Unit 8

Unit 8 WORD LIST anniversary n. An anniversary is a day that celebrates something from the past. My parents went out to a restaurant for their wedding anniversary. arithmetic n. Arithmetic is math. I like to study arithmetic at school. ashamed adj. Ashamed means feeling upset and embarrassed because of a bad action. He was ashamed when he forgot his teacher's name. burst v. To burst is to suddenly break open or apart. The bomb burst over the city. carpenter n. A carpenter is a person who builds things with wood. We hired a carpenter to make a cupboard. coal n. Coal is a hard black material that people burn for heat. Many power stations burn coal to produce energy. couch n. A couch is a long, soft seat that many people can sit on. Kim and Martin's new couch was very expensive. drip v. To drip is to fall a little bit at a time. I heard water dripping from the faucet. elegant adj. Something elegant is very fancy and pleasing. In Japan, women wear elegant kimonos on special occasions. fabric n. Fabric is cloth used to make clothes, furniture, etc. The towels were made from a soft fabric.

highiands n. Highlands are high areas of land, usually with mountains. The man had a small home in the highlands. ivory n. Ivory is a hard, white substance that comes from elephants. The elephant's long ivory tusks looked very impressive. mill n. A mill is a building in which wheat is ground into flour. The farmer took his wheat to the mill to make it into flour. needle n. A needle is a small, sharp piece of metal used to make or fix clothes. I used a needle to fix the hole in my pants. polish 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 v. To sew means to put pieces of cloth together using string or thread. I learned to sew when I was a little girl. shed n. A shed is a small building in which people store things like tools. We have a small shed in the backyard for storage. thread n. A thread is a thin piece of string. I have many different colors of thread at home. trim v. To trim something is to cut it a little bit. I had my hair trimmed this afternoon. upwards adv. An upwards action moves vertically towards the direction above. The kite went upwards further and further.

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.