4000 Essential English Words 4 » Unit 25: Gilbert and the Lizard

Word List
  • aircraft [ˈɛəkræft] n.
    An aircraft is a vehicle that flies in the sky, such as an airplane or helicopter.
    → At the museum in the airport, you can see a lot of old aircraft.
  • celebrity [ˈsəlebrəti] n.
    A celebrity is someone who is famous.
    → It was the highlight of the evening when the celebrities arrived.
  • concrete [ˈkɒnkriːt] n.
    Concrete is a substance made from stones.
    → The man covered the ground with concrete.
  • decisive [diˈsaisiv] adj.
    If someone is decisive, they make decisions quickly.
    → Our boss is very decisive, so it did not take long to organize the project.
  • esteemed [isti:md] adj.
    If someone is esteemed, many people like or respect them.
    → An esteemed scientist is coming to the university to talk about her discoveries.
  • ethical [ˈeθikəl] adj.
    If something is ethical, it is the right thing to do.
    → Many people believe that it is ethical to help others in need.
  • extinct [iksˈtiŋkt] adj.
    If plants or animals are extinct, there are none left.
    → There used to be dinosaurs all over the world, but now they are extinct.
  • hardy [ˈhɑːrdi] adj.
    If a person or plant is hardy, it is strong and can live though difficult conditions.
    → The farmer is a hardy man and doesn’t mind working outside.
  • institute [ˈinstətjuːt] n.
    An institute is an organization that is interested in research or teaching.
    → I am going to a lecture about ancient Rome at the Historical Institute.
  • jealousy [ˈdʒeləsi] n.
    Jealousy is a feeling of wanting something that somebody else has.
    → She felt a lot of jealousy when she saw Luke with two girls.
  • migrate [maiˈgreit] v.
    To migrate means to move from one place to another.
    → Many birds migrate to warmer countries in the winter.
  • nurture [ˈnəːtʃər] v.
    To nurture something means to care for it as it grows or develops.
    → Robert nurtured his plants, and that is why they grow so well.
  • overhead [ouvərˈhed] adv.
    If something is overhead, it is located above you.
    → As we sat on top of the hill, a plane flew overhead.
  • principle [ˈprinsəpəl] n.
    A principle is a belief about the correct way to behave.
    → To maintain principles, it’s vital to watch, listen, and speak carefully.
  • rural [ˈruərəl] adj.
    If a place is rural, it is in the countryside instead of the city.
    → I want to live in a small house in a rural area.
  • secluded [siˈkluːdid] adj.
    If a place is secluded, it is far away from any other place.
    → There was a secluded bench in the park.
  • species [ˈspiːʃi(ː)z] n.
    A species is a type of plant or animal.
    → There are 21 different species of butterfly in this forest.
  • swamp [swɒmp] n.
    A swamp is a very wet area of land.
    → There are lots of wild animals living in the swamp.
  • traverse [ˈtrævə:rs] v.
    To traverse means to move or travel through an area.
    → The explorer traversed the desert alone on a camel.
  • zoology [zouˈɒlədʒɪ] n.
    Zoology is a subject in which people study animals.
    → Helen wants to study zoology because she has always liked animals.
Exercise 1

Part A: Choose the right word for the given definition.

  1. being the right thing to do
    • a. jealousy
    • b. migrate
    • c. ethical
    • d. secluded
  2. a wet area of land
    • a. swamp
    • b. institute
    • c. celebrity
    • d. species
  3. able to make decisions quickly
    • a. hardy
    • b. rural
    • c. extinct
    • d. decisive
  4. respected by many people
    • a. nurture
    • b. traverse
    • c. esteemed
    • d. overhead
  5. a rule of behavior
    • a. zoology
    • b. aircraft
    • c. concrete
    • d. principle

Part B: Choose the right definition for the given word.

  1. nurture
    • a. to travel
    • b. respected
    • c. to care for
    • d. to die
  2. secluded
    • a. respected
    • b. correct
    • c. alone
    • d. to make decisions
  3. species
    • a. stones
    • b. an animal
    • c. wet land
    • d. a place to study
  4. jealousy
    • a. knowing right and wrong
    • b. the act of wanting another person’s things
    • c. famous
    • d. studying animals
  5. overhead
    • a. moving
    • b. above
    • c. able to fly
    • d. able to cope
Exercise 2

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. How come we cannot see dinosaurs today?
    • a. They are celebrities.
    • b. They are extinct.
    • c. It isn’t ethical.
    • d. They have all traversed the desert.
  2. What should I do if I want to learn about animals?
    • a. Go to a swamp
    • b. Study zoology
    • c. Nurture babies
    • d. Be decisive
  3. Which of these does NOT describe the countryside?
    • a. It is very rural.
    • b. There are not a lot of buildings.
    • c. Birds often fly overhead.
    • d. There is a lot of concrete.
  4. If you want to camp in the mountains, you need to ______.
    • a. have principles
    • b. be hardy
    • c. feel jealousy
    • d. travel in an aircraft
  5. Brids ______ to warmer parts of the country during the winter.
    • a. esteem
    • b. insitute
    • c. species
    • d. migrate
Exercise 3

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

  1. hardy / traverse
    • You need to be ____________ if you want to ____________ the mountains.
  2. institute / celebrity
    • A(n) ____________ is going to give a talk at the ____________ of Drama.
  3. aircraft / migrate
    • Many people ____________ by ship or ____________ .
  4. esteemed / jealousy
    • She felt a lot of ____________ because her sister was highly ____________ .
  5. swamp / extinct
    • They found the remains of ____________ animals in the ____________ .
  6. secluded / species
    • You can see many different bird ____________ in this ____________ location.
  7. ethical / decisive
    • He made a quick, ____________ choice, but he was worried if it was the ____________ thing to fire him over the holidays.
  8. zoology / nurture
    • He chose to study ____________ because he has always liked to ____________ animals.
  9. overhead / rural
    • I like to be in ____________ areas where there are no planes flying ____________ .
  10. concrete / principle
    • I don’t like the ____________ of covering the garden in ____________ .
Answer Key
Exercise 1
Part A
  1. c
  2. a
  3. d
  4. c
  5. d
Part B
  1. c
  2. c
  3. b
  4. b
  5. b
Exercise 2
  1. b
  2. b
  3. b
  4. b
  5. d
Exercise 3
  1. hardy / traverse
  2. celebrity / institute
  3. migrate / aircraft
  4. jealousy / esteemed
  5. extinct / swamp
  6. species / secluded
  7. decisive / ethical
  8. zoology / nurture
  9. rural / overhead
  10. principle / concrete
Answer Key
Gilbert and the Lizard

Eliza disliked Australia. Firstly, she’d had to spend twenty uncomfortable hours on an aircraft getting here. She wanted to go to the beach, but her husband was a zoology professor and wanted to look for some interesting animals. So now she was traversing a swamp in the midday heat.

“Let me sit down, Gilbert. I’m not hardy like you,” she said, eventually.

They sat under a tree. There were lots of birds in that secluded, rural place, and they watched them flying overhead.

Then suddenly Gilbert saw something on a rock. “That’s strange,” said Gilbert. “That looks like a Red Swamp Lizard, but I thought that species was extinct.” He carefully picked it up. “Yes, it is! I’m going to take it back to the Zoology Institute. They will be filled with so much jealousy when they see what I have found!”

“Are you sure we should take it from its home?” asked Eliza.

“Nonsense, many animals migrate. They’re used to changes,” said Gilbert.

“Hmm, I don’t agree with the principle of it,” said Eliza. “It isn’t ethical.” But Gilbert was decisive and took the lizard back to the hotel in the city. He thought that this find would make him a highly esteemed celebrity at the Zoology Institute.

For the next few days, Gilbert fed and nurtured the lizard. But the lizard wasn’t happy. It lost its beautiful red color and began to look ordinary. In fact, Gilbert started to wonder whether it was special at all. He went outside and found a common lizard on a piece of concrete. When he compared them, they looked exactly alike. The lizard was only red in the swamp!

Gilbert said to Eliza, “I’m going to return this lizard to the swamp. I’ve learned an important lesson. Home is where we are happiest. At home, we are special like the red lizard. We can never be so happy when we are away.”

“Good,” said Eliza. “So, can we go home now?”

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ The journey on the aircraft to Australia took thirty hours.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ Eliza was a professor of zoology.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ Eliza was hardier than Gilbert.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ The swamp was in a rural, secluded area.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ Gilbert thought that the red lizard was an extinct species.
    • _____________________________________________________
  6. _____ Gilbert nurtured the red lizard at the hotel.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. What did Gilbert and Eliza see flying overhead?
    • a. An aircraft
    • b. Birds
    • c. An extinct species
    • d. Butterflies
  2. How was Gilbert described after he found the lizard?
    • a. Full of jealousy
    • b. Highly esteemed
    • c. Decisive
    • d. Full of principles
  3. What did Gilbert think that the find would make him feel like?
    • a. A celebrity
    • b. Decisive
    • c. Ethical
    • d. Hardy
  4. Where did Gilbert want to take the red lizard?
    • a. To the Zoology Institute
    • b. To the university
    • c. To a different swamp
    • d. To his home
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. F / The journey on the aircraft to Australia took twenty hours.
  2. F / Gilbert was a professor of zoology.
  3. F / Gilbert was hardier than Eliza.
  4. T
  5. T
  6. T
Part B
  1. b
  2. c
  3. a
  4. a
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