4000 Essential English Words 5 » Unit 17: “I Didn’t Do It!”

Word List
  • attorney [əˈtəːrni] n.
    An attorney is one who gives others advice about the law.
    → The attorney appeared in front of the judge for me.
  • chronic [ˈkrɒnik] adj.
    When something is chronic, it happens over and over again over time.
    → He had chronic pain in his chest and needed to see a doctor.
  • discipline [ˈdisəplin] n.
    Discipline is training that helps people follow the rules.
    → One of the teacher’s jobs is to teach her students discipline.
  • donor [ˈdounər] n.
    A donor is somebody who gives something to an organization.
    → He was proud to be a blood donor.
  • fellow [ˈfelou] n.
    A fellow is someone who shares a job or quality with someone else.
    → All of my fellow patients at the hospital have also complained about the food.
  • gossip [ˈgɒsip] n.
    Gossip is information that might be untrue but is still discussed anyway.
    → The friends exchanged gossip about the people they knew in school.
  • graduate [ˈgrædjueit] v.
    To graduate from a school means to complete and pass all courses of study there.
    → At the end of the spring, my friends and I will graduate from high school.
  • graffiti [grəˈfiːti:] n.
    Graffiti is words or drawings in public places.
    → The wall was covered with colorful graffiti.
  • guardian [ˈgɑːrdiən] n.
    A guardian is someone who protects somebody or something.
    → The librarians are the guardians of the books.
  • implicate [ˈimpləkeit] v.
    To implicate someone is to show that they have done a crime or something bad.
    → The man was implicated in the theft at the store.
  • kin [kin] n.
    Kin is a person’s family and relatives.
    → His kin were all farmers.
  • referee [ˌrefəˈriː] n.
    A referee is a person who makes sure that the rules are followed in sports.
    → The soccer player didn’t agree with the referee.
  • sever [ˈsevə:r] v.
    To sever something is to cut through it completely.
    → He severed the string using scissors.
  • shaft [ʃæft] n.
    A shaft is a handle of a tool or weapon.
    → The golf club had a long wooden shaft that he held in his hands.
  • stab [stæb] v.
    To stab means to cut someone or something with a sharp object like a knife.
    → He stabbed the fork into the potato and passed it to his daughter.
  • stimulus [ˈstimjələs] n.
    A stimulus is something that causes growth or activity.
    → Having a lot of money is a stimulus for people to buy more things.
  • suspicion [səsˈpiʃən] n.
    A suspicion is a feeling that something is possible or true in a crime.
    → The police had a suspicion that the driver had stolen the purse.
  • terminate [ˈtəːrməneit] v.
    To terminate something means to stop or end it.
    → The trip was terminated after the car broke down.
  • theme [θiːm] n.
    A theme is the main subject of a book, movie, or painting.
    → The students discussed the book’s theme in class.
  • tuition [tju:iʃən] n.
    Tuition is the amount of money paid to go to a school.
    → University tuitions have increased by fifty percent in the last five years.
Exercise 1

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. Which is a place that you would graduate from?
    • a. An island
    • b. A school
    • c. A house
    • d. A party
  2. Which of the following has a shaft?
    • a. A calendar
    • b. A keyboard
    • c. A basketball
    • d. A pool stick
  3. What is one responsibility of a referee?
    • a. To make sure a game is fair
    • b. To stop crime
    • c. To guard athletes
    • d. To be a good parent
  4. Why might somebody hire an attorney?
    • a. To watch security tapes
    • b. To pay for their bills
    • c. To prove they didn’t do a crime
    • d. To help them decorate their home
  5. How would you describe chronic pain?
    • a. It hurts a lot.
    • b. It hurts all the time.
    • c. It hurts in the morning.
    • d. It hurts only when it is cold.
Exercise 2

Choose the one that is similar in meaning to the given word.

  1. kin
    • a. relatives
    • b. boxes
    • c. friends
    • d. principals
  2. chronic
    • a. useless
    • b. unskilled
    • c. constant
    • d. again
  3. attorney
    • a. police officer
    • b. lawyer
    • c. teacher
    • d. instructor
  4. gossip
    • a. plans
    • b. an untrue talk
    • c. culture
    • d. evil
  5. sever
    • a. to watch
    • b. to cut off
    • c. to keep
    • d. to hit
  6. stab
    • a. to cut
    • b. to prove
    • c. to get help
    • d. to wonder
  7. theme
    • a. a book
    • b. a preview
    • c. a main idea
    • d. a perspective
  8. suspicion
    • a. lunch money
    • b. classes
    • c. mistrust
    • d. clothes
  9. guardian
    • a. a protector
    • b. a judge
    • c. intelligence
    • d. truth
  10. terminate
    • a. to wait
    • b. to end
    • c. to destroy
    • d. to hurt
Exercise 3

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the word bank.

WORD BLANK
tuition chronic graffiti disipline
gossip terminate stimulus donor
graduated implicated    

Mr. Wilson 1___________ from the university over 15 years ago.
He has always been a generous 2___________ and wants to improve the school.

The university recently decreased its 3___________ .
It was supposed to be a 4___________ for more students to study there.

Laurie was 5___________ in a terrible thing.
She was caught leaving 6___________ on the school wall.

Elliot had 7___________ problems at school.
His parents decided to show more 8___________ .

Hannah was tired of hearing 9___________ about her neighbors.
She decided to 10___________ that behavior and think about better things.

Exercise 4

Write C if the italicized word is used correctly. Write I if the word is used incorrectly.

  1. ______ I may not be able to go to college next year. I don’t have enough money for tuition.
  2. ______ The boy’s parents didn’t know howto control him. They taught him discipline.
  3. ______ He was a donor. He received gifts from people all of the time.
  4. ______ His new stove will be a stimulus for him to cook at home more often.
  5. ______ Ellen didn’t like the color of her walls, so she painted graffiti on them.
  6. ______ Jason was implicated in the bank robbery. Several people saw him do it.
  7. ______ Besides her parents, Olivia had no other kin. She only had one sister.
  8. ______ The gardener picked up the tool by the shaft. It was easiest to hold that way.
  9. ______ The man was sent to prison for stabbing someone. The person was hurt but survived.
  10. ______ The theme of the book was forgiveness.
  11. ______ Leslie’s father is a policeman. He is a guardian of crime.
  12. ______ I took a knife and severed the line from the pole to the fish’s mouth.
  13. ______ The food was being held on suspicion of committing two crimes in the city.
  14. ______ I spoke to my fellow teachers, and we all agreed to support the students at the rally.
  15. ______ The referee said the player had broken the rules.
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. b
  2. d
  3. a
  4. c
  5. b
Exercise 2
  1. a
  2. c
  3. b
  4. b
  5. b
  6. a
  7. c
  8. c
  9. a
  10. b
Exercise 3
  1. graduated
  2. donor
  3. tuition
  4. stimulus
  5. implicated
  6. graffiti
  7. chronic
  8. discipline
  9. gossip
  10. terminate
Exercise 4
  1. C
  2. I
  3. I
  4. C
  5. I
  6. C
  7. I
  8. C
  9. C
  10. C
  11. I
  12. C
  13. I
  14. C
  15. C
Answer Key
“I Didn’t Do It!”

Billy was in big trouble. The day before, a donor gave the school a painting with a sports theme. It showed a referee congratulating two athletes. The principal hung the painting in front of the office, hoping that it would be a stimulus for students to play sports. The next morning, however, the painting was destroyed. There was graffiti on it, and it had many holes in it. The worst part was that one of Billy’s fellow students said she thought she saw Billy do it!

But Billy didn’t do it. The principal called Billy’s parents and said, “Billy won’t tell us the truth. He’s a chronic liar, and he ruined the painting. If you don’t pay for it, we’ll terminate his education here.”

Billy’s parents didn’t have enough money to pay for the painting and for his tuition. But Billy’s parents had an idea. That afternoon, they went to see Mr. Meyers, an attorney.

“Mr. Meyers, my son has been implicated in a crime he says he didn’t do,” Billy’s father said. “Everybody believes the gossip. Even some of our own kin think he did it!”

“I believe you. My suspicion is that the tape from the security cameras will show who really did it,” said Mr. Meyers.

The next day, Mr. Meyers received a packet with the videotape from the school. It showed another student who resembled Billy walking up to the painting and writing on it. Then the student took a knife by the shaft and started to stab large holes in it. Finally, he severed the rope that held up the painting, and it fell to the floor.

Mr. Meyers showed the tape to the principal. “Clearly, that’s not Billy,” he said. “This boy is actually responsible and needs some discipline.”

Billy was happy that someone believed him. He said to Mr. Meyers, “When I graduate and go to university, I will major in law, so I can be a guardian of justice like you!”

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ A donor gave the school a painting with a sports theme as a stimulus for students to play sports.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ The painting showed a referee congratulating two athletes.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ Billy was implicated in the crime because a fellow student received a packet with a videotape showing him doing it.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ Everybody gossiped about Billy, and even some of our kin think he did it.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ The principal threatened to terminate Billy’s education if his parents didn’t pay his tuition.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. What did the principal say about Billy?
    _____________
  2. What was Mr. Meyers’ suspicion?
    _____________
  3. What did the videotape show?
    _____________
  4. What did the attorney suggest to the principal about the boy responsible for the crime?
    _____________
  5. Why did Billy say he wanted his major to be law when he went to university?
    _____________
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. F / The principal hung the painting in front of the office as a stimulus for the students to play sports.
  2. T
  3. F / Billy was implicated because a fellow student said she saw him do it.
  4. T
  5. F / The principal threatened to terminate Billy’s education if his parents didn’t pay for the painting.
Part B
  1. The principal said that Billy was a chronic liar.
  2. His suspicion was that the tape from the security cameras would show who really did the crime.
  3. The videotape showed another boy leaving graffiti on the painting, holding a knife by the shaft and stabbing it, then using the knife to sever the string that held it up.
  4. The attorney suggested that the boy responsible needed discipline.
  5. Billy said he wanted to major in law and became an attorney so he could be a guardian of justice like Mr. Meyers.
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