Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost

Oxford University Press Stage 2

Chapter 3

Task 1
Answer the following questions.
1) What colour was the bloodstain?
2) Why did the family hurry downstairs each morning?
3) When did the ghost appear for the second time?
4) What did the family do after the suit of armour fell to the floor?
5) Who was Lord Raker?
6) What happened after the ghost met Mrs Otis?
7) What did the ghost wear for the third time?
8) What did the ghost decide to do with Washington?
9) Why did the ghost want to throw off his shroud in the twins’ room?
10)Did he manage to frighten the family for the third time?
11) What happened with the knife?
12)What do you think he felt after he had read the paper?

Task 2
True or false? Decide whether the statements below are true or false.
1) Mr Otis wanted to frighten the ghost.
2) The Otis thought the colour changes of the bloodstain were funny.
3) The twins shot little balls of paper at the ghost after he met the second
ghost.
4) Mrs Otis thought the ghost had stomach problems.
5) Virginia wasn’t there when the ghost had pain because of the armour.
6) Mr Otis had a gun and wanted to shoot the ghost.
7) The ghost was very ill.
8) There were days when he only could make the bloodstain.
9) It was a rainy night when the ghost met the horrible other ghost.
10)The ghost decided to put his clod hands on Virginia’s face.
11) The ghost wanted to frighten the twins first.
12)First the ghost didn’t read the paper on the second ghost because he was
frightened.
13)He wanted to co-operate the other ghost to frighten the Otis.
14)The head of the second ghost was a turnip.

Task 3
Define the following words. Don’t use the book.
A) armour
B) candle
C) silently

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 Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Oxford University Press Stage 2
D) passage
E) plan

Task 4
What happened and when? Match the information in column A with the
information in column B. Don’t use the book.
When? What happened?
1) On Sunday night A) Sir Simon made a plan.
2) On Friday B) The Canterville ghost realised the
second ghost was a trick.
3) On Friday night C) Sir Simon met the Otis ghost.
4) On Friday at half past ten D) The men in the Otis family went
downstairs.
5) On Friday at quarter past E) The family went to bed.
midnight
6) On Saturday morning F) The ghost wanted to make a terrible
noise in Hiram’s ear.

When? 1 2 3 4 5 6
What happened?

Task 5
Who said to whom? Don’t use the book.
1. “I don’t think it’s very nice to throw pillows at him.”
2. “Hold up your hands!”
3. “I’m afraid you’re not feeling very well.
4. “I’ll make ghostly noises to wake him up.”

Task 6
Put the words in order. Don’t use the book.
1. thing, bloodstain, only, was, interesting, the. The …
2. changed, colour, times, also, few, a. It …
3. did, was, laugh, only, Virginia, not, who, little, person. The …
4. ghost, found, unhappy, the, there, sitting. They …
5. Ghost, read, it, to, Canterville, not, want, did. The …

Task 7
Collect …
1. 5 adverbs of time (When?)
2. 5 adverbs of manner (How?)
3. 5 adjectives (What … like? Which? What?)

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 Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Oxford University Press Stage 2
4. 5 expressions with genitive

Task 8
Look at the sentences on page 15. In what tenses are they? Name the
tenses, then write 1-1 example.

Task 9
Here you can read a piece from the story. Your task is to complete the
sentences with the correct words without using the book. There is one
extra word.

A)began F) had K) saw

B) brought out G) hold up L) sitting
C) called H)holding M) was
D)crying I) hurried
E) found J) jumped out

All the men in the Otis family (1) …………………… of the bed and (2) …………………
downstairs at once. They (3) ………………… the unhappy ghost (4) ………………… there,
(5) …………………… his head and (6) …………………… softly with pain.
The twins (7) …………………… their pea-shooters with them and immediately (8)
…………………… to shoot little balls of paper at him. Mr Otis (9) …………………… his
handgun and, like the good Californian he (10) ……………………, (11) …………………… to
the ghost:’ (12) …………………… your hands!’

Task 10
Describe the Otis ghost.
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 Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Oxford University Press Stage 2
SOLUTION
Task 1
1) Red, purple, bright green
2) Because they were curious and wanted to find out the new colour of the bloodstain.
(It changed colour a few times.)
3) On Sunday night.
4) They jumped out of the bed and hurried downstairs.
5) His hair turned white in a single night when he heard the laugh of the ghost.
6) He turned himself into a big black dog. / Mrs Otis gave a special stomach medicine
to the ghost.
7) A dead man’s shroud, a large black hat with a red feather in it and a long knife.
8) He wanted to make ghostly noises to wake him up, and then he wanted to push his
knife into his neck three times, to the sound of slow music.
9) Because he wanted to do his famous skeleton dance all round the room.
10) No, he didn’t.
11) The ghost dropped it into Hiram’s shoes.
12) He was disappointed.

Task 2
True or false? Decide whether the statements below are true or false.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
F F F T T F T T T F F T T T

Task 3
Describe the following words. Don’t use the book.
F) armour – it was worn by medieval warriors to protects their body from injury in a
battle, it was made of metal
G) candle - a moulded piece of wax with a wick in the centre, for giving light
H) silently – without a sound; the opposite of noisily
I) passage – corridor
J) plan – an idea of how to do something; a method of doing something

Task 4
What happened and when? Match the information in column A with the information
in column B. Don’t use the book.
1 2 3 4 5 6
D A F E C B

Task 5
Who said to whom? Don’t use the book.
1) Mr Otis to the twins.
2) Mr Otis to the ghost.
3) Mrs Otis to the ghost.
4) The ghost to himself.
 Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Oxford University Press Stage 2
Task 6
Put the words in order. Don’t use the book.
1) The … only interesting thing was the bloodstain.
2) It … also changed colour a few times.
3) The … only person who did not laugh was little Virginia.
4) They … found the unhappy ghost sitting there.
5) The … Canterville ghost did not want to read it.

Task 7
Collect …
5. 5 adverbs of time (When?)
a. soon
b. each morning
c. once
d. before
e. until
f. each night
g. Friday, the 17th of August …
6. 5 adverbs of manner (How?)
a. quickly
b. carefully
c. softly
d. slowly
e. silently
f. happily …
7. 5 adjectives (What … like? Which? What?)
a. horrible
b. large
c. famous
d. ghostly
e. long
f. dead
g. cold …
8. 5 expressions with genitive (birtokos esetek)
a. The sound of midnight
b. The floor of the passage
c. His chains
d. Pinkerton’s Stain Cleaner
e. Tammany’s Sun Oil
 Oscar Wilde - The Canterville Ghost
Oxford University Press Stage 2
Task 8
Look at the sentences on page 15. In what tenses are they? Name the tenses,
then write 1-1 example.
Simple Present: He cleans away the famous Canterville bloodstain …
Present Continuous: You’re having trouble …
Present Perfect: I’ve bought you …
Simple Past: … she said to the ghost.
Simple Future: … this will soon help you …

Task 9
Here you can read a piece from the story. Your task is to complete the sentences
with the correct words without using the book. There is one extra word.

N) began S) had X) saw

O) brought out T) hold up Y) sitting
P) called out U) holding Z) was
Q)crying V) hurried
R) found W) jumped out

All the men in the Otis family (1) …………J………… of the bed and (2) ………I…………
downstairs at once. They (3) ………E………… the unhappy ghost (4) ………L………… there, (5)
…………H………… his head and (6) ……………D……… softly with pain.
The twins (7) ………F…………… their pea-shooters with them and immediately (8) …………
A………… to shoot little balls of paper at him. Mr Otis (9) ……………B……… his handgun and,
like the good Californian he (10) ………M……………, (11) …………C………… to the ghost:’ (12)
…………G………… your hands!’

Task 10
Describe the Otis ghost.
It had a large head with no hair on it, and fat round face with a deathly smile across its
open mouth. A red light burned like fire inside its mouth and behind both of its eyes. It
great body was hidden under a long shroud, and it carried a large piece of paper with
strange writing on it. The ghost was made of turnip, brush, bed sheet and a candle.