Let's dive into the story! Grab your book, get comfortable, and read the real opening of the story now – start the reading timer below. Then come back and decide if the sentences are true, false, or not in the text, and finally write a short text.
Were you ill last lesson? Did you not manage to read? Or was the text too difficult to understand on your own? Use this short summary instead – but try to read the real opening as soon as you can.
The story is told by Dr John Watson, an army doctor who was wounded during a war in Afghanistan and has come home to London with very little money. Looking for someone to share rooms with, he runs into an old friend, Stamford, at a bar. Stamford mentions a strange but brilliant acquaintance: Sherlock Holmes, who is also looking for someone to share a flat with.
Stamford takes Watson to St Bartholomew's Hospital, where Holmes is working in the laboratory. He has just discovered a new chemical test that can detect blood. The moment they meet, Holmes shocks Watson by correctly guessing that he has just returned from Afghanistan – without being told anything about him! Watson is amazed and wants to know how Holmes worked it out.
The two men decide to share rooms together at 221B Baker Street. Slowly, Watson learns that his strange new friend calls himself a "consulting detective" – the only one of his kind in the world.
Words: wounded = verwundet · acquaintance = Bekannte(r) · laboratory = Labor · to detect = nachweisen · to guess = erraten · consulting detective = beratender Detektiv
Read each statement. Is it true, false, or simply not mentioned in what you just read? Click one box per row, then Check.
Watson often reports what Holmes said to him afterwards – reported speech. Pick the correct reported version of each sentence.
When we report what someone said, the tense usually moves one step into the past (backshift): am/is → was, have → had, will → would. Pronouns often change too (I → he/she, my → his/her).
Still unsure? Go back to Reported Speech in our Klasse 9 folder and practise it again.
Imagine you are Dr Watson on the day you first meet Sherlock Holmes. Write 4–5 sentences in English about how you feel and what you notice.
Today I met a very strange man called Sherlock Holmes. The moment we shook hands, he said that I had just come back from Afghanistan – and he was completely right! I am amazed, because I never told him anything about myself. I think he must be extremely clever, but also a little frightening. I really want to know how he does it, so I have decided to share rooms with him at Baker Street.