221B baker street

As you probably remember, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Conan Doyle’s famous characters, lived at 221b Baker Street. In 1990, a museum was opened there. 221b Baker Street is the world’s most famous address and people have been writing to it for more than 100 years. Most letters come from America and many people ask if Mr Holmes can help them with some problem, such as finding a missing relative or a pet. Greeting cards arrive at Christmas and on the great detective’s birthday – on January, 6^th.

Everything in the Sherlock Holmes Museum reminds us of the stories we know so well. It is filled with things which Holmes and Watson would have had – Holmes’s violin, his deerstalker and pipe, the Persian slipper in which he kept his tobacco, unanswered letters pinned to the wall with a knife, his magnifying glass… Among Dr Watson’s things there is a diary containing hand-written notes and extracts from The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The Sherlock Holmes Museum is unlike other museums. Very little here is locked up in glass cases. You can sit in Holmes’s armchair by the fireplace; you can examine his things and put on his deerstalker.

On the upper floors you meet several life-like wax figures from the most exciting Sherlock Holmes stories.

As you wander through the museum, you have the feeling that the great detective has just left the room for a moment, and Mrs Hudson is somewhere in the kitchen, and you’ll see her entering the room with a tray of teacups.

Task 1. Search the text for the nouns and complete the following chart:

Singular	Plural
museum world … …	people letters … …

Which of the nouns in the "Singular” column are uncountable?

Task 2. Describe the interiors of 221b Baker Street using the structures “There is / There are” and the information given in the text.

Task 3. Write the correct answers to the questions given below:

1) ______________________________?

- Yes, I remember that they lived at 221b Baker Street.

2) ______________________________?

- From America.

3) ______________________________?

- At Christmas and on January, 6^th (Sherlock Holmes’s birthday).

4) ______________________________?

- No, it doesn’t. Everything reminds us of the stories about the great detective.

5) ______________________________?

- There are his deerstalker and pipe, his violin, his magnifying glass and so on.

6) ______________________________?

- No, very little here is locked up in glass cases.

7) ______________________________?

- On the upper floors.

Task 4. Here are some facts about Sherlock Holmes. Only one of them is wrong. Which one?

1. Holmes had excellent powers of observation and deduction.

2. He had an excellent memory.

3. He was a first-class shot (стрелок).

4. He knew chemistry very well.

5. He was an expert in literature.

6. He was never married.

7. He was an expert boxer.

8. He liked classical music.

Task 5. Answer the questions.

1. Does anybody live at 221b Baker Street, London? Why?

2. When was this museum opened?

3. Where do most letters to 221b Baker Street come from?

4. What do people ask the great detective?

5. When is Holmes’s birthday?

6. Who is the author of Sherlock Holmes stories?

7. What things that "belong" to Holmes are there in the museum?

8. What does Dr Watson’s diary contain?

9. Why is the Sherlock Holmes museum unlike other museums?

10. Are there life-like wax figures on the upper floors?

11. The Sherlock Holmes museum isn't very popular, is it?

12. Would you like to visit this museum? Why?

PART 3