BEFORE YOU READ1 Look at the cover of the book. What kind of story is Owl Hall?

a a love story b a mystery c science fiction d a thriller

2 Describe the characters in the pictures. What do you think their relationship is?

WHILE YOU READ3 3.43 Read the extract from Owl Hall and check your answers to Exercises

1 and 2. Is the extract from the beginning, middle or end of the story?

Kara looked out of the car window at the other cars driving past on the motorway. Where had they been? Where were they going? Who were the people sitting inside them and what were they thinking? Sometimes Mum passed the cars in front and Kara had time to look inside.

Kara smiled at a man and woman having an argument in a black Ford. They were probably arguing about something stupid. It’s strange, Kara thought. People always argue about things that aren’t important and then they don’t talk about the things that are important. Why?

Then Mum drove faster and suddenly the man and woman were gone.

In the next car they passed, a couple were sitting in the front. They weren’t talking but they looked relaxed and happy together. Maybe they were listening to the radio. A young girl and boy were sitting in the backseat. The girl was asleep and the boy was playing a video game. They looked like a happy family, Kara thought. They were probably going home after a day at the beach or a visit to a castle.

Kara had started thinking about her own dad when Mum said, ‘We won’t be on the motorway much longer.’

‘Is it far?’ Martin asked, yawning in the backseat.

Kara turned and looked into Martin’s open mouth. She felt like she could see all the way down his throat to his stomach. It didn’t look very nice.

Kara looked at Mum. ‘Why can’t we go on a real holiday?’ she asked.

‘This is a real holiday,’ Mum replied. ‘You’ll love it.’

Kara didn’t know where they were going for their holiday. It was Mum’s surprise. Five days ago she had suddenly decided that they were going away for a week. Kara had imagined lying on a beach in Spain, dancing in the streets of Rio, shopping in New York. But when they drove past the airport, she realised that Mum had a different plan. Her mum’s idea of a holiday was probably a week inside a caravan in a wet field outside a sad seaside town.

Kara’s disappointment grew when they left the motorway and drove further into the countryside. They passed through a small town and some villages, but soon there were only fields around them and there were no other cars on the road. Then Mum stopped the car.

‘Are we there?’ Martin asked. ‘I’m hungry.’

Kara looked out of the window but it was getting dark now and she couldn’t see much. Mum took a map from under the seat and tried to find where they were.

‘We’re lost, aren’t we?’ Kara said.

‘Not very lost,’ Mum replied. But Kara didn’t believe her.

Suddenly Martin kicked the back of Kara’s seat. Kara turned and gave her brother one of her I’m-going-to-kill-you looks. Martin smiled at his sister at the same time as Mum started the car.

‘Let’s go on,’ Mum said. ‘I’m sure we’ll find a road sign or a house … or a phone box.’

They drove slowly down the country roads. There were trees on both sides of the road. Then suddenly the trees disappeared and all they could see was the road in front of them.

EXTRA READING Owl Hall

116

0455917_BEY_SBB1_p116-119.indd 116 23/09/2013 17:22

AFTER YOU READ4 Copy the organiser. Then complete the information

for the extract.

Title: ______________________Main character: ______________________Other characters: ______________________Setting (place, time): ______________________Story (most important events)Event 1: ______________________Event 2: ______________________Event 3: ______________________Event 4: ______________________

5 a Look at the picture and complete the task.In the extract, part of the story is missing. What do you think happens in the missing part?

b 3.44 Listen to the audio version to check your answer. How does Kara feel about the man?

6 Write the answers to the questions in your own words.1 What kind of person is Kara? 2 How would you describe Kara’s relationship with

her brother and mother?3 Who do you think Howard is?

7 Read the dictionary entry and answer the questions.1 What’s the climax in the Owl Hall extract?2 What ‘mystery story’ ingredients does the author

include in the climax? 3 What do you think happens next? Make a note of

your ideas.

‘There it is!’ Mum said suddenly.

The car turned left and they drove down a bumpy track, waking Martin up.

‘Where are we?’ Martin asked sleepily.

‘We’re here,’ Mum said, looking at the wooden sign that hung next to a large metal gate. There was a picture of an owl on the sign and the name: ‘Owl Hall.’

Mum smiled and turned to Kara. ‘Please can you open the gate for me?’ she said.

‘Why me?’ Kara said as she got out of the car, closing the door loudly behind her. It was cold outside and very quiet. Kara looked around her but she couldn’t see far in the darkness. As she walked towards the gate she heard an owl calling and the

climaxNoun [countable] informal

The most exciting or important moment in a story, event or situation, usually near the end.

noise of something moving in the bushes. Suddenly Kara thought she could feel someone or something watching her. ‘It must be the owl,’ she told herself as she reached the gate. Through the gate she could see the shapes of some small buildings and one large building. They had arrived but Kara didn’t know where they were. She only knew two things. The place was called Owl Hall and something didn’t feel right.

The gate creaked loudly as Kara opened it. Then she turned and waved to Mum in the car. Mum drove through the gates with Martin smiling in the backseat, and parked next to two other cars. As Kara was closing the gate, she thought she heard a voice whispering in her ear.

‘Kara! Help me. Let me go!’ the voice said.

But when Kara turned round, no one was there.

HOW TOunderstand new words

See page 30

??

117

0455917_BEY_SBB1_p116-119.indd 117 23/09/2013 17:23

BEFORE YOU READ1 Look at the cover of the book and read the plot summaries. Which is a

summary of Robinson Crusoe?a A boy, whose mother owns a small hotel, finds a map and goes to sea to find

some treasure on an island.b A young man ignores his father’s advice and goes to sea. After a storm, he finds

himself shipwrecked alone on an island.c A teenager travels by ship with his family and some animals. The ship sinks and

the boy finds himself alone with a tiger on a lifeboat.

WHILE YOU READ2 3.45 Read the extract from Robinson Crusoe and check your answer to

Exercise 1. Do you know the titles of the other two books?

My name is Robinson Crusoe. I was born in 1632 in the city of York, in England. I came from a good family. My father was from

Germany. He made his money as a merchant – buying and selling things – and came to live in York, where he married my mother. I had two older brothers. One became a soldier and was killed in France. And I never knew what happened to my other brother – just as my mother and father never knew what happened to me.I had a good education. I went to a good school, and learned a lot at home. My father wanted me to get a good job. But I had other ideas. I wanted to go to sea. I could not think about anything else, even though my parents and friends argued strongly against it. It was as if something was pushing me towards the terrible life that lay ahead of me. One day my father called me to his room and asked me why I wanted to leave his house, and England.‘People who go to sea are not like you,’ he said. ‘They either go because they have no money, or because they are very rich, and they want an adventure. You are lucky because you are neither rich nor poor. Poor people have to worry about finding food and somewhere to live. Rich people have to worry about looking after their money. You are in the best place, because you are in the middle. You can have a comfortable life if you stay at home.’My father promised to do many things for me if I listened to him. With tears running down his face, he told me to remember my older brother. He had gone away to become a soldier and been killed.‘If you go to sea, you will have no one to help you,’ he warned me. I listened carefully to my father’s words, and for a few days, I changed my mind about leaving home. But within a few weeks, I had decided to go away once more. I asked my mother to talk to my father. I told her that I wanted to go on one voyage. I said that if I did not like it, I would come home and work very hard.But my mother was very upset. She said she would not talk to my father. She said she did not know how

I could even think of going to sea. And she told me that she would not help me to do foolish things with my life. A year went by, and my parents would still not let me go to sea.Then one day I went to the city of Hull and met a friend. His father was the captain of a ship which was sailing to London, and I decided to go with them, without even telling my mother or father.When the ship left Hull, the wind began to blow and the sea turned rough. As I had never been to sea before, I was terrified, and became very seasick. Suddenly I thought about what I had done. I remembered my mother and father’s words, and felt terribly sorry for not listening to them. I promised to myself that if I lived, I would go straight home to my father and never go in a ship again.The next day, the sea was a little calmer, but I still felt seasick. The following morning, however, when I got up, the sun was shining on a clear sea. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I completely forgot all the promises I had made when I felt so ill.A few days later, when we came near the shore, a terrible storm blew up. The sea was very rough, and waves that were as high as mountains broke over the ship every few minutes.

118

EXTRA READING Robinson Crusoe

0455917_BEY_SBB1_p116-119.indd 118 23/09/2013 17:23

This storm was nothing like the first one. Even the other men on the ship had faces full of fear. They said they had never seen anything like it. We all prayed for our lives.In the middle of the night, one of the men told us that there was a leak in the ship – water was coming in. The men worked as hard as they could to get the water out, but everyone knew that the ship was going to sink. I felt as if my heart had died inside me. The captain told the men to fire guns to show other boats that we needed help. But the sea was too rough for a boat to come near.

HOW TOunderstand referring words

See page 96

??AFTER YOU READ3 Copy the organiser. Then make notes about the different characters in the extract. Think about

their relationships, jobs, wishes and feelings. What do they do in the extract?

Title: ______________________

HOW TOmake notes

See page 74

??

Character B

Main character A

Character(s) D Character(s) E

Character C

4 Write the answers to the questions in your own words.1 How did Crusoe’s family feel about him going to sea? Why?2 What event finally made him decide to go?3 Why didn’t Crusoe go home after the second storm at sea?

5 3.46 Listen to an audio extract of one of the most famous parts of the book. What does Crusoe find and why is he frightened?

6 Read about Robinson Crusoe and answer the questions.1 Novels are usually told in the first or third person. What

are the advantages and disadvantages of telling a story in the first person?

2 What does Crusoe mean when he says: ‘I never knew what happened to my other brother – just as my mother and father never knew what happened to me.’?

3 What do you think happens in the story? Does Crusoe ever return to England?

Robinson Crusoe was published in 1719, and many people think of it as the first English novel. The book is a fictional autobiography, told in the first person by the main character. Daniel Defoe may have got the idea from a true story about a man called Alexander Selkirk, who spent several years on an island.

At last, however, the storm started to die down a little, and a boat managed to come close to the ship. After trying many times, we finally pulled the boat near to our ship and climbed into it. As we rowed away, we saw our ship go down in the rough sea. I was so frightened I almost couldn’t watch.We rowed safely to the shore, where we were well looked after. There, we were given enough money to go on to London or back to Hull. I could have gone back home to Hull. My father would have been pleased to see me, and I could have had a quiet, happy life. But something inside me would not let me go back.

119

0455917_BEY_SBB1_p116-119.indd 119 23/09/2013 17:24