Activities: death of an englishman

1 Read the back cover and the story introduction on the first page of the book. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?

1 The story takes place just before Christmas. T

2 The story takes place in Italy. T

3 The murderer moved the dead man's furniture. F The dead man had been in the habit of moving his furniture on three o'clock in the morning.

4 The dead man was shot. T

5 Thepolice found an stolen gun in the dead man's flat. F The police found a stolen antique in the Englishman's flat.

6 Two people said that they heard noises in the night. T

7 Carabiniere Bacci is an experienced police officer. F Carabiniere Bacci is training to be a police officer. He's serious enthusiastic and very inexperienced.

8 The Marshal is ill. T

2 What is going to happen in thestory? Can you guess? For each answer, circle Y (Yes) or N (No).

1 The police will find out that...

•The dead man was a criminal. [Y]/N

•The dead man was shot by accident. Y/[N]

•The little girl was telling the truth. [Y]/N

2 The police will arrest...

•An antique dealer. Y/[N]

•Miss White. Y/[N]

•A thief. [Y]/N

3 Who will catch the murderer?

a) Carabiniere Bacci [Y]/Nb) The Marshal Y/[N]

c) The Captain Y/[N]

ACTIVITIES

While Reading

Read Chapter 1, and then answer these questions.

Why

1 . . . was Cipolla at Via Maggio, number fifty-eight? Because he works there, he's the cleaner.

2 . . . was Carabiniere Bacci sleeping in the office? Because the Marshal had a feverish cold, and was in bed upstairs in his flat.

3 . . . did Cipolla wantto speak to the Marshal? Because he knows him, he lives next door to his sister.

4 . . . didn't Bacci wake the Marshal up? Because he didn't like the Marshal at all.

5 . . . did Cipolla look strange? Because he's ill.

6 . . . was the angel's head a problem? Because it was a beautiful antique who has an official government seal around the neck.

Read Chapters 2 to 4. Are these sentencestrue (T) or false (F)? Rewrite the false ones with the correct information.

1 Two policemen came from England to help the Italian police. T

2 Langley-Smythe was shot three times. F Langley-Smythe was shot once, in the back.

3 The police couldn't find the gun. T

4 There was no money in the safe in the bedroom. F There was also a lot of money, almost half a million pounds, in the safe inthe bedroom wall.

5 The angel's head had been stolen from a museum. F The angel's head had been taken from the house of an American woman who was away in America.

6 Giovanna had heard two bangs in the night. T

7 The first bang was the noise of a gun. F The first bang was the noise of the front door downstairs.

8 Bacci's English was good enough for him to question Miss White. F Bacci'sEnglish wasn't good enough for him to question Miss White.

9 There were fingerprints of two people in Langley-Smythe's flat. F There were fingerprints of seven different people in his flat.

10 The police knew that the local greengrocer was a criminal. T

Read Chapters 5 and 6. Why do the police think these things? Give a reason for each one. Do you agree with the police?

1Langley-Smythe was waiting for a visitor before he died. There were signs that Langley-Smythe had lain on the bed while he was waiting for his visitor, one of the books that he had borrowed from the library, was lying on the bed, and the other was on the little table next to the bed. I agree.

2 The visitor didn't want to steal Langley-Smythe's money. The safe was open and he had turned his back to thevisitor, nobody wanted to steal the money because it was still in the safe. I agree.

3 Langley-Smythe changed his furniture in the middle of the night about once a month. Miss White said that she saw Langley-Smythe changing his furniture so many times. I agree.

4 Langley-Smythe was exporting antiques illegally. The new furniture that Langley-Smythe get once a month were antiques. I agree.

5...