Black Beauty - Sample

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- Information about Anna Sewell - A section focusing on background and context - A glossary of difficult words - Comprehension and grammar activities including A1 Movers style exercises and 21st century skills activities - Final test

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Stage 1

Black Beauty

Hello! My name’s Black Beauty. I’m a horse. I have an interesting story to tell you. I want to tell you about my life. I’m old now, but I still remember everything.

My story starts with my mother, who taught me many things. When I close my eyes, I can still see all of my old friends standing together under the apple tree.

Oh, how I loved my first home, then Earlshall, and then … but wait, I can’t tell you my story here. Read it, and see what happens to me.

Readers

Anna Sewell Black Beauty

Anna Sewell

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Black Beauty Book brief

1

Black Beauty is English author Anna Sewell’s one and only novel, but it’s one of the bestselling books of all time and was an immediate success.

2

The novel shows Sewell’s love of horses and it helped to make people be kinder to them.

3

It tells the story of a horse’s life through the eyes of the horse, Black Beauty.

4 5

Sewell didn’t write the story for children, but to make people in Victorian England understand how hard life was for working horses. This led to new laws to help these horses.

This story was the first of its kind and was followed by many other ‘pony books’ – books for children about horses and learning to ride.

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In this reader: 21st Century Skills

Movers

To encourage students to connect the story to the world they live in.

A1 level activities.

Story Notes

A brief summary of the text.

Glossary

Explanation of difficult words.

Picture Caption

A brief explanation of the picture.

Audio

These icons indicate the parts of the story that are recorded.

Think

start stop

To encourage students to develop their critical thinking skills.

The FSC® certification guarantees that the paper used in these publications comes from certified forests, promoting responsible forestry management worldwide.

For this series of ELI graded readers, we have planted 5000 new trees.

Anna Sewell

Black Beauty Retold by

Michael Lacey Freeman Illustrated by

Davide Aurilia

Teen

Readers

Contents

6

Main Characters

8

Before you read

10

Chapter 1

22

Activities

24

Chapter 2

36

Activities

38

Chapter 3

48

Activities

50

Chapter 4

60

Activities

62

Chapter 5

74

Activities

76

Chapter 6

88

Activities

90

Focus on... Anna Sewell

92

Focus on...

94

Test yourself

95 Syllabus

How I Got My Name My New Home Earlshall A Hard World Never on a Sunday My Last Home

Transport

Main Characters

Lady Anne Lord Wilson’s daughter.

She loves horses and is always kind to them.

Black Beauty A handsome black horse, he tells the story of how he works hard as a carriage horse and always tries to do his best for his masters.

James

Little Joe Green

John

A kind young boy who works for Squire Gordon and helps John with the horses.

He comes to help John with the horses when James goes away.

He works for Squire Gordon and rides Black Beauty.

6

Mr York

Harry and Dolly

He does the same job as John but works at Earlshall for Lord Wilson.

Harry and Dolly are Jerry and Polly’s children and live in London.

Jerry and Polly

Jerry and Polly are husband and wife.

Jerry has a taxi service in London.

He’s always kind to the horses he works with.

7

Before you read

Reading 1 Match questions about Black Beauty with the correct answers.

A ‘What is the book about?’

B ‘What are you reading?’

C ‘What kind of story is it?’

D ‘Is it a new book?’

E ‘Who was the writer?’

1

2 3

4

5

‘It’s quite exciting. A lot of things happen to Black Beauty.

I like it.’

‘A book called Black Beauty.’

‘It’s about a horse. His name is Black Beauty.’

‘No, a woman wrote it a long time ago, in 1877.’

‘Her name was Anna Sewell.’

Grammar 2 Black Beauty meets other horses in the story. Read about them and choose the correct verb.

Merrylegs is / are a very happy little horse.

Children (1) love / loves him.

Ginger is a very unhappy horse. She (2) become / becomes happier when she (3) meet / meets Black Beauty.

Sir Olivier (4) live / lives with Black Beauty and Ginger.

He’s very old so he (5) don’t / doesn’t work.

Lizzie is always frightened.

She often (6) go / goes out with Black Beauty.

Captain is an interesting horse.

He (7) work/ works with Black Beauty in London.

3 Read this passage and put the underlined verbs

in the past tense.

used horses to do a lot of things.

In 1877 people use ________ They (1) need ________ a horse to travel to different places.

It (2) takes ________ a long time to go from one place to another.

The horses (3) have ________ to rest and they

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(4) can’t ________ run for a long time. People also used horses to carry people or things. In this period, people (5) don’t have ________ a telephone. They used a horse to send messages to friends, or to take them to see the doctor.

A horse in these times (6) is ________ very busy!

Reading and Writing

MOVERS

4 These words are all in Chapter 1. Look at the pictures and choose the correct word for each definition.

river

field

rabbit

church

mouth

cow

train

stable

You can get milk from this animal: 1 You use this to eat and speak: 2 Where a horse sleeps: 3 You can travel on this: 4 This animal has long ears: 5 There’s water here:

Writing 5 Black Beauty is a story about a horse.

cow _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ 21st Century Skills

1 Do you like horses? Why / Why not?

2 What’s your favourite animal? Why? 3 Do you like reading books about animals? Why / Why not?

4 When do you usually read?

5 What kind of things do you like reading?

6 How important do you think it is to read?

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Chapter 1

How I Got My Name 2

At first Black Beauty was called Darkie and he lived with his mother and played with the other young horses.

Hello. My name’s Black Beauty. I think it’s a nice name? Do you like it? I do. It’s not a normal1 name like Peter, or David. It’s different. That’s because I’m different. I’m not a man or a woman. I’m a horse. A horse has a story to tell, just like a man or a woman. This is my story.

I’m going to start my story at the beginning.

That’s where the best stories start. I’m old now but I still remember when I was young. At the beginning my name wasn’t Black Beauty. It was Darkie. I was very handsome2 . Everybody said so. I lived with my mother. At first I couldn’t eat grass. I was too young, so I drank my mother’s milk. At night, I slept close to3 her. When it was hot, we stayed together under the trees.

Soon I was old enough to eat grass. There were six other young horses, who played with me in our field. We ran together. Sometimes we went to the river to drink the water there.

1

normal something that you usually hear or see 2 handsome (physical description) someone who is attractive (usually describing a man) 3 close to near

10

>

Black Beauty when he was very young with his mother.

They put Oliver in a cold, dark room because he asks for more porridge.

Anna Sewell

Black Beauty comes from an important family and is always kind to other horses and people even when they aren’t kind to him.

My mother went to work during the day. She came back in the evening, and I was always happy to see her.

I wanted to be like my mother. She never got angry1. She always did what her master2 asked her to do.

One day my mother said to me, ‘Son, there’s something you must never forget.’

‘What’s that?’ I asked.

‘I often see you playing with the other young horses in the field. That’s fine. But, remember that you’re special3 .’

‘Special! What do you mean?’

‘You come from an important family. Your father, and your grandfather were famous horses.

They could run very fast. Everybody loved them.

They were also gentle4 and kind5 horses. I want you to be like them.’

I always remembered what my mother told me that day. I’m always kind to other horses and to men, even when they aren’t kind to me. That’s what my mother taught me.

1

angry master he is the boss 3 special important and different 4 gentle not hard or angry 5 kind friendly, someone who likes to help other people 2

12

Black Beauty

In those days, every day was the same. I stayed near my mother, and I played with my friends. But I remember one day, when something different happened. It was early spring and I was with my friends. I could hear some strange1 noises.

We ran to the other part of the field, near the river and we saw a rabbit2 . The rabbit ran past us very quickly. It looked frightened. Soon I understood why. I saw some dogs.

‘They’re trying to get the rabbit,’ said one of my friends.

But it wasn’t a game, like I play with my friends. They wanted to get the rabbit, and kill3 it.

‘Why are they doing this?’ I asked my friend.

‘It’s called a hunt4 ,’ he said.

I wanted to ask what a hunt was. But then what I saw next helped me to understand. I saw some men on horses, following the dogs. The men were very excited. The rabbit ran and ran and ran. The dogs were closer, and closer, and closer, and then I heard a noise.

SPLASH! 1

strange not something you usually see or hear rabbit 3 to kill the rabbit dies when they do this 4 hunt to run after an animal for fun 2

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Anna Sewell

The master’s son falls into the river with his horse while hunting and both die.

Black Beauty doesn’t understand why men have to hunt.

A black horse fell into the river. A man was in the river too. I looked at them. They just stayed there in the water. They didn’t move. Soon some men came. They carried the man to the house.

Then some other men came to look at the horse. I could hear them speaking.

‘It’s no good,’ said one of the men. ‘It’s his leg.

There’s nothing we can do.’ Then the man took something out of a bag. He put it near the horse’s head. And there was another loud noise.

BANG! After this noise the horse never moved again.

A few days later, I saw a black car on the road.

It’s going to the church, I thought. Inside the car I could see a big box. Inside the box there was the man, who I saw in the river.

I learnt later that the horse’s name was Rob Roy. Did he go to the church in a black car? Did he have a special box? I don’t think so.

Later, I found out1 that the man in the box was the master’s son. His only son. I don’t understand why men do this. All of this – just to get a little

1

find out learn or hear about

14

>

The master’s son and his horse fall into the river while hunting a rabbit.

Anna Sewell

Black Beauty is now 4 years old and his master wants to start riding him.

rabbit. Sometimes they do very strange things. But we have to do what they say.

They’re our masters.

This was a very strange day. Normally the days passed very quickly, and nothing much happened. Soon I was four years old. I was no longer a baby. One day, the master came to look at me. He looked at my eyes, my mouth and my legs. First I had to walk, and run slowly for him.

And then I had to run faster, while he watched.

‘Well, now we can train1 him,’ said the master.

‘I think he can do well.’

That evening, I had a lot of questions for my mother. ‘What does, ‘train’ mean?’ was my first question.

‘It means that my master thinks you’re ready to help him. Remember what I said and be kind. Do what my master says, even when you’re tired or hungry.’

‘Oh, I understand. What does ride mean?’

‘To ride means to run with a man on your back,’ she said.

1

train teach an animal to do something

16

Black Beauty

The next day, the master began to ride me around the field. I was very happy to carry the master. He spoke to me in a soft1 voice2 . He did it every day, until it was normal for me.

Then one day, I had to wear shoes for the first time. A man took my feet and put my shoes on. It didn’t hurt me. But my feet felt very heavy3. Then the master put something on my face. I couldn’t see anything on my left, or on my right. I could only see what was right in front of me.

After this, the master sent me for two weeks to another field. There weren’t any horses there.

Only some cows and sheep. That was where I saw my first train. But before I saw it, I heard it. It made a loud sound4 .

‘CHOO CHOO, CHOO CHOO’.

The train was long and black, and it was very fast. Much faster than me. At first, I was very frightened. I ran to the other side of the field.

That day, I saw lots of trains. Every time, I saw that the cows weren’t frightened. Very soon, I wasn’t frightened. I knew that the train couldn’t

1

soft not loud voice people hear your voice when you speak 3 heavy 4 sound noise 2

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The master starts to ride Black Beauty and puts shoes on his feet and something on his face to make him only look in front of him and not left or right.

Then he puts him in a field with cows and sheep and here he sees his first train.

Anna Sewell

One day in May, a man comes to take Black Beauty away. Now he has a new master.

come into the field, or do anything bad to me. I began to be just like those cows. The train didn’t frighten me anymore.

After this, the master decided1 that I was ready to help him. My mother was very happy.

‘It’s always good to do your best to please your master,’ said my mother. ‘But there are many different kinds of men. There are good men, like my master. And then there are bad, unkind2 men, who aren’t good to their horses or even their dogs.

There are also stupid3 men. One day you’ll have a master. You’ll go somewhere else. When that day comes, I want you to be ready. I want you to have a kind master, just like mine.’

But a horse never knows who will buy him.

It was early May, when a man came and took me away. Before I left, the master said to me, ‘Goodbye, Darkie. You’re a good horse.’

I couldn’t say anything. So I put my nose into his hand. That was the only way I could say thank you. Before I left, my mother said to me.

‘Now you have a new master. His name is Squire

1

decide when you think about something and then you do it unkind not nice or friendly 3 stupid a stupid person doesn’t think before doing things that can often hurt other people 2

18

Black Beauty

Gordon. Then there’s a man who will ride you.

His name’s John. There’s also another boy called James. He’ll help you and John. Be a good horse.’

After saying goodbye to my mother, I went to a place called Birtwick. A man put me in a large stable1. It was very clean. I had something to eat, and then I looked at the horse next to me.

‘Pleased to meet you,’ I said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘My name’s Merrylegs,’ said the other horse.

‘I’m very handsome. I carry the young ladies on my back. They like me very much. Is this your new home next to me?’

‘I think so,’ I said.

‘Well, are you a good horse? Do you get angry all the time like that other horse?’

Just then I saw another horse in the stable. She looked very angry. Her name was Ginger. She looked at me and said.

‘So it was you. Why did you take my place? That was my place, not yours.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I didn’t do anything – it was my master. He put me here.’

1

stable where a horse lives

19

Black Beauty goes to work for Squire Gordon and meets the other horses that work there.

Anna Sewell

Merrylegs tells Black Beauty that this is a good place for a horse to be.

In the afternoon Ginger went out. Merrylegs told me more about her.

‘Ginger often gets angry with our master, and his family. The master’s children are frightened of her. They don’t come to the stable anymore, to bring me an apple, a carrot, or a piece of bread.

Are you calm1 and gentle? If you are, they always come back.’

I told Merrylegs that I was calm and gentle.

‘Maybe somebody was horrible2 to Ginger – in the past. You see, I’m twelve years old, and very clever. I can tell you this is the best place in the country for a horse. They’re very kind to us. There’s John. He rides us and there’s young James, who helps John. He’s also very nice.’

The next morning, John took me out. I carried him on my back, and we ran to the river. When we got back we saw my master, Squire Gordon, and his wife.

‘Well John, how is he?’ asked my new master.

‘Very good, Sir,’ answered John. ‘He’s fast, and he doesn’t get frightened when people pass.

A train passed by. But it didn’t frighten him.’

1

calm not noisy or angry horrible not nice

2

20

Black Beauty

‘That’s good,’ said my master. ‘I want to try him myself tomorrow.’

So that’s what he did. My master was good with horses, and he was very kind to me. When we finished, we went back to his house.

‘John was right,’ said my master to his wife.

‘He’s a very good horse. What can we call him?’

‘What about Blackbird? He is a beautiful, black colour.’

‘No, he’s too handsome for a name like that.’

‘You’re right,’ said the master’s wife. ‘He’s a beauty1, with a lovely2 face. What do you think of calling him Black Beauty?’

‘Black Beauty. Why, yes! I think that’s a very good name for him.’

So that’s how I got my name. I like it much better than Darkie. Do you think it’s better too?

The master is very pleased with Black Beauty and his wife chooses this name for the horse.

Think Why do you think the 1

a beauty a beautiful person, animal or object 2 lovely nice, beautiful

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master likes Black Beauty?

After-reading Activities • Chapter 1

Reading 1 Read the sentences and choose the correct word.

Black Beauty’s father / mother was a famous horse.

1 Black Beauty’s first name was Blackbird / Darkie.

2 The man who died at the hunt was the master’s friend / son.

3 Black Beauty’s mother had to work during the day / the night.

4 The master started to train Black Beauty when he was two / four years old.

2 Put the things that Black Beauty did in the correct order. a ■

b ■ c ■ d ■ e ■

He had to walk, and run slowly for the master.

Then he had to run faster.

He had to wear shoes.

He saw lots of trains pass.

Black Beauty had to carry the master on his back.

The master put something on Black Beauty’s face.

Vocabulary 3 Match the adjective with another word that has the opposite

meaning.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Strange Big Good Old Kind Angry

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a b c d e f

Calm Young Unkind Little Normal Bad

Reading and Writing

MOVERS

4 Choose the correct word for each sentence.

horse Black Beauty is a ________. horse

man

woman

1 Black Beauty’s mother always did what her master ________ her to do. answered spoke asked

2 His mother taught ________ to be kind to other horses and men.

him his her

3 A black horse ________ into the river. jumped

swam

fell

4 Ginger was always very ________. happy

angry

sad

5 Black Beauty’s new master is very ________. bad

Speaking

kind

stupid

21st Century Skills

5 Talk to a partner and answer the questions.

In Chapter 1 a boy and a horse die during a hunt.

1 What do you think of hunting?

2 What kind of animals do they hunt in your country?

3 Would you like to go hunting? Why / Why not?

Before-reading Activity

Listening 3 6 Listen to what Black Beauty says about his first home. What

things did he like about it? a ■ ■ He was free

b ■ ■ the food

c ■ ■ the field

d ■ ■ the other horses e ■ ■ the master f ■ ■ his mother was there

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Focus on...

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell Born in Norfolk, England in 1820, she couldn’t walk very 1820 well and loved horses because she could get about with them.

Family She spent a lot of time with her mother who was a teacher and a writer of children’s stories. She taught Anna to read and about animals and nature.

Adult life Anna spent many years trying to find a way to walk better.

She saw doctors all over Europe and during these journeys, she met many famous writers and artists.

Last years Things were very difficult for her. She couldn’t walk. She couldn’t go out so she decided to write a story about a horse – Black Beauty. She was 57 when the book came out and received 20 pounds for her work, less than Jerry paid for Black Beauty at the market. She died in 1878, five months after finishing the book.

1878

90

Black Beauty

Famous all over the world, both adults and children, still read it today and people can read it in fifty different languages.

TV and film versions

There are many TV and film versions of the book. People say that the story helped horses, because after reading Black Beauty, people became kinder and tried to make life a little easier for horses.

91

Focus on...

Transport Horses had a lot of work to do in the 1800s. A horse like Black Beauty was very useful to help people move around.

Getting from A to B

‘One day in late autumn, I had to take my master out. It was a long journey.

It was rainy, and the wind was strong.’

Normally people had to walk to get from one place to another. Not many people had enough money for a horse, so they had to walk. Taxis and carriages were expensive. It was also difficult for most people, because the roads were not very good. Today, we think nothing of going from one part of our country to another. For people in those times, it was a very difficult thing to do. All of Black Beauty’s journeys in the story are not very far when you travel by car. But travelling by horse was much more difficult.

On a good road, a horse can travel for 40 miles. But on bad roads, it can be much less.

92

The Train

‘Lots of the people I took around were from towns. They didn’t have their own horse, and always travelled by train.’

One thing that made life easier was the train. Before Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty, there was the invention of the train. The train made it possible for normal people to travel. Many railway stations opened in this period.

When people travelled by train, they often needed a taxi to finish their journey. Stations were usually far from where they wanted to go. For this reason, they had to take a taxi and call a taxi service, just like the one that Black Beauty worked for.

The City ‘There was a lot of work to do. London was very busy. There was a lot of noise, people and horses.’

In a busy city like London, taxis were even more important. There were many taxi horses on the roads at that time.

The streets were full of horses, just like today they’re full of cars. That’s why it was possible for Black Beauty to see Ginger, just before she died. Ginger also worked for a taxi driver.

93

Test yourself Choose the correct answer, A, B, or C for each question.

When does Black Beauty leave his first home?

A ■ When he’s born.

B ■ When he’s two.

3 When he’s four.

C ■

1

What was Black Beauty’s first name?

A ■ Darkie B ■ Jack C ■ Dream

2

What was the name of the horse who died at the hunt?

A ■ Blackbird B ■ Rob Roy C ■ Merrylegs

3

Who helped Black Beauty and Ginger when there was a fire?

A ■ John B ■ James C ■ Little Joe Green

4

Why did Black Beauty have to leave Birtwick?

A ■ His master moved to another country.

B ■ His master wanted to sell him.

C ■ His master didn’t need Black Beauty anymore.

5

Why did Black Beauty leave Earlshall?

A ■ Because Lord Wilson wanted to leave the country.

B ■ Because Lord Wilson’s wife didn’t want him.

C ■ Because Black Beauty’s knees were bad.

6

How much did Jerry pay for Black Beauty?

A ■ Twenty-two pounds B ■ Twenty-three pounds C ■ Twenty-four pounds

7

Who saw Black Beauty again, after so many years?

A ■ John B ■ Little Joe Green C ■ James

94

Syllabus Topics Nature Weather Family Animals Colours Food & Drink Grammar and Structures Simple present: states and habits Present continuous: actions in progress Past simple: finished actions Future forms: present continuous, going to, will Can: ability Could: ability Must: obligation Have to: necessity Adjectives adverbs Prepositions (place, time) Pronouns Question words Relative clauses There is/There are Verbs + infinitive/ing When clauses Relative clauses Let’s Would like

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Teen

Readers

Stage 1

Maureen Simpson, In Search of a Missing Friend Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Janet Borsbey & Ruth Swan, The Boat Race Mystery Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Angela Tomkinson, Great Friends!

Edith Nesbit, The Railway Children Eleanor H. Porter, Pollyanna Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Stage 2

Elizabeth Ferretti, Dear Diary…

Angela Tomkinson, Loving London Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mary Flagan, The Egyptian Souvenir Maria Luisa Banfi, A Faraway World Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island Elizabeth Ferretti, Adventure at Haydon Point William Shakespeare, The Tempest Angela Tomkinson, Enjoy New York Frances Hodgson Burnett, Little Lord Fauntleroy Michael Lacey Freeman, Egghead Michael Lacey Freeman, Dot to Dot Silvana Sardi, The Boy with the Red Balloon Silvana Sardi, Scotland is Magic!

Silvana Sardi, Garpur: My Iceland Silvana Sardi, Follow your Dreams Gabriele Rebagliati, Naoko: My Japan

Stage 3

Anna Claudia Ramos, Expedition Brazil Charles Dickens, David Copperfield Mary Flagan, Val’s Diary Maureen Simpson, Destination Karminia Anonymous, Robin Hood Jack London, The Call of the Wild Louisa May Alcott, Little Women Gordon Gamlin, Allan: My Vancouver