Reading Resources for English language learners

Mary Celeste

Before You Read

Vocabulary
You are going to read about a famous ship. Do you know any special words for describing ships?

Try
this exercise.

Text


Understanding

How much do you remember?

1. What was the name of the captain of the Dei Graca?

2. Why were the crew of Dei Graca surprised to see the Mary Celeste?

3. What did they notice about the deck of the Mary Celeste?

4. How many men were in the boarding crew?

5. How many people were on the Mary Celeste?

Matching Exercise *


Vocabulary

Glossaryship diagram

logbook - where the captain writes what happens on a voyage
sail - see above
mast - see above
voyage - journey

Vocabulary Practice
  1. Where can you walk on a ship?
  2. What holds up the sail?
  3. Where does the captain sleep?
  4. Where is the cargo kept?
  5. Where is the lifeboat kept?
  6. Where is the captains logbook kept?
  7. What makes the ship move?

Mary Celeste Crossword

Classroom Activities


1. Role play the inquest into the Mary Celeste. The inquest panel suspect that the crew of the Dei Graca have done something wrong. They do not believe the stories told by Captain Morehous and his crew

You could play a version of the game 'alibi'. For this the inquest panel needs to interview each crew member individually - do their stories match? Dei Graca crew members can prepare their version before you start.

Possible roles: Captain Morehouse, first mate, other crew members, inquest panel members.

What do
you think happened?

a) Write one or two sentences.

Video

Before you watch

1.
Write down what you think happened to the Mary Celeste. You can read about it here.

Now watch this short film





Did the film change your mind?

Now try and answer these question about the first two minutes of the video:

Comments