Chapter 7

7th Reflection


Read the story “The Christmas Doll”, write a reflection on the story and the messages intended in about 200 words.

The Christmas Doll

Author Unknown

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the store to buy the remaining gifts I didn’t manage to buy earlier.When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to myself. It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go... Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every year. How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it...

Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I started to curse the prices, wondering if all kids really play with such expensive toys.

While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest. He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered who this doll was for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him and said: Granny, are you sure I don’t have enough money?

The old lady replied: You know that you don’t have enough money to buy this doll, my dear. Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. Finally, I started to walk toward him and I asked him who he wanted to give this doll to. It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry. But he replied to me sadly. No, Santa Claus cannot bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there.

His eyes were so sad while saying this.

My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy said that Mommy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister.

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I come back from the store.

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me: I also want mommy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me.

I love my mommy and I wish she didn’t have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few dollars out and said to the boy. What if we checked again, just in case, to see if you have enough money?

OK he said. I hope that I have enough.

I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money.

The little boy said: Thank you God for giving me enough money.

Then he looked at me and added: I asked yesterday before I slept for God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mommy can give it to my sister. He heard me.

I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn’t dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose. You know, my mommy loves white roses.

A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn’t get the little boy out of my mind.

Then I remembered a local newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl.

The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the young lady would not be able to get out of the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away.

I couldn’t stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever.

The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.

And in a fraction of a second, a drunken man had taken all this away from him.

7th Vocabulary Entry

Find the meaning of the underlined words in the story.

Chapter 6

6th Reflection Topic

Continue this clause by writing a paragraph of about 200 words.

“If I can turn back time, I…..”

6th Vocabulary Entry

• List 10 words that are commonly used in TV Commercials to convince and persuade people
• Using your own understanding of the words, give meaning to each word.
• Example:
• Wonderful - extremely fine

Chapter 5

5th Reflection

• Think of a Horror Story.
• Write a Horror STORY DIALOGUE.
• The story should NOT be MORE than 350 words.
• You must use the following words in your story (you can add other words too...)

1. Departed
2. Sinister
3. Soul
4. Disconsolate
5. Menacing
6. Haunt
7. Spooky
8. Grotesque
9. Linger
10. Entity
11. Nightfall
12. Apparition
13. Petrifying
14. Startled
15. Shadows

5th Vocabulary Entry

Find the meaning of the following words:

1. Departed
2. Sinister
3. Soul
4. Disconsolate
5. Menacing
6. Haunt
7. Spooky
8. Grotesque
9. Linger
10. Entity
11. Nightfall
12. Apparition
13. Petrifying
14. Startled
15. Shadows

Chapter 4

4th Reflection

Write about the latest movie you have watched. Use as many conjunctions as possible.


4th Vocabulary Entry

List and classify all the Conjunctions in English according to the following types and give 1 sentence example for each word. See the example given.

• Coordinating Conjunctions
• OR - Would you like to have coffee or tea, sir?
• Subordinating Conjunctions
• UNLESS - I will give these books away for charity unless you still need to use them.
• Corraelative Conjunctions
• EITHER... OR - Either mom or dad will drive you to school today.

UFS201 - 3rd Vocabulary Entry

• Find two (2) words to be paired with the following words to form phrasal verbs. 
• Give the meaning for each Phrasal Verb
• Example:
• Wind 
• Wind up
• Meaning:   Tighten the spring in a watch or clock to make it work
• Wind down
• Meaning:   To end or to finish something gradually

1. Tear 
2. Fall 
3. Break 
4. Stand 
5. Keep 
6. Turn 
7. Pull 
8. Walk 
9. Back 
10. Take 

UFS201 - 3rd Reflection

3rd Reflection

• Choose a song that you think has a relevance with your life. Post the lyrics into your blog.
• Write a reflection on why it is relevant to your life in about 200 words.
• Try to use as many Phrasal Verbs as you possibly can.

UFS201 - 2nd Vocabulary Entry

2nd Vocabulary Entry

Find 50(Fifty) Adjectives used in the Short Story by Kamal Aiman and give 1(one)  synonym to the word.

Magical Forest

By Kamal Aiman

It is said that most of our life is a series of images. They pass us by like towns on the highway. At least that is how Sara feels... Her parents had just finalised their divorce; her mum gets the big mansion up at the big apple and her father gets sole custody of her... They were cruising along the highway in their dingy old SUV to their new country house that ’dad’ purchased out of sheer luck a few weeks ago. Sitting at the passenger’s side, Sara stared out the window and thought to herself: “How did it come to this?”... And tears came trickling down her pink already almost auburn cheek.

The tyres from the SUV went into a screeching halt as her father pulled over in front of the driveway. Sara was so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn’t realized they have arrived at what would seem to be the rest of her life now. She heard her father muttering something and as she regains full consciousness, she finally caught what her father said – a faint sound of “Welcome”. Sara managed to muster up a weak forced smile and pushed the door to the SUV open. Her eyes widened; and for once, after 3 weeks they were gleaming with excitement, it was as though all her troubles in the world were lifted.

She ran to her father who was now already a few feet away from her screaming at him: “This isn’t just a cottage dad!!! It’s a vineyard” The man in his mid age black T and brown leather jacket turned around, shock at the blatantly screaming of what he thought at first to be a wounded mare but soon realized that it was his daughter. He smiled at her and whispered into her ear. “This is our life now Sara... just you and me... Us against the world, nothing else matters”. Upon hearing these words, Sara threw her arms around her father wrapping them around him so tight kissing him on the cheek and uttered the words “I love you dad”.

After a few days of unpacking and staggering of furniture, the house looks beautiful and ready to be lived in. It was time to explore the place a little; feeling adventurous Sara packed her lunch and set up on foot to discover the rest of the fifty acre vineyard surrounding their house. The air was fresh, cool and comforting as compared to the big apple. The ambience and scenery was so different as compared to the sky scrapers and big buildings with billboards everywhere... Munching on her lunch and enjoying the view she presses on further uphill along the vineyard.

It was now close to four o’clock in the evening and Sara has decided to call it a day. The soles on her shoes look worn out due to excessive walking; her water bottle is quarter to empty and her stomach is already humming tunes of hunger. So she turned around and decided to head back home. Upon reaching that decision, she felt all her muscles tighten slowly... She felt a gush of pain as her calves’ cramp up and moving slowly on to her thighs. It was a feeling of a cold winter’s night, only this time she could feel her muscles turning into ice.

Suspended and unable to move, Sara tried her best to put one leg in front of the other, but she failed miserably. As she tries and tries, a bewildering smell of Vanilla and chocolate filled the air... It smells like her mum’s favourite chocolate mousse only this one’s sweeter. In her mind she thought: “Oh my god, what is happening to me? First I can’t move, and now I’m smelling things” Her eyes were rolling in their sockets to see if anyone is around to help her... but there weren’t any... So she tried screaming; but to her dismay- she can’t. “What is happening to me? Am I dreaming?”

Sara stood in the middle of the jungle puzzled... not knowing what to do. The smell of chocolate and vanilla is now mixed with a tinge of pineapple and strawberry. “I am going bonkers!!!” Just as soon as she let the thought of that escape her mind a very small person dress in green appeared in front of her. She was shock as this person appeared out of nowhere... her eyes bulge open wide and her jaw dropped. “Yup, I am definitely dreaming... dreaming of little people in green!!!” Now this small person has a pair of big eyes, sharp pointy nose and his face was shaped like an apple. He has thick beard and bushy eye brows, all of which is coloured in silvery grey. He was wearing what would seem to be a very old pair of green jacket and worn out green khaki pants.

What made Sara uncomfortable was that since the moment he has appeared he hadn’t said a word... Instead he was examining Sara just as Sara was examining him. His big round eyes made their way down her already non moving body which is frozen in a peculiar position. He made a grumble and fussed over something but quickly continued examining Sara again. At one point she could have sworn he was looking through her bag pack and made feeble comments about the leftovers from lunch. Finally he said something which made Sara almost laughed hysterically: “Seow, how’re yer doing lassy? Seems ter me that yer in a bit o a pickle ere, yer can’t move can yer? My name is Odin, i am ter be yer guardian lassy!”

After saying that he snapped his fingers and Sara immediately fell onto the ground... “I know yer have many questions fer me, they will be answered soon enough.” He pulled Sara by the arms and nudged her towards a very big oak tree a few feet away from them, snapped his fingers again mumbled some incantations and pushed Sara into the tree saying “Trust me”. At this point Sara didn’t know what to feel, scared or shock or happy... but she did it anyway, she went through the tree and again her jaw dropped and her stomach clenched... What is this place? Odin appeared seconds after her and smiled while saying: “Welcome to the magical forest me dear”.

The sky was clear and filled with sunlight all over... The water was so fresh that you can almost taste the sweetness of the morning dew. The flowers were made by beds and beds of roses and lilacs and lilies... It was really a place of serenity and peace. At least that was what Sara feels anyway... So, the next few hours were spent explaining to Sara on what the forest is really about: “Yer see lassy, this place has always been here ever since I could remember. It has always been a place fer people to heal their wounded soul or to find answers and I think yer really need some of those right now”. Sara smiled... “I am a leprechaun by the way... yer see the way this forest works is that it will be here when yer need it but do not want it, but when yer want it and no longer need it that is when everything goes away... hopefully by then yer fully healed lassy!”

Over the next few months Odin has really been a great friend to Sara. Showing her around the forest, showing her things she has never seen before. He lets her experience all the wonders in the world within the forest itself... healing her soul one day at a time. One fine day, as always Sara and Odin had just finished their talk by the river across a bed of lilies and Odin said to her: “Lassy, yer’ve come a long way since the first time I met yer... and I regret ter say, this is it fer me and the forest dear.”

UFS201 2nd Reflection

In about 200 words, describe your version of a perfect world.

UFS201 1st Vocabulary Entry

List 20 Idioms and explain the meaning of each Idiom.

UFS201 1st Reflection

What is the meaning of the idiom "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words"?  Elaborate and give your opinion about the idiom in a paragraph not less than 200 words.