Te e n Readers Stage 3

Eli Readers is a beautifully-illustrated series of timeless classics

and specially-written stories for learners of English.

Charles Dickens
David Copperfield
David Copperfield looks back on the first twenty-five years

Charles Dickens

Stage 3
of his life. He is only eight years old when his mother, a young
pretty widow, remarries. Unfortunately Mr Murdstone is not a
good husband or father. David is sent away to school and only
returns home when tragedy strikes. Unloved and unwanted,
he is sent to work in a factory. But David is a resourceful boy
and determines to find a better life for himself.

David Copperfield
In this reader you will find:
- information about Charles Dickens
- a section providing background and contextual information
- a glossary of difficult words
- comprehension activities
- CLIL activity
- an exit text

Tags
Family Friendship Love Adventure

Stage 1 Elementary 600 headwords A1 Movers

Stage 2 Pre-Intermediate 800 headwords A2 Flyers/KET
Stage 3 Intermediate 1000 headwords B1 PET
Te e n E L I R e a d e r s

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B1
B1
Characters

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 Chapter 1

Mr Murdstone

2 I disliked Mr Murdstone the first time I met him.

Perhaps I was just jealous or perhaps it was more
than that. Certainly he was a handsome gentleman
with dark hair and dark whiskers* but there was
something in his eyes that made me feel uneasy*.
He began to call at our house and then my mother
started putting on her prettiest dresses and going
out in the evenings.
One such evening my nurse, Peggotty, sugges-
ted that I go with her to visit her brother in Yarmouth
for a fortnight*. I agreed immediately, happy at
the thought of an adventure. I did not realize how
different things would be on my return.
The day of our departure soon arrived and
Peggotty and I climbed into the carrier’s cart* that
was to take us to Yarmouth. My mother and I kissed
each other and we both cried. When the cart started
off she ran after it to ask for another kiss. As we rode
away I saw Mr Murdstone speak to her disapprovingly
and she lowered her head submissively.
whiskers hair on side of a man’s face
uneasy not comfortable, anxious
fortnight two weeks
cart vehicle pulled by horses for transporting people or things

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After-reading Activities

Pet Reading
1 Look at the sentences below about the story. Decide if
each sentence is correct or incorrect. If it is correct, mark
A. If it is incorrect, mark B.
1 ■ Uriah Heep grew in height.
2 ■ Mrs Micawber burnt the pocket-book.
3 ■ The Micawbers were living at Mr Wickfield’s house.
4 ■ Uriah Heep wanted to take the pocket-book from
Mr Micawber.
5 ■ Mr Wickfield knew what he was doing when he
signed the important documents.
6 ■ Mr Wickfield did not want to make Heep a partner.
7 ■ Mr Wickfield’s clients were not happy.
8 ■ Mr Wickfield was bankrupt.
9 ■ Agnes and Aunt Betsey had the same reaction to the
news.
10 ■ Traddles decided to send Heep to prison.

Grammar
2 Put the words in the correct order.
1 what • It • be • is • done. • clear • quite • must
.................................................................................................................
2 I • so • Time • it • can • all • back • clearly. • rolls • and
see
.................................................................................................................
3 will • as • on • you • am • time • I • more • goes • from
companion. • want • your • sure
.................................................................................................................
4 me • gave • confidence • Her • in • heart. • me

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3 Complete the sentences with the present perfect of the
verbs below and, if necessary, for or since.

be hold love want steal

has wanted to meet Mr Micawber .................

David’s aunt ......................... for a
long time.
1 Heep ....................... Mr Wickfield in his power he .........................
he signed the documents.
2 Uriah Heep has to repay every penny he ......................... .
3 Dora ......................... ill ......................... some time.
4 Agnes ......................... David ......................... she was a girl.

Vocabulary
4 Complete the table.
Noun Adjective Verb

.................................... hateful
.................................... ....................................
.................................... pretend
.................................... ....................................
.................................... submissive
.................................... ....................................
.................................... thoughtful
.................................... ....................................

5 Match the verbs with their definitions.

1 ■ to tower over a to go onto a ship, train
2 ■ to dismiss b to hold very tightly to
3 ■ to snatch c to be much taller than someone
4 ■ to cling d to tell someone to leave their job
5 ■ to board e to take something from someone quickly

Writing
6 Write an email to a friend. Tell him or her
- What you thought of the book
- Which character you liked best/least
- Why

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 Focus on...

Charles Dickens

Childhood
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in
1812. When Charles was three years old the
family moved to Chatham in London. This
was the happiest period of his early life. He
loved reading and avidly read his father’s
Charles Dickens, 1854
books including Robinson Crusoe and Don
Quixote. Charles could also sing and recite
and he and his older sister, Fanny, were
encouraged by their proud father.

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 Factory worker
Everything changed dramatically when his father was imprisoned for debt. The rest of the family
moved into the prison too, but Charles was offered a job and sent to live with a family friend. So,
aged twelve, young Charles went to work in a warehouse where he had to stick labels on shoe
polish tins. He was treated quite well, but Charles found the experience humiliating. Brought up as a
gentleman, he was now working with common boys. Although he only worked for a few months - a
sudden inheritance released John Dickens from his debts and from prison –memories of this period
and the misery he suffered remained deep and inspired much of his later writing.

Journalist
After two and a half years of school and eighteen
months as an office boy, Charles, aged sixteen,
declared he wanted to be a parliamentary
reporter.
This was not an easy thing to do. First he had to
learn shorthand, which was a long and complex
job. But, inspired by his father, who had done
so well, Charles devoted all his energies to it.
Success was slow in coming but in 1832 he became
a parliamentary reporter and a highly respected
one. In fact he was considered the best and most
accurate shorthand reporter there was. But it was
not enough for Dickens. He wanted to write.
Writer
In 1834 his first original article was published
and was the first of a series. Soon he was
writing regularly for various periodicals. In
1836 he was asked to write a series of monthly
stories about sporting life. Not knowing much
about sport, he suggested an alternative and
so The Pickwick Papers began. Dickens was
just twenty-five. In 1837 Oliver Twist started
to appear in monthly installments, followed
by Nicholas Nickleby. Between 1836 and 1865
Dickens wrote more than twelve novels, many
short stories, plays and non-fiction books. In
addition to Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby,
the other most popular and well-known
novels include A Christmas Carol (1843), David
Copperfield (1849-50), and Great Expectations
(1860-61). Many of his novels have been made
into films or TV adaptations, some several
times. There are at least nine film versions
of David Copperfield.

Cover from the original serial edition of the novel,
illustrated by Phiz.
Family
In April 1836 Charles Dickens married
Catherine Hogarth. They had ten children. It
was not, however, a happy marriage because
they were so very different. In 1858, when
their children were sufficiently grown up,
they separated. Dickens died suddenly in 1870
leaving his last novel unfinished.
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Focus on...

Life in Victorian Times

The Chimney Sweep by Jonathan Eastman Johnson 1863

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Working Children
Just as, unfortunately, many children in poor countries today are forced to work, many children
from poor families were obliged to work during Victorian Times. Read these questions and
answers to find out more.

What age did children start work?
The age depended on the work but
children as young as four were used in
some factories. In mines the minimum age
was five.
Where did they work?
Children worked in different places.
Some worked in factories, such as textile
factories, others in mines, gas works, mills,
some cleaned chimneys.
How many hours did they work?
Like adults, children were made to work
up to sixteen hours a day. In 1833 a
Commission established the maximum
number of hours children in the textile
industry could work. No children under 9
could work. 11- 18 year olds could work 12
hours, 9 -11 year olds could work 8 hours. In
1842 it was extended to mines. In 1847 the
working day was limited to 10 hours.
coal carts. Little boys were also made to clean
chimneys. If they got frightened their master
would light a fire under them to encourage
them to climb up!
What were conditions like?
Terrible! Factories were often dirty, unventilated
and without natural light. Illness and disease
were common as well as injury and mutilation .
Pulling coal trucks in mines was awful: there was
the danger of landslides, suffocation, injury, coal
inhalation (the average age of death was 25).
For chimney sweeps the dangers were getting
stuck and suffocating, getting burnt, falls and
injuries.
When did child labour stop?
A law was passed in 1870 saying that all
children between 5- 10 had to attend school
but children continued to work in some areas
for at least another ten years.

What did they do?

In factories children were often made to
crawl under machinery to pick up things,
clean machinery while it was running or
work the machinery without talking any
breaks. In mines children were sent down
the smaller tunnels and pulled heavy

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