LESSON 36
1
A
hunt
hurt
B
beet
belt
C
star
stare
D
set
sit
E
bold
bald
2
normal bounding nerve hardens
broiling starved complaining batch
3
wouldn't again bothering dazed
helping evenings kitchen bedroom
bathroom tacos grunted basement
listen chore remarked stomped
second careful face
remember factory carry knock
4
Irma Gets Ready
After Irma had scared Carl and the other boarders with the hand, she made up her mind
about two things.
The first thing was that she wouldn't scare them again, unless they were mean to her.
The second was that she would make another batch of paint, a big batch.
For the next three or four days, everyone was pretty nice to Irma. They weren't really
nice. They just weren't bothering her as much as they had. In fact, they didn't say
much. They seemed to be dazed.
[1]
Before Irma had scared them, Carl had eaten like a goat. But now he wouldn't even
finish one helping. Before Herman had been scared, he had spent more time
complaining than eating. But now he just picked at his food without saying much.
And after dinner, Fern and Berta went into the living room and sat. Sometimes they
would not remember to turn on the TV set. They just sat and stared at the set.
Irma got a lot done on these days. Right after dinner, she would go down to the lab and
work on her paint. She boiled sheep fat. The smell was bad, but nobody yelled,
"Stop making that stink down there."
[1]
Irma mixed in a little of this and a little of that. Then she mixed the paint. The first
batch didn't work. Irma must have done something that wasn't right. "This batch is
spoiled," she said.
Then she began to boil another batch. She was very careful. For two evenings she toiled
over that batch. But it worked. When she was done, she had five gallons of
invisible paint.
She left most of the paint in a big pot. But she also filled three broiling pans with the
rest of it. She said to herself, "When the paint in these pans hardens, I will have so
much invisible paint that I'll be able to make everything in this house invisible if I
want to."
[2]
Irma hid one of the pans in the kitchen. She hid the second pan in her bedroom. She hid
the third pan in the bathroom. The rest of the paint stayed in her lab.
Five days after Irma had scared the others, things seemed to get back to normal in
Irma's house. When she came home from the cheese factory, Herman met her at the
door. "Where have you been?" he asked. "Don't you know what time it is? What do
you mean by coming home so late?"
Berta was standing behind Herman. She was saying, "We're starved. Where are the
tacos? And I hope they are not too hot. You know I can't stand hot tacos."
Irma said, "Berta, there was a big line at the taco place. I'm sorry, but I went there right
From work"
[2]
Herman grunted something and stomped into the kitchen. As Irma walked inside the
house, Carl came bounding out of the living room. "I can't stand the smell in this
house any more. Get rid of that junk you're working with in the basement."
Irma stopped in the hall. She said, "I have something to say."
Herman came out of the kitchen and said, "Say it later. Just get that junk on the table
and let's eat."
"No," Irma said. "I have something to say, and I'm going to say it right now. And I want
all of you to listen."
[1]
"All right, all right," Carl said. "Say what you have to say. Just make it fast"
Irma said, "From now on, don't yell at me. Don't tell me to do every chore around this
house. And don't be mean to me "
Berta said, "Who do you think you are, talking to me in that tone of voice?"
"You know very well who I am," Irma said. "Just remember what I'm telling you."
"Oh, be quiet, and let's eat," Carl remarked.
[1]