The Physical Environment
Senior 1 · English
The Physical Environment
Lesson 5 of 5
30 min
Let's begin
A story's setting is more than a backdrop. In this true story from the African Storybook, the setting changes as the heroine grows up, and the change is the story: green forests, then bare farms, then forests again. Wangari Maathai (1940–2011) grew up in the hills of central Kenya, became a scientist, and in 1977 started the Green Belt Movement, which paid women to plant trees. As you read, notice every detail that tells you where and when you are.
Before you read: Think of a place you knew as a small child. Has it changed since then? What is different?
In a village on the slopes of Mount Kenya in East Africa, a little girl worked in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari.
Wangari loved being outside. In her family’s food garden she broke up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds into the warm earth.
Her favourite time of day was just after sunset. When it got too dark to see the plants, Wangari knew it was time to go home. She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went.
Wangari was a clever child and couldn’t wait to go to school. But her mother and father wanted her to stay and help them at home. When she was seven years old, her big brother persuaded her parents to let her go to school.
She liked to learn! Wangari learnt more and more with every book she read. She did so well at school that she was invited to study in the United States of America. Wangari was excited! She wanted to know more about the world.
At the American university Wangari learnt many new things. She studied plants and how they grow. And she remembered how she grew: playing games with her brothers in the shade of the trees in the beautiful Kenyan forests.
The more she learnt, the more she realised that she loved the people of Kenya. She wanted them to be happy and free. The more she learnt, the more she remembered her African home.
When she had finished her studies, she returned to Kenya. But her country had changed. Huge farms stretched across the land. Women had no wood to make cooking fires. The people were poor and the children were hungry.
Wangari knew what to do. She taught the women how to plant trees from seeds. The women sold the trees and used the money to look after their families. The women were very happy. Wangari had helped them to feel powerful and strong.
As time passed, the new trees grew into forests, and the rivers started flowing again. Wangari’s message spread across Africa. Today, millions of trees have grown from Wangari’s seeds.
Wangari had worked hard. People all over the world took notice, and gave her a famous prize. It is called the Nobel Peace Prize, and she was the first African woman ever to receive it.
Wangari died in 2011, but we can think of her every time we see a beautiful tree.
| Word | Meaning | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| slope | the side of a hill or mountain | Her village was on the slopes of Mount Kenya. |
| machete | a large, heavy knife used for cutting plants | She broke up the soil with her machete. |
| sunset | the time when the sun goes down | Her favourite time was just after sunset. |
| narrow | not wide | She followed the narrow paths. |
| persuade | make someone agree by giving good reasons | Her brother persuaded her parents. |
| shade | a cool, dark area where the sun is blocked | They played in the shade of the trees. |
| stretch | cover a large area | Huge farms stretched across the land. |
| powerful | strong; able to control or change things | The women felt powerful and strong. |
| take notice | pay attention | People all over the world took notice. |
| receive | be given something | She was the first African woman to receive it. |
Definition
Setting: the time and place in which a story happens, together with the physical details that let the reader see, hear and feel it.
| Childhood | After her studies | At the end | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | when she was a small girl; just after sunset | when she came home from America | as time passed; today |
| Place | a village and its fields, paths and rivers | Kenya's countryside | across Kenya and Africa |
| Physical details | warm earth, narrow paths, rivers, the shade of trees, beautiful forests | huge farms, no wood for fires, poor people, hungry children | new forests, rivers flowing again, millions of trees |
| Mood | peaceful, happy | sad, worrying | hopeful, proud |
The setting and the message are tied together. The green childhood setting shows what Kenya had; the bare setting shows what it lost; the final setting shows that one person's action can bring it back. The writer never says "cutting down forests is bad": the changing setting says it for her.
Worked example
Analyse the setting in one sentence: She would follow the narrow paths through the fields, crossing rivers as she went.
Definition
Connected speech: the way words run together when we speak naturally, instead of being said one by one.
Linking: joining the last sound of one word to the first sound of the next, so there is no gap. an egg sounds like a-negg.
| Type of link | How it works | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant + vowel | the last consonant joins the next word's first vowel | worked‿in, broke‿up, shade‿of, look‿after, all‿over (all from the story) |
| Vowel + vowel (w) | after oo, u, o, ow, add a small w sound | grew‿into (grew-w-into), to‿eat (to-w-eat), how‿old (how-w-old) |
| Vowel + vowel (y) | after ee, i, ay, y, add a small y sound | the‿American (the-y-American), she‿is (she-y-is), the‿end (the-y-end) |
| Same consonant | say the sound once, a little longer | big‿garden, black‿cow, warm‿milk |
Tip
Read the phrase, not the words. Mark links in pencil with a small curve (‿) under the gap, then read the phrase as if it were one long word: in‿a‿village‿on‿the slopes‿of Mount Kenya. Your English will sound smoother and faster, and you will understand fast speakers better too.
Tim's Pronunciation Workshop: consonant-vowel linking, BBC Learning English (3 minutes). Listen to how Tim joins the words, then read paragraph 1 of the story aloud with the same links.
In pairs, mark all the consonant-vowel links in paragraphs 1 and 2 of the story. Then read the paragraphs aloud to each other. Your partner listens for gaps between linked words.
In‿a village‿on the slopes‿of Mount Kenya in East‿Africa, a little girl worked‿in the fields with her mother. Her name was Wangari. Wangari loved being‿outside. In her family's food garden she broke‿up the soil with her machete. She pressed tiny seeds‿into the warm‿earth.
Write a paragraph of 90 to 110 words describing a place you know well at a particular time: for example, your village at sunset in the dry season, a market on a Saturday morning, or Lake Kivu at dawn. Give the time, the place and at least four physical details that use three different senses. Make the details create one clear mood.
It is six o'clock on a July morning in Rubavu, and Lake Kivu is still grey and silent. A thin white mist lies on the water, so the islands look like the backs of sleeping animals. Out on the lake, the fishing boats are coming home after a long night, and I can hear the fishermen singing to keep their paddles together. The air is cold and smells of wet grass and wood smoke. On the black volcanic stones of the shore, a woman is washing a basket. Slowly the sun comes up over the hills, and the grey water turns to gold.
Practice
Further reading
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