Unit 11: “I Didn't Do It!”

Word List

n. An attorney is one who gives others advice about the law.

The attorney appeared in front of the judge for me.
adj. When something is chronic, it happens over and over again for a long time.

He had chronic pain in his chest and needed to see a doctor.
n. Discipline is training that helps people follow the rules.

One of the teacher's jobs is to teach her students discipline.
n. A donor is somebody who gives something to an organization.

He was proud to be a blood donor.
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.
n. Gossip is information that might be untrue but is still discussed anyway.

The friends exchanged gossip about the people they knew in school.
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.
n. Graffiti is words or drawings in public places.

The wall was covered with colorful graffiti.
n. A guardian is someone who protects somebody or something.

The librarians are the guardians of the books.
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.
n. Kin is a person's family and relatives.

His kin were all farmers.
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.
v. To sever something is to cut through it completely.

He severed the string using scissors.
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.
v. To stab means to cut with the end of a sharp object like a knife.

He stabbed the fork into the potato and passed it to his daughter.
n. A stimulus is something that causes growth or activity.

Having a lot of money is a stimulus for people to buy more things.
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.
v. To terminate something means to stop or end it.

The trip was terminated after the car broke down.
n. A theme is the main subject of a book, movie, or painting.

The students discussed the book's theme in class.
n. Tuition is the amount of money paid to go to a school.

University tuitions have increased by 50 percent in the last five years.

Exercise

A ‣ Circle the answer that best fits the question.

Which is a place that you would graduate from?
- a. An island
- b. A school
- c. A house
- d. A party
Which of the following has a shaft?
- a. A calendar
- b. A keyboard
- c. A basketball
- d. A pool stick
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
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
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.

B ‣ Circle the one that is similar in meaning to the given word.

kin
- a. relatives
- b. boxes
- c. friends
- d. principals
chronic
- a. useless
- b. unskilled
- c. constant
- d. again
attorney
- a. police officer
- b. lawyer
- c. teacher
- d. instructor
stab
- a. to cut
- b. to prove
- c. to get help
- d. to wonder
theme
- a. a book
- b. a preview
- c. a main idea
- d. a perspective
suspicion
- a. lunch money
- b. classes
- c. mistrust
- d. clothes
guardian
- a. a protector
- b. a judge
- c. intelligence
- d. truth

C ‣ Write the word from the word bank that best fits each sentence.

WORD BANK

tuition
terminate
chronic
stimulus
graffiti
donor
discipline
graduated
gossip
implicated

Mr. Wilson ¹_____ from the university over fifteen 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(n) 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.

D ‣ Write the word that best fits each sentence.

attorney / graduate
I will _____ next year with a degree in sociology.
He hired a(n) _____ to handle the court case.
chronic / fellow
She has _____ pain in her knees.
A _____ colleague of mine asked me to join him for dinner.
discipline / suspicion
The police had a _____ that the homeless man stole the wallet.
The boy lacks _____, preferring to play rather than study.
gossip / tuition
Don't pay attention to any of the office _____.
The cost of _____ is making it harder for students to go to college.
graffiti / guardian
The boy's uncle was appointed _____ once his parents passed away.
The wall of the building was covered in _____.

"I Didn't Do It!"

Billy was in big trouble. The day before, a donor had given the school a painting with a sports theme. It showed a referee congratulating two athletes. The principal had 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 had 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.

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

Part B: Answer the questions.

What is the passage about?
- a. Studying law
- b. Meeting the principal
- c. Being wrongly accused
- d. Acquiring a painting
What did the principal say about Billy?
_____
What did the attorney suggest to the principal about the boy responsible for the crime?
_____

Answer Key

Name

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