A dark old house. A whistle in the night. The world's most famous detective.
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First, let's learn eight words. Read each word and its sentence, guess the meaning, then click Reveal to check. Say each word out loud.
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
One morning, a young woman came to see the detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr Watson. Her name was Helen. She was shaking. "I am not cold," she said. "I am afraid."
Helen lived in a big old house called Stoke Moran. She lived there with her stepfather, Dr Roylott — a big, angry, dangerous man.
Two years ago, Helen's sister Julia died in that house. It was two weeks before her wedding. In the night, Helen heard a terrible scream. Julia came out of her room and fell. Her last words were: "The speckled band!" Then she died. Her door was locked. Her window was closed. Nobody could come in — but she was dead, and no doctor could say why.
"And now," said Helen, "I am going to be married too. I sleep in Julia's old room now. And last night I heard it — a quiet whistle in the dark."
1. What happened to Julia, and what were her last words?
2. Why is Helen afraid now?
1. Julia died in the night, two weeks before her wedding, in a locked room. Her last words were: "The speckled band!"
2. Helen is going to be married too, she sleeps in Julia's old room now — and last night she heard the same whistle in the dark.
Later that morning, Dr Roylott came to Holmes's rooms. He was very angry. "Stay away from my family!" he shouted. He took the metal poker from the fireplace and bent it with his big hands. Then he walked out. Holmes only smiled — and bent the poker straight again.
In the afternoon, Holmes and Watson went to the old house. They looked at Julia's room very carefully. Next to the bed, there was a rope. But the rope was fake: you pull it, and nothing happens. The rope went up to a small ventilator above the bed. And the ventilator was strange too: it didn't go outside. It went through the wall, into the stepfather's room!
One more thing: the bed was fixed to the floor. You could not move it.
Holmes was very quiet. Then he said to Helen: "Tonight, sleep in another room. Watson and I will wait in your room — in the dark."
1. What is strange about the rope and the ventilator?
2. What is Holmes's plan for tonight?
1. The rope is fake — you pull it and nothing happens. The ventilator doesn't go outside; it goes through the wall into the stepfather's room. (And the bed is fixed to the floor!)
2. Helen will sleep in another room. Holmes and Watson will wait in her room, in the dark.
That night, Holmes and Watson sat in Julia's room. It was completely dark. They waited and waited. One o'clock… two o'clock… three o'clock.
Then, a small light came through the ventilator. And a soft sound — sssss. Holmes jumped up. He hit the rope again and again with his stick. Then they heard a low whistle. And then — a terrible cry from the next room.
Holmes and Watson ran into the stepfather's room. Dr Roylott sat on a chair. He was dead. Around his head there was a strange yellow band with brown spots. Then the band moved. It was a snake — the most poisonous snake in India!
Holmes explained everything: every night, Roylott sent the snake through the ventilator. It went down the rope, onto the bed. He wanted to kill Helen, because when the sisters married, he lost their money. But tonight Holmes hit the snake, and the angry snake went back through the hole — and bit its master.
1. What was the "speckled band"?
2. Why did Dr Roylott want to kill the sisters?
1. A snake — the most poisonous snake in India. Roylott sent it through the ventilator and down the rope every night.
2. Because of money. When the sisters married, he lost their mother's money.
This whole mystery is about WHERE things are: the rope next to the bed, the ventilator above it, the snake through the wall. Prepositions of place are the little words that answer the question "Where?"
1. The rope was the bed.
2. The ventilator was the bed, near the ceiling.
3. The snake came the ventilator.
4. Helen slept Julia's old room.
1. next to (at the side of the bed)
2. above (higher than the bed, not touching)
3. through (in one side, out the other)
4. in (inside the room)
Look back at the story if you need to. Say your answer out loud, then write it.
1. Where was the rope? →
2. Where was Dr Roylott's room? →
3. Where did the snake go every night? →
1. The rope was next to the bed. (It went up to the ventilator above the bed.)
2. It was next to Julia's room, behind the wall.
3. It went through the ventilator and down the rope, onto the bed.
Write one preposition in each gap: in, on, above or through (two gaps need the same word). Then read the little story out loud.
It was midnight. Holmes and Watson waited the dark room. The ventilator was the bed, high in the wall. A soft sound came the hole. The snake went down the rope. Now it was the bed. But Holmes was ready. He hit it with his stick, and it went back the ventilator, into its master's room.
in · above · through · on · through
One little word tells the reader exactly where the danger is — that is the power of prepositions.
Now take the story's ideas into the real world. Talk about each one out loud. There are no right answers — say what you think, and say why.
Sherlock Holmes stories are more than 130 years old, but people still read them, watch them and love them. Why do people love detective stories so much? Which detectives are famous in your country — in books, films or TV?
Holmes sees small things: a fake rope, a hole in a wall, a bed that cannot move. Is it good to notice everything? Which jobs need very good eyes and attention — and which small detail could YOU notice that other people miss?
Some houses feel warm and friendly. Some houses feel scary. In films, what makes a house scary — old rooms, strange sounds, dark gardens? Describe the scariest house you have seen in a film or a story. Where was everything in it?
Dr Roylott did a terrible thing because of money. In many stories and films, money makes people do bad things. Why is money so powerful in stories? Think of another story or film where money is the big problem.
This is the most important part of the lesson — do all of it out loud. Use the timer, and try to speak for the whole time.
Tell the whole story in your own words: the frightened visitor → the sister's death → the whistle → the strange room → the night → the snake.
Use at least four prepositions of place (where was the rope? where was the ventilator? where did the snake go?) and today's key words.
You are the detective. A police officer on the telephone cannot see Julia's room — describe it. Where is the bed? Where is the rope? Where is the ventilator? Where are the door and the window? Say what is strange about each thing, and say exactly WHERE everything is.
Invent a small, funny mystery and tell it to the detective. For example: every morning there is a flower on your table — but the door is locked! Or: your neighbour's cat brings home a gold ring. Tell the story. Say where everything happens (in… next to… behind… through…), and let the detective ask you questions.