© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Harry Potter and the Internet Thieves...

Waiting for the final
adventure

The ritual is quite familiar:

thousands of fans, young and old, wait
impatiently for the next installment of the
adventures of the boy wizard, Harry Potter.
The author, J K Rowling, sends her
manuscript to the publishers; the publishers
send the book to the bookshops; and the
bookshops keep it safe and secret under lock
and key until the promised time. Fans queue
late into the night, waiting for bookshop
doors to open at midnight when they can
finally get their hands on a long-awaited
copy.

A publishing phenomenon

The Harry Potter books are

astonishingly successful. Over 325 million
copies have been sold and they have been
translated into 65 languages - and that is not
even including the final book (‘Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows’). The Harry Potter
books are, indeed, a publishing phenomenon.

Goodbye to Harry

One Harry Potter book has been

written every year for the last six years and
fans wait impatiently for each new book.
Excitement reached fever pitch this summer
as the seventh and final - absolutely,
unchangeably final, according to Ms Rowling
- installment of Harry’s adventures made its
way to the shops.

Anticipation mounts...

The waiting was nearly over;

midnight was drawing near. Shop assistants
and shop owners were wearing witch
or wizard costumes, ready to meet the rush.
Security was extra tight: the story was kept
secret, no hints were given and the trucks
delivering the books were tracked by
satellite technology to ensure there were no
unplanned stops en route. In some
warehouses, workers were even forbidden
to take their mobile phones to work.
Meanwhile, children and adults were
queuing outside bookshops and waiting
excitedly for midnight, when the book would
finally go on sale and they would finally be
able to find out what happened to their hero.

The secret is out!

Yet, in spite of all the security, it

proved impossible to keep the story secret.
A day before the official release of the book,
people were reading it on the internet and
a shop in New York sold a number of copies
by mistake. Worst of all, a number of
newspapers had received copies in advance
of the book going on sale and they decided to
publish reviews, including details of how the
story ended.

Whodunnit?

It has all the elements of a classic

crime story: famous names, money,
a mysterious theft and and an unknown
criminal. Perhaps someone will write a book
about it one day...

For now, no-one knows who let the

cat out of the bag. And, judging by the sales
of the last Harry Potter novel, the fans do not
seem to care.

PETER MORAN
NOVEMBER 2007

How well do you know your
‘children’s literature’?
Which books do these
characters appear in? >>>>

Bagheera Bilbo Willy Wonka

Tom Sawyer Polynesia Snape

© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

activities sheet

Discussion

1. Think of the last book you read and the last film you saw. Were they good? Tell your partner about them.
2. What is most important for you in choosing a film: the actors, the director, the story or something else?
3. If you have a choice, do you prefer books or films? Why?

Before you read

Here are some items taken from the text. What do you think the text might say about them?
WITCHES AND WIZARDS

JK R

OWLING

325

MILLION

SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY

MOBILE PHONES

65

First reading - scanning

Read the text quickly and check to see if you were right.

After reading - what do you remember?

Look at the sentences below. With a partner, but without looking at the text again, decide if they true or false.
1. Fans are very angry about the information being leaked.

T

☐

F

☐

2. The seven Harry Potter books have been translated into 65 languages.

T

☐

F

☐

3. A New York shop sold copies early in the hope of making a better profit.

T

☐

F

☐

4. Each new book is sold only after midnight.

T

☐

F

☐

5. Satellite technology tracked the books on their way to the shops.

T

☐

F

☐

6. Shops treated the book like any other book.

T

☐

F

☐

Second Reading - detailed comprehension

Read the text again, more carefully this time. Check your answers.

Language style - colourful language

The text contains some expressive language. Work with a partner and try to translate the examples below into your own
language (look back at the context if you are not sure of the meaning).

PARAGRAPH ONE

a long-awaited copy

PARAGRAPH THREE

excitement reached fever pitch

PARAGRAPH FOUR

midnight was drawing near
ready to meet the rush

PARAGRAPH SIX

let the cat out of the bag

© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

activities sheet

Lexis - collocations

The verbs ‘write’ and ‘read’ have many collocations. Try to match the particles to the verbs. The first one is done for you as an
example.

off for STH

STH back

STH off

back to SB

STH through

STH up

STH down

up on STH

STH out

1. to write a report, article etc using notes that you made earlier

2. to decide that someone or something is useless, unimportant, or a failure

3. to write to a company or organization asking them to send you something

4. to write something on a piece of paper

5. to reply to something that someone sent you, by writing to them

6. to read and say words that are written down, so that people can hear

7. to read something carefully from beginning to end to check details or find mistakes

8. to read out loud something that you have just written down

9. to read a lot about something because you will need to know about it

(all definitions from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Lexis - practice

Complete the sentences using one of the verbs above. You may need to change the form of the verb.
1. Can you ____________________ to me? I want to make sure you copied it down right.
2. This is the address. Do you want to ____________________?
3. Spend a couple of minutes just ____________________ your essay, to check there are no errors.
4. After six months of work, we eventually ____________________ as a non-starter.
5. Why don't you ____________________ the name of the winner? I’m sure everyone is interested.
6. Are you going to ____________________ that free poster?
7. I have to ____________________ before the meeting - they’re expecting it to be ready.
8. I ____________________ them immediately, thanking them for their kind invitation.
9. You'll enjoy traveling more if you ____________________ the history of the countries you'll be visiting.

write

read

write

STH

up

read

STH

out

© Pearson Education Polska 2007

PHOTOCOPIABLE

activities sheet

Grammar 1

Look at the example sentences:







1. Are the sentences about the past, present or future?
2. In these sentences, are the actions (‘waiting’, ‘drawing’, ‘wearing’, queuing’) finished or not finished?
3. When will each action end? Try to complete each sentence in your own words.
4. How are the verbs formed?

Grammar 2

Look at the example sentences:




1. How many actions are there in the sentence?
2. Which action happens first?
3. Are the actions separate or linked in some way? If they are linked, how are they linked?
4. How are the verbs formed?

Practice - What’s Your Alibi?

The Harry Potter story was leaked and the police are investigating. You are going to help with their investigations. Half of the
class will be suspects and half will be policemen/women. The suspects say they were all together all evening and could not
have stolen the story; the police will have to try to find holes in their alibi.

Each suspect will be interviewed by two policemen or women. The police will try to find differences in the suspects’ story
(where they were, who they saw, what they were wearing etc.) - if they find any inconsistencies then they will be able to prove
the suspects are guilty.

Prepare yourselves: the police should prepare difficult questions and the suspects prepare their stories. Think hard, suspects:
jail is not a nice place to spend your time!

The waiting was nearly over; midnight was drawing near…

Shop assistants and shop owners were wearing witch or wizard costumes...

Meanwhile, children and adults were queuing outside bookshops...

Worst of all, a number of newspapers which had received copies

in advance of the book going on sale published reviews