YOUNG ADULT READERS STAGE 2 JOHN BUCHAN Eli Readers is a beautifully illustrated series of timeless classics and specially written stories for learners of English. THE THIRTY-NINE

John Buchan JOHN BUCHAN THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS STEPS The Thirty-Nine Steps STAGE 2 STAGE Richard Hannay is bored. He is all alone in a big city, and he wants something to happen, anything. One evening, when he gets back home, someone is waiting for him. This someone will leave him with a question, and Hannay must find an answer. His future, and indeed the future of the whole of Europe depends on it. The question is, what are the thirty-nine steps?

In this reader you will find: - Information about John Buchan - A section focusing on background and context - A glossary of difficult words - Comprehension activities - An exit test

Tags Transport Nature Jobs Colours Places

STAGE 1 Elementary 600 headwords A1 STAGE 2 Pre-Intermediate 800 headwords A2 Key (KET)

STAGE 3 Intermediate 1000 headwords B1 Preliminary (PET) YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS STAGE 4 Upper Intermediate 1800 headwords B2 First (FCE) STAGE 5 Advanced 2500 headwords C1 Advanced (CAE) STAGE 6 Proficiency Unabridged Texts C2 Proficiency (CPE) Classic

YOUNG ADULT ELI READERS Recorded extracts on CD.

The Thirty-Nine Steps Download full text as MP3 ISBN 978-88-536-2313-3 ELI s.r.l. from www.eligradedreaders.com ELT www.eligradedreaders.com ELT YOUNG ADULT READERS A2 A2 MAIN CHARACTERS john buchan

6 the thirty-nine steps

7 Chapter 1 One More Day

2 I looked up at the afternoon sky. ‘Black clouds again,’ I said to myself. ‘Just like yesterday, and the day before that. Did I really leave South Africa for this?’ People thought I was a lucky man. But I was already tired of the restaurants, the people, and the theatres. Here I was in London, one of the great cities of the world. People invited me to parties. And they seemed interested in me, at first. ‘What’s it like in South Africa?’ they all asked. But after this question they soon lost interest, and I was left alone. Alone, that’s it. I was terribly alone. And bored. At the beginning, I was excited about being in London. Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Covent Garden. It was all so different. I wanted to come here so much. And here I was, thirty-seven years old, with enough money, and good health. But I was already tired of the place, and thinking about going home. That afternoon, I went into a club to read the newspaper. At about six, I went home, got dressed and went out to a restaurant. After this, I went to the theatre. But the show wasn’t very good, and I didn’t stay long. As I walked home in the night air, I looked up at the sky again. ‘One more day,’ I said to myself. ‘I will give myself one more day. If nothing interesting happens, I will get the next boat back to South Africa.’

10 the thirty-nine steps

13 AFTER-READING ACTIVITIES Reading

1 Match the answers to the questions.

1 ■d Why did Hannay go to a because he just looked Kent with Macdonald? like a normal old man 2 ■ What was the name of b because he remembered the house with thirty- the name from the nine steps? notebook 3 ■ Why didn’t Hannay c He thinks that the thin recognise ‘The Hawk’ at man killed Scudder, the first? old man is ‘The Hawk’, 4 ■ Why was Hannay and the large man is, excited to see the boat, ‘Lord Alloa’. ‘Ariadne’? d because he knew the 5 ■ Who does Hannay think area very well the three men are? e It was ‘Trafalgar Lodge’. 6 ■ When did Hannay f when he touched his recognise ‘the Hawk’? nose

2a Now you have finished the story. What information was in Scudder’s notebook (3) and what wasn’t (7).

a Mr Appleton ■7 e Portland Place ■ b Trafalgar Lodge ■ f Charlie Squire ■ c Thirty-Nine steps ■ g Cromer ■ d High Tide 10.17 ■ h Hofgaard ■

2b Match the words in exercise 2a with the right description.

1 The stairs that go down to the beach ____ 2 The place where the ‘Black Stone’ killed Scudder ____ 3 The house where the ‘Black Stone’ lived in Cromer ____ 4 A town on the east coast ____ 5 The time when the sea is at its highest level ____ 6 A friend of Mr Appleton ____ 7 The captain of a ship ____ 8 The name of ‘The Hawk’, when he was in Cromer ____a

100 Vocabulary

3 Put the words in the box into the right category. Use the table below.

beard • boat • bored • car • eyes • excited • hair • hill lake • policeman • railway station • restaurant • soldier theatre • train • woods • worried • writer

NATURE

JOBS

FEELINGS & EMOTIONS

TRANSPORT

PLACES

beard THE BODY

Discussion

4 Did you enjoy the story? Answer the questions.

a Which part of the story did you like best? b Who was your favourite character? c Which part of the story didn’t you like?

101 FOCUS ON... John Buchan (1875-1940)

Readers of ‘The Guardian’ newspaper think that The Thirty Nine Steps is the 42nd best novel of all time. It is a very popular story. But what do we know about the writer? Was he like the main character, Richard Hannay? Or was he a completely different kind of person?

102 The Story John Buchan didn’t have an adventurous life like Richard Hannay. At the beginning of the First World War he was 39 years old, and he was too old to fight. In fact he was ill in bed when the war began. To pass the time he wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps. The film director, Alfred Hitchcock was Early Life a big fan of the story. He made a film version in 1935. There were other film Most of the story in The Thirty-Nine Steps versions of the story in 1959 and in 1978. takes place in Scotland. John Buchan knew John Buchan wrote other stories that were the area well, because he was born there similar to The Thirty-Nine Steps. In four in 1875. He spent all of his childhood in of the stories, Richard Hannay was again Scotland, and so he knew how to describe the hero. But his most popular story will its roads, its lakes, its hills and mountains. always be The Thirty-Nine Steps. Like Richard Hannay, he liked the open spaces. An Important Person Like Richard Hannay, John Buchan was very important for the government. He was a newspaper writer for the Times, and he also wrote for the government. He wrote about the war. His job was to give people hope, through his articles, that the war was going well. In 1927 John Buchan became a member of parliament, and in 1935 King George V made him a Lord. After this he became the Governor- General of Canada. This was a very important job. Some say that the job made him ill, because it was very difficult and tiring. He died in 1940, just when the world was at war again. But that is another story. 103