Tone Practice 1

Often you feel you've done nothing when you've actually done a lot. That's because what you did do seemed beneath notice--it was so small that it didn't "count." But it did--just as each stitch counts toward a finished dress, each brick or nail toward a house you can live in, each mistake toward knowing how to do things right.

• hesitant

• encouraging

• amused

We have come together this afternoon to mourn the death of sixteen miners--our friends and neighbors--we were trapped by fire yesterday, deep below the earth. They lived bravely and they died too soon, leaving behind grieving wives and bewildered children. We bid them a final farewell.

• forgiving

• sorrowful

• angry

Each year in the middle of February, when slush is underfoot and the sky is a depressing gray, I begin dreaming of warm beaches, tropical fruits and sunsets. If only I could save enough for a winter vacation! Maybe next year I will win the lottery. Meanwhile, I'll read travel brochures and sigh.

• unsure

• joyous

• longing

We are seriously falling our nation's teenagers when it comes to education concerning AIDS. Somehow we must convince them, without delay, that this terrible illness can happen to them, not just too isolated groups in big cities. Let's give them the information they need to protect themselves--before it's too late.

• impassioned

• mocking

• ironic