He 20th Century technology time line

noun
verb
adjective
alteration
alter
creation/creator
create
creative
destruction
destroy
destructive
equality
equal
evidence
evident
happiness
happy
institution
institute
safety
safe
B.
Use the new words
Complete the sentences with words from the chart in Part A. Use appropriate 
verb forms.
1.
a. 
He made several _______________________________ to the document 
before he printed it.
b. 
They _______________________________ the coat so it would it a 
smaller person.
2.
a. 
The artist _______________________________ several beautiful works.
b. 
He is very proud of his _______________________________.
c. 
Everyone wanted to speak to the _______________________________ of 
the work.
3.
a. 
The war _______________________________ the city.
b. 
The _______________________________ was terrible.
c. 
The weapons were very _______________________________.
4.
a. 
We were guaranteed _______________________________ treatment.
b. 
The people fought for _______________________________.
5.
a. 
He presented _______________________________ to support his argument.
b. 
The truth of his statement was _______________________________.
6.
a. 
They were _______________________________ about the changes.
b. 
The end of the war brought _______________________________ to the 
people.
7.
a. 
We need to _______________________________ some changes around here.
b. 
That bank is a wealthy _______________________________.

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The Early United States | 79
8.
a. 
A government’s irst concern is the _______________________________ 
of its people.
b. 
The colonists didn’t feel _______________________________ because 
they didn’t have rights.
V. UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR
A.
Read about that clauses after mental activity verbs
Some verbs are often followed by a noun clause beginning with that. A noun 
clause always contains a subject and a verb.
We believe that all men are created equal.
Many of the verbs commonly followed by noun clauses are “mental activity” 
verbs—they describe things that are happening in our minds. They include:
agree
assume
believe
decide
discover
guess
hope
know
learn
notice
predict
prove
realize
think
understand
While speaking, it is possible to omit that from sentences with noun clauses, 
but it is often included in writing.
Use verbs from the previous word list to complete the sentences. Be sure to use 
the correct verb forms. More than one answer may be possible.
1. Columbus ________________________ that he would reach Asia by sailing west.
2. He didn’t ________________________ that he wasn’t in Asia.
3. Paul Revere ________________________ that the British were coming by sea.

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80 | Better Reading English
4. The colonists ________________________ that they had to declare 
independence.
5. Everyone ________________________ that war wouldn’t last long.
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the excerpt again. Answer the question.
What rights are mentioned in the text?
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS’ JOURNAL
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
Christopher Columbus left Spain on his irst journey to the New World in 1492. 
He returned to Spain in 1493 thinking that he had traveled to Asia. During the 
voyage, he kept a journal describing the places and people he saw. This 
excerpt tells about his meeting with native people in the Caribbean. Columbus 
never came to the land that is now the United States, but his voyages showed 
other Europeans how to get to the Americas.
B.
Words to know before you read
The following words from this text are not very common:
wrought
made of or shaped from. This meaning is archaic (not used 
in modern English).
javelin a light spear
strove
past tense of strive, which means try or make an effort. 
Strive is used today, as in We strive for success, but this 
irregular past tense form is not common.
vessel
a container. This word is more commonly used now to 
mean ship or boat.
baker’s 
peel
a flat shovel-like tool that bakers use to transfer loaves of 
bread or pizzas into or out of an oven.
calabash
a water container
C.
Reading strategy
Read the first sentence and the last sentence in the following text. Then answer 
the questions.
1. How did the native people come to the ship? 
2. What did Columbus learn from the natives?

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The Early United States | 81
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
Christopher Columbus’ Journal
They came to the ship in canoes, made of a single trunk of a tree, wrought in a 
wonderful manner considering the country; some of them large enough to 
contain forty or forty-ive men, others of different sizes down to those itted to 
hold but a single person. They rowed with an oar like a baker’s peel, and 
wonderfully swift. If they happen to upset, they all jump into the sea, and swim 
’til they have righted their canoe and emptied it with the calabashes they carry 
with them. They came loaded with balls of cotton, parrots, javelins, and other 
things too numerous to mention; these they exchanged for whatever we chose 
to give them. I was very attentive to them, and strove to learn if they had any 
gold. Seeing some of them with little bits of this metal hanging at their noses, I 
gathered from them by signs that by going southward or steering round the 
island in that direction, there would be found a king who possessed large 
vessels of gold, and in great quantities.
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Select the correct answer from the passage.
1. What were the canoes made of?
a. 
gold
b. 
cotton
c. 
a tree trunk
2. How many people did the smallest canoe hold?
a. 
one
b. 
forty
c. 
forty-ive
3. What did they use the calabashes for?
a. 
for trading
b. 
for taking water out of the canoes
c. 
for carrying gold
4. Which thing did they carry in the canoes?
a. 
gold
b. 
baker’s peels
c. 
birds

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82 | Better Reading English
5. What did they wear on their faces?
a. 
metal bars
b. 
a large amount of gold
c. 
a small amount of gold
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Classify words
Find these words in the text, and decide if they are used as verbs or nouns. 
Write them in the correct place in the following chart.
canoe
oar
row
empty
cotton
parrot
steer
right
gather
trunk
upset
quantity