4000 Essential English Words 3 » Unit 6: The Senator and the Worm

Word List
  • alert [əˈləːrt]
    To alert someone is to tell or warn them about something.
    → The fire alarm alerted us that there was a problem.
  • broadcast [ˈbrɔ:dkæst] n.
    A broadcast is a television or radio show.
    → We watched the broadcast of the local news on TV.
  • bulletin [ˈbulətin] n.
    A bulletin is a news report that talks about very recent and important events.
    → There was a live bulletin reporting on the economy of the city.
  • bump [bʌmp] n.
    A bump is a small raised area on a surface.
    → The monkey got a bump on his head because he was hit by a rock.
  • chop [tʃɒp] v.
    To chop something means to cut it into pieces with a tool.
    → Mom chopped some vegetables to put into the stew.
  • closet [ˈklɒzɪt] n.
    A closet is a small room used to store things.
    → Marie has many clothes inside o f her closet.
  • console [kənˈsoul] v.
    To console someone who is sad means to make them comforted.
    → When my dog ran away, my dad consoled me.
  • district [ˈdɪstrɪkt] n.
    A district is a small part of a city, county, state, or country.
    → I live in a residential district of Seattle, Washington.
  • drawer [ˈdrɔːər] n.
    A drawer is a small part in furniture that is used to store things.
    → I put my clothes into the empty drawers.
  • endure [enˈdjuər] v.
    To endure something tough means to do or go through it.
    → She had to endure her husband shouting all day long.
  • execute [ˈeksɪkjuːt] v.
    To execute someone means to kill them as a legal punishment.
    → Some people are executed for serious crimes.
  • grasp [græsp] v.
    To grasp something means to hold it.
    → He grasped the bag o f money tightly.
  • rear [rɪə:r] n.
    When something is in the rear of something, it is in the back.
    → The man loaded the rear of his truck with boxes.
  • senator [ˈsenətər] n.
    A senator is someone who makes laws for a state.
    → The young senator promised to make laws that would help the people.
  • skull [skʌl] n.
    A skull is the hard part of your head. Your brain is inside of it.
    → The brain is protected by the skull.
  • stir [stəːr] v.
    To stir something means to mix it using something small, like a spoon.
    → Mom stirred the batter until it was smooth.
  • tap [tæp] v.
    To tap something is to hit it lightly.
    → He tapped the keys of the keyboard to write a short word.
  • tremendous [triˈmendəs] adj.
    When something is tremendous, it is very large.
    → The Earth’s oceans are filled with a tremendous amount of water.
  • underneath [ˈʌndərniːθ] prep.
    When something is underneath something else, it is below or lower than it.
    → The roots of a tree are located underneath the ground.
  • worm [wəːrm] n.
    A worm is a small animal with a long, thin body.
    → Worms are often used to help catch fish.
Exercise 1

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

  1. districts / senator
    • The ____________ lived in one of the poorest ____________ in the country.
  2. skull / tapped
    • When he ____________ his fist on the top of his ____________, it made a funny sound.
  3. underneath / worm
    • If you want to find a ____________, try looking ____________ rocks or pieces of wood.
  4. consoled / broadcast
    • She ____________ her children by watching a humorous ____________ with them after school.
  5. execute / tremendous
    • She felt ____________ sorrow after her husband was ____________ for his crime.
  6. endure / bulletin
    • He decided to listen to the news ____________ because he could no longer ____________ the boredom of being home alone.
  7. grasp / stir
    • The soup was very thick. He had to ____________ the spoon with both hands in order to ____________ it.
  8. alerted / rear
    • The television news ____________ us of the storm. We put the car in the ____________ of the house where it would be protected.
  9. chop / drawer
    • She looked at all the tools in the ____________ but could not find anything to use to ____________ the meat.
  10. bump / closet
    • Many toys had been piled beneath the carpet in the ____________. The ____________ I got from hitting my head on the door was painful.
Exercise 2

Write a word that is similar in meaning to the underlined part.

  1. The mother comforted her crying child.
    _____________
  2. Every Sunday, the family watched a television show about animals.
    _____________
  3. I couldn’t find my coat in the small room.
    _____________
  4. John left his paper lower than his school books.
    _____________
  5. The person who makes laws sat behind a large desk.
    _____________
  6. In order to get over the wall, the cat had to make a very large jump.
    _____________
  7. Harold slowed the car down as he drove over the small raised part.
    _____________
  8. There is very little rain in my part of the state.
    _____________
  9. Because he committed such a horrible crime, he was killed by the legal system.
    _____________
  10. The cook cut into pieces the vegetables for his soup.
    _____________
Exercise 3

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. Which of the following best describes a news program?
    • a. Grasp
    • b. Bulletin
    • c. Tap
    • d. Alert
  2. Which one do you put things into?
    • a. A drawer
    • b. A bump
    • c. A district
    • d. A worm
  3. Which of the following describes something in the back?
    • a. Endure
    • b. Skull
    • c. Rear
    • d. Tremendous
  4. Which of the following does an alarm do for people?
    • a. Alert them
    • b. Console them
    • c. Execute them
    • d. Tap them
  5. Which of the following means to go through something difficult?
    • a. Chop
    • b. Broadcast
    • c. Stir
    • d. Endure
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. senator, districts
  2. tapped, skull
  3. worm, underneath
  4. consoled, broadcast
  5. tremendous, executed
  6. bulletin, endure
  7. grasp, stir
  8. alerted, rear
  9. drawer, chop
  10. closet, bump
Exercise 2
  1. consoled
  2. broadcast
  3. closet
  4. underneath
  5. senator
  6. tremendous
  7. bump
  8. district
  9. executed
  10. chopped
Exercise 3
  1. b
  2. a
  3. c
  4. a
  5. d
Answer Key
The Senator and the Worm

A rich senator lived in a big house. He had more money than anyone in his district. One day, he was sitting on a chair listening to a radio broadcast. As he listened to the news bulletin, a worm crawled from underneath the chair and onto his head.

His cook was in the kitchen stirring some spaghetti sauce. Suddenly, a cry from the senator alerted him. He ran to the rear of the house where the senator was sitting.

The cook looked and saw the worm. He tried to console the senator. “ I’ll take it off right away,” he said.

“ No!” shouted the senator. “ I want you to kill it.”

“ But it’s only a worm,” the cook said. “ Why should we execute it? It hasn’t committed a crime.”

The senator could not endure the worm on his head. “ Hurry!” he shouted.

The cook looked through several drawers, but found nothing. Then he ran to the closet and took out a pipe. He returned to the senator and lifted the pipe over his head. He knew he couldn’t just tap the worm. He was going to hit it hard. He grasped the pipe tightly.

“ What are you waiting for?” said the senator. “ Kill it!”

The cook swung the pipe at the senator’s head.

“ Oh, no,” the worm said. “ He’s going to chop me in half.” It jumped off the senator’s head.

There was a tremendous noise. “ Owww!” cried the senator.

A bump rose upon his skull. Meanwhile, the worm crawled outside.

“ That was close,” said the worm. “ Instead of being nice, he wanted to hurt me. Now, that man has a big bump on his head.”

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ The senator had a lot of money.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ The senator was listening to a radio broadcast.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ The senator wanted the cook to kill the worm.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ The cook found a pipe in one of the drawers.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ The cook knew he was going to tap the worm.
    • _____________________________________________________
  6. _____ The worm was chopped in half on the senator’s head.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. What was the senator doing when the worm crawled onto his head?
    • a. Listening to the radio
    • b. Watching a broadcast
    • c. Looking in the closet
    • d. Consoling the cook
  2. Which of the following did the cook NOT do?
    • a. Stir some spaghetti sauce
    • b. Look through several drawers
    • c. Hit the senator’s skull
    • d. Execute the worm
  3. Why did the senator tell the cook to hurry?
    • a. He was hiding in the rear of the house.
    • b. He knew he had to alert the cook.
    • c. He couldn’t endure the worm on his head.
    • d. He had heard a tremendous noise.
  4. After the cook hit the senator, where did the worm go?
    • a. Into the kitchen
    • b. Underneath the chair
    • c. Outside the house
    • d. Onto the cook’s head
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. T
  2. T
  3. T
  4. F / The cook found a pipe in the closet.
  5. F / The cook knew he was going to hit the worm hard.
  6. F / The worm slid off the senator's head.
Part B
  1. a
  2. d
  3. c
  4. c
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