Step 1 – Read the background cards (click a card to flip it) and do the short check quiz. Step 2 – read about Arthur Conan Doyle's life, fill in the timeline and put the events in order, then read about the places in the story and match the places. Step 3 – write a few sentences.
Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. He trained as a doctor, and during his studies he was deeply impressed by one of his teachers, Dr Joseph Bell, who could work out a huge amount about a patient just by observing small details. In 1887, Conan Doyle published A Study in Scarlet – the very first story about a brilliant, unusual detective named Sherlock Holmes. The character became hugely popular, but Conan Doyle grew tired of him: in 1893 he killed Holmes off in a dramatic story called The Final Problem. Readers were furious – some even wore black armbands in mourning! The public pressure was so great that in 1903, Conan Doyle brought Holmes back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House. Conan Doyle kept writing for the rest of his life and died in 1930.
Read the text again if you need to. Type the correct year for each event.
Well done! Now drag the events into the correct order – earliest first.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson live and work in the foggy streets of Victorian London. Their home is 221B Baker Street. Watson and Holmes actually meet for the first time at St Bartholomew's Hospital, after Watson bumps into an old friend at the Criterion Bar in Piccadilly. When the police need help with a difficult case, they come from Scotland Yard. And before all of this, Dr Watson was a soldier far away in Afghanistan. Read the descriptions and match them below.
This is a stylised impression of Victorian London, not a real, to-scale map.
Victorian London was huge, dirty and thrilling all at once. By the 1880s it was the biggest city in the world, with over 5 million people. Thick, yellow-black fog (called a "pea-souper") often covered the streets – perfect weather for a mysterious story! The streets were lit by gas lamps, and horse-drawn carriages called hansom cabs rushed through the fog, just like the ones Holmes and Watson use to race across the city.
It was also a city of huge contrasts: elegant townhouses stood not far from desperately poor, overcrowded slums. This mix of wealth, poverty and danger is exactly why Victorian London became the perfect setting for detective stories – there was always a mystery, and always someone who needed Sherlock Holmes.
Drag the right description to each place. Then click Check.
Partner or small-group task (about 10 minutes). Before you start reading the story itself, work through this stack of cards together – like a card game, only the top card is shown. Read the task out loud and discuss it – take turns, make sure everyone speaks, and try to use as much English as possible. Stuck for words? Tap the card for keywords and useful phrases, then use Next card to draw the next one.
Write 2–3 sentences in English: Which fact about the story or the author do you find the most interesting, and why?