Back to Back Issues Page
English Detective, Issue #1 Nov.26, 2012
November 26, 2012

A Detective’s Methods (& how to investigate English words)

In our first issue we introduce the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his science of detection. In addition to a crossword, a word search and some practice exercises, there is a second reading about another detective series and a quiz at the end of the second week.

(I’ve suggested days for each activity, so you can do a little each day. Feel free to do each activity when it’s best for you, and skim or skip sections that you already know-- or if there is too much for you to handle this week. Each issue will be a little different.)

Coming next in English Detective: The Discovery of Penicillin (with a discussion of the scientific method.) In the next few weeks: setting goals for success, learning from failure, and doing what you love.

From the editor: The Current Investigation (what’s in this issue)
In this first issue of English Detective, we look at what it means to be a detective. A detective investigates (studies) mysteries (situations where something important is unknown) and finds answers.

Detectives use clues-- hints they discover that show how something happened or what it means. They also hunt for evidence. The word ‘evidence’ comes from videre, the Latin verb that means 'to see.' It refers to physical clues detectives find by careful observation.

Detectives are often asked to solve crimes: to find the person who broke the law (especially a thief or a murderer), to find a missing (or dead) person, or to discover the criminal's motive-- the reason they did what they did.

Most of us won't have a chance to solve a major crime or make a major discovery. However, you and I can be word detectives. Words can be interesting, important, or even mysterious. Solve the mysteries of English! As James Bond's boss told him, "Your mission, should you choose to accept it"-- is to find out what a word or phrase means, and how and when it is used. Take on the challenge today!

Your First Clue: Vocabulary we’ll Emphasize in this Issue
Week 1: accurate, acquired, analysis, aspects, attain, conceived, conclusion, deduction, detected, evidence, inferred, inspection, investigation, link, mental, process, revealed, and their variations (family members).

We also will study three related words not on the Academic Word List (AWL): examine, inquire, and observe.

Week 2: area, author, contribution, created, cultures, emphasis, enable, experts, finally, insights, motivation, procedure, professional, react, series, similar, techniques, traditions, unique, (and instinct, not on the AWL.)

You probably already know several of these words, or most of them if you speak a Latin-based language. (I only counted 7 of them I could not guess from Spanish.)
I think you will find the readings and practice helpful even if you DO know most of the words. We’re starting with some of the most common words on the Academic Word List, but each week we will add a few more, as well as reviewing some we have already studied.

If you don’t remember some of the new words after reading and practicing with them, it’s O.K.-- you will be seeing them again. However, if you don’t understand at least the basic meaning of a word after reading and practicing it, try looking it up in a dictionary and making a flashcard or note to study it.

Try Monday’s introduction to detective words. It isn’t hard!

Be a Word Detective


Tuesday - Friday: Introducing Sherlock Holmes & Practicing the Language of Detection

In this selection from chapter 2 of A Study in Scarlet, Dr. Watson (the book’s narrator-- the person who tells the story) is talking about his impressions of Sherlock Holmes soon after he met him. Then Holmes explains his detective work to him.

As you read, think like a detective. Asking yourself Who is involved in this part of the story? What are they talking about? Can you draw any conclusions from what is happening in the story?

After the story selection, there is a practice exercise on Guessing Vocabulary from Context & Word Roots (originally Wednesday's activity), and a crossword on words for Investigations (for Thursday.)

For Friday there is another reading selection on Holmes with a few more practice questions (mostly on reading comprehension-- how well you understood the conversation in the story).

These reading selections and questions have been moved onto a page on EnglishHints: Sherlock Holmes and the Language of detection. (Week 2 activities from the original newsletter are still here, though linked from the page.)

To read about Sherlock and practice with some of the words he used, click here.

Week 2: Investigating on Your Own

Monday:Getting the Whole Story-2
Click here to read “Tony Hillerman and His Navajo Detectives.”

Tuesday: Word Detective 2

(This turned out to be quite long. If you want, you could study half today and the rest tomorrow, as the Wednesday lesson is short.)

Practice the new words from the Navajo Detective article by reading these explanations and answering these questions. (It’s O.K. if you want to re-read the story again first!)



1. An author is the person who writes a book or article. So Tony Hillerman is the author of The Wailing Wind, and I am the author of the article “Tony Hillerman and his Navajo Detectives.”

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote A Study in Scarlet about Sherlock Holmes. The narrator (the fictional person who tells the story) is Dr. Watson. Just to check if you understand this clearly, who is the author of A Study in Scarlet?

A) Sherlock Holmes

B) Dr. Watson

C) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

D) someone else

2.Hillerman’s detectives are unique, or different from the detectives most authors write about, because they are Navajos. They understand Navajo culture-- the Navajo way of life. Culture includes everything about the way a particular group of people live. People of every culture eat, sing, raise children, and think about life and death, but each group practices these activities in somewhat different ways, and that is their culture.

Which of these is NOT a cultural difference?

A) Some people eat a lot of rice and a little fish at most meals; others eat more bread and cheese; or yams and tropical fruits.

B) In some places young men and young women are not allowed to be together without adult supervision; in others they are together often.

C) Some people drive cars to work; others take the bus or ride bicycles to their jobs.

D) Some mothers carry their young children on their backs with them while they work; in other places many young children are cared for in one place.

3. To emphasize something is to give it importance. One difference between cultures is the amount of emphasis they place on different actions. For example, in many parts of the U.S., meals are often eaten quickly between activities. In some other cultures, a meal is an important time for families to be together and relax. These cultures emphasize

A) taking at least an hour to eat

B) the value of eating together

C) the importance of food

D) the tradition of a meal of many different kinds of foods

4.‘Professional’ has several meanings:

    • someone who is highly educated in a profession (high-level occupation like teaching or medicine) nursing, or the law.
    • people who are paid for their skills: professional football players, musicians, or actors (compared to amateurs who play football, perform music, or act for pleasure rather than money.)
    • We also use ‘professional’ to describe someone who does their work in a very responsible, disciplined manner: “that receptionist is very professional in the way she handles angry clients.”



    Which of these occupations (jobs) is a profession?

    A) a salesman

    B) a fast-food cook

    C) a farmer

    D) a lawyer

    5. To create is to make something new, as God created the earth or as someone invents an entirely new product (like the first telephone.) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the modern detective novel. Which of these is false?

    A) Walt Disney created Disneyland

    B) Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone

    C) Benjamin Franklin created electricity

    D) Miguel Cervantes created Don Quixote.

    6. A motive is a person’s reason for acting. Sometimes we talk about hidden motives, when people pretend to be helping others when their actual motive is personal gain. To motivate is to move someone to action. Motivation is what moves a person-- very similar to motive.

    Which of these would not be a motivation to run for president?

    A) a desire for power

    B) a desire for fame and honor

    C) a desire to help people

    D) a desire to relax and work less

    7. An area is a region or place. It might be the surroundings for a city: for example the Chicago area. Area also is a measurement term. The area of a rectangle is its length times its width. (A field 30 meters long and 20 meters wide would have an area of 600 square meters.)

    If you got sick while visiting an unfamiliar area (somewhere you don’t know well), which of these questions would NOT help you find local medical help?

    A) Is there a hospital near here?

    B) Is there a hospital in this area?

    C) Is a hospital in your area expensive?

    D) Do you have a local hospital?

    8.A tradition is an established way of doing things. It can be a holiday custom many people follow year after year like decorating a tree at Christmas or eating turkey on Thanksgiving, or just the old ways that people in a certain area have followed for generations.

    Which of these is a traditional way to keep in touch (continue to communicate with friends who are far away)? A) send an email

    B) send a letter or Christmas card

    C) make a phone call

    D)send a text message

    9. Instincts are feelings or reactions that do not have to be learned, but are in all people (or animals) from birth. The maternal instinct causes human or animal mothers to care for and protect their babies. Babies have an instinctive fear of loud noises. Predators like dogs, cats, or lions instinctively chase small animals (or even objects like a stick or a string) that move.

    Which of these is an instinct?

    A) A dog sitting up when its owner says “Sit!”

    B) A fish biting a hook hidden in a worm.

    C) A policeman lifting a gun when he sees a criminal reach into his coat.

    D) Children running outside when they hear an ice cream truck nearby.

    10.Techniques are the methods and procedures used in various skills. One good study technique is

    A) to review for short periods frequently.

    B) to study all night before a big exam.

    C) to write down every word the teacher says and then rewrite the whole lecture.

    D) to copy your best friend’s notes, even if they don’t make sense.

    11. A series is an ordered group of things, like a list, or events that happen in a definite order. Which of these sentences does NOT use ‘series’ correctly?

    A) A series of earthquakes occurred between 10 and 12 AM yesterday.

    B) The World Series is a group of baseball games between winning teams to determine the top team of them all.

    C) She shopped for a series of vegetables, fruits, and desserts.

    D) The teacher planned a series of tests to prepare students for the final exam.

    12.Similar means almost the same: alike. Which of these are similar?

    A) Handwriting and printing.

    B) Vegetables and fruits

    C) A twin brother and sister

    D) Two twin brothers

    13. Final means last. Which of these are CORRECT uses of ‘finally?’ (There are more than one.)

    A) To introduce the last point or argument of an essay: “Finally, we need detectives to solve crimes.”

    B) To describe the last event: “The finally race will be a relay.”

    C) To tell someone we have been waiting: “You have finally arrived!”

    D) To express relief: “I’m finally done!”

    14. ‘En’ is a prefix that sometimes means ‘in’, but often turns an adjective or noun into a verb meaning ‘to make ____’:

    • to enrich- to make rich,
    • to enlighten- to cause or increase light (give light or understanding on a subject),
    • to envision- to get a clearer vision or imagine something


    So to enable means

    A) to make a table

    B) to make a new ability

    C) to make able

    D) to make someone disabled

    15. A procedure is like a process: a standard, fixed order for doing a particular kind of work. A supervisor tells a new employee, “You’re not following the proper procedures for taking inventory!” What should the new employee do?

    A) Say “This is the way they taught me to take inventory at my old company!”

    B) Ask for an explanation or demonstration of the company’s preferred procedure.

    C) Put on his uniform.

    D) Leave the office.

    16.Experts are people who know more than most people about a subject. ‘Expert’ can also be an adjective. At a murder trial, to prove the cause of death they might need an expert witness who is a

    A) mechanical engineer

    B) lawyer

    C) nuclear physicist

    D) doctor

    17. Unique means one-of-a-kind: the only one, with nothing else similar to it. Which of these works of art is unique, with no others like it.

    A) cave art

    B) a traditional basket design

    C) an elegant Roman wine glass

    D) Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica.”

    18.Insight is a clear understanding of something-- often a new or better understanding than most people have. Which of these is NOT an insight?

    A) Tommy getting the right answer on his math test

    B) Einstein developing the theory of relativity.

    C) Shakespeare writing about Mac Beth’s motivations

    D) Pasteur realizing that tiny bacteria caused many diseases

    19. To react is to act in response to something that happens. (Being proactive is acting first, not waiting for a problem to develop.) If someone hits you in the nose, which of these is not a normal reaction?

    A) Getting angry

    B) Hitting back

    C) Running away

    D) Smiling at the person

    20. To contribute is to give or share something with others. Which of these slogans for a non-profit organization is badly worded?

    A) If you can’t give money, contribute your time.

    B) Your contributions are tax-deductible.

    C) Thanks for contribute.

    D) Thank you for contributing to our cause.

    Answers to Word Detective, week 2


    1. Who is the author of A Study in Scarlet?

    1C) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    2. Which of these is NOT a cultural difference?

    C) Some people drive cars to work; others take the bus or ride bicycles to their jobs. (This answer involves an individual or economic choice; the others are often the result of culture-- the way a whole group of people has traditionally done things.)

    3. These cultures emphasize

    B) the value of eating together

    4 Which of these occupations (jobs) is a profession?

    D) a lawyer

    5. Which of these is false?

    C) Benjamin Franklin created electricity.

    (Electricity is a natural force. Franklin studied it, and was interested in ways to use it, but it existed long before he did.)

    6. Which of these would not be a motivation to run for president?

    D) a desire to relax and work less

    7. If you got sick while visiting an unfamiliar area (somewhere you don’t know well), which of these questions would NOT help you find local medical help?

    C) Is a hospital in your area expensive?

    8. Which of these is a traditional way to keep in touch (continue to communicate with friends who are far away)?

    B) send a letter or Christmas card

    9. Which of these is an instinct?

    B) A fish biting a hook hidden in a worm. (The other actions have been learned through past experiences or training.) Instinct is not on the awl list!

    10. One good study technique is

    A) to review for short periods frequently.

    11. Which of these sentences does NOT use ‘series’ correctly?

    C) She shopped for a series of vegetables, fruits, and desserts.

    12. Which of these are similar?

    D) Two twin brothers

    13. Which of these are CORRECT uses of ‘finally?’ (There are more than one.)

    A) To introduce the last point or argument of an essay: “Finally, we need detectives to solve crimes.”

    C) To tell someone we have been waiting: “You have finally arrived!”

    D) To express relief: “I’m finally done!”

    (B) is incorrect: To describe the last event: “The finally race will be a relay.” It should say the “final” event. Finally is an adverb, so it can’t be used to describe a noun.)

    14. So to enable means

    C) to make able

    15. What should the new employee do?

    B) Ask for an explanation or demonstration of the company’s preferred procedure.

    16. At a murder trial, to prove the cause of death they might need an expert witness who is a

    D) doctor

    17. Which of these works of art is unique, with no others like it.

    D) Picasso’s painting ‘Guernica.”

    18. Which of these is NOT an insight?

    A) Tommy getting the right answer on his math test

    19. If someone hits you in the nose, which of these is not a normal reaction?

    D) Smiling at the person

    20. Which of these slogans for a non-profit organization is badly worded?

    C) Thanks for contribute. (Don’t use a verb after a preposition. Use a noun or a gerund: Thanks for your contribution or Thanks for contributing.)

    Two Unique Men from Two Very Different Cultures

    Fill in the blanks. You will need each word only once, so you can cross it off once you use it.

    area, author, contributions, culture, enabled, expert, insights, motivated, reaction, techniques traditional, unique

    Alfred Kroeber was an anthropologist (a scientist who studies human cultures) at U. C. Berkeley during the early and mid 20th century. He was an ____________ on California Indian ____________, and was the ____________ of several books about it. Kroeber made many _______________ to the study of cultural anthropology.

    As a professional anthropologist and linguist, he was called to interpret when a lone native American named Ishi came out of the northern California hills about 1910. (Most people had thought there were no Indians left in that ____________who still lived the ____________ way, without using western tools or clothing or understanding any English.)

    Ishi’s first ____________ to western civilization was fear, but he learned to trust Kroeber. Ishi ____________ anthropologists to gain new _____________ into a ____________ that not longer existed. He demonstrated many of the traditional ________________ for making the tools that had helped him survive alone for so long. Ishi’s ______________ story may have ____________ a new generation of students to become anthropologists.

    Two Unique Men: Answers


    area, author, contributions, cultures, enabled, expert, insights, motivated, reaction, techniques traditional, unique

    Alfred Kroeber was an anthropologist (a scientist who studies human cultures) at U. C. Berkeley during the early and mid 20th century. He was an expert on California Indian cultures, and was the author of several books about it. Kroeber made many contributions to the study of cultural anthropology.

    As a professional anthropologist and linguist, he was called to interpret when a lone native American named Ishi came out of the northern California hills about 1910. (Most people had thought there were no Indians left in that area who still lived the traditional way, without using western tools or clothing or understanding any English.)

    Ishi’s first reaction to western civilization was fear, but he learned to trust Kroeber. Ishi enabled anthropologists to gain new insights into a culture that no longer existed. He demonstrated many of the traditional techniques for making the tools that had helped him survive alone for so long. Ishi’s unique story may have motivated a new generation of students to become anthropologists.

    Mystery Phrases: Black Hats and White Lies (Wednesday)
    Often in western culture white is a symbol of purity (“as white and pure as fresh-fallen snow”). Black is sometimes a symbol of darkness or evil. In the old western movies, sometimes the heroes wore white hats and the “bad guys” wore black ones, so “black hat” often means dishonest or bad practices.

    A white lie is a falsehood told to make someone feel better, or to avoid hurt feelings, so is considered not as bad as most lies. For example, a woman may ask her friend, “how do I look in my new dress?” If the friend feels the dress is unflattering or ugly, she still might answer, “You look great!”)

    Be a Detective! (Thursday)


    It’s time for some fun! Try your detective skills with a few sample one minute mysteries here. (The screen will be blank at first. Be sure to allow a minute or so for the pdf to load.)

    These short mysteries are “lateral-thinking puzzles.” They aren’t what they seem to be. To solve them, you need to think of unlikely possibilities. Question your assumptions: maybe they’re not true this time.(Also, as they warn, the pictures probably don’t show the right answer.)

    Be creative, and use as many clues as you need to-- but stop and think after each clue. It may give you a new idea, or change your thinking about the situation.

    Here are a few vocabulary and idiom explanations that may help you. A thief (or robber) is someone who steals (takes something that belongs to someone else.) A burglar is a thief who breaks into a house (or store) to steal valuables when he thinks no one is there.

    Steal is an irregular verb with past: stole, and past participle: stolen. So the policeman could ask a burglar he just caught, “How many times have you broken into houses and stolen TVs?” The burglar might answer, “This is the first time, officer! I never stole anything before!”

    If you try all the puzzles, in the third group (“Off the wall Questions”), they talk about something that can "spark some new insight."That means give you a clearer idea, or help you understand.

    "Eliminate red herrings" means ignore information that is not important or is given to distract you. Red herrings are smoked fish that people running from the police may have pulled across their trail to hide their scent. (This would confuse the dogs that were following them, because the strong fish smell would make them lose the people’s track.)

    If you really enjoy these puzzles, they sell the complete books with many more puzzles for $9 or $10 each, or $25 for all three (100 puzzles)on their site.

    Test your Deductions (Friday)



    Click here for a pdf quiz with this issue’s most important vocabulary. (Answers at the bottom of the pdf.)

    ______________________________________

    I’m looking forward to sending you the next issue of English Detective (about the scientific method and the discovery of penicillin) in two weeks!

    Yours, Cathy Simonton

    P.S. If you’re not already getting English Detective, you can start a free subscription by completing the form here.

Back to Back Issues Page