4000 Essential English Words

chimney. 
But it’ s 
not just a story. St. Nicholas was a real person.
A long tim e ago, a man named Marcus 
occupied 
a house w ith his family. He was not 
modest. 
He always told everybody he was the strongest man in the 
province.
He worked hard, but he could barely 
sustain 
his family. He wanted to save money 
and 
prosper. 
Still, he could never earn a 
penny 
more than he needed.
One day, Marcus made an agreement w ith a 
blacksmith. 
The blacksm ith had a lot of 
work to do. But he couldn’t do it all by himself. Marcus wanted to help him 
forge iron.
The blacksmith agreed to 
compensate 
him w ith a lot of money.
In the same tow n, there was a man named Nicholas. At an early age, Nicholas 
started 
preaching. 
But he also believed tha t he should be 
humble 
and 
charitable. 
He 
learned that helping people gave him even more 
satisfaction 
than preaching.
One day, Nicholas 
encountered 
Marcus. Marcus told Nicholas about his agreement 
with the blacksm ith. “ I worked hard for him ,” Marcus said, “ but a problem 
arose. 
Even 
though I worked for him, he d id n ’t pay me.”
Nicholas wanted to help Marcus. That night, he went back to Marcus’ s house. He 
brought a bag of gold. It 
exceeded 
the am ount that Marcus needed. Nicholas clim bed 
up a 
ladder 
and dropped the bag of gold down the chimney. Marcus thanked his 
benefactor.
Soon, people found out about Nicholas’s gift. He became well known and loved. 
Even today, people still give secret gifts to children. And we say they are from St. 
Nicholas.

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j j ^ . y ^
VIMI
A Mark each statement 
T 
for true or F for false. Rewrite the false 
statements to make them true.
1.
Marcus occupied a home w ith Nicholas.
2.
Marcus told Nicholas about his problem when he encountered Nicholas.
3.
A problem arose for Marcus because he enjoyed preaching.
4.
Nicholas got a lot of satisfaction from being charitable and hum ble.
5.
Marcus was compensated by the blacksm ith for helping forge iron.
6.
The money that Nicholas gave Marcus exceeded the am ount he needed.
CICMT B Answer the questions.
1. Which of the follow ing is true about the job Marcus did?
a. He made pennies. 
b. He was compensated unfairly,
c. He preached to people. 
d. He barely sustained his family.
2. Why d id n ’t Nicolas tell people that he gave money away?
a. He prospered. 
b. He d id n ’t want to be modest,
c. He wanted to be humble. 
d. He wasn’t popular in the province.
3. What was dropped down the chimney?
a. A penny 
b. A ladder
c. Gold 
d. A benefactor
4. Why did Marcus want more money?
a. To buy more iron 
b. To feed his fam ily
c. To give it away 
d. To become a blacksmith

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acquire 
[akwaiar] 
v.
To