Lesson R -
blame compete stomach repair
storm hunger crash tonight
tongue coal ruin punish breathe
pencil border joke cheap
excuse ceremony decrease prize harm
bite stupid broadcast resist passenger
pipe cheer swear bury wealth
borrow owe seldom praise brave
seize moderate dig custom
nail mercy bath
Business Words: anyone acquire rent inventory necessitate miracle flight solution complicate complex
And here is your Lesson R story... .Sound....mp3?
JUDY GETS A CHANCE
The call from Mr. Ferguson made Judy's stomach turn.
"We don't think anyone is to blame here," said Mr. Ferguson, "and we really don't want to punish anyone, or cause any harm to anyone."
Judy tried to breathe. "Then is this a joke?"
"Well no, as I said, we are sending Mrs. Henderson to acquire your records and processes, and then close down the store if it looks like it can't compete."
"I have no excuse sir," said Judy. "But is there anything I can do?" Judy started to bite her lip, and tears came to her eyes. She held her tongue now.
"I think not. It has become very complicated." said Mr. Ferguson, with no cheer.
Judy decided to ask for mercy. "I swear I would try to decrease your losses," she said.
"It would be impossible to repair something that is bordering on ruin," said Mr. Ferguson. "We have borrowed against our company's wealth. All the clothing inventory we have bought you, all the window displays, all the rent we have paid: all that necessitates money. We really owe a lot on your store, and we are taking a bath."
"I feel a little stupid," said Judy, finding it difficult to resist, and digging her fingernails into the chair.
"Tonight our Mrs. Henderson will be a passenger on the 9 o'clock flight. She will come to your store in the morning."
"So I guess I need a miracle," said Judy.
"Or maybe a bit more than that." He had seldom praised her, ever. Mr. Ferguson's custom was to bury people with no ceremony at all.
Nina stopped by after work to talk with Judy.
"I don't want to broadcast this," said Judy. "But unless Mrs. Henderson's plane crashes in the coal-black night, and she dies of hunger in a storm, I will have to be very brave to seize this prize back now."
"You will be brave," said her friend Nina. "And also, there's a moderately cheap solution coming down the pipe."
Judy was confused. "What does that mean?" said Judy. "Is it something complex?"
"No," said Nina. "it means that if you give me a pencil and some paper, I will show you a way out of this."
Another Story? More Ready-to-Use?
acquire -- take something and make it yours (to Story)
anyone -- some other person (to Story)
bath -- large container used to wash the body.
Idiom: to lose a lot of money (to Story)
bite -- to cut into or off with the teeth (to Story)
blame -- to hold responsible, to express disagreement
(to Story)
border -- line separating two countries, properties, or subjects
(to Story)
borrow -- to get from someone and be returned
(to Story)
brave -- controlling one's fear when facing a danger
(to Story)
breathe -- to get air in and out of one's chest
(to Story)
broadcast -- to send on by radio or television
(to Story)
bury -- to place in the ground
(to Story)
ceremony -- a formal set of acts done according to custom
(to Story)
cheap -- not expensive, or the things one can buy for very
little money (to Story)
cheer -- n. shout of approval v. to make someone else feel
good (to Story)
coal -- a black substance used as natural fuel
(to Story)
compete -- to measure oneself against others;
to take part in a game or other competition (to Story)
complex -- with many elements
(to Story)
complicate -- make something difficult to understand (to Story)
crash -- n. a loud repeating noise v. to fall down hard
(to Story)
custom -- a usual practice (to Story)
decrease -- change to a lower amount
(to Story)
dig -- to make a hole in the ground, or an eye
(to Story)
display - v. to show or present n.
a presentation (to Story)
excuse -- v. to forgive, or give a reason
so someone else can forgive you n. a reason for
failure (to Story)
flight -- a schedule airplane trip (to Story)
harm -- damage, injury, to hurt another person
(to Story)
hunger -- a strong desire or need for food
(to Story)
inventory -- all of the things a store or business keeps
to sell later (to Story)
joke -- a fun story (to Story)
mercy -- more kindness than justice requires
(to Story)
miracle -- something that happens with the help of God
(to Story)
moderate -- not extreme (to Story)
nail -- n. a thin pointed piece of metal, or, a hard plate on back side of fingers
(to Story)
necessitate -- make necessary
(to Story)
owe -- to be in debt to; to borrow some money but but not
giving it back yet (to Story)
passenger -- a person travelling in a ship, train, airplane, etc..
(to Story)
pencil -- instrument for writing (to Story)
pipe -- a tube through which a liquid or gas flows
(to Story)
praise -- the act of saying that a thing or person is good
(to Story)
prize -- a reward won in a competition (to Story)
punish -- to cause discomfort to a person because of some offense
(to Story)
rent -- allow someone to live in a place if they pay for an
amount of time there (to Story)
repair -- v. to fix n. the
process of fixing something (to Story)
resist -- to work against
(to Story)
ruin -- n. total destruction; v. cause not to operate
(to Story)
seize -- to catch something suddenly; "seize up" - to stop
the motion of (to Story)
seldom -- not often to be found; rarely (to Story)
solution -- the answer to a problem
(to Story)
stomach -- a large structure inside the body to process food
(to Story)
storm -- strong winds with rain or snow (to Story)
stupid -- not intelligent (to Story)
swear -- to give one's word before a judge
(to Story)
tongue -- moving body part in the mouth (to Story)
tonight -- on the present night
(to Story)
wealth -- much money or property (to Story)