4000 Essential English Words 3 » Unit 8: The Anniversary Gift

Word List
  • anniversary [ˌænəˈvəːrsərɪ] n.
    An anniversary is a day that celebrates something from the past.
    → My parents went out to eat for their wedding anniversary.
  • arithmetic [əˈrɪθmətɪk] n.
    Arithmetic is math.
    → I like to study arithmetic at school.
  • ashamed [əˈʃeɪmd] adj.
    To be ashamed is to feel upset because you did something wrong or bad.
    → He was ashamed when he found out that I knew about his past.
  • burst [bəːrst] v.
    To burst is to suddenly break open or apart.
    → The bomb burst over the city.
  • carpenter [ˈkɑːrpəntər] n.
    A carpenter is a person who builds things with wood.
    → We hired a carpenter to make a cupboard.
  • coal [koul] n.
    Coal is a hard black rock that you burn for heat.
    → Many power stations burn coal to produce energy.
  • couch [kaʊtʃ] n.
    A couch is a long, soft seat that many people can sit on.
    → Kim and M artin’s new couch was very expensive.
  • drip [drɪp] v.
    When a liquid drips, just a little bit falls at a time.
    → I heard water dripping from the faucet.
  • elegant [ˈelɪgənt] adj.
    If something is elegant, it is very fancy and pleasing.
    → In Japan, women wear elegant kimonos on special occasions.
  • fabric [ˈfæbrɪk] n.
    Fabric is cloth used to make clothes, furniture, etc.
    → The towels were made from a soft fabric.
  • highlands [ˈhaɪlənd] n.
    The highlands are high areas of land, usually with mountains.
    → The man had a small home in the highlands.
  • ivory [ˈaɪvərɪ] n.
    Ivory is a white, hard substance that comes from elephants.
    → The elephant’s long ivory tusks looked very impressive.
  • mill [mil] n.
    A mill is a building where flour is made.
    → The farmer took his wheat to the mill to make it into flour.
  • needle [ˈniːdl] n.
    A needle is a small, sharp piece of metal that you use to make or fix clothes.
    → I used a needle to fix the hole in my pants.
  • polish [ˈpɒlɪʃ] v.
    To polish something is to rub it in order to make it shiny.
    → Mark spent all morning polishing his shoes for the wedding.
  • sew [sou] v.
    To sew means to put pieces of cloth together using string.
    → I learned to sew when I was a little girl.
  • shed [ʃed] n.
    A shed is a small building where you store things like tools.
    → We have a small shed in the backyard for storage.
  • thread [θred] n.
    A thread is a thin piece of string.
    → I have many different colors of thread at home.
  • trim [trim] v.
    To trim something is to cut it a little bit.
    → I had my hair trimmed this afternoon.
  • upwards [ˈʌpwərdz] adv.
    If something goes upwards, it moves vertically higher.
    → The kite went upwards further and further.
Exercise 1

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

  1. anniversary / elegant
    • Because it was their ____________, my father bought my mother a gift. It was an ____________ coat.
  2. arithmetic / upwards
    • It takes a lot of ____________ to design new airplanes. You have to know how to make them go ____________ in the easiest way.
  3. couch / ashamed
    • You should be ____________ of yourself! You know you’re not supposed to eat on the ____________!
  4. burst/ dripped
    • When the wind blew, the door ____________ open. And since it was raining, water ____________ into the room.
  5. sew / carpenter
    • My brother is a ____________, so he knows about construction. However, he doesn’t know how to ____________.
  6. coal / highlands
    • I heard a news story about something in the ____________. I guess they found ____________ under the ground.
  7. ivory / needle
    • Archeologist found ____________ made from ____________ in Africa.
  8. threads / mill
    • People who work at the ____________ do many things to stay safe. For example, they do not have ____________ hanging from their clothing because they can get caught in the machinery.
  9. fabric / polish
    • Bruce worked hard to ____________ the wood floors. Afterwards, he wiped the floor with a soft ____________.
  10. shed / trim
    • On Saturday, my dad made me clean out the ____________. I also had to ____________ the bushes.
Exercise 2

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

  1. How good are you at math?
    _____________
  2. There were some thin strings hanging from my shirt.
    _____________
  3. I wanted to get a little hair cut off today, but I had no time to make it to the salon.
    _____________
  4. The cloth was dirty from being outside.
    _____________
  5. Smoke from the fire rose high into the air.
    _____________
  6. Sometimes the dog goes inside the small building with tools when it gets cold.
    _____________
  7. I live in the mountainous area of the country.
    _____________
  8. The old place where they made flour was interesting to visit.
    _____________
  9. I used to put cloth together with my grandmother
    _____________
  10. The silver was made to look shiny.
    _____________
Exercise 3

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. What kind of material does a carpenter work with?
    • a. Plastic
    • b. Iron
    • c. Brick
    • d. Wood
  2. Which of these things could drip?
    • a. A dog
    • b. Water
    • c. A ball
    • d. Dirt
  3. What could you make with a needle?
    • a. A shirt
    • b. A car
    • c. A computer
    • d. A chair
  4. What does it mean if your water pipes burst?
    • a. They are new.
    • b. They’ve been cleaned.
    • c. They are frozen.
    • d. They’ve exploded.
  5. Which is the same color as ivory?
    • a. A needle
    • b. A tooth
    • c. Coal
    • d. Wood
Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. anniversary, elegant
  2. arithmetic, upwards
  3. ashamed, couch
  4. burst, dripped
  5. carpenter, sew
  6. highlands, coal
  7. needle, ivory
  8. mill, threads
  9. polish, fabric
  10. shed, trim
Exercise 2
  1. arithmetic
  2. thread
  3. trim
  4. fabric
  5. upwards
  6. shed
  7. highlands
  8. mill
  9. sew
  10. polished
Exercise 3
  1. d
  2. b
  3. a
  4. d
  5. b
Answer Key
The Anniversary Gift

Joe was a carpenter. He built houses in the highlands. Joe’s wife Stella used a needle and thread to sew elegant clothing. She only used beautiful fabric to make clothes.

Since they didn’t have a lot of money, they lived in an old shed. Water dripped in when it rained. They had broken chairs instead of a couch. But they had coal for heat, and flour from the mill for bread. Together, they trimmed the bushes to make their house look nice. Joe and Stella were poor, but not ashamed. They were happy.

Sometimes in the evening, they walked downtown. They looked in store windows and dreamed. Stella wanted a hairbrush with an ivory handle. She pulled her hair upwards every day because she didn’t have a brush to make it nice. Joe wanted to fix his grandfather’s watch.

For their anniversary, Stella wanted to get Joe what he wanted. But then she did the arithmetic. It would take at least six months to save enough money. Then she had an idea. She cut off all of her hair and sold it.

Meanwhile, Joe knew that he could never fix his watch. So he polished it and sold it. He made enough to buy the brush.

On their anniversary, the door burst open. Joe was excited to give Stella his gift. But first, Stella gave him the money to fix the watch. When he saw his wife without any hair, he smiled. “ I sold my watch to buy you something,” Joe said. He gave her the brush, and she laughed. They were both willing to give up something very special to make each other happy.

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ Stella and Joe were ashamed of themselves.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ Joe was a carpenter.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ Stella and Joe were too poor to heat their shed with coal.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ Joe asked Stella to trim the bushes.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ Stella used a needle and thread to sew elegant things with beautiful fabric.
    • _____________________________________________________
  6. _____ Water dripped into their house.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. Where were the houses that Joe worked on?
    • a. Near the mill
    • b. In the shed
    • c. On an elegant street
    • d. In the highlands
  2. What did Joe do with his watch?
    • a. Hit it with his hammer
    • b. Lifted it upward to see it
    • c. Left it in the shed
    • d. Polished it and sold it
  3. What did Stella make?
    • a. Elegant clothing
    • b. Ivory hairbrushes
    • c. Couches
    • d. Anything for herself
  4. What did Stella do for Joe on their anniversary?
    • a. Sold her hair
    • b. Combed her hair
    • c. Made him a shirt
    • d. Bought him a gold watch
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. F / Joe and Stella were poor, but not ashamed.
  2. T
  3. F / They used coal to heat their home.
  4. F / Together, they trimmed the bushes outside to look nice.
  5. T
  6. T
Part B
  1. d
  2. d
  3. a
  4. a
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