Chp 7-8 for students without book
Chapter 7 and 8 - Vocabulary
Word, Sentence, Part-of-speech
accordion – George learned how to play the accordion. (noun C)
cactus – George grew many kinds of cactus. (noun C)
checkers – George liked to play checkers. (noun single)
concerts - He played his accordion in school concerts. (noun C)
crops – Farmers plant crops like wheat and corn. (noun plural)
earned – He earned money by working. (verb T)
initial – At first, George had no middle initial. (noun C)
invited – Mr. and Mrs. Seymour invited George to live in their home. (verb T)
ironing (pressing) – George was ironing (pressing) other people’s clothes. (verb T)
laundry – George did other people’s laundry. (noun U)
nickel – He had a nickel in his pocket. (noun C)
tears – He had tears in his eyes from crying. (noun C)
tub – George bought a tub. He did laundry in the tub. (noun C)
Study Notes
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Reading Activity 7 and 8: George Washington Carver (Chapter 7 and 8, pages 37-46)
Directions: Open your book to these pages and select the correct words for the blanks. You will
need to use your dictionary for some of these items.
(page 37)
George went to another town in Kansas. Then he went to another
____________, and another, and another. He stopped in any town
where there was a school, and where he could find work. Some of the
schools George went to were just for blacks. Some ____________
were for both black and white children. George learned everything he
could in each school, and then he moved on ____________. He was
sure that some day he would finish all the grades. He knew what he
would do then. He would go to college.
As he traveled from town to town, George was always alone. He
saved enough money to buy an accordion, and he taught himself to
play ____________. Music made him feel less ____________.
(page 39)
When George came to the town of Olathe, Kansas, he went to the
Presbyterian Church. ____________ he met a man named Christopher
Seymour and his wife Lucy. ____________ made ____________ think
of Uncle Andy and Aunt Mariah. When the Seymours ____________
George to stay with them, George knew he had found a new home, a
new aunt and uncle to love.
Aunt Lucy Seymour had a laundry business, and people brought
their clothes to ____________ to be washed and ironed. George
wanted to help ____________. He was so good with his hands that
soon ____________ could iron as well as Aunt Lucy ____________.
He would spend half a day ____________ a lady's dress so
____________ would be just right.
George was good at games too. Uncle Chris taught him to play
checkers. When George began to win ____________ all the time,
Uncle Chris was sorry he had such a good ____________.
Now George did not have to work all the time, and he went to
school every day. In one year, he went through the fifth and sixth
grades. George was older than most of the other school boys, but he
looked as young as ____________. He had not grown very much since
29
(page 37)
1. alone without
friends
2. schools
3. this musical
instrument with a
keyboard
4. to a different
town and school
5. town in Kansas
(page 39)
6. asked
7. could iron
8. George
9. George
10. In Olathe,
Kansas,
11. ironing
12. Lucy Seymour
13. Lucy Seymour
14. Mr. and Mrs.
Seymour
15. student
16. the dress
17. the game of
checkers
18. the other boys in
the 5th and 6th
grades
he left Neosho when he was thirteen.
(page 40)
George made friends at school and in church. He played his
accordion in school ____________. He and his friends liked to put on
plays. Being in plays helped George to stop ____________ so much.
After George finished sixth grade, Uncle Chris got a job in the town
of Minneapolis, Kansas, and the Seymours moved ____________.
They took George with them on the train. Even though George was
over sixteen, he was so small that he only had to buy a child's ticket
____________.
Then, in just one year, George did enough growing to make up for
all the years of being small. He grew to be six feet tall. But
____________ voice did not change. He had a high, clear singing
voice, and people liked to hear him sing. But it seemed strange to hear
such a sweet, tiny voice coming from such a tall, grown-up man.
Now George was a young man, and he thought it was time he had a
place of his own. He found a small house with one room and a little
kitchen built onto it. Instead of steps going up to the door, the steps
went down because the house was below street level. George moved
into this little
(page 41)
house. He bought a ____________, an ironing board, and an iron, and
he opened his own ____________.
George had learned everything the school in Minneapolis could
teach him. He thought he was ready for college. He began to write
letters to different colleges, asking if ____________ would take him as
a student.
George looked for the mail every day. Some days the mailman left
him letters addressed to George Carver – but the letters were not for
____________. There was another George Carver in town, and George
was getting ____________ mail.
George wanted to be sure to get his own mail. He decided to make
his name different by adding a middle ____________. He went down
the ____________, trying different initials until he came to "W."
30
(page 40)
19. for the train trip
to Minneapolis,
Kansas
20. George’s
21. music shows
22. repeating sounds
of words when
speaking
23. to Minneapolis,
Kansas
(page 41)
24. a, b, c, d, e, etc.
25. clothes cleaning
business
26. George
27. large bowl for
washing things
28. letter for a name
29. the colleges
30. about the name,
Washington
31. the other George
Carver’s
George W. Carver – that sounded good.
George's friends thought the "W" should stand for a real middle
name. "How about Washington?" one of them said as a joke. "George
Washington."
George thought ____________. "Might as well be Washington as
be W.," he said. Soon all his friends were calling him George
Washington Carver.
(page 42)
One day the mailman left a letter at George's house. The letter was
(page 42)
addressed to him – George W. Carver. ____________ was from
Highland College, in Highland, Kansas. ____________ was one of the
schools George had written to.
George ____________ the envelope open. Would Highland take
him as a student? He let the envelope drop to the floor ____________
he opened the letter. Yes! The letter said yes, he could come to
Highland in the fall and sign up for classes.
George did a little dance of joy. He was going to college
____________.
32. at the same time
33. finally
34. Highland
College
35. The letter
36. tore
(page 43)
Highland was far away from Minneapolis, ____________ , and
George would need money for the train ride. He had a little money
saved. If he could sell his laundry tub, his iron, and ironing board, he
would have enough money for the train ticket. He was sure he could
get a job in Highland, and pay the college after he had ____________
some more money ____________.
That September, Aunt Lucy and Uncle Chris went to the train
(page 43)
station with George. ____________ the train came into the station,
George could see people sit- ting in the ____________ cars. Most of
the people were white, and ____________ were sitting on big soft seats
that looked like ____________. In one car, George saw black faces
looking out of cracked or broken windows. This was the "Jim Crow"
car for black people. Blacks could not ride in the cars with white
people.
George kissed Aunt Lucy good-bye and ____________ climbed
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37. At the same time
38. easy (pleasant)
39. from Highland
College
40. from his new job
41. George
42. Kansas
43. large chairs with
arm rests
44. long, hard seats
45. made (collected)
46. moved quickly
47. the white people
48. to Highland,
Kansas
49. train
into the Jim Crow car. He was on his way ____________.
For most people in the Jim Crow car, the ride was not __________.
There were no soft armchair seats, just hard wooden __________. But
George hardly felt the bumps as the train ___________ over the rails.
In his pocket was the letter ____________ that said he was
(page 44)
going to be a college student. He felt as if he were living in a dream.
When the train got to Highland, ____________, George went right
to the college. He asked to see the ____________ of the school.
"What do you want?" the man asked as George walked into
____________ office.
"I'm George W. Carver, sir." George pulled the letter out of his
pocket. "You wrote to me. I am here to begin college."
The man did not look at the letter. "I'm sorry," he said to George,
"there has been a mistake. We do not take black people ____________.
If I had known you were ____________, I would not have asked you to
come.”
George felt ____________ come into his eyes. He walked out of the
office and into the sunny street, trying to ____________ the tears. He
had never felt so sad and so angry. He knew that the ____________
was not really sorry. This man did not care how hard George had
worked to come to Highland. All that ____________ to him was the
color of George's skin.
Now what would George do? He wanted to run
(page 45)
away, to get as far away from ____________ as he could. But he did
not have much money left. He would have to stay ____________.
George went looking for work. After a while, some people he did
housework for learned what had happened at the college.
____________ were sorry for George, and they wanted to give
____________ extra money. But George would not take even a
____________. "I will not take any money that I don't earn," he told
his friends.
One of the men George worked for told George about his son,
32
(page 44)
50. a black person
51. at Highland
College
52. close and open
his eyes to take
away
53. Kansas
54. leader (president)
55. leader of
Highland
College
56. the leader’s
57. was important
58. water from
crying
(page 45)
59. and the man’s
son
60. Farming
61. five-cent piece
62. George
63. get free farm
land
64. grow things like
wheat and corn
65. Highland,
Kansas
____________ had a big farm in western Kansas. "The government is
giving away land ____________,” he said. "My son has to live on his
land and ____________ for five years – and then ____________ is his,
free and ____________. You could ____________ too."
George liked the idea of having a farm of his own. And here was a
way to get land even though he didn't have much money.
In 1886, when George was twenty-two, he moved ____________
and tried to start a farm. ____________ was hard work. Western
Kansas was like a ____________. It was hot, and the land was dry and
sandy.
66. in Highland,
Kansas
67. in western
Kansas
68. land without
water
69. People that
George worked
for
70. the farm land
71. to Western Kansas
72. without owing
money
(page 46)
George thought the desert flowers were beautiful. He grew many
kinds of ____________, but most of the ____________ he planted
would not grow. In two years, George knew he could not make a living
____________. He found someone to take over his farm and he moved
east again.
(page 46)
33
73. desert plants
with sharp
needle-like
pieces
74. farm plants like
corn and wheat
75. in Western
Kansas
Practicing vocabulary for Chapters 7 and 8
Directions: Tell the part-of-speech of each underlined item in these sentences from Chapters 7
and 8. Then find the correct vocabulary item.
Vocabulary Items
Meanings
Example:
n(C) A George Washington Carver is
the most important character
in this biography.
A. person in a story
B. where something happens in a story
____ ____ George learned how to play
the accordion.
1. a board game played with red and black
pieces
____ ____ Mr. and Mrs. Seymour invited
George to live in their home.
2. asked
3. desert plant with sharp needles
____ ____ George did other people’s
laundry.
____ ____ George was ironing other
people’s clothes.
4. farm plants growing for food
5. first letter of a name
6. five cent piece
____ ____ George liked to play checkers.
7. got money for working
____ ____ George bought a tub. He did
laundry in the tub.
____ ____ At first, George had no middle
initial.
____ ____ He played his accordion in
school concerts.
____ ____ He earned money by working.
____ ____ He had tears in his eyes from
crying.
8. large bowl for washing
9. music shows
10. musical instrument played by
squeezing and using a keyboard
11. removing wrinkles from clothes by
pressing with heat
12. washing and ironing
13. water drops
____ ____ He had a nickel in his pocket.
____ ____ Farmers plant crops like wheat
and corn.
____ ____ George grew many kinds of
cactus.
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35