Answer to Question #166768 in English for Qurat Ul Ain

Question

A famous French comedy has for its chief character a rich shopkeeper called Jourdain who

very much wanted to mix in high society.His first task was to learn roper manners and the way

of speech, and so he engaged the services of all kinds of teachers-one for music, one for

dancing, one for philosophy and one for fencing. The teacher of philosophy told him that there

were two ways in which people could express themselves namely, in prose or verse. lourdain

was astonished. He knew that he did not talk in verse. "So I have been speaking prose these

forty years he said proudly, "And never knew it!"

We all speak prose and some of us think about it as little as Monsieur Jourdain did. We

should all learn to speak clearly and intelligently. Some people use the same words over andover again, one every possible occasion. This seems a pity, when one thinks of all good words

there are in the English Language, and how many of them are never used at all

The following conversion was written hundred and fifty years ago. It occurs in the novel a

called Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Evidently people were just as lazy about using words

then as they are today.

"I am sure, "cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong: but it is a nice book,

and why should I not call it so?"

"Very true" said Henry, "and this is a very nice day, and we are taking a very nice walk,

and you are two nice young ladies. Oh! It is a very nice word indeed, it does for everything.

Originally, perhaps, it was applied only to express neatness, propricty, delicacy or refinement:

people were nice in their dress, in their sentiments, or in their choice. But now every

commendation is comprised in that one word."

It is of great importance to be able to speak, write and read good prose. One sees many

advertisements for courses in English at correspondence colleges. Many people do not discover

until long after they had left school how important a real knowledge of the language is to them,

and then they try to make up lost ground by enrolling for these courses.

Here are two hints about writing prose:

1. don't use long words, short ones will do Just as well ("Rat catcher" not "Rodent

operative")

2. Aim at being clear and simple in all that you write, so that the reader cannot

misunderstand your meaning ("Thank you for your letter" not "With reference to

your esteemed favour")

Answer the following questions in your own words:

1. How did Jourdain try to go about getting into high society?

2. According to the first paragraph, you can express yourself in two ways. Write one

sentence describing each way.

3. Rewrite the extract from Northanger Abbey replacing the word "nice" each time by

another word.

4. Why it is important to be able to speak, write and read good prose?

Answer 1

1) Jourdain tried to go about getting into high society by learning roper manners and the way of speech, and so he engaged the services of all kinds of teachers-one for music, one for dancing, one for philosophy and one for fencing.

2)You can express yourself in two ways that is, in prose or verse.

3) "I am sure, "cried Catherine, "I did not mean to say anything wrong: but it is a fine book, and why should I not call it so?"

"Very true" said Henry, "and this is a very delightful day, and we are taking a very entertaining walk, and you are two amusing young ladies. Oh! It is a very pleasant word indeed, it does for everything.

Originally, perhaps, it was applied only to express neatness, propricty, delicacy or refinement: people were amusing their dress, in their sentiments, or in their choice. But now every commendation is comprised in that one word."

4) It is important to be able to read and write because One sees many advertisements for courses in English at correspondence colleges. Many people do not discover

until long after they had left school how important a real knowledge of the language is to them, and then they try to make up lost ground by enrolling for these courses.