Unit 8: The Anniversary Gift

Click or select any word to translate.

Word List

  • n. An anniversary is a day that celebrates something from the past.
    My parents went out to a restaurant for their wedding anniversary.
  • n. Arithmetic is math.
    I like to study arithmetic at school.
  • adj. Ashamed means feeling upset and embarrassed because of a bad action.
    He was ashamed when he forgot his teacher's name.
  • v. To burst is to suddenly break open or apart.
    The bomb burst over the city.
  • n. A carpenter is a person who builds things with wood.
    We hired a carpenter to make a cupboard.
  • n. Coal is a hard black material that people burn for heat.
    Many power stations burn coal to produce energy.
  • n. A couch is a long, soft seat that many people can sit on.
    Kim and Martin's new couch was very expensive.
  • v. To drip is to fall a little bit at a time.
    I heard water dripping from the faucet.
  • adj. Something elegant is very fancy and pleasing.
    In Japan, women wear elegant kimonos on special occasions.
  • n. Fabric is cloth used to make clothes, furniture, etc.
    The towels were made from a soft fabric.
  • n. Highlands are high areas of land, usually with mountains.
    The man had a small home in the highlands.
  • n. Ivory is a hard, white substance that comes from elephants.
    The elephant's long ivory tusks looked very impressive.
  • n. A mill is a building in which wheat is ground into flour.
    The farmer took his wheat to the mill to make it into flour.
  • n. A needle is a small, sharp piece of metal used to make or fix clothes.
    I used a needle to fix the hole in my pants.
  • v. To polish something is to rub it in order to make it shiny.
    Mark spent all morning polishing his shoes for the wedding.
  • v. To sew means to put pieces of cloth together using string or thread.
    I learned to sew when I was a little girl.
  • n. A shed is a small building in which people store things like tools.
    We have a small shed in the backyard for storage.
  • n. A thread is a thin piece of string.
    I have many different colors of thread at home.
  • v. To trim something is to cut it a little bit.
    I had my hair trimmed this afternoon.
  • adv. An upwards action moves vertically towards the direction above.
    The kite went upwards further and further.

 

Exercise

A ‣ Write the word that best fits each blank.

  1. anniversary / elegant
    Because it was their _____, my father bought my mother a gift. It was an _____ coat.
  2. arithmetic / upwards
    It takes a lot of _____ to design new airplanes. You have to know how to make them go _____ in the easiest way.
  3. couch / ashamed
    You should be _____ of yourself! You know you're not supposed to eat on the _____ !
  4. burst / dripped
    When the wind blew, the door _____ open. And since it was raining, water _____ into the room.
  5. sew / carpenter
    My brother is a _____ , so he knows about construction. However, he doesn't know how to _____ .
  6. coal / highlands
    I heard a news story about something in the _____ . I guess they found _____ under the ground.
  7. ivory / needles
    Archaeologists found _____ made from _____ in Africa.
  8. threads / mill
    People who work at the _____ do many things to stay safe. For example, they do not have _____ hanging from their clothing because they can get caught in the machinery.
  9. fabric / polish
    Bruce worked hard to _____ the wood floor. Afterwards, he wiped the floor with a soft _____ .
  10. shed / trim
    On Saturday, my dad made me clean out the _____ . I also had to _____ the bushes.

 

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

  1. How good are you at math? _____
  2. I wanted to get a little hair cut off today, but I had no time to go to the salon. _____
  3. The cloth was dirty from being outside. _____
  4. Smoke from the fire rose high into the air. _____
  5. I live in the mountainous area of the country. _____
  6. The old place where they made flour was interesting to visit. _____
  7. I used to put cloth together with my grandmother. _____

 

C ‣ Circle the answer that best fits the question.

  1. What kind of material does a carpenter work with?
    • a. Plastic
    • b. Iron
    • c. Brick
    • d. Wood
  2. Which of these things could drip?
    • a. A dog
    • b. Water
    • c. A ball
    • d. Dirt
  3. What could you make with a needle?
    • a. A shirt
    • b. A car
    • c. A computer
    • d. A chair
  4. What does it mean if your water pipes burst?
    • a. They are new.
    • b. They've been cleaned.
    • c. They are frozen.
    • d. They've exploded.
  5. Which is the same color as ivory?
    • a. A needle
    • b. A tooth
    • c. Coal
    • d. Wood

 

The Anniversary Gift

Joe was a carpenter. He built houses in the highlands. Joe's wife, Stella, used a needle and thread to sew elegant clothing. She only used beautiful fabric to make clothes.

Since they didn't have a lot of money, they lived in an old shed. Water dripped in when it rained. They had broken chairs instead of a couch. But they had coal for heat, and flour from the mill for bread. Together, they trimmed the bushes to make their house look nice. Joe and Stella were poor, but not ashamed. They were happy.

Sometimes in the evening, they walked downtown. They looked in store windows and dreamed. Stella wanted a hairbrush with an ivory handle. She pulled her hair upwards every day because she didn't have a brush to make it nice. Joe wanted to fix his grandfather's watch.

For their anniversary, Stella wanted to get Joe what he wanted. But then she did the arithmetic. It would take at least six months to save enough money. Then, she had an idea. She cut off all of her hair and sold it.

Meanwhile, Joe knew that he could never fix his watch. So he polished it and sold it. He made enough to buy the brush. On their anniversary, the door burst open. Joe was excited to give Stella his gift. But first, Stella gave him the money to fix the watch. When he saw his wife without any hair, he smiled. "I sold my watch to buy you something," Joe said. He gave her the brush, and she laughed. They were both willing to give up something very special to make each other happy.

 

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ Joe and Stella were ashamed of themselves.
    __________
  2. _____ Joe was a carpenter.
    __________
  3. _____ Stella and Joe were too poor to heat their shed with coal.
    __________
  4. _____ Joe asked Stella to trim the bushes.
    __________
  5. _____ Stella used a needle and thread to sew elegant things with beautiful fabric.
    __________
  6. _____ Water dripped into their house.
    __________

 

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. Where were the houses that Joe worked on?
    • a. Near the mill
    • b. In the shed
    • c. On an elegant street
    • d. In the highlands
  2. What did Joe do with his watch?
    • a. Hit it with his hammer
    • b. Lifted it upward to see it
    • c. Left it in the shed
    • d. Polished it and sold it
  3. What did Stella do for Joe on their anniversary?
    • a. Sold her hair
    • b. Combed her hair
    • c. Made him a shirt
    • d. Bought him a gold watch

 

Answer Key

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