Our Civilisation – II
development, man has increased his power over nature enormously.
He has learnt to tap the hidden forces of nature. He has learnt to use them for whatever purposes he wants to. If his purposes are those of destruction, he can do that in a much faster and terrible manner.
Each fresh advance in his mastery of nature increases the dangers from war terribly. With each fresh advance, men learn to destroy one another in ever greater numbers. They learn to destroy one another from ever greater distances, and in more and more different ways.
Man has now discovered how to release the mighty forces locked up in the atom. With this discovery, many nations of the world are now making atom bombs. Now if another war comes, these bombs would be widely used. Nobody knows what the effect of dropping these bombs on a large scale would be. It is quite possible that there would be a total destruction of civilization.
Somebody has remarked jokingly: ‘In the next war, men will fight with atom bombs. But in the war after that, they will fight with bows and arrows.’ Another great defect of our civilization is that it does not know what to do with its knowledge. Science has given us powers fit for the gods, but we use them like small children. For example, we do not know how to manage our machines. Machines were made to be man’s servants. But we have grown so dependent on them that they have almost become our masters. Many of us spend most of their lives looking after and waiting upon machines. And machines are very stern masters. They must be given petrol to drink. They must be given oil to wash with. They must be kept at the right temperature.
And if they do not get their meals when they want them, they grow sulky and refuse to work. They burst with rage, and blow up. Then they spread ruin and destruction all around. So we have to wait upon them very attentively. We have to do all we can to keep them in a good temper. Already we are finding it difficult to work or play without machines. A time may soon come when they will rule us completely, just as we rule animals.
What then are we to do with all the time and energy machines have saved for us? On the whole it must be admitted, we do very little with that time and energy. For the most part, we use them to make more and better machines. But those more and better machines will only give us still more time and still more energy. Thus the important question still remains:
What are we to do with that time and energy?
The answer, I think, is:
We should try to become more civilized.
Machines and the power machines have given us, are not civilisation.
They are just aids to civilisation. There is nothing particularly civilized in getting into a train.
Being civilized means making and liking beautiful things. It means thinking freely and living rightly. It means maintaining justice equally between man and man. Man today has a better chance to do these things than ever before. He has more time and more energy. He has less to fear and less to fight against. The only dangers he has to fear or fight against are of his own creation.
The time and energy machines have won for man should be given to making more beautiful things. They should be given to finding out more and more about the universe. They should be given to removing the causes of quarrels between nations. They should be given to discovering how to remove poverty. Our civilisation would then undoubtedly be the greatest one and the most lasting one.
– C.E.M. Joad
New Words / Phrases and their Use
1. luxury (enjoying special and expensive things) – The rich can enjoy all the
luxuries of life.
2. surroundings (everything around) – We should keep our surroundings clean.
3. in spite of (despite) – He went there in spite of my warning.
4. enormously (in a big way) – Prices have gone up enormously.
5. purpose (motive) – I don’t know the purpose of his coming here.
6. destroy (damage badly) – Floods have destroyed the crops.
7. dependent (needing the support) – She is still dependent on her parents.
8. sulky (bad-tempered) – She is a sulky girl and nobody likes her.
9. rage (great anger) – The wounded tiger roared with rage.
10. maintain (keep up) – We always maintain good relations with our neighbours.
11. particularly (especially) – Milk is particularly useful for children.
12. wait upon (serve) – He has a nurse to wait upon his aged mother.
13. creation (a thing that has been made) – All the world is God’s creation.
14. universe (everything in the whole space) – God created the universe.
15. lasting (staying for a long time) – My advice had a lasting influence on him.
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Textual Comprehension
I. Tick (✓) the correct option to complete each sentence :
a. In a democratic country ......
1. all are equal before the law.
2. all have equal share of money.
3. all have equal food and clothing.
b. Many families live in a single room because ......
1. they can’t afford to have another room.
2. they feel it a fun to live together in one room.
3. they can bathe, wash, dress, cook and eat in the same room.
c. Man’s mastery over nature has increased ......
1. the dangers of war.
2. the power of the atom.
3. the worries of scientists.
d. Science has given man powers ......
1. fit for inventors.
2. fit for children.
3. fit for gods.
II. Put a tick (✓) or a cross (✗) for each statement :
1. Machines don’t demand anything from us.
2. There is no poverty in finest cities of the world.
3. Machines haven’t saved any time and energy for us.
4. The modern man knows how to use his knowledge.
5. Man’s mastery over nature has solved all his problems.
6. Ther poor are happy to live together in a single room.
7. We should not let machines rule us as we rule animals.
8. Mankind has survived because there have been no wars.
9. Atom bombs can bring about a total destruction of mankind.
10. The sharing of food and clothing is always fair in a democracy.
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III. Answer each question briefly :
1. What are the good points of a democracy ?
2. Which can be the negatives things in a democracy ?
3. What is the difference between the life of the rich and the poor ?
4. What sad thing can be seen even in the finest cities of the world ?
5. What has made war immensely dangerous in modern times ?
6. What can happen if there is another war in the world ?
7. What is wrong in the use of machines by the modern man ?
8. How should we use the time and energy machines have saved for us ?
9. What do you think is meant by being civilized ?
Vocabulary Enrichment
We can form verbs by adding the prefix -en to certain words; as ––
1. enrich –– to make rich
2. encage –– to put into cage
3. encircle –– to put into circle
4. endanger –– to put into danger
Fill in the blanks using the correct form of the en- words from the box :
enjoy enfold endear enclose encircle
enrich ensure enlarge enforce encourage
1. Reading the mind.
2. Don’t bad habits in a child.
3. Men and women should equal rights.
4. Her noble nature has her to everybody.
5. There is no use making a law unless it is .
6. The eagles the place where the deer lay dead.
7. The mother the child in an affectionate embrace.
8. Please that all the lights are switched off at night.
9. The lawn in front of my house is very small. I want to it.
10. If you your garden with a wall, it will become difficult
for boys to steal into it.
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Grammar in Use
I. Rearrange the words to make sentences :
1. equal / law / before / the / are / all.
2. powers / has / man / gods / for / fit / now.
3. a house / too / to / they / poor / buy / are.
4. with / rights / men / women / equal / have.
5. drink / petrol / to / machines / have / must.
6. forces / the / nature / tapped / man /of / has.
7. time / energy / saved / machines / and / us / have.
8. families / there / many / of five / are / persons / or six.
II. Now frame questions to which the given sentences can serve as answers :
(For questions use the pattern : Question-word+did+Subject+V1+........)
1. Where
They went to the bank of a river.
2. Why
They sat down to rest under a tree.
3. Who
Mohan gave this book to me.
4. How
He behaved very badly at the party.
5. How long
Children played in the park for two hours.
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Pronunciation Practice
Rule : If a one-syllable word has two vowels, the first vowel usually has
a long sound, and the second vowel is silent. And if the first vowel is u,
in that case the word has the long u sound; as ––
tube glue fruit
Rule : If a one-syllable word has two vowels, the first vowel usually has
a long sound, and the second vowel is silent. And if the first vowel is o,
in that case the word has the long o sound; as ––
note boat woe
Underline the word in each set that hasn’t a long vowel sound :
1. ride rope 2. row rod 3. soap rail 4. bow not
rid rode ray rule soak sip stone note
5. hive hay 6. robe rod 7. bone boat 8. tone toad
hop hope jake load bat bite toe tap
9. cane can 10. doe dock 11. corn coat 12. got game
cone came pea dice cook cube goal gate
Composition Writing
I. Write four sentences on the good points of our civilization.
1.
2.
3.
4.
II. Write four sentences on the bad points of our civilization.
1.
2.
3.
4.
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