Unit 22: The Scribe’s Warning

4000 Essential English Words 4 » Unit 22: The Scribe’s Warning

Word List

charity [ˈtʃӕrəti] n.

Charity is an act of giving help, usually money, to those who need it.

→ Thanks to his friends’ charity, he had enough money to pay the rent.
commerce [ˈkɒmərs] n.

Commerce is the activity of buying and selling things.

→ The new shopping mall increased the commerce in that section of town.
condemn [kənˈdem] v.

To condemn someone means to give them a specific punishment.

→ The judge condemned the criminal to five years in prison.
cozy [ˈkouzi] adj.

If something is cozy, then it is comfortable, warm, and relaxing.

→ The thick blanket made the bed very cozy.
deplete [diˈpliːt] v.

To deplete an amount of something means to use up all of it.

→ All the driving he was doing was depleting his car’s fuel supply.
economy [iˈkɒnəmi] n.

An economy is the money and businesses of a country or region.

→ The factory was good for the economy because it brought jobs to the area.
empire [ˈempaɪər] n.

An empire is a large group of countries ruled by an emperor or empress.

→ The emperor built roads to make travel easier throughout the empire.
goods [gudz] n.

Goods are anything that can be bought or sold.

→ Shoes, hats, dresses and purses were the goods she wanted to buy.
heed [hiːd] v.

To heed something means to obey or follow it.

→ You should heed the advice on the sign and not drive so fast.
hitchhike [ˈhitʃhaik] v.

To hitchhike means to travel by asking for rides from passing vehicles.

→ She didn’t have a car, so she hitchhiked several miles to her brother’s home.
mock [mɒk] v.

To mock someone means to tease them in a cruel way.

→ The girls mocked Nancy because she was a new student.
neutral [ˈnjuːtrəl] adj.

If someone is neutral, then they do not help either of the two fighting sides.

→ The girl’s friend remained neutral while the couple was arguing.
persecute [ˈpəːrsikjuːt] v.

To persecute means to treat someone badly.

→ Dan felt persecuted because he was smaller than the other boys at school.
pity [ˈpiti] n.

Pity is the feeling of sadness and kindness for those who are suffering.

→ Because she had pity for the lost boy, she helped him find his parents.
reduce [riˈdjuːs] v.

To reduce something means to make it less in size or number.

→ When the store reduced its prices, people wanted to shop there.
scribe [skraib] n.

A scribe was a person whose job was to copy written works.

→ In Ancient Egypt, scribes recorded important events.
temper [ˈtempə:r] n.

A temper is someone’s mood or a chance that they might get angry.

→ She has a temper. Even the slightest mistakes make her angry.
throne [θroun] n.

A throne is the special chair in which a ruler sits.

→ Nobody except the king and queen sat in the thrones in the great hall.
unity [ˈjuːnəti] n.

Unity is the state of people working together for a certain purpose.

→ The project was finished early, thanks to the unity of the workers.
victor [ˈviktər] n.

A victor is a group or person that wins in a contest.

→ At the end of the game, the blue team was the victor.

Exercise 1

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

mocking / temper
- The other children were ____________ him about how funny his new shoes looked, and it didn’t take long for him to develop a bad ____________ .
scribes / unity
- The ____________ realized that they could copy more books if they stopped arguing and worked in ____________.
cozy / hitchhiked
- The young man ____________ in the cold without getting a ride for such a long time. When a car finally picked him up, the soft seat and warm air was very ____________ .
charity / goods
- The ____________ they received was not only money but also several, ____________ such as food and clothing.
heeded / neutral
- The senators ____________ the warning from the countries’ leaders and decided to stay ____________ in the war.
commerce / empire
- The ancient ____________ that we studied in class today was very important because it spread ____________ and trade throughout the world.
throne / victor
- The king’s two sons had to fight to see who would become the next king. Whoever was the ____________ would get to sit upon his father’s ____________ .
pity / reduced
- The cold and dirt had ____________ the poor man’s clothing to almost nothing, and the mayor felt ____________ or him and took him home to his house.
economy / persecuted
- The businessmen ____________ the students because they didn’t agree with his opinions concerning the ____________ .
condemned / depleted
- The men had ____________ the small lake of all its fish and were ____________ to going without fish for many years.

Exercise 2

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

Appliances are things that are bought that usually last for many years.
____________
After making five cakes, all the sugar in the house was used up.
____________
During the holidays, offering financial help to others is very common.
____________
Because my views were different, I was treated badly by my classmates.
____________
The group that wins this game will have to play the very best team.
____________
When his car ran out of gas, he traveled by asking for rides to the gas station.
____________
Though it might seem like fun at the time, it’s not nice to tease in a cruel way people.
____________
The warm weather lessened the snow that covered the ground.
____________
The state of working together the groups showed helped them to solve their problems.
____________
The many countries ruled by one person was beginning to slowly fall apart.
____________

Exercise 3

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

Who is someone who would NOT sit on a throne?
- a. A king
- b. A queen
- c. A chef
- d. An emperor
All of the following describe something that’s cozy EXCEPT ______.
- a. relaxing
- b. large
- c. comfortable
- d. warm
What is something that you might heed?
- a. Food
- b. Money
- c. Fun
- d. Advice
If someone can’t control their temper, then they are likely to easily become ______.
- a. upset
- b. proud
- c. happy
- d. sleepy
Which of the following is something a scribe would use?
- a. Goods
- b. An oven
- c. A pen
- d. Nails

Answer Key

Exercise 1

mocking, temper
scribes, unity
hitchhiked, cozy
charity, goods
heeded, neutral
empire, commerce
victor, throne
reduced, pity
persecuted, economy
depleted, condemned

Exercise 2

goods
depleted
charity
persecuted
victors
hitchhiked
mock
reduced
unity
empire

Exercise 3

c
b
d
a
c

Answer Key

The Scribe’s Warning

A great and powerful empire needed the wood from its western areas to build palaces and homes forthe emperor and his friends. However, the empire had depleted many of the forests. The trees were important to the western areas’ economy. With no trees to sell, the commerce in that area was reduced. Citizens could no longer purchase the goods that they needed to survive. Their life became difficult.

A poor scribe from the area wanted to help. He hitchhiked to the capital to ask the emperor for charity. He was invited to the palace. It was large and cozy. Tables were loaded with food, and fires burned warmly in every fireplace.

The emperor sat up upon his throne, and the scribe stood in front of him.

“I’ve come to ask for help,” the scribe said. “We’re all very poor and hungry. You’ve used up all of the forests, and now we have nothing to sell.” Then he added a warning. “If we don’t receive help, I’m afraid that the entire empire will suffer. We must establish some unity.”

Upon hearing the scribe’s request, the emperor’s bad temper surfaced. He mocked the scribe. “You think I should help,” he said and laughed. “You should just be happy to belong to this great empire. You will get nothing from me.”

The emperor felt no pity for the citizens of the western area. They were condemned to starve. The scribe returned home with nothing.

Not long after, an enemy invaded the empire from the west. They were marching to the capital. Because the citizens felt persecuted by the emperor, they remained neutral. They didn’t fight the invaders but allowed them to march freely to the capital.

The emperor was defeated. If he had heeded the words of the scribe, then the citizens might have been the victors. But because he had treated them badly, they treated him badly in return.

Reading Comprehension

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

_____ Much of the forest had been depleted by the empire.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ The sheep were important to the western areas’ economy.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ The scribe hitchhiked to the capital to ask the emperor for charity.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ The scribe sat upon his throne, and the emperor stood in front of him.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ The emperor condemned the citizens of the western areas to hard work.
- _____________________________________________________
_____ If the emperor had heeded the scribe’s warning, the citizens might have been the victors.
- _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

Why were the citizens hungry?
- a. Commerce was high.
- b. They couldn’t buy goods.
- c. Prices were reduced.
- d. They were too cozy.
The emperor’s palace was all of the following EXCEPT _______.
- a. large and cozy
- b. made with wood
- c. cold and dark
- d. in the capital
When the emperor heard the scribe’s request, how did he behave?
- a. He felt pity.
- b. He asked for unity.
- c. He remained neutral.
- d. He showed his temper.
At the end of the story, what happened to the emperor?
- a. He was defeated.
- b. He changed his evil ways.
- c. He became rich.
- d. He got married.

Answer Key

Reading Comprehension

Part A

T
F / The trees were important to the western areas' economy.
T
F / The emperor sat upon his throne, and the scribe stood in front of him.
F / The emperor condemned the citizens of the western areas to starve.
T

Part B

b
c
d
a

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 3

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 3: 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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