4000 Essential English Words 5 » Unit 8: Becoming a Healer

Word List
  • adept [əˈdept] adj.
    If someone is adept at something, they are very good at doing it.
    → The carpenter is very adept at building houses.
  • barren [ˈbӕrən] adj.
    If land is barren, it has no plants growing on it.
    → People cannot farm in barren lands.
  • ceramic [səˈrӕmik] adj.
    If something is ceramic, it is made of baked clay.
    → The house’s roof was made of ceramic tiles.
  • culinary [ˈkʌləneri] adj.
    If something is culinary, it is related to cooking.
    → I gained culinary skills after working in a restaurant for many years.
  • dense [dens] adj.
    If something is dense, it has a lot of things close together.
    → I easily became lost in the dense forest.
  • dignity [ˈdignəti] n.
    Dignity is the ability to be calm and worthy of respect.
    → When his company went out of business, he faced it with dignity.
  • dominate [ˈdɒməneit] v.
    To dominate someone or something is to control them.
    → The loud man dominated the conversation.
  • edible [ˈedəbəl] adj.
    If something is edible, you can eat it.
    → We learn about edible plants when we go camping.
  • hostile [ˈhɒstəl] adj.
    If someone is hostile, they are angry and unfriendly.
    → We were happy to move away from our hostile neighbor.
  • intake [ˈinteik] n.
    Your intake of food is the amount of food you take into your body.
    → The doctor said I needed to increase my intake of fruits and vegetables.
  • likewise [ˈlaikwaiz] adv.
    If someone does something likewise, they do the same thing as someone else.
    → If Joe is staying away from school to go swimming, I want to do likewise.
  • malnutrition [mӕlnjuˈtriʃən] n.
    Malnutrition is the condition of not getting enough nutrients.
    → After eating only a meager amount of food, she suffered from malnutrition.
  • medication [ˌmedəˈkeiʃən] n.
    Medication is medicine or drugs given to people who are sick.
    → The doctor gave me medication to treat my illness.
  • misconception [miskənˈsepʃən] n.
    A misconception is a wrong idea about something.
    → People once believed the misconception that the Earth is flat.
  • obscure [əbˈskjuər] adj.
    If something is obscure, it is not well-known.
    → The old man travels the world in search of obscure books.
  • oppress [əˈpres] v.
    To oppress someone means to rule over them in a cruel and unfair way.
    → Free speech had been oppressed in his country.
  • peel [piːl] v.
    To peel fruits and vegetables is to remove their skin.
    → We peeled the apple before eating it.
  • prescription [priˈskripʃən] n.
    A prescription is permission from a doctor to get medicine.
    → The doctor gave me a prescription for my medication.
  • respirator [respəˈreitə:r] n.
    A respirator is a machine that helps weak or sick people breathe.
    → The man needed a respirator to breathe.
  • strive [straiv] v.
    To strive is to struggle to achieve something.
    → People who strive to succeed often do.
Exercise 1

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. If you need medication, you are probably ______.
    • a. sick
    • b. hungry
    • c. bored
    • d. skinny
  2. If you have a misconception about something, ______ .
    • a. you are clear
    • b. you are complicated
    • c. you are wrong
    • d. you are correct
  3. Which of the following is true of a ceramic bowl?
    • a. It is metal.
    • b. It is clay.
    • c. It is wooden.
    • d. It is plastic.
  4. If you are adept at painting, you can ______.
    • a. paint badly
    • b. paint like a child
    • c. paint well
    • d. only use certain colors
  5. When you peel a piece of fruit, you ______.
    • a. remove the skin
    • b. cut it into pieces
    • c. eat the skin
    • d. take a knife and chop it up
Exercise 2

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

WORD BLANK
culinary dominate edible hostile
intake malnutrition medication misconception
peel prescription    

My boss is a difficult person to deal with because he can become so 1___________.
He gets incredibly angry when he can’t 2___________an employee or a customer.

There is a popular 3___________ that cooking well is difficult.
Actually, most people can cook with basic 4___________ techniques.

My 5___________ is about to run out, but I still need more.
Tomorrow, I will ask the doctor for a new 6___________ .

The skin of some vegetables such as squash is not 7___________ .
That is why you have to 8___________ .

In some parts of the world, 9___________ is a major problem.
One of the causes is inadequate 10___________ of necessary vitamins and minerals.

Exercise 3

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

  1. oppress
    • a. cure
    • b. print
    • c. rule
    • d. break
  2. barren
    • a. ugly
    • b. mountainous
    • c. close
    • d. lifeless
  3. strive
    • a. attack
    • b. struggle
    • c. compete
    • d. win
  4. dominate
    • a. control
    • b. trick
    • c. encourage
    • d. entertain
  5. culinary
    • a. growing
    • b. creating
    • c. cooking
    • d. drinking
Exercise 4

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

  1. ______ One of my classmates is very hostile. He always helps me with homework.
  2. ______ I chose an obscure book for my report. It was very difficult to find.
  3. ______ In the past, many people suffered from malnutrition because of a lack of food.
  4. ______ Did you know that some flowers are edible? They both look and taste good.
  5. ______ The dog was hiding in a dense patch of grass. We had no trouble finding him.
  6. ______ People enjoy Mark Twain’s novels. They likewise enjoy his political comments.
  7. ______ You can have health problems if your sugar intake is too high.
  8. ______ You need to ask your teacher for a prescription. Then you can get your medicine.
  9. ______ After we lost the game, our coach showed his dignity. He yelled at us for hours.
  10. ______ After the car accident, John needed a respirator. He could not walk without it.
  11. ______ They are taking a break outside. Why don’t we do likewise?
  12. ______ A month ago, I hurt myself playing soccer. The injury finally oppressed this week.
  13. ______ Strive to do worst on your test.
  14. ______ I strive to exercise at least twenty minutes each day to stay in shape.
  15. ______ Many deserts are barren landscapes. You find little more than dirt and rocks there.
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. a
  2. c
  3. b
  4. c
  5. a
Exercise 2
  1. hostile
  2. dominate
  3. misconception
  4. culinary
  5. medication
  6. prescription
  7. edible
  8. peel
  9. malnutrition
  10. intake
Exercise 3
  1. c
  2. d
  3. b
  4. a
  5. c
Exercise 4
  1. I
  2. C
  3. C
  4. C
  5. I
  6. C
  7. C
  8. I
  9. I
  10. I
  11. C
  12. I
  13. I
  14. C
  15. C
Answer Key
Becoming a Healer

Years ago, I worked at a small health clinic in a remote country. I had gone there to treat an obscure syndrome. It attacked people’s lungs, causing them to need a respirator to breathe. I was trying out a new medication to treat these people instead of using a respirator. If I was successful, I would become famous.

Everything was going fine until war broke out in a nearby country. Many people from that country fled the hostile invading army. The army wanted to dominate the people, but the people didn’t want to be oppressed. So they walked hundreds of miles across barren land to get away.

Some of these people came to our clinic for treatment. I talked with them and learned of their difficulties. They did not beg or complain. I was impressed by their dignity.

There was one woman I will never forget. Her son suffered from malnutrition and stomach pain, and she didn’t know what to do. Neither did I.I was not adept at treating malnutrition. Nonetheless, when I saw her sadness, I knew I had to help her son.

The woman had been feeding her son bread and water. She had a misconception that it would be enough for him. However, I knew that he needed to eat vegetables, too. So I took her outside and showed her a dense patch of edible plants. I taught her howto dig up the roots, peel them, and cook them for her son. I explained that she should increase her son’s intake of these vegetables. Likewise, she should strive to get him some meat once a week to help him regain his strength.

I sent her off with a prescription for some pain medicine, but she also left my office with some new culinary skills. A few weeks later, she returned to tell me her son was healthy again. As thanks, she gave me a beautiful ceramic bowl.

I never become famous, but I kept that bowl to remind me what it truly means to heal someone.

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ The respirator helped people with the obscure syndrome, and the doctor hoped the medication would do likewise.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ The hostile doctor wanted to dominate and oppress the people.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ The doctor was not adept at treating malnutrition before meeting the mother and her son.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ The doctor showed the woman a dense patch of barren land.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ The woman gave the doctor a ceramic bowl to show off her pottery skills.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. Instead of a respirator, what did the doctor use to treat the syndrome?
    _____________
  2. What misconception did the woman have about her son’s food intake?
    _____________
  3. Why did the doctor teach the woman to peel and cook the roots?
    _____________
  4. What kind of prescription did the doctor give to the woman?
    _____________
  5. Why did the doctor ask the woman to strive to get meat for her son?
    _____________
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. T
  2. F / The hostile army wanted to dominate and oppress the people.
  3. T
  4. F / The doctor showed the woman a dense patch of edible plants.
  5. F / The woman gave the doctor a ceramic bowl to show her thanks.
Part B
  1. He wanted to use a new medication to treat the sick people.
  2. She thought bread and water would be enough for him.
  3. He wanted her to increase her son’s intake of vegetables.
  4. He gave her a prescription for pain medicine.
  5. He wanted her to help her son stay healthy.
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