Lesson M Main?

 First Story?

Lesson M -  (most-used 880-923)

especially   average   quality    former    argue    date    army   patient   combine command   enjoy   express   health   fail   gain   pain   below   neither  opinion   bill   marry   hospital   shoot   film   hang   suffer   manufacture   prevent   popular   worth   murder   model   forget   extend   distance   memory   shake   frame   extreme   comfort   discover   tooth   bridge   declare

 

And here is your Lesson M story...........Sound......mp3?

 

GEORGE'S MISSING FILM

 

George was a film maker who provided news films to the local television stations. Usually he just stood back and watched things and took pictures from far away. But this time he was climbing extremely high above a large bridge to get a special story. It was far too high for comfort. He was climbing toward a former patient from an army hospital. The man failed to marry the woman he loved, and so he declared he would end it all on this date.  If George could shoot these frames of film it would be worth a lot. He would finally be able to pay his bills, and provide for his family’s health.

 

People on the bridge below were stopping their cars to look up at the two men. It was a long distance down.

 

As George came near, the other man shouted to him. “Do you want to use me for a model?”

 

“I’d rather you didn’t do it at all.” George shouted back, and climbed even closer to the man.

 

“Do you film murders?” the man asked. He did not have to shout now.

 

“They don’t tell me about it before.” George said.

 

“Well this is like a murder, only I’m murdering myself. Do you think people will enjoy seeing me suffer?” The man was smiling now, strangely.

 

“I’d like to prevent it.”

 

“If you have a sound recorder, we could combine it all to make a great film. What if I hang by one arm, like this?” The man slipped from his sitting position and was hanging now by one arm. The crowd below was watching every move.

 

George was shaking now. He could not just sit back and watch this time. He had to discover a way to gain control of the situation. “In my opinion, neither sound or film will really express what you feel,” As he talked, George closed the distance between him and the hanging man.

 

“You care what pain I feel?” the man said.

“I care especially for what you feel.” George said, “It makes a better story. But I want a real quality story that will be popular with the average viewer. But that will take some time…and your arm won’t hold you much longer.”

 

He was filming the man all the time. Now the picture was right on the man’s face. George was holding onto the bridge structure with one hand, and taking film with the other.

 

“I’d like to help you manufacture this story,” the man said. “But I don’t think I can hang on much longer….”

 

“Then don’t argue with me,” George commanded, surprising himself. “Take my hand and I’ll pull you up.”

 

As the hanging man put his free hand out, his other hand began to slip. George extended his hand quickly, letting all his film tools fall from his arm as he reached out for the man’s hand. All of his chances for paying his bills, for fixing his son’s bad tooth. All of it was falling down, down away from him…as he reached out for the hand of a stranger.

 

“No story in recent memory has been like this!” the newsman said later that night, as the film was showing George far above on the bridge. George stretched out dangerously, pulling the hand of the man over to the bridge structure. Then he was catching the man’s shirt and pulling him up to safety. “No one can forget this! They keep calling the station to see it over and over. We know a boy down below quickly took George’s film tools from a truck where they had fallen. It was an open truck full of flowers. The boy just pointed it up and took this great story on film from down below.”

 

Just then George himself walked into the television station. A large crowd gathered around him. “Can we get you to say something?” said the head news chief.

 

“Well, I’d just like you to pay me for the film.” George said.

 

“Oh, sorry about that,” the news chief said. “We paid the boy in bills, but we didn’t get his name. So….he wasn’t with you?”

 


In this lesson's WordMaker™, we start looking at the many endings we use for making hundreds of new words:  COMBINE - a verb in our words below, can easily become COMBINATION -- a noun.  COMBIN - (then drop the e, and add - ATION). The word TOOTH, below, could add -LESS and become TOOTHLESS, an adjective....Have fun!



argue -- to discuss with someone who disagrees (to Story)
army -- a group of people armed for war (to Story)
average -- usual, normal, or usual quantity (to Story)
below -- in or to a lower place (to Story)
bill -- a statement of charges, which you pay for services; also, paper money (to Story)
bridge -- a structure to pass over a waterway, or another road (to Story)
combine -- to put or add together (to Story)
comfort -- a state of being calm and feeling no pain (to Story)
command -- orders(s) to do something (to Story)
date -- the day of the month (to Story)
declare -- to make known formally (to Story)
discover -- to arrive at through search and study (to Story)
distance --  the length from one place to another (to Story)
enjoy -- to experience a feeling of pleasure (to Story)
especially -- in a special way (to Story)
express -- to put into words (to Story)
extend -- to stretch out (to Story)
extreme -- of the greatest possible degree or intensity (to Story)
fail -- an action that does not reach success (to Story)
film -- motion picture (to Story)
forget -- to be unable to remember (to Story)
former -- the first of two, or the thing before (to Story)
frame -- a supporting structure over which something is built (to Story)
gain -- to win something through one's efforts (to Story)
hang -- hold up from falling (to Story)
health -- general condition of body and mind (to Story)
hospital -- organization providing treatment for the sick and injured (to Story)
manufacture -- make by hand or by machine (to Story)
marry -- to join as a husband and wife (to Story)
memory -- the store of things one can remember (to Story)
model -- n. a small copy; or, an example to be followed (to Story)
murder -- killing of a human being by another (to Story)
neither -- not either (to Story)
opinion -- a judgment not backed by proof (to Story)
pain -- an unpleasant feeling in the body (to Story)
patient -- a person who requires medical care (to Story)
popular -- widely liked (to Story)
prevent -- to keep from happening (to Story)
quality -- a high and desirable level in a given thing or person (to Story)
shake -- to move quickly backwards and forwards, up and down (to Story)
shoot -- to hit with a bullet, or to make film pictures (to Story)
suffer -- to feel pain (to Story)
tooth -- one of the hard parts in the mouth for biting (to Story)
worth -- value or importance (to Story)

Top

Ready-to-Use

a.      express: express oneself (express myself) "You express yourself when you play the piano."

b.     fail: fail a test "I am unhappy because I failed the big test."

c.      suffer: suffer from something "She is suffering from a cold."

d.     worth: it is worth +V+ing (it is worth reading) "His book is worth reading."

e.      Shake: shake hands  "Men shake hands to show they are friends."