Washington Irving & Sleepy

Hollow
Task One. Read the text and do the task below.

Washington Irving was a famous American writer who was born in New York City in 1783. He wrote
famous stories such as “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. He had a fascinating life in
which he traveled greatly and served in different occupations such as magazine writer and US
ambassador. In 1835 he bought a home in Tarrytown, New York, north of New York City and near to
Sleepy Hollow, the scene of his famous short story.

Sleepy Hollow is a village located on the Hudson River. After Washington wrote his story about a
headless horseman that rode through that town, it became quite famous. Most of the original inhabitants
of the town were of Dutch descent. This is why the characters in the “Sleepy Hollow” story have Dutch
names like “Van Tassel” and “Van Brundt”. Indeed, many prominent Sleepy Hollow residents are buried at
the Old Dutch Church. And of course, its graveyard is also the place where Washington Irving himself
was buried.

Circle T, F or Doesn’t Say.

1. Washington Irving was born in Sleepy Hollow. T F Doesn’t say

2. “Rip Van Winkle” is a famous story. T F Doesn’t say

3. Washington Irving traveled to Spain. T F Doesn’t say

4. Tarrytown is near Sleepy Hollow. T F Doesn’t say

5. Washington Irving was of Dutch descent. T F Doesn’t say

6. “Van Tassel” is a Dutch name. T F Doesn’t say

Task Two. Read the descriptions and write the correct word for it. The first letter is
already there.

1. A place where you can get married. c __ __ __ __ __

2. A long body of water r __ __ __ __

3. You can read articles in this. m __ __ __ __ __ __ __

4. A small town v __ __ __ __ __ __

5. A nationality from Holland D__ __ __ __

KEY

Task One
1F
2T
3 Doesn’t Say (but true!)
4T
5 Doesn’t Say (but false!)
6T

Task Two
1 church
2 river
3 magazine
4 village
5 Dutch