A samurai is “one who serves.” In ancient times, the term described ...

Name ______________________________ Class _____________ Date _____________
The Samurai
■ Interactive Reading, page 83
Vocabulary Check
Reading Standard 1.3 Recognize the origins and meanings of
frequently used foreign words in English.
Vocabulary Development
samurai, noun
provinces, noun
frontier, noun
shogun, noun
tumultuous, adjective
warrior in feudal Japan
administrative divisions of a country
developing, often still uncivilized or lawless
region of a country
military governors of Japan who, until 1868, had
absolute rule
full of disturbance and upheaval; unsettled
(a tumult is a disturbance)
A. Words in Context
Use words from the word box to complete the paragraph below. Use each
word only once.
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The situation in the various (1) _______________ of sixteenth-century Japan
could be described only as dangerous and (2) _______________. All month long a
(3) _______________ had ridden through the land to announce that the (4)
_______________ was going to visit to check on each area’s defenses. There were
rumors that hostile forces were gathering on the (5) _______________, and the
leaders were taking no chances.
B. Foreign Words
Fill in the best word from the list below. If necessary, check the meanings of the
words in the article or in the dictionary.
samurai shogun shogunate
1. The great leader was the most powerful _______________ in
Japan’s history.
2. The _______________, or government, was in an uproar
when its leader died.
3. In films set in feudal Japan, the _______________ is often
similar to the hero of an American western.
Chapter 2 27