The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless

Transcription

1 Stage 1 ELT A1 Teen Readers

2 Teen Readers A1 The ELI Readers collection is a complete range of books and plays for readers of all ages, ranging from captivating contemporary stories to timeless classics. There are three series, each catering for a different age group; Young ELI Readers, Teen ELI Readers and Young Adult ELI Readers. The books are carefully edited and beautifully illustrated to capture the essence of the stories and plots. The readers are supplemented with Focus on texts packed with background cultural information about the writers and their lives and times.

3 The FSC certification guarantees that the paper used in these publications comes from certified forests, promoting responsible forestry management worldwide. For this series of ELI graded readers, we have planted 5000 new trees.

4 The Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer Retold and Activities by Michael Lacey Freeman Language Level Consultants: Janet Borsbey and Ruth Swan Illustrated by Simone Massoni ELI Readers Founder and Series Editors Paola Accattoli, Grazia Ancillani, Daniele Garbuglia (Art Director) Graphic Design Airone Comunicazione - Sergio Elisei Layout Airone Comunicazione - Diletta Brutti Production Manager Francesco Capitano Photo credits Gettyimages, Shutterstock 2014 ELI s.r.l. P.O. Box Recanati (MC) Italy T F info@elionline.com Typeset in 13 / 18 pt Monotype Dante Printed in Italy by Tecnostampa Recanati - ERT 114.O1 ISBN First edition: March

5 Contents 6 Characters 8 Before you read 10 Chapter 1 The Prologue 18 Activities 20 Chapter 2 The Knight s Tale 28 Activities 30 Chapter 3 The Clerk s Tale 38 Activities 40 Chapter 4 The Merchant s Tale 48 Activities 50 Chapter 5 The Franklin s Tale 60 Activities 62 Chapter 6 The Pardoner s Tale 70 Activities 72 Focus on... Canterbury in the 1300s 74 Focus on... Geoffrey Chaucer 76 Focus on... Food 78 Test yourself 79 Syllabus These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded start stop

6 Retold and Activities by Michael Lacey Freeman Illustrated by Simone Massoni Teen Readers

7 The Knight 6 The Clerk

8 The Merchant The Franklin The Pardoner 7

9 Before you read Grammar 1 Read a part of a letter. Complete the letter with the verbs below. am are is know tells travel want... I m reading The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer. Do you (1)... anything about this book? Chaucer wrote this book in At this time, God was very important for many people. And people often went on pilgrimages. You go on a pilgrimage when you (2)... to an important town or city. People go on a pilgrimage because they (3)... to be near to God. In Chaucer s book, a group of people go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Canterbury (4)... a town in England. Everybody in this group (5)... a story. And these stories (6)... the Canterbury Tales. 2 Put in the right verb. buy look study talk work pay The Knight:... Look at the men in the picture on page 27. That s my job. Don t worry! The group will be safe with me. 1 The Clerk: I m a student and I... all the time. 2 The Merchant: I have a business. I... things, and then the people... for the things I buy. 3 The Franklin: I have a big farm. A lot of people... on my farm. 4 The Pardoner: I... to people about God. I help them to be near to God. 8

10 3 Read about some people from the stories. Complete the sentences with is, do, does or doesn t Emily... is in the Knight s Tale. She (1)... young and very beautiful. Who will be her husband? 1 Walter is in the Clerk s Tale. Everybody (2)... what he says. But will his wife (3)... what he says? 2 Damien is in the Merchant s Tale. He works for a man who has a lot of money. But does he (4)... a good job? 3 Dorigen is in The Franklin s Tale. She lives near the sea. But she (5)... like something about the sea. 4 Ames is in The Pardoner s Tale. He likes to have fun. But (6)... he a good person? 4 Read these sentences about Chapter 1. Put in the right preposition. about at in in to to In Chapter 1: We meet the people who tell the stories before they go... to Canterbury. 1 They meet... London. 2 They have dinner... the evening dinner they eat together. 4 After dinner, they talk... what stories they will tell. 5 Then, they go... bed. 9

11 Chapter 1 The Prologue 2 It s a beautiful day! The weather is good. The birds are singing. The grass is green, and there are flowers everywhere. Now, my story can begin. My name s Geoffrey. And today, I m going on a pilgrimage* to Canterbury. I m going to Canterbury with a group of people. We re going there together. I met these people yesterday, at an inn*, in London. I arrived* at the inn in the afternoon. I was very tired, and hungry. Good afternoon! I said to the man who worked at the inn. He was the innkeeper. I d like a room for the night. I m going to Canterbury tomorrow. The road to Canterbury is long. I need to sleep well before I start. Good afternoon, said the innkeeper. Do you know that some other people are going to Canterbury tomorrow? They re staying here tonight. I d like to meet them, I said to the Innkeeper. pilgrimage when you go to a special place to be near to God inn a place to sleep, and to eat and drink to arrive to travel and then find the place that you want to go to 10

12 The Canterbury Tales In the evening, I met the other people. The inn was big and there was a lot of good food and drink. Everybody had dinner together. And the innkeeper gave good food to everybody. The innkeeper was a nice person. He was a very big man and he enjoyed speaking to people. He was very good at his job. Everybody enjoyed their dinner. After dinner, the innkeeper spoke to the group. You re a very nice group of people, he said. I know that God will listen to your prayers*. You re all going to the same place. So, you must go to Canterbury together. What do you think? Yes, we can go together! I said. And I want to go to Canterbury with you, said the innkeeper. Now, we have to travel for a long time. And I think we can do something interesting*. We can play a game. What do you think? Yes! said everybody in the group. Tell us about this game. Now, listen to what I have to say, said the innkeeper. We ll go to Canterbury together. And prayer when you talk to God, you say a prayer interesting something you enjoy 11

13 Geoffrey Chaucer every person will tell a story*. I ll listen to every story. Then I ll tell you which story is the best. Everybody in the group wanted to play this game. Very well, said the innkeeper. And I will give something to the person who tells the best story. That person will have dinner at my inn. And I ll pay for the dinner. The people in the group were very happy. And they began to think of what story to tell. In the group there was a Knight. Everybody liked him. And he was always happy to help people. He was an important man, but his clothes were cheap. His horse was fast, but it was small. I m a Knight, and my life is very exciting, said the Knight. And my story is also going to be exciting. It s about two brothers who love the same woman. There was also a Clerk in the group. He was a nice man, but he didn t speak very much. He liked reading and studying. That s all he wanted to do. He was very slim and he didn t eat very much. And he liked books more than food. story when you tell someone about something that happened in the past 12

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15 Geoffrey Chaucer I read a lot of books, said the Clerk. I don t want nice clothes or good food. I don t have much money. And I use the money I have to buy books. That s why I read a lot of stories. My story is very easy to understand. But, it s not boring. I think everybody will enjoy it. It s about a king* who has many secrets*. Another* person in the group was a Merchant. He had a lot of money. But he wasn t a happy man. He always had a sad face. He was different from the Knight. His clothes were very expensive. Everything he had was expensive, his clothes, his hat, and his horse. I have an important business, said the Merchant. And I have a lot of things to do. But I m not very happy with my life. And that s why my story will be sad. It ll be about an old man who can t see. I also have to tell you about another man. He was a Franklin. He was different from the Clerk. He was very rich* and important, but he didn t have a business. He had a big house in the country. king secret something that you don t want other people to know another one more rich a person who has a lot of money 14

16 The Canterbury Tales And he often invited people there. He liked good food. I m very old. And my house is big. And I like inviting people there, said the Franklin. In my house, I often tell stories. I enjoy it. My story will be very interesting. It s about a woman who doesn t like the sea. Why doesn t she like the sea? Well, you ll have to listen to my story. There is another person I want to tell you about. He was a Pardoner. He also liked reading. And he liked to sing songs and say prayers. He had a strange* face. I travel a lot and I always say prayers for people, said the Pardoner. There are a lot of bad people in the world. I ll say a prayer for them, but they have to give me some money. My story will be about three people who do something very bad. Everybody was very tired. It was late in the evening, and the Knight said, We can go to bed now. Then we can leave early in the morning. We all went to bed. We were tired, but happy. Early next morning, we got up. And then we strange something that you don t often see or hear is strange 15

17 Geoffrey Chaucer left for Canterbury on our horses. We were slow. And after many hours we came to a place called Saint Thomas. And we stopped there. We sat down. And then we had something to eat. After eating, the innkeeper said, Listen, do you remember what we said last night? Of course, said the Knight. Well, said the innkeeper, who wants to begin? Who wants to tell the first story? I m happy to tell you my story, said the Knight. I think you ll enjoy it. It s very exciting. And then the Knight began to tell his story. 16

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19 After-reading Activities Reading 1 Match the descriptions of each story. b The Pardoner s story will be about three men 1 The Franklin s story will be about a woman 2 The Knight s story will be about two brothers 3 The Merchant s story will be about an old man 4 The Clerk s story will be about a king a who doesn t like the sea b who do something very bad c who love the same woman d who has many secrets e who can t see Writing 2 Complete the sentences, using some of the adjectives from Chapter 1 bad big expensive fast hungry old slim Geoffrey was very tired and... hungry. 1 The Knight s horse was The Clerk didn t eat very much, and he was very The Merchant s horse was very The Franklin was an... man. 5 The Franklin had a... house. 6 The Pardoner said that there are a lot of... people in the world. 18

20 Grammar 3 Put the words in brackets ( ) into the contracted form. I... m going on a pilgrimage. (am going) 1 They... here tonight. (are staying) 2 I... to meet them. (would like) 3 You... a very nice group of people. (are) 4 We... to Canterbury together. (will go) 5 He... very much. (did not speak) 6 I... happy to tell you a story. (am) Before-reading Activities The Knight s Tale My story is going to be exciting. It s about two brothers who love the same woman. 4 Look at the picture on page 23. Complete the sentences with the words can, or can t. The man is in a place where he (1)... go out. He (2)... see the woman, but he (3)... go into the garden. Listening 3 5 Listen to the first part of Chapter 2. Cross out the incorrect option. The knight / the merchant told the first story. 1 The two brothers were clerks / knights. 2 They were from Thebes / Athens. 3 They were happy / sad. 4 They lived in Thebes / Athens. 19

21 Focus on... Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer is very important for the English language. This is because he wrote in English. Before him, people in England wrote books in French or Latin. We don t know very much about Geoffrey Chaucer s early life. We only know that he lived between about 1340 and People think that Chaucer died in the year This is because we don t know anything about him after this year. We know more about when Chaucer was an adult. In 1357, he started working. Chaucer had many jobs. He worked for the English kings, King Edward III and King Richard II. He travelled to France and Italy for his work. Italy was very important for Chaucer, because he could read the work of the writers Dante and Boccaccio. In 1366, Chaucer married a woman called Philippa Roet. They had three or four children. Philippa Roet worked for the king s wife, the Queen. This helped Chaucer to get important jobs. Chaucer s first book was The Book of the Duchess. Then he wrote Parlement of Fowles, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde. In 1387, Chaucer began his famous book, The Canterbury Tales. 74

22 Teen Readers Stage 1 Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist Maureen Simpson, In Search of a Missing Friend Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur s Court Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Janet Borsbey - Ruth Swan, The Boat Race Mistery Stage 2 Maria Luisa Banfi, A Faraway World Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden Mary Flagan, The Egyptian Souvenir Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Liz Ferretti, Dear Diary... Angela Tomkinson, Loving London Stage 3 Charles Dickens, David Copperfield Anonymous, Robin Hood Mary Flagan, Val s Diary Maureen Simpson, Destination Karminia Jack London, The Call of the Wild Anna Claudia Ramos, Expedition Brazil

23 A1 Teen Readers Stage 1 Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classics and specially-written stories for learners of English. Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales In 1387, a group of people went to Canterbury. On their way, they told stories. The stories were exciting and interesting. They helped the group to enjoy their time travelling. But these stories do not only tell us about the past. They are stories that anybody can read and enjoy today. And they are stories that can teach us many things, about love, about friendship, and about life. In this reader you will find: - information about Geoffrey Chaucer - a section focusing on background and context - a glossary of difficult words - comprehension activities - an exit test Tags Friendship Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Classic Stories Elementary Pre-Intermediate Intermediate with Audio CD 600 headwords 800 headwords 1000 headwords A1 A2 B1 Movers Flyers/Ket Preliminary GEOFFREY CHAUCER The Canterbury Tales Teen ELI Readers ELI s.r.l. TEEN ELI READERS The Canterbury Tales ISBN ELT