Word List. Unit 8
If someone is adept at something, they are very good at doing it.
The carpenter is very adept at building houses.- If land is barren, it has no plants growing on it.
People cannot farm in barren lands. - If something is ceramic, it is made of baked clay.
The house’s roof was made of ceramic tiles. - If something is culinary, it is related to cooking.
I gained culinary skills after working in a restaurant for many years. - If something is dense, it has a lot of things close together.
I easily became lost in the dense forest. - Dignity is the ability to be calm and worthy of respect.
When his company went out of business, he faced it with dignity. - To dominate someone or something is to control them.
The loud man dominated the conversation. - If something is edible, you can eat it.
We learn about edible plants when we go camping. - If someone is hostile, they are angry and unfriendly.
We were happy to move away from our hostile neighbor. - Your intake of food is the amount of food you take into your body.
The doctor said I needed to increase my intake of fruits and vegetables. - If someone does something likewise, they do the same thing as someone else.
If joe is staying away from school to go swimming, I want to do likewise. - Malnutrition is the condition of not getting enough nutrients.
After eating only a meager amount of food, she suffered from malnutrition. - Medication is medicine or drugs given to people who are sick.
The doctor gave me medication to treat my illness. - A misconception is a wrong idea about something.
People once believed the misconception that the Earth is flat. - If something is obscure, it is not well-known.
The old man travels the world in search of obscure books. - To oppress someone means to rule over them in a cruel and unfair way.
Free speech had been oppressed in his country. - To peel fruits and vegetables is to remove their skin.
We peeled the apple before eating it. - A prescription is permission from a doctor to get medicine.
The doctor gave me a prescription for my medication. - A respirator is a machine that helps weak or sick people breathe.
The man needed a respirator to breathe. - To strive is to struggle to achieve something.
People who strive to succeed often do.
Becoming a Healer
Years ago, I worked at a small health clinic in a remote country. I had gone there to treat an obscure syndrome. It attacked people’s lungs, causing them to need a respirator to breathe. I was trying out a new medication to treat these people instead of using a respirator. If I was successful, I would become famous. Everything was going fine until war broke out in a nearby country. Many people from that country fled the hostile invading army. The army wanted to dominate the people, but the people didn’t want to be oppressed. So they walked hundreds of miles across barren land to get away.
Some of these people came to our clinic fortreatment. I talked with them and learned of their difficulties. They did not beg or complain. I was impressed by their dignity. There was one woman I will never forget. Her son suffered from malnutrition and stomach pain, and she didn’t know what to do. Neither did 1.1 was not adept at treating malnutrition. Nonetheless, when I saw her sadness, I knew I had to help her son. The woman had been feeding her son bread and water. She had a misconception that it would be enough for him.
However, I knew that he needed to eat vegetables, too. So I took her outside and showed her a dense patch of edible plants. I taught her how to dig up the roots, peel them, and cook them for her son. I explained that she should increase her son’s intake of these vegetables. Likewise, she should strive to get him some meat once a week to help him regain his strength. I sent her off with a prescription for some pain medicine, but she also left my office with some new culinary skills. A few weeks later, she returned to tell me her son was healthy again. As thanks, she gave me a beautiful ceramic bowl. I never became famous, but I kept that bowl to remind me what it truly means to heal someone.