4000 Essential English Words 6 » Unit 30: The Mad Hatter

Word List
  • amber [ˈæmbər] n.
    Amber is a hard, yellowish material that comes from trees.
    → The necklace was made from pieces of amber.
  • charcoal [ˈtʃɑːrkoul] n.
    Charcoal is a black material that is used as fuel for fire.
    → There was burnt charcoal left on the ground from an old fire.
  • columnist [ˈkɒləmnist] n.
    A columnist is a writer who creates articles about a particular subject.
    → The columnist won praise for his articles about life on the farm.
  • courteous [ˈkəːrtiəs] adj.
    When someone is courteous, they are polite and respectful.
    → The mother asked her family to be courteous to their guests.
  • credentials [kriˈdenʃəlz] n.
    Credentials are the proof of someone’s experience or ability to do something.
    → The mechanic hung his credentials on his office wall.
  • cricket [ˈkrikit] n.
    A cricket is an insect that makes loud noises, usually at night.
    → In the country, we could see the stars and hear the crickets at night.
  • delta [ˈdeltə] n.
    A delta is flat area where a river splits into smaller rivers that flow into the sea.
    → The archeologists found many ancient materials in the delta of the Nile River.
  • detergent [diˈtəːrdʒənt] n.
    Detergent is soap that is used to clean clothes or dishes.
    → My brother added too much detergent to the wash, and bubbles got all over the floor.
  • euphemism [ˈjuːfəmizəm] n.
    A euphemism is a term that is used in place of a mean or unpleasant word.
    → “Window maintenance officer” is a euphemism for a window washer.
  • expire [iksˈpaiər] v.
    To expire is to no longer be effective because its use has come to an end.
    → The man’s driver’s license was going to expire in two days.
  • granite [ˈgrænit] n.
    Granite is a very hard type of rock that is often black or pink.
    → The kitchen counter was made of granite.
  • gravel [ˈgrævəl] n.
    Gravel is a combination of small stones mixed with sand.
    → The ground around the swing set was covered with gravel.
  • haunt [hɔːnt] v.
    To haunt is to cause problems or negative thoughts over a long period of time.
    → His thoughts about his scary dream haunted him for weeks.
  • liberal [ˈlibərəl] adj.
    When someone is liberal, they accept different ideas and people.
    → My grandparents aren’t as liberal as my parents.
  • maze [meiz] n.
    A maze is a system of paths that is complicated and easy to get lost in.
    → We got lost in the maze in the garden.
  • moss [mɔ(:)s] n.
    Moss is a small green or yellow plant that grows on wet dirt, rocks, or tree trunks.
    → Be careful not to slip on the moss that’s covering those rocks.
  • pebble [ˈpebəl] n.
    A pebble is a small, round stone.
    → We threw pebbles into the lake to make the water splash.
  • peck [pek] v.
    When a bird pecks, it bites or hits something with its beak.
    → The birds pecked at the seeds on the ground.
  • reservoir [ˈrezərvwɑːr] n.
    A reservoir is a place for storing water for a town to use.
    → If it doesn’t rain soon, the reservoir is going to dry up completely.
  • streak [striːk] n.
    A streak is a long, thin mark that is easy to see.
    → Her hair was brown except for a streak which she dyed blonde.
Exercise 1

Choose the answer that best fits the question.

  1. Where does a columnist work?
    • a. At a university
    • b. At a newspaper
    • c. At a restaurant
    • d. At an airport
  2. Which of the following might a liberal person do?
    • a. Restrict freedoms
    • b. Learn new ideas
    • c. Reject free speech
    • d. Support tyranny
  3. What animal pecks?
    • a. A bee
    • b. A cat
    • c. A bird
    • d. A tiger
  4. What is stored in a reservoir?
    • a. Water
    • b. Food
    • c. Books
    • d. Tools
  5. Which of these animals have a long streak on their bodies?
    • a. A skunk
    • b. A horse
    • c. A rhino
    • d. A gorilla
Exercise 2

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

  1. After seeing her house on fire, Jenna was troubled by thoughts of fire.
    ____________
  2. The boy had small round rocks stuck on the bottom of his shoe.
    ____________
  3. The bird bit or hit the dish and carried away pieces of bread.
    ____________
  4. The city made a place to store water, so there would always be water for the people.
    ____________
  5. She poured soap to clean dishes into the sink and washed the dishes.
    ____________
  6. The woman was impressed by her friend’s polite and respectful brother.
    ____________
  7. The scientist went to school for many years to earn her proof of ability.
    ____________
  8. I added some more rocks that served as fuel to the fire.
    ____________
  9. Clara didn’t want to offend her grandmother, so she used a replacement for an unpleasant word to refer to old age.
    ____________
  10. The land in the flat place where the river divides was good for growing food.
    ____________
Exercise 3

Choose the one that is similar in meaning to the given word.

  1. columnist
    • a. singer
    • b. journalist
    • c. electrician
    • d. CEO
  2. cricket
    • a. grasshopper
    • b. beetle
    • c. ant
    • d. mosquito
  3. maze
    • a. disguise
    • b. hoop
    • c. tower
    • d. puzzle
  4. gravel
    • a. boulder
    • b. rock
    • c. hill
    • d. mound
  5. haunt
    • a. calm
    • b. play
    • c. terrorize
    • d. soothe
Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks with the correct words from the word bank.

WORD BLANK
expired courteous amber pebbles
streak reservoir crickets maze
moss granite    

They had three minutes to find their way out of the 1___________ .
They had to get out before the time 2___________ .

Jessica had the carpet in her house replaced with 3___________ tiles.
The tiles had lovely designs on them and also pieces of 4___________ .

Gene squeezed the bottle and got a 5___________ of ketchup on his shirt.
The 6___________ host was nice enough to get him a new shirt.

There was a pile of 7___________ near the water.
They had been washed up from the bottom of the 8___________ .

We walked down the road and passed many trees covered in 9___________ .
It was dark already, and all that could be heard were the 10___________ .

Answer Key
Exercise 1
  1. b
  2. b
  3. c
  4. a
  5. a
Exercise 2
  1. haunted
  2. pebbles
  3. pecked
  4. reservoir
  5. detergent
  6. courteous
  7. credentials
  8. charcoal
  9. euphemism
  10. delta
Exercise 3
  1. b
  2. a
  3. d
  4. b
  5. c
Exercise 4
  1. maze
  2. expired
  3. granite
  4. amber
  5. streak
  6. courteous
  7. pebbles
  8. reservoir
  9. moss
  10. crickets
Answer Key
The Mad Hatter

One morning, Lucas sat outside with his grandfather. They looked past the gravel road that led to a natural reservoir on the delta. On the other side of the water, there was a cottage.

“ Does a ghost live there?” Lucas asked.

“ No, a mad hatter lives there,” said his grandfather. Lucas didn’t know what a mad hatter was, but the image of a scary man haunted him.

Later, Lucas went for a walk in the forest. He collected pieces of amber and granite that he found on the ground. He looked at the moss on the trees and watched a bird peck at the ground. But the forest was like a maze. Soon, Lucas was lost.

Lucas heard somebody behind him. He wanted to run away, but he fell. He had a streak of blood on his shirt and some pebbles stuck in his skin. Then a man appeared.

“ I will take you home. First, let’s get you cleaned up,” he said.

Lucas followed him. When they arrived at the cottage, he realized the man was the mad hatter!

He sat down inside. It smelled like charcoal, but it looked like a normal house. The man brought Lucas back some medicine.

“ It’s a bit old, but it’s not expired,” the man said.

While Lucas cleaned his cut, the man washed the blood out of his shirt with detergent.

Lucas asked, “Are you a mad hatter?”

The man laughed and replied, “That’s a euphemism for a crazy person. Actually, I’m pretty normal. I’m a columnist fora newspaper,” said the man. He pointed to his credentials which hung on the wall.

Lucas could hear the crickets outside. It was getting dark, so he asked, “Could you take me home now?”

The man said yes. Lucas was surprised that people thought the man was crazy. He was actually very courteous. Maybe Lucas should have a more liberal attitude. Next time, Lucas wouldn’t make judgments about people without getting to know them first.

Reading Comprehension

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

  1. _____ Lucas’s thoughts about the house across the reservoir haunted him.
    • _____________________________________________________
  2. _____ Lucas collected crickets and moss while he walked through the forest.
    • _____________________________________________________
  3. _____ The bird was pecking at the maze.
    • _____________________________________________________
  4. _____ Lucas got a streak of blood on his shirt and pebbles in his skin from falling down.
    • _____________________________________________________
  5. _____ The man’s house smelled like food that had expired.
    • _____________________________________________________

Part B: Answer the questions.

  1. Where was the cottage located in relation to the grandfather’s house?
    _____________
  2. What did the man wash Lucas’s shirt with?
    _____________
  3. Why did the man point to his credentials on the wall?
    _____________
  4. What did the man say about the term “ mad hatter”?
    _____________
  5. What did the courteous man teach Lucas at the end of the story?
    _____________
Answer Key
Answer Key
Reading Comprehension
Part A
  1. T
  2. F / Lucas collected pieces of amber and granite that he found on the ground.
  3. F / The bird pecked at the ground.
  4. T
  5. F / The man’s house smelled like charcoal.
Part B
  1. The cottage was located past the gravel road and on the other side of the natural reservoir on the delta.
  2. The man washed Lucas’s shirt with detergent.
  3. He pointed to his credentials to prove that he was a columnist.
  4. The man said the term “mad hatter” was a euphemism for a crazy person.
  5. The man taught Lucas that he should have a more liberal attitude and not judge people without getting to know them.
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