SecretsOfSilverLake TM

The Secrets of Silver Lake by Michelle Telford

Te a c h e r ’ s Material

C O N T E N T S

To the Teacher ....................................................................................................................... 3 Before Reading...................................................................................................................... 5 After Reading: Extra Challenges .......................................................................................... 6 After Reading: Group Work ................................................................................................. 7 Possible Answers to Group Work ....................................................................................... 8 Worksheet 1: Chapters 1-5 .................................................................................................. 9 Answers to Worksheet 1 .................................................................................................... 10 Worksheet 2: Chapters 6-10 .............................................................................................. 1 1 Answers to Worksheet 2 ................................................................................................... 12 Final Test .............................................................................................................................. 13 Answers to Final Test ......................................................................................................... 14 Answers to Questions in the Reader.................................................................................. 15

Before using the following teacher’s material, we recommend that you read the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet.

Copyright © 2003 Burlington Books

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The Secrets of Silver Lake

TO THE TEACHER LIST

OF

MAIN CHARACTERS

Eddie: a 14-year-old American boy on vacation at Silver Lake.

Jack Devlin: a criminal.

Jon: Eddie’s 11-year-old brother.

Hal Corley: another criminal.

Richie: a 15-year-old boy, also at Silver Lake.

Captain Dearing: the head of the police at Silver Lake.

Leo: Richie’s 13-year-old friend.

P L O T S U M M A RY Eddie and Jon’s parents buy an old wooden cabin on Silver Lake in the Catskill Mountains, north of New York and the family goes there to spend the summer vacation. While everyone is getting organised, Eddie sees a light signalling from across the lake, and a light from the house next door signalling back. The following morning, Eddie sees two boys sneaking around the enormous old house next door. The two boys, Richie and Leo, tell him that the house is haunted by Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin, a gangster from the 1920s who lived in the house. Devlin used to kill his enemies, and then put them into cement blocks which he dropped to the bottom of the lake. People say that there are many cement blocks in the lake. Eddie tells his younger brother Jon what his new friends have told him. The two brothers go together to visit Richie and Leo, who tell them the rest of the story about Jack Devlin. Devlin worked with a man called Scarpelli selling illegal drinks and rifles. One day, Scarpelli decided to join Devlin’s enemies, so Devlin had him and all his family killed and the bodies dropped into the lake. In revenge, Scarpelli’s cousins killed Devlin and since then the old house has been empty. People say that Devlin buried treasure either in the house or on the other side of the lake. The boys decide to explore both. The next day, while Eddie and Richie are swimming to the old house, they find a big cement block under the water. Then Richie takes Eddie down a secret path in a wood where it is rumoured that Devlin buried treasure or even bodies. However, the boys don’t find anything. The following morning, the four boys take Eddie’s father’s boat across the lake and find the remains of a campfire. Suddenly, they hear footsteps. They hide behind a big tree and see a man with a cowboy hat and a rifle come out of the wood. The man looks angry. When he sees the boys’ boat by the water, he goes looking for them, but doesn’t find them and finally goes away. After waiting a while, the boys run back to their boat, but soon realise that the man has thrown their oars into the lake. Eddie and Leo swim out and recover them. As they row home, Eddie tells Jon to keep the adventure secret from their parents. The next evening the family goes into town. In the supermarket, the boys see the man from the day before. As they leave the parking lot, he rides his motorbike in front of their car very quickly, frightening the boys. The following day, Eddie, Richie and Leo explore the boathouse near the old house. There are signs that someone has been there recently, and Eddie decides to tell his friends about the signalling he saw from the house. The boys think the people signalling may have been criminals. This idea is confirmed when they find a metal box containing bullets in the boathouse. The next morning, Eddie’s father reads a newspaper headline to his family announcing that the police are looking for a drug ring in the area. Later, Jon and Eddie see a motorboat explode in the middle of the lake and the police come to investigate. Eddie, Richie and Leo want to see if it was the boat in the boathouse that exploded, so they go back there and are discovered by Jack Devlin, the grandson of Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin. He threatens the boys with a knife and tells them he will cut out their tongues if they talk to the police or their parents. The boys are very frightened, but finally decide to tell the police the whole story. Captain Dearing asks them a lot of questions. The next week, they are called in to identify the criminals, and the police arrest Jack Devlin and his accomplice Hal Corley, the man with the rifle. A few months later, at Thanksgiving, Captain Dearing calls and says the police have found drug money in the boathouse and the boys will each get a $1,000 reward. When the family returns to Silver Lake the next summer, they discover that a nice family has bought the Devlin house, and Eddie and Jon are very happy. 3

The Secrets of Silver Lake

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND • Morse code is a system of signals in which combinations of dots and dashes represent letters of the alphabet. It was developed in 1838 by Samuel F. B. Morse, an American painter and inventor, who also developed the telegraph, an early way of sending messages with radio or electrical signals. When signalling is done with a light, a short flash represents a dot and a longer one a dash. • The Catskill Mountains lie in the state of New York, north of New York City. They are often called ‘America’s First Wilderness’ and have a long and colourful history. The area is famous for its rocky ground, valleys, streams, waterfalls and wild forests, as well as for its independent, creative people. The main feature of the Catskills today is the huge Forest Preserve in Catskill Park. Silver Lake is one of the many beautiful lakes in this area. • In the 1920s, alcoholic drinks were forbidden by law in the United States. This period is known as Prohibition. Many people, however, still wanted to drink. Some made their own wines and alcoholic drinks at home. Others bought drinks smuggled in from over the border in Canada, often by gangs with a criminal element. Because there was a lot of competition between the various gangs, there was a great deal of violence and many of the gangsters were killed. Al Capone was probably the best known gangster of this period. • Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This American harvest holiday originated in the 1620s, when the early settlers, called Pilgrims, held a three-day festival in Massachusetts to give thanks for the harvest. They invited the American Indians, who had taught them about planting corn and other useful agricultural knowledge, to join their celebration. Thanksgiving in the USA today is marked by family gatherings and holiday meals of turkey, corn, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Many people decorate their homes with things connected to Thanksgiving, such as pumpkins, ears of colourful Indian corn and models of the early Pilgrims.

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The Secrets of Silver Lake

BEFORE READING SUGGESTIONS

FOR

LEAD-IN ACTIVITIES

In pairs, students ask and answer the following questions. Alternatively, you can ask the questions and elicit the answers from the whole class. (Some suggested answers are provided in italics.) 1. Where do you like to go on your summer holiday? (abroad; to the beach; to the mountains; to a summer cottage; to summer camp; stay at home) 2. How do you usually spend your time on holiday? (travelling with my family; attending a summer camp; taking part in a summer study programme; swimming; playing tennis; reading; playing on the computer; spending time with friends) 3. Tell the class about something unusual or interesting that happened to you or someone you know while on holiday. 4. Imagine you come across a criminal who threatens to harm you if you tell anyone you’ve seen him. What would you do? (not tell anyone; tell my parents; tell my friend; go to the police) 5. Would you enter a house if someone told you it was haunted? Why / Why not? (Yes, I would. I don’t believe in ghosts and I wouldn’t be afraid; No, I wouldn’t. I would be very scared and I would imagine all sorts of frightening things.)

K E Y V O C A B U L A RY 1. Pre-teach the following key vocabulary. storm

bay

frightened

boathouse

kill

(dead) body

drugs

scary

treasure wood

Ask pairs of students to write a story using as many of the words above as possible. Tell them that they only have five minutes to write their story and the students who use the most words correctly are the winners. 2. Pre-teach the following verbs and adverbs. Then ask pairs of students to write four sentences each using one of the verbs and one of the adverbs. They can use each word only once. add quietly

angrily

explain excitedly

reply

suggest

incredulously

shout

cry

suddenly

row

signal

carefully

seriously

sadly

BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES The Before Reading activities in the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet, pages 8-11, can be applied to The Secrets of Silver Lake. In addition to the activities in the general leaflet, the students can do the following activities. 1. Look at the picture on the front cover of the reader. Where do you think the three boys are? (by a lake in the country) What do you think the boy on the right is telling the other two? (something about the big house on the edge of the lake) 2. Read lines 14-19 on page 14 of the reader. Can you guess what the boys will do and what might happen? (they’ll explore the house; they’ll swim in the lake to see if they find anything; they’ll find cement blocks; they’ll get into trouble) 3. Read the last 6 lines on page 17. What do we learn about Devlin and the house? (No one has bought the house or lived in it since Devlin was killed because they’re afraid of Devlin’s ghost. Some people have seen the ghost on the lake at midnight. People say that Devlin buried treasure in a bay on the other side of the lake.) 4. Look at the picture on page 24. Why do you think the boys are hiding behind a tree? (they’re frightened of the man in the picture; they don’t want the man to see them) What impression do you get of the man and why? (he’s a bad man; he’s dangerous; he’s carrying a rifle) 5

The Secrets of Silver Lake

AFTER READING: EXTRA CHALLENGES MAKE YOUR STUDENTS THINK Here are some points that more advanced students can be asked to consider after reading the book. 1. Why do you think Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin chose to have a house on Silver Lake? 2. Compare Eddie and his younger brother Jon: their interests, their personalities and their behaviour. 3. How did Mr and Mrs Marks try to make their children’s vacation as enjoyable as possible? 4. On pages 39-40 Eddie thinks, “It was time to stop being detectives and to become ordinary kids again.” How did Eddie’s attitude towards their adventure change between the beginning of the story and the end? 5. What impression do you get of Captain Dearing? Give reasons for your answer. 6. Do you think the boys did the correct thing by trying to solve the mystery of Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin?

DRAMA ACTIVITIES

AND

PROJECT SUGGESTIONS

1. Work in a group of three. One of you is Eddie, one is Jon and the third is a cousin from Boston. Imagine the conversation in which Eddie and Jon answer the cousin’s questions about their adventures at Silver Lake. Act out the conversation for the class. 2. Work in a small group and design a ‘Wanted’ poster for either Jack Devlin or Hal Corley. Draw the criminal’s picture and underneath it write a short description of his appearance and of the crime committed. Mention the reward being offered. 3. Work with a partner. One of you is Jack Devlin and the other is Hal Corley and you meet in prison. Act out the conversation in which you tell each other how you first discovered that the boys were trying to find you. 4. Work with a partner. One of you is a newspaper reporter and one of you is Eddie’s friend, Richie. The reporter asks Richie questions about his part in the events of the past summer. Then write the reporter’s article for the newspaper. 5. Work with a partner and write Captain Dearing’s police report about the drug ring. 6. In a group of five, prepare a witness’ approximate description of a criminal and invent a crime that was committed. Four of you dress up with different props (a hat, a scarf, a pipe, a piece of jewellery). One of you should have something in your appearance that exactly fits the imaginary criminal. Stand in front of the class as at an identification procedure. The fifth student reads the description of the criminal and the crime and the class chooses the criminal. 7. Work in a group of three or four. Prepare a scene from the story that you can act out in front of the class. The class must guess which scene it is and which character each of you is. 8. Imagine that you are Mrs Marks. Write a letter to your sister in California describing your family’s summer at Silver Lake. 9. Work in a group of four. Write and act out a scene from the trial of Jack Devlin and Hal Corley. Student A is the defence lawyer. Student B is the prosecution lawyer. Students C and D are two witnesses, one for the defence and one for the prosecution. 10. Use an encyclopedia or search on the Internet to find more information about a famous gangster. It can be a gangster from your country or another country and you may have learned about him in a book or a film. Write a paragraph and read it to the class.

6

The Secrets of Silver Lake

AFTER READING: GROUP WORK TO

THE

TEACHER:

1. Hand out some of the following statements to the groups. 2. The groups discuss the statements, decide whether the answer is Yes or No and provide examples from the text to support them. 3. The group spokesperson reports the group’s ideas to the whole class.

TO

THE

STUDENTS:

Discuss the following statements. Agree (Yes) or disagree (No) with them. Support your opinions with observations and details from the story.

Statement

Yes (✓) No (x)

Examples to support our opinion

1. The family liked the summer cabin immediately. 2. Eddie and Jon weren’t frightened of life in the country. 3. Eddie wasn’t a good brother to Jon. 4. Hal Corley was very aggressive. 5. Eddie could make a good detective. 6. Eddie began to feel that this adventure wasn’t a good idea. 7. Eddie, Leo and Richie were brave most of the time. 8. The boys’ parents were very angry with them in the police station and afterwards. 9. Things didn’t go well after the boys identified the criminals. 10. The boys learned a lesson from their adventure.

See the Burlington Reader Series general information leaflet, pages 13-15, for more After Reading activities.

7

Group Work

POSSIBLE ANSWERS 1. No. p.9-10: Eddie saw immediately that the cabin wasn’t in good condition. Mrs Marks saw that it wasn’t very clean and opened a window because the cabin smelled. Jon didn’t look very happy. Eddie liked it although it wasn’t like the nice, warm houses in the movies, with big wooden stairs and secret passages. Dad also felt OK about the cabin. p.12: Eddie decides that they’ll have to change the wallpaper in his room. 2. No. p.15-16: When the boys walked along a road through the wood, they were very nervous because the noises of the animals and insects were different from the noises of the city. They were frightened when an enormous toad jumped onto the road in front of them. They were both happy to leave the wood. p.22: Eddie trembled when he and Richie saw a thick green snake. 3. No. p.10: He let Jon choose his room first. p.15: At first he didn’t want to tell Jon about the haunted house because he didn’t want to give him nightmares. He took Jon with him to meet his new friends. p.24: He realised that it wasn’t a good idea to bring Jon with him to the other side of the lake because he was very frightened of everything. p.33: Eddie suggested they get Jon and go for an ice cream. 4. Yes. p.24: He kicked the sticks from the campfire angrily. p.25: He shouted and pointed his rifle at the trees. He threw the boys’ oars into the lake. p.28: He looked angry and threw boxes of cookies and bags of candies into his cart. p.29: When they left the parking lot, he drove quickly in front of them on a big black motorbike. 5. Yes. p.27: Eddie realised that the man with the rifle looked like a criminal and probably sent the signal across the lake the first night in the cabin. He also realised there was probably another criminal on his side of the lake. p.28: He recognised the scary man when he saw him in the supermarket. p.32: Eddie realised that a second criminal probably sent the signal from the boathouse to the person on the other side of the lake.

p.39-40: When Eddie saw the signal at the window again, he walked away because he decided it was time for them to stop being detectives and to become ordinary kids again. Eddie had a nightmare about the man from the boathouse. p.41: The boys decided to go to the police station. 7. Yes. p.18: The boys decided to go and look inside the big house and then go to the bay on the other side of the lake. Jon wanted to be brave and went too. p.23: The boys rowed across the lake in spite of the danger of falling into the water. p.25-26: Eddie and Leo swam to find the oars. p.30: Eddie, Leo and Richie went and explored the old boathouse. p.41: The boys were frightened but decided to go to the police station. p.42: Captain Dearing said, “You boys have been very brave.” p.44: In Mrs Marks’ opinion, the boys were brave to go to the police. p.45-46: The boys were nervous and Eddie was trembling, but they identified the two criminals. 8. No. p.44: Richie’s parents looked worried, but not angry. Leo’s mother was very calm. In Eddie’s father’s opinion, Eddie did the right thing and he’s very proud of Eddie. Eddie’s mother kissed him and agreed with his father. In her opinion, what the boys did was dangerous, but they were brave to go to the police. They were good kids. 9. No. p.47: The police arrest Devlin and Corley. p.48: The police found drug money in the old boathouse. Devlin was hiding it in a secret panel of wood next to the window. Each of the boys received $1,000 for helping the investigation. Eddie bought a new computer. p.48-49: A family moved into Devlin’s house and Eddie and Jon had new friends. 10. Yes. p.39-40: Eddie saw the signal at the window again but this time he walked away. He decided it was time to stop being detectives and to become ordinary kids again. p.48: The boys got $1,000 each, so they learned that if you do the correct thing, something good will happen to you, too. p.49: The boys decided that they wouldn’t have any more adventures.

6. Yes. p.33: Eddie wanted a normal, boring life for a short time. He tells his friends he’s got a cold so he can stay home for three days. 8

The Secrets of Silver Lake

WORKSHEET 1: CHAPTERS 1-5 A. Match the words in A to their definition in B. A

B

1. point to

...... a. the opposite of interesting

2. dirty

...... b. as much as you need

3. awake

...... c. the opposite of clean

4. frightened

...... d. this person does something illegal

5. enough

...... e. not sleeping

6. boring

...... f. feeling very nervous and timid

7. dangerous

...... g. indicate with your hand

8. criminal

...... h. the opposite of safe

B. Complete each sentence with a phrase from the box. got cold

made plans

got married

made ... noise

got dressed

made ... angry

got dark

1. Last summer, Eddie and Jon ................................ with their friends. 2. People and motorboats came to Silver Lake and .......................... a lot of .......................... . 3. If people .......................... Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin .......................... , he killed them. 4. Eddie had to go for breakfast before the food ................................ . 5. Devlin killed the Scarpelli family on the day Scarpelli’s daughter ................................ . 6. The boys swam to the big house. Then they returned to the beach and ................................ . 7. The boys had to return home before it ................................ . C. Circle the correct word(s) in each sentence. 1. Eddie saw signals coming from (the house next door / the bungalows). 2. Devlin buried the bodies of his enemies (in the wood / in the lake). 3. Richie learned about Devlin (from a TV programme / in the library). 4. Nobody lived in the old house because (people were afraid of Devlin’s ghost / it was in bad condition). 5. Eddie and Richie found a big block of cement near the (road / beach). 6. The man with the rifle (caught the boys / threw the boys’ oars into the lake). 7. The boys saw the man with the rifle again at the (supermarket / movie theatre). 8. The man drove in front of them (in a big white car / on a big black motorbike). D. Circle the correct modal in each sentence. 1. Silver Lake was so big that Eddie (could / can’t) only see part of it. 2. Richie (might / should) tell the story because he tells stories best. 3. Eddie was afraid that Jon (must / might) have a nightmare. 4. “(Might / Should) there be bodies inside the platform?” Eddie thought. 5. The boys are worried that the angry man (can / may) return. 6. “You (had to / must) be brave, Jon. Don’t cry,” Eddie said. 9

Worksheet 1: Chapters 1-5

ANSWERS A. 1. g 2. c 3. e 4. f 5. b 6. a 7. h 8. d B. 1. made plans 2. made ... noise 3. made ... angry 4. got cold 5. got married 6. got dressed 7. got dark C. 1. the house next door 2. in the lake 3. in the library 4. people were afraid of Devlin’s ghost 5. beach 6. threw the boys’ oars into the lake 7. supermarket 8. on a big black motorbike D. 1. could 2. should 3. might 4. Might 5. may 6. must

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The Secrets of Silver Lake

WORKSHEET 2: CHAPTERS 6-10 A. Circle the correct word(s) in each sentence. 1. The weekend visitors came to Silver Lake with their (lucky / noisy) boats. 2. The boathouse was hidden under the (branches / signals) of the trees. 3. Eddie opened the door of the boathouse very (heavily / carefully). 4. There were beer bottles and empty boxes on the (pockets / path). 5. The bullets probably (belonged / missed) to the criminals. 6. The policeman (arrived / disappeared) under the water again. 7. Eddie’s parents were very (proud / friendly) of him. 8. Eddie looked (after / through) the glass and saw five men. 9. For the rest of the summer, the boys just (moved closer / had fun). 10. There weren’t any more Devlins, dead or (alive / untidy). B. Write T (True) or F (False) next to each sentence.

...... 1. The area around the boat in the boathouse was clean and tidy. ...... 2. The boys found Devlin’s treasure in the boathouse. ......

3. After the boat exploded, Eddie’s mother phoned the police.

......

4. The boys went to the police immediately after the incident with the man with the knife.

......

5. Eddie was happy to do his homework for the next three days.

......

6. Captain Dearing was very pleased with the boys’ information.

......

7. In the police station, each of the boys looked separately at the five men.

......

8. Devlin’s money was in a secret panel of wood next to a window.

......

9. The boys each received $1,000 for helping the investigation.

...... 10. The following summer, the enormous old house was still empty. C. There are four false sentences in Exercise B above. Correct them. ....................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................... ....................................................................................................................................................................... D. Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. When Eddie went into the kitchen for breakfast, his father (1. was reading / has read) a newspaper article about a drug ring at Silver Lake. Then he (2. has told / told) the boys about Jack Devlin. Eddie was surprised that his father (3. knew / has known) so much about Devlin. After breakfast, the boys decided to go swimming until Dad (4. has returned / returned) from town. While they (5. sat / were sitting) on the beach, they suddenly (6. have heard / heard) an explosion. “What (7. has happened / was happening)?” Jon asked. “A motorboat is on fire,” Eddie answered. “It’s the scariest thing I (8. ever saw / have ever seen) in my life.”

11

Worksheet 2: Chapters 6-10

ANSWERS A. 1. noisy 2. branches 3. carefully 4. path 5. belonged 6. disappeared 7. proud 8. through 9. had fun 10. alive B. 1. F 2. F 3. T 4. F 5. T 6. T 7. T 8. T 9. T 10. F C. 1. There were beer bottles and empty boxes from McDonald’s around the boat. 2. The boys found a metal box with bullets in it in the boathouse. 4. The boys went to the police station on the fourth day after the incident. / The boys went home immediately after the incident. 10. The following summer, there were new neighbours in the enormous old house. D. 1. was reading 2. told 3. knew 4. returned 5. were sitting 6. heard 7. has happened 8. have ever seen

12

The Secrets of Silver Lake

FINAL TEST A. Choose the correct answer. 4. Eddie and Jon saw the man with the rifle again a. when they were in the supermarket with their parents. b. in the old boathouse. c. in the wood near their house.

1. Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin was killed because a. he was living in a haunted house. b. he killed Scarpelli and his family. c. he went over to Scarpelli’s enemies. 2. Eddie discovered several strange things about Silver Lake. The first was that a. there was an old boathouse at the front of the enormous house. b. the ghost of Jack Devlin’s grandson lived in the house. c. two people were signalling to each other on both sides of the lake.

5. When the boys were in the boathouse the second time, a. they found a box of drugs in the boat. b. a man with a knife shouted at them and frightened them. c. they saw the man with the rifle again. 6. Captain Dearing made a suggestion to the boys, which was a. to stay near home and be careful. b. to go to Boston for a few days. c. not to tell their parents about the two men.

3. The boys couldn’t leave the bay immediately because a. the man with the rifle caught them. b. they were very tired and so couldn’t row the boat. c. the man with the rifle threw their oars into the water.

30 points (5 points each) B. Choose the correct answer. The Marks family arrived at their wooden cabin on Silver Lake one (1. dirty / stormy) evening. When Eddie got to his room, it was getting (2. excited / dark). He looked out of the window and saw a (3. flashing / pointing) light at the other side of the lake. Someone next door (4. was signalling / has signalled) back. The next day Eddie and Jon met two boys, Richie and Leo, and learned the story of the (5. haunted / proud) house next door. While the boys (6. swam / were swimming) near the house, they found a cement block under the water. The following day, they took a boat across the lake and saw a man kicking some sticks (7. angrily / heavily). The boys were very (8. frightened / dry). They hid behind a big tree and didn’t make any (9. body / noise) and the man didn’t see them. Eddie and Jon saw this (10. dangerous / lucky) man again the next day at the supermarket. Later the boys went to the boathouse and found a box with (11. much / many) bullets in it. They decided that the bullets probably (12. owned / belonged) to criminals. The next evening, the boys returned to the boathouse and there they met a (13. scary / loud) man, Devlin’s grandson. The boys were worried. If they went to the police, Devlin (14. will / would) cut their tongues out. That’s what Devlin told them. But finally, the boys told the police their story and the police (15. have arrested / arrested) Devlin and his accomplice, Hal Corley. The boys were safe. 45 points (3 points each) C. Choose one topic and write a paragraph. Your paragraph should be at least 40 words long. 1. Explain how the boys helped the police catch the members of the drug ring. 2. There are many scary scenes in this story. Describe at least two of them. 3. Describe how the boys’ feelings about their adventure changed during the story. 25 points 13

Final Test

ANSWERS A. 1. b

4. a

2. c

5. b

3. c

6. a

B. 1. stormy

6. were swimming

11. many

2. dark

7. angrily

12. belonged

3. flashing

8. frightened

13. scary

4. was signalling

9. noise

14. would

5. haunted

10. dangerous

15. arrested

C. Accept all logical and grammatically correct answers. Possible points for inclusion: 1. The boys found several clues and realised that something strange was happening. First, Eddie saw two people signalling to each other. One was on the other side of the lake and one was in the enormous old house next door. Then the boys saw a block of cement in the water near the Marks’ area of the beach. Later, they saw one of the criminals on the other side of the lake. They also found bullets in the boathouse and finally, they met the second criminal, Jack Devlin. They went to the police station and told the police their story and later identified the two criminals, Jack Devlin and Hal Corley. These two men were operating the drug ring. 2. The first scene is the boys’ scary walk in the wood. They hear strange noises and are frightened when an enormous toad jumps onto the road in front of them. Another scene is when a thick green snake comes out of the bushes and goes past them. In a third scene they see Hal Corley, the man with the rifle, and watch him kick sticks from the campfire angrily. Hal Corley tries to find them and throws their oars into the lake, so that the boys have to swim for them. It’s also frightening when Hal Corley drives his motorbike in front of them when they’re leaving the supermarket. In the most frightening scene, Jack Devlin finds them and says he will cut out their tongues if they talk to the police or their parents. 3. At the beginning the boys were very excited and wanted an adventure. They wanted to do exciting things and solve the mystery of the house and Jack ‘the Devil’ Devlin. Then they began to get frightened. Eddie wanted to solve the mysteries of Silver Lake so that they could feel safe there. Finally, they met Devlin’s grandson and they were very frightened. Eddie and Leo had nightmares and the boys couldn’t sleep. When they decided to go to the police and their parents also learned their story, they began to feel better. At the end of the story the boys decided that there would be no more adventures and Eddie was happy that they were safe at last.

14

The Secrets of Silver Lake

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS IN THE READER These answers relate to the questions on pages 51-53 of the reader itself. Chapter 1 1. Their parents bought an old wooden cabin on Silver Lake in the Catskill Mountains, north of New York. 2. Next to the cabin there was an enormous old house, three floors high. The house was separated from the cabin by some bushes and a wide path. 3. She said this because the cabin wasn’t in good condition and it smelled. 4. Eddie liked the big window best because it had a view of Silver Lake. 5. Eddie suddenly saw a flashing light at the other side of the lake. A light from the house next door was signalling back.

Chapter 4 1. The boys went to the bay at the other side of the lake. 2. The boys were frightened of the man in the wood because he was holding a rifle and he kicked the sticks from the campfire angrily. 3. The man with the rifle threw the oars of the boat into the lake. 4. Eddie and Leo swam for a few minutes and finally got to the oars. They each took one of them. Then they swam back to the boat, climbed in with Richie’s help and rowed home quickly. 5. The man with the rifle looked like a criminal and he probably sent the signal across the lake on the first night at the cabin.

Chapter 2 1. Eddie saw two boys. They were sneaking around the house next door and they were about his age. 2. Eddie learned that the house next door was haunted. 3. Jack Devlin was a gangster in the 1920s. If somebody made him angry, he killed them, put them in a block of cement and dropped the block in the middle of the lake. 4. Jon was a very timid boy and Eddie didn’t want to give him nightmares.

Chapter 5 1. (a) The house seemed to be completely closed, so who sent the signal? (b) Most of the homes around the lake, old and new, had wooden platforms. Devlin’s platform was the only cement one. 2. In the supermarket, Jon and Eddie saw the scary man from the day before. 3. Jon and Eddie saw the man again while they were driving out of the parking lot. He was on a big black motorbike and was driving quickly in front of their car and onto the road.

Chapter 3 1. Devlin sold illegal drinks and rifles. 2. Scarpelli was Devlin’s student in crime. Devlin killed Scarpelli because one day Scarpelli left Devlin and went to be with his enemies. 3. Devlin and his men put their bodies into the back of their limousines. At his home, Devlin put the bodies in cement blocks and dropped the blocks in the lake. 4. No one has bought Devlin’s house because they are afraid of Devlin’s ghost. Some people have seen the ghost on the lake at midnight. 5. Devlin’s treasure may be buried in a bay on the other side of the lake. 6. He wanted to use his dad’s boat to go to the bay on the other side of the lake. 7. Richie and Eddie saw a big block of cement under the water right next to Eddie’s area of the beach. The block was big enough to hold a child or small person. 8. Scarpelli’s cousins came from Italy and killed him.

Chapter 6 1. The boys were happy to see the weekend visitors at the lake because Silver Lake felt safe and normal in the vacation atmosphere. 2. Richie and Leo took Eddie to an old boathouse at the back of the house next door, near the lake. 3. The lock was broken and there were beer bottles on the path and empty boxes from McDonald’s. There were also cigarette ends everywhere. 4. The boys found an old metal box with bullets in it under the cover of the boat. Chapter 7 1. He read in the local paper that the police were looking for a drug ring in the Silver Lake area. 2. While they were sitting on the beach, Jon and Eddie heard an explosion. In the distance, on the lake, they saw that a motorboat was on fire. 3. A policeman jumped into the water and after a few seconds he reappeared and shook his head. Then he disappeared under the water again. A few minutes later, the police started to put something into a big black bag.

15

The Secrets of Silver Lake

4. At the boathouse, the boys saw a thin man. He had dark hair and a dirty beard. He was wearing a black jacket and a lot of silver jewellery. 5. He will come and cut out the boys’ tongues if they talk to anyone. 6. They decided to keep quiet and to meet in the evenings, far from Eddie’s cabin, at the bungalows. Chapter 8 1. Eddie didn’t want to be in front of the cabin because the man in the boathouse might see him there. His friends were frightened too. They didn’t talk much and there was a bad feeling in the air. One night, Eddie had a terrible nightmare. Leo was also having nightmares and Leo and Richie couldn’t sleep. (any three of these) 2. The boys decided to go to the police station, but without their parents. They decided not to tell their parents anything because they might get hysterical. 3. They were going to identify the two criminals. They had to stand behind a special window where they could see the criminals but the criminals couldn’t see them. They were then going to give a written testimony. 4. Richie’s parents looked worried, but not angry, and Leo’s mother was very calm. Eddie’s parents asked a lot of questions. They were very proud of Eddie. Chapter 9 1. Captain Dearing talked to each boy separately. Leo went into the room first to identify the men, then Richie went in and came out very quickly. Finally, Eddie went into the room. 2. Eddie saw five men, then immediately saw the man from the boathouse, Jack Devlin. Finally, he saw the man from the bay. 3. Corley shot at the police with a rifle, but no one was injured. 4. The two men were arrested for the murder of three men and for running a drug ring.

Chapter 10 1. The police finally discovered that the Devlin grandson was hiding drug money in the old boathouse. It was in a secret panel of wood next to the window. Each of the boys was going to get $1,000 for helping the investigation. 2. Eddie bought a new computer and spent many hours working and playing on it. 3. Devlin’s house was sold and a family moved in. The house was much nicer. It had curtains at the windows and there was a new, clean boathouse. 4. Eddie and Jon had water-skiing lessons. They also went fishing, swam and played badminton.