Upper 1 Name: Andrea Sueri Kuba Sen e-mail: asks_91@hotmail.

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2012/10/04

ACTIVITIES: BEFORE READING 1. The title of this book is a play on Word. Use the glossary in the book, or a dictionary, and complete these definitions. Deadlock means: a complete failure to reach agreement or solve an argument Dead means: not alive A lock (on a river or canal) is: an area of water, closed off by gates at each end so that the water level can be raised or lowered.

2. You have probably guessed that this is a story about murder, but do you think it is connected with: Answer: 2. Ships?

3. Read the story introduction on the first page of the book, and the back cover. For each sentence, circle Y (yes) or N (No) Vir Warshawski isnt married Vic works for the police Vics cousin is dead Vic doesnt believe her cousins death was an accident Vic knew her cousins girlfriend well Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N

What do you think will happen in the story? For each sentence, circle Y(yes) or N (No) Vic will be murdered Boom Booms girlfriend will kill someone Vic will find out who killed her cousin The murderer will go to prison Y / N Y / N Y / N Y / N

ACTIVITIES: WHILE READING Read Chapters 1-3, and then answer these questions. 1. Why did Vic want to find out more about Boom Booms death? She wanted to find out more about it, because it was hard to imagine Boom Boom falling into the water like that, because he was young and strong. 2. What did Boom Booms grandmother tell Vic? She said People are saying he stole some papers from his boss 3. What was Paige Carrington doing in Boom Booms apartment? She was trying to find some letters that she wrote to Boom Boom. 4. Who were the four men with Vic at lunch in the club, and what connection did they have with Boom Boom? Mike Sheridan: was the chief engineer on the Lucella wiser. Mr. Grafalk: was the owner of Grafalk Steamship Line, wich owned the Bertha Krupnik Mr. Phillips: was Boom Booms boss Martin Bledsoe: was the owner of the Pole Star Line, which owned the Lucella Wieser. 5. What was the accident to the Lucella Wieser? Someone put water in the boats holds. 6. Why did Grafalk dislike Bledsoe? Because Bledsoe used to work to Grafalk, but then he quits and started his own company and he was Grafalks competition. 7. What did Vic find in the study on her second visit to Boom Booms apartment? That the watchman was dead. Read chapters 4-6. Here are some untrue sentences about the. Change them into true sentences. 1. According to Janet, Mr. Phillips was glad that Boom Boom was leaving soon 2. Bobby Mallory wasnt pleased that Vic was investigating her cousins death. 3. Bledsoe told Vic that shipping contracts were regularly cancelled if another company offered a better prince or promised an earlier delivered. 4. The brakes on Vics car were damaged and she could still steer it. 5. Howard Mattigly wasnt a good hockey player and wasnt was a close friend of Boom Booms 6. Niels Grafalks father sent Martin Bledsoe to go to prison

Before you read Chapters 7-10, complete these sentences with the correct names. Which of these people do you think were involved in Boom Booms death? Why? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Clayton Phillips is vice-president of Eudora Grain. Janet was Boom Booms secretary Bobby Mallory is a policeman Niels Grafalk owns the Grafalk Steamship Line Murray Ryerson is a newspaper reporter Page Carrington is a ballet dancer. Martin Bledsoe owns the Pole Star Line. Howard Mattingly and Pierre Bouchard are ice hockey players.

Read chapters 7-10. Choose the best question-word for these questions and then answer them. When/Who/What/How 1. Why did Vic fly to Thunder Bay? Because she wanted to find out if Grafalks story about Bledsoe was true. 2. What did Vic see in the water when she got on the shop for the second time? Someone was swimming near the ship. 3. How did the man with red hair set off the bomb? He set off a radio signal. 4. Why had Bledsoes plane already left when Vic arrived at Sault Ste Marie airport? Because the man with red hair came along and told the pilot that Bledsoe wanted him to fly him to Chicago. 5. What was Vic looking for when she searched the Eudora Grain offices? Some invoices to compare with the shipping contracts. 6. What did Vic find behind the photo? An invoice from Grafalk Steampship Company to Eudora Grain and piece of paper listing six dates when Pole Star had lost contracts to Grafalk. 7. What was the difference between the invoice and the shipping contract? A price difference of two cents a bushel on thee million bushels. 8. Who was found dead in the hold of Martin Bledsows ship? Clayton Phillips

Before you read chapters 11-13, have you changed your mind about which characters where involved in Boom Booms death? Yes, I used to think that the one who killed Boom Boom, was Paige, but she was only the mistress of Grafalk, so now, I think than the one whos guilty of everything is him (Grafalk). Read chapters 11-13, and then answer these questions. Why Did Page Carrington and Jeannine Phillips protect each other? Because they were sisters Didnt Mrs. Grafalk like Jeannine Phillips? Because she was only interested in clothes, not in helping the poor. Didnt Grafalk tell Eudora Grain that Phillips was cheating them? Because he wanted Phillips to give him more shipping contracts. Did Paige agree to watch Boom Boom for Grafalk? Because she was Grafalks mistress Did Vic cut a piece of carpet from Fragalks boat? Because she thought the police might find Phillipss blood on it. Did Vic cut her arm? Because she knew Grafalk wanted to kill her, and she wanted to left some clues for the police. Did Vic jump into the water? Because she knew Grafalk wanted to kill her. Didnt Grafalk shoot Vic while she was in the water? Maybe its because he supposed that Vic had won. Before you read chapter 14, can you guess the answers to these questions? 1. Will Vic tell the police the truth about what Grafalk did? I dont think so. 2. Will Vic tell Claire Grafalk the truth about what Grafalk did? Maybe.

3. Will Claire Grafalk be angry about her husbands death? Yes, of course. 4. Will Paige be sad that Grafalk is dead? Its probably. 5. Who will take over the Grafalk Steamship Line? I dont know

ACTIVITIES: AFTER READING 1. How did these people die? Who was responsible? Math these characters with the information, and then write a sentence about each one. For example: Boom Boom Warshawsky was pushed under a ship by Clayton Phillips. People Boom Boom Warshawski The watchman at Boom Booms apartment Howard Mattinlgly Clayton Phillips Niels Grafalk How they died Hit/car Push/ship Explode/boat Break/neck Shoot/head -Boom Boom Warshawsky was pushed under a ship by Clayton Phillips -The watchman at Boom Booms apartment had his neck broken by Howard Mattingly -Howard Mattingly was hit by Clayton Phillipss car -Clayton Phillips was shot in the head by Niels Grafalk - Niels Grafalk died when his boat exploded because of V.I. Warshawski 2. Do you agree (A) or disagree (D) with these statements? Explain why. 1. Paige Carrington and Jeannine Phillips didnt kill one, so they were innocent of any crime. D I think that Paige Carrington was a little bit guilty because she accused Boom Boom. 2. Paige Carrington and Jeannine Phillips were both equally responsible for what happened to Boom Boom. D Paige was guiltier than Jeannine 3. All the deaths in the story happened because of Jeannine Phillips. Person responsible Howard Mattingly Clayton Phillips Niels Grafalk V.I. Warshawski

D I think that almost all the deaths in the story were because of the bad behavior of Grafalk. 3. Fill in the gaps in the summary of Chapter 7 with words from the story connected with ships. Vic decided to hide as a stowaway on the Lucella because she was afraid that Captain Bemis would not wanted her on board his ship. She knew that she would be able to leave the Lucella when the ship stopped at the lock at Sault Ste Marie. After the cargo of grain had been loaded into the holds and the Lucella was ready to sail, Vic climbed up the ladder to the deck and waited until the Lucella had pulled away from the wharf and was couple of kilometers from land. Then she went up to the bridge to talk to Bledsoe. 4. Imagine that you are Murray Ryerson. You are going to interview Vic about the explosion that destroyed the Lucella. Decide what questions you are going to ask, for example: Why were you in the Lucella? What happened after the explosion? What did you see before the explosion happened? Do you remember anything suspicious? (Im not good to make questions like in an interview) Write an article for your newspaper based on the interview. Begin your article like this. EXPLOSION AT POE LOCK DESTROYS SHIP Several people were killed because a bomb make explosion when it arrived at Poe Lock, the one who sent the signal to switch on the bomb was Howard Mattingly, it may cost something about 18 months to reconstruct Lucella, and perhaps a year to return to be useful the Poe Lock, until then only small boats will be able to go there. 5. Complete the conversation that the president of Ajax Insurance had with Claire Grafalk. AJAX PRESINDENT: Im afraid you husband may be responsible for the explosion that destroyed the Lucella Wieser MRS. GRAFALK: But why would he do that? AJAX PRESINDENT: To stop big ships from getting tough the locks to the upper lakes MRS. GRAFALK: But why did he want to do that? AJAX PRESINDENT: Because the big ships were taking business from him MRS. GRAFALK: Couldnt he build bigger ships of his own?

AJAX PRESINDENT: No. Because the Grafalk Steamship Line was losing money. MRS. GRAFALK: So how did he keep Grafalk Steampship running? AJAX PRESINDENT: By using the profits from his reailway and his computer company MRS. GRAFALK: How did you find out about all this? AJAX PRESINDENT: Ms. Warshawski came to see Mr. Ferrat at Ajax and they checked the files. 6. Here is part of the story that Vic told Claire Grafalk. Put these sentences in the Right order and then join them together to make a paragraph containing five sentences. Use these linking words and change names to pronouns (he, his, etc.) where appropriate. And/(and)so / because / but / what / when 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Phillips charged a higher price on the invoices Boom Boom discovered the truth Grafalk was responsible for blowing up the Lucella Phillipss wife wanted to live in a wealthy part of Chicago Phillips made thousands of dollars for himself Phillips panicked Phillips kolled Boom Boom Phillips threatened to tell the police Vic also discovered what was going on Grafalk killed Phillips Phillips put one price in the shipping contracts for Eudora Grain Clayton Phillips was cheting his bosses at Eudora Grain Phillips went to Grafalk for help

Clayton Phillips was cheting his bosses at Eudora Grain because his wife wanted to live in a wealthy part of Chicago. He put one price in the shipping contracts for Eudora Grain but he charged a higher price on the invoices. He made thousands of dollars for himself, but Boom Boom discovered the truth so Phillips killed him. When Vic also discovered what was going on, Phillips panicked and he went to Grafalk for help. He threatened to tell the police that Grafalk was responsible for blowing up the Lucella, so Grafalk killed him. 7. Do you think Vic was right not to tell the police the truth about Niels Grafalk? Why or Why not? I think that was right not to tell the police, because he was already death, and if she tells the truth to the police, itll only cause problems to the family, and since my point of view, thats wouldnt be fair. 8. Writers of crime stories often use dead or death in their titles. Do you know of any other examples in English or in you language? Are any of them a play on words, like Deadlock?

Death by Station Wagon (1993) Jon Katz Death Row (1998) Jon Katz Appointment with Death (1938) Agatha Christie Death on the Nile (1937) Agatha Christie 9. Have you read any other stories or seen any TV programmes or films, about private investigators, male or female? If so, write a short comparison between Vic Warshawski and one of these other investigators. For example: In fact I dont like too much stories about private investigators, I prefer to read books about murders or staking something like that, its more interesting that just trying to find out who killed who, and also, this kind of books make me feel a quite confused, because you have to remember all the names and that stuff, and I have a terrible memory.