По следам детективов: увлекательные истории для изучения английского языка - Анжелика Ягудена

Sam was bullied at school. There is evidence pointing to his involvement. It was cool in the room, but his face was sweaty and red. He had about ten minutes to commit the crime when Jane and Hilary went home, and Jimmy went to the corner shop.

Georges Simenon

Exercise 1

1) Georges Simenon was born in Liège on February 13, 1903.

2) Georges’ mother was superstitious and believed Friday the 13th to be an unlucky day.

3) Simenon’s father, Désiré, worked as an accountant for an insurance company.

4) Henriette was a grouchy, domineering woman focused on material goods and unable to express feelings. George’s mother imposed her way of life on the whole family. She was also snobbish.

5) Simenon adored and idealised his father. He was devoted to him.

6) Simenon had a complicated relationship with his mother. Lack of mother’s love, care, and attention damaged him profoundly. She was a stranger to him.

7) Simenon had a younger brother Christian. He died in the war.

8) His favorite Russian writers were Gorky, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov. Simenon was intrigued by the theme of “little people.”

9) He had to drop out of college because his father became seriously ill.

10) He published more than 200 novels under different pen names.

11) He met his first wife in early 1921. They got married two years later, in 1923.

12) Her name was Régine Renchon, but he affectionately called her “Tigy.”

13) Yes, Simenon completed a year of compulsory military service.

14) Simenon moved from Belgium to France.

15) His father died from a heart ailment. He was devastated and grief-stricken over the sudden loss of his beloved father.

16) It was a marriage of convenience, but his wife was his faithful ally and lifelong partner.

17) The whole household had to observe strict silence when Simenon sat down to work. Besides, his shirt needed to be washed and cleaned daily.

18) First, he organized his workplace before proceeding to the working process. Second, Simenon wore the same shirt until the novel was finished.

19) Simenon always carried his typewriter with him and wrote his books everywhere: in a café, on the pier, in the street, and aboard his sailboat.

20) He visited more than thirty countries including France, North America, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the Soviet Union.

21) He wrote this story aboard his sailboat.

22) Simenon’s first son was born in 1939. His name was Marc.

23) He married his second wife, Denyse, in 1950.

24) They had three children: two sons and a daughter called Marie-Jo.

25) He got annoyed with her outrageous behavior and idle way of life.

26) His total literary output consisted of more than 400 books.

27) He was capable of writing up to 60–70 pages a day.

28) Among Simenon’s most popular works are The Venice Train, Dirty Snow, The Strangers in the House, The Madman of Bergerac, Maigret and the Hundred Gibbets, and many others.

29) Georges Simenon died in his sleep of natural causes on the night of 4 September, 1989.

30) I watched the Maigret series starring Rowan Atkinson. In 2022 I also watched а crime drama Maigret and the Mysterious Girl starring Gérard Depardieu.

Exercise 2

heartbroken; countless interviews; like a bolt out of the blue; to accuse him of all deadly sins; their family relationship didn’t work out; to be engaged in upbringing; to rest in peace and quiet; to observe strict silence; to scorn meanness and inhumanity; to impose one’s way of living on the whole family; to provide for the family; to look into the deepest corners of his soul; to sympathise with ordinary people; working-class people; a life partner; to get down to work; to organise his working place; to prove his worth to his mother; to escape the harsh reality of life; there is a feeling of grief and hopelessness

Exercise 3

справиться с болью потери; глубоко в душе; впадать в меланхолию; наслаждаться прохладой свежего соленого воздуха; роман развивался бурно; бросить учебу в колледже; зарабатывать на жизнь; из-за частых переездов; быть отвергнутым; разговор по душам; создавать реалистичных персонажей; делать всё по-своему; вести домашнее хозяйство; на рассвете; брачный договор; выставлять кого-либо в плохом свете; быть недоступным; похоже на правду; за закрытыми дверями; принадлежать высшему обществу; любимый ребенок; пришла беда – отворяй ворота; убитый горем от потери

Exercise 4

1 c; 2 e; 3 g; 4 a; 5 b; 6 j; 7 f; 8 d; 9 h; 10 i

DETECTIVE RIDDLE No. 4

1) Gregory couldn’t possibly be the criminal because he had no motive. Besides, Gregory had an alibi: he was around Emily all the time.

2) Alex also had an alibi. He spent an hour discussing his project with Mr. Green (from 8 a.m. till around 9 a.m.).

3) Elizabeth could be a witness to the crime. When Ms. Smith asked her to find Diana, she could have caught her red-handed. Diana could have threatened Elizabeth. This explains why she was so scared and even withdrew her candidacy from the competition, and why Diana avoided eye-contact with Elizabeth.

4) Diana was the criminal. She had no alibi but had a motive. She wanted to win the competition so badly that she was ready to do anything. It’s evident that she didn’t help Ms. Smith because Elisabeth was looking for her everywhere. Diana didn’t greet Elizabeth because she might have seen her before. Besides, Emily was her main rival because her painting was very realistic and detailed.

Wilkie Collins

Exercise 1

1) Wilkie Collins was born on January 8, 1824, in a prestigious Marylebone area of London.

2) His father’s name was William, and his mother’s name was Harriet.

3) His father was a well-known landscape artist and a member of the Royal Academy.

4) His father was uniformly kind and considerate to his children.

5) Collins’ mother came from an artistic family: her sister was a successful portrait painter. However, she was brought in genteel poverty.

6) Their home was always filled with love, care, and joy.

7) He was called William after his father and his godfather – the Scottish painter David Wilkie.

8) Collins had а younger brother, Charles. They remained close throughout their lives.

9) Because he was bullied at school. His roommate would wake him up in the middle of the night, and Collins had to tell stories to help him sleep.

10) He lived in Italy and France. As for the benefits, Collins became fluent in two foreign languages: French and Italian. Besides, this experience helped him to understand the meaning of life, to improve as a person, and to find his true vocation. In addition, he got acquainted with the culture, history, and art of different countries.

11) Initially, Collins was home-schooled. After that, he went to a private boarding school. In 1846, at his father’s insistence, he became a law student at Lincoln’s Inn. Following graduation, Collins was called to the bar though he never practiced law hereafter.

12) His debut novel was called Ioláni; Or, Tahíti as It Was. The book was first published posthumously in 1999.

13) Collins decided to put aside the novel because of his father’s death. Instead, he wrote a biography of his father.

14) Collins lived a Bohemian lifestyle, and his circle of friends included prominent figures of the day.

15) His lifelong friend was Charles Dickens. They bonded over love for theater and co-wrote several short stories and plays. Besides, both of them performed in amateur play productions. What’s more, they often traveled together.

16) Collins never married but had a relationship with two women. He was against the institution of marriage.

17) Collins had three biological children and a stepdaughter.

18) He met his first lady friend under mysterious circumstances. In one version, he saved her from a pursuer and gave her home. According to other sources, Collins probably met this woman in a small shop near his house.

19) Because Caroline lied about her age and distorted some facts of her biography.

20) Caroline married another man because Collins was against