DOMINOES

A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens

Series Editor: Nicole Irving

Text adaptation by Bill Bowler
Illustrated by Mike McCarthy

Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was born in Portsmouth, England, and for most of his life, he
lived in or near London. His family was poor, and he had to go to work in a factory at the
age of twelve. Dickens never forgot this difficult time, and many of his books describe the
problems of poor people, especially poor children, and the wide differences between the
rich and the poor. When he was older, Dickens started working for a newspaper and then he
wrote some of the most famous novels in English, including A Christmas Carol, Hard Times,
and Nicholas Nickleby, which are also available as Dominoes.

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 1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, ox2 6dp, United Kingdom
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© Oxford University Press 2018
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First published in Dominoes 2018
2022  2021  2020  2019  2018
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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isbn: 978 0 19 462710 8 Book
isbn: 978 0 19 462712 2 Book and Audio Pack
Audio not available separately
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acknowledgements
Cover and all main illustrations by: Mike McCarthy/Astound US
Project page illustrations by: Zdenko Bašić p.41 (The faithful Ghost); Oliver Cuthbertson/The
Bright Agency p.41 (Macbeth); János Orbán/Astound US p.41 (Hamlet).
The publisher would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce photographs: Rex/
Shutterstock p.41 (Columbia/Feigco/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock).
Title page illustrated by: Mike McCarthy
Back page illustrated by: Mike McCarthy/Astound US

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 Contents

Before Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Chapter 1   Ebenezer Scrooge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2   Two visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3   Jacob Marley’s ghost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 4   The Ghost of Christmas Past . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 5   The Ghost of Christmas Present . . . 28
Chapter 6   The Ghost of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Grammar Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

About Dominoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

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 ACTIVITIES
BEFORE READING
1 This is Ebenezer Scrooge when the story begins. What do you think about him?
Read and tick (✓) Yes or No.
Yes No
a He lives in London.    
b He’s always happy.    
c His sister is dead.    
d His only friend is dead.    
e He loves helping people.    
f He likes giving money to people.    

2 Here are some characters from A Christmas Carol. Match them with the
sentences. Use a dictionary to help you.

This character …

1 helps her brother Ebenezer when she is thirteen and he is fifteen.

2 doesn’t marry Scrooge because he loves money more than her.

3 wants to be friends with his old Uncle Scrooge.

4 comes back after many years to help his old friend Scrooge.

5 works for Scrooge in his offices in London.

a Belle b Fanny c Bob Cratchit d Fred e Jacob Marley

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 Chapter 1 – Ebenezer Scrooge

When our story begins, Jacob Marley is dead. Does

Ebenezer Scrooge know that? Of course he does. ‘Scrooge
and Marley’ are the names on the front of his offices in
London. Scrooge remembers his old friend well. ‘What a
good worker!’ he thinks. But then Marley dies. Not many
people are sorry. Scrooge is Marley’s only friend in the end.
He leaves Marley’s name over the front door. New visitors
to the office sometimes call Ebenezer ‘Mr Scrooge’ and
sometimes ‘Mr Marley’. It doesn’t matter to him.
1

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 thin  not fat Old Scrooge has a cold face. He is careful with money.
Christmas  His eyes are red. His thin mouth is blue, and his hair is
25th December, a
Christian festival white. His office is always cold. He doesn’t feel it. He walks
clerk  this person through the coldest rain and never stops.
does the writing
work in an office Scrooge always speaks angrily. He has no friends. When
fire  this is red and
hot, and it burns
he is walking through the streets, nobody smiles. Nobody
says, ‘Scrooge! When can you visit me?’ No hungry man
asks Scrooge for money. No little child says to him, ‘What’s
the time, please?’ No visitor asks him, ‘Where’s Oxford
Street?’ The street dogs run when Scrooge arrives because
they are afraid. All of this pleases Ebenezer. He doesn’t like
being nice. He loves it when people stay away from him.
At three o’clock in the afternoon on 24th December, the
day before Christmas, Scrooge is in his office. It’s a cold,
dark day. The door to Scrooge’s office is open. He’s watching
his clerk, Bob Cratchit, at work. The fire in Scrooge’s
office isn’t big. But the fire next to Bob is very little.

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 Bob wants a bigger fire, but when he asks for it, Scrooge job work

says, ‘Do you want to stay in your job, Cratchit?’ The desk  a table in
an office
clerk goes back to his desk. He wants to feel warm, so he scarf  you wear
wears his old scarf in the office. But it doesn’t help much. this around your
neck
Just then, Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, arrives. ‘Happy nephew your
sister’s or
Christmas, Uncle!’ he smiles. His face is red from the brother’s son
cold street. uncle your
mother’s or
‘Bah!’ Scrooge says. His mouth is thinner than usual. father’s brother
‘Humbug!’ humbug an
old word for
‘Christmas a humbug, Uncle? You don’t truly think that!’ something that
‘I do,’ Scrooge answers. ‘Why are you happy at is not true

Christmas, Nephew? You don’t have much money.

And Christmas things are always expensive!’
‘So why are you angry, Uncle?’ Fred laughs. ‘You have
lots of money!’
Scrooge says, ‘Bah! Humbug!’ again.
‘Smile, Uncle,’ Fred tells him. ‘It’s Christmas time!’

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 4

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 ‘Smile? Why?’ Scrooge says. ‘I don’t like Christmas. clap  to hit your
hands together
Every Christmas I’m a year older. It’s an expensive time, noisily many times
to show that you
a time when I have no money. When people say, “Happy like something
Christmas”, I say “Humbug!”’ wife  the woman
that someone is
‘Uncle, please! Christmas is a nice time. It’s a time for married to
friends and family, a time when we give.’
Bob Cratchit is listening. He claps excitedly at this.
Scrooge looks angrily at his clerk. ‘Any more of that, and
you’re going to lose your job for Christmas!’
Bob says nothing. He goes back to his work.
‘Uncle, come and eat with us tomorrow!’ Fred says.
‘No! Get out of here!’ Scrooge answers.
‘Oh, come and eat with us.’
‘No, I don’t like your wife! Why are you with her?’
‘Because I love her!’
‘Because you love her!’ Scrooge answers. ‘That’s worse
than “Happy Christmas”! Good afternoon.’
‘But you never visit my house, Uncle. Not now, and not
before! So why are you speaking about my wife now?’
‘Good afternoon,’ Scrooge says.
‘I want nothing from you, Uncle,’ Fred answers. ‘But let’s
be friends!’
‘Good afternoon,’ Scrooge says.
‘Oh Uncle, why can’t you say “yes” and eat with us on
Christmas Day? I’m sorry, and I don’t understand. But
now I must go. Happy Christmas and a very Happy New
Year to you!’
‘Good afternoon,’ Scrooge says.
Bob Cratchit takes Fred to the front door. He says ‘Happy
Christmas’ quietly before Fred leaves. Just then, two fat
men in tall hats come through the open door. They give
their hats to Bob and tell him their names. Bob takes the
two men through to Scrooge’s office.
5

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 ACTIVITIES
READING CHECK
Are these sentences true or false? Tick (✓) the boxes. True False

a Scrooge’s old friend Marley is alive when the story begins.    ✔
b The story begins in the afternoon on 24th December.    
c Scrooge is careful with his money, and he always speaks angrily.    
d Ebenezer Scrooge wears his scarf in the office.    
e Fred arrives and says ‘Happy Christmas!’ to his Uncle Scrooge.    
f Fred has a lot of money but Scrooge doesn’t have much money.    
g Scrooge is going to eat at Fred’s house the next day.    
h Two fat men arrive at Scrooge’s office soon after Fred leaves.    

WORD WORK
1 Find eleven more words from Chapter 1 in Bob Cratchit’s scarf.

h ris
C ncles
t ma s j o b

carfcla
g

rk
bu

cle
hum

ire
wife

p  s

 n e p h e
kf

th
indes
w

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 ACTIVITIES
2 Use the words from Activity 1 to complete the sentences.

a Ebenezer Scrooge often says ‘Bah! Humbug  !’ when he doesn’t like something.
b Many British people like being with their families at time.
c Bob Cratchit is a at Scrooge and Marley’s offices.
d Bob writes a lot every day at his little .
e Bob wants a bigger because he feels cold.
f Bob wears his old in the office because he wants to feel warm.
g Bob doesn’t want to lose his and have no money.
h When Fred speaks about friends and family, Bob .
i Scrooge is a cold man with a mouth.
j Fred visits his Scrooge at his offices.
k ‘My  , Fred, wants my money!’ thinks Scrooge.
l Scrooge doesn’t like Fred’s .

GUESS WHAT
Which of these things does Scrooge do in the next chapter? Tick (✓) four boxes.

a   He listens to the two fat men in his office.

b   He gives some money to the two fat men.
c  He closes his office at eight o’clock in the
evening.
d  He tells Bob Cratchit, ‘You must work all day
tomorrow!’
e  He walks through the dark London streets
to his home.
f  He walks past Fred’s house and looks in
through the front window.
g  He sees Jacob Marley’s face in front of him
when he arrives home.

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 Chapter 2 – Two visitors
The taller of the two fat men looks in his little black book.
‘Is this Scrooge and Marley’s office?’ he asks.
‘It is,’ Scrooge answers.
‘And are you Mr Scrooge or Mr Marley?’ the man asks.
‘Marley’s dead – seven years to this day!’ says Scrooge.
He remembers the night before Christmas seven years
earlier.
‘Oh, I’m sorry. But perhaps you can give something for
poor families,’ the man says.
‘No, thank you,’ Scrooge answers quickly.
‘At Christmas time, we must help more than usual,’ the
man tells him.
‘Why?’ Scrooge asks. ‘Are there no prisons or
workhouses?’
‘Hmmm, yes, there are.’
‘Good,’ Scrooge says. ‘So poor people can go and live
there. It’s better than the streets.’
‘But most people don’t want to do that. They want to be
with friends and family at Christmas. They want warm
beds, and they want to eat and drink well. Your money can
help. How much can I put under your name in my book,
poor without
money; we also say Mr Scrooge?’
this when we feel ‘Nothing.’
sorry for somebody
prison  a place ‘Do you want to give money but not put your name?’
where people
must stay when
‘I want you to go. I don’t like eating and drinking a lot at
they do something Christmas. So I don’t want to help poor people to do these
wrong
workhouse a
things. I give lots of money every year to the prisons and
building where workhouses. Poor people with no homes must go there.’
poor people work
a lot for some ‘Most of them don’t need a prison. And they don’t like
food and a bed
for the night workhouses. Lots of people die there.’

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 9

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 carol people ‘So they can die. We don’t need all these people alive
sing this at
Christmas time today. Look, there’s the door. Good afternoon.’
keyhole you Scrooge does not want to help, the two men understand.
open a door by
putting a key in So they leave.
this and moving
it; you can look The afternoon is darker now, and colder. People are
through it, too getting the last things from the shops for Christmas.
holiday a
day when you A boy stands out in the street in front of Scrooge’s
don’t work office. He begins singing a Christmas carol through the
keyhole. But when he looks through the keyhole, he sees
Scrooge’s angry face. The boy runs away.
At eight o’clock, it is time to close the office. ‘Are you
going to want a holiday tomorrow?’ Scrooge asks his clerk.
‘Yes, Mr Scrooge. Is that OK?’ Bob Cratchit says.
‘No, it’s not OK,’
Scrooge answers. ‘I
lose money when you
don’t work.’
‘But it’s my only
holiday in the year, Mr
Scrooge,’ Bob says.
‘Have it, then,’
Scrooge answers.
‘But you must come
in earlier the next
morning.’
‘All right,’ Bob says with a smile. Then he runs home to
his family, and plays happily with his children.

10

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 Scrooge walks alone through the
dark London streets to a big, old
office building. He lives and sleeps
in it. But his home is the only
home there. It is his building now
– ‘Jacob Marley’s old building,’
Scrooge remembers, ‘But Marley’s
dead these seven years and doesn’t
need it,’ he thinks.
Scrooge stands at the front
door with his keys. He sees
the big knocker before him.
Suddenly, it is not a knocker. It
is the face of Jacob Marley, and
it is looking at him. Scrooge
looks back at Marley’s face.
But now it is a door knocker again.

‘Humbug,’ Scrooge alone with

nobody
says. But is it humbug?
key  you can
Scrooge opens the close or open a
door with this
front door, and goes in.
knocker you
Then he lights a candle make a noise on a
door with it
and goes up to his light  to give
rooms. He closes his fire to something;
this stops a place
room door behind him being dark
with the key. After that, candle  it burns
and gives light; in
he puts his hat and coat the past, people
used candles to
on a chair near the door. see at night
Then he lights a second
candle.

11

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 ACTIVITIES
READING CHECK
Correct the mistakes in these sentences.
black
a The taller of the two fat men looks at his little red book before he speaks.
b This man asks Bob Cratchit for some help for poor people.
c Scrooge likes to eat a lot at Christmas time.
d He is interested in poor people with no homes.
e The two fat men leave after Scrooge gives some money to them.
f A young girl sings in the street in front of Scrooge’s office.
g Scrooge feels happy when he hears the singer.
h Scrooge closes his office at six o’clock in the evening.
i Bob Cratchit wants to stay at home on New Year’s Day.
j After Scrooge says ‘No’ to Bob’s day at home, Bob runs home to his family.
k Bob plays happily with his dogs when he arrives.
l When Scrooge is at his front door, he sees Fred’s face in front of him.
m He walks in through the front door and goes down to his rooms.

WORD WORK
1 Unscramble the words from Chapter 2 in the hats and write them.

e o n e c g
r p o
o a
y k
o l l a t l
r h
i

a  _k e
_y_ b  _ _ _ _ c  _ _ _ _ _ d  _ _ _ _ _ e  _ _ _ _ _

12

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 ACTIVITIES
s i n k r y
l a o a e h
n p e
e k l eo
o d c n
c d i h k y
r l o

f  _ _ _ _ _ _ g  _ _ _ _ _ _ h  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ i  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ j  _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2 Use the correct form of the words from Activity 1 to complete the sentences.

a This room is very dark. What’s the matter with the lights  ?
b We have a beautiful old on our front door.
c Those people haven’t got much money. They’re  .
d Some children like singing Christmas in the street.
e Many people have a on 1st January. It’s New Year’s Day.
f Don’t forget your house  ! I’m going out later.
g There’s nobody with me. I’m here.
h After people do very bad things, they must often go to  .
i ‘What are they saying in there?’ ‘I don’t know. Let’s listen through the  !’
j ‘It’s dark. Get a  !’

GUESS WHAT
What do you think happens in the next chapter?
Put these sentences in the correct order (from 1–6).

a Scrooge hears noises in the building.

b Scrooge has a hot drink at home.
c Scrooge feels tired and goes to bed.
d Scrooge’s old friend walks in through his door.
e Scrooge’s friend leaves through the window.
f Scrooge and his only friend sit and talk.

13

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