FESTIVAL WORKSHEETS
Christmas Lesson Intermediate Worksheet C
1. What s the missing word: Read the text below and try to guess the missing words from context.
John Grisham, the modern legal thriller 1)________, is usually associated with
books such as The Firm, The Pelican Brief or The Client, which most of us have
either read or 2)________ in the film version.
He was born in Arkansas in 1955 and as a child 3)_________ __ being a
professional baseball player. When he grew up he chose to study and practice
law, 4)____________ in criminal defence and working 60-70 hours a week.
When he started writing novels it was just a hobby. However, after he 5)______
the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham
suddenly became a hot property among publishers and a hobby became a full
time 6)_________.
In 1996 he took time off writing to return to the courtroom to represent the
family of a railroad brakeman who had been 7)_________ in an accident.
Grisham successfully argued his clients case.
Skipping Christmas is a very 8)__________ book from Time to Kill, The Street
Lawyer or The Testament. It is a 9)_________, yet hilariously told Christmas
tale about friendship, family values and the chaos and frenzy that are part of
our Christmas tradition.
Grisham 10)_________ with his wife Renee and their two children. When he's
not writing, he devotes his time to charitable causes and working with his
church group.
2. Vocabulary work: Look at the text again and check in pairs if you understand the meaning of the
following words and phrases used in the text. Try not to use a dictionary.
to be associated with to argue to specialise in hilariously
a hot property frenzy charitable causes to practice law
3. Can you remember? Don t look at the text and answer the questions below:
1. What type of writing is John Grisham associated with?
2. How many titles of his novels can you remember?
3. What did he do before he became a full time writer?
4. Why is Skipping Christmas different from his other novels?
5. Why did Grisham stop writing in 1996?
6. What does he do in his free time?
7. Do you think Grisham s books will make good Christmas gifts?
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