Some Tall Tales

Words in Use (Lesson 26)

• possible
• compel
• awkward
• venture
• awesome
• guide
• quench
• betray
• utter
• pacify
• respond
• beckon

Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it.
   
Some Tall Tales
Do you think it is possible to defeat an opponent so fierce* that a glance* at her turns one to stone? This was the fate of anyone who looked upon the Medusa, a dreaded* monster whose hair was made of hissing serpents. The brave Perseus undertook to fight the Medusa, but he was compelled to do battle in a most awkward manner. To help Perseus in his venture, the goddess Minerva had lent him her bright shield, and the god Mercury had given him winged shoes. Cautiously he approached the awesome monster. Using the image of the Medusa in his shield as a guide, he succeeded in cutting off her head and fixing it to the center of Minerva's shield. Perseus then flew to the realm of King Atlas whose chief pride was his garden filled with golden fruit. Thirsty and near collapse,* he pleaded with the king for water to quench his thirst and for a place to rest. But Atlas feared that he would be betrayed into losing his golden apples. He uttered just one word, "Begone!" Perseus, finding that he could not pacify Atlas, responded by beckoning him to look upon Medusa's head. Atlas was changed immediately into stone. His head and hair became forests, his body increased in bulk and became cliffs, and the gods ruled that the heaven with all its stars should rest upon his shoulders. Can there be a worse calamity* than that which befell Atlas?