Look at The Lake (Ch11) and put these event into the correct order
a. Donnie raised his foot to kick the taxi
b. Cindy called him
c. Donnie walked through his garden towards the lake
d. Donnie threw $50 at the taxi driver
e. Donnie pushed the gates to his house to make sure they were locked
f. Donnie stood and stared across the lake without moving
g. Donnie’s kick missed the rear of the taxi
h. The taxi driver laughed
i. Donnie felt happy that the gates were locked
Here are some words from The Lake (Chapter 11). Match the words with the pictures.
a wallet/a bumper/gates/a driveway/a pier
Use this QUIZLET to practise some of the words and phrases from The Lake (Chapter 11)
How is your memory? Read The Lake (Ch 11) and, without re-reading it, see if you can answer these questions:
a. Choose the correct answer
1. How much did Big Donnie pay the taxi driver?
a. $20
b. $50
c. $100
d. He didn’t pay the taxi driver
2. Where was Big Donnie’s Mercedes being cleaned?
a. Ben Green’s garage
b. Cindy Duke’s house
c. Sherriff Farley’s house
d. Outside Big Donnie’s office
3.Who was bringing Big Donnie’s Mercedes back to him later that night?
a. Sherriff Farley
b. Ben Green
c. Cindy Duke
d. Big Donnie was going to get it himself
4. What did Big Donnie want to do because it was a nice night?
a. Go to his gym
b. Go for a drive in his car
c. Go out on his boat
d. Go for a swim
5. What couldn’t Big Donnie see on the shore of the lake because it was too dark?
a. Trees
b. Cars
c. People
d. A road
B. Are the following true or false?
1. Big Donnie believed that the taxi driver charged too much money
2. Big Donnie was having his car cleaned because it was covered with paint
3. The gates to Big Donnie’s driveway were unlocked
4. Big Donnie took the keys for his boat out of his pocket
Read chapter 10 of The Lake and, without looking at it again, see if you can answer these questions. How good is your memory?
A. Choose the correct answer
1. What did Donnie do to help his sore head?
a. Take a couple of pills.
b. Listen to some music.
c. Sleep.
d. Go for a walk.
2. What age group is Sherriff Farley in?
a. His fifties.
b. His sixties.
c. His seventies.
d. We don’t find out his age.
3. What does Donnie tell Sherriff Farley?
a. That he likes Cindy Duke.
b. That Cindy Duke stole his car.
c. That he is being followed.
d. That someone stole his Mercedes car.
4. Who does Cindy Duke see standing beside Donnie’s car in the car park?
a. A little boy.
b. A little girl.
c. An old man.
d. An old Lady.
5. What are the words on Donnie’s car written with?
a. Paint.
b. Chalk.
c. Mud.
d. Pencil.
B. Are the following true or false?
1. Donnie Brown was in his office when the Sherriff arrived
2. Cindy Duke is Donnie’s secretary
3. Donnie Brown likes Sherriff Farley
4. Donnie Brown drives a Cadillac car
5. Sherriff Farley asks Donnie for more money
1. Referents
Referents are often pronouns, adjectives or possessive adjectives that refer to someone or something. For example, ‘Donnie stared at his hands. He wondered how long he had been holding the steering wheel.’ In this example, ‘he‘ refers to Donnie and ‘his hands‘ refers to Donnie’s hands.
2a. Look at this extract from The Lake (Chapter 5). Find all the referents.
He rested his head on the steering wheel. He began to think.
Nobody saw you…It was her fault. This is your chance Donnie, the chance you have been waiting for. No one will miss her. She’s done you a favour…
Donnie stepped out of the car.
You need to get rid of the body.
Donnie looked around.
Easton swamp. Put her in there. No one will ever find her.
Below the rear of the Mercedes, Donnie could see Annie’s feet. He looked away and closed his eyes.
Choose the best answer
2b. In the extract above, who does ‘you’ refer to?
i. Annie because she isn’t dead
ii. Donnie because these are his thoughts
iii. An unknown person
2c. What is the referent that is used for Easton swamp?
i. her
ii. there
iii. this
Look again at The Lake (Chapter 5) Is the information in the following sentences TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN?
1. Annie was lying under the wheels of Donnie’s Mercedes
2. Donnie immediately thought about calling the police
3. Annie had family and friends who would become suspicious if she disappeared
4. Annie owned a 1986 Ford Thunderbird
5. Donnie accidentally found the keys to Annie’s Ford
6. The keys to Annie’s car were probably hanging on the wall
7. During all of this time, Rufus sat beside Annie’s body
Practise the words in The Lake (Chapter 5) with this QUIZLET
Look again at The Lake (Chapter 5) and find the words that these pictures refer to
1. ‘Did + not‘ (we can shorten this to ‘didn’t) is one way to make a negative simple past tense sentence; for example, ‘Rufus didn’t like Donnie‘. In a simple past tense negative sentence, the main verb becomes a bare infinitive. In the example above, (‘Rufus didn’t like Donnie‘), the main verb in this negative simple past tense sentence is ‘like‘ NOT ‘liked‘.
2. If the simple past tense verb is ‘was‘ or ‘were‘, then ‘did‘ is NOT added. Instead, we only add ‘not‘ (or n’t); for example, ‘Annie wasn’t happy to see Donnie.‘
3. Look at this example from The Lake (Chapter 4). Can you find the verbs that will use ‘did + not‘ to make them negative?
He pulled the car door shut and sat behind the steering wheel, breathing hard. Rage filled his head. He started the big Mercedes. The dog was standing directly in front of the car with a piece of his Italian silk suit hanging from its mouth. Donnie stamped his foot down on the accelerator pedal and steered straight towards the dog. Everything happened fast. From the corner of his eye he saw Annie Baker rush in front of him. There was a thump and then another.
4. Some of these sentences are true and some are false. Using your knowledge of chapters 3 and 4, change the sentences that aren’t correct
a. Annie didn’t ask Donnie to visit her.
b. Annie cared about making money.
c. Annie thought that $400,000 was a fair offer.
d. Annie wanted to buy a nice retirement flat in Florida.
e. The road to Annie’s property wasn’t full of holes.
f. Donnie didn’t enjoy driving to Annie’s place.
g. Easton was 80 miles from Annie’s house.
h. Donnie didn’t drive a luxury car.
i. Annie was interested in selling her property for $10 million.
j. Donnie didn’t shoot Annie.
Look again at The Lake (Chapter 4) and decide if the information in the following statements is TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN
1. Donnie Brown offered Annie ten million dollars for her land and house.
2. Donnie’s father always said that getting angry was bad for business.
3. Annie disagreed with Donnie’s attitude towards the environment.
4. Annie felt that living and non-living things had rights.
5. Annie had read many articles by Aldo Leopold.
6. Rufus bit Donnie on the arm.
7. Rufus tore off a piece of Donnie’s suit.
8. Donnie probably killed Annie accidentally.
Practice the words from The Lake (Chapter 4) using this QUIZLET
Choose the best answer
1. Donnie thought Annie was ‘as stubborn as a mule’ because
a. Annie still refused to sell
b. Annie thought four hundred thousand wasn’t enough
2. When Donnie became angry for the first time he regretted it because
a. it scared Annie
b. it made Annie less likely to sell
3. Some businessmen in Easton expected Donnie
a. to make lots of money for them
b. to pay Annie a fair price for her land
4. In Donnie’s opinion,
a. jobs were more important than the environment
b. the environment was more important than jobs
5. Donnie deliberately
a. killed Annie
b. drove towards Rufus
Look at these pictures and find the words that they refer to in The Lake (Chapter 4)
1. The possessive ‘s’ (or genitive) shows that something belongs to someone (or something). For example, ‘Donnie Brown wanted to buy Annie’s house‘. The genitive shows that the house belonged to Annie.
2. Look at this sentence: ‘Annie’s been living in the Argent valley all her life‘. Here, the ‘s = has. In other words, it is NOT the genitive – it is a contraction. It is part of a verb phrase and means ‘has’.
3. Look at this sentence: ‘The road’s full of holes‘. Here, the ‘s = is. In other words, the ‘s in not the genitive – it is a contraction and a verb.
4. Look at this extract from The Lake (Chapter 3) and find the examples of ‘s. What do they mean?
Donnie shut his car’s door and wiped his forehead with a silk handkerchief. He liked it when people called him ‘Big’ – ‘Big’ Donnie Brown of Brown Construction, with big ambitions and big plans for Argent valley. He started with nothing and now he drove a top-of-the-line luxury Mercedes. He was a big man. ‘Damn, it’s hot,’ he muttered, gazing at the clear blue sky above. It was not much past ten in the morning and already the temperature was in the mid-eighties.
5. Look at these sentences. What do the ‘s in them mean?
a. Annie’s dog’s called Rufus.
b. Donnie’s had his construction company for years.
c. The hot weather’s making Donnie sweat.
d. Donnie’s driven all the way from Easton.
e. Annie’s grandfather’s house’s old.
f. Coffee’s what Annie prefers to drink in the morning.
According to chapter 3 of The Lake, is the information in the following sentences True, False or Not Given?
a. Donnie Brown bought his Mercedes two months ago.
b. Donnie Brown was carrying a cheque for more than 500,000 dollars.
c. Easton was less than 100km from Annie’s house.
d. Rufus was Donnie’s dog.
e. This was the first time that Donnie had tried to buy Annie’s land and house.
f. Annie was more interested in the environment than in accepting Donnie’s money.
Look again at some of the words in the Quizlet for The Lake (Chapter 3):
narrow, property, ripped up, wooden, barking, suspiciously, nodded, a luxury, ambition, hush
Choose the best word to complete these sentences
1. The dog’s ______ disturbed everyone.
2. In England, the police might arrest you if you enter private ______ without permission.
3. Many people prefer to have ______ floors in their houses: they are easy to clean and beautiful to look at.
4. When he was a boy, it was his ______ to own a car such as a Rolls Royce.
5. He liked everything about the house except the ______ garden.
6. A private yacht is ______ that few people can afford.
Practice the words in The Lake (Chapter 3) using this QUIZLET
Look again at The Lake (Chapter 3) and find the words that these pictures refer to
1. We can use ‘because’ and ‘so’ to talk about reasons and results.
For example, ‘He went to the dentist because he had toothache’ (or ‘Because he had toothache, he went to the dentist’). In other words, ‘because’ can come at the start or in the ‘middle’ of the sentence and it helps explain the REASONS for an action. Now know why he went to the dentist.
In contrast, we can use the word ‘so’ to talk about RESULTS. For example, ‘He had toothache, so he went to the dentist.’ In other words, he had toothache; and, as a result of that, he went to the dentist.
2. Look at this extract from The Lake (Chapter 2). Find the example of ‘because’. Can you say the idea differently?
Brown Construction often came to see Annie because she owned much of the land on the valley’s southern slopes. Annie always listened to them politely.
3. Complete these sentences about The Lake (Ch 1 and 2) using either ‘because’ or ‘so’
a. ______ Annie owned much of the land on the southern slopes, Brown Construction always came to see her.
b. Annie’s grandfather built the house that she lived in, ______ she didn’t want to leave it.
c. ______ Annie was a kind person, she always dealt with Brown Construction politely.
d. Annie liked to drink coffee in the morning, ______ that morning she had a cup of coffee in her hand as usual.
e. ______ Annie loved looking at the river, the wildlife and the plants in the Argent valley, she loved where she lived.
f. People left the Argent valley ______ there were no more jobs in the silver mines there.
g. Annie owned much of the land on the southern slopes ______ her grandfather bought it when land was cheap.
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