, flies and other insects those usually adapt to live in warm weather region. As
World Health Organization notes that contamination of water resources due to the occurrence of
flood enlarge the chances of getting water-borne diseases and also for mosquitoes to carry disease
around the environment (2010, internet). Malaria and dengue fever have threaten the Southeast
Asia and South Pacific island due to the climate change as increases the population of mosquitoes
and migration of refugees (Allianz Knowledge Partnership,2008.internet). Hence, it can be
concluded that flood and climate change will destroy our safety health environment. Moreover,
high temperature in the river will encourage the growth of algal broom and causes the water
pollution index to increases and decrease the amount of oxygen supplied for the aquatic organisms.
Since the river water pollution increases dramatically, the level of biochemical oxygen demand
which known as BOD level also will increases. The higher the biochemical oxygen demand level
will result in the higher of the pollution level. For instance, large amount of blue-green algae
devastate the nature of the universal solvent and threaten the public health by releasing toxins into
the water. Diseases and infection that can cause by the algae’s toxin are sore throats, gastroenteritis
and skin or eye-infections (Department Of The Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water,
2010, internet).

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are several factors described above that strongly supported the argument to
fight for environmental protection and create a better environment. Some of the reasons include
environmental air pollution which increases the concentration of carbon dioxide that caused the
formation of acid rain. Another reason is one of the side effects like global warming caused by the
deforestation which increases the global temperature caused the occurrence of ice melting.

Moreover, the global warming change the climate become warmer and flood encouraged the
growth of the pests and vectors like malaria and dengue fever to spread the disease out to the

75
environment which increases the level of biochemical oxygen demand. Therefore, the environment
should be protected for a better life in future.

Activity

Instruction: Answer the following questions.

1. Discuss

What new ideas did you get from this passage compared to the passage in Unit 3? -----------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Write
Write a short paragraph about the causes of environmental pollution and how we can
protect our environment. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Write
Specifically, list down the environmental problems in Ethiopia and find solutions to the
problems. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Discuss
What do you think of the afforestation program we had nationally in the recent past? How
do you think it can change the environment? What was your role in the campaign, and what
will you do in future? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

76
 B. Supplementary reading for Unit 4

The origin of humans: the record from the Afar of Ethiopia

by

Berhane Asfaw

I would like to start with just one simple statement. Our own species is anatomically and
behaviourally very recent, and cannot be understood or appreciated without taking into account
where it came from and the form it evolved from. That is the reason why we need to understand
our biological history. I just want to review the road we had to pass through in our 6 million year
biological history. Just to reiterate, evolution is a fact. The reason why we say that we are evolved
is because of evidence from comparative anatomy, molecular biology and fossil evidence. My
work is mostly on the fossil evidence.

Just to give you a summary, we can classify our six million year biological history into three
chapters (Fig. 1, see page 163). The first chapter, starting from the bottom, from the third one, is
the chapter of Ardipithecus. That is a very remote group of ancestors that lived from about 6 million
years ago to about 4.4 million years ago, according to our knowledge in the fossil record. The
second chapter, the Australopithecus era, is the second phase of our biological history. It emerged,
from the fossil record as we know it, around 4.1 million years ago and then continued later, the
specialised forms continued up to around 1.3 million years ago, overlapping with the third chapter
of our history. The third chapter is the Homo phase. I am classifying humans in the Linnean sense,
by pure comparative biological information, comparative anatomy, by just grouping different
creatures based on what they share and how they look alike. Based on that classification, the early

77
groups that we identify, as paleontologists, to be our closest ancestors look something like this.
This fossil is 6 million years old, from Chad. This is the same 6 million year old fossil from Kenya
and this is from Ethiopia around 5.8 million years old, which is almost six million years old, and
all of them belong to the first chapter of human evolution, or the biological history of ourselves,
the base of everything. What is our Real Knowledge about the Human Being
Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Scripta Varia 109, Vatican City 2007
www.pas.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/sv109/sv109-asfaw.pdf

The second chapter started around 4.1 million years ago and the first record comes from Kenya
and Ethiopia and is known as Australopithecus anamensis. These are the species that formed the
base of the second chapter, which spread out all the way to South Africa. You do not find them
outside Africa. On the basis of recent work, some researchers have been able to identify the same
species, members of the same group of the second chapter, the Australopithecus chapter, as far as
Chad, but nothing out of Africa. Then, after 4.1 million years, for the first time we see footprints.
Our human ancestors had been walking on this planet for at least 2 million years before Au.
afarensis, or Lucy’s group, but we have very good records, good footprints from Tanzania and we
have a collection of skeletal remains from Ethiopia. This is Lucy (Au. afarensis). So the second
phase of our evolution is very well documented. It is not such a scanty record as we see it in the
first chapter. As we get closer and closer to the present the record gets better and better, which is
natural.

In the second phase of our biological history, which is the era of Australopithecus, after 3 million
years, after Lucy’s time, after Au. afarensis, you see lots of species, a big variety. The species Au.
africanus is from South Africa, younger than 3 million years, and Au. Garhi is from Ethiopia,
around 2.6 million years, and with this for the first time, at least in the same time period, we start
to find stone tools, but the brain size is still the same as the others, very small. Au. aeithiopicus is
also another species from Ethiopia and Kenya, and Au. boisei is a species found in Kenya,
Tanzania and Ethiopia. Au. robustus is another species and a very close relative of Au. boisei, and
is found exclusively in South Africa, but this is the same era as Australopithecus, which shows the
maximum diversity of the species and takes us to the third phase. However, some of the specialized
forms, the relatives of aeithiopicus, which are boisei and robustus, continued to live side by side
with the second phase until about 1.2 million years ago.

78
The third phase of our biological history is the phase of the time of the genus Homo. That is the
group that we can really closely identify with, because they have a bigger brain. We evolved
directly from these groups and the oldest record that we have, for the third phase, is about 2.3
million years ago, and that is from Ethiopia. After that we have a good collection from Kenya,
Tanzania and also South Africa. Up to this time, all the records that we have, the fossil records,
the biological history that we have, are exclusively African. It is after this time period, after this
group of hominids, human ancestors, that we start to pick up the fossil record, a record of our
biological history in Europe and Asia. That is the time of the Homo. By this time they have
evolved, this is the time of Homo erectus. Homo erectus is the species that you find almost in all
parts of the old world. The earliest ones were found in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa, but you
can find them at least in the Eastern part of Africa all the way down to the south. This is the
Georgian one. It is the smallest, it is very small brained, but structurally it is very similar and the
age is almost the same as the one we found in Kenya. And the next one is from Indonesia. This is
just to show how widespread these species are: once they appeared, once they evolved and started
to use stone tools they developed big brains and were able to expand in the old world very widely.

Then these species of Homo erectus were later followed by a bigger brained kind of people. This
is the time, according to our work in Ethiopia, when we were able to see what can possibly be
interpreted as ritual activities, because we were able to observe some cut marks on the skull.
However, without going into that part, but dealing only with biological history, they have a very
expanded brain, this is almost about 600 to 500 thousand years ago and you find them in Europe,
Asia and Africa.

Then the last ones are us, we are the latecomers. But our steps through time are fully recorded. As
we can see it, through time the brain has expanded and the cultural material that is associated with
these fossils has changed. The tools have changed and our biology has changed. The most
significant part that we can observe is a very expanded brain and a reduced face, at least from the
biological prints we can see that these groups are Homo sapiens, the last groups that are us. Again
the oldest record that we have is from Ethiopia. These two (Ethiopia, Afar –Ethiopia, Omo) are
almost contemporaries, if not a little bit less, but still the time difference is about 165 thousand
years (Ethiopia, Afar), and this is still over 100 thousand (Ethiopia, Omo) and this is from Israel,

79
about 100 thousand, and similar kinds of fossils, 100 thousand years old, can be found all the way
down to South Africa.

This is our fossil record that I tried to walk you through, without counting the huge fossils that we
have in Europe, the Neanderthals, who were living side by side with Homo sapiens, but this is just
to show you that humans evolved. The data I presented may be enough, but I can take you to one
single place in the world, on this planet, where the whole record of human history, not the whole
but at least a whole chapter, is represented, and that is the Middle Awash of Ethiopia. A single
place on earth were the six million years of biological history is found in time-successive sediments
is the Middle Awash in Ethiopia. I can take you there and I can show you where it is and the
timesuccessive sediments and what type of record we have in that place.

This is Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, and this is the Awash River. The Middle Awash
is just right at the triangle of the rift. This is the Red Sea, so the Awash is right here. That is where
I work. If you travel from Addis Ababa towards the Ethiopian Rift Valley, which is the very
northern part of the East African Rift, once you have finished the highlands and are descending
into the lowlands, you will have to go down this sharp cliff but shows you a window at very high
altitude, about 2,900 to about 3,000 metres above sea level, so when you go down you drop into
the place where we have a big cache of fossils, a record of our biological history, and the altitude
that you are going to reach is about 600 metres above sea level, so you are dropping about 2,300
metres from this highland. The Rift Valley, especially the Afar Rift, is a big area but my area of
interest, where I am working now with my group, is this place and this is the place where we get
six million years of human history. At present this place is desolate and dry, it is a desert. But if
we were able to go back in time, this is one of the 2.5 million year old sites, and then if you go
back to 4 million and 6 million this place was lush and green, a very beautiful place, because the
fossil evidence of the animals and of the plants tells us that our ancestors were living in a very
beautiful environment, not a desert like this one. This is just to show you the thickness of the
sediments. It is one kilometre thick. And we compiled these one kilometre thick sediments in
different ages and each exposure gives you a snapshot of the past. We have twelve horizons, from
the bottom 6 million years till the top, about 80 thousand, and in this one kilometre section we
have 12 snapshots. These 12 snapshots give us an idea of our past in time-successive sediments.
The earliest one comes from the bottom. This is the species we call Ardipithecus kadabba, from

80
the western part of the Middle Awash. The Awash divides the area in two, we call this side the
eastern side and this side the western side and this is the earliest evidence of our ancestors. When
we go up to about 4.4 million years ago we find another species. That species of the first chapter
is called Ardipithecus ramidus. As I have told you earlier, when you try to reconstruct the past and
draw the picture of what it was like 4.4 million years ago, the picture that we get of this place is
something like this, because the kind of animals that were associated with these human ancestors,
the fossil ancestors, are Colobine monkeys, which are forest-loving monkeys, and different kinds
of antelopes, which are forest-dependent. So the area was lush and green and foresty.

When you go higher in the section you find a different form, a more evolved form. As we are
walking through time, up in the section these species change and become closer and closer to us
by adding more and more of the features that we have now. They add them through time and they
evolve. This is the level of the 4.1 million year old Australopithecus anamensis. This species is
only from Kenya and Ethiopia. The evidence, these are fossils from that time, and recently we have
also found additional specimens from that horizon. When you go up, from 4.1 million years I am
taking you to 3.4 million year old horizons, that is the area of Lucy’s ancestors and relatives, and
that is what we call the Australopithecus afarensis time. And we have the record of it in the Middle
Awash. What I am showing you is only in one area, in one place, that is the record we have as a
good evidence of human evolution. And we have the species Australopithecus afarensis. It is a
different species, even though we find them in one place in time in successive sediments. It was
also living in Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. And then higher, at around 2.6 million years ago, we
find a new species and that new species was found also with stone tools.

When we published the finding of human ancestors from 2.6 million years ago, the first time it was
published we did not have any record of stone tools in this horizon. The only thing we had at that
time was evidence of cut marks on the bones. But last year, when we were doing our fieldwork,
we found stone tools from the 2.6 million year horizon, which means the same horizon where this
human ancestor came from. When we first discovered this in 1997, we

had indirect evidence and were not really sure whether this human ancestor was really responsible
for it or not. But now we have found more bones from the same time period and more stone tools,
so now I can say conclusively that this species may be the one who is the first stone tool maker.
And then we go higher, to around 1 million years ago, in the same place, the same Middle Awash.
81
Here we find a bigger brained human, a member of the third chapter of our biological history. That
is Homo erectus, with stone tools And when we go higher we find another one.

From 1 million years I am taking you to 500 thousand. This one has a bigger brain and still has
stone tools. And then we go higher, to 165 thousand years ago and there we find this, a much
bigger brained human and this is basically what we call ‘us’, Homo sapiens, the first species. And
we can go higher and I will stop there and, at around 100 thousand years ago, we find sophisticated
tool types, a different kind of tool which we call the Middle Stone Age, wellshaped, some of them
look like arrow points, and we also find lots of bones. And those bones, basically we did not only
find skulls like the ones that I showed you, skulls of different types, but in this horizon we found
skeletons from head to toe. This may be the time that if we find skeletons in the open air sites, not
in the cave sites, then we may be able to talk about something more sophisticated, about our
cultural beginnings, our consciousness of these people. We have to do a serious investigation and
see what is coming. It does not stop there. That is about 100 thousand years ago. Where I am taking
you is a place where Alison Brooks has been working for four years, and in that place we also find
a human ancestor. It is about 80 thousand years old. And then you can see the tool types. As the
biology changed, as the biology evolved, there was also a cultural evolution taking place side by
side, but the speed of the cultural evolution was really picking up after the emergence of Homo
sapiens, the one that I showed you from 165 thousand years ago.

Just to summarise, what we have found is only the last 1 million year biological history of us in
the Middle Awash. You can see the Daka man at 1 million, and then this one, the Bodo man, at
half a million, and then Herto at 165 thousand years ago, and Aduma at about 80 thousand years
ago. This is evidence, the undeniable and irrefutable evidence of our biological history and of the
fact that humans have evolved. It is impossible to understand modern Homo sapiens without
understanding the road that we went through the course of our evolution. If we do not understand
that, it is totally impossible to understand ourselves as a species, as human beings.

In conclusion, we have a good fossil record showing that humans have evolved. The fossil record
is getting denser and denser as our work continues. Human evolution is a fact based on evidence.
The evidence comes from three parts: comparative anatomy, molecular biology and fossil record.
However, although we have this much fossil collection and know much more than those people
who started the fieldwork 100 years ago, in Darwin’s time, still there are lots of things that we do
82
not know. We do not know who the last common ancestor was. We do not know the origin of
Homo. I have shown you five species of Australopithecus and which one gave rise to the genus
that we all belong to, the genus Homo, which one really is the basis, we do not know yet. I have
my own views, my other colleagues have different views but we are not yet clear on that. And we
do not know the place of the Flores hominid. Our own species is anatomically and behaviourally
very recent and cannot be understood or appreciated without taking into account where it
originated and the species it evolved from. I would like to repeat it again. As I told you earlier, the
place is the Middle Awash of Ethiopia, where we have the irrefutable evidence of human evolution.

The Sub-Saharan Africa region (SSA) contains 38 of the world's 50 poorest countries (World Bank,
2004)1 and while other regions have witnessed declines in poverty over the past four decades,
SSA, on average, has fallen farther behind and average income per day is only US$0.82 (excluding
South Africa), compared with the equivalent of US$1.32 two decades ago (World Bank, 2004).
The poverty reduction strategy set out in Can Africa Claim the 21st Century? (World Bank, 2001)
places economic growth at the heart of the agenda and emphasizes the role of the private sector,
which in the SSA context overwhelmingly means medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

The World Bank’s Doing Business indices (2005) show that SSA countries have among the highest
transaction costs and the most barriers to foreign investment of any region. SSA suffers from an
over-dependence on agriculture that is the mainstay of most sub-Saharan economies, employing
over 60% of the population and contributing an average of 20% of the GDP of the region. However,
during the past 40 years agricultural productivity has stagnated (e.g. on average it took 7 tons of
coffee to purchase a car in 1960, by 2000 it took 11 tons), constrained by low usage of improved
technologies and information, under-capitalization of farmers, poor land use and insecurity of
tenure, poor infrastructure, and inappropriate policy and regulatory frameworks that create
distortions in markets and disincentives for efficient and competitive production. In effect, the
economies of SSA are failing to compete.

One exception is tourism. Tourism is now the largest industry in the world. The 800 million arrivals
recorded for 2005 represented a 5.2% growth rate from 2004 and an estimated value of US$ 655
83
billion in worldwide tourism receipts2. Tourist arrivals and associated revenues have grown
steadily (WTTC Regional Report, 2002) in SSA during this period (consistently at 7% per annum
for the region as a whole) and offer a significant opportunity by contributing to a reduction of
macroeconomic vulnerability that comes from the regions’ high degree of commodity dependence.
Figures for international arrivals and tourism receipts to the region are estimated by the United
Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to be about 2.3% of global tourism (representing
roughly 15 million people). Tourism receipts account for about US$12 billion and, compared with
agriculture at nearly US$70 billion and industry at over US$100 billion, is a relatively minor player
when looked at in these simple terms.

Tourism is a large global industry that is expanding rapidly in developing countries. It comprises
11% of world GNP if related activities ‘tourism and general travel’ (Roe et al. 20044) are included.
Tourism is also growing faster than global output, so its share of the global economy is increasing
(UN World Tourism Organization, 20055). Critically, from a development perspective, the market
share of tourism in developing countries is also increasing significantly. By 2003, 35.6% of all
international tourists arrived in developing countries – a movement of almost a quarter of a billion
of some of the richest people to some of the poorest countries (World Bank 20056).Developing
countries now account for 14 of top 20 long-haul destinations (DFID 20047).

However, the potential to utilize tourism—where it is estimated that over 90% of businesses in
SSA (as part of the service sector) are MSMEs (World Bank, 2004)—as a tool for sustained
socioeconomic development as well as the redistribution of developed country wealth is
increasingly considered in development strategies between donors and beneficiary countries. The
main focus of these strategies is now defined through each country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy
(PRS). In Ethiopia, tourism is one of the focal sectors of the five-year development plan (PASDEP
– 20062010).

The long-term vision of the Government is to make Ethiopia one of the top ten tourist destinations
in Africa by the year 2020, with an emphasis on maximizing the poverty-reducing impacts of
tourism, and utilizing tourism to transform the image of the country.

84
How realistic is this ambition? Ethiopia currently ranks 19th and would have to triple visitor
numbers to get into the current top ten destinations; based on the performance of other countries
such as South Africa, Uganda, Mozambique, and Tanzania, who have all achieved this magnitude
of growth over a 10-year period, this is certainly possible.

Activity

Instruction: Discuss the following questions in your group.

1. Based on your reading in this supplementary Unit, how do you argue against the idea in
the passage included in the 4th Unit? ----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. How do you preserve natural and man-made heritages in Ethiopia? ---------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. If you were employed in the tourist industry, what would you do to increase the national
income through the industry? (Read Unit 4 and the supplementary reading for Unit 5). ---
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------

85
C. Supplementary reading for Unit 5

Tourism can be used to preserve Ethiopia’s cultural and historic wealth

For many years, Ethiopia has also attracted the discerning traveler. Thousands of years before the
appearance of the Lonely Planet Guides, visitors extolled its attractions and wonders. century
Persian historian Mani described the Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum as being of the four great
empires of the world, ranking it alongside China, Persia and Rome. Axumite coins have been found
in India and China, and the obelisks of Axum (like the one looted by Mussolini and recently
returned by the Italians) are the biggest single pieces of stone erected anywhere in the world.

Ethiopia’s territory includes seven (Table 1) UNESCO World Heritage Sites (as many as Egypt),
four important national parks, a source of the world’s longest river, and sites revered among
adherents to Christianity, Islam and Judaism and diverse African traditional societies. Ethiopia has
very distinct cultural and historic products based on (a) ancient Axumite civilizations and the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church; (b) the walled Old City of Harar with its seven gates considered as
the fourth holiest city in Islam; (c) as a cradle of civilization, with fossilized evidence of the
ancestors of homo sapiens as old as 4.4 million years B.C., and the much more famous Dinknesh,
or Lucy.

Axum was believed to be an important city in the 1st Century AD and had an extensive and
powerful empire, dominating the seaborne trade from Africa to Asia, with important interactions
with Meroe in Nubia and Ancient Egypt. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, and features in
Byzantine and Arab literature. Whilst not ancient, the religious sites of Lalibela, Bahir Dar, and
Gonder date from the 16th and 17th Century. These sites are distinctly Ethiopian, and the country
as a whole is without colonial influences that are a feature in other parts of Africa; in this respect
Ethiopia is unique.

ATLAS provides a more conservative estimate of the market at 5-8% of world tourist trips, and is
based on covering those people traveling for specific cultural motivations, more in line with leisure
visitors to Ethiopia. Using the ATLAS estimate (assuming a mid-point of 6.5%), the global size of
the cultural and heritage tourism market can be estimated at 52 million tourists and US$ 26 billion

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in expenditure (or about 4% of global tourism). Research conducted for this report suggests an
estimated 18- 20,000 international cultural and historic heritage tourists visit
Ethiopia out of the estimated global market of 52 million; Ethiopia’s market share of about 0.03%
is miniscule. It is also very small when compared to other regional destinations and those
competing for the cultural heritage market. An interesting comparison is to look at visitor numbers
to other cultural World Heritage Sites in developing countries:

Given the international significance of Ethiopia’s cultural and heritage product, and the UNWTO
estimated current rate of growth of the worldwide cultural tourism market, it would appear that
Ethiopia is currently underperforming, with the potential for much higher market share.

Cultural tourism depends first and foremost on the preserved evidence of cultural achievement
and evolution, and secondly on the establishment of a sustainable tourist experience around that
preserved evidence. Not only is Ethiopia’s history remarkable, but much of it remains intact in part
as a result of the country’s relative lack of commercial development, minimal legacy of colonial
powers, and rough terrain. Clearly Ethiopia’s asset base is not the binding constraint to growing
market share (evidence from the market survey conducted during this study and discussed in
Chapters 5 and 6 also confirms this). It is the quality of and access to the tourist experience,
explored in the remainder of this study, which restricts growth.

Tourism can be utilized for poverty reduction

The second part of the Government’s vision for tourism is that it maximizes poverty-reducing
impacts.

One of the main challenges for tourism to position itself a key economic sector in developing
countries is that market forces cannot equitably distribute benefits and costs (Butler, 1993), and
there is a necessity for government policies and donor-financed tourism development programs
that attempt to redistribute some of the excesses of a market and private sector-led tourism
industry. The goals being to ensure a larger share of the profits from tourism are left behind in host
communities and countries, and, that governments see benefits in the form of tax revenue from an
expanded tourism economy, whether from general consumption and corporation taxes associated
with tourism, or from taxes specifically targeted at tourists and the tourism sector.

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It is also recognized that a primary path out of poverty is through employment, and that the private
sector is the main source of job creation. The links between economic growth—fueled and
sustained by private sector growth—and poverty reduction are strong and direct. A recent IMF
study of a panel of 46 countries (29 in SSA) covering the 1972- 1997 period found that a 10%
increase in per capita GDP leads to 1% increase in life expectancy, 3% decline in infant mortality
rates, and 4% increase in the rate of gross primary school enrollment. Targeting tourism as a driver
of per capita GDP growth is a legitimate strategy for many countries in Africa.

Ethiopia is among the world’s least developed countries, with some 31 million people living below
a poverty line equivalent to 45 US cents per day out of a population of 71 million; and up to 13
million people at risk of starvation. Over 80% of its population is rural, with agriculturallybased
livelihoods and extremely low levels of off-farm income. Maternal mortality is among the world’s
highest, and 48 million Ethiopians do not have access to clean water. Population pressure has
consumed gains in economic growth, such that income per capita has stagnated in the US$100
range for a decade.

Therefore, in the Ethiopian context, establishing and measuring links between tourism activity and
poverty reduction are a critical rationale for considering public investment in the sector; some of
these linkages are explored in economic assessment in Chapter 3.

Traditionally the impact of tourism has been measured in terms of its contribution to Gross

National Product (GNP) and employment creation. Often tourism’s overall impact on the economy
is estimated by looking at the effect of tourism expenditures through direct, indirect and induced
spending, using a multiplier effect approach. Tourism growth is most often measured through
increases in international arrivals, length of stay, bed occupancy, tourism expenditures and the
value of tourism spending.

However, none of these measures provide much insight into the magnitude of the impact on the
poor and do not even enable stakeholders to gauge trends in tourism sector growth and relate these
to any identified decline in poverty. While in the literature there are references to the importance
of tourism in developing countries and rural and marginalized areas there is insufficient treatment
of the impact of tourism on the poor.

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The case for tourism development as a way of bringing about economic development in a region
or country has usually been made with a focus on economic modernization and economic growth.
The assumption has been that any tourism development will eventually benefit the poor through
“trickle down” effects. There is no doubt that tourism development can provide employment to
those from lower social and economic strata, but there is a growing literature of case studies that
show tourism development also enriches local elites, international and expatriate companies, and
generates jobs with relatively low pay and often low status – although it must be remembered that
individuals will always take the best job they can find. In addition, poorly planned and managed
tourism can destroy ecological systems, raise the cost of living for local people and damage social
and cultural traditions and lifestyles. These are significant challenges to Ethiopia’s tourism vision.

In the development community the focus of many interventions has shifted from identifying ways
in which economic growth in developing countries can contribute to overall development to greater
concern about the distribution of the benefits and costs to growth, and a much more specific focus
on the reduction in poverty levels. There has been a growing realization that economic growth may
not necessarily reduce poverty and that policy commitments to reduce poverty can only be
achieved if there is a specific and concerted effort to raise the wellbeing of the poor in developing
countries. Within tourism planning and development there has also been a growing recognition
that tourism development may not be contributing to poverty alleviation and that pro-poor tourism
policies and practices must be identified. A clear manifestation of this new policy focus at the
international and regional level can be seen in the policies and programs of various international
organizations such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the UN World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO).

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent the most widely accepted and high profile
statement of this international commitment to reduce the number of people living in extreme
poverty.10 It is recognized that poverty is multi-faceted and extends beyond the most widely
applied income and consumption based definition of poverty. The poor suffer low incomes and
levels of consumption than what is deemed necessary to maintain basic human nutrition (extreme
poverty) or to maintain a basic standard of living (general poverty). Common characteristics of the
poor besides their income/consumption level include: low human capital development and limited

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employment opportunities, social exclusion and marginalization, and powerlessness. The poor
suffer high levels of vulnerability to market changes or idiosyncratic shocks (e.g., illness, death of
a family member) stemming from their low levels of savings and capital.

Tourism, like any other industry, needs to be strategically and sustainably developed in order to
unleash its potential positive impacts. Positive images and stories do not just find their way into
the worldwide consciousness; they have to be placed there. Just as the NGO industry in the mid-
1980s used negative images to strategically fuel a world conscience into donating money for a
cause, so the tourism industry of today can use and generate positive images to paint another
landscape.

Tourism is an opportunity to revitalize Ethiopia’s image

The third part of the Government’s vision for tourism is that becomes a tool to transform the image
of the country. Increased tourism can be a very powerful tool to change international perceptions
and images. Tourism has proven its worth as a rehabilitator of image in so many post-conflict
countries and in Ethiopia’s case, 20 years on from the from the humanitarian crisis of the mid-
1980’s, the military regime of the same decade and the fall of the Derg in the 1990s, tourism has a
particularly important role in changing the outlook for Ethiopians as well as the image and images
coming from the country. Ethiopia’s predominant image in international media remains one of
starvation, conflict and barren landscapes and many people in the West continue to see Ethiopia
as a charity-case.

Tourism has been successful in Ethiopia before

Though Ethiopia faces an image problem for tourists, it is worth noting that this was not always
the case. Ethiopia was one of the first African countries to establish a tourist industry and, in the
1960s; tourist arrivals grew at the rate of 12 per cent a year. By 1974, when the Emperor Haile
Selassie was toppled and replaced by a military regime, Ethiopia’s tourist sector was on a par with
Kenya’s. Ethiopia then had actually more to offer than Kenya: both had coastlines, spectacular
scenery and abundant wildlife, but Ethiopia also had historic sites and an identity defined by its
own history, culture and peoples, rather than by colonialism.

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In common with many other countries (notably Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Kenya that also
started investing in tourism in the late 1960s), tourism was considered a key economic growth
sector in Ethiopia as early as 1966 when the first Tourism Development Master Plan was
developed. Guided by the plan, the government invested heavily in tourism infrastructure in the
subsequent decade. Little who wrote the Master Plan also wrote the plans for Egypt, Kenya and
Tunisia. Ethiopian Airlines for international and domestic air access, building airfields around the
country at key tourism sites, building hotels at or near these sites, and establishing a national
tourism operation to take tourists to the hotels and attractions. The main attraction was the
“Historic Route” which at the time (1968-73) Ethiopian Airlines was servicing with seven flights
per day (up to 280 passengers daily). The “Historic Route” took in Addis, Lalibela, Gondar, Axum
and Asmara). The volume today is less than a tenth of this.

From 1974 for two decades the Ethiopian tourism industry suffered from the adverse effects of a
prolonged civil war, recurrent drought and famine, strained government relations with tourist
generating countries, and restrictions on entry and free movement of tourists during the military
government from 1974 to 1991. During this period, apart from periodic upgrades of the
infrastructure (such as airports and roads), there has been little investment and successive
governments have largely overlooked the sector. The sector is in urgent need of re-investment, in
particular, the cultural and natural attractions, and human resources that form the basis of the
tourism product, have been completely neglected. Linkages to international tourism networks, both
for marketing and research purposes, have also been neglected. Lack of coordination between
stakeholders and the government resulted in poor infrastructure development and under developed
tourist sites as well as a shortage of skilled workers in the sector. Generally, there was lack of
marketing and promotional strategy as well as low awareness of tourism by local communities. In
addition, the limited share of tourism earnings reaching the local community is affecting the
sustainability of the sector and is having a negative impact on the contribution of tourism towards
poverty alleviation.

This legacy has a possible silver lining. The Ethiopian context for developing tourism is somewhat
unique in Africa in that the country has been, until recently, closed to foreign investors. This has
resulted in an unusual and potentially powerful paradigm where businesses in the tourism sector
are almost entirely Ethiopian-owned (either by government, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church or the

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 private sector). On the other hand, this closed and relatively controlled system has stifled the
development of a creative and innovative industry (in terms of product development, crafts,
exploration of new attractions etc.).

Activity: Being in groups, discuss the following point based on the given context.

Destination marketing refers to a management process through which the national tourist
organizations and/or tourist enterprises identify their selected tourists, actual and potential,
communicate with them to ascertain and influence their wishes, needs, motivations, and likes and
dislikes, on local/rural, regional, national and international levels, and to formulate and adapt their
tourist products accordingly with a view to achieving optimal tourist satisfaction, thereby fulfilling
their objectives.

Ethiopia can benefit a lot from the tourist industry, and the benefits can be realized when visitors
know its tourist destinations. Their knowledge about the tourist destinations in the country leads
to visit the destinations.

Assume that you are working in the tourist industry in the Marketing Tourism Destinations
Department. What strategies would you employ to attract visitors to the country.

Activity: Write the summary of your discussion in 5.4 in a short paragraph of 6 to 10 lines.

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Activity. Read the different categories of tourism products in the Table below.

Toolkit on Poverty Reduction through Tourism written in 2012 introduced us with different
example categories of tourism products.
Nature tourism: exploring conservation areas by walking or riding in the forest, or on the

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 mountain or beach, navigation in rivers, lakes and the sea, observation of flora, fauna and
other natural attractions such as waterfalls, caves, etc.

Experiential cultural tourism: living with native communities, including participation in daily
life activities and various cultural events, such as music, dance and arts, rites or religious
holidays, etc.

Agri-tourism: visiting rural communities to participate in agricultural production, livestock,

handicrafts other traditional agricultural activities.

Historical tourism: visiting special sites to see monuments, sculptures, architecture, civil, military
or religious artifacts, archaeological remains of ancient cultures, local museums and sites
of paleontological interest.

Health and wellness tourism: today, increasing interest in fitness, disease prevention,
maintaining good health, new age remedies and alternative treatments to alleviate various
types of stress are key tourism motivators. Such tourism may include visits to holy sites
with communities; participation in rituals and treatments with healers and shamans.

Medical tourism: this has been defined as the practice of travelling across international borders
to obtain health care.

Religious tourism: also commonly called “faith tourism”, this involves travel for reasons of faith,
for pilgrimage, missionary and other related purposes.

Sports tourism: recreational fishing and hunting, sports that require specialized training and
equipment: canoeing, climbing, rappelling, etc.

Scientific tourism: observation and study of flora, fauna and geology, local food plants and
ancestral medicinal knowledge and its applications in the conservation of biodiversity.

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Activity:

Instruction: Now, answer the following questions individually based on the information in the
Table above. Then, form a group and share your answers to your group members.
Discuss the steps and strategies your group members suggested, and come up with
agreed upon steps and strategies which you can present to whole class discussion.

1. Which of the above categories do you know? -----------------------------------------------------

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2. How do you think you can introduce the categories available in your region to tourists so
that they can visit them? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. What steps and strategies will you take to avail the categories that are not available in your
Region and the country at large? --------------------------------------------------------------------
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