MURDER WEEKEND: OPDRACHTEN

MURDER WEEKEND

by Denise Kirby

 

 

Assignments

Before Reading

1       Look at the picture on the front cover.

 

         A       What can you say about the expression on the girl’s face?

         B       What do you call the spots in her face? 

         C      What can you say about the house in the background? 

A

B

C

 

2       Look at the text on the back cover.

 

         A       What are the guests going to celebrate in the old country house?

         B       What are they going to do during the weekend?

         C      What is the tragic event that is going to happen?

A

B

C

While Reading

Chapter 1         Caves House

 

1          Circle the 5 weather conditions that are mentioned in this chapter. Choose from:

blizzard	drizzle	fog	freezing cold	hail	heat wave
lightning	rain	snow	storm	thunder	tornado

 

2       A       Why did Hannah stop on the way to Caves Hall?

         B       What did Milly go out to buy?

A

B

 

3       What were Hannah and Milly going to do at Caves Hall?

 

4       What were the guests going to do during the murder game?

5       Why did Helen start to drive more carefully?

6       A       Who were Ed and Lizzie Halford?

         B       What can you say about the way Ed Halford looked?

A

B

7          What did Caves House look like …

         A      from the outside?

         B       on the inside?

A

B

8          At the back of the house they passed a ‘games room’.

         What sort of games are played in such a room? Mention at least three.

9          Why did Hannah smile weakly when the Halfords showed her the kitchen?

 

Chapter 2     The Company of Murder

 

1          Why did Milly look at her mother in surprise when she said, ‘We’ll have all your meals

         ready on time’?

 

2          A       Look at this picture from page 17 and write down the names of the people that   

                  you see in it in the grid below.

         B       Write down the names of the characters the actors were playing next to their                       names.

                                                                       ê1  ê2       ê3           ê4        ê5

                           6 è

 

                                                                                                                                 7 ç

	people in the picture	characters they were playing
1
2		xxxxxx
3
4
5
6		xxxxxx
7

 

3          How would you characterise Caroline’s behaviour? Circle A, B, C, or D.

A     uncertain

B     exaggerated

C     modest

D     cheerful

 

4          Why did the painting near the window make Milly feel uncomfortable?

 

5          What did Caroline mean when she said, ‘We’re on in ten minutes’?  

 

6          What can you say about “Mr Rochester”? Fill in the gaps.

He had wanted to ____________________ (A) the house that “Lord and Lady Dunsany”   were living in. He seemed to know “Lord Dunsany” ’s dirty _______________________ (B).

 

7          A       Why did Clive have to leave the house?

         B       Why did he have to leave at this particular moment (at ten o’clock on a Friday

                  night)?

A

B

 

8          What happened after the birthday cake had been eaten?

 

Chapter 3     Road closed

 

1          A       What had yesterday’s phone call been about?

         B       What had been the result of this for the Company of Murder?

A

B

 

2          A       In what way was the dining room different from the day before?

         B       Was this a clue to the murder mystery?

A

B

 

3          A       What did Hannah use the newspaper for?

         B       Why was Caroline interested in the newspaper, too?

A

B

 

4          Look at Question 2A again.

         Did Lizzy Halford seem worried about this? Explain your answer.

 

5          Why did “Inspector Blakey” want every room searched?

 

Chapter 4     The Halfords

 

1       Why did Hannah not want the guests to know about the missing painting?

 

2       What was in the green book that Ed Halford’s father had given to his son before he died?

 

3       A       What surprised Milly about the Halfords?

         B       What conclusion did she draw from that?

A

B

 

4       Why had Lizzy not wanted Ed to talk about the painting?

 

5       A       Why should Ed Halford not be living at Caves House?

         B       Why were the Halfords still living there then?

A

B

 

6       A       Who is Isodore Richmond?

         B       How did Milly recognise this name?

A

B

 

7       What is ‘Careless’?

 

Chapter 5         Someone in the room

 

1          Who, at this point in the story, do you think is the most likely person to have

         stolen the painting?

         Explain your answer.

 

2       How could Ed Halford and Milly search the rooms undisturbed?

 

 

3       A       Whose rooms did Ed and Milly start with?

         B       Why was that?

         C      Did this plan work out? Explain your answer.

A

B

C

 

4       Could someone from the outside have taken away the painting the night before?

         Explain your answer.

 

5       A       Who had an alibi?

         B       What was this alibi?

A

B

 

6       A       Who might have taken away the painting according to Rod?

         B       What, however, was this person’s alibi?

         C      How did this become clear?

A

B

C

 

7       Caroline said, ‘Anyone hungry?’

         ‘Yes’, said Adrian to Hannah. ‘Perhaps you’d better serve the afternoon tea.’

         What is afternoon tea?

 

8       A       Do you think Ed Halford was right to call in the police? Explain your answer.

         B       Why could the police not reach Caves house?

A

B

 

Chapter 6         In the night

 

1          In the kitchen Michael and Milly were talking about who might have known that

         the painting was a valuable one.

         Who were these persons and why would they have known about its value?

         Fill in the gaps.

Milly thought ________________________ (A) might have known, because an aunt of hers   _______________________________________________ (B). She also told Milly that she   thought ________________________________________________________________(C).   Michael thought _________________________ (D) might have known, because she was   ______________________________ (E). Michael also suspected ________________ (F),   because he ___________________________________________________________ (G).

 

2          Milly had woken up in the middle of the night and was feeling hungry.

         Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and felt the same way?

         If so, what food did you go looking for?

 

3          A       Who was the person behind the refrigerator door?

         B       How did Milly find out? Fill in the gaps.

A

B This person had lost his ________________________________ (I). Milly had looked at the   _______________________________________________ (II) and found the name of   ______________________________________ (III). She then phoned him and he   answered by asking, ’_________________________(IV)?’

 

4          What was the mistake that everybody had made about the car?

 

5          What was the reason why the thief had been to the house before?

 

6          Why did Milly not think that the thief was hiding in the cave?

 

7          Where had the thief been hiding?

 

8          What had this place been used for years ago?

 

9          What had caused the thief’s plan to fail?

 

10       Who had driven the car?

 

After Reading

 

1          Have another look at the text on the back cover. As you can

         see, there are two clear mistakes on it!

         Write down these two mistakes in English.

 

2          In Murder Weekend it did not become clear who killed Miss O’Halloran.

         Think of a possible killer and add a motive.

A possible killer is …        The reason for this killing could be …

 

 

3       Be a good detective, solve this Murder Weekend crossword and find the mystery word.

 

                                                 ê Mystery Word

			11
	22
	33
	44
	55
66
77
		88
	99
		1010
		1111
		1212
	1313

 

1          The missing picture was hanging next to this (9)

2          Caterer during the murder weekend (6)

3          Go around with food and drink; a waiter’s job (5)

4          Pieces of wood that together make up a wall (9)

5          Lord and Lady in the Company of Murder (7)

6          The Halfords lived in the ____________’s cottage (9)

7          Object that blocked the old door to the kitchen (12)

8          Michael did this with apples (6)

9          Bernie forgot to bring these (7)

10       Andy, Bernie, Michael and Rod (6)

11       Weapon that killed “Miss O’Halloran” (5)

12       Object to cook food on (the one in Caves House was ancient) (5)

13       ‘Murder in the Moonlight’ and ‘Careless’ (9)