Camp Safety

Words in Use (Lesson 29)

• toil
• blunder
• daze
• mourn
• subside
• maim
• comprehend
• commend
• final
• exempt
• vain
• repetition

Read the following passage to see how the new words are used in it.
   
Camp Safety
For years a furniture salesman from Connecticut, Mitch Kurman, has toiled ceaselessly* for the passage of a youth summer camp safety bill. Why? Because his son David was drowned when his canoe overturned in the raging* waters of the Penobscot River. The camp counselors leading the trip were inexperienced, had blundered into dangerous waters, and had no life jackets for the canoers. Mr. Kurman was naturally dazed by the tragedy.* But rather than merely mourn his loss and wait for the painful memory to subside, he began a campaign that took him on hundreds of journeys to speak to governors, senators, and congressmen. He had learned that 250,000 children are injured or maimed annually* in camp accidents. It was hard for him to comprehend why we have laws that outlaw* mistreatment of alligators, coyotes, birds and bobcats, but we have no law to prevent disasters* to children in summer camps. Wherever he went, Mr. Kurman was commended for his efforts, but he received only trifling* support from the lawmakers. One bill, requiring people to put on life preservers when they took to the water, died in the final reading. Another such bill exempted private ponds and lakes, exactly the waters where most summer camps are located.* Even a bill calling for a survey of camp safety conditions was at first defeated. Mr. Kurman’s struggle so far has been in vain, but he continues his battle to avoid* a repetition of the accident that took his son’s life.