HEINEMANN GUIDED READERS ELEMENTARY LEVEL Series Editor: John Milne The Heinemann Guided Readers provide a choice of enjoyable reading material for learners of English. The series is published at five levels - Starter, Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate and Upper. At Elementary Level, the control of content and language has the following main featilres: Information Control Stories have straightforward plots and a restricted number of main characters. Information which is vital to the understanding of the story is clearly presented and repeated when necessary. Difficult allusion and metaphor are avoided and cultural backgrounds are made explicit. Structure Control Students will meet those grammatical features which they have already been taught in their elementary course of studies. Other grammatical features occasionally occur with which the students may not be so familiar, hut their use is made clear through context and reinforcement. This ensures that the reading as well as being enjoy- able provides a continual learning situation for the students. Sentences are kept short — a maximum of two clauses in nearly all cases — and within sentences there is a balanced use of simple adverbial and adjectival phrases. Great care is taken with pronoun reference. Vocabulary Control At Elementary Level there is a limited use of a carefully controlled vocabulary of approximately 1,100 basic words. At the same time, students are given some opportunity to meet new or unfamiliar words in contexts where their meaning is obvious. The meaning of words introduced in this way is reinforced by repetition. Help is also given to the students in the form of vivid illustrations which are closely related to the text. Contents Introductory Note 6 The People in This Story 7 1 Salahadin is Worried 10 2 The Missing Box 12 3 The Taxi Driver 16 4 Boat to Beirut 20 5 The Black Cat 22 6 hi Beirut 25 7 The Road to Ba’albek 28 8 Burkinan's Story 31 9 Beirut to Athens 34 10 Salahadin finds Peterson 37 11 Salahadin finds the Black Cat 39 12 Death on The Syria 42 13 Do Not Disturb 45 14 Return to Cairo 48 15 The End 51 Points for Understanding 55 List of titles at Elementary Level 63 Introductory Note The main character in this story is called Salahadin. He is an inspector in the Egyptian police. His job is to protect Egyptian antiquities. An antiquity is something which is very old. There are many antiquities in Egypt. Most of them are valuable. Many of them are in museums in Cairo or in Europe. But there are many others which have not yet been found. These antiquities are buried under the sands, in tombs or in pyramids. There are many archeologists working in Egypt. Archeo- logists study ancient cities and tombs. Sometimes they find antiquities. They must give all these antiquities to the Egyptian Government. But some archeologists try to keep them. Salahadin’s job is to stop this happening. Salahadin has studied history at Cairo University and at the University of London. He has visited many museums in Cairo and in Europe. 6 The People in This Story 7 ARCHEOLOGIST MURDERED Yesterday morning, an archeologist was found dead in a Cairo hotel. The archeologist was called Pearson. The police are making enquiries. 9 1 Salahadin is Worried Salahadin was sitting in his office with his coat off. It was the month of May in Cairo and it was very hot. Salahadin stood up and turned on the fan. He was a young man, only twenty-eight yeahs old. He was not very tall and quite thin. His black hair was cut very short. Salahadin’s office was in the centre ol Cairo. It was in a large building behind the Nile Hotel. It was a small office and Salahadin’s name was not on the door. Not many people knew that he was a detective. But he was not an ordinary detective. Inspector Salahadin protected all the antiquities of Egypt. 10 Salahadin was waiting for an archeologist called Mr Pearson. Pearson had been in Egypt for six months. He had been working in a valley in the south of Egypt. Pearson had been looking for antiquities. He had come hack to Cairo a few days ago and was leaving Egypt soon. But Mr Pearson had not come to Salahadin’s office. Every archeologist had to see Salahadin before they left Egypt. Salahadin was worried. Pearson had not come yet. Salahadin picked up the telephone and rang the number of Pearson’s hotel. ‘Nile Hotel,’ said a voice. ‘Can 1 help you?’ ‘Can I speak to the manager, please,’ said Salahadin. Salahadin waited for a few moments. Then he heard the manager’s voice. ‘Can 1 help you?’ said the manager. ‘Yes,’ replied Salahadin. ‘My name’s Salahadin El Nur. I’m a police inspector. 1 want to speak to Mr Pearson.’ ‘Do you mean Mr Pearson, the archeologist?’ asked the manager. ‘Yes,’ replied Salahadin. ‘I’m sorry. You can’t speak to Mr Pearson, sir,’ said the manager. ‘Oh,’ said Salahadin in surprise. ‘Why not?’ ‘Mr Pearson is dead,’ replied the manager. ‘He was found dead in his room this morning. Mr Pearson was murdered.’ 11 2_ The Missing Box Salahadin put on his coat and quickly left his office. It was much hotter outside in the street. A hot, dusty wind was blowing between the tall buildings. Salahadin jumped into a taxi. The streets \vere full of cars and the taxi moved slowly. It took a long time to get to the Nile Motel. A policeman was standing at the door of the hotel. Tm sorry,’ said the policeman. ‘No one is allowed into the hotel.’ Salahadin showed the policeman his identity card. OF ANTIQUITIES The policeman took Salahadin to his chief. Luckily, Salahadin knew this officer. It was Inspector Ahmed, a school friend of Salahadin’s. 12