English Stories

Welcome to this exciting collection of stories inspired by the “4000 Essential English Words” series.

1. The Lion and the Rabbit

afraid, agree, angry, arrive, attack, bottom, clever, cruel, finally, hide, hunt, lot, middle, moment, pleased, promise, reply, safe, trick, well

A cruel lion lived in the forest. Every day, he killed and ate a lot of animals. The other animals were afraid the lion would kill them all.

The animals told the lion, “Let’s make a deal. If you promise to eat only one animal each day, then one of us will come to you every day. Then you don’t have to hunt and kill us.”

The plan sounded well thought-out to the lion, so he agreed, but he also said, “If you don’t come every day, I promise to kill all of you the next day!”

Each day after that, one animal went to the lion so that the lion could eat it. Then, all the other animals were safe.

Finally, it was the rabbit’s turn to go to the lion. The rabbit went very slowly that day, so the lion was angry when the rabbit finally arrived.

The lion angrily asked the rabbit, “Why are you late?”

“I was hiding from another lion in the forest. That lion said he was the king, so I was afraid.”

The lion told the rabbit, “I am the only king here! Take me to that other lion, and I will kill him."

The rabbit replied, “I will be happy to show you where he lives.”

The rabbit led the lion to an old well in the middle of the forest. The well was very deep with water at the bottom. The rabbit told the lion, “Look in there. The lion lives at the bottom.”

When the lion looked in the well, he could see his own face in-the water. He thought that was the other lion. Without waiting another moment, the lion jumped into the well to attack the other lion. He never came out.

All of the other animal in the forest were very pleased with the rabbit’s clever trick.

2. The Laboratory

adventure, approach, carefully, chemical, create, evil, experiment, kill, laboratory, laugh, loud, nervous, noise, project, scare, secret, shout, smell, terrible, worse

Mia’s father had a laboratory, but she had no idea what was in it. Her dad always closed and locked the door when he went in. She knew that he used it to do projects for work. He never told Mia what these projects were.

1 One night, Mia approached the door to the laboratory. She stopped and thought, “I wonder what crazy experiment he is doing now.” Suddenly, she heard a loud noise. It sounded like an evil laugh. The noise scared her, so she walked quickly back to her room.

The next night, her friend Liz came to her house. When Liz arrived, Mia told her about the night before. “Oh, it was terrible,” she said.

“Why don’t we see what is in there?” Liz asked. “It will be a fun adventure!” Mia felt nervous about going into her father’s laboratory, but she agreed. As always, the door was locked. They waited until Mia’s father left the laboratory to eat dinner. “He didn’t lock the door!” Liz said. “Let’s go.”

The laboratory was dark. The girls walked down the stairs carefully. Mia smelled strange chemicals. What terrible thing was her father creating?

Suddenly, they heard an evil laugh. It was even worse than the one Mia heard the night before. What if a monster was going to kill them? Mia had to do something. She shouted for help.

Mia’s father ran into the room and turned on the lights. “Oh, no,” he said. “You must have learned my secret.” “Your monster tried to kill us,” Mia said.

“Monster?” he asked. “You mean this?” He had a pretty doll in his hands. The doll laughed. The laugh didn’t sound so evil anymore. “I made this foryour birthday. I wanted to give it to you then, but you can have it now. I hope you like it !"

3. The Report

alien, among, chart, cloud, comprehend, describe, ever, fail, friendly, grade, instead, library, planet, report, several, solve, suddenly, suppose, universe, view

Lee sat among the books at the library and thought about his group project.

They had to turn it in soon, but he hadn’t even started his part! Jack and Claire were in his group. They had worked hard. They were also very smart, and Lee didn’t want them to get a bad grade.

Jack did the report. He wrote a lot of very good sentences and described things with great adjectives. Claire drew a nice map of the stars. Now, Lee needed to do his part of the project.

“Well, I suppose I need to start my model,” Lee thought.

Making a model of a planet was really hard. Lee tried to read several books, but he couldn’t comprehend any of the charts. “We’re going to fail because of me!” Lee said. He put his head down on the table and said, “I wish I could see a planet, instead of having to read about it!”

Suddenly, there was a bright light. Lee was pulled from his chair, through the roof, and right into a strange ship! “Hello, kid,” said an alien. “Did you ask for help?”

Lee told the friendly alien all about his project. The alien agreed to help Lee solve his problem. “First, we’ll fly through space to view the universe. Then, I can help you make a model of my planet.”

Soon, they were going through the clouds. They passed the moon. Then they viewed Mars. Lee was very excited. Instead of a bad grade, his group would have the best project ever!

“It’s time to go home,” the alien finally said. On the way back, he helped Lee make a model of the planet Mars. Soon, they were on Earth.

“Thanks,” Lee said. “My model will be awesome!” Then he took his model and said goodbye to his new friend

4. The Dog’s Bell

appropriate, avoid, behave, calm, concern, content, expect, frequently, habit, instruct, issue, none, patient, positive, punish, represent, shake, spread, stroll, village

John’s dog was a bad dog. He bit people frequently. John had great concern about this. It was not an appropriate way for a dog to behave. His friends in the village always expected the dog to bite them. The news about John’s dog spread through the village. None of the people wanted to go to John’s house. John tried to instruct the dog to behave, but it never worked. He tried to be patient and teach the dog to be calm. That also didn’t work. John didn’t want to punish the dog. “How will I stop my dog’s bad habit?” John asked himself.

John’s friend came to talk to him about the issue. During their important meeting, his friend said, “The people in the village asked me to represent them. We want your dog to stop this habit. Why don’t you put a bell around the dog’s neck? This way, we would hear your dog coming down the street.”

John thought this was a great idea. Now, people could stay away from the dog. It would not be able to bite anyone anymore.

The dog liked the bell, too. People looked at him when they heard his bell. This made the dog very content. He liked the song the bell played when he walked.

One day, John’s dog strolled through the village and met some other dogs. He expected them to want a bell like his. But they laughed at his bell. They said the bell made people avoid him. John’s dog shook his head. “No, they look at me because they like the bell.”

The other dogs said, “You have the wrong idea of what makes you popular. Of course they like your bell. It tells them where you are so they can avoid you. You aren’t able to bite them anymore!”

You see, being popular isn’t something positive when it’s for the wrong reason.

5. The Jackal and the Sun Child

aware, badly, belong, continue, error, experience, field, hurt, judgment, likely, normal, rare, relax, request, reside, result, roll, since, visible, wild

A jackal is a wild dog with a big black back. It resides in the desert. But how did the jackal get his black back? This was how it happened.

One day, the jackal saw a girl. She was sitting upon a rock. She was not a normal child. She was a rare and beautiful sun child. She was bright and warm like the sun. The child saw the jackal and smiled.

She said, “Jackal, I have been relaxing on this rock for too long. I must get home soon. But, I am slow and you are fast. You will likely get me home more quickly.” Then she requested, “Will you carry me home? If you do, I’ll give you a gift. This necklace belongs to me, but I will give it to you.”

The wild jackal agreed. So the sun child sat on the dog’s back. They started to walk. But soon, the jackal felt ill. The sun child was very hot on his back. The heat was hurting his back very badly. “I made a terrible error in judgment.” he thought. He shouldn’t have agreed to carry her. So he asked her to get off.

But she did not. The jackal’s back continued to get hotter and hotter. He had to get away from the sun child. So he made a plan. First, he ran as fast as he could. He hoped the sun child would fall off. But she did not. So when the sun child was looking at the sky, not aware of the jackal’s next plan, he jumped into a field of flowers. As a result, the child rolled off his back. The jackal ran away.

But the sun child left a mark on the jackal’s back, a visible black mark. Ever since his experience with the sun child, the jackal has had a black back.

6. The Friendly Ghost

advantage, cause, choice, community, dead, distance, escape, face, follow, fright, ghost, individual, pet, reach, return, survive, upset, voice, weather, wise

A nice woman lived by a large river. She loved children. She wanted to help them in any way. She loved her community, and everyone in the community loved her. She lived a very long time and became very wise.

When she died, she became a ghost. She was dead, but every night she returned to her community. She wanted to help children and not to cause them fright. But she had a scary voice. Children were afraid of her, but the ghost was a good one. She only scared them to help them.

One night, some children and a dog were playing by the river. They were having fun with their pet. But they were far from home. Then the weather became bad. It rained and rained. The river was rising. It was very dark. The children knew they were lost. They needed to go north, but they didn’t know which direction it was. When the moon came out, they saw a ghost by the river. The ghost said, “Go away!”

The children felt great fright. They knew it was a ghost. Then the ghost moved closer. She yelled again, “Go away!” The children became very upset. Some of them began to cry. The children knew they had a choice: they could escape, or they could stay and face this scary individual in the dark.

The children ran a long distance away. The ghost followed them all the way. Finally, the children reached home. The ghost was very happy. Soon the river rose higher and higher. It was very dangerous. The ghost had helped the children survive! She had saved them from the rising water. She also used her power to lead them home. Sometimes, meeting a ghost has advantages. A ghost can save your life!

7. The Best Prince

allow, announce, beside, challenge, claim, condition, contribute, difference, divide, expert, famous, force, harm, lay, peace, prince, protect, sense, sudden, therefore

King Minos was very sick. His condition was getting worse. He had three sons. He loved them all. He had to announce who would become king.

Two of the princes stood waiting outside the king’s room. Theseus was the oldest and strongest. He thought his father would make him king. Pelias, the second son, thought differently. He was an expert with weapons. He thought the king would choose him.

“When I’m king,” Theseus told Pelias, “I’ll let you contribute to the defense of our country. You can lead the army.”

Pelias became angry. “Father knows I’m famous for my sword skills. He’ll make me king.”

“You?” Theseus yelled. “He won’t choose you!”

“The kingdom is mine!” Pelias claimed. “Father will give it to me—or I’ll use force to take it!”

Theseus made a sudden move to take out his sword. Then Pelias did the same.

“Beating me will be a challenge,” Theseus said. “Fight me now. The winner gets the kingdom!”

Pelias agreed.

King Minos could hear his sons fighting. The youngest son, Jason, stood beside him. He sensed his father’s sadness. The king laid his hand flat on Jason’s arm.

“Your brothers fight too much,” the king told him. “I must protect my kingdom from all harm. They’ll divide it between them. The people won’t know what to do. There’ll be war. I can’t allow either of them to be king. Therefore, I’m making you king. Your kindness has always made you special. It’s the difference between you and your brothers. You can bring peace. They can’t.”

Then the king died. Theseus and Pelias heard that their youngest brother was king. They were surprised. They realized that their fighting was wrong. It had kept them from saying goodbye to their father. They agreed to have Jason as their king. He was the best choice.

8. How the Sun and the Moon Were Made

accept, arrange, attend, balance, contrast, encourage, familiar, grab, hang, huge, necessary, pattern, propose, purpose, release, require, single, success, tear, theory

Do you ever wonder where the moon and the sun came from? The Inuit people of Alaska have a theory.

They tell a story about a beautiful girl. She was very nice. In contrast, her brother was a mean little boy. One day he proposed something. “We should go to a party,” he said. The girl accepted. First, it was necessary for her to prepare. She arranged her hair and put on nice clothes. This required a lot of time. But the girl worked hard, and soon she had success. She looked perfect.

They attended the party together. The girl was having fun. Later, she walked into the bathroom. Suddenly, the lights were turned off! Someone grabbed her hair and tore her clothes. She ran out of the bathroom. She wanted to know who did this to her.

Then she had an idea. She fixed her hair again. This time it was even more beautiful. She even balanced beautiful jewels in it. She wanted to encourage the person to grab it again. She put black dirt in her hair. The purpose of this was to catch the person.

She went to the bathroom again, and it was the same pattern. The lights went off, and someone grabbed her hair. When he released it, his hand was black. The girl returned to the party. She knew there was only a single person with a black hand. When she saw that person, he was very familiar. It was her brother!

He ran into the woods. The girl ran after him. They both carried fire so they could see in the dark. The smoke went into the air. As they ran, they grew. They became huge. Then they went into space. When the girl’s fire went out, she hung in the sky. She became the moon, and her brother became the sun. They chase each other forever.

9. The Starfish

against, beach, damage, discover, emotion, fix, frank, identify, island, ocean, perhaps, pleasant, prevent, rock, save, step, still, taste, throw, wave

Last summer I took a trip to an island. I had a lot of fun. I sat and watched the waves and listened to the ocean. I learned to identify birds. I discovered pretty things and enjoyed the taste of new foods. It was a very nice time.

One evening I took a pleasant walk by the ocean. When the waves came in, many starfish* fell on the beach. Some starfish went back into the water, and they were safe. But other starfish were still on the sand. They would die if they did not get into the water. There were many starfish on the beach that night. It made me sad, but I knew I could not fix the problem. I stepped very carefully so I did not damage them.

Then I saw a little girl. She was also sad about the starfish. She wanted to prevent all of them from dying. She asked me if I could perhaps help her.

“To be frank, I don’t think we can do anything,” I said.

The little girl started to cry. She sat back against a rock and thought for a while. Finally, the emotion was gone. She stopped crying and stood up. Then she picked up a starfish and threw it into the water.

“What are you doing?” I asked her. But she did not answer me. She just threw as many starfish as she could. “You cannot save all of them!” I said.

She stopped to look at me. “No, I cannot save them all,” she replied. Then she picked up a very big starfish and said, “But I can save this one.” And then she smiled and threw the starfish as far as she could into the ocean.

*starfish - an animal shaped like a star that lives in the water

10. The First Peacock

benefit, certain, chance, effect, essential, far, focus, function, grass, guard, image, immediate, primary, proud, remain, rest, separate, site, tail, trouble

Argos lived in Ancient Greece. He was a husband and a proud father. He worked hard and did well at his job. But one thing about him wasn’t normal. He was born with 100 eyes. Having many eyes was usually a benefit to him. He had a chance to see many things.

Also, since he had so many eyes, he was very good at guarding things. While sleeping, he only rested a few eyes at a time. The others stayed awake. He worked for Hera, a great goddess. His primary function was to guard a special cow. The cow was very important to Hera. It was her favorite pet. The most essential part of his job was to keep the cow alone. It had to be kept separate from all the other cows and far away from people.

This was an easy job for Argos. The cow just ate grass all day. But the god Zeus wanted the cow. He wanted to take it away from Hera. He had a plan. He found a great music player. He asked the man to play a beautiful song for Argos. Zeus was certain Argos would go to sleep.

The song had an immediate effect. Argos couldn’t focus on his job. He fell asleep. Zeus saw this, and he took the cow.

Hera was very angry with Argos. She turned him into a peacock. She put his many eyes on his tail. Argos was very sad.

Zeus saw how much trouble he had caused Argos. He made another plan. He turned Argos into a group of stars. He wanted Argos to remain in the sky forever. Even today, Argos’ image remains there, above the site where all his problems began. We can still see him in the night sky.

11. Princess Rose and the Creature

anymore, asleep, berry, collect, compete, conversation, creature, decision, either, forest, ground, introduce, marry, prepare, sail, serious, spend, strange, truth, wake

There was once a beautiful princess named Rose. Her mother, the queen, however, was not as beautiful as the princess. The queen felt bad that she was not the most beautiful woman in the kingdom anymore. She was tired of competing with her daughter. She made a decision. She prepared a drink for the princess. After the princess drank it, she fell asleep. Then the queen took the princess to the forest. She left the princess there. It was a very serious thing to do. “Either she will be killed by animals or she will get lost in the forest,” the queen thought.

The princess had a dream. She dreamed about a man with brown hair and brown eyes. It was the man she would wed.

The princess woke up. She saw a strange creature on the ground. It looked like a man, but he was hairy and green. He had horns on his head and a pig’s nose.

The creature said, “Did I scare you? I hope not. Let me introduce myself. I am Henry.”

“I am not scared. To tell you the truth, I think you are cute,” said Rose.

Rose and Henry spent the day together. They collected berries, caught fish, and had lunch. They had a very good day filled with nice conversations.

“Rose, I have to go home,” said Henry. “My ship will sail home soon. I can’t leave you here in the forest alone. Will you come with me?”

Rose was very happy. She gave Henry a kiss right on his pig nose. As soon as she kissed Henry, he began to change. His pig nose turned into a man’s nose. His horns and green hair went away. Standing in front of her was the man Rose had dreamt about.

Rose and Henry were married, and they lived happily.

12. The Crazy Artist

alone, apartment, article, artist, attitude, compare, judge, magazine, material, meal, method, neighbor, professional, profit, quality, shape, space, stair, symbol, thin

Frenhoferwas the best artist in the world. Everyone loved him. The quality of his paintings was very high. He always used the best materials. He made a big profit from his paintings. He had delicious meals with his rich neighbors. He taught art classes. Life was good.

Then his attitude changed. He stopped selling paintings and teaching. He tried a new method of painting. He stayed alone in his apartment all day. He worked all day and all night, rarely eating. Soon Frenhofer became very thin. But he kept working on the same painting for many years. He worked as hard as he could.

Finally, he finished the painting. He was very happy and invited other artists to see it. “I want your professional opinion,” he said. He wanted them to judge it and compare it to other paintings. Everyone was very excited as they went up the stairs to his apartment. Frenhofer was excited to show his painting, and the artists were excited to see it. “They’ll love it,” he thought. But they did not.

They were surprised by his painting. There was no white anywhere. Frenhofer filled the whole painting with lines and colors. There was no space for a normal picture. It was full of strange shapes. It looked bad to the other artists. He used symbols, and they didn’t understand them. They thought it was terrible. “Why did you paint this strange picture?” someone asked. They didn’t understand its beauty.

But after some time, many people began to like his painting. People wrote articles about it in magazines. They said it was his best work. They loved his strange symbols. They loved his strange colors. Frenhofer’s painting reminded everyone that just because something was new didn’t mean that it was bad. He also helped them to realize that sometimes it takes people a little time to understand great things.

13. The Farmer and the Cats

blood, burn, cell, contain, correct, crop, demand, equal, feed, hole, increase, lord, owe, position, raise, responsible, sight, spot, structure, whole

Arthur was a responsible farmer, and Maria was a nice lady. But they were poor. They owed the town lord money for their land. One summer, their farm burned. One structure caught fire, and most of the animals ran away. Only the cats stayed. So Arthur and Maria had to bring in their crops without an animal’s help.

On a fall day, the lord demanded his money. Arthur asked if the lord could wait until he brought in his crops.

The lord was angry. He raised his hands high and yelled, “Pay me by the end of the week. If you don’t, I will increase the money you have to pay. I might put you in a jail cell.”

So Arthur and Maria worked until there was blood on their hands. They finished four lines of corn and went to bed.

But the next morning, eight lines were finished! “Maria, didn’t we stop in this spot here?” Arthur asked.

“Yes, that is correct. And the tools were in a different position, too,” Maria said. They were surprised and happy. That day, they worked hard and finished five lines.

But in the morning, ten lines were done! Each day they did a lot of work. Each night, someone else did an equal amount of work. In a week, the whole field was finished. “Tomorrow I will sell the crops and pay the lord,” Arthur said. But that morning, the crops were gone. A bag was in the middle of the field. It contained money.

“Maria, let’s see who has helped us work.” Through a hole in the wall, they saw a funny sight. The cats were dancing in the field and eating corn! Now Arthur knew what had happened. The cats had worked at night! After that, Arthur was very nice to his cats and fed them lots of corn.

14. A Magical Book

coach, control, description, direct, exam, example, limit, local, magical, mail, novel, outline, poet, print, scene, sheet, silly, store, suffer, technology

Sarah loved to read. She read novels and poems. She loved the beautiful descriptions and phrases. She loved reading work from poets and novelists. She didn’t like video games or technology. She was on the basketball team, but she didn’t like sports. Her parents made her play basketball. In fact, Sarah’s parents made her do many things. But she didn’t want to do those things. She just wanted to sit and read all day.

One day, a small book came in the mail. It was for Sarah. The book looked very special. It was printed on sheets of gold. Sarah began to read. The outline of the story was simple. It was about a magical place. Strange things happened there. One example from the book was about a boy who could control people. In one scene, he made his friends tell funny jokes.

Sarah loved the book. She read it all the time. Then something strange happened. The book gave Sarah a special power. She could control other people. She was like the boy in the book. During one exam, she made her friend tell silly jokes. Her friend got in trouble.

After school, Sarah did not make a direct trip home. On the way, she went to the local store. She wanted to play more tricks on people. She caused problems. She made people fall down. She laughed and had fun.

Finally she left and started to walk home. Then she saw something. Her basketball coach was about to walk in front of a bus. He was looking the other way. She had to stop him! She used her power. She controlled him. She made him stop walking.

Sarah learned something that day. It was better to help people than make them suffer. So, she put a limit on how she used her power. She did not want to do bad things with it anymore. She only wanted to do good.

15. The Big Race

across, breathe, characteristic, consume, excite, extreme, fear, fortunate, happen, length, mistake, observe, opportunity, prize, race, realize, respond, risk, wonder, yet

A dog saw a group of animals across the road. He walked over to meet them. “What are you doing?” he asked them.

“I just sold them tickets to a race between the rabbit and the turtle,” the duck responded.

This news excited the dog. He felt fortunate that he happened to be there. “I don’t have anything to do today,” the dog said. “I want to buy a ticket, too.”

The dog sat down to observe the race. The race would be extreme. It would be many kilometers in length. The rabbit and the turtle stood next to each other. They waited for the race to start. The dog wondered why the turtle agreed to run against the rabbit. Being fast was not a characteristic of turtles. The rabbit was going to win easily.

Suddenly, the race began. The rabbit ran extremely quickly. The turtle walked slowly. After a minute, the rabbit looked back. He saw that the turtle was far behind him and was breathing quickly because he was so tired. The rabbit smiled and slowed to a walk.

A minute later, the rabbit said, “I’m winning, so I’ll take a rest.” He sat and began to consume some grass. Then, he let his eyes close. He wasn’t the winner yet. But there was no risk of him losing the race. He went to sleep.

Hours later, a loud sound woke him. All of the animals were yelling and looking at the field. He felt fear for the first time. The turtle was almost at the finish line. Now, the rabbit realized his mistake. But the race was over. He gave the turtle an opportunity to win, and the turtle took it. The duck handed the turtle his prize. It was the happiest day of the turtle’s life.

The dog was happy for the turtle. “He isn’t fast,” the dog thought. “But he tried his best and did something great.”

16. Adams County’s Gold

academy, ancient, board, century, clue, concert, county, dictionary, exist, flat, gentleman, hidden, maybe, officer, original, pound, process, publish, theater, wealth

Adams Academy was a good school. Boys lived there and took classes. Tom worked hard all week. On a spring Saturday, he wanted to do something fun!

He asked his friend Jeff to go to the movie theater. “Sorry,” Jeff answered. “I’m going to a concert.”

So Tom asked Joe to go to the movies. But Joe’s soccer team had a game.

Next, Tom went down the hall to Brad’s room. Brad was reading a very large old book. “Hi, Brad,” Tom said. “Are you reading a dictionary? It looks ancient.”

“No. This is called The Wealth of Adams County. It’s about hidden gold in Adams County. It’s more than a century old. It was published in 1870! Look, it even has the original cover on it.”

Tom asked, “Where did you get it?”

“It’s from my dad’s friend. He is a nice gentleman, an officer in the army,” answered Brad.

“The gold doesn’t really exist, does it?” Tom asked.

“I don’t know, but maybe! There are clues to it in this book. Let’s find it!” Looking for gold sounded like fun.

The first clue was to find a flat tree underground. “It must be in the forest,” Tom said.

Brad said, “The flat tree could be a board under the dirt. It could cover the gold.”

Tom and Brad dug in the dirt all morning. The process of looking for gold made them hungry. They were ready to stop for lunch. But then Brad hit something hard. It was a board!

Brad pounded on the board until it broke. There was a small hole under it. “Look!” He held up a gold coin.

Tom saw a piece of paper in the hole. “Brad, there’s more. It’s a map to the rest of the gold!”

Brad smiled. “Let’s go!” And they hurried to find the wealth of Adams County.

17. The Race for Water

appreciate, available, beat, bright, celebrate, determine, disappear, else, fair, flow, forward, hill, level, lone, puddle, response, season, solution, waste, whether

There was a town next to a river. The people there had a lot of water. But they wasted it. That made the Sky angry. It said, “If you waste water, I will take it away from you.” But the people didn’t listen.

When the season changed from spring to summer, the clouds disappeared. The bright sun was hot and made the river dry. There was no water available. People asked, “When will the rain fall?”

The Sky’s response was, “You don’t appreciate water. You waste it, and now I will never make rain again.”

A boy determined that this wasn’t fair. He thought of a solution. He asked the Sky to race him. He said, “If I get to the top of that hill before your rain can form puddles, you must fill our river.”

The Sky laughed. “Little boy, I am the Sky. I am above everything else. You cannot beat me.” But the boy knew he would win.

When the race began, the boy ran forward. The Sky started raining on the hill. But puddles did not form there. When it rained on the hill, the water went down.

The Sky kept raining. The water flowed down into the river. When the boy reached the top of the hill, the river was full. The people began to celebrate. It was the highest level the river had ever been at before.

The Sky was angry. “A boy can’t beat me! I won’t fill your river,” it said. Now the boy laughed. “It doesn’t matter whether you want to fill it or not,” he said. “You already did.” The Sky looked at the full river.

“You tricked me,” it said. It asked the people, “Do you appreciate water now?”

“Yes,” they said. “We won’t waste it.”

That is how a lone boy saved his town and won the race for water.

18. The Little Red Chicken

argue, communicate, crowd, depend, dish, empty, exact, fresh, gather, indicate, item, offer, price, product, property, purchase, recommend, select, tool, treat

A little red chicken had a store in a small town. She sold many different items to people in the town. The people loved her products.

One day, a cat came to her property. He saw the sign that indicated where the chicken’s store was located. He wanted to purchase bread, but the chicken’s store was almost empty. She had only a bag of wheat.*

“You can use the wheat to make bread,” the chicken said.

“No, I don’t want to work,” the cat said. “I just want to buy bread.” The cat became angry and left the store.

Later, the little red chicken saw the cat in a crowd.

“I will help you make the bread,” she said.

But the cat treated her badly. He did not even communicate with her.

He did not want to do any work.

So the chicken decided to make the bread. She selected the exact amount of wheat to make fresh bread. She used a stone to pound the wheat to get it ready. Soon, her bread was ready.

The cat came and saw the bread on a dish.

“Give me some of your bread,” he said.

“No,” said the little red chicken. “You did not help me make the bread. So you shall not have any to eat.”

The cat argued with the chicken. He tried to offer a price for it. But the little red chicken did not want to sell her bread.

“Don’t depend on others to do work for you,” said the little red chicken.

“Then how will I get bread?” the cat asked.

“I recommend doing some work,” said the little red chicken. “Use a tool to plant your own wheat. When it grows big, you can gather it and make your own bread. You need to learn to do work for what you want.”

*wheat - a type of plant used to make bread

19. Shipwrecked

alive, bone, bother, captain, conclusion, doubt, explore, foreign, glad, however, injustice, international, lawyer, mention, policy, social, speech, staff, toward, wood

Simon Yates was a lawyer. He helped many people. However, he was not a nice man. His policy was to help only rich people. He didn’t bother about social injustice. He made a lot of money, but many people didn’t like him. Even people on his staff didn’t like him. They wanted bad things to happen to him. In fact, they were glad when he got into trouble.

Simon had a very bad day. He did many things wrong and lost his job. Soon, he didn’t have any money. His wife, Mrs. Yates, began to have doubts about him. Simon wanted to start a new life. He planned to leave the country.

He mentioned his plan to the captain of a ship. The captain was exploring the world. The captain felt bad for Simon and said, “I will take you to foreign countries.” They left the next day.

Near the conclusion of their international trip, the weather turned bad. A wave pushed Simon off the boat. But he was alive. He swam toward an island. After a longtime he got there.

At first he was upset. He was lost and alone. “I’ll never go home again,” he thought. He had a lot of problems, but he survived. He built a house in a tree. He lived on a diet offish. He made tools from wood and bones. He made a cup to drink rainwater.

Slowly he learned to be happy on the island. He swam every day. He had trouble sometimes, but he always found a way to fix the problem. Life was simple. He liked it.

Finally, people on a ship saw Simon on the island. They wanted to take him home. But Simon was happy. He gave them a long speech about life. He said he wanted to stay. He liked his new, simple life more than his old life.

20. The Seven Cities of Gold

achieve, advise, already, basic, bit, consider, destroy, entertain, extra, goal, lie, meat, opinion, real, reflect, regard, serve, vegetable, war, worth

Many years ago, a Spanish officer named Coronado heard the story of seven great cities. “The walls of these cities are made of gold,” his friends told him. “The people eat meat from golden plates and dress in nice clothes,” they said. They called these cities the Seven Cities of Gold. Were the cities real? Coronado never considered asking his friends.

Coronado thought to himself, “The things in these cities must be worth a lot of money.” So he went to find the Seven Cities of Gold. He took along three hundred men, many horses, and extra food. They headed west. Coronado wanted to achieve his goal very badly.

Coronado and his men rode for many days. Then they saw some cities. “We found the Seven Cities of Gold!” his men yelled, but Coronado wasn’t happy. He had a different opinion. “These can’t be the Seven Cities of Gold,” he said. “Look, they’re made of dirt!”

Coronado was right. The cities weren’t bright and golden. They were dirty and brown. The people didn’t eat meat from golden plates. They ate vegetables from regular bowls. They wore the most basic clothes.

Coronado regarded the cities as ugly places. “What happened to the cities of gold?” he thought. “Did someone destroy them? Was there a war? Did someone already come and take the gold?”

That night, the people of the cities entertained Coronado and his men and served them food. They advised Coronado to go home. “There is no gold here,” they told him. Coronado was angry. Did his friends lie to him?

He left the next morning. He looked back at s one more time. The sun reflected light dirt houses. Coronado thought he saw a bit of gold. Were his friends right after all? “No,” he told himself. “It’s just the sun.” Then he turned away and went home.

21. Katy

appear, base, brain, career, clerk, effort, enter, excellent, hero, hurry, inform, later, leave, locate, nurse, operation, pain, refuse, though, various

I first met 8-year-old Katy on a rainy afternoon. I was a nurse at a hospital. The clerk at the desk told me about Katy. She was there because she felt a lot of pain. The doctors located a problem at the base of her brain. I knew she was special, even before she got better. I’ll always remember Katy as a hero.

When I entered Katy’s room, she was not in her bed. She was in a chair next to Tommy, a little boy. Though Katy did not feel well, she was playing with Tommy and his toys. It took a lot of effort for her just to sit in the chair. But she played with Tommy because it made him happy.

Katy was always smiling and never appeared to be in pain. She refused to just lie in bed. One day I found her painting a picture. Later, she gave it to one of the older patients. Another day she went outside to get flowers for another sick little girl. Katy made everyone smile.

The doctors hurried to fix the problem in Katy’s brain. The operation was successful! The doctors informed the hospital staff of the good news. Katy was fine. She soon felt excellent. She got better and was able to leave the hospital a month later.

I have had a long career as a nurse. I have met many patients. However, I have never met another girl like Katy. Even after she got well, she still came to the hospital. She played various games with the young patients. She read many books to the older patients. Katy’s kind heart helped her get better so quickly. She is a hero to me and everyone else at the hospital.

22. A Better Reward

actual, amaze, charge, comfort, contact, customer, deliver, earn, gate, include, manage, mystery, occur, opposite, plate, receive, reward, set, steal, thief

Jenny delivered food for a restaurant. She read the newspaper and said, “Uh oh.” There was a story about a thief. He stole food, and no one had seen him. Even the police couldn’t catch him. Jenny was a little scared. She worked close to that area.

The newspaper included a message from the police: “If anything strange occurs, call us. If you help us catch the thief, you’ll earn a reward.”

Jenny talked to Jim. He managed the restaurant. “Do you know about the thief?”

“Yes,” he said. “But he steals more than one person can eat. And why haven’t the police stopped him yet? It’s a mystery. If you see him, contact the police. Don’t run after him.”

Jenny drove to a customer’s house. She left her car and opened the gate to the house. But then she heard a noise by her car. She yelled, “Thief!” She wasn’t scared. She wanted the reward! She did the opposite of what Jim told herto do.

“Hey,” she yelled. “Get back here!” She set the food on the ground and ran to her car.

But the thief had already left with the food. Jenny followed a noise around the corner. She was amazed. She saw a dog and some puppies. They were eating her food! They looked thin and scared. “The actual thief is just a dog. She’s feeding her puppies,” she said. “That’s why she steals so much food.”

Jenny felt bad. She tried to comfort the dogs with another plate of food. Then she took them back to the store. Everyone there took a puppy home. Jenny called the police. She told them there was no real thief.

Jenny didn’t do it to receive the reward anymore. She said, “It was just a dog. But there’s no charge for catching this ‘thief,’” she said. “My new dog is a better reward.”

23. The Camp

advance, athlete, average, behavior, behind, course, lower, match, member, mental, passenger, personality, poem, pole, remove, safety, shoot, sound, swim, web

Stacie wanted to stay at a nice hotel for vacation. But her parents sent her to a terrible camp instead. For breakfast, Stacie liked fresh juice and chocolate milk, but she got water at the camp. In the afternoon she wanted to write poems, but she had to swim. The camp was near an airport with loud planes. Spider webs hung over her bed. To her, the kids’ average behavior was very bad. No girl matched her personality. She hated it.

One day, they had a class. Mental exercise sounded good to Stacie. But it was a course on water safety. They learned how to be safe passengers on a boat. Stacie didn’t ever plan to go on a boat.

The next day, they played a game. There were a red team and a blue team. Stacie was on the blue team. Each team had to try to remove the other team’s flag from a pole. They also had to use water guns. “I’m not much of an athlete,” she said. But she still had to play.

Stacie took a water gun and looked for somewhere to hide. A boy said, “Stacie, you advance to the middle. I will go right. Those two will go left.”

Stacie still didn’t want to play. She walked into the forest and saw a red team player coming. Stacie hid behind a tree and then jumped out and shot the other player. “This is fun!” Stacie thought.

Several minutes after advancing further, Stacie saw the red flag. A red team member was watching over it. She shot him with her water gun. Then she lowered the flag and ran back to her team. “I got it!” she yelled. The blue team won! Stacie was the hero.

For the rest of the week, Stacie had fun. She even made new friends.

24. A Strong Friendship

block, cheer, complex, critic, event, exercise, fit, friendship, guide, lack, passage, perform, pressure, probable, public, strike, support, task, term, unite

Tim was the strongest man in the town. When he played sports, he always won. He performed and exercised in the public park. He did this to show everyone how strong he was. Most people liked him, but one man didn’t. His name was Jack.

Jack hated Tim. Jack was a movie critic and the smartest man in town. He could solve complex math problems. But no one cared. Jack wanted to be famous like Tim.

One day, there was an unusual event. A big storm came suddenly. Snow covered the town. No one could get out. They needed food. The people said, “This is a task for a strong man.” Tim was under pressure to save them. But Jack wanted to be the hero, so they both went. Tim said, “You can’t help because of your lack of strength.”

But Jack found some small passages under the snow. One of them led toward another town. That town had food. Because Tim was so big and strong, he almost couldn’t fit inside. They walked until there was a block of ice in their way. Jack said, “We can’t get past it. But if you strike it, it might break.” Tim knew that was probable.

He broke it. When there were more ice blocks, Tim broke them. That made him tired. He couldn’t walk anymore. Jack said, “Let’s unite and support each other. I’ll get the food alone. You rest here.”

Jack came back with food. Tim couldn’t remember which passage led home. He needed Jack to be his guide. The men became friends by working together.

In town, people saw Jack with the food and cheered. They called Jack a hero. But Jack didn’t care. He was thinking of something else. He said to Tim, “I thought I was smart, but I learned a new term today: friendship.”

25. Joe’s Pond

associate, environment, factory, feature, instance, involve, medicine, mix, organize, period, populate, produce, range, recognize, regular, sign, tip, tradition, trash, wide

Joe made the world a better place. He got the idea to do that at school. He watched a video there. It was about a factory. This factory produced a lot of trash and put it in a river. The trash and water were a bad mix. People populated the area by the river and drank its water. This made them sick. Many of them needed medicine and made regular visits to doctors.

But the video wasn’t all bad news. It showed ways to pick up trash and why it’s important to do this. It said people can make a difference to their environment. The video’s important features made Joe associate trash with hurting people.

One day Joe walked through a park. He recognized some of the problems from the video. One instance of these problems was the trash in the pond. It was full of plastic cups. There was too much trash. Joe didn’t want it to hurt anyone.

He told his grandfather about the park. His grandfather said, “You know, it’s a tradition in our family to help people. That’s why we give food to poor people. Maybe you can help people by cleaning the park.”

Cleaning the park would involve hard work. Joe decided to organize a group to help him. He chose a wide area of the park. It had the most trash. He asked his family and friends to come. On Saturday, he gave everyone a sharp stick. They wondered why. He said, “You use the stick’s tip to pick up trash. This makes it easier.” They worked for six weeks. Different people helped each time, but Joe was always there.

In that period of time, Joe saw a range of results. There was no trash in the water. People could swim in it. Joe knew that was a good sign. He was happy because he helped his environment.

26. Archie and His Donkey

advice, along, attention, attract, climb, drop, final, further, imply, maintain, neither, otherwise, physical, prove, react, ride, situated, society, standard, suggest

Old Archie needed some money. He decided to sell his donkey. So he and his son Tom went to town. It was situated many miles away.

Soon, they met a woman. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“To town,” said Archie.

“Any smart person would ride the donkey,” she said.

“What are you implying?” Archie asked. “I’m very smart!” Archie wanted to look smart. So he climbed onto the donkey. Then they continued in the direction of the town.

Further along the road, they met a farmer.

“Hello,” said Archie. “We want to sell this donkey. Do you want to buy it?”

“I don’t need a donkey,” said the farmer. “But if you want my advice, don’t ride it. The donkey needs to be in good physical condition.”

“Good idea,” said Archie. “Tom, I want you to ride it. You’re lighter.”

“Neither you nor your son should ride it. It looks very tired. You should carry the donkey.” suggested the farmer.

“You’re right,” said Archie. “Come on, Tom! We’ll carry it for the final few miles!”

The donkey was very heavy, and they couldn’t maintain a good speed. They didn’t arrive until late in the evening. At last, they walked into the town. But there they attracted the attention of some teenage boys. They laughed at Tom and Archie. They started to throw stones at them. The donkey reacted by kicking. Tom and Archie dropped the donkey. It fell on the ground and then ran away. Archie lost his donkey. He went home with no money.

What does this story teach us? We cannot please everyone in our society. Don’t take everyone’s advice, but set your own standards. Prove to everyone that you can make decisions by yourself. Otherwise, you may end up with nothing at all.

27. The Spider and the Bird

actually, bite, coast, deal, desert, earthquake, effective, examine, false, gift, hunger, imagine, journey, puzzle, quite, rather, specific, tour, trip, value

There was once a very big spider. If a bug got into his web, he would examine it. However, he didn’t eat the bug right away. He asked the bug a question first. It was always quite a difficult puzzle. If the bug’s answer was correct, he let it go. If not, he ate it.

One day, a small bird on a journey flew into the spider’s web. The spider couldn’t imagine eating a bird. It was so big! But his hunger was too great. He said to the bird, “If you cannot give me a specific answer, I will eat you.”

The bird laughed. “I could eat you!” But the bird was actually scared. She had used all her energy trying to get out of the web. And a spider’s bite can be very effective in killing animals.

“Please don’t eat me,” the bird said. “I would rather make a deal with you.”

“OK,” the spider said. “If your answer is right, I will let you go. If not, you must give me a gift. It must be something of great value.”

The bird said, “You can pick anything you want to eat. I will find it for you.” The spider agreed.

“Where can you take a trip to the coast, the desert, and the mountains at the same time?” the spider asked.

The bird asked, “Does this place have earthquakes?” But the spider did not say anything. “I can see those places when I fly. Is the ‘sky’ the right answer?”

“False!” said the spider. “The answer is Hawaii! Now you must find some bugs for me.”

The spider climbed on the bird’s back. They flew and ate bugs together. They took a tour of the forest. Then the bird took the spider home. From that day on, they were friends. And they never tried to eat each other again.

28. The Party

band, barely, boring, cancel, driveway, garbage, instrument, list, magic, message, notice, own, predict, professor, rush, schedule, share, stage, storm, within

Cody’s family moved to a new house. His dad got a new job as a professor. Cody liked his new town, but he missed his grandparents. For his birthday, Cody wanted to have a party. His dad said, “Yes, we could even have a band play!”

On the day of the party, Cody woke up and rushed to get ready. He started to check his list of things to do. He was so excited! But then he noticed something terrible. There was snow on the ground and lots of it! “Dad!” he yelled. “How can the band play their instruments outside?”

Dad said, “We’ll move the stage inside.” It barely fit within the garage because there were some boxes and garbage there. But when they finished, they got a call from the band. They did not want to come in the snow storm.

Dad said, “Let’s get someone to perform magic.” But no one would come because of the snow.

Finally, Dad said, “Cody, there’s too much snow. We need to cancel the party.”

“Yes, sir,” Cody said sadly. “It’s going to be a boring birthday,” he predicted. Cody wanted to share his birthday with someone. He wanted to be at his old home. He wanted to see his grandparents.

But then something got his attention. He noticed a car in the driveway. His grandparents owned a car like that!

Cody was right. His grandparents came for his birthday! “Happy birthday, Cody! We’re sorry we are late. But there was so much snow. It made us go off schedule. We tried to leave a message to tell you.”

Cody told them what happened. “I’m sorry,” said Grandpa.

“I was sad,” Cody said. “But I’m not anymore. I’m so happy to see you.” Dad brought out Cody’s birthday treat. It was his favorite type, a sundae with whipped cream on top. Then Cody told his grandparents about the new town. It was his best birthday ever.

29. How the World Got Light

advertise, assign, audience, breakfast, competition, cool, gain, importance, knowledge, major, mean, prefer, president, progress, respect, rich, skill, somehow, strength, vote

The president of Darkland was a pig—a very bad pig. He was a pig of major importance. He was rich, and he had a lot of strength. But he was mean to all the animals in Darkland. He kept all of the world’s light in a bag. He preferred to keep the world cool and dark. He wanted to stop the progress of the city. The animals couldn’t work in the dark. He didn’t have any respect for them. “Light is too good for them,” he said. “Only I should have light.”

But the animals needed light. So they decided to hold a competition. They wanted to find the smartest animal in Darkland. That animal had to steal light from the president. They advertised the competition everywhere. All the animals came.

The animals all showed off their skills. The audience watched and then voted for the animal with the most knowledge. The winner was a tall bird named Raven. They assigned him the job of getting light.

The next morning, Raven ate breakfast and then left his home. “How will I gain light from the president?” thought Raven. He needed to trick the president somehow. Then, Raven had an idea. Raven could make his voice sound like anything!

Raven walked up to the president’s door. He made the sound of a crying baby. He cried very loudly. Soon, the president opened the door.

“Be quiet!” the president yelled. Right then, Raven quickly made his move. He flew by the pig and found the soft bag. He took it outside. The sun was inside the bag!

Raven flew high and put the sun in the sky. The president was very mad. Raven tricked him! But the other animals were very happy. At last, they had light—all because of Raven’s smart thinking.

30. Cats and Secrets

above, ahead, amount, belief, center, common, cost, demonstrate, different, evidence, honesty, idiom, independent, inside, master, memory, proper, scan, section, surface

In English, there is a common idiom “let the cat out of the bag.” It means to tell a secret. But where did this idiom start?

It came from a section of England. Long ago, people there went from town to town to sell things like vegetables, clothes, and pigs. They had strong beliefs about honesty. They didn’t like lying. One day, a man went to the section’s center to sell things.

“I have a baby pig for sale! It won’t cost much,” he said. He held the animal above his head. His style was different from honest people’s style. He was a master of tricking people and lying.

A woman named Beth scanned his pig. He offered her the pig for one gold coin. That was a very small amount. Beth gave him the coin. He put it in his pocket. He walked ahead of Beth to get the pig.

He gave her a closed bag and said, “Here’s your pig.” He then left very quickly.

Beth looked at the bag’s surface. It was moving. She opened it to let the pig out. A cat was inside! “He tricked me! That isn’t proper,” she said.

Later, the man returned to trick more people. Beth saw him and the memory of the cat came back. She told her friends. They stopped him. But no one knew what to do next.

Someone said, “We need an independent and fair person to decide that.” They went to the judge. Beth told him about the cat in the bag.

The judge asked, “Is there evidence? Can you demonstrate how he did it?”

“Look in his bag,” said Beth. She opened it and let a cat out of the bag. They learned the man’s secret, and he went to jail.

That’s how the idiom “let the cat out of the bag” came to mean to tell a secret.

31. The Twelve Months

awful, consist, desire, eager, household, intent, landscape, lift, load, anxious, lung, motion, pace, polite, possess, rapidly, remark, seek, shine, spill

An awful woman lived with her daughter and stepdaughter in her household. She possessed feelings of hate for her stepdaughter, Anna. Anna worked while her stepsister did nothing. On a cold January night, Anna’s stepmother remarked, “Your stepsister desires flowers. Go and find some.” Anna wasn’t anxious to walk through the chilled landscape. The cold air made her lungs burn. She walked at a slow pace because of the snow. Soon she saw a group of people. It consisted of twelve men. Anna told them about the flowers.

One of the man said they were the twelve months and that they would help Anna. January walked to her and made a motion with his hand. The days of the month passed rapidly until it was February’s turn. February also made the month speed up. Then March made the sun shine and flowers grew in the field.

Anna loaded her basket with so many flowers that she could hardly lift it. Then she gave a quick but polite “thank you” to the twelve men and returned home. She was very eager to show her stepmother all the flowers. Back at the house, she spilled the flowers onto the table. Then she told her stepmother about the twelve men. Anna’s stepmother and stepsister went to seek the twelve months. Their intent was to ask for gifts. They looked and looked. They became very lost and never found their way home. Anna lived happily by herself.

32. The Dragon

bring, castle, command, counsel, ensure, explosion, jewelry, land, meteor, monster, northern, remote, southern, statue, steam, submit, temple, upper, weed, wing

An evil dragon lived in a castle in the remote southern mountains. One day the monster landed in a town. The dragon commanded the people, “Give me food now, or I will eat you!” The dragon lifted its wings so that its lungs could be completely filled with hot steam, and breathed it upon the people. A man turned into a stone statue!

The people submitted and brought food. The dragon ate all of it and left. The people sent a boy to ask for help from a wise old man. He resided in a temple.

The boy told the old man about the dragon. Then, the old man counseled the boy. “A meteor will fall in the northern sky. It will make a huge explosion. Find the meteor and bring it to me. I will use it to make a sword for you.”

The boy did as the old man said. Soon, the sword was ready. “Use this to kill the dragon. But be careful. You must cover yourself with weeds that smell bad. That will ensure that he does not smell you,” the man said.

The boy traveled for many days to find the castle. He went to the upper level and opened a door. He could see the dragon’s tail. It was sleeping, so the boy killed it. Then, he took the dragon’s gold and jewelry and returned to his town. The people were happy.

33. The Battle of Thermopylae

arrow, battle, bow, brave, chief, disadvantage, enemy, entrance, hardly, intend, laughter, log, military, obey, secure, steady, trust, twist, unless, weapon

This is a true story. It happened long ago in Greece…. “We must fight,” the Spartan* chief told his small army of brave men. They were at a great disadvantage. There were only three hundred of them. The Persian military had hundreds of thousands of men.

They were going to lose unless they could secure a small entrance. The enemy couldn’t move through it easily. They intended to stop the enemy here. The chief and his men got ready for the battle.

Soon, long lines of the enemy’s army twisted around the hills. The chief met the enemy with laughter. He knew that his men’s weapons and skills were better. The Spartans trusted their leader and obeyed him.

First, the enemy soldiers shot arrows from their bows. The chief told his men to lift their shields*. The arrows stuck into the shields but did not hurt any of the men.

Then the enemy’s soldiers attacked the Spartans with long spears. The chief surprised them. His troops rolled logs down on the enemy.

They fought for three days. Though they hardly slept at all, the chief and his men remained steady.

But the enemy found a way to beat the Spartans. The chief and all of his men were killed. Even though they lost, the Battle of Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in history.

• Spartan - a soldier from the city of Sparta in Greece

• shield - a piece of wood or metal that soldiers carried to protect themselves
  

34. The Deer and His Image

chest, confidence, consequence, disaster, disturb, estimate, honor, impress, marathon, narrow, pale, rough, satisfy, scream, sensitive, shade, supplement, terror, threat, victim

• The chest [tʃest] is the front part of a person’s body under the neck.
• If you have confidence[ˈkɑːn.fə.dəns] about something, you are sure of it.
• A consequence[ˈkɑːn.sə.kwəns] is a result of a choice or action.
• A disaster[dɪˈzæs.tɚ] is a really bad thing that happens.
• To disturb[dɪˈstɝːb] someone means to upset them.
• To estimate[ˈes.tə.meɪt] something means to make a guess about it.
• When you honor[ˈɑː.nɚ] people or things, you should respect for them.
• To impress[ɪmˈpres] someone means to make that person proud.
• A marathon[ˈmer.ə.θɑːn] is a very long foot race just over 42 kilometers.
• When something is narrow[ˈner.oʊ], it is very thin.
• When something is pale[peɪl], it does not have bright color.
• When some thing is rough[rʌf], it is not even or smooth.
• To satisfy[ˈsæt̬.ɪs.faɪ] someone means to make them happy.
• To scream[skriːm] means to make a loud noise with your mouth.
• When someone or something is sensitive[ˈsen.sə.t̬ɪv], they are easily hurt.
• The shade[ʃeɪd] is a dark area that something makes when it blocks the sun.
• To supplement[ˈsʌp.lə.mənt] something is to add something else to it in a good way.
• When someone fell terror[ˈter.ɚ], they are scared.
• A threat[θret] is something bad that might happen.
• A victim[ˈvɪk.təm] is a person that had something bad happen to them.

---

A deer told himself every day, “I am the most handsome deer in the forest. My large chest is a symbol of my power. And my beautiful horns impress other animals.”

But he did not like his legs and hooves*. “My legs are narrow, and my hooves are ugly. They do not satisfy me.”

One day, the deer saw a big dog. The deer made some noise and disturbed the dog. The dog woke up and chased him. The deer felt terror. He screamed. He did not want to be a victim, so he ran into the forest. His strong legs helped him run fast. His pale brown hooves were hard, so they were not sensitive to rough rocks. However, his horns got caught in branches, slowing him down. His large chest could not fit between thick trees.

The deer estimated that he ran for an hour. He felt like he was running a marathon. In the end, the deer escaped the threat of the dog. He sat in the shade of a tree. “That was almost a disaster! I almost did not escape because of my chest and horns. My legs and hooves saved me.” As a consequence, the deer learned to honor his fast legs and have confidence in his strong hooves. “Pretty things only supplement important things,” he thought.

*hooves - the feet of animals like deer and horses

35. May 29,1953

ancestor, angle, boot, border, congratulate, frame, heaven, incredible, legend, praise, proceed, pure, relative, senior, silent, sink, superior, surround, thick, wrap

• An ancestor[ˈæn.ses.tɚ] is a family member from the past.
• An angle[ˈæŋ.ɡəl] is the direction from which you look at something.
• A boot[buːt] is an heavy shoe that goes over your ankle.
• A border[ˈbɔːr.dɚ] is an edge of an area.
• To congratulate[kənˈɡrætʃ.ə.leɪt] someone is to tell them that you are happy to them.
• A frame[freɪm] is a border of the picture or the mirror.
• Heaven[ˈhev.ən] is the place that people believe people go when they die.
• If someone or something is incredible[ɪnˈkred.ə.bəl], it is hard to believe they are true.
• A legend[ˈledʒ.ənd] is a story from the past.
• To praise[preɪz] is to show that you like someone or something.
• To proceed[proʊˈsiːd] is to go in a certain direction.
• If something is pure[pjʊr], it is very clear and beautiful.
• A relative[ˈrel.ə.t̬ɪv] is a family member.
• If one is senior[ˈsiː.njɚ], they are the oldest or have been there the longest.
• If someone or something is silent[ˈsaɪ.lənt], they make no sound.
• To sink[sɪŋk] into something is to slowly fall into it.
• If someone or something is superior[səˈpɪr.i.ɚ], they are better than another.
• To surround[səˈraʊnd] something is to close in on it from all sides.
• If something is thick[θɪk], it is wide and solid.
• To wrap[ræp] is to cover something on all sides.

---

Today is the most important day of my life. I finally climbed Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world.

The top of the mountain was amazing. It felt like we were close to heaven. The snow was so thick that my boots sank. The air was silent. I looked at the beauty that surrounded me. Maybe my story will be a legend someday.

I want people to remember this forever. I was the senior explorer in my group, and I knew we needed proof of our climb. I took many pictures with my camera. I’ll put them in a frame and hang them.

On the mountain, the air was very cold. I wrapped my coat around my body. I looked over the side of the mountaintop. From that angle, I saw the border of the clouds touch the rocks below. The snow was thick. It looked pure. There was no sign of modern life. Thousands of years ago, my ancestors saw the world this way.

After fifteen minutes, I knew it was time to proceed down the mountain. The whole team congratulated us. My superior, John Hunt, praised us all. I sent messages to my relatives to tell them that I was safe. But it was hard to leave the mountain so quickly. I wanted to enjoy the incredible sight even longer.

36. The Frog Prince

abroad, anger, bride, brief, chase, disappoint, dive, exchange, favor, fee, forever, guy, lovely, mood, palace, permit, protest, sculpture, tribe, youth

A lovely princess sat by the pool and played with a sculpture of a bear. Suddenly, she dropped it, and it rolled away. She chased it, but it fell into the water. She began to cry. A large, ugly frog asked, “Why are you crying?” After the princess told him, the frog said, “I can get the sculpture. What will you give me in exchange for the favor?”

“I can pay you a fee in gold,” she said.

But the frog protested. “I want to sleep in your bed, and you must kiss me in the morning.”

“He’d die without water. So, I don’t have to keep my promise,” she thought.

The frog dove for a brief moment and got the sculpture. Then the princess ran away with it. Later, the frog went to the palace. The king told her to keep her promise. This put the princess in a bad mood. She permitted the frog to sleep on her pillow. In the morning, she gave him a kiss.

Suddenly, he turned into a guy. He said, “I’m from a kingdom abroad. In my youth, I angered a tribe of cruel witches, who turned me into a frog.”

The princess asked him, “Can I be your bride and stay with you forever?” But the prince said, “No. You disappointed me. You didn’t keep your promise.”

37. A Beautiful Bird

basis, biology, cage, colleague, colony, debate, depart, depress, factual, fascinate, mission, nevertheless, occupation, overseas, persuade, route, ruins, scholar, significant, volcano

Dr. Norton’s occupation was a scholar of biology. He learned about all animals on a daily basis. One day he met a sailor from a colony overseas. The man told Dr. Norton about a talking bird! The bird fascinated Dr. Norton, so he told his colleagues about it. They debated with him: no one thought a bird could talk. He tried to persuade them, but they laughed at him. Nevertheless, Dr. Norton believed the bird was real. His new mission was to find it. He wanted factual proof.

The next day he departed for the colony. The sailor he had met told him to look for a man named Jai, who would be able to help him in his search. After a month of sailing, Dr. Norton finally reached the colony where he met Jai.

“I can take you to where it lives. It lives by the volcano,” Jai said. They left the next day. A week later, they arrived at the volcano. Every day they walked around and looked for the bird, but they couldn’t find it. After one month, Dr. Norton could not find the bird, and this depressed him. He decided to go home. On the route back, he walked past some old ruins. He heard someone say, “Hello.”

“Who are you?” he asked. Dr. Norton looked up and saw a bird!

Dr. Norton put the talking bird into a cage. Then he returned home. He had made a significant discovery.

38. Tricky Turtle

broad, bush, capable, cheat, concentrate, conclude, confident, considerable, convey, definite, delight, destination, dictate, edge, path, resort, shadow, succeed, suspect, valley

Ricky the rabbit and Tera the turtle met by the edge of the river. “No one is capable of beating me in a race!” Ricky said. He was confident—his smile conveyed that.

“I can beat you,” Tera said.

Ricky laughed with delight.

Tera said, “We will race tomorrow. The destination is the hill.”

Ricky agreed. Tera concentrated on winning the race. She was not faster than Ricky. She needed a definite way to succeed. She told her family about the race, “I have concluded that I have to resort to something bad. I will cheat.” She dictated her instructions to them.

At the race, they all wore white feathers. They looked exactly the same! Then, her family members hid in shadows on the path.

The race began. Tera was soon far behind. However, Tera’s brother hid behind a bush in the valley below. When Ricky got close, Tera’s brother began to run. He looked just like Tera! Ricky ran as fast as he could along the path. But, to him, it seemed like Tera was always ahead. Ricky had used a considerable amount of energy.

He reached the top, but Tera’s sister was already there. “Well, you win,” Ricky said.

Later, Tera had a broad smile on her face. Ricky never suspected. He had been tricked by a family of slow turtles.

39. The Tale of Bartelby O’Boyle

admire, aid, attempt, authority, capital, cooperate, defend, destruction, disorder, division, enable, frustrate, govern, plenty, relieve, reputation, royal, slave, struggle, stupid

Long ago, there was a clever man by the name of Bartelby O’Boyle. As a boy, he was kept as a slave by the royal family. He saw other children play, but he always had to work. This frustrated him very much. But he was not stupid, and he wanted to change things.

Then one day there was a struggle for authority in the kingdom. There was a division of the people, and one group fought against another group to see which would govern the kingdom. There was disorder in the kingdom. Bartelby ran away. He saw much fighting and destruction. Many people had nothing to eat; Bartelby decided to aid them. He would help them get food. But how?

Bartelby went to the capital to find an answer. There, he met a man named Gilliam. A group of men attempted to hurt Gilliam. Bartelby defended him. Then, he gave Gilliam some food to relieve his hunger. After that, the two became friends. They took food from the rich and gave it to the poor.

Soon, other people cooperated with them. Working together anabled them to take more food, butt they only took food from people who had plenty, and they always gave it to those who had none. Because of this, Bartleby gained a reputation across the kingdom. Even today, many people admire him for helping the poor.

40. Blackbeard

citizen, council, declare, enormous, extraordinary, fog, funeral, giant, impression, income, mad, ought, resist, reveal, rid, sword, tale, trap, trial, violent

A longtime ago, I had my first job. It didn’t give me much of an income. It was on a giant pirate ship. On my first night, there was a thick fog over the water. A lamp on the ship revealed an enormous man. He had a sword in his belt. His name was Blackbeard, and he was one of the most violent pirates ever.

One day, Blackbeard did an extraordinary thing. He attacked several ships near a town. He took some of the town’s citizens. Then he declared, “You give me medicine!” Blackbeard wanted the medicine for some of the sick pirates on his ship.

The people had a bad impression of him. They were mad, and they resisted. But they were trapped. They wanted to get rid of him. So the town’s council decided to give him the medicine.

After this, there was a reward for catching Blackbeard. If Blackbeard was caught, he would have a trial. He didn’t want to go to jail, so he quit being a pirate.

Blackbeard became a fisherman. But he ought to have stayed on land. The Royal Navy was still looking for him. They attacked him while he was fishing on his boat. Blackbeard fought against many men. Finally, he was killed. He didn’t even get a funeral. But people still tell tales about him many years later.

41. Dinosaur Drawings

admission, astronomy, blame, chemistry, despite, dinosaur, exhibit, fame, forecast, genius, gentle, geography, interfere, lightly, principal, row, shelf, spite, super, wet

It was the worst morning ever. When Carl woke up, he realized that he didn’t do his astronomy and chemistry homework. Also, the forecast called for rain and that would affect baseball practice. Suddenly, his mother yelled, “Take out the garbage right now!” When Carl returned from taking the garbage outside, he was all wet. “What a terrible day,” he said.

He walked to class. He put his umbrella on the shelf and sat in the third row. But the teacher asked why Carl’s umbrella was on the floor. He told her not to blame him. But she sent him to the principal out of spite.

Next, he took a geography test. Despite studying, Carl didn’t know the answers. He started drawing lightly on his paper.

Carl drew a huge dinosaur. What if it were real? He saw it in his mind. Carl’s class said he was a genius for having a dinosaur. It could interfere with math class, too! Soon, Carl’s fame spread through school.

He taught his dinosaur to be very gentle and put it on exhibit. But admission would only be given to those classmates who paid him a fee. His idea was super.

“It’s time to turn in your tests,” the teacher said. Carl looked at his paper. As he was dreaming in class, he hadn’t finished the test!

42. The Mean Chef

abuse, afford, bake, bean, candle, convert, debt, decrease, fault, fund, generous, ingredient, insist, mess, metal, monitor, oppose, passive, quantity, sue

Once there was a chef, who was mean to his cooks. He was mean to the people who came in to eat. He charged too much for meals. Many people were not able to afford the cheapest bean dish. When his metal oven broke, he did not have it fixed. So everything baked in it burned. The only light was from candles, and the whole place was a mess. Sometimes, he didn’t pay his waiters. Since they had no funds, they had many debts.

The chef behaved this way all the time. He monitored the cooks and yelled if they did not do things his way.

One day, the cooks decided that they were tired of the abuse and that they would not be passive anymore. Everyone opposed the chef. At first, they thought about suing him. Instead, they tied up the chef with rope. Now, they controlled the restaurant! They decreased the price of food. They used the best ingredients and made large quantities of food. They turned on the lights. The restaurant was converted into a happy place. For the first time, many people came to eat.

The chef realized that the restaurant’s problems were his fault. The chef learned an important lesson. The new, generous chef insisted on giving the customers a free meal.

43. The Cat and the Fox

anxiety, army, billion, carve, consult, emergency, fortune, guarantee, hike, initial, intense, lend, peak, potential, pride, proof, quit, spin, tiny, tutor

One day, a cat hiked on a mountain. When he reached the peak, he met a fox. They began talking about how they get away from their enemies.

“I am very smart. I have billions of ideas. I can carve a tiny hole in a tree, and then climb in,” the fox said. He added, “I have a lot of friends. If I am in trouble, I can call them to lend their help. I can escape an entire army if I have to!”

Then, the fox asked, “What are your potential plans?” The cat said, “I have only one plan.” The fox said, “I hope you have good fortune, then! Do you want me to be your tutor? I can teach you many things.” The cat said, “I guarantee that my plan works every time. We can quit talking about it.”

Soon, they saw a group of wolves. It was an emergency. The cat quickly used her plan. She ran up a tree. The fox could not decide which plan to use. “What should my initial move be? Should I consult my friends?” The fox felt intense anxiety. All he could do was spin in a circle. The wolves caught the fox. The cat was full of pride. This is proof that having a good plan is better than having many bad plans.

44. The Good Student

apparent, blind, calculate, chat, commit, compose, dormitory, exhaust, greenhouse, ignore, obvious, physics, portion, remind, secretary, severe, talent, thesis, uniform, vision

Sue left her dormitory early that morning. She had even washed her uniform the night before. She wanted to look nice for the day.

Sue was committed to learning, and she had a talent for getting good grades. In fact, Sue didn’t sleep much. She composed a paper and found the perfect thesis about the importance of greenhouses. She also studied for her physics test. Sue was already tired.

During the test, she calculated her answers. Soon, she felt sick. Her face got hot, and her vision began to blur. She was blind for a moment. The teacher saw Sue’s apparent sickness. He wanted to send her to the nurse. But she wouldn’t go. Sue still had a portion of the test to finish.

After that, Sue went to the nurse. After seeing the secretary, she waited. A few minutes later, the nurse came in with a glass of juice and told Sue they needed to chat. “It is obvious that you have exhausted yourself,” the nurse said. “If you keep working so hard, it could have severe results.”

“My parents tell me that all the time. I guess I shouldn’t ignore them,” Sue said.

“You have to remind yourself it is OK to rest,” the nurse said.

When Sue got back to her room, she went right to bed. She made sure she got enough rest every night after that.

45. The Lucky Knife

absorb, boss, committee, contract, crew, devote, dig, dine, donate, double, elevate, flavor, foundation, generation, handle, layer, mud, smooth, soil, unique

I’ve devoted my life to studying past generations. Last year, I had a unique chance to work with my uncle. Our job was to find old treasures for a school’s history foundation. He also hired a crew of students. They signed a contract to work with him. He was the boss. The place was strange, though. I dined on many things that I had never tasted before. They had an unusual flavor.

We had been there about a month and hadn’t found anything. One day, I began to dig in the soil. The ground’s layers got wetter. Soon I was digging in the mud. My shovel began to get very heavy. It felt like it had doubled in weight because the ground had absorbed a lot of water.

Finally, I saw something in the mud. It was an old knife! The handle felt smooth in my hand. I elevated it so I could see it better. There was writing on it.

“It says it will bring good luck,” my uncle said with a smile. “Why don’t you keep it?”

I put it in my tent. The next day, we found many more things. There were pots, jewelry and weapons. My uncle donated all of the things to a special committee. Many newspapers wrote stories about it. It seemed the knife really did bring good luck!

Reading Comprehension

46. Prince Sam

chamber, deny, document, emphasize, fever, flu, freeze, gesture, interrupt, last, likeness, moreover, perspective, rational, recover, rely, shock, shy, stare, thus

Sam’s mother cooked at the royal palace. One day, he went to work with her. She emphasized that he should stay in the kitchen. But Sam was bored. Thus, he decided to look around.

He went around a corner. It shocked him to see a boy who had a strong likeness to him. Sam soon recovered. The other boy stared at him. Then he spoke. “Come with me.”

He needed to be rational. But he couldn’t deny that he wanted to go. So he followed the boy to a chamber. “I am Prince Bertram,” the boy said.

Sam felt shy talking to a prince. “I’m Sam.”

“Trade places with me.” The prince said.

“We can’t. My mother will kill me. Moreover, I don’t know anything about being a prince.”

“No one will find out,” the prince interrupted. “We look the same, and even our gestures are the same. It will only last for a week.”

Sam said OK. Soon, Sam’s perspective on being a prince changed. He spent most of his day signing royal documents. At night, the prince’s chamber was cold. He thought he was going to freeze or get sick with a fever or the flu. He was happy when the week ended. So was the prince.

“I didn’t know how to do anything,” the prince said. “I’ve always relied on my servants to do everything for me.”

“I think I like being a regular person,” Sam said. “Being a prince isn’t fun.” So, they both returned to their normal positions and enjoyed their lives more than before.

47. Henry Ford’s Famous Car

aim, attach, bet, carriage, classic, commute, confirm, criticize, differ, expense, formal, height, invent, junior, labor, mechanic, prime, shift, signal, sincere

My name is Henry Ford, and I invented a car called the Model T. I used to watch carriages on the streets. They fascinated me. Then I got a job as a junior mechanic. My father criticized me. He wanted me to run the farm. But I did not shift my plans.

Then I worked for the Detroit Auto Company. But I wanted to make cars using less labor. That way, there would be fewer expenses. I started the Ford Motor Company in 1903. At first, the company did not do well. But many people were betting on my success. I also had a sincere aim to make a car that anybody could buy.

Then, in 1908,1 introduced the Model-T in a formal ceremony. It confirmed that I was right: it was possible to build a car my way!

The Model T differed from other vehicles. Workers could attach different parts for cars or trucks. This saved time. One Model T could be put together in 93 minutes. All of them had the same classic design. They were all the same size and height. The prime reason for doing this was to save money.

Over 19 years, I sold over 15 million Model Ts. This sent a signal to other companies. People would buy cars to commute to work if the price was low enough.

48. The Priest

ability, agriculture, cartoon, ceiling, convince, curious, delay, diary, element, faith, grain, greet, investigate, joy, label, monk, odd, pause, priest, profession

A young priest was always sad. He was good at his profession, but he still had no joy. He visited a group of wise monks.

When he got to the monks’ house, they greeted him and let him in. The monks asked the priest, “What is the matter?” The priest said, “I should be happy, but I am not. I don’t know what to do.” The wise monks paused for a minute. Then one said, “We are convinced of your faith. You are a very good priest. But to find joy, you have to do more. Above all, investigate the elements of your life that you love.” The priest thought that this answer was odd, but he was curious.

The next day, the priest thought about his abilities. He got a few ideas, and he did not want to delay any longer. He liked to draw, so he made some cartoons. He also liked to write, so he started a diary. He was interested in agriculture, so he planted some grains. He made jam from berries. He made his own labels to put on the jars of jam. He painted his ceiling. The priest learned something. It is not too hard to be happy after all. All one has to do is find things they like doing, and do them!

49. Mrs. May and the Green Girl

adopt, beg, beyond, costume, exclaim, extend, fool, forbid, illustrate, indeed, interpret, kindly, motive, nest, origin, reception, reject, silence, stream, tone

One morning, people from a small town found a little girl by a stream. She seemed to be wearing a green costume. As the people got closer, they saw that the girl’s skin was green!

“Oh my!” The people exclaimed. “What if her motive for coming to our town is bad? What if she has a strange origin?”

An old woman kindly went to her. “Look how scared she is. Please,” she begged. “Do not reject her. I will adopt her.”

There was silence until the judge spoke. “I don’t know,” he said in a worried tone. “But we cannot forbid you. I indeed hope you’re not being a fool.”

Mrs. May extended her hand to the girl. “Come with me. I won’t hurt you.”

The girl spoke a language Mrs. May didn’t know. But she was able to interpret what the girl was trying to say. Sometimes the girl drew pictures to illustrate what she meant.

The green girl was from a place far beyond the sun. There, people lived in nests built in trees. They only ate green leaves, which made their skin green.

“Well, you can’t just eat leaves,” Mrs. May said. She fed the green girl home-cooked meals, and soon the girl wasn’t green anymore. The people had a huge reception to welcome her as a citizen of the town.

50. Albert Einstein

accomplish, approve, approximate, barrier, detect, duty, elementary, failure, gradual, immigrant, insert, instant, poverty, pretend, rank, recognition, refrigerate, rent, retire, statistic

My name is Albert Einstein. Many people know about the great things I’ve accomplished. But I had many barriers before I became famous.

I was born in Germany. When I was in elementary school, I already knew about math and statistics. When I was a boy, I pretended to be a great scientist. I loved school, but my life at home was hard. My father lost his job, so my family lived in poverty. We could not pay the rent in Germany. We became immigrants and went to Italy. I finished high school and went to college in Switzerland.

After college, I began writing about science. I did not reach success in an instant, though. At first, other scientists did not approve of my work. They thought I was a failure. Rising to the rank of an admired scientist was a gradual process. Soon, people started to notice that I was right. At last, I began to get some recognition.

I showed how to find the approximate size of very big things, like stars. I also detected and explained the movement of very small things, like atoms. And for fun, I made a machine that could refrigerate food by inserting heat. I never retired. It was my duty to keep working. I overcame many hard times, and I will be remembered for my important works.

51. From the Earth to the Stars

astronaut, awake, courage, float, grant, gravity, jewel, miner, mineral, participate, permission, pour, presence, raw, satellite, scale, skip, stretch, telescope, underground

Jeremy was from a family of miners. Like them, he worked underground during the day. His job was to gather raw minerals and jewels. Each night after work, he lay awake in an open field. With his telescope, he looked at the stars. He was amazed by the scale of space. He wished someday he might travel there.

One day there was an accident in the mine. Water poured into the mine. Everything was dark. Jeremy stretched out and grabbed a piece of wood. It kept him from sinking. Jeremy felt a presence nearby.

“I am an angel,” said a voice.

“What?” Jeremy exclaimed.

“You must never come underground again. Have the courage to make your wishes come true.”

For a long time he floated in silence. Then he heard other voices. The other miners were coming to rescue him.

The next day Jeremy skipped work. He decided to become an astronaut. For the next two years, he studied hard. One day, he was given permission to participate in a mission to space. His wish had been granted.

His spaceship left the ground. It went higher until there was no more gravity. He saw satellites floating next to the ship.

Then Jeremy saw a beautiful angel outside his spaceship. It smiled at Jeremy. For some minutes, Jeremy could not speak. Finally, he said, “Thankyou.”

52. The Farm Festival

alarm, apart, arrest, award, breed, bucket, contest, convict, garage, journalist, pup, qualify, repair, resume, rob, slip, somewhat, stable, tissue, yard

Once there was a farm. Many animals lived there. One day, they had a contest in the yard. They were going to race from the barn to the farmer’s garage. The barn and the garage were far apart. It would be a long race. The winner qualified to win a bag full of apples as an award.

But the race did not start well. The cart with all the apples was not stable, and the animals had to repair it. Then the pup knocked over the apples. The pig yelled, “We are going to slip! We must clean up this mess.” The pup felt bad, and she began to cry. The dog gave her a tissue to wipe her tears.

Then the race resumed. But the duck tried to rob them and take all the apples. The cat said, “I will have you arrested!” The duck said, “You can’t convict me! You can’t prove I took it.” The race stopped yet again.

The animals tried to race one more time. Then they heard an alarm coming from the barn. There was a fire! They got buckets of water to put out the fire. A journalist came to write a story about the festival and the race. The horse told her, “I am a special breed of horse. I would have won the race easily.” The pig said, “It was somewhat hard to have the race. But we had fun. That is what’s important!”

53. The Clever Thief

alike, annoy, architecture, artificial, chain, distinct, distinguish, dust, excitement, heal, inherit, manner, mount, roof, shortage, solid, stock, substance, tomb, wound

A new king inherited a lot of gold. He loved his gold very much. He even wanted to keep it after he died. Therefore, he had a large tomb built for himself and his riches.

However, the tomb’s builder had a plan. Most of the stones were solid, but he put one special stone on the roof. It was made of a lighter substance.

When the tomb was done, the king moved in his stock of gold. One night, the builder went to the tomb. His excitement mounted. Because all the stones looked alike, he had left a distinct mark on the artificial block. The mark helped him distinguish the difference in the architecture.

The builder lifted the stone. Using a chain, he climbed into the tomb. He filled his pockets with gold.

The builder followed this manner night after night. Soon, the king noticed a shortage in his gold. This annoyed the king.

At last he hired a guard to hide inside the tomb. When the builder entered the tomb, the guard wounded him. He climbed a pole to the roof. The builder left drops of blood in the dust. The guard followed them and caught him.

When the builder healed, he explained to the king that he didn’t keep any of the gold. He had given it all away to the poor.

54. The Doctor’s Cure

bath, bend, chew, disabled, fantastic, fiction, flag, inspect, journal, liquid, marvel, nutrient, overcome, recall, regret, soul, sufficient, surgery, tough, tube

James Fry was a fantastic doctor. His surgeries helped many disabled people overcome their injuries. He also wrote for a popular medical journal. James was very busy. His son, Steve, rarely saw him.

One day, James was walking and inspecting a patient’s file. There was water all over the floor. James slipped on the liquid and fell. He fell on a broken glass tube. He was hurt.

Steve came to visit him in the hospital. James said, “It will be tough for me to stay in bed. But I can hardly bend my legs.”

“Then let’s watch a movie.” Steve said. It made them laugh together. Steve said, “I have to leave, but here’s some fiction to read.”

James started to recall fun parts of life. He marveled at small things, like food. He was too busy to notice them before. “Steve,” he said, “you get more nutrients when you chew slowly. But I think it makes food taste better, too!”

Weeks later, James said, “Steve, I haven’t spent enough time with you. I regret this. Even my soul feels better when you visit. But I have spent sufficient time here. We should go home.”

Outside, there was a warm breeze. James watched a flag blow.

Finally, James said, “I’m not ready to work. I’m going to take a long bath. And then we’ll watch a movie together.”

55. The Criminal

admit, bin, bowl, cabin, cash, criminal, dozen, elder, facial, fence, inspire, mere, neat, occasion, penalty, rude, settle, vehicle, wallet, yell

A man had been in jail because he stole things. The criminal never felt bad. One day, he escaped and ran into the woods. He found a cabin with a fence. The cabin was very neat. Inside, the criminal found a bowl of fruit, a bottle of milk, and a dozen eggs. He ate the fruit and drank the milk. But the eggs smelled funny, so he put them in the trash bin. Soon, he heard the sound of a vehicle’s motor.

An old man came in and saw the criminal. The old man yelled, “Why are you in my house?” The criminal lied, “I am a policeman.” The old man replied, “I am your elder. You cannot fool me. You are the criminal.” The criminal’s facial expression became very sad.

He admitted that he was a criminal. He said, “I’m sorry. It was rude for me to come into your home. Please take the cash from my wallet. It is a mere amount, but it will settle our problem.” The old man said, “I do not want your money. I just want to inspire you to be good. There will be no penalty for taking my food.”

On this occasion, the criminal realized that he had been bad. He listened to the old man and never stole from anyone ever again.

56. The Two Captains

accuse, adjust, amuse, coral, cotton, crash, deck, engage, firm, fuel, grand, hurricane, loss, plain, reef, shut, strict, surf, task, zone

Once there were two ships. Both ships carried cotton. The captains were very different. Thomas was strict. He made his crew engage in difficult tasks. “Make sure the ship’s deck is firm and that nothing falls! Put more fuel in the tank!” he said. His ship was very plain, but he never had a problem with it.

The second captain, William, was not serious. He had a grand ship, and he loved having fun. His crew amused him by singing and dancing. But his crew never fixed anything on the ship. They just wanted to surf.

One day, Thomas saw a hurricane ahead. He knew that his ship needed to turn around. But he was sure William did not see the storm. He adjusted the dials on the radio and called his friend. Thomas said, “You’ll hit the reef. It’s made completely of coral. Turn around to ensure that you do not crash.”

William said, “We will go under the deck and shut the door. We will dance and sing until we are past the danger zone.”

When William’s ship got to the hurricane, the wind blew it into the reef. The ship crashed, and water flowed below the deck. William’s crew accused him of being a bad captain. The loss of the ship taught William a lesson. There are times to have fun, but there are also times to be serious.

Reading Comprehension

57. The Duke and the Minister

apology, bold, capture, cardinal, duke, expose, guilty, hire, innocent, jail, minister, ordinary, permanent, preserve, pronounce, resemble, symptom, tobacco, twin, witch

A mean duke grew tobacco, and his cardinal rule was to always keep the plants healthy. The duke’s top minister was his twin brother. They closely resembled each other. One day, the tobacco plants started to die. He hired men to watch the fields. Soon, the men brought a woman to him and said, “We captured a witch!”

The Duke asked, “How do you know?”

“She sang magic words. I can’t pronounce them. She has cursed us. The death of the plants is a symptom of her curse,” the men said.

“I am just an ordinary woman. I was singing a song in a different language,” the woman protested.

The duke didn’t listen. “You are guilty. You will go to jail.”

The minister thought that she was innocent. He needed to expose the truth. He asked the duke to loan him one of his plants. He looked at it closely. He saw hundreds of small bugs eating it! Then the minister went to the jail and did something bold.

“Let this woman go,” he said.

The guards thought he was the duke. They let her go. The minister said, “I owe you an apology.”

“Thank you. I thought my stay in jail was permanent,” the woman answered.

The minister thought the duke would punish him. But he didn’t. The duke was too busy trying to preserve his plants.

58. The Fisherman

accompany, bare, branch, breath, bridge, cast, dare, electronic, inn, net, philosophy, pot, seed, sharp, sort, subtract, tight, virtual, weigh, whisper

Every day, a fisherman sat on a bridge. He ate apples and spit the seeds into the water. He had a simple way to catch fish. He cut a branch off of a tree and tied a line to it. He put a sharp hook on it and made a tight knot. Then he whispered, “Come here fish.” Like magic, the fish bit the hook. He put them in a big net and took them home to make big pots of fish soup from them.

One day, another man walked up to him. He said, “My name is George. I am staying at the inn. I bet that I am a better fisherman than you. I will accompany you today. I dare you to prove your skill!” The fisherman cast his line.

George had a lot of electronic tools. One machine gave him the virtual locations offish. His rod weighed fish.

At the end of the day, George subtracted his fish from the fisherman’s. The fisherman had beaten him by forty-seven!

George asked, “How do you catch fish with only a branch and a bare line? I have many different sorts of tools.” The fisherman told George, “My philosophy is simple. I am patient, and I believe in myself. Take a breath, and try it my way.”

59. Osiris and the Nile

abstract, annual, clay, cloth, curtain, deserve, feather, fertile, flood, furniture, grave, ideal, intelligence, nowadays, obtain, religious, romantic, shell, shore, wheel

Long ago, Osiris was the king of Egypt, and Isis was the queen. They ruled the fertile land by the Nile River. They had great intelligence, and they shared their abstract ideas with everyone. Osiris taught the Egyptians how to make wheels and furniture. Isis taught them how to make things from clay and cloth. The people thought they deserved a gift. So they built Osiris and Isis a pyramid. Everyone loved Osiris except his brother, Set. Set wanted to be king.

Osiris made his annual trip around Egypt and led religious events. The villages gave him beautiful shells and colorful feathers as gifts.

When Osiris returned, Set brought a beautiful wooden box from behind a curtain.

“If someone fits inside this box, I will give it to him or her,” Set said.

Osiris got in it. It was an ideal fit!

Suddenly, Set closed the box and threw it into the river. “Now I will be king!” Set said.

The box washed up on a foreign shore after a flood. Isis brought his body home and obtained a grave for him in Egypt. The Egyptian gods thought Isis had done something very romantic. Because of her love, the gods made him the god of the underworld. Osiris returned every spring to help the farmers. Even nowadays, people say Osiris keeps their crops alive.

60. The Taxi Driver

appeal, assume, borrow, client, downtown, dull, embarrass, fare, former, formula, found, invest, loan, practical, quarter, salary, scholarship, temporary, treasure, urge

Peter’s job was driving a taxi downtown. He made a small salary. But he liked his job because it wasn’t dull. Every day, he saw new things that appealed to him. Peter was practical about the future. “Maybe I can get a scholarship to college,” he thought. “I could learn mathematical formulas and get a job at a bank. I could help clients invest their money.”

Peter stopped to pick up a passenger. “Where to?” he asked.

“Go to the Fourth Street Bank. And don’t talk to me. I’ve had a rough day,” the man said. Peter was angry, but he had a peaceful philosophy. When they stopped, the man’s fare came to $10.25. He put his hands in his pockets. “I can’t find my wallet!” he said. “I can’t pay the fare!”

Peter said, “Maybe I’ll give you a temporary loan. You can borrow ten dollars and a quarter from me.”

The man was embarrassed, saying, “I was mean to you, but now I want to help you. I founded this bank. I want to give you one thousand dollars.”

That much money was like a treasure to Peter. The man urged him to take the money, but he didn’t.

“You’re an honest person,” the man said. “I assumed you would take it. I want you to work for me.”

The next day, Peter started his job at the bank. He was happy to be done with his former job.