Unit 17: The Magic Cup

Click or select any word to translate.

Word List

  • n. Affection is a feeling of liking someone or something.
    Amanda has a lot of affection for her little sister, Sarah.
  • n. An agency is a business or service set up to act for others.
    I went to a travel agency to help me arrange a flight home.
  • n. Ash is the grey or black powder created when something is burned.
    The end of his cigar was full of ashes.
  • v. To confine something is to keep it in one place.
    The elephant is confined to a cage in the zoo.
  • v. To dismiss something is to say it is not important.
    He quickly dismissed my idea about the new project.
  • v. To erupt is to explode or blow apart, especially a volcano.
    The volcano erupted for the first time in ten years.
  • n. Fate is a power that causes things to happen.
    Some people believe that the lines on a person's hand can tell his or her fate.
  • n. Lava is the hot substance made of melted rock that comes out of volcanoes.
    The red-hot lava poured from the volcano.
  • adj. A miserable person is very unhappy.
    He was miserable after his dog died.
  • v. To navigate something is to control the way it moves or goes.
    She navigated the ship across the ocean.
  • v. To originate somewhere is to start there.
    The idea of democracy originated in Ancient Greece.
  • n. The remainder of something is what is left.
    He took a bite of the apple and then gave me the remainder of it.
  • v. To retrieve something is to find it and get it back.
    She retrieved her mail from the mailbox.
  • adj. A shallow thing is not deep.
    The kids were playing in the shallow water.
  • n. A slope is ground that is not flat.
    The slope to the top of the mountain was very steep.
  • v. To span is to spread across an amount of time or space.
    His work at the bakery has spanned twenty years.
  • n. A superstition is something magical that people believe is real.
    It is a superstition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.
  • n. Sympathy is a feeling of sadness for another person who feels bad.
    I felt sympathy for my sister, so I got her a balloon to cheer her up.
  • v. To vibrate is to shake very hard.
    The machine made his whole body vibrate as he broke up the ground.
  • v. To wander is to walk without going to a certain place.
    The boys like to wander in the woods and look at birds.

 

Exercise

A ‣ Circle the word that fits the definition.

  1. Which of the following show that something is not important?
    • a. Superstition
    • b. Dismiss
    • c. Vibrate
    • d. Miserable
  2. What is the power that causes things to happen?
    • a. Affection
    • b. To originate
    • c. To wander
    • d. Fate
  3. What is the hot liquid from a volcano called?
    • a. Shallow
    • b. Ash
    • c. Slope
    • d. Lava
  4. What is something that volcanos do?
    • a. Fate
    • b. Erupt
    • c. Remainder
    • d. Sympathy
  5. What is it called to have belief in something magical?
    • a. Superstition
    • b. Vibrate
    • c. Agency
    • d. Confine

 

B ‣ Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part.

  1. Manny found a job with a local news company that deals with other businesses. _____
  2. The river in front of her house is not deep. _____
  3. I don't like to keep my dog in one place; I want him to run around. _____
  4. The house burned down, and there was only grey powder left. _____
  5. My plan to become a farmer started when I was a child. _____
  6. He has a feeling of love for his grandfather. _____
  7. The people left the town when the ground started shaking. _____

 

C ‣ Write the word that best fits each blank.

  1. originated / superstition
    The _____ _____ in Europe and was brought to North America.
  2. agency / dismissed
    The _____ quickly _____ his idea as being too unrealistic to be of any use.
  3. slope / lava
    Their house is built on a _____ . There is great concern that _____ from a nearby volcano will easily destroy the house.
  4. vibrated / fate
    When he learned of his _____ , he was frightened. It made his entire body _____ uncontrollably.
  5. sympathy / confine
    Please _____ your _____ to someone who really needs it.
  6. ash / erupted
    A gray cloud of _____ _____ from the tailpipe of the car that had not been started in three years.
  7. retrieve / miserable
    I felt _____ all evening. Perhaps I caught a virus when I had to _____ the missing sheep in the heavy rainstorm.
  8. wander / affection
    I have great _____ for those who do exciting things. When I was young, I would often _____ the countryside just for fun.
  9. remainder / shallow
    We sent the youngsters home while the _____ of the group crossed the _____ but fast-moving stream.
  10. spanned / navigate
    It was difficult, but we managed to _____ our way through the wilderness on a trip that _____ five days.

 

The Magic Cup

Paul and John were brothers. They fought all the time because they both wanted to be leaders of the agency they both worked at.

There was a superstition in their town about a magic cup. People said the cup was in a volcano located far away. Anyone who retrieved the cup would have a wish come true. John and Paul both wanted to find it. Then, they could become the leader.

They both left to find the cup. Before their trip, their mother said they should work together. They dismissed that idea. Even though their trips originated from the same house, each wanted to travel alone. They were both miserable during the trip. They had to navigate small boats across shallow rivers and climb difficult slopes. Their journey spanned many days. When they finally got close to the volcano, the ground began to vibrate, and the volcano erupted. Ash filled the sky, and lava covered everything. John climbed to the top of a hill to keep from getting burned. A few moments later, his brother went up the same hill. They were confined to the hill until the lava cooled down.

They talked about the things they had seen while wandering around the country. They felt more sympathy and affection for each other than ever before. They decided that fate had brought them together.

The next day, they left to finish the remainder of the trip together. Everything seemed much easier. When they finally found the cup, they learned that it didn't make wishes come true. It was only an ordinary cup. But the trip to reach the cup taught them to work together and love each other.

 

Reading Comprehension

Part A: Mark each statement T for true or F for false. Rewrite the false statements to make them true.

  1. _____ The trip to find the magic cup was very easy.
    __________
  2. _____ The boys dismissed their mother's advice before they left for the trip.
    __________
  3. _____ The boys were confined to a hilltop by the lava after the volcano erupted.
    __________
  4. _____ A superstition said that anyone who retrieved the cup would become the leader of the agency.
    __________
  5. _____ The boys had more affection and sympathy for each other after the trip.
    __________
  6. _____ After the volcano erupted, there was ash in the sky and lava on the ground.
    __________

 

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. Why didn't the boys travel together?
    • a. Their trips originated from different places.
    • b. They were both miserable.
    • c. They had to navigate boats across shallow rivers.
    • d. They wanted to travel alone.
  2. Why were the boys always fighting?
    • a. The cup had special powers.
    • b. They had very little food to eat.
    • c. There was a hole beneath the tree.
    • d. They both wanted to be leaders of the agency.
  3. Why did fate bring the boys together?
    • a. So they could break the magic cup
    • b. So they could complete the remainder of the trip together
    • c. So they could fight on the way home
    • d. So their trip could span many days

 

Answer Key

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