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Chapters (13)
  1. Cubierta
  2. The Elephant Man
  3. Chapter 1: The creature in the shop
  4. Chapter 2: The card
  5. Chapter 3: A letter to 'The Times'
  6. Chapter 4: Merrick's first home
  7. Chapter 5: An important visitor
  8. Chapter 6: Outside the hospital
  9. Chapter 7: The last letter
  10. Glossary
  11. Activities
  12. Before reading
  13. Autor
  1. Can you find the eleven words from the story hidden in this word search? Words go from left to right, and from top to bottom.

    Now use ten of the words from the word search to complete this passage.

    Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man, lived in the London __ . He was a very __ man but most of the __ liked him. __ Alexandra was one of his ____ One summer he stayed in a house in the __ .He saw __ in a stream, and talked to __ and a __ . 'He was very happy there,' __ Treves said.

  2. Here is a conversation between Dr Treves and the new nurse (see pages 17 and 18). The conversation is in the wrong order. Write it out in the correct order and put in the speakers' names. The nurse speaks first (number 2).
    1. ____ 'Yes. I started work this morning.'
    2. ____ 'Dr Treves, Dr Treves! Help!'
    3. ____'I dropped his food on the floor and ran out. I was afraid. Is he very ill?'
    4. ____ 'Oh, doctor, there's a horrible creature in Mr Merrick's room!'
    5. ____'What's the matter, nurse? Why are you screaming?'
    6. ____ 'All right, doctor. Thank you.'
    7. 'That's Mr Merrick, nurse! He looks like that. What did you do in the room?'
    8. ____ 'It's got an enormous head with an elephant's tooth in its mouth, and a big horrible arm!'
    9. ____ 'No, Mr Merrick isn't ill, but he's very ugly. Now sit down and listen to me, nurse. Is this your first day here?'
    10. ____'What does this horrible creature look like?'
    11. ____'Well, don't be afraid of Mr Merrick. He isn't horrible. He's a nice, kind man. Now go back in that room, and talk to him. All right?'
  3. Here is a new illustration for the story. Find the best place in the story to put the picture, and answer these questions. The picture goes on page __ .
    1. Where is the Elephant Man going in this picture?
    2. Where was he before this?
    3. What happened to him when he arrived?
    4. Now write a caption for the illustration.

    Caption:________________________

  4. Here is a newspaper story about the Elephant Man. Use the linking words below to complete the story. (Use some of the words more than once.)

    but / and / because / so / when

    Last night Joseph Merrick, the famous 'Elephant Man', died. Merrick did not have an easy life. His mother gave him to a man called Silcock, __ Silcock took him from town to town, to make money. __ Silcock left him in Belgium, Merrick came back to England. He was not ill, __ he could not work, __ the London Hospital gave him a home. There, people were kind to him for the first time in his life, __ he had many friends. 'He had a very ugly body,' said his friend Dr Treves, '___ we all liked him __ he was a good, kind man.'

  5. The Elephant Man is a true story. Which of these sentences do you agree (A) or disagree (D) with? Can you say why?
    1. It is a very sad story.
    2. It is a sad story, but a happy one too.
    3. Joseph Merrick's mother was a bad woman, because she gave her son to Silcock.
    4. Very ugly people, like Joseph Merrick, can never have a happy life.
    5. Doctors and hospitals can do wonderful things now, so people like Joseph Merrick don't have unhappy lives.