"THE SECRET IS TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. THEN YOU WILL FIND THE ANSWERS..."

This is the interesting book you will be reading this term, but you won't take the exam until you come back from Christmas. But these are some of the activities that you can do before and while reading the stories

Read this passage

" The room was on the fourth floor, and the door was locked - with the key in the inside. The windows were closed and fastened- on the inside. The chimney was too narrow for a cat to get through. So how did the murderer escape? And whose were the two angry voices heard by the neighbours as they ran up the stairs? Nobody in Paris could find any answers to this mystery... except Auguste Dupin" and maybe you....

Auguste Dupin was not a policeman, and not really a detective either. He was a quite young man, who loved books and reading. But he was very clever. He took interest in the horrible murders in the Rue Morgue because there were no answers. Who murdered the old lady and her daughter? . Why were the murders so brutal? How did the murderer get out of the house?

ACTIVITIES

BEFORE READING

1. Read this introduction. How much do you know about the story? Correct the mistakes in this passage

The old lady and her son were murdered on the second floor of a house in the Rue Morgue in London. The door was open, with the key outside of the door, and the windows were shut but not fastened. Two laughing voices were heard by friends when they ran up the stairs

2. Can you guess what happens in the story?

1. The murdered escaped .....

a) from the roof b) through a window

c) through the door d) down a secret stair

2. The people thought the two angry voices spoke in ....

a) French b) Russian

c) English d) French and another language

3. The police arrested...

a) a Russian sailor b) one of the neighbours

c) a bank clerk d) the daughter's lover

4. The police arrested...

a) the right person

b) the wrong person

You can work in pairs and write your comments here

3. Read chapter 1. How did Auguste Dupin work out what his friend was thinking? Put the notes in the right order, to show how his thinking went

• thinking of Racine's play
• nearly falling over
• meeting the apple seller
• looking at the street name
• Chantilly "the new Racine"
• jumping out of the way
• turning into the Rue Racine
• hole in the street

4. Read chapters 2and 3. How much do we know about the mystery? Which of these things are we sure about and which are only guesses?

1. Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter lived very quietly
2. They had no friends and no enemies
3. The razor was used to kill the mother
4. The neighbours heard two voices, arguing loudly
   
5.  The deep voice was a man's voice, and spoke in French
6. The shrill voice was the voice of a woman
7. The shrill voice spoke in Russian
8. The shrill voice spoke in Italian
9. The murderer was very strong
10. The murderer forgot to take the gold when he left
11. The murderer was not interested in the gold