Reading Comprehension Workbook_Level 10

Transcription

Reading Comprehension Workbook
Level 10
Series Designer
Philip J. Solimene
Editor
Sharon Diane Ortan
Reading Consultant
Sidney J. Rauch, Ed.D
Professor of Reading and Education
Hofstra University, New York
EDCON
Story Authors
Ruth Barrett
Linda Bosson
Eleanor Coleman
Walter Holden
Dorothy Kroll
Barbara LaMonica
Margaret Opsata
Jane Tate
Copyright © 2014
Copyright ©Group,
1995
Edcon Publishing
Inc.
A/V
Concepts
Corp.
www.edconpublishing.com
Long Island, New York
This book may be reproduced for student/classroom use.
All other rights reserved.
EWCR1002
Printed in U.S.A.
ePDF ISBN 978-0-8481-1425-1
ISBN 0-931334-48-9
CONTENTS
NO.
TITLE
SOMETHING ABOUT THE SELECTION
SELECTION
QUESTIONS
11
The Maternal
Instinct
An inspiring science fiction tale
about survival and compassion.
1
4
12
Survival
A story of courage and fortitude dur
ing America’s westward expansion.
6
9
13
Quill’s Last
Case
Ready for retirement, Detective
Quill is called on to solve one last
case.
11
14
14
Mike Pandora’s
Box
The depths of the earth hold vast
natural resources, and some un
explainable occurrences as well.
16
19
15
The Last
Judgment
Twelfth century Wales is the setting
for this true tale of love, friendship
and ill fate.
21
24
16
Days of Venice
Almost everyone knows about the
canals of Venice, Italy. But what
about the ones in Venice, Califor
nia?
26
29
17
Nightwalkers
Who are the nightwalkers, and
why do they walk in the dead of
night?
31
34
CONTENTS
NO.
TITLE
SOMETHING ABOUT THE SELECTION
SELECTION
QUESTIONS
18
An Act of
Vengeance
A tale of greed, pride, and envy
originally told centuries ago.
36
39
19
The Little Giant
When seventeen year old Carl
Laemmle arrived in America, he
had no idea that his pipe dreams
would someday become a reality.
41
44
20
Victims
An ironic story about a young man
who discovers crime really does
not pay.
46
49
Keywords...................................
51
Comprehension Check
Answer Key.........................
53
Vocabulary Check
Answer Key..........................
55
J-11
T he Maternal Instinct
Learn the Key Words
dormant
(dor' mant)
asleep; in a state o f inactivity
After receiving the injection, the lion lay dormant.
embryo
(em' bre o)
the undeveloped stage of a human being or animal
The embryo was growing normally.
Incandescent
(in ksn des' nt)
shining brightly; brilliant
The room was incandescent from the spotlights.
maternal
(ms ter' nl)
o f or like a mother; relating to mothers
She inherited a smallfortune from her maternal
grandmother.
nucleus
(n ii' kle as)
a central part or thing around which other parts or
things gather
The sun might be considered the nucleus o f our
universe.
vigil
(v ij' 9l)
staying awake for some purpose
Waiting fo r his son to recover, Hank kept a lonely
vigil.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
2. Look at the picture.
3. Read the first two paragraphs o f the selection.
4. Then answer the following question.
You learned from your preview that
____a. there was an object moving within the bio-watch.
____b. there was no movement at all registering on the bio
watch’s screen.
____c. the bio-watch was beginning to register activity from
the fluid sac.
____d. the bio-watch was monitoring a series o f shooting
stars for an astronomical observatory.
Turn to the Comprehension Check on page 4 fo r the right answer.
Now read the selection.
Read to find out about a new generation of earth beings.
1
J-11
T h e M a te rn a l In s tin c t
Man has accomplished many things during his brief stay on Earth. He has created and he has
destroyed. Now he has to begin again.
The silence in the chamber was
as oppressive as an overcast day
and the temperature slowly began
to rise. The yellow incandescent
lights further brightened almost
in expectancy, for something was
happening, but it was nothing
you couJd yet see or hear. Rather
it was something you could feel,
much in the way you can sense
the stirrings of an anxious spring
following the last remnants of
winter. It was like the unseen
water continually flowing beneath
a frozen stream or the occasional
warm touch carried in the rush
jjf a cold wind.
Then the bio-watch, which
monitored the fluid sac, began to
register activity. The thin white
line, which normally appeared
dormant across its screen, started
to quiver and peak at regular in
tervals. The object inside the sac
was struggling, its movements
seeming as abrupt as the pitching
of a small boat in a rough sea.
The bio-watch responded to
these irregular movements with
an explosion of white lines that
shot across the screen like an
elaborate series of shooting stars.
This struggle signaled to
Ai-Rom, who was standing in
front of the sac watching its con
tractions and expansions, that
her long vigil would soon be over.
How long had she been waiting
here in this room, deep beneath
the surface of the earth, where
silence echoed off the green-tiled
walls? Nine months, nine years,
or nine hundred years? She didn’t
know. She only knew to wait and
keep her lens focused in constant
vigil on the sac.
The long struggle was coming
to an end as the bottom of the
sac ballooned out and a tiny head
appeared, its face screwed in a
tight frown as if anticipating the
bright glare. The infant slid
easily through the sac and
momentarily hung out of the
opening like a raindrop stubbornly
clinging to a branch, before
lightly dropping into a cushioned
basket which had swung out
from the wall into position just
below.
Ai-Rom silently glided over to
the basket and extended her arm.
She flicked one of her steel digits
and, with a jack knife gesture,
she cut the cord which was the
last link between the newborn
child and the now empty sac.
Before being delivered into the
world, the infant had been lying
dormant, but the shock of this
first rude contact with the world
caused an ear-shattering cry to
come from its mouth like an un
winding spring. The cry expanded
and flooded the silence, and then
splintered into many other similar
cries as Ai-Rom turned and
focused on a long row of mothers
bending over baskets. The sound
of the infant’s cry activated AiRom’s maternal center, so she
bent over and lifted the tiny
wiggling form, cradled it for a
moment and gently placed it
against her shoulder cushion.
Eventually, all of the crying ceased
ard the room far beneath the
earth now vibrated with the sound
of musical instruments and tender
humming as all of the mothers,
moving in unison, activated their
music panels to play out the
notes of a long-forgotten lullaby.
For the children who were
born in the chamber far beneath
the earth’s surface, time passed
quickly. Their days were directed
by devoted maternal attention
and they were comforted by the
J-11
presence of their affectionate
mothers, who, under the lighting
of the chamber, glowed and
sparkled, giving off an in
candescence uniquely their own.
The children were romping
about and the noise of their
laughter, like the tinkling sound
of raindrops against a window
pane, filled the room. Ai-Rom
viewed her daughter, Aria,
dodging and leaping among the
others in a lively running game.
The sight of Aria, healthy and
content, caused new images to
appear across Ai-Rom’s brain
screen. She perceived that the
children were old enough and
more time should be spent in in
struction, so she aimed her light
beam (the language of light being
one which the children had not
yet learned) in the direction of
the other mothers. Immediately,
Ai-Rom1, Ai-Rom2, Ai-Rom3 and
all the rest operated their speaking
tapes which pierced the children’s
world of amusement and sum
moned them to the learning
chamber.
Aria stopped abruptly at the
sound of her mother’s familiar
and smooth voice, her arms still
flung high above her head in the
interrupted gesture of some now
forgotten frolic. She heard the
reassuring whirring of her mother
as Ai-Rom glided close to her
and gently escorted her to the
chamber.
The chamber was circular, and
from its completely white, an
tiseptic walls and domed ceiling,
three-dimensional images began
to emerge. Everywhere the chil
dren looked there were splashes
of color and sounds coming
together in even form. Tall
green shapes appeared and
reached up into a seemingly end
less blue space. The nucleus of
this scene was a big, glowing,
orange ball, and vast bodies of
blue - green water rolled and
splashed up against huge, rigid
formations. Day after day, the
children saw all this and more.
Pictures of the Earth’s landscape
continually emerged from the
wall screens, teaching them the
beauties of the world far above
the chamber. It taught them
about life—all the varieties of
beings, like those that came from
the waters, those that crawled
across the land and those that
spread themselves across the skies.
Eventually, creatures appeared
whom the children recognized
as being like themselves, and they
watched these creatures move
across the earth, scooping out
the land and creating magnifi
cent structures that stretched far
above the trees and cast steel lace
webs against the horizon. The
structures formed the nucleus
from which knowledge was born
and grew more complicated. The
children learned the knowledge
of numbers and the knowledge
of language, and most of all the
knowledge to capture and direct
all of the Earth’s energies.
For the children, less and less
time was spent in amusements
and more time spent in the
learning chamber, for they would
have a special mission to perform.
Sometimes the mothers would
illuminate their brain screens and
play their voice tapes to answer
the questions the children were
beginning to ask. Aria was es
pecially curious—why were the
mothers different from the chil
dren and who were the people
who had been on Earth and
where were they now?
All this, Ai-Rom promised to
reveal in time, when Aria was
released completely from the
things of childhood. But in the
meantime, Ai-Rom encouraged
Aria to press her music center
and wistfully let the melody carry
her to a forgetful sleep.
Many years passed, and the
children saw the Earth convulse
in violence. They saw brutality
and they saw the destruction of
ancient structures and the con
struction of new ones. The new
structures increased in size, en
compassing the sky, intruding on
the landscape and perpetually
spilling black fluid into the oceans
and rivers. Birds began to tumble
from the sky. and the oceans de
posited dead fish all along the
shorelines and, soon, the people
knew that they, too, were dying.
They knew it would be thou
sands of years before the poison
clouds would disappear and the
Earth would again be hospitable
to human beings. In desperation,
they gathered their history and
knowledge and compressed them
into films and tapes to bestow
on the future. From the embryo
laboratories, they took the last
healthy specimens and placed
them in the fully automated
chambers deep beneath the earth,
there to wait in frozen sleep.
But who would care for the
embryos once they started to
develop, since all traces of human
life would have vanished by then?
It was then that they constructed
the Ai-Roms and made sure that
they were programmed with only
the best of human emotions, in
stincts and affections.
Having learned their ancestry,
the sons and daughters were con
ducted for the first time up
through the twisting tunnels to
the surface of the Earth, where a
spring rain had just fallen and
left crystal droplets to blanket
the grass and trees. The mothers
remained by the tunnel entrance
and as Aria turned to give one
last loving look to Ai-Rom, she
saw the brain screen flashing:
Ai-Rom: Artificial Intelligence
Robot Mother DEACTIVATED.
J-11
THE MATERNAL INSTINCT
Preview Answer:
the bio-watch was beginning to register
activity from the fluid sac.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Ai-Rom was
___ a. one of the few human survivors.
___ b. not an efficient mother.
___ c. an artificial robot mother.
___ d. able to leave the tunnel.
Aria was born
___ a. in an artificial environment.
___ b. in a world of trees and flowers.
___ c. under normal conditions.
___ d. from a salvaged human mother.
The lessons taught in the chamber were
___ a. happenings from the future.
___ b. current events.
___ c. happenings from the past.
___ d. fictional events.
First, the last remaining human beings compressed
their knowledge into films and tapes. Then, they put
healthy specimens from the embryo laboratories into
an underground laboratory. Next,
___ a. they suspended human mothers in time.
___ b. they tried to save the Earth.
___ c. they flew to a distant planet to live.
___ d. they constructed the Ai-Roms.
The embryos stayed dormant for many years
because they were
___ a. dead.
___ b. frozen.
___ c. sick.
___ d. underground.
11.
The children born below the ground
___ a. could never leave the chamber.
___ b. had strange feelings towards the robots.
___ c. resented being kept below the surface.
___ d. relied upon their robot mothers.
The robots
___ a. were not able to do very much for the
children.
___ b. could not see what the children needed.
___ c. were caring and capable mothers.
___ d. would often make errors in judgment.
The children from the sac would
___ a. stay with their robot mothers forever.
___ b. begin a new race of human beings on
Earth.
___ c. return to the chamber to revive their
mothers.
___ d. never know love or emotion.
Ano«.her name for this selection could be
___ a. “A New Life.”
___ b. “ Seeing the Earth from Below.”
___ c. “ Mothers of the Future. ’’
___ d. “Chamber of Learning.”
This selection is mainly about
___ a. how tunnels were dug in the earth for
survivors of the last World War.
___ b. how robots might help raise a new
race of human beings.
___ c. what happens to children raised by
artificial means.
___ d. the condition of the Earth in the 21st
century.
D evelopyourownsentences using anyfourkey wordsfound in th e box on th e followingpage.
i
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Check your answers with the key on page 53.
This page may be reproduced for classroom use.
4
The Maternal Instinct
J11
VOCABULARY CHECK
dormant
embryo
incandescent
maternal
nucleus
vigil
I.
Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct key wordfrom the box above.
1.
In its earliest stages o f life, an animal is known as an.
2.
The______________________ o f an atom is difficult to split.
3.
The cancer was______________________ for many years before reappearing.
4.
Her______________________ feelings made her want to protect the child from harm.
5.
The moon was______________________ and lit our path.
6.
Karen’s______________________ at the hospital lasted for three days.
II. Are the key words used correctly? Check True or False.
1.
The ocean is always dormant.
______ True
--------- False
2.
The fire was incandescent.
______ True
--------- False
3.
Anything maternal relates only to women over 25.
______ True
--------- False
4.
Gary’s vigil lasted for a week.
______ True
--------- False
5.
The nucleus surrounds other things.
______ True
--------- False
6.
An embryo is an undeveloped animal.
______ True
--------- False
5
J-12
Survival
Learn the Key Words
futile
(fyü ' tl)
useless; unsuccessful
The woman made afutile effort to stay dry in the rain.
intolerable
(in tol' әr a bә l)
unbearable; almost impossible to endure
The movie was intolerable, so we left the theater.
listless
(list' lis)
without energy; without enthusiasm
The man became listless after he left his job.
progression
(pra gresh' ә n)
moving forward in an orderly fashion
The members o f the marching band moved in
progression.
recuperate
(ri kü ' pә rat)
to recover from a sickness; being restored to health
Mrs. Jones’s operation was minor, so her doctor sent
her home to recuperate.
somber
(som ' bәr)
gloomy; melancholy
The players were somber after they lost the game.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
3. Read the first two paragraphs of the selection.
____a. the Sierra Nevada family was lost in the mountains of
Sacramento, California.
____b. mountain weather doesn’t change very drastically.
____c. many pioneers have gotten lost in the mountains.
____d. although winter in the mountains can be brutal, most
settlers find it enjoyable.
Turn to the Comprehension Check or. page 9 fo r the right answer.
Read to find out about a terrifying ordeal.
6
What would you do if you were stranded in the mountains, in the dead o f winter with no food,
minimal clothing, and makeshift shelters? How long could you survive?
From Sacramento, California
we can see the towering peaks of
the Sierra Nevadas away in the
distance, and we have iearned to
respect their awesome power.
Quite frequently, however, a new
settler doesn’t understand that
mountain weather can be trans
formed from beautifully calm to
terrifyingly stormy in only a few
minutes. Here at the ranch, we
have welcomed many frightened
travelers who tell about being
lost in the mountains.
Late in February, 1847, we dis
covered that a group of pioneers
had become trapped in the
mountains during the brutal
winter season. With so many
pioneers coming west to settle, I
suppose it was only a matter of
time until a group of them had
to spend the winter up in the
Sierra Nevadas.
One night, a very thin and very
hungry man arrived at the ranch
house after supper. He was
talking like a demented person,
but my father, who was the
ranch foreman, managed to
piece together his somber story.
The stranger was part of a pioneer
wagon train that had taken a new
route across the mountains last
October. An early winter storm
dropped several feet of snow on
them, and they had to make
camp. A progression of men
volunteered to go for help, but
they all returned because they
could not make it through the
snow. After these futile efforts
to find help, everybody stayed in
the camp all through the winter.
There was much sickness and
death, and the stranger worried
very much about the others. My
father agreed to let the man re
cuperate at the ranch and prom
ised to take out a search party to
look for the other survivors.
“ If this astonishing story is
true,” my father said, “con
ditions at that camp must have
been almost intolerable. ’’
When he asked for volunteers
to look for the lost pioneers,
every one of us raised our hands.
I didn’t think my father would
allow me to accompany him,
because I was only sixteen, but
after a moment he agreed that I
could join the rescue team.
Eleven of us departed from
Sacramento to locate the surviving
settlers. According to the man
who came seeking our help, a Mr.
Thomas, the group called itself
the Donner Party. They were
named after a wealthy family
who organized the pioneers and
led them west. Although Mr.
Thomas recuperated steadily
under the excellent care of my
mother, he never could speak of
last winter’s events without a
look of horror passing across his
face. At other times, he would
lapse into a listless state, and he
appeared too tired to discuss the
subject.
Mr. Thomas could not provide
us with accurate directions for
reaching the campsite, since he
had wandered in confusion for
several days before accidentally
finding our ranch. However, he
mentioned a gigantic rock, shaped
like a buffalo, and a place where
two small streams converged, so
we were able to identify the
general area by locating these
landmarks. After that, we moved
in progression, searching for any
signs of human life. Our efforts
were futile until my father heard
a baby’s muffled cry. We followed
this sound, climbing over boulders
and walking around snowdrifts
12
which were everywhere.
Suddenly, we arrived at the
campsite and our eyes were
greeted by a somber sight. Several
makeshift buildings had been
constructed by piling together
boulders, timber and canvas
from the wagons. Near each
building were human bodies,
some dead and some nearly so,
with the fallen carcasses of
horses and dogs lying close by.
A dreadful stench hung over the
area, and I noticed my father
holding his stomach as he sadly
surveyed the depressing scene.
Inside one of the huts, the baby
was crying listlessly so I walked
toward the noise and thrust my
head inside. I observed a woman
bent over an iron cooking pot,
stirring a kind of soup that smelled
terrible and singing softly to her
self. She paid no attention to the
baby or to me as I lifted the child
up. I was astonished to discover
how little he weighed, and as I
unwrapped the dirty blanket that
covered him, I could clearly see
every bone in his little body.
“Your child is starving,” I said
angrily to the woman, “yet you
do nothing about it.”
She looked at me with a list
less expression.
“ My only child is here,” she
answered, pointing at the cooking
pot.
I realized that the unfortunate
woman had been driven insane
by the intolerable winter she had
spent in this dreadful place.
As I carried the crying child
outside, I felt someone urgently
tugging at my leg. Looking down,
I discovered a little boy of about
five fastening his tiny hand
around my knee to capture my
attention.
“My name is Joshua,” he
announced, “ and you are stealing
my baby brother! ”
I explained that I was only
carrying the child to our supplies,
so I could give the starving baby
some food. When I mentioned
food, Joshua’s grip on my knee
tightened, and he followed me
closely as I returned to the others
and opened a package containing
bread, cheese, and cooked apples.
After feeding a little fruit to the
baby, he finally stopped crying.
Joshua tried to eat some of the
cheese and bread, but he began
to vomit. My father, who had
joined us, explained that the
boy’s stomach was upset because
it had received so little food for
so long.
After a time, Joshua was able
to swallow a little of the bread
without problems, and he began
answering my many questions.
His mother, father and older
sister were dead. He and the
baby had been protected by their
grandmother, Mrs. Smith, who
managed to locate food for them
throughout the difficult winter.
Many people had starved to death,
some because they refused to eat
the food that his grandmother
had cooked. While the little boy
chattered on, several other mem
bers of the Donner Party gathered
around.
Suddenly, a woman began to
sob loudly as she managed to cry
out, “God forgive us, but we
were so very hungry! First, we
cooked what little food we had.
Next, all the men went into the
woods, hunting for any animals
or wild berries. Then, we made
stew from the dogs and horses
that had died, and we tried to
stretch these meals as long as we
possibly could. Finally.. .finally,
we had to eat the bodies of those
who had died.”
I looked at my father in horror
when the woman revealed that
she and the others had become
cannibals. He saw my expression
and motioned me to silence, but
several of the rescuers began to
move away fearfully.
A forceful woman suddenly
pushed her way through the
gathering of people, speaking
loudly as she proceeded.
“ I’m Mrs. Smith, Joshua’s
grandmother,” she announced,
“ and before you healthy, wellnourished rescuers pass judg
ment on our behavior, I’m going
to explain several things—and
you don’t have to be afraid that
we’re planning to eat you, which
is the way some of you are
looking at me. When we joined
the Donner Party, we were
ordinary people just like you.
But no one can remain ordinary
after a brutal winter with nothing
to eat, no decent shelter and no
way to obtain help. Yes, we did
eat from the bodies of those who
died, but we hated ourselves for
it and we must live with our guilty
consciences forever. We became
cannibals because that was
absolutely the only way to stay
alive! So, before you condemn
our actions, I suggest you try
spending five intolerable months
in circumstances like ours, and if
you are still alive at the end, it
will be because you became can
nibals, too!”
As Mrs. Smith finished speaking,
I looked down at little Joshua,
who sat trustingly at my side. If
he had been my brother, and if I
had been a member of the Donner
Party, trapped in the mountains,
what acts would I have done to
have kept him and myself alive?
As I looked into his innocent
face, I discovered that I could
not answer that question.
Preview Answer:
c. many pioneers have gotten lost in the
mountains.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Choose the best answer.
The Donner Party was trapped
___ a. in a desert in California.
___ b. in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
___ c. at the old ranch near the stream.
___ d. at the mouth of the river.
The Donner Party had started their journey through
the mountains in the
___ a. fall.
___ b. winter.
___ c. spring.
___ d. summer.
If it were not for Mr. Thomas’s brave attempts at
finding help, the
___ a. Donner Party would have become
cannibals.
___ b. ranchers would have traveled through the
mountains in late spring.
___ c. Donner Party might never have been
found.
___ d. people of the wagon train would never
have made the trip.
The people at the ranch
___ a. were afraid to travel in the winter.
___ b. thought Mr. Thomas was making up the
story.
___ c. wanted to use dogs and special equipment
for the search.
___ d. were anxious to locate the survivors.
The settlers were finally discovered because of
___ a. the signs along the trail.
___ b. the sound of a baby’s cry.
___ c. Mr. Thomas’s clear directions.
___ d. a special electronic device.
11.
First, the settlers cooked what food they had. Then,
the men hunted for animals and wild berries. Next,
___ a. they killed other members of the wagon
train.
___ b. they were forced to eat from the bodies
of those who died.
___ c. they resigned themselves to the fact that
they were going to starve.
___ d. they made a stew from the dogs and
horses that had died.
Mrs. Smith
___ a. had taken the easy way out of a difficult
situation.
___ d. did not care about what she had done.
___ c. was an emotionally strong person who
had to make a difficult decision.
___ d. gave a poor argument for what she and
some of the others had done.
The narrator
___ a. disregarded Mrs. Smith’s words.
___ b. thought Mrs. Smith was a disgrace.
___ c. believed that death would have been better.
___ d. understood Mrs. Smith’s plight.
Another name for this selection could be
___ a. “ Running from Horror.”
___ b. “ Staying Alive in the Alps.”
___ c. “An Indescribable Winter. ’’
___ d. “A Time for Nature.”
___ a. a group of cannibals in the Sierra Nevadas.
___ b. living on a ranch in the 1800’s.
___ c. Mr. Thomas and his will to survive.
___ d. decisions that must be made in order to
stay alive.
Developyourownsentences using any fourkey wordsfound in the box on the foUowhgpage.
i
2
T"
T
9
J -1 2
VOCABULARY CHECK
futile
intolerable
listless
progression
recuperate
somber
I. Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct key word from the box above.
1. The rescuers made a la s t_____________ attempt to find the swimmer.
2. The doctor said it would take a long time for John t o _____________ from his illness.
3. The dog w a s_______________ because of the hot weather.
4. The line of dominoes fell in a silent, rig id ______________ .
5. The mourners were a ll______________ at the loss of the family leader.
6. A fur jacket worn in 90 degree heat would b e _______________ .
II. Fill in the blanks in the following paragraph with the words from the box above.
When you are done, you will have a short account of the story.
For the Donner Party, a winter in the Sierra Nevada mountains w a s______________ .
After many _____________ attempts at getting through the deep snow, one man finally
reached help. Mr. Thomas dragged h is ________________ body to a Sacramento ranch,
where he was able to tell his incredible story and ____________from his long ordeal. A
search party moved i n _______________ , searching everywhere for survivors. It was a
baby’s cry that finally led them to the campsite, and what they saw there was indeed a
_________________ sight.
T h is p a g e m a y b e re p ro d u c e d fo r cla ssro o m use.
10
J-13
Q u il l 's L a s t C a se
Learn the Key Words
anonymous
( ә n o n ' ә mә s)
referring to a person whose name is not known
The kidnapper was anonymous.
benefactor
(ben' ә fak tә r)
a person who helps others, either by gifts of money or
generous acts
The benefactor o f the youth group was a retired
policeman.
bogus
(bō ' gә s)
not genuine; fake
The twenty dollar bill wasfound to be bogus.
coroner
(kôr' ә n әr)
a government official who examines a corpse for the
conditions o f death
The coroner certified that the death occurred at about
10:15.
cryptic
(krip' tik)
having a hidden meaning; secret
The coded message was o f a cryptic nature.
glib
(Slib)
speaking too smoothly to be believed
The salesperson was a glib talker.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
3. Read the first four paragraphs of the selection.
____a. Detective Quill is referred to as the “ anonymous
benefactor” by his friends.
____b. all of the girls who disappeared were ordinary high
school girls.
____c. the only persons who are ever informed about the
mysterious disappearances are the girls’ parents.
____d. Detective Quill is almost ready to retire and is looking
forward to it.
Turn to the Comprehension Check on page 14fo r the right answer.
Read to find out how an experienced detective handled a difficult case.
11
Q
u i l l 's
La s t C a s e
Four girls mysteriously disappear and there is nothing to link any o f them together. Or is there?
That's what Detective Quill tries to fin d out.
My name is Quill, U.S. Quill,
detective third grade. For me,
each day is another day nearer
my retirement, another day nearer
to that little house in the country
with the raised deck looking out
over the mountains. It’s also
another day of listening to the
fresh college - boy detectives,
listening to their glib statements
without any facts behind them,
and their sly remarks about people
over fifty. It’s another day of
listening to their loud music
blasting everyone’s ears every
time any of this younger genera
tion gets near a radio. Even a
jjolice radio.
— You may think I complain a
lot. But I really don’t. Not even
when I get a case like this one—
the one they call the “Anony
mous Benefactor" case because
some unknown person is giving
jLway money to young girls.
Of course, giving away money
is no crime. The trouble is, though,
that soon after they get the money,
these girls disappear without a
trace. No note to the worried
parents, no letter to the boyfriend,
nothing.
The last girl who disappeared
wasn’t any ordinary high school
kid, though. She was the daughter
of the president of one of the
city’s biggest banks. As near as
anybody could tell, the disappear
ance was exactly like all the others.
When the captain called me in,
he gave me some bogus story that
even a three-year old kid wouldn’t
believe. Something about needing
an old-timer with lots of ex
perience.
I told him, “Don’t give me that
stuff, Captain. Your young heroes
have fallen down on the case ever
since the first girl disappeared
over a year ago.”
Ignoring my response, the
captain pointed at the bulging
files resting on the corner of his
desk.
He said, “ I’ve been through
every one of those, but I couldn’t
discover the slightest clue. Why
does a man give money to com
plete strangers?”
I replied to him, “ It isn’t un
usual for a man to give money to
a young girl, is it?”
“But apparently there weren’t
any strangers who approached
these girls. We’ve tracked the
movements of all four from the
time they got the mysterious
money until they disappeared.”
“ Maybe it wasn’t a stranger
then.”
“Make sense, Quill. These girls
all came from different neighbor
hoods in the city. They went to
different high schools, had dif
ferent friends, and came from
different social backgrounds.”
“Nothing links these four
girls?”
“ Nothing we can discover. My
best detectives haven’t found a
clue.”
In answer to that, I gave him
a cryptic look, you know, the kind
that you can’t quite figure out.
But after a few hours of digging
through the files, I couldn’t find
a solid clue either.
I took a taxi to the morgue
thinking it was possible that one
of these girls had turned up dead
and the bright young detectives
had missed it.
I got a break that afternoon
and cracked the case before dark.
While I was in the morgue, a
girl’s body was brought in. She
had been hit by a taxi on 49th
Street. The driver, one of those
glib young guys who would tell
you almost anything, claimed
that she ran right out in front of
him and he couldn’t stop in time
to prevent hitting her. Three wit
nesses backed him up.
While the coroner was ex
amining the body, I got one of
his assistants to let me examine
her clothing and personal be
longings. The coroner’s assistant
was young, maybe thirty. When I
held up the shoes and asked him
if he knew what they were, he
just looked at me and said,
“ Shoes.”
Being patient because I needed
another favor, I said, “They’re
called saddle shoes. Was any
other girl brought in within the
last year wearing saddle shoes?”
“ Listen, we get thousands of
bodies every year. Who keeps
records of who’s wearing saddle
shoes, especially when nobody
ever heard of saddle shoes?”
Getting nowhere in the coro
ner’s office, I drove over to the
neighborhood where the banker’s
daughter was last seen. There
wasn’t much there, just an ex
pensive jewelry shop, a delicates
sen, a record store, and a woman’s
clothing boutique. I inquired at
the clothing shop, and learned
they didn’t sell shoes—the girl
working there never even heard
of saddle shoes.
To ease my disappointment, I
entered the record store and pur
chased a Guy Lombardo album
from a senior citizen behind the
counter. The elderly gentleman
was so pleased to have somebody
buy that music from the forties
that he wanted to talk awhile,
but I told him that I was busy
and had some detective work
to do. With that, he gave me a
funny look and let go of my
jacket sleeve.
Back at headquarters, I re
membered that the files listed the
clothing the girls were wearing
when they disappeared. I checked
and learned that one girl was
wearing an old white college
sweater with a big block letter on
it. Another was wearing a plaid
wool skirt, popular during the
forties. I was puzzled about the
third girl until I reread one item:
athletic socks, or bobby socks,
as they were called in the forties.
I had to call the parents to be sure.
Naturally,, they thought their
daughter might have turned up,
J-13
but the best news I could give
them was a cryptic remark about
new evidence.
Four girls disappearing mysteri
ously, each one wearing an item
of clothing popular almost forty
years ago. The clothing made a
connection, but it wasn’t any
thing to hang your hat on.
I couldn’t think clearly; some
rock singer was screaming on the
radio in the office next door.
Looking through the window be
tween the offices, I saw several
young detectives sitting there just
as if everything were normal.
When I jumped up to go over
and tell them to stop bursting
people’s eardrums, I knocked my
new record onto the floor. If
these jokers only played music
like good old Guy Lombardo.
Picking up the record, I started
to slide it back into the white
paper jacket with the name of the
record store splashed across it.
Why hadn’t I made the connec
tion before?
Making four telephone calls, I
found out what I needed to know.
All of the girls had big record
collections—including
albums
from the forties.
There wasn’t any problem
getting the record store owner to
confess. Recognizing me right
away as the Guy Lombardo fan,
he was tickled to spill the entire
thing to somebody who might
understand.
The death of the banker’s
daughter had been an accident,
just as the cab driver had said.
Something the old man said
frightened her so much that she
ran out of the record store and
into the street. It seems that he
hated the modern music so much
and admired the old forties music
to such an extreme, that he had
become, well, somewhat un
balanced. Whenever a pretty
young girl wanted to buy a forties
record, he would offer her the
record free and a bundle of cash
if she would promise to come
back and dance to the record for
him. Money is a great convincer
—all four girls not only kept the
crazy scheme a secret, but they
also agreed to the disappearing
act.
You’re probably wondering
how and why they disappeared.
Well, because he was afraid that the
girls would finally spill everything
if they stayed with their families,
the old man finally paid them
enough money to hide and agree
not to contact their families or
anybody else. They were living
upstate somewhere with the old
gentleman’s sister, who’s about
as crazy as he is. The girls ex
plained that they were about to
break out and return home, but
I figure that their story is bogus
because they were certainly
dazzled by the amount of money
being handed out.
Anyway, a couple of weeks
from today, I’m through being a
detective, retiring to that little
house in the country where I’ll
be whiling away the hours sitting
on my redwood deck and watch
ing the mountains. Drop around
anytime, I won’t promise you
dancing girls, but we can sit
around listening to the sweetest
music this side of heaven.
Q
u il l ' s
Last C ase
Preview Answer:
COMPREHENSION CHECK
d.
Detective Q uill is almost ready to retire
and is looking forward to it.
The police captain
___ a. was pleased with the young detectives.
___ b. did not want to proceed with the investiga
tion.
___ c. saw Quill as the last hope of solving the
case.
___ d. had some very important clues.
The girls who had disappeared
___ a. agreed to their benefactor’s scheme.
___ b. were taken away against their will.
___ c. did not find the old man’s promises of
money attractive.
___ d. were afraid to refuse the old man.
First, Quill reviewed the files. Then, he went to the
morgue. Next,
___ a. he discovered that the girl who had been
killed was wearing saddle shoes.
___ b. he notified the family that each girl was O K.
___ c. he drove to a record shop in the city.
___ d. he went to the neighborhood where the
girl had been killed.
The young girls were
___ a. frightened and worried.
___ b. greedy and insensitive.
___ c. patient and understanding.
___ d. trustworthy and happy.
The old man at the record shop was
___ a. a normal character.
___ b. obsessed with the forties.
___ c. interested in all types of music.
___ d. sure Quill would not understand.
Detective Quill stumbled upon the benefactor
because he
___ a. liked to visit with old people.
___ b. enjoyed listening to rock music.
___ c. spoke to the younger detectives about
the case.
___ d. was a fan of the music of the forties.
This case showed that
___ a. money is not held in high regard.
___ b. no one likes to live in the past.
___ c. some people have a distorted sense of
values.
___ d. people are not preoccupied with them
selves or their interests.
Detective Quill was
___ a. a bitter old man.
___ b. critical of everyone under thirty.
___ c. an experienced and competent member
of the police department.
___ d. too old to do his work well.
___ a. “ Records Are Fun.”
___ b. “ Forties Fever.”
___ c. “ Life in the City.”
___ d. “Useless Clues.”
___ a. the inefficiency of young people.
___ b. the stupidity that comes with old age.
___ c. the people who live in the past.
___ d. experience and efficiency that come
with age.
D eveiopyourown sentences usinganyfourkey wordsfoundin the boxon the fblbwhgpage.
14
Q u i l l 's L a s t C a se
VOCABULARY CHECK
anonymous
benefactor
bogus
coroner
cryptic
glib
I. Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct key wordfrom the box above.
1.
The poet of the romantic lyric preferred to remain______________________ .
2.
The man offered a_______________________excuse for his absence from the meeting.
3.
Susan’s______________________ made sure that she attended the finest school.
4.
The______________________ examined the body for the cause o f death.
5.
John had a reputation for being a______________________ talker.
6.
My father’s patience had reached an end and he offered one last_______________________remark.
II. Are the key words used correctly? Check True or False.
1.
If someone is anonymous, their name is not known.
______ True
_______False
2.
A glib sales talk is too smooth to believe.
______ True
_______False
3.
A coroner works with sick people.
______ True
_______False
4.
A cryptic comment has a hidden meaning.
______ True
_______False
5.
A benefactor is a helpful person.
______ True
_______False
6.
If something is bogus, it is genuine.
______ True
_______False
J-14
Mike Pandora's Box
Learn the Key Words
aura
( ôr' ә )
an invisible atmosphere which surrounds a person or
thing
There was an aura o f mystery about Hester.
biology
(bi o l ' ә jē)
the study of living matter
The biology laboratory has twenty microscopes.
confound
(kon found')
to puzzle or confuse completely
The hero's disguise was meant to confound the villain.
deteriorate
(di tir' ē ә rat)
lessen in value; fall apart
A fallen branch will deteriorate on the ground.
gaseous
(gas ' e ә s)
made up of gas; acting like gas
A gaseous vaporfloated over the swamp.
radiate
(rā ' dē āt)
to spread or move in rays like heat or light
Within minutes the heat will radiate throughout the
entire house.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
3. Read the first four paragraphs of the selection.
____a. Mike and Joe worked in the coal mine from midnight
to eight in the morning.
____b. the “hoot owl” shift was from midnight to twelve noon.
____c. there was absolute silence in the mine.
____d. Mike’s job was to clear the mine o f poisonous gases .
Turn to the Comprehension Check on page 19fo r the right answer.
Read to find out about a strange and unexplainable event.
16
Mike Pandora’s Box
Hundreds o f feet below the surface o f the earth, Mike Pandora discovers something that may
literally be "out o f this world. ”
“Mike, get yourself up here
jyid crawl into this hole! ”
Mike Pandora nodded in reply
to Joe’s shouting above the
pounding of the mining machine
and the clattering of coal dropping
onto the conveyor belt. Carefully
maneuvering himself around the
powerful machine which was
digging out huge boulders of coal,
Mike heard Joe shouting again.
“ Crawl into this opening I just
made. Better check your gas mask
because we’re likely to uncover
poisonous gases whenever we
open an old mine.”
— Mike nodded again, grinning
at Joe’s grimy, worried face
covered with coal dust as it always
was during the “ hoot-owl” shift
—midnight to eight in the
morning. Time really counted
very little in the deep mines—
midnight looked exactly the same
as twelve o’clock noon. Still,the
midnight crew always felt a
strange aura about the mine,
something connected with be
ginning work at midnight rather
than the way normal people
started at eight o’clock in the
morning.
Being Joe’s helper, Mike ran
messages, kept electrical lines
clear, and made certain that the
conveyor belt ran smoothly. Al
though Joe liked to confuse or
even confound him with tricks
like sending him off after a lefthanded monkey wrench or the
key to the switchbox, they gen
erally got along fine.
Under the shadow of the hardhat, Joe looked strangely like a
devil.
“ Better get that mask on kid.
I’d have a problem explaining to
the supervisor how I let you walk
into an old mine full of poison
ous gases.”
As Joe had backed his machine
off from the hole he had broken
through the wall, Mike was easily
able to maneuver past. Nearly at
floor level, the entrance to the
newly opened chamber was barely
large enough to allow Mike to
crawl through. As he approached
the opening, he noticed a curtain
of cold air pushing forth and radi
ating around him from the inky
blackness beyond. Sniffing and
finding the air free of the gaseous
odor indicating possible deadly
fumes, Mike discarded his gas
mask. Mike sat down allowing
his feet to enter the chamber first,
then he pulled himself through
the hole and landed on the smooth
floor of the completely darkened
chamber.
Immediately, the pounding of
Joe’s machine faded, leaving a
sort of silence that made Mike
quiver with a fear that had
nothing to do with gaseous
poisons or falling boulders of
coal. Nervously, he pushed the
switch on his flashlight and the
narrow beam illuminated strange,
rounded structures reaching up
and disappearing into the darkness.
“Somebody’s been here before
us, Joe.”
“You sure, kid?” Joe shouted.
“We aren’t within four hundred
feet of another mining operation.”
Mike directed the flashlight
beam toward the closest of the
rounded structures. Then he
shouted toward the entrance hole,
“Not another mine. It’s more like
—I don’t know exactly—like a
giant laboratory! ”
Laughing, Joe yelled back,
“Don’t feed me that old science
fiction routine. I know I’ve played
tricks on you because you’re new,
but don’t try any ghost stories
J-14
on me. There’re a hundred ancient
caverns in these mountains, and
a hundred stories for every cavern.
Just tell me what’s really in there,
if anything, so that we can get
back to work.”
Mike sensed that the entire
chamber radiated some strong
force, an aura or a presence of
something neither animal nor
human. Fear penetrated Mike’s
bones, making him stagger against
the wall. The flashlight, banging
heavily, flickered and then re
gained part of its strength. As
Mike Pandora slowly lifted the
flashlight to direct its feeble beam
about the forbidding chamber,
his hand, holding the light, shook.
If Mike had been standing in
side the Houston Space Center,
he wouldn’t have been surprised
at what greeted his eyes in this
astonishing underground chamber.
His mind became clouded, con
founded by the aura hanging
heavily and silently in that
chamber, faintly illuminated by
his weakened flashlight beam.
Everything seemed to be falling
gradually away from him, as if
he were floating. His senses
began to deteriorate, like dust
slowly disintegrating.
“ Hey, what’s happening in
there? Come on out before you
scare me to death! ”
The yelling snatched Mike
back from his troubled sense of
deterioration. He realized that Joe
had shut off all his machines and
was leaning into the broken hole,
peering around the dim interior.
“What’s keeping you, kid?
We’ve still got lots of coal to
move today.”
“ Look, Joe,” Mike said softly,
slowly playing the beam of light
around the weird, silent chamber.
The feeble beam reflected the
towering metal cylinders, re
vealing what appeared to be dials
and buttons and empty screens.
“Good grief! Look at those
giant computers!” Joe’s usually
loud voice came out hushed.
“ I thought I recognized com
puters, but what are computers
doing way underground like this?”
“That’s not our problem, kid.
Don’t touch anything, but get
yourself together and back out
here. The government mine in
spectors are always finding
peculiar things where there’s
.jg nothing peculiar. Let’s see what
they say about something that
really is weird.”
As Mike slowly shuffled along
the perfectly even wall toward the
entrance hole, his foot touched
something that skidded several
inches away. Glancing over, he
noticed that Joe had pulled back
to let him through the hole. With
out looking down, Mike swept
the floor with his fingers until
he touched a small round, box-like
object which he lifted quickly
and dropped into his jacket
pocket, where it rested unusually
warm against his side.
Three nights later, when Mike
Pandora reported for the mid
night shift, the supervisor met
him at the gate.
He said, “ The president of the
company wants to see you in his
downtown office. He sent his
driver and his car.”
During the entire ride to town
the driver said nothing. In the
modern building, so clean and so
quiet—so different from the coal
mines—a pretty red-haired sec
retary ushered Mike into the
office where the president sat be
hind an immense wooden desk.
With the president was Joe and
a stranger in a blue suit. All three
stared at Mike.
After an uncomfortable silence,
the stranger spoke.
“My name is Legion. I’m the
federal mine inspector in this
area.”
Mike asked, “You’re investi
gating the computer laboratory
we found?”
“Now, nobody’s certain that
what you found is a laboratory.
We’ve had engineers here from
Houston, and we even brought
over a professor of biology and a
crew from the state university to
see if they could discover any
forms of living matter down
there.” The inspector leaned for
ward. “There is absolutely
nothing down there. The engineers
say that the computers aren’t
working, and the biology team
couldn’t find anything living in
the chamber. We’re sealing it up
and forgetting about it. Every
body is forgetting about it.”
Mike looked around, confused.
“But that’s wrong. There is
something alive in there.”
The president spoke carefully,
breaking off each word as if it
were frozen. “ It’s a matter of
national secrecy, son. We can’t
afford to oppose the government
on this.”
Grinning weakly, Mike said, “ I
don’t seem to have much of a
choice, do I?”
The federal inspector nodded
definitely. “ You don’t have any
choice.”
My driver will take you home,
son,” said the president, rising
from his oversized chair. “Take
the night off and forget all this
foolishness.”
Mike wondered if the president
had ever been in his office at mid
night before. Or had his secretary
and driver working, too. The
president seemed to be taking
“all this foolishness” fairly
seriously. Mike decided that the
others might forget, but then the
others didn’t know about his little
round black box.
After the driver had dropped
him at his home, Mike slowly
mounted the stairway inside the
dark house, entered his bedroom
and softly closed the door. On
the bureau top rested the innocentlooking black box. Anxious to
get it into his hands again, Mike
paid little attention to its glowing
appearance.
Over and over, he rotated the
round box, probing with eager
fingers, examining the surface
for openings, or for the slightest
hairline crack in the egg-smooth
covering. Almost as if reading
his thoughts, a rattling sound
began to emanate from the object,
followed by a shivering and
rustling movement as the seamless
surface of the black box began
to splinter.
Remembering the underground
chamber and his panic, Mike
suddenly wanted to stop this, but
inside there was something shim
mering, something growing,
something alive. . .
J-14
M
i k e
P a n d o r a ' s
B
o x
a.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Preview Answer:
Mike and Joe worked in the coal mine
from midnight to eight in the morning.
The “ hoot ow l” shift took place between
____ a. midnight and eight in the morning.
____ b. eight in the morning and four in the
afternoon.
____ c. four in the afternoon and twelve m id
night.
____ d. the summer and fall months.
In the chamber, M ik e found
____ a. poisonous gas.
____ b. a kind o f laboratory.
____ c. goldencomputers.
____ d. mountains o f coal.
Mike Pandora
___ a. was a curious and determined fellow.
___ b. was a disagreeable person.
___ c. wanted to become famous.
___ d. did not listen to his co-workers.
Before M ik e left the chamber, he
____ a. took one last look around.
____ b. snapped a picture.
____ c. insisted that Joe enter.
____ d. scooped up the small box.
Three nights after his discovery, M ike arrived for
work and was met at the gate by the supervisor.
Next,
____ a. M ik e opened the strange box.
____ b. M ik e was asked to leave the mining
company.
____ c. M ik e was taken to see the president o f
the company.
____ d. M ik e returned to his home.
The government
____ a. did not know about the box in the
chamber.
____ b. was honest in its dealings with M ike.
____ c. was probably aware o f what was in the
chamber.
____ d. did not believe what M ik e had told them.
11.
The president of the mining company
___ a. took a strong stand against the
government.
___ b. went along with the government’s
orders.
___ c. was in agreement with Mike Pandora.
___ d. intended to explore the chamber
himself.
In the end, the young miner was
___ a. anxious to see what was inside the
box.
___ b. going to reveal his secret to the world.
___ c. interested in being a scientist.
___ d. sorry he had taken the box.
Another name for the selection could be
___ a. “ Life in the Coal Mines.”
___ b. “ Finding Buried Treasure.”
___ c. “The Mysterious Chamber.”
___ d. “ Meeting a President. ’’
___ a. working together in a difficult
environment.
___ b. a strange discovery and its
consequences.
___ c. an old coal mine.
___ d. the life of a coal miner.
Deveiopyourownsentencesusinganyfourkey wordsfoundin the boxortthe fb/bwhgpage.
i
19
J-14
Mike Pandora's Box
VOCABULARY CHECK
aura
biology
confound
deteriorate
gaseous
radiate
I.
Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct key word from the box above.
1.
Margie’s smile could
2.
The well-dressed woman had an
3.
The old car began to
4.
The students dissected a frog in the
5.
After breathing
fumes, the miner fell unconscious
6.
An accident will
even the best driver.
her warmth and kindness.
of sophistication.
from rust.
laboratorv.
II. Fill in the puzzle using the key words from the box above.
Down
1.
3.
5.
an invisible atmosphere
to spread or move in rays
made up o f gas
Across
2.
4.
6.
fall apart
study o f living matter
puzzle or confuse
The Last judgment
J-15
Learn the Key Words
bereaved
(bi rēvd ')
left desolate and alone
The children were bereaved by the death o f their
parents.
dote
(dōt)
to be too fond of
Grandparents will usually dote upon their grand
children.
gore
(gôr)
blood, particularly clotted blood
There was only gore and wreckage after the plane crash.
morbid
(môr' bid)
gloomy and depressing
To read and think about nothing but tragedy is morbid.
qualm
(kwӓm)
uneasiness; doubt
When the children did not arrive home on time, their
mother felt a qualm about letting them travel alone.
tumult
(tü ' mult)
uproar or commotion
The triple play in the last inning caused a tumult in
the bleachers.
Preview:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the title.
Look at the picture.
Read the first three paragraphs of the selection.
Then answer the following question.
____a. the marriage took place in the public drinking house.
____b. everyone thought the marriage would be a happy one.
____c. the celebration continued for one hundred days.
____d. the prince did not really love his new bride.
Read to find out about a tragic mistake.
21
J-15
The Last judgment
A place you will read about:
W ales— (w alz)— part o f Great Britain.
There are many legends which tell o f masters and their hounds.
Among one o f the most popular is the tale o f Prince Llewellyn
and his deerhound, Gelert.
During the 12th century, in all
of Wales, never was there a more
elaborate festivity than the one
celebrating the marriage of the
handsome and beloved Prince
Llewellyn and his fair bride.
“ One hundred doves were set
in flight with white ribbons
streaming, fifty splendid untamed
horses were released to run free,
and there was music and dancing
in the streets for seven days and
gights.
After the celebration, almost
every person in the public drinking
house agreed that the marriage
was made in heaven and that
the couple would share a lifetime
of joy together.
“What harm could possibly
come to such a man?” the tavern
keeper questioned.
“ Granted, he does have a
flashing temper, but never was
one so handsome, so noble or so
just.”
In the kitchen, an old woman
sadly shook her head.
“Mind my words,” she whis
pered to the maid, “their boasts
and laughter will be drowned in
tears. The dog did howl, just
22 when he put the ring on her
finger! And you saw it for your
self, the hound was facing the
setting sun.”
“The hound is but a pup,”
the maid reassured her, “no more
than a year old. Cheer up ma’am,
the little fellow was howling only
to piotest the white ribbon tied
round his neck.”
The hound had definitely
howled, though. Even the bride
turned around when she heard it.
She knew the dog was waiting for
her, and everyone knew that such
a howl from a hound could only
be an ill omen.
The dog was a deerhound
named “Gelert,” a descendant
from the Royal Kennel of England.
An ancestor of his had been a gift
of gratitude to Llewellyn’s family
and a descendant of that first
hound had been presented to
every bride since that day.
“ Such a dog would know,”
the old woman warned.
The men called the old woman
a witch and mocked her prediction.
It was true she could tell where
to dig a well, and when the rain
would come, but what could a
water-witch know of royal matters?
Such was the happiness in the
castle those first years, that the
seeds of tragedy rotted away,
and the omen was almost for
gotten. Never before had they
seen a dog dote upon a mistress
as Gelert did his lady. Like a
thread that follows the needle, he
was ever at her heel.
The only force that called
Gelert from his mistress was the
sound of his master’s horn.
The blast of the hunting horn
filled Gelert with the savage in
stinct to kill. There was no keener
nose than his in the field, nor
fiercer teeth in a fight.
Gelert was a magnificent
animal. It was a sight to see the
thrill of his excitement in the
chase—to watch his great stride
in and out of bushes, over fences,
across rivers and rocks, or through
a maze of hedge and thorns. With
his nose sweeping the ground he
led the pack; his teeth were the
first to rip the wolf. He relished
bloody flesh and the hunt.
When the hunt was over,
Gelert’s disposition changed. He
had a proud step and followed
his master with gentle devotion,
took food only from his hand,
and guarded his door in the night.
That a man should be blessed
with so loving a wife, and such
a faithful hound seemed happi
ness enough, but more was to
come. A baby was expected in
September.
Early in August, Gelert and his
master were returning from their
hunt with a bag of fat birds
and a string of plump rabbits,
when a servant from the castle
met them excitedly.
Waving his cap, he shouted,
“The baby has come early! You
have a son!”
Then the servant lowered his
head and continued, “ Your wife
is dead.”
Each tragedy is accompanied
by a blessing, so any happiness
is always vanquished by the fear
ful dread of another unexpected
doom. Llewellyn was so bereaved
by the tragedy, that the happiness
which should have been his, was
diminished by an overwhelming
fear of losing the infant, too.
Nothing in the castle was the
same, all life seemed to leave it,
and even voices were hushed as
Llewellyn grieved in sullen silence.
in the evenings, Gelert no
longer frisked playfully, but,
rather, spent the weary hours
resting his head gently, first upon
his master’s knee, then upon his
regal boot.
During the day, Gelert doted
upon the baby as he had the mother.
Always, he lay near the tiny in
fant, unless he heard the sound
of the horn.
All of the village was bereaved
and joined Llewellyn in his
mourning. In their sadness,they re
called the ill omen. Men sat in
silence, while women wept openly,
remembering the howls they heard.
The withered old witch in the
kitchen of the inn spoke of an
other omen.
“ Don’t forget, the hound
howled twice.”
“ Be gone!” the tavern keeper
shouted. “ Rejoice, and count
our blessings. For the Prince has
an heir!”
“ Rejoice as you will,” said the
maid, “the old woman has an in
stinct as knowing as the hound’s.”
“The witch is a morbid old
woman. We drink to our Prince
and his heir!”
And though the village drank,
the fear grew with each passing
day.
Then one day, Llewellyn blew
his horn, and Gelert did not
come. He blew again and still
Gelert was nowhere to be found.
“ He must be in the field,”
Llewellyn said, “ Come,we will
find him.”
They proceeded to the field. It
was a most gloomy day—rain
had left the marsh boggy and the
mist was so heavy that it was
almost impossible to see the
ground. Llewellyn, who was an
expert marksman, let three birds
fly free. Without his favorite
hound, the hunt was dull and
boring. There was a qualm in
Llewellyn’s mind that kept his
thoughts from his hunting. He
kept wondering where Gelert
could be. Suddenly, he turned
his horse and headed home.
No sooner was he on the castle
grounds, then Gelert came
bounding out of the door. Gelert
and Llewellyn were obviously
glad to see each other, but as
Llewellyn was able to get a closer
look, he saw that Gelert was
covered with blood.
The sight shot fear through
Llewellyn’s body and morbid
thoughts through his brain. He
bolted into the house to find
the nurse in tears, her arm cut
and bleeding. She was unable to
control herself and was unable to
speak. Llewellyn did not hesitate,
but ran into his son’s room. The
sight that greeted his eyes stag
gered him. His thoughts were in
a tumult.
The room looked as if it had
been ransacked—furniture and
toys were scattered all over, the
sheets on the crib were torn, even
the curtains were in shreds. The
crib was overturned and the in
fant was gone. For one brief mo
ment, the entire house was silent.
In his panic, Llewellyn’s gaze
fell upon Gelert. The dog was
covered with the same gore that
was in the room, and blood was
dripping from his powerful jaw.
Llewellyn had seen Gelert in
action on the hunt and he knew
how the animal relished blood.
Llewellyn then realized that
when Gelert heard the horn that
day and did not come, it was
because he had gone mad and
attacked and devoured the infant.
His mind still in a tumult and
only wanting revenge, Llewellyn
reached for his sword and in one
J-15
swift, sure move, thrust it through
Gelert’s chest. He heard the agony
of that traitor’s gruesome wail
and was comforted.
Then, Llewellyn heard the
yawning cry of an infant. It was
coming from under the bloodsoaked blankets. There, Llewellyn
found his son, covered with
blood, but alive and well. Next
to him lay the body of an enorm
ous wolf, killed by Gelert.
The qualm of Llewellyn’s con
science put the morbid picture of
Gelert in his memory every day,
and during the night he awoke
to the horrible alarm of that last
pitiful wail. He never looked upon
his son without remorse.
There was a meadow Gelert
especially favored when they
hunted, and there alongside the
bending river, Llewellyn buried
his faithful companion. He
stacked stones around and over
him to create a proper monument,
then drove that wretched sword
into the center so that it would
never kill again.
Years later, a little village grew
on that meadow, and it was
named Beddgelert, a Welch word
meaning, ‘Grave of Gelert.’
If you should go to Beddgelert
today, where the river bends,you
will find a sculpture of the hound.
He stands high on the pedestal,
to express man’s remorse in
harming his most faithful com
panion.
J-15
the Last judgment
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Preview Answer:
b. everyone thought the marriage would
be a happy one.
The old woman predicted an ill fate would befall the
couple because the
___ a. prince and the princess were ill suited.
___ b. hound howled twice at the wedding
ceremony.
___ c. the princess did not want the dog.
___ d. the horses could not be captured.
) Gelert
___ a. was a descendant of a poor family.
___ b. was very jealous of the new baby in the
palace.
___ c. was an exceptionally unusual animal.
___ d. did not give his loyalty to anyone but the
baby.
The prince’s first sorrow was the death of his
___ a. wife.
___ b. child.
___ c. dog.
___ d. horse.
To counteract the loss of the princess, the towns
people
___ a. visited the prince and brought gifts for
Gelert.
___ b. celebrated the arrival of the prince’s heir.
___ c. mourned outside of the castle for many
months.
___ d. had a joyous parade through the town.
First, the prince saw Gelert covered with blood.
Then, he encountered the hysterical nurse. Next,
___ a. he ran to his son’s room.
____ b. he killed Gelert.
___ c. he struck the incompetent woman.
___ d. he found the baby under the blankets.
11.
Gelert was covered with blood because he
___ a. had been in a horrible fight with a deer.
___ b. was struck by his master’s sword.
___ c. had killed a wolf while defending the
baby.
___ d. had attacked the maid in the baby’s room.
The prince was
___ a. justified in suspecting Gelert of the
vicious act.
___ b. unaffected by the loss of his wife and his
hound.
___ c. totally preoccupied with hunting.
___ d. too quick to make a judgment about
Gelert’s guilt.
After the death of Gelert,
___ a. the townspeople had little respect for the
prince.
___ b. the prince was a changed man.
___ c. killing became part of the prince’s life.
___ d. no one would work at the palace.
___ a. “The Wedding Party.”
___ b. “ Joy in the Palace.”
___ c. “The H unt”
___ d. “Too Quick to Act.”
___ a. the effects of grief on an individual.
___ b. how people predict the future.
___ c. looking for a witch in a small town.
___ d. how unreliable dogs are as pets.
Developyourownsentencesusing any fourkey wordsfound in th e box on the foBowrigpage.
1
24
the Last judgment
VOCABULARY CHECK
bereaved
dote
gore
morbid
qualm
tumult
I.
1.
Following the death of his wife, the Prince behaved in a______________________ manner.
2.
The______________________ widow mourned the death o f her husband.
3.
The thief didn’t have a______________________ about taking the diamond necklace.
4.
It is not healthy to______________________ over every single action of a child.
5.
During the battle there was much______________________ and terrifying cries of pain.
6.
The______________________ during the robbery caused the woman to faint.
II. Spell out the key words by decoding the numbers. Then match each one with the correct definition.
a
b
d
e
g
i
l
m
o
q r
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
t
11
u
12
v
13
14
B
____1. 3-9-12-4
a.
left desolate and alone
____2. 10-13-1-7-8
b.
to be too fond of
____3. 12-13-8-13-7-12
c.
blood
____4. 2-4-11-4-1-14-4-3
d.
gloomy, depressing
____5. 5-9-11-4
e.
uneasiness; doubt
____6. 8-9-11-2-6-3
f.
uproar; commotion
Check yo u r answers with the key on page 57.
J-16
Daysofvenice
Learn the Key Words
eccentric
(ek sen' trik)
acting in an odd way; out of the ordinary
Many people consider my Uncle Carl eccentric, simply
because he lets his chickens run around inside the house.
embellish
(em bel' ish)
decorate or adorn; add detail to
She decided to embellish the gown with tiny satin
bows at the bottom.
feasible
(fē zә bә l)
suitable; possible
Your plan to eliminate taxes sounds like a wonderful
idea, but do you think it’s feasible?
gala
(gal' ә )
festive; a festive occasion
The gala opening o f an expensive restaurant attracted
the most important people in town.
incorporate
(in kôr ' p ә rāt)
include; combine into one group
Perhaps Professor Hopkins can incorporate some o f
his ideas into his upcoming book o f essays.
stagnant
(stag' nә nt)
not flowing; foul from standing still
An old boot lay at the edge o f the slimy, stagnant
lagoon.
Preview:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the title.
Read the first four paragraphs of the selection.
___ a. Abbott Kinney used to roller-skate down Venice walk.
___ b. Abbott Kinney was the owner of the Los Angeles
Pacific Railroad.
___ c. Abbott Kinney was a cigarette tycoon who invented
the horseless carriage.
___ d. Abbott Kinney was a wealthy businessman whose
dream was to build a beachfront community similar
to Venice, Italy.
Turn to the Comprehension Check on page 29 for the right answer.
Read to find out about a dream that became a reality.
26
DaysofVenice
The early 1900’s were a time o f dreams, fantasy and a carefree attitude. Abbott Kinney was among
the dreamers o f the era, and he sought to create an entire community exactly like Venice, Italy.
A smiling, bearded man rollerskates down Venice Walk, his greystreaked, shoulder-length hair
catching the ocean breeze, and
his fingers busy strumming the
guitar that is slung across his
shoulder. He zigzags around a
couple of tanned, muscular
joggers who don’t even raise an
eyebrow.
~ In most places, this fellow
would be considered eccentric,
but in Venice, California—well,
let’s just say people around Venice
know of its outrageous history
jnd are prepared for anything.
It all started in 1904. Some
men were driving horseless car
riages, others were building flying
machines, and a cigarette tycoon
named Abbott Kinney wanted to
build the Venice of America.
This wealthy businessman
planned to develop a beachfront
community that had recently
become accessible by the Los
Angeles Pacific Railroad. The
marshy site reminded him of
Venice, Italy. He planned to build
a complex of narrow canals which
would have the same basic func
tion as a highway system. His
vision was a community inspired
Iboth architecturally and culturally
[by the Italian Renaissance.
Some called it a crazy dream,
but Abbott Kinney had the money
and the determination to make
his plan feasible.
On August 15, 1904, a crew of
workers and their teams of horses
began digging the four-foot deep,
seventy-foot wide, half-mile long
canal that was to be known as the
Grand Canal. By September,
other crews had constructed a
1700-foot pier, and were laying
foundations for the electric power
plant.
On the pier, work was pro
gressing on the Ship Hotel and
on a futuristic auditorium where
Kinney was planning his summer
assembly, which would offer the
best of modern culture.
With spring, came sudden
disaster. Stormy seas, the heaviest
in a generation, wrecked the pier
and severely damaged the audi
torium and several other buildings.
An undaunted Abbott Kinney
immediately began construction
on a barrier that would lessen the
impact of the waves.
As the summer approached,
Kinney stepped up repairs on the
buildings and had the pier rebuilt.
The auditorium, which seated
3,600 people, was constructed in
only twenty-eight days.
On June 30th, Venice’s eccen
tric founder opened the flood
gates to the pipes extending
hundreds of feet into the Pacific
Ocean. Salt water rushed into the
lagoon surrounding the canal
network.
On Independence Day, 1905,
40,000 people poured into Venice
for its gala opening. They were
greeted by the lively sounds of a
seventy-five piece Italian band
that was playing by the pier.
Visitors strolled along the two
blocks of column-lined streets,
full of arcades and vendors, that
connected the lagoon to the beach.
The exteriors of Kinney’s stone
buildings were embellished with
sculptures in the Italian tradition.
The buildings’ upper floors ex
tended over walkways, providing
shade.
Twenty-four gondoliers, brought
over from Italy, of course, rowed
the enchanted visitors through
the network of canals. Swimming
and diving contests took place in
the lagoon. On the pier, music
J-16
and speeches kept onlookers en
tertained. And at night,a brilliant
fireworks display exploded over
head, its reflection glowing in the
still waters of the lagoon.
During that gala summer of
1905, Kinney realized that his
dream was not to come true,
after all. People were drawn to
the beach and amusement areas
more than to the cultural offerings,
and, for the most part, they
ignored the well-known speakers
and performers he featured. The
Chicago Symphony, and even
the great actress, Sara Bernhardt,
failed to attract patrons.
Since the Venice of culture was
not financially feasible, Kinney
would have to alter his original
dream and incorporate simpler
tastes to please the residents and
summer tourists.
By autumn, he had embellished
his plan with amusement rides
and other diversions imported
from the Portland World’s Fair.
In January, 1906, eleven new
businesses opened up at the edge
of the lagoon, developing the
new honky-tonk atmosphere.
Carnival barkers outrageously
described their sideshows to
passing visitors, luring them in to
see “Egyptian Mummies,” and
human freaks like Chiquita,
billed as the world’s smallest
woman.
The serenity of the canals was
broken by a newly installed minia
ture railroad system, alternate
transportation for those who
felt queasy on a boat. The small
train crossed over the graceful
bridges that spanned the canals.
The ride cost a nickel and the
public loved it.
By 1907, the Kinney Company
had replaced a temporary tent
city with houses. Small bungalows
and villas rented for thirty-five
dollars a month. Larger cottages
owned by other business people
often rented for “outrageous”
sums like seventy to one hundred
dollars a month!
As time went on, money prob
lems began to crop up. The net
work’s single outlet to the sea
failed to circulate water properly,
and by 1912,the State Board of
Health had already condemned
the canals as a public health
hazard. The sewage system was
faulty, the fire protection system
didn’t work, and the beachfront
was eroding badly. Every spring,
the sea ravaged some part of the
waterfront, but every summer
the resort was ready to take in
more crowds.
And the crowds surged in,
eager to see Abbott Kinney’s
latest novelties. In the second
decade of this century, Venice
boasted three roller coasters,
including the world-renowned
“ Race Through The Clouds”
that stood next to the lagoon.
For a few cents, you could take a
ride on a real camel. America’s
first bathing-beauty contest started
as a promotional stunt for a local
newspaper. Tourists could browse
in shops that offered everything
from mother-of-pearl necklaces
to Italian statues. Vendors sold
ice cream, candy apples, cream
puffs and cotton candy.
As the 20th century took hold
of America, Venice incorporated
more machines into its territory.
It built its own Grand Prix racing
course, the first race attracting
60,000 people. In the skies over
head, daredevils performed flying
stunts in their biplanes, landing
(if they were lucky) at the new
Venice airport, built in 1914.
Just as quickly as it had grown,
the tide of popularity fell back
after the first World War. Radio,
motion pictures and the growing
ownership of automobiles sud
denly began to claim the public’s
entertainment dollar. Kinney’s
amusement, rides were losing
their appeal.
In the next few years, Venice
developed into more of a resi
dential area. Although, by 1920
it already had five public schools
and several churches, the com
munity lacked stability because
of the debts Abbott Kinney had
accumulated over the years. The
dreamer himself died on Novem
ber 4, 1920.
Residents were to become even
more disturbed the following
month. Five days before Christ
mas, fire raced through a dance
hall, destroying Ship’s cafe', the
auditorium, aquarium and every
single amusement ride.
Kinney’s son, Thornton, man
aged to have the section rebuilt for
the following summer despite diffi
culties in getting financial backers.
The early twenties saw Venice as
a playground for Hollywood stars.
It was an era of contrasts: wild
parties and municipal scandals,
lavish beach houses and under
world intrigue. It was the blazing
sunset of Kinney’s dream.
Now an automobile crisis began
to plague Venice. The original
blueprint had not foreseen the
traffic congestion and parking
problem. In addition, sewage dis
posal was becoming increasingly
dangerous and there was an un
dependable supply of fresh water.
The year 1924 brought a second
fire which leveled not only the
pier,but much of the business dis
trict. With two million dollars
damage, repairs would not be
completed by the summer. In fact,
Venice would never look the same
again.
On a summer’s day, five years
later, when trucks pulled up be
side Coral Canal, now Main Street,
to dump the first loads of fill,
over a hundred protesters im
mediately jumped into the drained
canal, trying in vain to shovel out
the dirt. A few canals south of
what is now Venice Boulevard
were left with their stagnant
waters intact.
In the succeeding decades,
Kinney’s amusement pier was dis
mantled and by the 1960’s, buildingcode laws required that most of
Venice’s architecture be torn
apart. However, tourists and
residents still can stroll under
many of the original arcades. On
the few remaining canals, children
throw crumbs to fleets of ducks
that sail under the graceful stone
bridges.
Community groups are fighting
for municipal funds to clean out
the stagnant canals and bring back
elements of the charm Venice
once boasted. And on weekends,
Venice’s boardwalk is crowded
with visitors, vendors, artists and
indescribable eccentrics, all paying
tribute to the dream of Abbott
Kinney.
J-16
Daysofvenice
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Preview Answer:
d. Abbott Kinney was a wealthy business
man whose dream was to build a beach
front community similar to Venice, Italy.
1. Abbott Kinney’s true dream could not be realized
because
___ a. he did not have the financial backing.
___ b. the plans were faulty.
___ c. the public was not culturally oriented.
___ d. his son did not want to work with him.
Venice, California was
___ a. modeled after the city of Venice, Italy.
___ b. designed according to the plans of
Venicetto Buonarotti, an Italian architect.
___ c. not accepted by the wealthy and the
famous.
___ d. to remain just an entertainment center.
The men that rowed the boats through the channels
were called
___ a. fishermen.
___ b. performers.
___ c. vikings.
___ d. gondoliers.
First, Kinney opened Venice as a cultural center.
Then, he added on an amusement area. Next,
___ a. a storm destroyed the pier and the
auditorium.
___ b. businesses opened at the edge of the lagoon.
___ c. tourists stopped coming to the area.
___ d. his son took over with a new plan.
5. According to the selection, which of the following
statements is not true?
___ a. America’s first bathing-beauty contest
took place in Venice.
___ b. Venice had faulty sewage and fire con
trol systems.
___ c. Motion pictures and radio affected the
popularity of Venice.
___ d. By 1920, Venice was no longer a center
of recreation and amusement.
11.
_
The city that Kinney hoped to create
___ a. would have been of little value to
Americans.
___ b. would have had little to offer the
prospective resident.
___ c. is currently being recognized for
what it was meant to be.
___ d. was never meant to serve a truly
worthwhile purpose.
The people of Kinney’s time
___ a. respected Kinney for his goals.
___ b. did not appreciate Kinney’s dream.
___ c. loved the cultural environment that
Venice offered.
___ d. were angered by the addition of the
rides.
Abbott Kinney was
___ a. a foolish and impractical man.
___ b. not a competent businessman.
___ c. a man with good intentions and some
thing to offer.
___ d. too old to have begun such a de
manding project.
___ a. “ Dreams Go Broke.”
___ b. ‘‘The Realization of a Dream. ’’
___ c. “ Settlers Go West.”
___ d. ‘‘The Quality of Culture. ’’
___ a. the people of the 1900’s.
___ b. a man who pursued a dream.
___ c. the love of a son for his father.
___ d. bringing gondoliers to America.
D evelopyourownsentences using anyfourkey wordsfound in th e box on th e fbffowingpage.
i
_
_
29
J-16
Days of venice
VOCABULARY CHECK
eccentric
embellish
feasible
gala
incorporate
stagnant
I.
Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct keyword from the box above.
1.
Lack of rainfall was making many of the smaller lakes and ponds_____________________
2.
A_____________________celebration marked the opening of a new major motion picture.
3.
Paul would often_____________________a story to make it more entertaining.
4.
I would like to_____________________your ideas into my story.
5.
It is_____________________to accommodate three hundred people in a room as large as this one.
6.
Because my aunt lives in the memories of the past, her behavior is quite_____________________.
II. Fill in the blanks in the paragraph below with the key words. When you have finished, you will
have a short account o f the story.
Abbott Kinney’s dream was an_____________________one. He believed that it was
_____________________to bring the culture and atmosphere of Venice, Italy, to America.
A_____________________event marked the opening of the California city called Venice after
its model. But the people of the time were not interested in the cultural aspects of Kinney’s
dream, so he was forced to_____________________other attractions into his plan. Years later,
the water in the canals of Venice would lay_____________________and many of the things
that served to_____________________ the city would be gone.
j -i
NIGHTWALKERS
Learn the Key Words
chronic
(kron' ik)
lasting a long time and recurring frequently
She complained to her doctor about her chronic
headaches.
exploit
(ek' sploit)
1. a daring deed or feat
The author wrote about the unusual exploit o f the
pioneer.
2. to use a person without proper compensation
Sally felt that the company she workedfo r would try
to exploit her.
liability
(li ә b il' ә tē)
something that works to one’s disadvantage; a hindrance
Not being able to read well was a liability on his newjob.
malady
(mal' ә de)
a disease or disorder
Measles is a malady that affects children more often
than adults.
psychiatrist
(si k i ' ә trist)
a doctor who treats people’s mental illness
He has been much happier since he consulted a
psychiatrist about his fears.
rational
(rash' ә nә l)
based on reason; making sense
There is no rational explanation fo r what occurred in
the haunted house.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
3. Read the first two paragraphs of the selection.
____a. Marcia Wollner drove for twenty-three miles while
she was sound asleep.
____b. Marcia Wollner drove her own car out o f the garage.
____c. In Wisconsin, policemen patrol the streets in civilian
clothing.
____d. the policeman arrested the man walking around in
only his underclothes.
Now read the selection„
Read to find out about some people with strange habits.
J-17
NIGHTWALKERS
The nightwalkers are people like you and me. They are perfectly ‘'normal” during the day, but
at night. ..
Marcia Wollner woke up at
three o’clock in the morning and
found herself on a highway at the
wheel of an automobile she did
not know how to drive. A chronic
sleepwalker, Marcia had risen in
the middle of the night, gone to
the garage, and climbed into her
husband’s automobile which had
a manual shift, though her own
car was automatic. After driving
twenty-three miles, Marcia awoke
in utter astonishment, managed
to stop the car, and frantically
summoned her husband to come
jyid rescue her.
In Wisconsin, a male sleep
walker was strolling along the
street at midnight, wearing only
his underclothes, when he was
halted by a policeman. “Why
don’t you let me sleep?” he
complained. “Can’t you see I’m
tired?” And he stumbled on
along the street, still asleep,
leaving a totally bewildered policejnan gaping after him.
A strange spectacle confronted
firemen in Oklahoma one night.
A naked woman was sitting in a
tree, sound asleep, plucking the
leaves off one by one while a
crowd of spectators gathered,
staring at her; 1 amazement. Her
name was lone Weir, and she
was a chronic sleepwalker, so her
husband was accustomed to her
nightly exploits and her tendency
to appear in unexpected places.
When neighbors called him, he
climbed the tree, wrapped his
shirt around lone, and dropped
her into the net which firemen
had spread underneath the tree.
Weird mental feats are per
formed by sleepwalkers, too. A
completely illiterate woman used
to recite long passages of ancient
Greek poetry in her sleep. She
had once worked as the maid for
a minister who read Greek litera
ture out loud, and she had
absorbed the words without
knowing it.
Other sleepwalkers have written
letters, carried on rational con
versations, baked cakes, played
the piano or have gone shopping
while they were asleep. An army
officer used to sleepwalk on his
hands on the roof of his house.
A Florida man often sleepwalked
to the kitchen of his mother’s
home next door and ate a dozen
bananas from her refrigerator.
Then he returned to bed.
The situation was somewhat
different when 14-year-old Donald
Elliott sleepwalked to the refrig
erator, took out something to eat,
and strolled out the back door.
Unfortunately, he happened to
be in a camper that was traveling
fifty miles an hour along a busy
highway. Miraculously, he suf
fered only a few cuts and bruises.
These cases are not as ex
ceptional as you might think, since
more than four million people
walk in their sleep and most often
they are children between the
ages of five and twelve. Usually
a sleepwalker’s eyes are open, his
facial expression is blank, his
movements rigid, and his be
havior may seem perfectly rational.
He does not extend his arms in
front of him, as some people
believe. If he says anything, it is
usually a question like “ Have
you got it?” or “Where is it?”
and when somebody addresses
him, the typical sleepwalker an
swers with just one or two syl
lables, as if annoyed at being in
terrupted.
What causes this strange habit?
Sleepwalking may be a symptom
of a serious malady, either men
J-17
tal or physical, or it may be he
reditary. Such was the case of a
German teacher who came from
a family of sleepwalkers and who
married his cousin. Their chil
dren inherited the liability, and
the whole family would gather
around the dinner table in the
middle of the night, all of them
still sound asleep. Once, when a
daughter knocked over a chair and
broke a mirror, all of them woke
up, realized they had been sleep
walking and sought the help of a
psychiatrist.
Most often,sleepwalking is the
result of emotional problems.
When a second child is born in a
family, the older child may walk
to his parents’ room because he
feeis jealous or lonely and is afraid
of losing their love. An adult
may walk in his sleep after the
loss of a job, promotion to a
more responsible job, the death
of a relative, or a financial prob
lem.
A chronic sleepwalker usually
has deep anxieties that have been
suppressed from his conscious
mind. By day, he may seem happy
and well adjusted, but at night,
he may engage in such exploits as
breaking dishes and furniture, or
even committing crimes.
A woman in Switzerland used
to wonder why her feet were dirty
when she woke up every morning
and there appeared to be no
rational explanation. One night
the police arrested her in the local
cemetery with a shovel in her
hand. She had been robbing
Araves in her sleep!
In New Jersey, an expert
swimmer sleepwalked to his bed
room window, assumed the
position of a diver, and plunged
down to the concrete steps below.
He died from a fractured skull.
A teen-age girl in Kentucky had
a nightmare about burglars in
vading her house, so she fetched
a couple of revolvers from a
cabinet and fired them, injuring
her mother. Another woman
dreamed that her house was on
fire and so, while asleep, she got
up and threw all of her furniture
out of the window.
Psychiatrists say that these are
not ordinary cases of sleepwalking.
Individuals who commit such
violent acts in their sleep are often
suffering from a mental illness.
To stop sleepwalking, some
doctors say that a person who
has this liability should take a
brisk walk after dinner and should
avoid watching violent movies or
reading exciting stories late at
night.
Others recommend rigging up
devices that will wake the sleep
walker, such as a dish of cold
water placed so tha; he will step
into it when he or she gets out of
bed. This is often successful at
first, but the sleepwalker quickly
learns to avoid such obstacles by
climbing out on the opposite side
of the bed.
Usually the most effective way
to prevent sleepwalking is coun
seling by a doctor. Only when
hidden anxieties are revealed and
faced can the chronic sleepwalker
be cured of his strange malady.
If no cure works, sleepwalkers
who commit violent acts must be
guarded at night because of their
tendency to hurt people. This
happened in one of the oddest
cases in sleepwalking history.
Some years ago, a body was
found on the beach in Le Havre,
France. The police could find no
witness and no motive, so, since
the great detective Robert Ledru
was vacationing in the area, they
asked for his help.
Ledru was glad to oblige. He
visited the scene of the murder
and inspected it very carefully.
There were only a couple of clues:
the bullet which apparently had
killed the victim, and a footprint
in the sand. The bullet originated
from a Luger, a very common
variety of gun. Even Ledn’ him
self possessed a Luger, so that
was not very revealing.
Ledru transferred his attention
to the footprint, but that appeared
as if it were not going to prove
much either, as the killer had not
been wearing shoes; only socks.
As Ledru studied the footprint
with a magnifying glass, he
noticed something odd. There
was a hole in the murderer’s sock.
He then remembered that there
was a hole in one of his socks as
well.
The detective removed his right
shoe, stepped on the sand, and
examined his own footprint. It
matched the other exactly. With
growing uneasiness, Ledru re
membered that his socks, which
he wore to bed on chilly nights,
had been soaking wet the morning
after the murder.
Ledru removed the bullet that
had been discovered on the beach,
hurried anxiously back to his
hotel room, and shot his own
gun into the pillow. Then he com
pared the pattern of grooves from
the two bullets, and as he expected
and dreaded, they were identical.
He had discovered the murderer.
Detective Robert Ledru had
committed the murder while
walking in his sleep, so he turned
himself into the Le Havre police,
who at first refused to believe his
story, but finally had to, in view
of the overwhelming evidence.
Ledru was not charged with
murder. He was still respected as
a brilliant detective, but was re
tired from the police department
with a full pension. He spent the
rest of his life in a quiet cottage
in a rural area, with a guard to
watch him while he slept.
J-17
NIGHTWALKERS
COMPREHENSION CHECK
a.
1. lone Weir
___ a. was fully aware of what she was doing.
___ b. did not want to go back home.
___ c. was not aware of what was happening.
___ d. had never gone out in that condition
before.
Sleepwalkers
___ a. only accomplish physical feats.
___ b. never leave the safety of their homes.
___ c. accomplish physical as well as mental
feats.
___ d. do not talk in their sleep.
Sleepwalking
___ a. is very rare in America.
___ b. should not be taken seriously.
___ c. is a perfectly normal thing.
___ d. should be given special attention.
People who walk in their sleep
___ a. will never hurt another person while they
are asleep.
___ b. may have inherited the tendency.
___ c. enjoy a lot of exercise in the evening.
___ d. are not bothered by scary movies or
books.
During the day, a chronic sleepwalker
___ a. may seem perfectly happy and well
adjusted.
___ b. will remember everything that happened
the night before.
___ c. will behave exactly as though they were
still asleep.
___ d. performs his or her job while still asleep.
11.
Preview Answer:
Marcia Wollner drove for twenty-three
miles while she was sound asleep.
To avoid sleepwalking, a person might try
___ a. staying in bed all day and all night
until cured.
___ b. taking a walk after dinner.
___ c. placing a dish of cold water near the
door of the bedroom.
___ d. consulting another family member
about his trouble.
Counseling by a doctor
___ a. is the only sure cure for a sleepwalker.
___ b. has not proven effective in helping
sleepwalkers.
___ c. would probably prove to be a valuable
aid for a sleepwalker.
___ d. should only be considered if the sleep
walker suggests it.
First, Robert Ledru noticed that the bullet was
from a Luger. Then, he determined that the foot
print was somewhat unusual. Next,
___ a. he discovered a hole in the murderer’s
sock.
___ b. he found that the bullet matched the
one from his gun.
___ c. he realized that his socks were full of sand.
___ d. he turned himself in to the LeHavre police.
___ a. “Davtime Delight.”
___ b. “Violent Crimes.”
___ c. ‘‘The Night Prowlers. ’’
___ d. “ Help is on the Way.”
___ a. the cures for sleepwalking.
___ b. a strange and bewildering state of
mind.
___ c. how the police solve difficult crimes.
___ d. sleeping during working hours.
Deveiopyourown sentences usinganyfourkey wordsfoundin the boxon the fb/fowtigpage.
_i
_
34
j
NIGHTWALKERS
VOCABULARY CHECK
chronic
exploit
liability
malady
psychiatrist
rational
I.
1.
The detective searched for a______________________ explanation for the bizarre crime.
2.
The absence of a stop sign on the busy corner is a---------------------------------- .
3.
Ann was known as a______________________ complainer because she was never satisfied with
anything.
4.
Sometimes sleepwalking is an unexplained---------------------------------- .
5.
The visiting______________________ spoke to the group about their feelings and anxieties.
6.
The ski instructor told his fans about his daring_______________________on the snow-covered
mountain.
II. Find the key words hidden below. They may be written from left to right or from top to bottom.
Circle each one. A sample has been done for you.
This page may be reproduced for classroom us~.
J-18
An Act of Vengeance
Learn the Key Words
allure
( ә lür ')
strongly appealing; to tempt
Tom found it hard to resist the allure o f a new car.
bauble
(bô ' b ә l)
a bright ornament; a trinket
The wealthy woman considered the large emerald
mere y a bauble.
betroth
(bi trō TH)
to engage to marry
The young couple announced that they would betroth
at the end o f June.
enthrall
(en thrôl')
to fascinate or charm; to make a slave of
Helen’s beauty would enthrall any man who saw her.
exotic
(eg zot' ik)
strangely beautiful; a foreign thing
The exotic treasures o f the Orient were tempting to
the tourists.
ravish
(rav' ish)
to seiz^ by force; to overcome with joy or delight
Her unusual beauty could ravish even the most cynical
observer.
Preview:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the title.
Read the first five paragraphs of the selection.
____a. the Goddess o f Strife was preparing a feast for the
gods on Mount Olympus.
____b. the Goddess o f Strife was bitter and resentful because
she was not invited to the feast.
____c. the Goddess of Strife offered the golden apple to Hera,
Athena, and Aphrodite, but they all refused it.
____d. the Goddess o f Strife hoped that if she brought the
golden apple as a gift,the gods would invite her to the
feast.
Read to find out about some mythological Greek gods and their problems.
36
J-18
A n A ct o f V en g ea n ce
Revenge among mortals can be a serious enough matter, but when
the gods of Olympus begin to show their anger, anything can happen!
The Greek gods assembled one
afternoon in their magnificent
garden on Mount Olympus to
have an enormous feast. All had
been invited with the exception
of one: the malicious Goddess of
Strife was not included. When
she discovered that the others
had planned a celebration with
out her, she was furious and
devised a clever plan to have her
jievenge.
The wicked goddess created a
golden apple, and on the apple
she engraved, “To the fairest.”
Then, she crept to the edge of the
garden and hid behind a cypress
tree, observing the other gods
and goddesses strolling in the sun
shine among the exotic flowers,
talking happily and drinking
wine from golden goblets. The
trouble-making goddess waited
until the three most beautiful and
most powerful goddesses on
Olympus came near. Then, while
the three were in conversation,
she rolled the golden apple toward
Iheir feet.
Athena, the bright-eyed god
dess of wisdom, reached down
and grasped the brilliant bauble.
“Why, what is this? It says, ‘To
ihe fairest.’”
“Obviously it was intended for
me,” said Hera, the wife of Zeus
and goddess of civilization. She
snatched the apple from Athena’s
hands.
— “Everyone knows that I am
the fairest,” said Aphrodite,
goddess of love. “Give it to me.
Tt is mine.”
The other gods and goddesses
clustered around to discover the
reason behind the dispute. In the
argument that followed, none
detected the Goddess of Strife
sneaking quietly away, laughing
to herself over the disorder she
had created. The brutal war god
believed the prize belonged to
Aphrodite, because he was in
love with her. Others thought
Athena was more beautiful with
her shining eyes and raven hair,
while still others considered that
the apple was intended for Hera
because not only was she attrac
tive, but as Zeus’s wife she was
the most influential of the god
desses . Finally, they all summoned
Zeus to use his authority to make
the decision.
Zeus, leader of the gods, was
thoughtful. He realized that he
must be careful, for whatever
selection was made, the two
jealous losers would remain
dangerous enemies of whomever
made the decision.
Finally, Zeus made his declara
tion.
“ Each of you is so beautiful
that you ravish everyone who
looks upon you. But additionally,
your other characteristics, your
lovely voices and affectionate
natures, so enthrall all who know
and admire you, that it would be
impossible for any of the gods to
make the selection. Since the
apple says, ‘To the fairest,’ we
must have a judge who will not
be influenced by the allure of
your friendship. I shall choose a
mortal to decide.”
At least, Zeus thought, only a
mortal will be lost and I will be
free of the malicious anger of the
two losers. A god would have to
endure it forever.
The mortal whom Zeus selected
to judge the beauty competition,
was Paris, son of the King of Troy.
The messenger of the gods was
sent to Troy to advise Paris that
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite
would appear to him on Mount
J-18
3o
Ida near Troy where the contest
was to take place the following
afternoon. That evening,each of
the three rival goddesses secretly
traveled to Troy and entered the
chamber where Paris was sleeping.
Hera came first and offered to
make Paris the ruler of a great
civilization if he awarded her the
golden apple. No sooner had
Hera departed then Athena crept
in and informed Paris that she
would make him the wisest man
in the world if she were given the
prize. Afterwards, Aphrodite
came and told Paris that if he
selected her, she would give him
the most beautiful woman in the
world for his wife.
When he was alone again, Paris
thought over the choices which
had been presented to him. As
son of the King of Troy, he ex
pected to inherit his father’s
kingdom so,therefore,he had no
ambition to rule another great
city. Like most foolish men, he
already imagined that he was
wise, so he had no desire for
additional wisdom. But to possess
the most beautiful woman in the
world in marriage,was a tempta
tion which had great allure. The
next afternoon as he judged the
beauty competition, he pretended
long and careful consideration.
Indeed, he was ravished by the
attractions of the goddesses and
enjoyed the chance to gaze at
them, but his decision was already
made. He awarded the golden
apple to Aphrodite.
As soon as he had an oppor
tunity, Paris whispered to the
love goddess, “ I have awarded
you the prize. Now how do I get
my reward? Remember your
promise.”
“The most beautiful woman in
the world is Helen, wife of the
King of Sparta,” Aphrodite told
him. “Go and prepare a vessel
for a long voyage. When you
have made the preparations, I
shall appear to guide you.”
Although Paris did not under
stand how he could possibly
betroth a woman who was already
another man’s wife, he obediently
accomplished what the goddess
had instructed, hiring sailors and
preparing a seaworthy ship.
When ail was ready, Aphrodite
arrived as she had promised and
commanded favorable winds to
blow. Within three days, they
entered a port near Sparta, and
Aphrodite guided Paris to the
palace of the king.
The generous King of Sparta
welcomed the traveler from Troy
and prepared a royal feast for the
visitor. When Helen gracefully
entered the banquet hall to take
her place beside her husband,
Paris was overcome with astonish
ment. Never, not even among
goddesses, had he seen such
ravishing beauty. Her golden
hair curled softly around her face,
and her dark eyes smiled gently.
Unable to speak, he knelt before
her and placed a small casket
of jewels at her feet.
“ I see that you admire my
wife’s beauty,” the king said.
“Every man who looks upon her
is as enthralled as you are. Before
Helen and I were betrothed, all
the kings and varriors of Greece
wanted to marry her. Helen’s
father, fearing there would be
fighting and bloodshed among us,
made us sign a blood oath
swearing that we would all pro
tect the marriage of whatever
man Helen chose.” Paris hardly
heard the king. Enchanted by the
allure of Helen’s beauty, he gave
no thought to the warning that
the king’s words implied.
The next morning, the king
invited Paris to accompany him
on a hunting party, but Paris,
eager for the opportunity to be
alone with Helen, informed the
king that he had to attend to
his vessel and his sailors. The
king instructed his wife to make
their visitor comfortable and to
assist him in any way necessary.
When the hunting party had
departed, Paris went to Helen
and again knelt before her, saying,
“Oh fairest one, forgive me for
the poor baubles I brought last
evening. They are not elegant
enough for your beauty or for
the kindness you and the king
have shown me. Come with me
to my ship and select what you
desire from the treasures of
Troy.”
Helen hesitated, but it was cus
tomary for travelers to present
gifts of appreciation to the
royal family, and besides, she
was curious about the exotic
jewels Paris had brought from
Troy. They walked together to
the shore and boarded the ship.
Paris immediately took Helen to
the cabin below, and while she
was admiring the jewelry, Aphro
dite appeared on the deck and
gave a signal to the sailors. As
the men set the sails and lifted
the anchor, the love goddess sum
moned such a gentle breeze that
by the time Helen noticed the
motion of the vessel, they were
far out to sea—their destination,
Troy.
When the king returned from
the hunt that evening and dis
covered that his wife had been
stolen away by the treacherous
visitor, he sent messengers
throughout Greece to the warrior
kings who were bound by the
oath to protect his marriage to
Helen. Aided by the jealous god
desses, Hera and Athena, the
Greek kings assembled their arm
ies, prepared stroijg vessels, and
sailed for Troy.
And thus began, over three
thousand years ago, the most
famous battle of the ancient world,
a battle that was to rage among
gods and mortals for ten years
on the windy plains of Troy. This
was the revenge of the Goddess
of Strife, which all began with a
golden apple.
J-18
A n A ct of V engeance
Preview Answer:
b. the Goddess of Strife was bitter and
resentful because she was not invited
to the feast.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
The Goddess of Strife sought revenge because she
___ a. believed she was the most beautiful of all
___ b. was angered at not being invited to the
feast.
___ c. was saddened at the sudden abduction of
Helen.
___ d. lost at an attempt to bribe Paris.
Zeus was
___ a. baffled by the difficult situation.
___ b. aware of the goddesses' secret plans.
___ c. a clever and diplomatic ruler.
___ d. a vengeful and angry god.
According to the selection, which of the following
goddesses was not in the contest?
___ a. Strife.
___ b. Aphrodite.
___ c. Athena.
___ d. Hera.
First, Paris chose Aphrodite as the winner of the
contest. Then, he sailed to Sparta. Next,
___ a. the ship left Sparta with Helen aboard.
___ b. Aphrodite broke her promise to him.
___ c. Paris was overwhelmed by the sight of
Helen.
___ d. Helen left her husband so that she could
be with Paris forever.
Zeus
___ a. dealt fairly with his responsibility.
___ b. imagined that a mortal could make a
more objective decision.
___ c. knew that his wife was the fairest.
___ d. neglected his responsibility by shifting it
to a mortal.
The revenge of the Goddess of Strife
___ a. was limited to the three fair goddesses
___ b. never materialized.
___ c. touched many more lives than was
originally intended.
___ d. v. as justified.
The result of the scheme involving the golden
apple was
___ a. feuding among all of the gods.
___ b. the downfall of the Spartan Empire.
___ c. the resignation of Zeus as leader of
the gods.
___ d. a ten-year war.
___ a. “ Helen Returns.”
___ b. ‘‘The Fairest of Them All. ’’
___ c. “Sparta at War.”
___ d. “ Helen and Paris.”
___ a. people of humility and self-control.
___ b. the effect of one event upon another.
___ c. the stealing of another man’s wife.
___ d. what it is like to be a god.
D evelopyourownsentences usinganyfourkey wordsfoundin th e boxon the foDowhgpage.
11.
i
_
_
—
—
Paris
___ a. was a man of little integrity.
___ b. had a difficult time deciding which
goddess was the fairest.
___ c. was a man of great foresight.
___ d. never intended to steal Helen from
the king of Sparta.
.
_
-
39
J-18
An Act of Vengeance
VOCABULARY CHECK
allure
bauble
betroth
enthrall
exotic
I.
1.
The_______________________o f the Caribbean Islands is difficult to resist
2.
The music box will_______________________a young and curious child.
3.
Her_______________________perfume attracted the attention o f every man in the room.
4.
The enemy planned to_______________________the village and claim all that it contained.
5.
With this beautiful diamond ring, John will_______________________Susan.
6.
Karen won a_______________________at the carnival.
II.
Unscramble the numbers to spell out the correct key words. Then write the letter o f the correct
definition for each on the line next to the word.
a
b
c
e
h
i
1
n
o
r
s
t
U
V
X
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
A
B
1 . 2-4-12-10-9-12-5
a.
to tempt
2. 4-15-9-12-6-3
b.
a trinket
3. 1-7-7-13-10-4
c.
to engage to marry
4. 4-8-12-5-10-1-7-7
d.
strangely beautiful
5. 2-1-13-2-7-4
e.
to fascinate or charm
6. 10-1-14-6-11-5
f.
to seize by force or desire
40
ravish
The Little Giant
Learn the Key Words
compulsion
(kә m pul' shә n)
a very strong desire; an impulse that is almost irresistible
Whenever I get nervous, I have the compulsion to bite
my nails.
credentials
(kri den' shә ls)
references; letters showing that a person has the
necessary qualifications
The lawyer showed us his credentials to put us at ease.
exasperate
(eg zas' pә rat)
to irritate or annoy very much
Susan’s brother began to exasperate her when he
wouldn ’t let her study.
naive
(nӓ ev ')
foolishly simple; unsophisticated
Do you think that people who believe in miracles are
naive?
stalwart
(stôl' w ә rt)
steadfast and sturdy; unyielding
The stalwart warrior continued to shoot arrows, even
after he had been wounded.
tawdry
(tô ' drē)
gaudy;cheap
The bright red walls and thin purple curtains gave the
dance hall a decidedly tawdry look.
Preview:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Read the title.
Read the first four paragraphs of the selection.
____ a. when Carl Laemmle arrived in America from Germany,
he opened the Universal Film Company in Chicago.
____ b. Carl Laemmle was in his late thirties before he arrived
in America.
____ c. Carl Laemmle planned to go far in the clothing busi
ness.
____ d. Carl Laemmle was a middle-aged man when he decided
to start his own business.
Read to find out about a determined and clever man.
19
The Little Giant
Making it in the motion picture business requires determination and brain-power. Making it to
the top is even harder.
On February 14, 1884, a five
foot-tall, seventeen-year-old boy
stumbled off the U.S.S. Neckar,
which had just anchored in New
York Harbor. The homesick, sea
sick immigrant, whose only em
ployment credential was a job in
a stationery store in his native
Germany, never could have im
agined that he would someday be
known as the man who created
the Universal Film empire.
— In fact, Carl Laemmle didn’t
see his first moving picture until
]ie was thirty-nine.
By this time, he was a family
man looking for a solid invest
ment; a hard-working individual
whose compulsion to succeed in
business had taken him from
Manhattan to Chicago, then
North Dakota and finally, Osh
kosh, Wisconsin. There he had
risen to the position of manager
of a clothing store by displaying
keen salesmanship and a special
flair for publicity. For example,
to spur business, he offered cus
tomers free turkeys for volume
purchases.
~ However, when hard work did
not earn him the raise he expected,
an exasperated Laemmle took his
Ifa
family back to Chicago where he
planned to start his own business.
[Pi
He was seriously considering
opening a five-and-iime store
when chance led him into a nickel
odeon. A nickelodeon was usually
a store which was converted into
a movie theater by adding chairs.
The price of admission was five
cents and while silent movies
were shown, a pianist played suit
able background music.
This type of investment looked
intriguing. Customers were all
paying cash at the door and this
was encouraging, for storekeepers
often had to give credit. Further
more, moviegoers walked out
empty-handed, leaving the film
in the theater, where it could be
shown hundreds of times over.
Carl could see that this new
form of entertainment was pro
gressing fast, too. In 1903,
Edwin S. Porter, an American
director, produced the first nar
rative film, The Great Train
Robbery. It was the first to tell a
story and it was also eleven
minutes long!
Other businessmen considered
moving pictures to be a fad, not
the sort of venture to be entered
into by a married man with two
children. Nevertheless, in January
1906, Carl Laemmle rented a
vacant building, transforming it
into his first nickelodeon.
He may have been optimistic
about the potential of the film
field, but he certainly was far
from naive. He knew that if he
expected to make his theater a
successful enterprise, he would
have to make sure that it not only
looked respectable, but that it
was respectable as well. This was
true of the films themselves, too.
So, while other movie houses
sometimes had a tawdry appear
ance, Laemmle’s gave an im
pression of wholesomeness—a
place you could take the whole
family. Its exterior was painted a
sinless white.
The White Front, as it was
called, became so popular that,
within two months, Laemmle
started his second movie house—
the Family Theater. When Laem
mle became dissatisfied with the
services of his film distributors,
he began his own film exchange.
Within three years, the Laemmle
Film Service was the largest film
distributor in the United States.
J-19
Success soon brought Laemmle
up against an exasperating group
of film producers who were intent on
taking control of the film industry.
Their Motion P icture P a te n ts
Company was trying to buy out all
the film exchanges.
When
exchange owners refused to sell,
the Trust, as the Company was
called, would refuse to supply them
with films to distribute. Under
this kind of threat, most owners
either sold or quit.
S talw art Carl Laemmle was
among the exceptions. Infuriated,
the small, middle-aged man decided
to face his opponent. His weapon
would be publicity.
He announced that he was going
to independent film production,
and in a trade paper, he made several
promises to film exhibitors that he
would always supply them with
films and they would get the best
service and best prices possible.
The film exhibitors, whether they
thought he was crazy for this action
or not, backed him up completely.
After all, what did they really have
to lose?
His next action was even more
daring. He published the facts of
what the Trust was attempting to
do, using a cartoon ch aracter
named General Flimco, a paunchy
and greedy tyrant who exploited
the honest, smaller film exhibitors.
The G eneral and his victim s
appeared regularly in full-page
advertisements in Show World and
Moving Pictures News.
The Trust fought back by making
sure other articles ridiculed
Laemmle, whom they called “little
man with the big noise.” Within
three years they brought nearly
300 court actions against him, and,
not stopping at words, they sent
professionals to smash Laemmle’s
equipment and beat up his employees.
By 1912, however, the giant
Trust was cut down to size by the
A m erican legal system . A fter
Laemmle won an important court
battle, the government itself filed
suit against the Trust, forcing it to
put an end to its illegal practices.
The exhausting battle had not
stilled Laemmle’s compulsion for
progress. Even while it was going
on, films were being produced by
Laem m le’s new film company,
Moving Pictures of America, which
was shortened to IMP, an appropriate
description of its daring president.
Its first film was an adaptation
of Longfellow’s poem, Hiawatha.
“You can bet it’s classy,” read
Laemmle’s publicity, “or I wouldn’t
make it my first release.”
With twelve pictures in 1909
and more th a n a hu n d red the
following year, the immigrant was
on his way to building a film
empire.
C arl Laem m le was also r e
sponsible for building up the “star
system.” When other rival motionpicture companies were trying to
keep the names of their actors and
actresses anonymous, so that they
did not have to pay excessive
salaries, Laemmle decided to put
his stars’names on marquees.
When IM P’s p resid en t lured
actress Florence Lawrence away
from Biograph Studios, another,
production company, the newspa
pers suddenly announced that the
Biograph Girl, as she was known
by her fans, had been killed by a
streetcar in St. Louis. The public
was shocked.
C arl Laem m le im m ediately
set out to prove th e sto ry a
fraud. He would have been naive
not to suspect his Trust enemies of
p lan tin g the false item in the
newspapers.
Again, he used publicity to his
advantage. He published a dis
arm ing photograph of Miss
Lawrence under the heading, “WE
NAIL A LIE,” together w ith an
article denying Miss Lawrence’s
death, announcing that the actress
herself would appear in St. Louis
on a certain day.
When the train rolled into the
St. Louis te rm in a l, re p o rte rs,
photographers and an emotional
crowd cheered as Florence
Lawrence appeared. The crowd,
overjoyed that Florence was indeed
alive and well, surged toward her.
They tore a t h er clothing and
snatched buttons for souvenirs,
making her feel so tawdry that she
wanted to quit the movie business.
Before she did quit the industry,
however, she starred in a series of
films that showed her name in all
its glory. From then on, movie
perform ers began to have th eir
names on the screen, allowing them
to command higher and h igher
salaries.
Now, few people in the film
world could deny Carl Laemmle’s
extraordinary talent for meeting
conflict head-on.
He a ttra c te d many ta le n ted
people, too. D irectors Irving
Thalberg and George Cukor, actor
Lew Ayres and a ctress M ary
Pickford, were among his many
associates. There were others,
some of whom were distant rela
tives, like the brilliant director,
William Wyler whom “Uncle Carl”
had brought over from Germany.
Although not all the relatives on
the studio lot were the most talented,
everyone was impressed by Uncle
Carl’s generosity.
The crowning glory of the
Laemmle empire was the opening
of Universal City in 1915, a whole
municipality devoted to the making
of films.
IMP had become
Universal Film Manufacturing.
Thousands of sp ectato rs
cheered the little man who crossed
the outdoor stage to declare the
ceremonies open. Famous stars
of the silent screen, government
dignitaries, studio officials and
costumed cowboys, Indians, sol
diers and clowns all waited to hear
him.
“I hope I didn’t make a mistake
in coming out here,” Laemmle told
them.
T hat unique com bination of
simple words, a shrewd mind, and
a s ta lw a rt sp irit made Carl
Laemmle one of Hollywood’s most
memorable studio giants, or as
someone said upon his death in
1939, “the little man who was a big
man.”
43
J-19
The Little Giant
COMPREHENSION CHECK
Preview Answer:
d. Carl Laemmle was a middle-aged man
when he decided to start his own
business.
1. Carl Laemmle came from
___ a. Italy.
___ b. Germany.
___ c. Sweden.
___ d. America.
First, Laemmle worked as the manager of a clothing
store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Then, he returned to
Chicago. Next,
___ a. he took a job as a promoter of films.
___ b. he worked for a bank called the Trust.
___ c. he opened a nickelodeon.
___ d. he defended his rights against the Trust.
A nickelodeon was a
___ a. bookstore.
___ b. film studio.
___ c. moviehouse.
___ d. dance hall.
According to the selection, which of the following
statements does not show that the nickelodeon was
a profitable business?
___ a. A piano player set the mood with back
ground music.
___ b. People pay cash at the door.
___ c. The film can be viewed repeatedly.
___ d. The film industry was an ever-growing
business.
Laemmle dealt with his rivals
___ a. in a hostile, underhanded way.
___ b. through a series of insulting filmstrips.
___ c. with little regard for his associates.
___ d. in a forthright, firm manner.
11.
Independent Moving Pictures of America
___ a. became the successful Universal Film
Manufacturing.
___ b. was bought out by more powerful
interests.
___ c. hired only exceptional and experi
enced help.
___ d. was not selective in its film dealings.
Universal City
___ a. was a new type of housing develop
ment.
___ b. was a site for movie making.
___ c. received its finances directly from
the Trust.
___ d. lasted only a few years.
Carl Laemmle was a
___ a. dreamer in a lost cause.
___ b. demanding and pompous individual.
___ c. man who lacked creativity.
___ d. man of foresight and integrity.
___ a. “ Learning About Business.”
___ b. “The Little Man with Big Ideas.”
___ c. “The Film Industry.”
___ d. “Making Money the Easy Way.”
___ a. the will to succeed through honest
effort and hard work.
___ b. making stars out of unknown actors
and actresses.
___ c. cleaning up the movie industry.
___ d. coming to America to live and work.
Deveiopyourown sentencesusing any fourkey wordsfound in th e box on the fb/towingpage.
i
—
1
.
—
-
—
—
-
—
—
44
J-19
T h e
L i t t l e
G
i a n t
VOCABULARY CHECK
compulsion
credentials
exasperate
naive
stalwart
tawdry
I. Fill in the blank in each sentence with the correct key wordfrom the box above.
1.
Marion was young and______________________ enough to believe Sam’s ridiculous story.
2.
The man’s consistent failure to understand began to______________________ his companion.
3.
His______________________ were in order so he was permitted to cross the border.
4.
Peter’s______________________ to gamble lost him one month’s pay.
5.
The girl’s mother was embarrassed by the______________________ dress her daughter wore to
the celebration.
6.
The______________________ commander led his troops bravely into battle.
II. Fill in the puzzle with the key words from the box above.
Down
1.
2.
3.
to irritate or annoy very much
references
unsophisticated
Across
2.
4.
5.
an urge or impulse
gaudy; cheap
steadfast; sturdy
45
J-20
Victims
Learn the Key Words
cull
(kul)
pick out; select
The teacher reviewed the test scores in order to cull
the best students for a special lesson.
furtive
(fėr' tiv)
secretly; sly
Margaret left the house in afurtive manner.
hapless
(hap' lis)
unlucky; unfortunate
The hapless family was left homeless because o f the
flood.
illegitimate
(il i jit' ә mit)
not legal; not according to law
The boys were involved in the illegitimate sale o f furs.
proficient
(prә fish' ә nt)
skilled; expert
Practice can make most people proficient at tennis.
secluded
(si klü ' did)
isolated; hidden from others
The Smith family liked to go to their secludedfarm
house in the mountains.
Preview:
1. Read the title.
3. Read the first, two paragraphs of the selection.
____a. John Watson was a driving instructor and a respected
member of the community.
____b. John Watson was being very cautious not to arouse
the suspicion o f anyone.
____c. John Watson owned a stereo warehouse and was taking
some equipment home to test it.
____ d. John Watson was training to be a policeman and was
assigned to the dark, dimly lit section o f town.
Turn to the Comprehension Check on page 49 for the right answer.
Now read the selection,
Read to And out about a less than desirable occupation.
46
Vi cti ms
John Watson is a master at his work. He is skilled, shrewd and confident. Perhaps a little too
confident. ..
As John Watson drove his van
down the dimly lit side streets, he
cautiously looked about and
made certain that he observed all
stop signs, traffic signals and
speed limits. His furtive glances,
to either side, were not attempts
to be a model driver, but, rather,
were efforts to avoid attracting
attention. If the police were to
catch him breaking any driving
rules, they would most definitely
learn about his illegitimate oc
cupation. John Watson was a
burglar and he had just made his
last stop for the evening. He was
returning home from a profitable
evening’s exploits and his van
was completely filled with elec
tronic equipment and stereo
systems. Having taken so much
time to cull these precious items,
Watson was being exceptionally
^autious to obey all of the rules.
In fact, Watson tried so hard
to avoid making mistakes of any
kind, it had become a natural
way of life for him. The first
thing John had done was to ac
quire a house in a secluded area,
far from the main section of
town. The house was set far back
from all main roads and was sur
rounded by a wooded area and a
large meadow. Before beginning
his elusive enterprise, Watson
was careful to maintain a respect
able image. He acquired a job as
a clerk in the town hall and re
turned home each night promptly
after work. His objective was to
suggest the image of an ordinary,
quiet citizen for the benefit of all
those who might be interested.
Watson maintained this routine
for several months before ven
turing out into the dark cover of
the night and testing his skills as
.a burglar.
While waiting for the right op
portunity to arrive, John did not
waste his free time in favor of
worthless pursuits. He practiced
his moves and plans until he
believed that he was proficient
enough to attempt his first job.
Then he practiced the second
phase of this training—picking
locks and lifting heavy, bulky
objects. Equipped with the neces
sary tools and instruments, he
practiced throughout the night
until the objects could be moved
with ease. This last phase of
lifting and transporting was
necessary since Watson’s pre
ference was for electronic equip
ment, stereos, radios and tele
visions.
Watson planned to continue
these illegitimate activities only
for as long as it took him to
accumulate a small fortune. He
was not partial to work of any
kind and so he was dedicated to
the goal of accumulating enough
money, at the expense of his hap
less victims, to retire to a sunny
island with nothing to do but
reap the benefits of the “good
life.”
Thus far, Watson’s career
could be considered a success in
two ways: the money he accumu
lated and the freedom from sus
picion. Nc one ever began to sus
pect that the man in the secluded
house could ever be anything but
a fine, upstanding citizen. Mean
while, he was putting away
thousands of dollars in a dresser
drawer filled with old letters and
photographs. It would only be a
matter of time until Watson
would be lying on that sunny
beach and watching the palm
trees flutter in the breeze.
Watson thought with pride of
his living room full of the items
J-20
4o
he was able to cull through his
illegitimate activities. He re
viewed them in his mind and
marvelled at his own powers of
imagination, skill and daring.
Once a week, Watson would
welcome some of his equally
shady acquaintances into his
home and allowed them to choose
the items that they believed could
be quickly and easily turned into
cash. Right there, they would
estimate the value and imme
diately pay Watson for his trouble.
Then, under cover of darkness,
they would remove their selected
items and carry them away from
Watson’s house, providing space
in the living room for new objects.
On this particular night, Wat
son was especially proud of him
self. He had burglarized a store
that had an excellent security sys
tem. Without any trouble, he
was able to penetrate the system,
move quietly through the store
and select some of his favorite
items. His van was filled to
capacity with all of the items that
were favored by his fellow thieves
and were sure to bring him great
sums of money. He was so pro
ficient that he no longer avoided
stores with elaborate security
systems.
After moving the items into a
van, the difficult part was com
pleted and the only problem left
was to arrive safely at home and
remove the items, unnoticed, in
to his living room. Watson had
to admit that the latter part was
not as exciting as the actual burg
lary because it was not as danger
ous. The excitement and thrill of
overcoming obstacles, such as
security systems, could not be
matched by the mere possibility
of passing a red light and being
given a traffic ticket.
As Watson drove slowly toward
his secluded house, he imagined
the horrified expression on the
face of his most recent, hapless
victim when he opened his store
in the morning. He approached
the dirt road to the house, drove
slowly up to the driveway and
turned the van around in order to
back it up as close as possible to
the front door.
As he opened the driver’s door,
he looked around slowly and
carefully to make certain that no
one was around, even though it
was quite unlikely at this early
hour of the morning. Before
opening the door to the house,
he gave one final furtive glance
back toward the road and over
the open fields.
As he was looking around, he
noticed fresh tire tracks in the
mud, which he did not recognize
as those from his van. John Wat
son suspected that something
was very wrong—even before
walking up the front steps and
entering the house. His hands
grew cold and his body began to
tremble as he got out of the van
and approached the front door.
With a gentle touch, the door
yielded, providing a clear view of
the front hallway.
Watson’s heart began to beat
frantically and he could feel the
blood rushing to his face. He ran
into the house, and stopped short
at the entrance to the living room,
where all his newly acquired
objects had been placed.
The room was now bare,
stripped of the paintings above
the fireplace. It looked as though
no one had been there for years.
Watson’s blood pounded in
his temples and he gritted his teeth
until his jaws ached. He was re
luctant to admit it, but at long
last he had to. He, John Watson,
master burglar, had been relieved
of “his” possessions in the very
same way that he made his living.
Still in shock, Watson moved
from the barren living room to
the other rooms in the house and
found a sight even more un
settling. His very own television
set, that was in the bedroom,
was missing, as well as his radio,
his shaving equipment, his tape
recorder and two expensive lamps.
Watson was beside himself with
anger. But his anger was to reach
even greater proportions as he
approached the drawer which held
his fortune and the Drice of his
tropical island.
His heart pounded frantically
as he pulled the drawer out of the
dresser and emptied its contents
on the floor. Apparently, the
burglars had found the drawer
with his treasure and had robbed
him completely of his dream for
the future. All those months of
saving and hard work had been
erased with one vicious act.
Watson was thoroughly dis
gusted and was determined that
the criminals would pay for their
terrible crime. He instinctively
moved toward the telephone to
notify police about the burglary
of his home, but when he heard
the operator’s voice, he realized
what he was about to say and the
full realization of what had
happened finally struck him. He
silently replaced the receiver back
on the phone and sat down on
the floor. He stared at the tele
phone for a moment, then looked
around at the almost empty
room.
All of a sudden, he chuckled,
and the chuckle became an un
controllable laugh. As the sun
came in through the window, the
tears glistened on John Watson’s
cheeks, as his laughter echoed
through the empty rooms.
J-20
Victims
Preview Answer:
b. John Watson was being very cautious
not to arouse the suspicion of anyone.
COMPREHENSION CHECK
1. According to the selection, which of the following
was not part of Watson s plan?
___ a. Driving with exceptional care.
___ b. Taking a house in a secluded area of
town.
___ c. Robbing stores with simple alarm systems.
___ d. Holding a legitimate j ob.
2. In order to become a proficient thief, Watson
___ a. went to a special electronics school.
___ b. asked his friends for assistance.
___ c. studied and practiced his technique.
___ d. planned and executed a jail break.
3. John Watson stored his stolen goods in
___ a. his living room.
___ b. a warehouse.
___ c. the town hall.
___ d. his basement.
4.) John Watson
___ a. never really wanted to cause anyone pain.
___ b. dealt with respectable salespeople.
___ c. took delight in the dismay of his victims.
___ d. did not have a well*planned operation.
5.) John Watson’s goods were
©
___ a. probably taken by one of the people
he dealt with.
_b. not really valuable to anyone but himself,
.c. hidden throughout his house,
.d. probably returned to their rightful
owners by the police.
11.
First, Watson loaded his van with the stolen
electronic equipment. Then, he drove home slowly.
Next,
___ a. he entered his house and found some
burglars there.
___ b. he unloaded the goods into his living room.
___ c. he called the police to report that he had
been robbed.
___ d. he noticed fresh tire tracks leading up to
the front door.
John Watson
___ a. was not aware that he was hurting
others.
___ b. was only interested in valuable coins.
___ c. was an insensitive individual.
___ d. relied only on his friends to make a
living.
If John Watson had not been robbed, he would
have
___ a. kept his job in the town hall.
___ b. never known the true feelings of his
victims.
___ c. stopped his illegal activities.
___ d. grown careless as he grew older.
___ a. “The Irony of it All.”
___ b. “Plans for the Future.”
___ c. “ Living in a Small Town.’’
___ d. “An Impossible Dream.”
___ a. crime as a career in a small town.
___ b. an exciting, rewarding way of life.
___ c. learning how to start your own business.
___ d. a criminal getting what he really
deserved.
Developyourownsentences using anyfourkey wordsfound in the box on the followingpage.
i
49
J-20
Victims
VOCABULARY CHECK
cull
furtive
hapless
illegitimate
proficient
secluded
I.
1.
John became_______________________at the piano after years o f dedicated practice.
2.
Jane wanted to_______________________the ripest fruit for the salad.
3.
Gambling is an_______________________practice in many states.
4.
The Greens’ vacation cabin is located in a_______________________part of the woods.
5.
The_______________________accident victims sat near their car, shocked and bewildered.
6.
A fox is a_______________________animal.
II. Find the key words hidden in the box below. The words may be written from top to bottom or
from left to right. Circle each one. A sample has been done for you.
A S
P J
R A
O S
F c
I H
C (M
I K
E O
N R
T I
S F
N
D
B
E
P
A
E)
O
B
C
M
U
L Z I
K H L
Q J L
U D E
W L G
G O I
I A T
Q
V c J M I
F w Q R M
U L L N A
R Z P C T
R T I V E
I
O
s
c
z
E
H
A
P
L
E
S
S
B
O
M
D
S
K
I
R
P
O
D
L
50
KEY WORDS
Lessons J-11—J-20
j-11
dormant
embryo
incandescent
maternal
nucleus
vigil
J-13
anonymous
benefactor
bogus
coroner
cryptic
glib
J-15
bereaved
dote
gore
morbid
qualm
tumult
J-12
futile
intolerable
listless
progression
recuperate
somber
J-14
aura
biology
confound
deteriorate
gaseous
radiate
J-16
eccentric
embellish
feasible
gala
incorporate
stagnant
51
KEY WORDS
Lessons J-11 through J-20
J-17
chronic
exploit
liability
malady
psychiatrist
rational
J-19
compulsion
credentials
exasperate
naive
stalwart
tawdry
52
J-18
allure
bauble
betroth
enthrall
exotic
ravish
J-20
cull
furtive
hapless
illegitimate
proficient
secluded
COMPREHENSION CHECK ANSWER KEY
Lessons J-11—J-20
QUESTION NUMBER
LESSON
NUMBER
PAGE
NUMBER
1
2
3
J-11
C
a
©
<3>
b
J-12
b
a
®
d
b
J-13
©
b
d
©
a
®
J-14
a
b
d
<e> ©
®
H
J-15
b
©
a
J-16
c
a
d
J-17
c
c
©
J-18
b
©
a
J-19
b
<S>
c
J-20
c
c
a
4
5
6
[c ] ®
<3> [c ]
<s> c
b
8
7
®
d
[d] ®
9
A
A
A
A
Code:
d
c
®
a
4
S
9
a
14
E
19
A a
A
b
a
b [c] <
S>A
<$> [d] ® © d A
a © a
b Cd] A
© <3> © [b] A
<$>
10
a
a
E
a
a
24
29
34
39
44
49
= Inference
= Sequence
□
= Critical Judgment
A = Another Name for the Selection
□
= Main Idea
53
VOCABULARY CHECK ANSWER KEY
Lessons J-11 through J-20
LESSON
NUMBER
J-11
PAGE
NUMBER
THE MATERNAL INSTINCT
I.
J-12
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
embryo
nucleus
dormant
maternal
incandescent
vigil
II. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
False
True
False
True
False
True
SURVIVAL
I.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
futile
recuperate
listless
progression
somber
intolerable
10
II. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
intolerable
futile
listless
recuperate
progression
somber
55
Lessons j - 11 — J-20
PAGE
NUMBER
LESSON
NUMBER
J-13
I.
J-14
1. anonymous
2. bogus
3. benefactor
4. coronor
5. glib
6. cryptic
MIKE PANDORA’S BOX
I.
56
15
QUILL’S LAST CASE
1. radiate
2. aura
3. deteriorate
4. biology
5. gaseous
6. confound
II.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
True
True
False
True
True
False
VOCABULARY CHECK ANSWER
Lessons J-11— J-20
LESSON
NUMBER
J-15
PAGE
NUMBER
THE LAST JUDGMENT
I.
J-16
1. morbid
2. bereaved
3. qualm
4. dote
5. gore
6. tumult
25
II.
1. b—dote
2. e—qualm
3. f—tumult
4. a—bereaved
5. c—gore
6. d—morbid
DAYS OF VENICE
I.
1. stagnant
2. gala
3. embellish
4. incorporate
5. feasible
6. eccentric
30
II.
1. eccentric
2. feasible
3. gala
4. incorporate
5. stagnant
6. embellish
57
Lessons J-11— J-20
LESSON
NUMBER
J-17
PAGE
NUMBER
NIGHTWALKERS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
J-18
II.
AN ACT OF VENGEANCE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
58
rational
liability
chronic
malady
psychiatrist
exploit
35
allure
enthrall
exotic
ravish
betroth
bauble
40
II.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
c—betroth
d—exotic
a—allure
e—enthrall
b—bauble
f—ravish
Lessons J-11—J-20
LESSON
NUMBER
J-19
THE LITTLE GIANT
I.
J-20
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
naive
exasperate
credentials
compulsion
tawdry
stalwart
VICTIMS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
proficient
cull
illegitimate
secluded
hapless
furtive
II.
59
PRONUNCIATION KEY
The pronunciation of each word is shown just after the word, in this way:
ab bre vi ate ( bre´ ve at).
e
The letters and signs used are pronounced as in the words below.
The mark ´ is placed after a syllable with primary or heavy accent, as in the
example above.
The mark ´ after a syllable shows a secondary or lighter accent, as in:
ab bre via tion ( bre´ ve a´ sh n).
e
b
ch
d
bad, rob
child, much
did, red
e
e
er
let, best
equal, be
term, learn
f
g
h
fat, if
go, bag
he, how
i
i
it, pin
ice, five
j
k
l
m
n
ng
jam, enjoy
kind, seek
land, coal
me, am
no, in
long, bring
t
th
TH
tell, it
thin, both
then, smooth
u
u
ü
cup, butter
full, put
rule, move
o
o
ô
oi
ou
hot, rock
open, go
order, all
oil, voice
house, out
v
w
y
z
zh
very, save
will, woman
young, yet
zero, breeze
measure, seizure
e
hat, cap
age, face
father, far
fault, all
air, care
e
a
a
ä
â
ã
represents:
in about
in taken
in pencil
in lemon
in circus
p
r
s
sh
paper, cup
run, try
say, yes
she, rush
a
e
i
o
u
EDCON Publishing Group, Inc.
www.edconpublishing.com

Reading Comprehension Workbook_Level 10

Transcription

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