Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник) - стр. 19
“I had come to these conclusions before ever I entered his room. His chair showed me that he had been standing on it, which of course would be necessary to reach the ventilator. The safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of lash showed that I was right. The metallic sound heard by Miss Stoner was that of the closing door of the safe upon the snake. I came to the right conclusion, and you know what I did to finish the case. I heard the snake hiss as I have no doubt you did also, and I lit the light and attacked it.”
“And you drove it through the ventilator.”
“And it turned upon its master at the other side. The snake was angry, so it attacked the first person it saw. In this way I am no doubt responsible for Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s death, and I cannot say that I am very sorry about it.”
Exercises
1. Answer the questions:
1. What did Holmes and Dr. Watson do after they got into the house?
2. How long did they have to wait for Dr. Roylott to start acting?
3. What did Dr. Watson hear and smell after a long wait?
4. What did Sherlock Holmes do after there was a hissing sound?
5. What did they see in Dr. Roylott’s room?
6. Did Sherlock Holmes come to the correct conclusion at once? What put him on a wrong scent at first?
7. When did the idea of a snake occur to the detective?
8. Was Sherlock Holmes sorry about his role in the affair?
Think and say
1. Why did Dr. Roylott’s pet bite him?
2. Why wasn’t Sherlock Holmes sorry that he was responsible for Dr.Roylott’s death?
2. Find the following phrases in the text and reproduce situations from the text with them. Give Russian equivalents.
1. to follow smb / smth
2. it is for the best
3. to be ajar
4. to let smb know
3. Paraphrase the underlined parts of the sentences so as to use the phrases above and from the previous parts.
1. My companions walked down the road and I walked after them.
2. It is very good that the exam is in a week, not in two days as we thought before. We’ll have more time to learn.
3. The commercials were shown before the film.
4. Lily could hear what her parents were talking about because the door was not quite closed.
5. The police told Robert they would tell him the cause of his brother’s death after some tests.
6. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson couldn’t speak even quietly. They waited in absolute darkness and silence.
7. Before her death Julia Stoner couldn’t speak because she was feeling terrible pain.
4. Complete the sentences with the words and phrases above and from the previous parts in the correct form.
1. The manager… Alice… that she would work at the weekend.