ZDIĘCIA0082

^^JfSherlock Holmes^^

I cm understand a story about a fictional character.

<D

1 Look at the picture. Do you know the detective on the right? Describe him. Was he a real character or was he fictional?

& *

Slementary,

my elear Watson!

ETECT1VESTOR1ES arc the most popular typc of stories in the world. But who is the most famous fictional detectivc? Without a doubt, it is Sherlock Holmes.

The author of the Sherlock Holmes stories was Arthur Conan Doyle. He was born in Scotland in 1859 and studied medicine at Edinburgh university. After lcaving univcrsity he moved to the south of England and worked as a doctor, but in his spare time he started to write detective stories.

The hero of the stories is a p/ivate detectivc called Sherlock Holmes, who lives at 22lb Baker Street in London. Therc is now a muscum at that address. (Sec h ttp://w w she rl ock -holmes.co.uk.) Holmes is tali and thin, with a long, sharp face. He usually wears a deerstalker hat, smokes a pipę or cigarcttcs, and carries a magnifying glass. He is an cxtremcly intelligent man who always thinks logically about the crimcs he is trying to solve. He is also a brilliant violinist. However, he has a dark side to his character: he is a lonely and rather sad man who is easily bored with everyday life. He often gets depressed and sometimes spends all day in bed. He is not married and says that he docsn't understand women.

Holmes !ives with his assistant and only friend, Dr Watson. Watson dcscribes him in one of the stories as ‘a brain without a hcart’ and ‘morę a machinę than a man’.

In 1895, after Conan Doyle had written 25 stories about Holmes, he got bored with his detective and decided that Holmes would dic in the next story. At the end of the story called The Finał Problem, Holmes fights Profcssor Moriarty, his greatest enemy, by a huge waterfall in Swit/erland. They both dic when they fali into the waterfall. But the Holmes stories were already incredibly popular and his fans were very upset. Conan Doyle had to bring his character back to life. He continued to write Sherlock Holmes stories for another 25 years. In the end, he wrotc four novels and 56 short stories about the great detcctivc.

2    Read the text. Which one of the descriptions of Holmes

completely accurate?

1    A very intelligent man who didn't have many friends ć didn’t understand women.

2    A sad and lonely man who easily got depressed and sometimes spent all day in bed.

3    A brilliant logical thinker who lived with his assistant Watson and nevergot married.

A An intelligent, funny, friendly man who smoked a pipi played the violin brilliantly.

3    Are the sentences true or false?

1    Arthur Conan Doyle was Scottish.

2    By 1895 Conan Doyle had written all his Sherlock Hol stories.

3    Conan Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories in Scotland.

4    Holmes dies at the end of The Finał Problem.

5    Conan Doyle started to write about Holmes again bec his fans were very unhappy.

6    In total, Conan Doyle wrote 25 stories and four novels about Holmes.

4    {ł 2.30 Listen to part one of a Sherlock Holmes story

called The Speckled Band. Put the events of Helen Storn

life in the correct order.

Her mother marries Doctor Roylott.

Doctor Roylott murders a servant.

The family retums to England.

Her father dies.

Helen’s mother dies.

Somebody burgles their house in India.

Doctor Roylott goes to prison.

Helen’s twin sister, Julia, dies in her bedroom.

Wskazówka

Przed wysłuchaniem nagrania przeczytaj listę zdarzeń i sprawdź, czy wszystko rozumiesz. Czy można posłużyć logiką w rozwiązywaniu zadania? (Na przykład, czy lud idą do więzienia przed czy po popełnieniu zbrodni?)

5    Jł 2.31 Listen to part two of the story. Answer the

ąuestions.

1    How did Julia Stonerdie?

2    What happens to Doctor Roylott?

6    gjgJSIJEl Ask and answer the ąuestions.

1    Have you seen any Sherlock Holmes films or read any the stories? If so, did you enjoy them?

2    How many books, films or TV shows about crime and detectives can you name?

3    How do crime stories usually begin? How do they usu end?

4    Do you enjoy reading or watching crime stories? Why?/Why not?

Unit 9 • Crime scene

MATURA Kultura • Rozumienie tekstu czytanego Prawda / Fołsr • Rozumienie ze studiu KolejnoStw