PRE-LISTENING

I. Change the following verbs into simple past.

Irregular verbs

go:__________ lose:__________ get:__________ begin:__________

be:________have:__________do:_________ leave:________ write:____

Regular verbs

serve * use *arrive *attend * marry *adopt * continue * fail

LISTENING : II. Listen to Poe’s biography and complete the gaps with the past tense
of the irregular and irregular verbs

Edgar Allan Poe 1_____________ stories and

poems of mystery and terror, insanity and
death. His life was short and seemingly
unhappy.

He was born Edgar Poe on January nineteenth,

eighteen hundred and nine in Boston,
Massachusetts. He was a baby when his father
2_____________ the family. And he was two
when his mother died.

Edgar 3_____________ to live with the

family of a wealthy Richmond businessman
named John Allan. John Allan never officially
4_____________ him as a son.

He attended schools in England and in

Richmond. He also 5_____________ the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He was
a good student, but he 6_____________ a
problem with alcohol. Also, he liked to play card games for money. Edgar was not a good player.
He 7_____________ money that he did not have.

John Allan refused to pay Edgar's gambling losses. He also refused to continue paying for his
education, so the young man went to Boston and 8_____________ working as a writer and
editor for monthly magazines.
Poe 9_____________ in the Army for two years,. He was dismissed from the academy in
eighteen thirty-one. By then he had already published three books of poetry.

He received fifty dollars in prize money and 10_____________ a job editing the Southern
Literary Messenger in Richmond. He published many of his own stories.

In eighteen thirty-four, Poe 11_____________ his cousin Virginia Clemm, the thirteen year
old daughter of his father's sister. They moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in eighteen thirty-
eight. There, Poe served as editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and 12_____________
to write.

He published many of his most frightening stories during this time. These included "The Black
Cat," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum."

Edgar Allan Poe 13__________something unusual for writers of his time: he 14 _______ a
narrator in a story to describe what was happening. A good example is the short story "The
Tell-Tale Heart."

The narrator claims that he is not mad, yet reveals that he is a murderer. He has killed an old
man for no apparent reason. He cuts up the body and hides the parts under the floorboards of
the victim's house.

Police officers 15_____________ after getting reports of noises from the house.

Edgar Allan Poe is also remembered for the kind of literature known as detective fiction, is the
father of the modern detective novel.

Poe's creation of the detective novel is recognized by the Mystery Writers of America. The
writers group presents the yearly Edgar Awards to honor the best detective and suspense
books, movies and TV shows.

His wife died in eighteen forty-seven. Virginia Clemm Poe had suffered from tuberculosis for
many years. At the same time, Poe's magazine 16_____________, and so did his health. He
died on October seventh, eighteen forty-nine, under mysterious conditions.

He was found in a tavern in Baltimore. He did not know where he was or how he got there. He
died four days later in a hospital. He 17_____________ forty years old.

READING: III. Answer the following questions:

 1. When was Edgar Allan Poe born?
a. In 1918
b. In 1809
c. In Boston
d. In Baltimore
 
 2. According to the text, Poe’s biological parents
 a. were rich, but they died when he was 2 years old
b. were separated when his mother died
c. gave Edgar up for adoption to a rich family
d. had troubles with money and abandoned him

3. Poe didn’t continue studying at the University of Virginia because…

a. his foster father decided not to help him with his studies
b. at that time, he was alcoholic and had bad grades
c. he wanted to leave his studies to star working
d. he was dismissed from the University

4. Based on Poe’s short story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, After killing the old man, what does
the narrator do with the body?
a. he covers the body with a blanket and hides it under his bed
b. he cuts up the body and puts it under the floorboards
c. he removes his head and buries the body in the garden
d. he cuts up the old man’s heart and hides the body in the bed room