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Before reading
Q Parts of the human body: inside
Look at the dictionary extracts below. Then label the parts of the human body indicated in the drawing.
blood [blAd] noun : the red fluid consisting of plasma, blood cells and platelets that is pumped by the heart and carries oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body.
bone [boon] noun : bones are the hard parts inside the body that protect organs and which form the skeleton.
brain [brem] noun : the organ within the cranium that controls thoughts, feelings and voluntary movements
heart [halt] noun : 1 the muscular organ that pumps blood 2 the center of a person's emotions (especially love) 3 the center (or most important part) of something large. The heart of the problem; the heart of the city.
kidney [kidni] noun, kidneys (plural):
The kidneys are a pair of organs in the
abdominal cavity that maintain water
balance, filter blood of metabolic
wastes for excretion, liver [liva] noun : large organ in the
abdomen which purifies the blood and
produces bile, muscle [mAsl] noun : a flexible tissue
which can contract and relax in order
to produce movement, skull IskAl] noun : the cranium, vein [vein] noun : thin tube through
which your blood flows towards your
heart.
The story you are going to read is about a murder. The murderer will be caught because of a tell-tale heart. Look at the note about tell-tale on page 73 and then look at the different meanings of heart on page 74.
a. Which definition of heart do you think is best for the title of this story?
b. After you have read the story, see if your answer is the same.
Look at the picture on page 79. What is unusual about this old man? What do you think of his eye?
| I find it frightening.
] It bothers me and makes me angry.
] I find it disgusting.
] It doesn't affect me at all; after all it is just a physical defect.
] Other.
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Listen to the first chapter of "The Tell-Tale Heart" and choose the /"-N       best answer A, B or C.
m
1. The narrator was, and is, very A   □ angry.
B ] nervous. C      ] worried.
2. How did the narrator feel about the old man? A      ]  He loved him,
B   □  He hated him.
C   Q  He was afraid of him.
3. What did the old man's eye look like? A      ] It looked like a cat's eye.
B       ]  It looked like a dog's eye. C       ]  It looked like a vulture's eye.
4. What did the narrator do every night around midnight?
A      ]  He opened the door of the old man's room and then, very, very slowly, he put his head in.
B       ] He walked around the city, thinking up ways to kill the old man.
C       ]  He cleaned the house.
5. What bothered the narrator? A   ~]  The old man.
B       ]  The old man's evil eye.       "  ,   •?
i—i " C      | The old man's way of talking.
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Chapter
RUE! — nervous — very, very terribly nervous I was and I am. But why will you say that I am mad? The disease 1 made my senses extremely acute, It did not destroy them. My sense of hearing was very good. I heard all things in heaven 2 and on earth. I also heard things in hell. 3 Why, then, am I mad? Listen how healthily I can tell my story,
I cannot say how I first got the idea; but once I had it, this idea never left my brain day or night. There was no reason for this idea. There was no passion. I loved the old man. He had never (2) done anything wrong to me. I did not want his gold. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this! One of them looked like a vulture's 4
1. disease : illness, sickness,
2. heaven : the place where angels and God live (heaven is up, hell is down).
3. hell: the place where devils and Satan live, inferno.
4. vulture : a large bird that eats dead animals.
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THE TELL-TALE HEART
eye — a pale blue eye, with a film 1 over it. When this eye looked at me, my blood became cold. And so, gradually — very gradually — I decided to kill the old man, and eliminate that eye forever.
(3) Well, now you think I am mad. But madmen don't know anything. You should have seen me. I did everything so carefully, so intelligently. I was never kinder to the old man than during the
(4") whole 2 week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I opened his door slowly, very, very slowly. I opened just enough for my head. Then I put in a lantern all closed, closed so that no light came out, and then I put in my head. It was really fantastic how I did this. You would have laughed to see how slowly and intelligently I put my head in his room so that I would not wake him. It took me a whole hour to put my head into his 5; room. Gould a madman be so careful? When my head was in his room, I opened the lantern and its light fell on his vulture eye.
(6) I did this same thing for seven nights, but each night his eye was closed, so I could not do my work. The old man did not bother 3 me. His Evil Eye bothered me.
1. film : a thin membrane or covering (oil or petrol forms a film on water),
2. whole [haul] : entire, complete.
3. bother : cause to be nervous, disturb.
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ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
Go back to the text
How long did it take you?
F^£D Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.
1. Why could the narrator hear things in hell? A LJ Because he was mad.
Because he was not afraid to listen. C  |_j Because his hearing was much better than other people's. D  LJ Because he was very nervous.
2. What happened to the narrator when he saw the old man's vulture eye?
A [ ] His blood became cold. B  jJJ He started to desire the old man's money. C  LJ He realized how much he loved the old man. D  JJ He realized how much he hated the old man.
3. Why did the narrator decide to kill the old man? A LJ Because he wanted his gold.
Because he did not want to see the vulture eye anymore. C  |  ] Because he hated the old man.
D  LJ Because he was afraid the old man wanted to kill him.
4. According to the narrator, what do his careful preparations to kill the old man show?
A LJ That he was not mad.
B LJ That murder is not easy.
C (JJ That the old man was very dangerous.
D LJ That the vulture eye was quite horrible.
5. Why couldn't the narrator "do his work" the first seven nights? A [ ] Because the old man did not fait asleep.
B LJ Because it took him too long to enter the old man's room. C  LJ Because he could not see the vulture eye well enough
with the lantern. D  LJ Because the vulture eye was always closed.
Look at these questions and answers:
Q - How long does it take you to walk to school?
A - It takes me 45 minutes to walk to school.
Q - How long did it take them to get to New York?
A - It took them two hours to get to New York.
It + to take + object (noun or pronoun) + time
[to do something or go somewhere).
Notice that you use how long as the question words.
Q Now, look at the chart and write questions and answers for each person on the chart.
Example:  How long did it take him to tell his story? It took him an hour to tell his story.
d.
e.
Person	Action	Lengh of Time
He	put his head into the room	one hour
They	find the tomb	an hour and a half
The police	arrive at the scene of the crime	three hours
John	drive to work	30 minutes
She	get to Atlanta	eight hours
e.
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Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-H for each part (1-6) of Chapter 1. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning [0).
A \_\ A Horrible Defect
B        A Useless Week of Waiting
C Q Slowly and Surely
D Q A Very, Very Difficult Decision
E Q An Innocent Victim
F □ There it is!
G Q Beyond Human Perception
H [ ~] Gentle Preparations for Death
My senses were extremely acute
In English the verbs generally used with the five senses are the following:
To sound for the sense of hearing - That music sounds horrible.
To feel for the sense of touch - That sweater feels soft.
To taste for the sense of taste - This wine tastes sweet.
To look for the sense of sight - He looks tired.
To smell for the sense of smell - Those flowers sniell wonderful.
Look at the sentences below, and then complete them using the pictures opposite.
a. He/frightened ,...............................................................................
h. This beer/good ...................................*..........................................
c. That song/great ..............................................................................
d. This tombstone/wet ........................................................................
e. This cheese/disgusting ..................................................................
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Read the story below and fill in the gaps with one of the five verbs from page 82.
Herbert had prepared everything with great care. His guests would be arriving in about half and hour. He walked into the dining room.
Everything (1].....................beautiful. The colorful decorations were
perfect. He put his hand on the tablecloth; it (2J.....................
smooth and soft. Then, he tried one of the appetizers. It
[3].....................delicious. Just then, though, some smoke started
coming out of the kitchen. The smoke (4).....................terrible, like
burnt plastic. Herbert ran into the kitchen, and opened the oven. He had forgotten to take the plastic wrapper off the chicken! Then he
heard something strange under the table: it (5).....................as if an
animal was chewing on something. It was an animal. It was his dog, and it was eating the birthday cake. This birthday party was not off to a good start!
Just then the phone rang,
"Hello," Herbert managed to say.
"What's wrong, Herbert?" said Julie, Herbert's girlfriend. "You (6).....................upset,"
"Well," replied Herbert, "everything's wrong. I had planned everything for your party this evening, and nothing is going right."
"This evening? My party is tomorrow evening, not this evening," replied Julie.
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Before reading
3 Listen carefully!
Below are the first four paragraphs from the second chapter of the story. They are not in the right order. Listen to the recording once and then number them in the right order. Then listen to the recording again and circle the right word to fill in the blank.
a. Q The (eightieth / eighteenth I eighth) night I was more careful than usual when I opened the door. A (clock's / watch's I man's) minute hand moves more quickly than my hand moved. That night I was stronger and more intelligent than I had ever been. I laughed quietly and (possibly / maybe / perhaps) the old man heard me because he moved.
b. [ ] I had my head in and was (going I about I starting) to open the lantern when the man jumped up and shouted, "(Who's I What's / Is anybody) there?"
c. Q You probably (imagine / think I fancy) that I pulled my head back — but no. His room was (completely I entirely I wholly) dark and I knew that he could not see me. I kept pushing my head in,
d. [ ] Every morning I walked (contentedly / happily I smilingly) into his room, I asked him if he had slept well. I talked to him like a friend. So you can see that he had to be a very (intelligent I clever I wise) man to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked at him while he (dreamed / rested / slept).
Now read the chapter and check your answers.
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FCElj Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space. There is an example at the beginning (0).
I (0) did not move and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move
(1) ....................muscle and did not hear him lie down again. He
(2) ....................listening.
Then I heard him groan, and I knew it was the groan (3) ....................
mortal terror. It was not a groan of sadness or pain — oh no! - it
comes from a horrible feeling at {4)....................bottom of your soul.
I knew that feeling well. I (5)....................that same feeling every
night around midnight when I looked at the old man sleeping. I felt sorry (61 ....................him, but I had to laugh too.
His fear was growing bigger. He tried to convince (7)....................
that the noise came from his imagination. He said (8)....................
himself, "It is just the wind — it is only (9).................... mouse
running across the floor." Yes, he tried to comfort himself, but he found it all in vain. All in vain, because Death's shadow already
covered the old [10] .....................And it was Death's invisible
shadow that made him feel the presence of my head in (11)....................room.
After I had waited for a long (12)................I decided to open the
lantern a little tiny bit. So, I opened it — you cannot imagine
(13) ....................carefully - untiL a single ray of light, like the
thread of a spider, shot out from the lantern and onto
(14) ....................vulture eye.
Chapter f
very morning I walked happily into his room. I asked him if he had slept well. I talked to him like a friend. So you can see that he had to be a very wise 1 man to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked at him while he slept.
The eighth night I was more careful than usual when I opened the door. A watch's minute hand z moves more quickly than my hand moved. That night I was stronger and more intelligent than I had ever been. I laughed quietly and perhaps the old man heard me because he moved.
You probably think that I pulled my head back — but no. His room was completely dark and I knew that he could not see me. I kept pushing my head in.
1. wise : profoundly intelligent.
2. minute hand : a watch (clock) also has an hour hand and a second hand.
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THE TELL-TALE HEART
I had my head in and was about to open the lantern when the man jumped up and shouted, "Who's there?"
I did not move and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle and I did not hear him lie down again. He was listening.
Then I heard him groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of sadness or pain — oh no! — it comes from a horrible feeling at the bottom of your soul. 1 I knew that feeling well. I had that same feeling every night around midnight when I looked at the old man sleeping. I felt sorry for him, but I had to laugh too.
His fear was growing bigger. He tried to convince himself that the noise came from his imagination. He said to himself, "It is just the wind — it is only a mouse running across the floor." Yes, he tried to comfort himself, but he found it all in vain. AH in vain, because Death's shadow already covered the old man. And it was Death's invisible shadow 2 that made him feel the presence of my head in the room.
After I had waited for a long time, I decided to open the lantern a little tiny 3 bit. So, I opened it — you cannot imagine how carefully — until a single ray of light, like the thread * of a spider, 5 shot e out from the lantern and onto the vulture eye.
1. soul : the immortal part of a person.
2. shadow : area that is dark because a light source is partially blocked.
3. tiny : very little.
4. thread LHred]:
5. spider: ^
6. shot (shoot, shot, shot) : came out very quickly as from a pistol.
Ckapter (u/o
His eye was open — wide, wide open 1 — and I became furious as I looked at it. I saw it perfectly, all pale blue and with the disgusting film over it that made my bones cold; but I could see nothing else of the old man's face or body. I had, by instinct, directed the light right on that horrible spot. 2
Now I could hear a low sound 3 like the sound of a watch enveloped 4 in cotton. I told you before I was not mad, but my senses were very acute. I knew rnaf sound well too. It was the beating of the old man's heart. It made me more furious just like the beating of a drum 5 that stimulates a soldier's 6 courage.
But I did not move. I hardly breathed. 7 I held the light on the eye. And the beating of the heart increased. 8 It became quicker and quicker, and louder and louder. The old man's terror must have been extreme. It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! — do you understand? I told you I am nervous and I really am. That night that strange noise made me do something terrible.
1. wide open : completely open.
2. spot : position, place.
3. low sound : a sound that is difficult to hear, (for sounds low is the opposite of loud).
4. enveloped [m'velapd] : wrapped, enclosed, covered all around.
5. dram
e
6. soldier [sauld30|: the people who fight in armies.
7. I hardly breathed : I breathed just a little bit.
8. increased : became greater.
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THE TELL-TALE HEART
The beating grew louder, louder! I thought his heart would explode. Then I thought, "Maybe the neighbors 1 will hear it!" It was the old man's moment. With a shout, I opened up the lantern completely and jumped into the room. He screamed once — once only. In an instant I pulled him to the floor and pulled the heavy bed over him. I then smiled happily because I had done so much.
But, for many minutes, the heart continued to beat under the mattress. This, however, did not bother me: the noise could not be heard through the wall.
Finally, it stopped. The old man was dead. I removed the bed and examined the body. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. 2 I placed my hand on his heart and held it there many minutes. There was no more beating. He was stone dead. His eye would trouble me 3 no more.
-V A.
1. neighbors [neibsz] : the people who live next to you are your neighbors.
2. stone dead : completely dead.
3. trouble me : bother me. give me problems.
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Go back to the text
Q Answer the following questions.
a. Why did the narrator talk to the old man like a friend?
b. How many nights did the narrator watch the old man before the night he killed him?
c. What did the narrator see when he opened the lantern?
d. What sounded like a watch wrapped in cotton?
e. What did the beating of the old man's heart make the narrator do?
f. Why did the narrator think that the neighbors would hear the beating of the old man's heart?
g. How did he kill the old man?
The old man's terror must have been extreme
Look at the following situation:
/ walked past John's house last night and the light was on and I could hear music. John must have been home.
subject + must + have + past participle
John must have been home.
We use this structure to draw conclusions about things that happened in the past. Draw conclusions about the sentences below. Use the phrases in the box to help you. The first has been done for you.
read it     be a detective     be tired     know him     not see it break down     go away     be asleep     be hungry drive quickly be^acaTed
a. The old man screamed. He must have been scared.
b. I started to tell her about the story "The Tell-Tale Heart", but she already knew how it ended.
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c. It normally takes her three hours to drive to Baltimore but yesterday it took her only two and half hours.
d. I rang his doorbell but nobody answered the door.
e. A strange man came and started asking questions about the murder.
f. The children each ate two hamburgers and three portions of french-fries.
g. My father tripped on my brother's bicycle.
h. Edgar fell asleep at eight o'clock last night.
i. The dog did not bark when George came up to the house.
j. Allen drove to New York but he had to take a bus home again, k. I didn't hear you open the door last night.
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e. She...................... all evening. She is a very (talked)
timid person.
f. We always......................, and when we get (play)
home we are very hungry.
Before reading
Look at the picture on page 97.
a. Why do you think the crazy narrator has his hands over his ears?
b. What do you think the police are thinking?
I hardly breathed.
Look at these two sentences. Notice the position and the meaning of the adverbs hard and hardly.
I worked hard - I worked with a lot of effort, force, I worked a lot. I hardly worked = I worked very little, I scarcely worked.
Read the following sentences and then place hard or hardly in the correct position with regard to the verb in italics.
Example: He hardy slept. The sofa was very uncomfortable.
a. I......................yesterday because I was very tired, (worked)
b. I......................yesterday and finished all (worked)
my work. 1
c. I.......................I had just finished running (breathed)
two miles!
d. I.......................I did not want him to hear me. (breathed)
FCE[H Read the beginning of Chapter Three and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space. There is an example at the beginning (0).
If you still think (0) that I am mad, listen (1).........................
carefully I hid the body. The night was ending and I worked
carefully and quietly. First, I cut (2).........................the head and
the arms and the legs.
I then removed some of the boards from the floor and placed the
pieces of his body underneath. Then I put (3).........................the
boards (4) .........................carefully that no human eye - not even
his - could have noticed (5).........................wrong. There was
[6) .........................blood to clean — none at all — because I had been
very careful. A tub had caught (7).........................the blood -
ha! ha! ha!
(8].........................I finished my work it was four o'clock and
(9).........................was still dark. As the bell of the clock rang four
times, someone knocked (10) .........................the door. I went to
open it without any fear (11).........................worry. I had nothing to
be afraid (12) ..........................
Then listen to the recording to check your answers.
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Chapter f l^re e
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f you still think that I am mad, listen how carefully I hid the body. 1 The night was ending and I worked carefully and quietly. First, I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.
I then removed some of the boards 2 from the floor and placed the pieces of his body underneath. Then I put back the boards so carefully that no human eye — not even his — could have noticed anything wrong. There was no blood to clean — none at all — because I had been very careful. A tub 3 had caught all the blood — ha! ha! ha!
When I finished my work it was four o'clock and it was still
\.   hid the body (hide, hid, hidden) : put the body in a place where nobody could find it.
2, boards [bo:ds] : flat pieces of wood used for construction.
3. tub : a large round container.
Chapter I Kre e
dark. As the bell of the clock rang four times, someone knocked 1 at the door. 1 went to open it without any fear or worry. I had nothing to be afraid of.
Three men came in. They _ introduced themselves. They   were policemen. A   neighbor   had heard somebody scream and had thought something terrible had happened, so they called the police.
I smiled, — what did I have to fear? I told the policemen to
come in. I told them that 1 had screamed because of a bad dream. The old man, I said, was away in the country. 1 told them to look around, to look everywhere. I took them to his room. 1 showed them his gold. Then I brought some chairs into the room and put them down over the spot where the body of the victim lay. I told the policemen to sit down and rest a moment.
The policemen were satisfied. I had convinced them. They sat and I talked happily, But, in a few moments, I felt myself getting pale and I wanted them to go. My head ached 2 and I heard a ringing 3 in my ears. But they continued to talk. The ringing became more distinct: I talked more and more to try to eliminate the feeling. Then I discovered that the noise was not in my ears.
1. knocked : hit the door with fist (closed hand) so that the person inside would open it.
2. ached [cikd] : (here) hurt.
3. ringing : the sound a bell makes.
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THE TELL-TALE HEART
I became very pale and I talked louder and louder. But the sound increased — and what could I do? It was a low sound — very much like a watch enveloped in cotton. I could hardly breathe, but the policemen could not hear the sound. I talked more quickly. I talked more loudly, but the noise increased. I stood up and began to argue 1 about stupid things. I shouted, I moved my arms about. Why didn't those policemen leave? I walked around the room quickly — but the noise still increased. Oh God! What could I do? I screamed, I shouted! I pulled the chair over the place where the noise came from, but the noise was still louder, louder — louderl And still the men talked happily and smiled.
Didn't they hear? Oh God! No, no! They heard! — they suspected! — they knewl — they were making fun of 2 my horror! This I thought and this I think. But anything was better than this agony, than their making fun of me! 1 could not bear 3 their hypocritical smiles any more. I felt that I must scream or die! — and now again! — Listen! Louder! Louder! Louder! Louderl —
"Villains!" 4 I screamed, "do not pretend 5 any more! I admit what I did! — Pull up the boards! — Here! here! It is the beating of his hideous 6 heart!"
1. argue : discuss aggressively in order to convince someone.
2. making fun of: not taking it seriously (they thought his horror was something funny).
3. I could not bear : I could not tolerate = I could not stand.
4. Villains : Terrible people, criminals.
5. da not pretend ; this means, do not act as if you can't hear the heating of his heart, because I know that you really can hear it.
6. hideous : horrible, awful.
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ACTIVITIES
Go back to the text
Q Answer the following questions.
a. Where did the crazy narrator hide the body?
b. When did he finish hiding it?
c. Who knocked at the door then?
d. Why wasn't he afraid?
e. Why had the police come to the house?
f. How did the crazy narrator convince them that nothing was wrong?
g. What did the crazy narrator begin to hear?
h. What did he do to hide the noise?
i. How did the policemen discover the body?
ACTIVITIES
A mad point of view
Q The sentences in column A are the narrator's explanations for what happens in the story. Match these sentences with the explanations in column B, which are more probable and, perhaps, more logical.
A
1. The narrator did not become mad: he had a disease that made him hear better than most people.
2. It was very intelligent how the narrator planned and executed the murder of the old man.
3. The old man's vulture eye was a kind of evil spirit that was always looking at the narrator.
4. The real, physical beating heart of the old man was the tell-tale.
5. The police smiled at the narrator because they wanted to make fun of him.
6. The noise of the beating heart became louder and louder. K
a. The narrator only thought he heard a beating heart.
b. The police smiled uncomfortably at the narrator because they were shocked by his strange actions.
c. The narrator's conscious (or perhaps the spirit of the perverse) made him show the police where the body was hidden not the sound of a beating heart.
d. The old man's vulture eye was a normal physical defect.
e. There was no reason to put his head so slowly into the old man's room for seven nights.
f. A disease made the narrator mad.
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ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES
Summary
O Below is a summary of "The Tell-Tale Heart". Five paragraphs have been removed. Choose the best paragraph from the list A-F for each part 1-4. There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. The first one has been done for you.
This is the story of a man who is totally mad, He says that he isn't but we are quite certain that he is. He tells the story of why and how he killed an old man.
□IP |
This eye bothered him so much that he decided to kill the old man and to eliminate the eye forever. Each night for seven nights he opened the door of the old man's room and put his head in very slowly, but the eye was always closed.
n i
Then the crazy narrator says that he heard a sound like a watch enveloped in cotton. This was the old man's heart. This sound grew so loud that the narrator was afraid that the neighbors would hear it.
HI 1
He then cut up the old man's body and hid it under the boards of the floor. He was certain that no one would ever find it.
HI I
Then he asked them to sit on some chairs which were directly over the cut-up parts of the old man's body. At first the narrator felt good, but then he became pale and his head ached.
HI I
He thought they were making fun of his horror. Finally he could not stand it any more and he told them to pull up the boards to see the hideous beating heart,
A    On the eighth night, he made some noise and the old man woke up and said, "Who's there?" After a few minutes the old man screamed because he was afraid.
B    For seven days he heard the sound of the old man's heart. It was so horrible for him that he finally decided to kill the old man, and that is what he did on the eighth night.
C    At four o'clock someone knocked at the door. It was the police. A neighbor had heard someone scream. He told them that he had had a bad dream and that the old man was in the country. He also showed them the old man's gold.
D    He is not sure how he first got this idea: he loved the old man and he did not want his gold. In any case, the old man had a strange pale blue eye with a film over it. It looked like the eye of a vulture.
E    Then he started to hear the beating of the old man's heart. It got louder and louder. He was sure that they could hear it too, but they just smiled at him.
F Finally he jumped into the room, and pulled a bed over the old man. After some time the noise stopped. He examined the body and the old man was stone dead.
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