6. young, quick (old, fast, grow, father, slow).
7. apple, tree (oranges, south, grape, vine, sweet).
8. ceiling, floor (sky, attic, stair, earth, high).
9. window, glass (silk, knife, book, steel, pencil).
10. squirrel, chatters (bird, tree, sings, fly, nuts).
[OPENING THE GREAT WEST]
Here is a picture of the work of the army of the United States in opening the great prairie country of the West. Today we get immense quantities of our food from the states between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Seventy years ago the most of this territory, now the richest farming country in the United States, was inhabited chiefly by roving tribes of Indians who lived mainly by hunting the buffalo.
You will notice many details that show that the story was written many years ago. For instance, the soldiers are spoken of as "blue jackets". Make a list of these points as you read.
Read the selection as rapidly as you can without overlooking important details. When the majority of the class has finished, your teacher will ask you in turn to stand before the class and recite on the topics given at the end. You should try to make your recitation interesting by giving details that will help your hearers to see what the author has described.
As soon as the traveler crosses the Missouri, and enters the territories, he begins to find the blue jackets, and the farther west he goes the more numerous they become. It is only just to the army to say that it has ever been the pioneer of civilization in America. Ever since Washington crossed the Alleghanies, and, with his brave Virginians, pushed to the Ohio, the work has been steadily going on. From Pittsburgh, the army led far down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and thence along the Father of Waters to New Orleans; next west to the Miami, and far up the lakes; then to the Missouri, and so on for thousands of miles until the other ocean was reached through Oregon and California. A line of forts is pushed out into the new and uninhabited country, and presently people come in and settle near the posts. A few years elapse, and there are hundreds of citizens in all directions. Then the forts are sold or pulled down, and the troops march farther west to new posts.