Page 70 - Learn English with short stories

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Lesson 22. Topic: Detectives.

Task 1. Read and translate the text.
Detectives.
Books written by Agatha Christie are very popular among readers all
over the world. Now considered ‘queen of mystery’, Agatha Christie is

known as the author of detective novels, which capture the reader’s
attention from the beginning till the very end.
One of her most popular novels is ‘Murder on the Orient Express’,
featuring Inspector Hercule Poirot. Poirot is a middle-aged little man with
enormous moustaches, who has a special gift for solving crimes.
The story takes place on the Orient Express train, which has stopped

because of heavy snowfall. Poirot, who is on the train traveling home to
London, is asked to help solve a murder of a passenger. Using his brain and
logic, Poirot miraculously solves an impossible criminal case.
The story keeps the readers thrilled and guessing to the end.
‘Murder on the Orient Express’ is referred to as "the most widely read
mystery of all time," and has been adapted into movies many times.
When asked about Agatha Christie’s fiction, many readers also

remember Miss Marple, an amateur consulting detective, who appears in
many of the short stories. Miss Marple is a clever elderly woman who lives
in the village of St. Mary Mead. She never married and has no close
relatives, except for her nephew Raymond. The old lady has never worked
for a living, but demonstrates a remarkably thorough education, including

some art courses that involved the study of human anatomy. Miss Marple
solves difficult crimes thanks to her shrewd intelligence, often portrayed
sitting in her chair by the fireside.
Task 2. Write down and learn the new words.
A queen / a king, a mystery, a detective story, a novel, a train, a
passenger, a talent = a gift, a murder, an inspector, an author, elderly,
middle-aged, enormous, moustaches, remarkably, amateur, except for, to
solve a crime, to guess, to be thrilled, to appear, thorough, education,

courses, shrewd = clever, intelligence, human, anatomy, to portray, a
fireside, to consult, to adapt, to demonstrate, to capture, attention, difficult,
to refer to, widely, heavy snowfall, miraculously.
Task 3. Answer the questions.