English Reading Practice
Moral
Story Number 1:
Take Care of Yourself
1.
Watch the video at the top of the page.
2.
Read the story "Take Care of Yourself" just below it.
3.
Do the exercises at the bottom of the page.
Here
is the Take
Care of Yourself video.
You can watch it in your own language at The
Way to Happiness Foundation. (Simply
click the word "language" at the top right corner of that page.)
The
Way to Happiness is a common sense guide to
better living which has been distributed to more than 100 million
people in over 100 languages. It describes 21
principles to a better quality of life.
Principle
number 1 is "Take Care of Yourself."
Now
read the short story about this important principle.
Take Care of Yourself
Valerie
studies at a big university. At the same time, she maintains a
full-time job so that she
can pay for her tuition and her living expenses. So Valerie spends most
of the
day at the office, then goes to class three days a week. She also stays
up
late at night to study for her classes.
Valerie does not do any physical exercise. Between work and university,
she is
so busy that she thinks she
does not have time for any physical activity.
Sadly, she rarely eats home-made meals. She usually just grabs a bag of
chips or
a hamburger as she leaves her office to take the bus to university.
Since she is convinced that she does not have time to make a healthy
dinner when she gets home, she eats lots of pizzas that she orders
over the phone.
After dinner, she starts studying and preparing her assignments.
Valerie does not sleep very
much because of it. She feels grumpy when she wakes up early in the
morning, and she
is irritable at work. After her long day, she feels tired in class, and
it is hard for her
to concentrate.
To make matters even worse, Valerie keeps getting sick. This makes her
miss work and class. She is miserable! She just wants to feel good. Her
grades start to go down because of her illnesses. As she thinks about
her whole life situation, she gets so frustrated that she does not even
want to study anymore.
During her mid-year break, Valerie decides to make some big changes.
First, she learns how to make some easy, healthy recipes. She actually
finds
that she saves a lot of money by preparing her food herself, and the
food
tastes much better too! After an early dinner and some quiet reading,
Valerie goes to bed early every night. Now she really
feels refreshed in the morning.
Then she decides to give something else a try. Her office is not really
so far from her university, so one day after work she tries walking
there. As she walks down the street, looking at all the people, the
shops, and the movement in the city, she remembers how much she hates
being stuck on the bus in traffic. In fact, she finds that she can get
to
class almost as fast by walking. And she is so much happier when she
arrives!
When the semester begins, Valerie maintains her healthy habits. She
sets time aside on the weekends to study and do her assignments.
Because she is sleeping and eating
better now, she can finally concentrate and needs to spend much less
time
studying.
It is a
huge improvement. Valerie
saves money on food and transportation, she has much more energy, she
feels less stressed, and her grades are better. She is glad she finally
started
to take care of herself. Now she finally enjoys all of her different
activities and feels happy about her life.
And now, practice:
Exercises
Vocabulary Questions
1. What does "tuition" mean?
a) the money you pay to
live in an apartment
b) the money someone pays you to work for them
c) the money you pay to a university to study there
d) the money a university gives you to help you study
2. What does "grumpy" mean?
a) upset and irritable
b) confused
c) energetic
d) tired
3. What does "healthy" mean?
a) good for your body
b) good for your emotional state
c) good for your mental state
d) all of the above
Grammar Questions
1. She decides ________ to class.
a) to walk
b) walking
c) walk
d) walked
2. Valerie keeps ________ sick.
a) having
b) getting
c) being
d) doing
3. She is so much ________ when she arrives.
a) happy
b) happiest
c) more happy
d) happier
Comprehension Questions
1. Why does Valerie always feel frustrated and irritable?
2. What healthy changes does Valerie make in her life?
3. In your opinion, why is it important to take care of yourself?
Get Updates, Special Offers, and English Resources
By submitting your email, you consent to receiving updates and newsletters from us and to the sharing of your personal data with third parties for the purposes of sending you communications. We will not spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information, please see our privacy policy.
Please share this page with others: