Forgetting: Speaking Activity

Speaking Activity

Work with a partner and take turns to share your views and suggestions with the class.

i) You are travelling in a train. When the Train Ticket Examiner enters your compartment, much to your shock, you realize you have forgotten to bring your train ticket. How will you handle the situation?

When the Train Ticket Examiner asks me to show my ticket, I will tell him that I have forgotten to bring my ticket. I will inform him that I had booked the ticket online. If he asks me to show the SMS on my mobile, I will reply that I had deleted the SMS but I will show my e mail. I think he will be satisfied with my answer. He may advise me “Don’t forget the tickets, hereafter.”

ii) You forget to wish your best friend on his/her birthday. He gets very angry. How will you try to pacify him/her? Construct a dialogue of about 4 to 5 exchanges and enact a role play.

Ayisha : Hai! Rosy, How are you?

Rosy : Fine. But I am angry with you.

Ayisha : Why Rosy?

Rosy : You’ve forgotten my birthday party.

Ayisha : Oh! I am very sorry, Rosy. I was in the hospital with my brother who was ill. I’ve forgot to send you greetings.

Rosy : I am sorry. Is your brother all right?

Ayisha : Yes, he is all right now.

Rosy : Couldn’t you make a call on that day?

Ayisha : Sorry, Rosy. I left my phone at home.

Rosy : It’s okay, Ayisha. I can understand your position. No problem.

Ayisha : Thank you Rosy. You are my true friend.

iii) ‘Forgetfulness is the beginning of happiness’ Do you agree or disagree? Discuss in class.

Yes, I agree that forgetfulness is the beginning of happiness. We unnecessarily store a lot of unwanted information in our mind nowadays. If we get rid of them, we will be free. Forgetfulness help us throw all the unwanted information from us. Then only our happiness starts.

No, I don’t agree that forgetfulness is the beginning of happiness. Forgetting a thing or matter is not at all a failure in our brain. It is not possible for us to store all the information in our mind. A little forgetfulness is not a greater thing.

iv) Is there a link between intelligence and absent-mindedness? Share your views on this subject.

Yes. There is a link between intelligence and absent-mindedness. An intelligent person (or a genius) is always thinking about great things and is likely to forget small, ordinary things. For example, Isaac Newton is a great genius and one of the greatest scientists of all time. But he was very much absent minded. When he was boy, his mother asked him to bring the horse from the farm. While he was leading the horse back home, the horse wriggled out of the noose and ran away. But Newton was thinking about many scientific facts that he did not realize the absence of the horse. They reached home, just leading only the empty tether (rope) without the horse! In later life also, Newton was forgetfhl. Very often his lunch was left untouched because he was busy with scientific experiments.