Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery - English Center

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Archie Christie taking Agatha out to tea in a hotel, which she didn't ... e s a n s w e r s. Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery. STAGE 2 ... and got married the same year, and so began the happiest years of Agatha Christie's life. M. P. U. B. L.
Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery Before Reading

chApter 5 And 6 while reading

Activity 1 before reading

1 No 2 Yes 3 Yes 4 No 5 No 6 Yes Activity 2 before reading

Encourage students to guess but do not tell them the answer. The right answer is number 3.

While Reading chApters 1 And 2 while reading

1 Because she was ill in bed, and bored. 2 She sent it to a magazine, but they sent it back and said they could not publish it. 3 She went to meet Hughes Massie, an agent, to talk about her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert. 4 She went to fifty dances, met a lot of exciting young men, and had a wonderful time. 5 She met him because she was a friend of his three sisters, and then she and Reggie played a lot of golf together. 6 Because Reggie was an army officer and had to go back to Hong Kong for two years.

activities answers

1 Why . . .? Because she wanted to make some money to keep Ashfield, the family home, in the family. 2 What . . .? He was Belgian, and was a short, tidy, very clever man, with a black moustache. 3 Why . . .? Because of the big surprise at the end of the story, which some people said was cheating. 4 Why . . .? They thought she disappeared because she was unhappy after her mother died, and after she found out that Archie was in love with Nancy Neele. 5 What . . .? Agatha left her house and drove away in her car. 6 What . . .? A coat, an open suitcase, three dresses, some shoes, and some papers with the name ‘Mrs Agatha Christie’ on them. 7 Why . . .? Because they thought Mrs Teresa Neele was Agatha Christie. 8 What . . .? Nobody knows.

before reading activities (page 45)

Before reAding chApters 7 And 8

Encourage students to speculate and make guesses but do not tell them the answers. They will find out as they read that numbers 3 and 4 are the ‘true’ answers.

After Reading

Before reAding chApter 3

Encourage students to guess – perhaps Reggie was Agatha’s first husband before she married Mr Christie – but do not tell them the answer (which they will find out is ‘no’).

Activity 1 after reading

Agatha Christie was a famous writer of detective (murder, mystery) stories. She was born in 1890, was married twice, and had one daughter. She met her second husband, Max Mallowan, in Iraq. He was a well-known archaeologist, who spent a lot of time travelling, and Agatha always went with him. Agatha Christie wrote nearly one (a) hundred books. The famous detectives in her novels are called Mr Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. Two of her best-known titles are the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and the play The Mousetrap, which you can still see in the theatre today.

chApters 3 And 4 while reading

1 Clara Miller (Agatha’s mother), talking about Archie Christie taking Agatha out to tea in a hotel, which she didn’t approve of. 2 Agatha, explaining to Archie why she can’t marry him. 3 Reggie, writing to Agatha from Hong Kong, after he got Agatha’s letter saying she didn’t want to marry him. 4 Clara Miller (Agatha’s mother), telling Archie and Agatha they should get married now because with the war the future was very uncertain. 5 Madge (Agatha’s sister), talking to Agatha about writing detective stories. 6 Agatha, thinking about the detective for her first murder mystery. 7 Clara Miller (Agatha’s mother), telling Agatha to go away somewhere to finish the book she’s trying to write. 8 The publisher John Lane, talking to Agatha about her book The Mysterious Affair at Styles, which he wanted to publish, after a few changes.

oxford bookworms library stage 2

Stage 2

Open answers. Encourage students to discuss what kind of information they want, and which questions would produce the most information. They could work in groups to invent answers to the questions and to write their report.



agatha christie, woman of mystery

© Oxford University Press

Activity 2 after reading

activities answers

Activity 3 after reading

Activity 5 after reading

Suggested answers: Police: Were you at home on the night when your wife disappeared, Mr Christie? Archie: No, I wasn’t. I was away, staying with friends. Police: And why didn’t your wife go with you? Archie: She didn’t want to. She didn’t know these friends. Police: So did she have any plans for the weekend? Archie: She didn’t say she had any plans. Police: Mr Christie, where do you think your wife has gone? Archie: I don’t know. I just don’t know. Police: Mm. Are you and Mrs Christie happily married? Archie: Yes. Well, er . . . we’re as happy as most husbands and wives. Police: I see. Tell me, Mr Christie, do you want your wife to come home? Archie: Yes, of course I want her to come home!

1 2 3 4 5

Murder is Easy Murder on the Orient Express Death on the Nile The Moving Finger At Bertram’s Hotel

Activity 6 after reading

Open answers.

Activity 4 after reading

© Oxford University Press

Words across: publisher, chapter, divorce, puzzle, disappear, novel, idea, mystery, book, clue Words down: character, guess, poison, story, type, detective, popular, magazine M

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1 The five words are ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. 2 They are used for the title of a book, and for the title of a film. 3 The Belgian is a character in the story, Hercule Poirot. He is the detective who finds the murderer. 4 After her divorce Agatha travelled on the Orient Express to have a holiday in Iraq. She enjoyed it very much, so she went again the next year, and on that visit she met Max Mallowan. They fell in love and got married the same year, and so began the happiest years of Agatha Christie’s life.

oxford bookworms bookworms library library stage stage 22 oxford



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