Sherlock A study in

Pink
A course for upper intermediate students, by David Nicholls

The focus of this course is on collocations, conditionals and reporting verbs

Sherlock Season 1 Episode 1

A Study in Pink
Main Characters
John Watson
Sherlock Holmes
Mycroft Holmes (Sherlocks brother)
Mrs Hudson (Sherlocks landlady)
Inspector Lestrade (Police Inspector)
Mike Stamford (Jons old friend)
Molly (a worker at the mortuary)

Comprehension:
1) How were the recent suicides connected?
2) What text messages did the journalist get at the press conference,
and what about Lestrade?
3) How did Jon Meet Sherlock Holmes?
4) Why did Mrs Hudson owe Sherlock a favour? (13mins)
5) Why did Sherlock invite Jon to a crime scene?
6) How did Sherlock deduce that Jon was from the military?
7) How did Sherlock deduce Jon had a brother with a drinking
problem? What did he get wrong?
8) What deductions did Sherlock make about the victim in pink?
9) Who did Watson meet after someone speaks to him on a public
telephone? What offer does he make him?
10)
What was the murderers first big mistake?
11)
How did Sherlock find the suitcase?
12)
Why did Sherlock ask John to send a text to the victims
mobile?
13)
Why did the police search Sherlocks flat?
14)
Why did the murderer have her phone?
15)
How exactly were the victims killed?
16)
What was the murderers motive?

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Match the collocations
A serial
To be sentenced
To exercise
To be out
To die of
To choke on
To owe someone
A string
A meaningful sum
To withhold

reasonable precautions
of money
a favour
of lovers
killer / adulterer
of your depth
natural causes
evidence
your (own) vomit
To death

Use the collocations to complete the sentences

1) There was no evidence of violence or illness and so it appears that
he ___ ___ ___ ___
2) If you want to stay safe, you will need to ____ ____ ____
3) The landlady, Mrs Hudson, ___ ___ ___ ___ , because I helped
her a few years ago
4) When the police are ___ ___ ___ ___ , they consult me
5) The victim died from asphyxiation, and ___ ____ ____ ____
6) The victim has had ____ ____ ____ ____ and so she is a serial
adulterer
7) Id be happy to offer you a ____ ____ ____ ____ in exchange for
information
8) Sherlock was raided by the police because they believed that he
was ____ ____

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Match the nouns on the left with their synonyms, and then use them in
the sentences
An alibi
An amateur
A limp
A lunatic
A seizure
An archenemy

A walk where one leg is injured

An adversary or foe
Something which proves your
innocence
Not a professional
A madman
A spasm/convulsion

Now use the nouns in the left column

1)
2)
3)
4)

He cant have been the murderer because he has a water tight ____
John Watson has a ____ but it is purely psychosomatic
The police dont consult _____ .
If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his ____

CONDITIONALS
1) If + present / will + 1st
2) If + past / would + 1st
3) If + had + 3rd / would + have + 3rd
If you call the coppers, I will never tell you what I said to the victims
If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his arch enemy
Which one would you have picked, if you had chosen a tablet?
Make speculations
1) If Sherlock hadnt met Watson
2) If Sherlock were more polite to people
3) If Watson werent a doctor
4) If Watson had refused to move in
5) If Watson had accepted Mycrofts bribe
6) If the murderer hadnt taken her suitcase...

7) If the victim hadnt planted her mobile phone on the murderer..

8) If Sherlock had chosen the tablet before Jon arrived

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Use the following verbs to report what was said. Remember to use the
correct forms. Here are a few examples of the different types
1) Want to do (+ to + infinitive) promise, threaten, offer
2) Tell s.o to do (object + to + infinitive) ask, warn, advise, order,
persuade, (recommend)
3) Congratulate s.o on doing (object + preposition + gerund) accuse s.o
(of), thank s.o (for), praise s.o (for)
4) Avoid doing (+ gerund) deny, admit, regret, suggest, recommend
5) Insist on doing (+ preposition + gerund) apologise for,
6) Say that (+ that + clause) promise, insist, suggest, deny, admit, regret
7) Tell s.o that assure, persuade, convince, warn, advise (NOT ask)

1) There has to be a link between the victims!

Lestrade (wrongly) insisted
2) Well, dont commit suicide!
Lestrade advised
3) The scratches on the phone show that he has a drinking problem
Sherlock suggested
4) Stay away from Sherlock Holmes!
Sergeant Donovan warned
5) You miss the war, Dr Watson
Mycroft accused
6) I havent the faintest (idea)
Sherlock admitted

7) I didnt kill those people, Mr Holmes

The cabbie denied
8) Let me take you for a ride
The cabbie offered
9) I just talked to them and they killed themselves
The cabbie persuaded
10) Give me a name or I will hurt you
Sherlock threatened

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Discussion
1) Do you like the character of Sherlock in this show? What about
Watson
2) How does this show differ from the original books?
3) What would you have done if you had been in the victims position?
4) Which bottle would you take? The one put forward, or the one which
remains out of reach?
5) Do you find the plot convincing?

Answers
Comprehension
1) They all took the same poison, they were all found in places they
had no reason to be, BUT the police havent found any link
between the people themselves.
2) The journalists got the message Wrong 3 times, and Lestrade got
you know where to find me SH.
3) His old friend (Mike Stamford) introduced him to Sherlock,
because he knew they were both looking for a flat, and that they
both thought they would be difficult to live with.
4) Because he helped to ensure that her husband was sentenced to
death, and for this she is grateful
5) In order to assist him in his capacity as a doctor. The police
forensic scientist (Anderson) doesnt get on with Sherlock, and so

he wants to bring someone else. Jon has experience with violent

deaths
6) He deduced it from his haircut, his suntan (up to the wrist), and his
limp (injury)
7) He saw his phone earlier, and saw that it belonged to Harry
Watson, and he deduced the drinking problem from the scratches.
He assumed Harry was a man, but this was wrong. Harry is short
for Harriet, and so she is Jons sister.
8) He deduced that she is an unhappily married, serial adulterer, and
that she is from out of town (Cardiff) as she has splashes of mud
on her leg, and it hasnt been raining in London (only Cardiff has
these conditions). As such, she has a suitcase (which threw up the
splashes of mud) which hasnt been found yet
9) Someone who claims to be Sherlocks arch enemy but is in
reality his brother (Mycroft). He offers him a bribe in exchange for
information
10)
He took the victims suitcase
11)
He looked around the area where the body had been found at
areas where a man could discreetly get rid of a large object
12)
He had deduced that the murderer must have taken the
victims phone, and he wanted the murderer to make a move
13)
They pretended to have a drug bust, but really they wanted to
find the suitcase, as they thought Sherlock may have been
withholding evidence
14)
The victim must have planted the phone on him to help the
police find the murderer. Rachel is the password to unlock her
phone and email
15)
They are offered the choice between two pills, and the cabbie
promises to take the pill which they dont take. One of the pills has
been poisoned. He forces them to take it using a (fake) gun
16)
Money. He is dying and he wants his children to have an
inheritance. Someone is paying him to commit these senseless
murders. The someone turns out to be Moriarty

A serial
To be sentenced
To exercise
To be out
To die of
To choke on
To owe someone
A string
A meaningful sum
To withhold

killer / adulterer
to death
reasonable precautions
of your depth
natural causes
your (own) vomit
a favour
of lovers
of money
evidence

Use the collocations to complete the sentences

1) There was no evidence of violence or illness and so it appears that
he dies of natural causes
2) If you want to stay safe, you will need to exercise reasonable
precautions
3) The landlady, Mrs Hudson, owes me a favour because I helped
her a few years ago
4) When the police are out of their depth, they consult me
5) The victim died from asphyxiation, and choked on their own
vomit
6) The victim has had a string of lovers and so she is a serial
adulterer
7) Id be happy to offer you a meaningful sum of money in
exchange for information
8) Sherlock was raided by the police because they believed that he
was withholding evidence

An alibi
An amateur
A limp
A lunatic
A seizure
An archenemy

Something which proves your

innocence
Not a professional
A walk where one leg is injured
A madman
A spasm/convulsion
An adversary or foe

Now use the nouns in the left column

1)
2)
3)
4)

He cant have been the murderer because he has a water tight alibi
John Watson has a limp but it is purely psychosomatic
The police dont consult amateurs.
If you were to ask Sherlock, he would call me his archenemy

Reporting Verbs

1) There has to be a link between the victims!

Lestrade (wrongly) insisted on there being a link between the
victims
2) Well, dont commit suicide!
Lestrade advised them not to commit suicide
3) The scratches on the phone show that he has a drinking problem
Sherlock suggested that the scratches showed he had a drinking
problem
4) Stay away from Sherlock Holmes!
Sergeant Donovan warned Watson to stay away from Sherlock
5) You miss the war, Dr Watson
Mycroft accused Watson of missing war
6) I havent the faintest (idea)
Sherlock admitted not having the faintest idea
7) I didnt kill those people, Mr Holmes
The cabbie denied killing those people
8) Let me take you for a ride
The cabbie offered to take him for a ride
9) I just talked to them and they killed themselves
The cabbie persuaded them to kill themselves
10)
Give me a name or I will hurt you
Sherlock threatened to hurt him if he didnt give him the name