Paragraph: The Mongolians (for VII only)

Mongol was initially the name of a tribe roaming along the Erguna River. The Mongolians live mostly in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They have their own spoken and written language, which belongs to the Mongolian group of the Altaic language family. The largest Mongolian area, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region with its capital at Hohhot, was founded on May 1, 1947. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is located in the northern part of China. The Mongolians have a fine cultural tradition. Mongolians grow up on horsebacks and horses thus play an important part in their life. Every Mongolian loves to prove his worth by showing good horsemanship and archery as well as wrestling. The life of the Mongolians is unique. Those in the pastoral areas wear fur coats lined with satin or cloth or nothing at all in winter and loose, long-sleeved cotton robes in summer. Mongolian costume is generally red, yellow or dark blue in color. Mongolians believe in Shamanism. A Mongolian family usually consists of the parents and their children. When the son gets married he usually lives in a separate home close to his parents. During the summer season the Mongolians live in tents named yurts. They are very comfortable to live in. In the winter season they live in houses made of stones to keep them warm. In our English text book we have learnt about Rafiq’s pen friend Endon who is a Mongolian. Endon has written a letter to Rafiq to give him a idea about his country and tribe.

Paragraph: A Street Hawker

A street hawker deals in various things by hawking from street to street. The street hawker is seen here, there and everywhere. He is a familiar figure in our street. He is seen particularly near schools, at fairs, corners of roads or railway stations. Hawkers are frequent and common in our colony, as in many others. They ply their wares from street to street and colony to colony. He deals in things of daily use. These consist of vegetable, fruit, cloth, utensil, sweets, ice-cream, parched grams, soap and toys. He does not cover his wares. He keeps them in such a way that one sees them at a glance. He carries his materials on head and sometimes in hand and sometimes in a small handcart. The street hawker’s dress is shabby. He puts on poor looking shirt and a pair of pajamas. He wears a big turban on his head. This turban helps him in balancing his iron tray on his head. He often carries a bell in his right hand and a cane stand in the left. He generally buys his goods at a cheaper rate and sells them at a good profit. A street hawker is very cunning. He knows his business very well. He knows well how to attract a school boy, or a villager or a passer-by. They make the life and buying convenient. Through them, market comes to our door-step. They have brisk business and good profit. Their goods are cheaper than those sold in the market. But sometimes they supply spurious and sub-standard things. Therefore, one has to be cautious while purchasing articles from street hawkers. There is other type of hawkers also. They sell nothing but buy things. The kabariwalas belong to this category of hawker. They move from locality to locality and buy waste articles like empty bottles, old newspapers, magazines, books, plastic and tin containers, broken household items, etc. They buy these items from house to house and sell them to the dealers. Such hawkers do good service to us. They take away our useless items and give us money also. The hawker is an important member of society. He serves us in many ways. He comes to our street in the burning sun and in the severe cold weather. When we cannot go out to buy anything, they are there in our street to serve us. He saves our time and also inconvenience. His life is difficult. We should be sensitive and sympathetic towards him. His dignity of labor commands our respect.