A Better Reward

Target Words

actual, amaze, charge, comfort, contact, customer, deliver, earn, gate, include, manage, mystery, occur, opposite, plate, receive, reward, set, steal, thief.

actual [ˈaktʃʊəl] adj.

Actual means that something is real or true.

→ This is the actual sword that the King owned, not a fake one.

amaze [əˈmeɪz] v.

To amaze someone is to surprise them very much.

→ The news in the paper amazed Jack.

charge [tʃɑːdʒ] n.

A charge is the price to pay for something.

→ The charge for the shirts was $15.00.

comfort [ˈkʌmfət] v.

To comfort someone means to make them feel better.

→ I wanted to comfort my friend after I heard the bad news.

contact [kənˈtakt] v.

To contact someone is to speak or write to them.

→ I contacted Sue about my party.

customer [ˈkʌstəmə] n.

A customer is a person who buys something at a store.

→ The customer put a few items in a bag.

deliver [dɪˈlɪvə] v.

To deliver something is to take it from one place to another.

→ The man delivered Chinese food to my house.

earn [əːn] v.

To earn means to get money for the work you do.

→ He earns his living as a chef in a great restaurant.

gate [ɡeɪt] n.

A gate is a type of door. Gates are usually made of metal or wood.

→ We want to put up a wooden gate around our house.

include [ɪnˈkluːd] v.

To include something means to have it as part of a group.

→ Does this meal include a soft drink?

manage [ˈmanɪdʒ] v.

To manage something means to control or be in charge of it.

→ I had to manage the meeting myself.

mystery [ˈmɪst(ə)ri] n.

A mystery is something that is difficult to understand or explain.

→ The path on the map was a complete mystery to me.

occur [əˈkəː] v.

To occur means to happen.

→ When did the thunderstorm occur?

opposite [ˈɒpəzɪt] n.

If A is the opposite of B, A is completely different from B.

→ The opposite of black is white.

plate [pleɪt] n.

A plate is a flat round thing that you put food on.

→ I put my plate down so I could put some food on it.

receive [rɪˈsiːv] v.

To receive something is to get it.

→ I received a present on my birthday.

reward [rɪˈwɔːd] n.

A reward is something given in exchange for good behavior or work.

→ He was given a reward for his excellent performance.

set [sɛt] v.

To set something is to put it somewhere.

→ Please set the dice down on the table.

steal [stiːl] v.

To steal is to take something that is not yours.

→ The men tried to steal money from the bank.

thief [θiːf] n.

A thief is someone who quietly takes things that do not belong to them.

→ A thief broke into our home and took my mother's jewelry.

Jenny delivered food for a restaurant. She read the newspaper and said, “Uh oh.” There was a story about a thief. He stole food, and no one had seen him. Even the police couldn’t catch him. Jenny was a little scared. She worked close to that area.

The newspaper included a message from the police: “If anything strange occurs, call us. If you help us catch the thief, you’ll earn a reward.”

Jenny talked to Jim. He managed the restaurant. “Do you know about the thief?”

“Yes,” he said. “But he steals more than one person can eat. And why haven’t the police stopped him yet? It’s a mystery. If you see him, contact the police. Don’t run after him.”

Jenny drove to a customer’s house. She left her car and opened the gate to the house. But then she heard a noise by her car. She yelled, “Thief!” She wasn’t scared. She wanted the reward! She did the opposite of what Jim told herto do.

“Hey,” she yelled. “Get back here!” She set the food on the ground and ran to her car.

But the thief had already left with the food. Jenny followed a noise around the corner. She was amazed. She saw a dog and some puppies. They were eating her food! They looked thin and scared. “The actual thief is just a dog. She’s feeding her puppies,” she said. “That’s why she steals so much food.”

Jenny felt bad. She tried to comfort the dogs with another plate of food. Then she took them back to the store. Everyone there took a puppy home. Jenny called the police. She told them there was no real thief.

Jenny didn’t do it to receive the reward anymore. She said, “It was just a dog. But there’s no charge for catching this ‘thief,’” she said. “My new dog is a better reward.”