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• Juan Parraguez V.

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Sherlock – A study in Pink A course for upper intermediate students, by David Nicholls

The focus of this course is on collocations, conditionals and reporting verbs

Sherlock – Season 1 Episode 1 A Study in Pink Main Characters John Watson Sherlock Holmes Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock’s brother) Mrs Hudson (Sherlock’s landlady) Inspector Lestrade (Police Inspector) Mike Stamford (Jon’s old friend) Molly (a worker at the mortuary)

Comprehension: 1) How were the recent suicides connected? 2) What text messages did the journalist get at the press conference, and what about Lestrade? 3) How did Jon Meet Sherlock Holmes? 4) Why did Mrs Hudson owe Sherlock a favour? (13mins) 5) Why did Sherlock invite Jon to a crime scene? 6) How did Sherlock deduce that Jon was from the military? 7) How did Sherlock deduce Jon had a brother with a drinking problem? What did he get wrong? 8) What deductions did Sherlock make about the victim in pink? 9) Who did Watson meet after someone speaks to him on a public telephone? What offer does he make him? 10) What was the murderer’s ‘first big mistake’? 11) How did Sherlock find the suitcase? 12) Why did Sherlock ask John to send a text to the victim’s mobile? 13) Why did the police search Sherlock’s flat? 14) Why did the murderer have her phone? 15) How exactly were the victims killed? 16) What was the murderer’s motive?

www.skype-lessons.com Match the collocations A serial To be sentenced To exercise To be out To die of To choke on To owe someone A string A meaningful sum To withhold

reasonable precautions of money a favour of lovers killer / adulterer of your depth natural causes evidence your (own) vomit To death

Use the collocations to complete the sentences 1) There was no evidence of violence or illness and so it appears that he ___ ___ ___ ___ 2) If you want to stay safe, you will need to ____ ____ ____ 3) The landlady, Mrs Hudson, ___ ___ ___ ___ , because I helped her a few years ago 4) When the police are ___ ___ ___ ___ , they consult me 5) The victim died from asphyxiation, and ___ ____ ____ ____ 6) The victim has had ____ ____ ____ ____ and so she is a serial adulterer 7) I’d be happy to offer you a ____ ____ ____ ____ in exchange for information 8) Sherlock was raided by the police because they believed that he was ____ ____

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Match the nouns on the left with their synonyms, and then use them in the sentences An alibi An amateur A limp A lunatic A seizure An archenemy

A walk where one leg is injured An adversary or foe Something which proves your innocence Not a professional A madman A spasm/convulsion

Now use the nouns in the left column 1) 2) 3) 4)

He can’t have been the murderer because he has a water tight ____ John Watson has a ____ but it is purely psychosomatic The police don’t consult _____ . If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his ____

CONDITIONALS 1) If + present / will + 1st 2) If + past / would + 1st 3) If + had + 3rd / would + have + 3rd If you call the coppers, I will never tell you what I said to the victims If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his arch enemy Which one would you have picked, if you had chosen a tablet? Make speculations 1) If Sherlock hadn’t met Watson… 2) If Sherlock were more polite to people… 3) If Watson weren’t a doctor… 4) If Watson had refused to move in… 5) If Watson had accepted Mycroft’s bribe… 6) If the murderer hadn’t taken her suitcase...

7) If the victim hadn’t planted her mobile phone on the murderer.. 8) If Sherlock had chosen the tablet before Jon arrived

www.skype-lessons.com Use the following verbs to report what was said. Remember to use the correct forms. Here are a few examples of the different types 1) Want to do (+ to + infinitive) promise, threaten, offer 2) Tell s.o to do (object + to + infinitive) ask, warn, advise, order, persuade, (recommend) 3) Congratulate s.o on doing (object + preposition + gerund) accuse s.o (of), thank s.o (for), praise s.o (for) 4) Avoid doing (+ gerund) deny, admit, regret, suggest, recommend 5) Insist on doing (+ preposition + gerund) apologise for, 6) Say that (+ that + clause) promise, insist, suggest, deny, admit, regret 7) Tell s.o that assure, persuade, convince, warn, advise (NOT ask)

1) ‘There has to be a link between the victims!’ Lestrade (wrongly) insisted 2) ‘Well, don’t commit suicide!’ Lestrade advised 3) ‘The scratches on the phone show that he has a drinking problem’ Sherlock suggested 4) ‘Stay away from Sherlock Holmes!’ Sergeant Donovan warned 5) ‘You miss the war, Dr Watson’ Mycroft accused 6) ‘I haven’t the faintest (idea)’ Sherlock admitted

7) ‘I didn’t kill those people, Mr Holmes’ The cabbie denied 8) ‘Let me take you for a ride’ The cabbie offered 9) ‘I just talked to them and they killed themselves’ The cabbie persuaded 10) ‘Give me a name or I will hurt you’ Sherlock threatened

www.skype-lessons.com Discussion 1) Do you like the character of Sherlock in this show? What about Watson 2) How does this show differ from the original books? 3) What would you have done if you had been in the victim’s position? 4) Which bottle would you take? The one put forward, or the one which remains out of reach? 5) Do you find the plot convincing?

Answers Comprehension 1) They all took the same poison, they were all found in places they had no reason to be, BUT the police haven’t found any link between the people themselves. 2) The journalists got the message ‘Wrong’ 3 times, and Lestrade got ‘you know where to find me’ SH. 3) His old friend (Mike Stamford) introduced him to Sherlock, because he knew they were both looking for a flat, and that they both thought they would be difficult to live with. 4) Because he helped to ensure that her husband was sentenced to death, and for this she is grateful 5) In order to assist him in his capacity as a doctor. The police forensic scientist (Anderson) doesn’t get on with Sherlock, and so

he wants to bring someone else. Jon has experience with violent deaths 6) He deduced it from his haircut, his suntan (up to the wrist), and his limp (injury) 7) He saw his phone earlier, and saw that it belonged to ‘Harry Watson’, and he deduced the drinking problem from the scratches. He assumed ‘Harry’ was a man, but this was wrong. Harry is short for ‘Harriet’, and so she is Jon’s sister. 8) He deduced that she is an unhappily married, serial adulterer, and that she is from out of town (Cardiff) as she has splashes of mud on her leg, and it hasn’t been raining in London (only Cardiff has these conditions). As such, she has a suitcase (which threw up the splashes of mud) which hasn’t been found yet 9) Someone who claims to be ‘Sherlock’s arch enemy’ but is in reality his brother (Mycroft). He offers him a bribe in exchange for information 10) He took the victim’s suitcase 11) He looked around the area where the body had been found at areas where a man could discreetly get rid of a large object 12) He had deduced that the murderer must have taken the victim’s phone, and he wanted the murderer to make a move 13) They pretended to have a drug bust, but really they wanted to find the suitcase, as they thought Sherlock may have been withholding evidence 14) The victim must have planted the phone on him to help the police find the murderer. ‘Rachel’ is the password to unlock her phone and email 15) They are offered the choice between two pills, and the cabbie promises to take the pill which they don’t take. One of the pills has been poisoned. He forces them to take it using a (fake) gun 16) Money. He is dying and he wants his children to have an inheritance. Someone is paying him to commit these senseless murders. The ‘someone’ turns out to be Moriarty

A serial To be sentenced To exercise To be out To die of To choke on To owe someone A string A meaningful sum To withhold

killer / adulterer to death reasonable precautions of your depth natural causes your (own) vomit a favour of lovers of money evidence

Use the collocations to complete the sentences 1) There was no evidence of violence or illness and so it appears that he dies of natural causes 2) If you want to stay safe, you will need to exercise reasonable precautions 3) The landlady, Mrs Hudson, owes me a favour because I helped her a few years ago 4) When the police are out of their depth, they consult me 5) The victim died from asphyxiation, and choked on their own vomit 6) The victim has had a string of lovers and so she is a serial adulterer 7) I’d be happy to offer you a meaningful sum of money in exchange for information 8) Sherlock was raided by the police because they believed that he was withholding evidence

An alibi An amateur A limp A lunatic A seizure An archenemy

Something which proves your innocence Not a professional A walk where one leg is injured A madman A spasm/convulsion An adversary or foe

Now use the nouns in the left column 1) 2) 3) 4)

He can’t have been the murderer because he has a water tight alibi John Watson has a limp but it is purely psychosomatic The police don’t consult amateurs. If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his archenemy

Reporting Verbs

1) ‘There has to be a link between the victims!’ Lestrade (wrongly) insisted on there being a link between the victims 2) ‘Well, don’t commit suicide!’ Lestrade advised them not to commit suicide 3) ‘The scratches on the phone show that he has a drinking problem’ Sherlock suggested that the scratches showed he had a drinking problem 4) ‘Stay away from Sherlock Holmes!’ Sergeant Donovan warned Watson to stay away from Sherlock 5) ‘You miss the war, Dr Watson’ Mycroft accused Watson of missing war 6) ‘I haven’t the faintest (idea)’ Sherlock admitted not having the faintest idea 7) ‘I didn’t kill those people, Mr Holmes’ The cabbie denied killing those people 8) ‘Let me take you for a ride’ The cabbie offered to take him for a ride 9) ‘I just talked to them and they killed themselves’ The cabbie persuaded them to kill themselves 10) ‘Give me a name or I will hurt you’ Sherlock threatened to hurt him if he didn’t give him the name