## Exercises for The Best Home

Back to the story

A. How much did you understand?

Read the sentences below. Who is speaking? Is it the father, the older son or the younger son?

1. “Build homes for yourselves," said……
2. “Make me your brother. Let us be friends for ever,” said……
3. "I have built the walls of my first hut already. It is fine and big,” said……
4. “Oh yes, I am building a fine home too," said…
5. “Now I am making the second hut,” said……
6. “And I am making my second home too,” said……
7. “Is anyone there? Visitors have arrived,” said……
8. “The hut is empty. There's nothing to eat here,” said……
9. “This is my father and this is my brother,” said……
10. “A real home is not just a collection of huts,” said……

B. Houses and homes

A hut or a house is just a building.

A home is the place a person belongs to.

The meanings look nearly the same, but they are different. We use the word home in many different ways. Here are some of them.

"I live in Addis Ababa, but my home is in Awassa," said the girl.

This means that the girl's family live in Awassa, and perhaps she grew up there, but just now she is living in Addis Ababa.

"Come in and make yourself at home," says my friend, when he opens the door.

This means that my friend is welcoming me. He wants his home to be my home. He wants me to feel comfortable.

The boy left home when he grew up. He married a girl, and they made a home of their own.

This means that the boy stopped living with his parents. When he married, he started a new family in a new home.

Read these sentences. Choose the word house or home to fill the gaps.

1. There's a big new …… at the end of my street and three families live in it.
2. When I was a child, my …… was in Bale.
3. My husband and I want to move to a different …..
4. That …… is empty. No one is living there.
5. Does all your family live here? It's a real ……

C. What do you think?

Talk with a friend. Ask and answer these questions.

Do you feel that the place where you live is your real home?

Where is your real home?

Who lives there?

Do you want to make a different home one day?

D. Draw a picture

Draw a picture of the house that you would like to live in.

Check the answers