1.
Read the following fragment from the first chapter of the book and
circle the option you consider is the right one.
The
drawing room was/were
full of silent people, sitting at/on/in
a long and ornate table. The room's
usual furniture/ usual furniture's room
had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came
from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted
by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on/at/in
the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light;
they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an
apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over/on
the table, revolving/revolveing
slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the
mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of
the people seated underneath this singular sight was looking to/at
it except for/by/from
a pale young man siting/sitting
almost directly below it. He seemed unable to prevent himself from
glanceing/glancing
upward every minute or so.
“Yaxley.
Snape,” said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. “You
are very nearly late.”
The
speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was
difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his
silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the
gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red
eyes whose pupils were/was
vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.
“Severus,
here,” said Voldemort, indicating the seat on/in/at/to
his immediate right. “Yaxley - beside Dolohov.”
The
two men took their alloted places. Most of the eyes around the table
followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first.
“So?”
“My
Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intend/intends
to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on/at/in
Saturday next, at nightfall.”
The
interest around the table sharpened palpably: Some stiffened, others
fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.
“Saturday...
in/at/on
nightfall,” repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape's
black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away,
apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the
ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into face's
Voldemort/Voldemort's face and,
after a moment or two, Voldemort's
lipless mouth/ lipless mouth's Voldemort curved
into something like a smile.
“Good.
Very good. And this information comes/come
-”
“ -
from the source we discussed,” said Snape.
“My
Lord.”
Yaxley
had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and
Snape. All faces turned to/at
him.
“My
Lord, I have heard differently.”
Yaxley
waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on, “Dawlish, the
Auror, let slip that Potter will
not be moved/will not is moved
until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen.”
Snape
was
smiling/was smileing.
“My
source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must
be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish. It
would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible.”
“I
assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain,” said Yaxley.
“If
he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain,” said Snape. “I
assure you,
Yaxley, the Auror office will
play/will plays
no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order
believes/believe
that we have infiltrated the Ministry.”
“The
Order's got/The Order've got
one thing right, then, eh?” said a squat man sitting a short
distance from Yaxley; he gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here
and there along the table.
Voldemort
did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving
slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.
“My
Lord,” Yaxley went on, “Dawlish believes an entire party of
Aurors will be used to transfer the boy-”
Voldemort
held up a large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watching
resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Snape.
“Where
they
are going/are they going
to hide the boy next?”
“At/In/On
the home of one of the Order,” said Snape. “The place, according
to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and
Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance
of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the
Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the
opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break
through the rest.”
“Well,
Yaxley?” Voldemort called down the table, the firelight
glinting/glintting
strangely
in his red eyes. Will
the Ministry have fallen/ the Ministry will have fallen by
next Saturday?”
Once
again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.
“My
Lord, I have good news on that score. I have – with difficulty, and
after a great effort – succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon
Pius Thicknesse.”
Many
of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbor
Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back.
“It
is a start,” said Voldemort. But Thicknesse is only one man.
Scrimgeor must be surrounded by/for
our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's
life/ life's Minister will
set me back a long way.”
“Yes
– my Lord, that is true – but you know, as Head of the Department
of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicnesse have/has
regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the
Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be
easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control,
to subjugate the other, and then they can all work together to bring
Scrimgeour down.”
2.
Put in a sequential order these paragraphs so as to continue the part
of the story you have just read.
“He
will not do either,” said Snape. “The Order is eschewing any
form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry;
they mistrust everything to do with the place.” ( )
Again,
Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, “I
shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many
mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been
my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his
triumphs.” ( )
“As
long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has
converted the rest,” said Voldemort. “At any rate, it remains
unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If
we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done
while he travels.” ( )
“All
the better “, said Voldemort. “He will have to move in the
open. Easier to take, by far.” (
)
“We
are at an advantage there, my Lord,” said Yaxley, who seemed
determined to receive some portion of approval. “We now have
several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport.
If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know
immediately.” ( )
3. Discuss in class the following questions based on the story.
A.
Describe on your own words the drawing room where Voldemort and the
Death Eaters
are
gathered.
B.
What news does Snape bring to Voldemort?
C.
Whast does Yaxley's version differ from Snape's?
D.
Why does Voldemort need the Ministry to have fallen before next
Saturday?
E.
What are Yaxley's plans to take over the Ministry?
F.
What is Yaxley and Snape's attitude towards Voldemort?
G.
What is Voldemort thinking to do to attack Harry?
H.
Who are Dawlish and Pius Thicknesse? What is their relevance in the
story?
4.
Read the following definitions corresponding to some vocabulary found
in the previous reading, and complete with the terms they go with.
It
is a sort of shelf which goes over the fireplace M _ _ T _ L _
_ _ C _
It
is the way we called the whole of beds, tables, cupboards and chairs
we have at home
_
_ R_ _ T_ _ E
To
stop for a while to observe or do something L _ _ G _ R
We
call an object that way when its surface is brilliant and smooth
P _ _ _ S_ E _
When
we we do not let another person do something _ _ _ V _ N _
F _ _ M
To
understand or try to make sense of something M _ K _
O_ _
Darkness
G _ _ O _
Living
room in British English _ _ A _ _ _ G R _ _ M
To
have the intention to do something. To mean something _ _ T _
N _
To
stare at something or someone G _ _ E
To
continue or to keep doing something G _ O_
To
tell something you were supposed not to or you must not _ E_
S _ _ P
Very.
Completely Q _ _ T _
To
give something to someone. To supply someone with something P _
_ V _ _ E
To
strike the palms of the hands together. To strike slightly someone
with the palm of the hand C _ _ P
To
make something or someone fall or disappear _ R _ _ G
D _ W _
To
impede someone's plans or actions S _ _ B _ C _
There
is a low degree of probability for something to happen U _ _
I _ E _ _
Valid
at present. In progress _ _ R _ _ NT
