reading & training.web Geoffrey Chaucer G Step

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on the way, everyone agrees! From this simple premise Chaucer our B2.1 created a medieval masterpiece. The prologue and five of the best-known stories are retold in modern English in this edition. The Canterbury Tales This reader uses the expansive reading approach, where the text becomes a springboard to improve language skills and to FREE WebActivities explore historical background, cultural connections and other topics suggested by the text. As well as the story, this reader contains: • A wide range of activities practising the four skills • Dossiers: Traditional Tales and others The Canterbury Tales • First-style activities and Trinity-style activities (Grade 7) • Full recording of the text • Exit test, keys and WebActivities at www.blackcat-cideb.com

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Black Cat Readers are now also available for Smartphone and Tablet from the official digital stores for both Android and iOS devices. For further information on the titles available: www.blackcat-cideb.com

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The CanG ISBN 978-88-530-1417-7 ISBN 978-88-530-1417-7eof frey Chaucer t er This volume without the side coupon is to be audio BL b ury Ta considered a free sample copy not for sale. (Sale or CD A CK C other distribution is forbidden: art. 17, c. 2, L. 633/1941). Excluded from V.A.T. (D.P.R. 26/10/72, n. 633, art. 2, l Book + CD € 9,80 A es 3° c., lett. d.) T

RT4_Canterbury_COP.indd 1 04/03/14 13:12 CHAPTER 1

‘Ladies and gentlemen!’ he said. ‘Give me your attention, please! To tell you the truth, I’ve never seen such a happy group of pilgrims at my inn in all the years that I’ve been here! And what’s more, I’ve enjoyed your company so much this evening that I’ve decided to come with you to Canterbury, and make the pilgrimage myself! ‘Now, I’ve got a suggestion to make, and I hope you’ll all agree with me! Let’s entertain ourselves on the journey like this: each person must tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back! And when we get back here after the pilgrimage, we’ll all pay for the dinner of the person who tells the best story. And as for who tells the best story... well, I’ll be the judge of that! What do you think?’ Everyone agreed, and we all went to bed happy, looking forward to the pilgrimage, the lovely April weather... and the stories! Early next morning our host woke us up and we set off while the sun was still rising, but soon after we had left London he stopped and asked us all to listen to him carefully. ‘So, we all remember our agreement, I hope!’ said our host. ‘But who’s going to tell the first story? I’ve got an idea. Let’s draw lots 21 to choose our first storyteller!’ He told each of us to take one piece of straw 22 from the pieces of straw that he had in his hand – we could only see the tops of the pieces of straw. The person who took the shortest straw had to begin. It was the Knight who took the shortest straw. ‘Very well,’ said the Knight. ‘I’ll begin our game of telling stories. Now, my fellow pilgrims, let’s ride on towards Canterbury – and I’ll tell you my story.’

21. draw lots : a way of deciding who does something; taking pieces of straw was a usual way to do this. 22. straw : dry piece of grass or corn.

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The text and beyond

FIRST 1 Comprehension check For questions 1-9, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

1 Theseus married a woman who A had a sister that he was in love with. B was more famous as a warrior than he was. C had once beaten him in a battle. D he had fought against in a battle. 2 The group of women in black wanted A to give Theseus news about the fighting near Thebes. B to complain to Theseus about the fighting near Thebes. C Theseus to find and bring back their husbands’ bodies. D Theseus to punish Creon for not behaving correctly. 3 Palamon and Arcite A first saw Emily walking with her sister in a garden. B fell in love with Emily because she was so pretty. C wanted to die because Emily would never love them. D did not think Emily was worth quarrelling over. 4 Arcite A was unhappy about leaving Palamon in prison. B was happy to leave Athens and return to Thebes. C thought his cousin was luckier than him. D felt lucky to be free at last. 5 As soon as he escaped, Palamon A went to the palace to see Emily. B found a hiding place outside the city. C disguised himself and changed his name. D went to look for Arcite.

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6 Palamon and Arcite agreed to fight A when both of them were armed. B because Emily would have wanted it. C because they hated each other. D because they had become mad. 7 When Theseus saw the cousins fighting, he A didn’t know who they were. B recognised his squire. C was angry because they were fighting in his wood. D wanted to know why they were fighting. 8 Theseus told the cousins A to ask the gods to help them in battle. B to prepare to fight for their love. C not to return to Athens until they had a hundred knights. D to be ready to die for love. 9 Palamon married Emily because A Venus was in favour of it. B Theseus ordered him to. C he had always loved her. D it was what Arcite had wanted.

2 Discussion In pairs or small groups discuss the following.

1 What is The Knight’s Tale about? Write a sentence and read it to the class. You can base your idea on one of the ideas below or use any ideas of your own: • the stupid things that lovers do • the power of true friendship • romantic love • the importance of fighting for something that you want. 2 Think of another way in which Theseus could have decided which cousin could marry Emily.

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RT4_canterbury_tales_OK.indd 37 04/03/14 12:27 A precious box for holding relics, made in the French town of Limoges, showing Becket being killed by Henry II’s knights (12th century).

Thomas Becket and the City of Canterbury

Thomas Becket (or Thomas à Becket) was murdered on 29 December 1170 in , and with his death the tradition of pilgrimages to Canterbury started. Becket was born in 1118 in London and, after a good education, began a career in the Church as an administrator. In 1155 he was appointed 1 Lord Chancellor, a very important adviser at court. King Henry II, who was only twenty-one, became great friends with the pleasure-loving Thomas and in 1162 he appointed him , the head of the Church in England.

1. appointed : chosen to do a particular job.

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RT4_canterbury_tales_OK.indd 40 04/03/14 12:27 Saint Thomas Becket in a stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral (around 1250). Stained glass has been coloured or painted.

But after his appointment Becket became very ascetic, 2 and he defended the rights of the Church against the King. Henry became so angry that Becket escaped to France, where he spent six years. In 1170, an agreement was made with Henry and he returned to England. The people of Canterbury welcomed him back and he became a popular hero. He continued to attack the power of the King. When Henry heard that Thomas had not changed his behaviour, it is said that he shouted ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?’ 3. Four knights heard the King and immediately set off for Canterbury, went into the cathedral with their swords and killed the Archbishop. The Christian world was shocked, and in 1173 the Pope made Thomas a saint. The next year King Henry showed his sorrow by walking barefoot through the city of Canterbury and being whipped 4 by 80 monks. After this, pilgrims came from all over England and Europe to visit Becket’s tomb. In 1220 his bones were moved to a shrine 5 in the Trinity Chapel, where pilgrims in Chaucer’s times went, but this was destroyed in 1538 and the bones were lost. Today, the place where the shrine was is marked by a lit candle.

2. ascetic : leading a very simple life, 4. whipped : beaten not allowing yourself pleasures. with whips. 3. ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent 5. shrine : a special place, usually priest?’ : Who will remove this religious, where people go to show trouble-making priest? respect.

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RT4_canterbury_tales_OK.indd 41 04/03/14 12:57 Pilgrims arrive on foot at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (French manuscript, 1410-12). Jerusalem was not an easy pilgrimage destination, but it was popular: the Wife of Bath went there three times! Pilgrimages

Most religions have traditional pilgrimage sites, such as sacred rivers, mountains, shrines or buildings. Christian pilgrimages were first made to sites associated with the life of Jesus Christ, principally to Jerusalem, and in particular to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 1 there. Christians have been going on pilgrimages here since the 4th century CE, as the church is believed to be built on the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. Pilgrimages also began to include sites associated with the lives of the apostles, 2 saints and martyrs, and Rome – a place where many apostles and saints had lived and died – soon became a destination.

1. sepulchre : historical word for a tomb. 2. apostles : the 12 men chosen by Jesus to spread the Christian religion.

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RT4_canterbury_tales_OK.indd 104 04/03/14 12:28 A pilgrims’ badge, made of lead, showing that someone had made the pilgrimage to Canterbury (14th century).

By the 11th century the shrine of Saint James in the city of Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain became an extremely popular destination – and still is today. In medieval England, Canterbury was by far the most famous destination. Chaucer’s pilgrim the Wife of Bath had been on pilgrimage to Rome, to Santiago de Compostela, and three times to Jerusalem, a long and dangerous journey from England in those times. She tells her fellow pilgrims on the way to Canterbury that she treats pilgrimages as holidays as well as religious experiences, and her attitude was not unusual in Chaucer’s times. Pilgrims used to buy badges and wear them to show they had made a pilgrimage, just as people buy souvenirs today. The badges often represented saints, but for Jerusalem it was a palm 3 and the badge from Santiago de Compostela was a scallop shell. 4 Other places that have become sites of pilgrimage for Christians are places where people believe that the mother of Christ, the Virgin Mary, has appeared. These are found all over the Christian world and can attract many pilgrims; for example, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, to the north of Mexico City, has been a place of pilgrimage since Mary was seen there by a shepherd in 1531, and nowadays as many as 20 million people visit it each year.

3. palm: 4. scallop shell:

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