৪৫তম বিসিএস লিখিত প্রশ্ন ইংরেজি

ENGLISH (COMPULSORY)

Subject Code : 003

Time-4 hours

Full marks-200

Part A

Read the following text and answer the questions that follow :

An offshoot of the environmental movement of the 1970, ecotourism has come into its own over the past two decades. Thanks to an increasing awareness of environmental issues such as climate change combined with a high demand among European and North American travellers for unspoiled locations, authentic cultural experience, and recreational challenges, ecotourism is growing at a rate of 20 percent annually, making it the fastest-growing sector in the tourism industry. The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as economically sustainable, ecologically sensitive, and culturally acceptable. Closely related is the concept of sustainable tourism identified in our common future, the Brundtland Commission's report to the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development : Development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".

Ecotourism's principles clearly distinguish it from conventional mass tourism. Instead of classic tourist meccas, ecotourism seeks out remote locations with strict environmental protections and operates on a small scale. Tourists, business and local residents are encouraged to minimize their impact on the environment by recycling materials, conserving energy and water, safely treated human waste and properly disposing of garbage, using alternative energy, and building in a manner that fits in with natural surroundings. The financial benefits from ecotourism are passed on to the community through conservation projects, employment, partnerships and local participation in the development and management of local resources.

Synonymous with 'green' tourism, ecotourism promotes cultural sensitivity and respect for traditions and customs in order to avoid the kind of exploitation that has turned tribal ceremonies into side-shows and relics into souvenirs. Ecotourism also plays a political role in its support of human rights and democracy.

The popularity of ecotourism is a problem in itself. The original ecotourists were small in number, deeply committed to conservation and actively engaged in cultural exchange. At one time, they were willing to rough it and go off the beaten path, but now so-called ecotourists travel and expect the comforts of home package in a pretty setting. In the process, nature once an honoured treasure, has become a commodity and a photo opportunity. Larger numbers of ecotourists consume more resources and leave a larger impact on the environment, and eco-operators require more land to accomodate demand. As ecotourism spreads to more sensitive, comers of the earth, it could end up defeating its original purposes.

Ecotourism can be achieved only if steps are taken in the right directions. In 1993, British Airways led the way as the first airline to implement a systematic environmental policy. The International Hotels Environment Initiative (IHEI) has more than 5000 members from 111 countries. In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Program and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association, the IHEI developed an 'Environmental Action Pack for Hotels' in 1995 to promote environmental

management, energy and water conservation, and waste and emission reduction. In 1996, the World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council, and the Earth Summit Council drafted Agenda 21 for the Travel and Tourism Industry, recognizing the interdependence of Tourism, peace, development and environmental protection. The year 2002 was declared the United Nations International Year of Ecotourism, with an ecotourism summit held in May.

Whether initiated by trade or intergovernmental organizations, blueprints and agreements can be meaningful only if governments are proactive. Belize and Costa Rica, for example, have established national policies and strategies to further ecotourism.

Brazil, Indonesia, Namibia and Nepal integrate small-scale, community-oriented approaches into their tourism programs. While progress continues to be made on many fronts and by many players, it is the individual traveller who will keep ecotourism on track. Tourists can make informed choices about travel destinations and tour operators, as well as conscious efforts to reduce their individual impact on the environment and to practice cultural sensitivity toward local people. They can participate in volunteer conservation projects and gain skills and knowledge in the process. They can pressure governments to pass and enforce laws that protect the environment. Ultimately, they can spend their money where it is put to green use. Nature is counting on them.

1. Answer the questions in your own words. Don't copy from the text above. Copying from

the text above may affect the evaluation.

(a) What are the main aims of ecotourism?

(b) On what does the success of ecotourism depend?

(d) Define ecotourism. What are the principles of ecotourism?

(e) How do the governments support ecotourism? What individual tourists can do to

support ecotourism?

(f) What are the dangerous impact of ecotourism on environment?

2. Make sentences of your own with each of the following words as directed : Copying,

vagueness and ambiguity must be avoided.

(a) Sustainable (Comparative)

(b) Distinguish (Complex)

(d) Conserve (Compound)

(e) Committed (Negative)

(f) Implement (Simple)

(g) Disposal (Simple)

(h) Accommodate (Negative)

(i) Challenging (Interrogative)

(j) Compromising (Comparative)

8. Translate into English :

চিত্রবিনোদন মানুষের সর্বকারণীন চাহিদা যার প্রকৃতি পরিবর্তনশীল। সভ্যতার ক্রমবিকাশনে ও বিজ্ঞানের কল্যাণে এর বিস্তার ঘটেছে বিভিন্ন দেশে, বিভিন্নভাবে। আমাদের বাংলাদেশের মানুষ এখন ঘরে বসে বিভিন্ন দেশের আচার-আচরণ পর্যবেক্ষণ করতে ও নৃত্যগীত ও নানাধরনের সাংস্কৃতিক অনুষ্ঠান উপভোগ করতে পারছে। সুদুর অতীতে এমনটা ছিল না—একথা বলাই বাহুল্য। বিভিন্ন ধরনের শারীরিক কসরত দর্শন ও প্রদর্শনী ছিল বিনোদনের একটি বড় উপায়। এদের মধ্যে নৌকা বাইচ ছিল অন্যতম যে এখনো আছে। মাঠঘাট, নদীনালা যখন পানিতে ভরপুর থাকে তখনই অনুষ্ঠিত হয় নৌকা বাইচ। এই বাইচ সাধারণত উদ্যোক্তাদের নির্দিষ্ট করে দেয়া দেড় বা দুই মাইলের মধ্যে অনুষ্ঠিত হয়ে থাকে। বাইচের নৌকা চল্লিশ থেকে ষাট হাত লম্বা এবং পাঁচ ছয় হাত চওড়া হয়। প্রতিটি নৌকায় বিশ-পঁচিশ জন করে লোক থাকে যারা গানের সুরে দেশীয় বাদ্যযন্ত্র বাজিয়ে একদিকে দর্শকদের আনন্দ দেয়, আবার অন্যদিকে নৌকার মাঝিমাল্লাদের উৎসাহিত করে, দুই তীরের উল্লুক্ষ দর্শক হাততালি দিয়ে আনন্দ প্রকাশ করে। যে নৌকাটি সবার আগে একটি নিশানা স্থারা নির্দেশ করা সীমানা অতিক্রম করে সে নৌকাই বিজয়ী ঘোষিত হয়। বর্তমানে নৌকা বাইচ কমে গেলেও এদেশের ঐতিহ্যের ধারক ও বাহক হিসেবে এর গুরুত্ব এখনও অন্ধকার করা যায় না।

9. Translate into Bangla :

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life : the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a way ward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair. I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loveliness—that terrible loveliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold un-fathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic, miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found. With equal passion I have sought knowledge I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whale world of loveliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.