When he came to Valverde , he found a school friend. He got on very well with him. Together they decided to travel to Iceland. After a month, they visited the cities. They met new friends and the people didn’t think he was a bad boy any more..They spent two years studying with his new friends. They travelled to the Caribbean in his school trip. There, Johnny ...

There Johnny met the beautiful Brazilian Lola Menta. One day during the trip they decided to go surfing, but they didn’t know what was going to happen. While he was bathing, Johnny was attacked by a white shark of six metres which then disappeared under the water with Johnny. After a few seconds, a great red spot in the water was seen and Lola Menta was crying. But Johnny....

a) But Johnny was alive!!!. A beautiful mermaid who saw him, took him to her cave and looked after him and they fell in love with each other. But Johnny couldn’t live under the sea and the mermaid couldn’t live out of the sea, so Johnny built a small house near the sea and could see her everyday. But one day the mermaid didn’t come to the shore and Johnny...

b) But Johhny was alive!!!. His girlfriend saw a lot of blood in the sea and she was crying very much when the doctor arrived. Suddenly, Johnny opened his eyes and said that he was fine.Then he went to hospital and his friends visited him. But one of his friends had a bad piece of news...

c) But Johnny was alive!!! All his friends were worried, because there was too much blood in the water and he didn’t come to the surface. When he came to the surface, he hadn’t his left leg. Then,he was very sad because his girlfriend didn’t love him any more.But he received a surprise when he arrived to hospital...

and the doctor gave him a new leg. He became happy. The next day, his girlfriend went to see him and she asked him to forgive her, but she had to say one thing: she was pregnant. Now he was sorry!!...

To earn some money for the baby, Johnny was employed as a boxer at a cavern which was always full of tourists who bet on the fights. The day that his son was born, he met a guy that belonged to the Gangs (big South American mafias) and offered him 20000 dollars to fight against a champion of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Johnny was seriously injured He got his clavicle and his breastbone broken, but with the money he and Lola Menta returned to Spain where the doctors cured him. In the end he becomes a writer publishes his autobiography; a story of happiness and sadness.

"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
    

This will be the blog for our English classes this year! You will find many topics related to our daily lessons and you will be able to give me your opinions about anything we deal with in our English classes. Feel free to join in and use your English. To begin with, you could comment on your classmates and your new English teacher

Julia