The Miser

Once there was a man who loved money more than anything else in the world. He hated spending it and was also afraid of losing it or having it stolen by thieves. One day he decided to change all his money into gold, but he was so afraid that somebody would find it that he buried it in his yard.
Every two or three days he would go out to his yard and dig up the gold so he could look at it. Then he would bury it again because he never intended to spend it. One day he came out to the yard and discovered that somebody had learned about his secret and had dug it up. His gold was gone and the hole was empty.
He moaned and groaned and began to tear his hair. A neighbor, seeing that he was overcome with grief came over and said, “You really haven’t lost anything. Why don’t you just bury a big rock and pretend it is gold? Since you never planned to spend it anyway, the rock will be as good as gold for you, and you can dig it up and bury it any time you want to.”
VOCABULARY
1. What is the definition of “a miser”?
A “miser” is a person who ________________________________________________.
2. Please pronounce these words with the sound of “ise” or “ize”
a. a high-rise building
b. a big prize
c. What size do you wear?
c. a wise woman
d. He’s a miserly man
3. f v + es

thief thieves
leaf leaves
knife knives
life lives
wife wives
half halves
self selves
shelf shelves
wolf wolves
but belief beliefs
chief chiefs

a. I thought I saw a thief steel the money. The police found two thieves.
Choose two singular “f” words and write a sentence with the singular and another sentence with the plural for both.
b. _______________________________________________________________
c. _______________________________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________________________
e. _______________________________________________________________
4. “to moan” is a verb. “to groan” is also a verb. Let’s hear you moan and groan.

5. He “began to tear his hair.” means
a. He got a haircut. b. He was very angry. c. He cried.
6. “He was overcome with grief.”
a. He was extremely sad. b. He came over and cried. c. He hates to be sad.

GRAMMAR
1. MORE THAN used with a noun or pronoun.
“He loved money more than anything else in the world.”
a. I love you more than anyone else in the world.
b. He ate more food than anyone else at the party.
c. He drank more [wine, beer, alcohol] than he should have.
d. I did more homework last night than I have done all semester.
Can you write a sentence with MORE THAN and a NOUN or PRONOUN
e. _______________________________________________________________
2. HATE and LOVE and LIKE and ENJOY
“He hated spending it.” [You can say, “He hated to spend it. or
She loves to spend her money on shoes.]
BUT. . . when LIKE or LOVE means ENJOY, use ____ING
a. I love eating chocolate.
b. I like studying English.
c. He enjoys reading.
d. My nephew hates doing his homework.
Please try to write a sentence with HATE and another with LOVE/LIKE/ or ENJOY.
e. _______________________________________________________________
f. _______________________________________________________________

3. SO + adjective (or adverb) + THAT clause
“He was so afraid (that) somebody would find it that he buried it in his yard.”
a. I was so tired that I couldn’t eat dinner.
b. The bus was so late that she decided to walk to school.
c. My friend walked so slowly that she missed thee bus.
Please try writing your own example:
d. _______________________________________________________________
4. ANYTHING, ANYWAY, ANY used with NEGATIVE ideas
“You really haven’t lost anything.”
“Since you never planned to spend it anyway.
a. I don’t have any sisters./ money. (plural or non-count nouns)
b. He doesn’t know anything about it.
Now, you try writing two sentences using ANYTHING, ANYWAY, or ANY
c. _______________________________________________________________
d. _______________________________________________________________
5. ANY TIME, ANY PLACE ANYWHERE, ANYONE
“You can bury it any time you want to.”
You try writing sentences using all four words from above.
a. ANY TIME ____________________________________________________
b. ANY PLACE _______________________________________________________
c. ANYWHERE ___________________________________________________
d. ANYONE _______________________________________________________
6. AS (ADJECTIVE) /or adverb AS means something is the same as the other thing
“as good as gold” “The rock will be as good as gold.”
a. as tall as He is as tall as his father.
b. as hungry as I am as hungry as a wolf.
c. as well as He drives as well as I do.
d. as slowly as He walks as slowly as a tortoise
Now, you write a sentence using as ________ as
e. _______________________________________________________________
7. Give me some advice like this: “Why don’t you just bury a big rock?
a. Why don’t you write a letter to your mom? b. Why don’t you get up earlier?
c. ________________________________________________________________
8. How many past-tense verbs can you find? (simple past, present perfect, past perfect)
Subjects verbs (infinitive)
1. a man was to be
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

9. What verbs are used with MODALS
Subjects verbs (infinitive)
a.
b.
c.
d.

CONVERSATION Work with a partner and talk about the answers to these questions.
a. Who are the characters in this story?
b. What did the man bury? and why?
c. What advice did the neighbor give the miser?
d. What does “the rock will be as good as gold for you.” mean? ________________________________________________________________________

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