A week with the water meter
A text in Urdu at level B1. The translation sits next to it for checking, not for support: at this level the text is read whole, and an unknown word is usually guessed from the sentence. The school told us to keep count of water for a week. The total number of our house came to about a thousand litres. A…
Text
- اسکول نے ایک ہفتے کے لیے پانی کا حساب رکھنے کو کہا۔ ہمارے گھر کی سموری تعداد ہزار لیٹر کے قریب نکلی۔ ایک تہائی پانی نہانے میں گیا، باقی برتن اور کپڑے دھونے میں۔ برش کے وقت نل بند کرنے سے خرچ کم ہو گیا۔ نیا شاور دگنا کم پانی کھاتا ہے، اگرچہ وہی لگتا ہے۔ آخر میں حساب گول کر کے لکھ دیا۔skul ne ek hafte ke lie pani ka hisab rkhne ko kha. humare ghar ki samori tadad hazar litr ke qarib nikli. ek tehaii pani nahane main gaya, baqi bartan aur kapre dhone main. barish ke waqt nal band karne se kharch kam ho gaya. naiya shawr dugna kam pani khata hai, agarche woi lgta hai. akhir main hisab gol kar ke likh diya.The school told us to keep count of water for a week. The total number of our house came to about a thousand litres. A third of the water went to the shower, the rest to the dishes and the laundry. When the tap was closed while brushing teeth, the expense fell. The new shower uses half as much water, though it seems the same. At the end the count was rounded off and written down.
Comprehension questions
The questions are asked in Russian on purpose: we test your understanding of the text, not your ability to read the question.
- How much water did the week use?
- Where did a third of the water go?
- What happened to the expense at the tap?
- What is good about the new shower?
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read this text in Urdu?
B1. That means: everyday topics are behind you, you know about three thousand words, and an unknown word is more often guessed from the sentence than looked up.
How to read a text in an unfamiliar language usefully?
First all the way through without peeking at the translation — just to catch the familiar words. Then with the translation. Then all the way through again: the second pass brings noticeably more, and that feeling matters more than any rule.