Unit 15

Unit 15 WORD LIST absorb v. To absorb a liquid means to take it inside. He used a sponge to absorb the water on the floor. boss n. A boss is a person in charge of other people at work. My boss is a nice person. charitable adj. A charitable organization aims to help people. I give money each year to a charitable foundation. committee n. A committee is a group of people who meet together to make decisions. The school's committee agreed on a new dress code for students. contract n. A contract is a written agreement between two people. The woman signed a contract when she bought the house. crew n. A crew is a group of workers. My father has a crew that helps him build houses. devote v. To devote time to something means to spend a lot of time doing it. She devotes two hours a day to playing the piano. dig v. To dig is to make a hole in the ground. My dog digs in the yard so he can hide his bones. dine v. To dine means to eat dinner. The young couple dined at their home. donate v. To donate is to give something to a charity or organization. We donate money to charities every year.

double adj. Double means twice as much or twice as many. I paid almost double the amount for that shirt. flavor n. A flavor is the taste of food or drinks. The flavor of the ice cream was very good. foundation n. A foundation is a group that provides money for research. The foundation raised money to give scholarships to students. generation n. A generation is a group of people who live at the same time. My grandparents are from a different generation than me. handle n. A handle is the part of an object people hold while using it. The pot is very hot, so pick it up by the handle. layer n. A layer covers over something or is one of several pieces lying on top of each other. There was a layer of snow on the tops of the houses this morning. mud n. Mud is soft, wet dirt. My brother played rugby in the mud. Now, he's dirty. smooth adj. A smooth thing has no bumps or rough parts. The baby's skin felt very smooth. soil n. Soil is the top layer of land on the Earth. The boy planted flowers in the soil and watered them every day. unique adj. A unique person or thing is not like others. Her dog is unique. I've never seen one quite like it.

The Lucky Knife Last year, I had a unique chance to work with my uncle, who has devoted his life to studying past generations. I was part of a crew of students he had hired. We signed a contract to work with him. He was the boss. We lived far from the nearest town, and we dined on what we could find. Some of the things we ate had an unusual flavor. We had been there about a month and still hadn't found anything. One day, I began to dig in the soil. The layers of soil got wetter. Soon, I was digging in the mud. My shovel began to get very heavy. It felt like it had doubled in weight because the ground had absorbed such a lot of water. Finally, I saw something in the mud. It was an old knife! The handle felt smooth in my hand. I lifted it up so I could see it better. There was writing on it. It says " it will bring good luck, " my uncle said with a smile. The next day, we found many more things. There were pots and tools. My uncle donated all of the things to a special committee of a charitable foundation. Many newspapers wrote stories about it. It seemed the knife really did bring good luck!