The Sticks of Truth

A long time ago in India, judges traveled from village to village. One day a judge stopped at an inn to rest, but the innkeeper was very upset. That day, someone had stolen his daughter’s gold ring.
The judge told the innkeeper not to worry and had all the guests come together so that he could question them. Each person told the judge, “I’m not the thief.” Since the judge could not figure out who the thief was, he decided to use some magic. He told them he was going to use the “sticks of truth”.
He explained, “These magic sticks will catch the thief.” He then gave each guest a stick to keep under their beds during the night. “The stick belonging to the thief will grow two inches during the night. At breakfast, we will all compare sticks. The longest stick will be the thief’s.”
The next morning, the judge had all the guests come over to his table and hold their sticks up next to his to see if they had grown. Each person held up his stick; but one after the other, they all were the same. None had grown any longer.
Then suddenly the judge called out, “This is the thief! Her stick is shorter than all the rest.”
Once caught, the woman confessed and she returned the ring; but all the guests were confused about the sticks. The judge had said that the longest stick would be the thief’s. Instead, it had been the shortest.
QUESTION: Why?
ANSWER: Not one of the sticks was magical. The only one who was worried about being caught had cut off two inches of her stick during the night so that she could hide its growth. Since the sticks were not magical, her stick ended up being the short one.
VOCABULARY Choose one answer.
1. an inn n. (A judge stopped at an inn to rest.)
(a) a hotel providing overnight lodging for travelers
(b) a truck stop
(c) a café
2. an innkeeper n. (The innkeeper was very upset.)
(a) a café owner
(b) a truck driver
(c) the person who owns or manages a hotel/inn.
3. guests n. (All the guests came together.)
(a) volunteers
(b) family members
(c) a paying customer in a hotel or restaurant
4. magic n. (He decided to use some magic.)
(a) music
(b) good food
(c) any art that makes you think impossible things are possible
5. confessed v. (The woman confessed and returned the ring.)
(a) to admit, under pressure, something inconvenient or damaging to oneself
(b) to be confused
(c) to fight with your fist

GRAMMAR
1. The judge told the innkeeper not to worry.
Report what you tell someone NOT to do. Use NOT + an infinitive
Examples:
I told my son NOT to play in the street. I told him TO PLAY on the sidewalk.
He told me NOT to call after 10 p.m.
YOUR TURN:


2. She had cut off two inches of her stick during the night so that she could hide its growth.
All the guests came together so that he could question them.
SO THAT clause (group of words) to show a result
Examples:
YOUR TURN:
a. I’m studying English so that ________________________________________
b. He went to the bank so that _________________________________________
c. I’m going to practice driving so that __________________________________
d. _______________________________________________________________





3. KNOW, DON’T KNOW + who, what, where, when, why, how
a. Do you know where India is? Where is India?
I know where India is.
I don’t know where India is.

YOUR TURN
b. Do you know what time it is? What ______________________ ?
I know what time it is.
I don’t know what time it is.

c. Do you know how much this book is? How much __________________?
I know ___________________________
I don’t know __________________________

Ask me a question like the ones above.
d. Do you know where______________________________________ ?
Where ___________________________________ ?
Tell me I know where _______________________________________________
I don’t know where __________________________________________

4. END UP + _ing
a. Her stick ended up being the short one.
b. She didn’t want the low-paying job;
but because she needed the money, she ended up taking the job.
YOUR TURN
c. _________________________________________________________

5. adjectives comparatives superlatives
Write the sentence from the story that uses the comparative and the superlatives.
short
comparative: __________________________________________________
superlative: __________________________________________________

long
comparative: __________________________________________________
superlative: __________________________________________________

YOUR TURN
tall
comparative: __________________________________________________
superlative: __________________________________________________





6. WORRIED ABOUT + noun or + gerund (two-word verbs)
a. The only one who was worried about being caught was the woman.
b. I’m worried about my test.
c. She’s worried about taking a plane.
d. He’s worried about being late.
YOUR TURN:


7. VERBS Find all the present, past, future, and past perfect verbs

subjects present past future past perfect
a. judges 1. 1. traveled 1. 1.
2. 2. 2. 2.
3. 3. 3.
4. 4. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
CONVERSATION
a. What do you think should be the punishment for the thief?


b. Do you think it was fair for the judge to use this method to catch the thief?




sgati©2009