Shilpi was only 15 years old when she married Rashid in 2008. Marrying off daughters at an early age is a standard practice for many families living in rural Bangladesh. After her wedding, Shilpi joined a local empowerment group that provides adolescent girls with the tools needed to gradually change cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to early marriage and pregnancy. The group's activities include discussions on how to most effectively change behaviour related to reproductive health as well as one-on-one counselling. It also offers peer-to-peer support and life skills training that help adolescents say 'no' to early marriage. The empowerment group is one of more than 10,000 groups supported by some local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) working all over Bangladesh. These NGOs work through Canada's Adolescent Reproductive Health Project which also aims to increase access to quality health services for adolescents. During one of the group sessions, Shilpi came to understand the potentially harmful effects of early marriage and pregnancy.

১.

Choose the best answer from alternatives.

(a) The word 'practice' in the second sentence of the passage means-
(i) exercise (ii) custom (iii) action (iv) activity

(b) Marrying off daughters at an early age is-.
(i) an extraordinary practice (ii) a tolerable practice (iii) an unusual practice (iv) a usual practice

(c) The word 'rural' is a/an — .
(i) noun (ii) verb (iii) adjective (iv) adverb

(d) Which of the following is not a service provided by the empowerment group?
(i) one-on-one counselling (ii) peer-to-peer support (iii) early marriage assistance (iv) life skills training

(e) The word 'peer' is close to - .
(i) superior (ii) couple (iii) companion (iv) spouse

(f) What does the word 'counselling' mean?
(i) leading (ii) advising (iii) ignoring (iv) demotivating

(g) The aim of the NGOs mentioned in the passage is -.
(i) to extend standard medical services for adolescents (ii) to reduce skill development services for adolescents (iii) to extend working opportunities for adults (iv) all of the above

(h) The meaning of the word 'reproductive' is closely related to-.
(i) generative (ii) destructive (iii) supportive (iv) cooperative

(i) Which word is a synonym for 'potentially'?
(i) certainly (ii) randomly (iii) commonly (iv) possibly

(j) What did Shilpi understand during the group sessions?
(i) the importance of quality health services (ii) the detrimental effects of early marriage and pregnancy (iii) the benefits of early marriage and pregnancy (iv) the importance of upholding social customs

উত্তর

(a) (ii) custom

(b) (iv) a usual practice

(c) (iii) adjective

(d) (iii) early marriage assistance

(e) (iii) companion

(f) (ii) advising

(g) (i) to extend standard medical services for adolescents

(h) (i) generative

(i) (iv) possibly

(j) (ii) the detrimental effects of early marriage and pregnancy

Shilpi was only 15 years old when she married Rashid in 2008. Marrying off daughters at an early age is a standard practice for many families living in rural Bangladesh. After her wedding, Shilpi joined a local empowerment group that provides adolescent girls with the tools needed to gradually change cultural practices, particularly those pertaining to early marriage and pregnancy. The group's activities include discussions on how to most effectively change behaviour related to reproductive health as well as one-on-one counselling. It also offers peer-to-peer support and life skills training that help adolescents say 'no' to early marriage. The empowerment group is one of more than 10,000 groups supported by some local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) working all over Bangladesh. These NGOs work through Canada's Adolescent Reproductive Health Project which also aims to increase access to quality health services for adolescents. During one of the group sessions, Shilpi came to understand the potentially harmful effects of early marriage and pregnancy.

২.

Answer the following questions.

(a) Why was Shilpi married off at a tender age?
(b) Why did she join a local empowerment group?
(c) What are the activities of the group?
(d) What kind of NGOs are mentioned in the passage?
(e) What realization did Shilpi reach after joining the group?

উত্তর

(a) The passage relates her early marriage to the practice of marrying off daughters young in many rural families.

(b) She joined a group that helped adolescent girls understand and gradually change cultural practices relating to early marriage and pregnancy.

(c) The group organises discussions about reproductive-health behaviour, provides one-to-one counselling and offers peer support and life-skills training. These activities help girls say no to early marriage.

(d) The passage mentions local non-governmental organisations supporting empowerment groups across Bangladesh. They work through Canada's Adolescent Reproductive Health Project to improve adolescents' access to quality health services.

(e) Shilpi came to understand the potentially harmful effects of early marriage and pregnancy.

Education gives us knowledge and a set of abilities to function meaningfully in life, such as the ability to decide things rationally and make the right choices. As we learn how to read, write and do the basic operations of arithmetic, we gain a degree of self-confidence. We learn to think for ourselves and articulate our thoughts; we pick up skills to communicate with others and manage our affairs well. Education helps us think independently and make our own opinions. As we know more about the world, we appreciate the good things it offers us but also become critical of the deviations from the values it imparts and the rise of hatred or conflict that follows. The first thing education does is to give us an awareness about ourselves which leads to the development of our personality. As we begin school, we feel the need to belong to the class and make friends. We then expand our sense of belonging to include the school at large, our community and finally our country. Education thus prepares every child to become an active member of the community and work for its welfare.

৩.

Read the following text and make a flow-chart showing the purposes of education. (One has been done for you.)

Box	Content
1	enriching knowledge
2	______
3	______
4	______
5	______
6	______

উত্তর

Box	Content
1	Enriching knowledge
2	Enabling us to function meaningfully
3	Allowing us to decide things rationally
4	Empowering us to make the right choices
5	Enabling us to think independently
6	Preparing us to become active members of the community

Relationships are of different kinds. Some are familial and intimate, formed by blood and by marriage, some are social like the ones we have with friends and some are made in school where we form close bonds with classmates and teachers. Relationships can also be fostered in workplace, which may quickly change from professional to social. There are relationships also between human beings and animals, between children and their toys that they cannot part with.
All these relationships keep us close to each other and provide us all kinds of support, love and affection. A person who has no family feels the pains of loneliness and isolation. There is no one to laugh or cry with him/her. When we share our joy with someone, it simply redoubles, and when we suffer a loss and someone shares our sorrow, it lessens. Relationships are thus needed for our emotional health.

৪. Summarise the following text.

উত্তর

For various reasons man establishes relationships. Relationships can be of various types. They can be familial and intimate. They can also develop through interactions with others in different places or situations. Relationships keep us close to each other and provide us support, love and affection. They also amplify our happiness and lessen our sorrows.

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