Unit 10: Anna the Babysitter

4000 Essential English Words 3 » Unit 10: Anna the Babysitter

Word List

absence [ˈæbsəns] n.

Absence is the state of something being away.

→ There is an absence of sand in the hourglass.
aloud [əˈlaud] adv.

If you say something aloud, you say it so that others can hear you.

→ My father often reads stories aloud to me and my sister.
bald [bɔːld] adj.

If someone is bald, they have no hair.

→ My oldest brother is bald.
blanket [ˈblæŋkɪt] n.

A blanket is a piece of cloth that you use to keep warm or to sit upon.

→ I laid a blanket on the ground so that we could have a picnic.
creep [kriːp] v.

To creep is to move quietly and slowly.

→ The cat slowly crept down the tree.
divorce [dɪˈvɔːrs] n.

Divorce is an event in which a marriage is ended.

→ Divorce rates have increased in the past twenty years.
imitate [ˈɪmɪteɪt] v.

To imitate someone is to do exactly what they do.

→ He imitated his favorite superhero by putting on a costume.
infant [ˈɪnfənt] n.

An infant is a baby.

→ The infant cried all night.
kidnap [ˈkɪdnæp] v.

To kidnap someone is to take them illegally.

→ She was terrified to find out her son was kidnapped.
nap [næp] n.

A nap is a short sleep, usually during the day.

→ I took a short nap because I stayed up late last night.
nowhere [ˈnouhwɛə:r] adv.

You use nowhere to say that a place or thing does not exist.

→ Unfortunately, water was nowhere to be found.
pat [pæt] v.

To pat something is to hit it softly with your hand.

→ I patted some lotion onto my face.
relief [rɪˈliːf] n.

Relief is a feeling you get when something bad or challenging ends.

→ I felt a sense of relief when I heard the good news.
reproduce [riːprəˈdjuːs] v.

To reproduce is to make something exactly how someone else did it.

→ The children tried to reproduce their house using toy blocks.
rhyme [raɪm] n.

To rhyme is to have the same sounds at the end of a word.

→ Humpty Dumpty is an old rhyme that children learn in school.
suck [sʌk] v.

To suck is to put something in your mouth and try to get flavor out of it.

→ The baby sucked milk from her bottle.
urgent [ˈəːrdʒənt] adj.

If something is urgent, it is important and needs to be done now.

→ He had to leave now; it was urgent.
vanish [ˈvænɪʃ] v.

To vanish is to go away suddenly.

→ All the passengers vanished from the train station.
wagon [ˈwæɡən] n.

A wagon is a cart you use to carry heavy things.

→ He used his wagon to carry some of his gifts.
wrinkle [ˈrɪŋkəl] n.

A wrinkle is a line on a person’s face that happens as they get old.

→ My grandfather has some wrinkles on his face.

Exercise 1

Choose the right word for the given definition.

not having any hair
- a. bald
- b. urgent
- c. absence
- d. nowhere
a good feeling when something bad goes away
- a. divorce
- b. pat
- c. roar
- d. relief
to put something in your mouth and get flavor from it
- a. wrinkle
- b. suck
- c. rhyme
- d. nap
to act like someone else
- a. suck
- b. aloud
- c. creep
- d. imitate
to go away suddenly
- a. blanket
- b. kidnap
- c. vanish
- d. reproduce

Exercise 2

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

What is it called when you don’t have something?
- a. A nap
- b. An absence
- c. A divorce
- d. A pat
This is another name for a baby.
- a. Vanish
- b. Suck
- c. Creep
- d. Infant
What could you use to carry wood?
- a. A wagon
- b. An infant
- c. A wrinkle
- d. A blanket
Which of the following actions is a crime?
- a. To rhyme
- b. To kidnap
- c. To reproduce
- d. To pat
What is the following an example of: "The cat and bat sat in a hat"?
- a. Bald
- b. Urgent
- c. Aloud
- d. Rhyme
Which of the following could be urgent?
- a. A soccer game
- b. An emergency phone call
- c. A trip to the park
- d. A birthday party
What happens when a couple gets divorced?
- a. They vanish.
- b. They’re not married anymore.
- c. Their pets are taken away.
- d. They copy others.
How would you creep?
- a. Angrily
- b. Loudly
- c. Quickly
- d. Slowly
Which of the following would you pat?
- a. A fish
- b. A sock
- c. A dog
- d. A table
What could come from nowhere?
- a. An idea
- b. A day
- c. A house
- d. A new year

Exercise 3

Choose the word that is the better fit for each blank.

aloud / nowhere
- I asked my mom ____________ where she was going. She told me she was going ____________.
infant / wrinkles
- The ____________ has perfect skin without any scars or ____________.
absence / divorced
- After my parents got ____________, I was sad about my dad’s ____________ around the house.
urgent / reproduce
- My boss asked me to ____________ the image for her customers. She said it was very ____________.
sucked / patted
- After I fell, I ____________ on my finger where I cut it. Then my mom ____________ me on the back and told me to get up.
bald / rhymes
- The ____________ man on television entertained viewers by saying ____________ .
crept / vanished
- Manuel’s mom thought he had ____________, but in reality he had just ____________ under his bed.
wagon / kidnap
- I was scared when my big sister left me in the ____________. I was afraid someone would ____________ me.
nap / relief
- It was such a ____________ to be finished with the long exam. I was so tired afterward that I needed to take a ____________.
imitating / blanket
- Nellie wrapped a ____________ around her and made funny sounds. She was ____________ a ghost.

Answer Key

Exercise 1

a
d
b
d
c

Exercise 2

b
d
a
b
d
b
b
d
c
a

Exercise 3

aloud, nowhere
infant, wrinkles
divorced, absence
reproduce, urgent
sucked, patted
bald, rhymes
vanished, crept
wagon, kidnap
relief, nap
blanket, imitating

Answer Key

Anna the Babysitter

Since her parents got a divorce, Anna has had to help her mother. In her mother’s absence, Anna takes care of Grace, the baby. At first, Anna thought it was an easy job.

One afternoon, Anna played with Grace. She meowed like a cat and Grace imitated her. In fact, Grace reproduced every sound that Anna made. She took her sister outside. She put Grace in the wagon, but there was nowhere for them to go. So they went back inside.

Anna put the infant on the floor and went into her room. But when she came back, Grace had vanished! Anna looked everywhere, but she could not find her sister. Maybe the baby had been kidnapped! “ Where are you?” Anna called aloud.

The situation was becoming urgent. She wanted to call her mom, but she didn’t want her to think Anna couldn’t do the job. Anna sat down. What was she going to do?

But then, Anna heard something. It was coming from her room. “ Grace?” She got down on her knees and looked under the bed. She could see Grace’s bald head. Grace had followed Anna into her room and crept under the bed.

“ What a relief!” Anna cried.

She picked up her sister and patted her on the head. Her head was soft and had no wrinkles. Grace was sucking on her thumb and looked tired. So, Anna wrapped her in a blanket and sang rhymes for her. Then she put Grace in bed for a nap.

After that afternoon, Anna knew that taking care of Grace was not an easy job. It takes a lot of work to take care of a baby!

Reading Comprehension

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

_____ Anna took care of Grace in her mother’s absence because her parents got a divorce.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ Grace had a lot of hair and wrinkles.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ Anna imitated a cat, and Grace reproduced the sounds she made.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ Anna had nowhere to go with the wagon.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ When Anna came back from her room, she found that the infant had been kidnapped.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ Anna sang rhymes for Grace to try to find her more quickly.
- _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

What did Anna feel when she finally found Grace?
- a. Sleepy
- b. Urgent
- c. Relief
- d. Pleasant
How did Grace get under the bed?
- a. She crept there.
- b. Anna put her there for her nap.
- c. She was kidnapped.
- d. Anna carried her in the blanket.
Which is NOT something Anna did with Grace?
- a. Go outside in the wagon
- b. Pat heron the head
- c. Read a book aloud
- d. Sing her rhymes
Why did Anna wrap Grace in a blanket?
- a. So she would not cry
- b. So she could pat her
- c. So she could take a nap
- d. To keep her from sucking her thumb

Answer Key

Reading Comprehension

Part A

T
F / Grace was bald and had no wrinkles.
T
T
F / When Anna came back from her room, she found that Grace had vanished.
F / Anna called aloud for Grace to find her.

Part B

c
a
d
d

Favorite Books

4000 Essential English Words 1

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 1: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

4000 Essential English Words 2

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 2: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

4000 Essential English Words 4

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 4: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

4000 Essential English Words 5

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 5: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

4000 Essential English Words 6

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 6: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

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