Essential English Words 2 Unit 3

Essential English Words 2 Unit 3

by Waine Evans

Multiple Choice

Choose the right word for the given definition.

a person of the highest rank

• brave

• obey

• chief 

• trust

Multiple Choice

barely or almost unable to do

• hardly

• unless

• secure

• disadvantage

Multiple Choice

to wrap around itself or another thing

• steady

• arrow 

• bow

• twist

Multiple Choice

to plan to do

• laughter

• intend

• battle

• military

Multiple Choice

space used to go into an area

• enemy

• entrance

• log

• weapon

The Battle of Thermo​pylae

​This is a true story. It happened long ago in Greece___

​

“We must fight,” the Spartan* chief told his small army of brave men. They were at a great disadvantage. There were only three hundred of them. The Persian military had hundreds of thousands of men. They were going to lose unless they could secure a small entrance. The enemy couldn’t move through it easily. They intended to stop the enemy here. The chief and his men got ready for the battle. Soon, long lines of the enemy’s army twisted around the hills. The chief met the enemy with laughter. He knew that his men’s weapons and skills were better. The Spartans trusted their leader and obeyed him.

​First, the enemy soldiers shot arrows from their bows. The chief told his men to lift their shields*. The arrows stuck into the shields but did not hurt any of the men. Then the enemy’s soldiers attacked the Spartans with long spears. The chief surprised them. His troops rolled logs down on the enemy. They fought for three days. Though they hardly slept at all, the chief and his men remained steady. But the enemy found a way to beat the Spartans. The chief and all of his men were killed. Even though they lost, the Battle of Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in history.

Multiple Choice

Answer the questions.

What is this story about?

• How an enemy made an attack against shields

• Why logs were rolled down on soldiers

• How a small disadvantaged army nearly beat a large military

• Why good soldiers obey their leaders

Multiple Choice

Why was the smaller army not afraid of the larger one?

• The larger army didn’t have any weapons.

• The smaller army had better weapons and skills.

• The larger army did not trust their leader.

• The smaller army did not intend to fight.

Multiple Choice

The brave men knew they would lose__________.

• because they heard the soldiers’ laughter

• unless they secured the narrow entrance

• against the other army’s bows and arrows

• hardly any men fighting the large army

Multiple Choice

According to the passage, all the following are true about the Persian army EXCEPT_____________.

• their long lines of soldiers twisted around the hills

• they used bows and arrows

• they had a steady three day attack against the Spartans

• they used fire to defeat the Spartans

Open Ended

Why did the soldiers do whatever their chief asked of them?