A small store sold a lot of ice jewelry, and the owner was always very careful to prevent people from stealing it.

One day a thief came and tried to steal a beautiful necklace, but the owner of the store caught him immediately and went to the telephone to call the police to come and arrest him.

"Please don't do that!" the thief said. "I have a wife and three children at home. And I'll pay for the necklace."

The owner of the store felt sorry for the man and he didn't want to have a lot of trouble with the police, so he accepted the man's offer to pay for the necklace and went to prepare a bill for it. But when he gave it to the thief, the man looked disturbed and said, "I wasn't intending to get anything as expensive as that. Do you have something cheaper?"

A.   Answer these questions:

1. What did the store owner catch a man doing?
2. What did the store owner do?
3. What did the thief say?
4. Why did the store owner accept the man's offer?
5. What did the store owner do?
6. What did the thief say then?

B.    What words in the story mean the opposite of:

1. careless
2. refused
3. large
4. ugly
5. calm
6. cheap

C.      Finish the second sentence in each pair (both sentences have the same meaning):

Example:

1. The owner of the store went to the telephone to call the police.
2. The owner of the store went to the telephone so that he could call the police.

1.    a. The thief was glad to be allowed to pay for the necklace.

       b. The thief was glad that ________________________.

2.   a. The owner of the store was happy to be able to avoid calling the police.

       b. The owner of the store was happy that ___________________________.

3.   a. The thief was surprised when he found out how expensive the necklace was.

       b. The thief was surprised that ______________________________.

4.   a. He hoped to be able to persuade the owner of the store to sell him something cheaper.

      b. He hoped that ______________________________