English Reading Practice
Moral
Story Number 5:
Honor and Help Your Parents
1.
Watch the video at the top of the page.
2.
Read the story "Honor and Help Your Parents" just below it.
3.
Do the exercises at the bottom of the page.
Here
is the Honor
and Help Your Parents 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 5 is "Honor and Help Your Parents."
Now
read the short story about this important principle.
Honor and Help Your Parents
Emily
is a teenager and lives with her parents. She and her best friend, Kim,
find out that their favorite band will give a concert in
their town on Friday night. They really want to go, but they do not
think their parents will let them.
Emily always asks her parents about the things that she wants to
do, and they listen to what she has to say, so she decides to do the
same thing this time. She explains that she wants to go to the
concert with Kim, but her parents think that she is too young to go
without an adult.
Emily tells Kim that she cannot go to the concert, but her friend's
answer is a real surprise to Emily. Kim tells
her that she should just lie to her parents. "I asked my mom for
permission to go and study with friends on Friday. But I will really go
to the concert! She does not need to know," Kim says.
Emily does not know what to say. She is always very honest with her
parents, and
they are fair in their decisions. Emily has never felt comfortable
lying, and her
parents always tell her that it is wrong.
"I really do not want to be dishonest with my parents," Emily tells her
friend.
"Oh, stop acting like a little kid! Everyone lies," Kim replies.
But Emily is not so sure. She thinks that honesty is very
important.
On Thursday, Kim invites Emily over to her house to watch a movie after
school. When they get there, Kim and her mother get into a
fight. Emily realizes that Kim lies to her mother all the
time, and her mother does not trust her. Emily thinks this is terrible.
She sits uncomfortably on the couch as Kim and her mother fight most of
the afternoon.
As she sits there, Emily remembers that Kim always tells her how
terrible her relationship
with her mother is. Kim thinks her mother does not understand her, but
Emily thinks maybe Kim's mother is just tired of Kim being dishonest
with her.
As she walks home, Emily decides she will not lie to her parents about
the concert. There
will be lots of concerts in the future, but these are the only parents
she will ever have.
She knows it is better to honor them and help them so that they can
have a good relationship. Because her parents trust her, they let her
do most of the things that she wants to do, and she really prefers it
that way.
And now, practice:
Exercises
Vocabulary Questions
1. What does "crowd" mean?
a) very loud music
b) lots of people in the same place
c) a stage where musicians play
d) dangerous conditions
2. What does "lie" mean?
a) to say something that
is not true
b) to tell a funny story
c) to talk about something that happened to you
d) to talk to someone in a mean way
3. What does "honor" mean?
a) to say nice things
about someone
b) to be nice to someone
c) to be serious about something
d) to respect someone and treat them well
Grammar Questions
1. Kim tells Emily that she ________ lie to her parents.
a) would
b) could
c) should
d) might
2. Kim's mother is just tired ________ Kim being dishonest with her.
a) of
b) about
c) to
d) with
3. ________ Thursday, Kim invites Emily over to her house.
a) In
b) For
c) On
d) At
Comprehension Questions
1. Why do Kim and her mother fight all the time?
2. What does Emily decide not to do to her parents?
3. In your opinion, why is it important to honor and help your parents?
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