Contents
Reading
Why Is the Renaissance Important?
Ways with words
A. Circle the correct meanings of the underlined words.
a. Martin Luther started a revolt against the conventions of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ans: creations
b. It blended classical styles with new ideas.
Ans: mixed together
c. The dome marks the beginning of Renaissance architecture.
Ans: serves as a sign of
d. The arts flourished during the Renaissance.
Ans: grew and improved
e. The new passion for learning also led to amazing discoveries in science.
Ans: enthisiam
D. Match the following phrasal verbs with their meanings.
a. break down = to stop functioning
b. check out = to leave a hotel
c. fed up = tired of something or someone
d. fill out = to complete a form
e. get away = to escape
f. give away = to give something to someone for free
g. give up = to quit a habit
h. look forward to = to wait anxiously for something or an event
i. make up = to invent a story or lie
j. pass away = to die
k. put out = to extinguish
l. take off = to remove clothes or shoes from the body, to depart as in airplane
Comprehension
A. Answer these questions.
a. What does the word Renaissance mean? Which language is it derived from?
Ans: The word Renaissance means ‘rebirth’. It is derived from French word ‘renaitre’ which means ‘be reborn’.
b. What did the Greek scholars do in their new locations after leaving the Greek city?
Ans: After leaving the Greek city, Greek scholars taught Greek and shared their precious books in their new locations.
c. How did ‘new learning’ teach people to think in different ways?
Ans: ‘New Learning’ taught people to think in different ways. It is encouraging them to paint pictures makes statues and buildings and writes great literature.
d. Describe the artistic developments of Renaissance in brief.
Ans: The artistic developments of the Renaissance first happened in Florence; then they spread to other Italian cities. Due to trade and banking, cities like Florence, Venice and Milan became very wealthy. The rich citizens of these cities had both the time and money to enjoy music, art and poetry. These cities produced great painters and sculptures; they are Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. These artists created history’s finest works of arts.
e. Name the three Renaissance scientists who made great discoveries?
Ans: Name of the three Renaissance scientists were Galileo, Kepler and Newton.
f. Who developed the printing press? Which country was he from?
Ans: Johannes Gutenberg developed the printing press. He was from Germany.
g. Why is the development of the printing press considered as one of the gifts of Renaissance?
Ans: Before development of the printing press, books were hand written; they were very costly. The development of the printing press is considered as one of the gifts of Renaissance because it helped to writers to publish their books at low price. Therefore, development of the printing press considered as one of the best gifts of Renaissance.
h. Name the five famous explorers of the Renaissance?
Ans: The five famous explorers were Columbus, Vasco de Gama, Cabot , Magellan and Drake.
i. Why do some people think of the Renaissance as the beginning of modern history?
Ans: Printing press, arts, literature and discover of new land formed the bases for many parts of modern life and beliefs. That is why so people think thank that the Renaissance is the beginning of modern history.
B. What do you infer from the reading? Tick (√) the best answer.
a. Before the Renaissance…
Ans: education was limited to scholars and privileged
b. Which statement is true?
Ans: The Greeks had a strong influence on Renaissance thinking
c. What did the Renaissance do?
Ans: It caused people to make changes in their lives
d. What were the major causes of the Renaissance?
Ans: printing, reading and learning
Critical Thinking
a. Do you agree with Machiavelli’s view that a good leader can do bad and dishonest things in order to preserve his power and protect his government? Explain.
Ans: Machaivelli was a politician and writer. He was born in Florence in 1469. His best-known book is ‘The Prince’. In that book, he teaches about political leaders. he describes how to keep power by any means, immoral decisions, dishonesty, killing, etc. Machaivelli reveals several facts that a good leader can turn into immoral and evil. The leader accumulates political power and wealth in a wrong way. Political power and position are like addiction. A powerful person never wants to lose the position he holds.
The leader whose goal is power, fame and boundless wealth, he often appears self-centered. The leader’s desire becomes so strong that he breaks the moral standards. Many leaders get to the top position by imposing their will on others. When they reach the top, they suspect that other leaders are trying to knock off their base. Therefore, when a leader involves in the dishonest activities, he disobeys and breaks the rules to save his power and position. To prove himself good and honest, he preserve his power and protect his government. He makes a series of mistakes.
b. Do you think that art and literature are important assets of a country? Give reasons.
Ans: Art and literature have social, cultural and economic value. They represent the society and nation and their identity. Art may be as paintings, sculpture, music, dance, film, cartoon and even fashion and furniture design. Literature may be as written work with artistic value, body of music, printed information and production of literature work. In digital world, arts and literature may be in the form of digital like digital paintings and eBooks etc.
Arts and literatures allow the people to communicate with each other through images, sounds and stories. This communication may be national wise and international wise. Art of literature is often a medium for social change. They can give a voice to the social as well as political. The Geeta, the Bible, the Quran, etc. are the literature value of the countries. Painting of the Mona Lisa, The Card Players, the When Will You Marry, the Interchange have the million dollars value. Thus we can say that art and literature are important assets of a country.
Writing
a. Write an essay on “Literature is the reflection of society.”
Ans: During the early days, much of our history was transferred orally through song and spoken word. People started writing things down on scrolls and books. Writing made accurately transfer of the information much more reliable. Finally, literature was born and more people piled the written works. It began taking shape in various forms like poetry, epics, novels and much more.
Literature is the written works with artistic value e.g. fiction, poetry, drama and criticism. Literature is recognized as having important or permanent artistic value. It may be converting into a tangible object that can be interpreted by others. In many instances, literature is purely the reflection of society and language is its voice. The existence of any society can’t be imagined without literature and language. A society is incomplete without language, literature, history and culture. Literature provides the big picture of the society. It shows us the evolution of society through the works produced. When you look or stare yourself in a mirror, you appear the same way you are. Literature will be seen in the same way as society is because a writer writes the same article that he seems or hears in society.
