Berlin Express opdrachten

BERLIN EXPRESS

by Michael Austen

Assignments

Before Reading

 

1          Look at the back cover of your book.

         What do you think the word ‘express’ means here? Choose from:

         A       a criminal

         B       a text message

         C      a train

A

B

C

 

2          Berlin Express is a book title with the name of a city in it.

         Try and find 5 more titles of books, films, or songs with the name of a city or country in    them.

1

2

3

4

5

                          

While Reading

Chapter 1          The past and the future

1          What seemed to be the reason why Akiko had broken up with Hiro?

2       What is an InterRail ticket?

3       A       Where would you go if you had such a ticket?  

         B       Explain why you would go there

A

B

4       Who did Yuki turn out to be? 

5          Why did Akiko do as if he studied his map of Europe? 

     

      Chapter 2          A meeting with a shark

 

1          The train to Berlin was waiting on platform two. Have you ever heard of the curious

         platform number below? If so, write down where you know it from.

 

9 ¾

 

2          The man with the silvery hair had a ‘toothy smile’? What do you think this means?

3          Hiro thought the man looked like a shark. Why do you think this was?

4       The man’s perfect fingernails and his clean look made Hiro wonder if he was a dentist.

Look at the list of professions below and match them with the descriptions of their appearances.  

 

	profession		appearance
A	mineworker	I	pretty, but often too thin
B	ski instructor	II	strong, broad-shouldered
C	professor	III	sun-tanned; athletic
D	bouncer	IV	stern-faced, in England sometimes wearing a wig
E	judge	V	sooty-faced and dirty-handed
F	model	VI	absent-minded; unkempt, grey-haired

 

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

F =

 

5       What surprised Hiro after the train had braked sharply?

 

6       What did the light over the toilet door mean?

 

7       A       Write down in a complete English sentence what meant to say.

   B       Explain in English: what does the word fee mean?

A   Meet me at …

B Fee means …….

8       What had happened to the two phones?

Chapter 3                  An amusing mistake

1          What did Hiro do after he had read the man’s message once more?

2          Fill in the gaps about M’s message to ‘the Shark’.

Hiro knew that the word assignment meant …………………………….. (A), but he thought   that it might mean …………………………….… (B) here.

3          When the Shark came back, Hiro felt relaxed. However, he suddenly realised that he  

         had made a mistake to feel safe. What was the mistake?

4          How did the Shark react when Hiro told him what he had done? Circle A, B, C, or D.

A

He was furious.

B

He was relaxed.

C

He was annoyed.

D

He was surprised.

5          The mix-up had happened because Hiro and the Shark had the same type of phone,  

only the screensavers were different.

Now write down what you use as a screensaver on your phone.

 

Chapter 4       A helping hand

 

1          Why did Hiro not want Erik Björnson to know where he was staying in Berlin?

 

2          Hiro was sweating because he had been telling lies to the man. What two lies?

A

B

3          What made Hiro so suspicious all the time?

4          Who could have helped Hiro to get rid of Björnson?

 

5          Why did Hiro think Björnson had led him towards the end of the platform?

 

Chapter 5       A difficult decision

 

      1       Why do you think the Shark said, ‘Take great care, young man. Leave Berlin alive – not   

         in a coffin’?

 

2    Who was Herr Albert?

 

3       Why did Hiro decide not to leave Berlin the next day? Give 3 reasons.

A

B

C

 

   4       Why did Hiro not phone Akiko for advice?

 

5       Hiro had some cereal for breakfast.

         A      What are cereals?

         B      What is your favourite cereal?

A

B

  

Chapter 6       A visit to the police station

 

1          Why did Hiro wish his camera had been stolen?

 

2          What went wrong when Hiro met the first police officer?

 

3          What went wrong in speaking to the second police officer?

 

4          What made Hiro think that the third police officer was a detective?

 

5          What did Hiro think was the equipment that Björnson was going to collect?

 

6          The detective heard Hiro’s story and thought he had been imagining things.

         What did he think was the reason for Hiro’s behaviour?

 

Chapter 7       Painful thoughts

 

1          How had 13-year-old Hiro been wrong about the car on a snowy day?

 

2          A       Hiro had dialled 110, the Japanese emergency number.

                  Try and match the emergency numbers below with countries they belong to.

                  Choose from: Australia, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States. 

	emergency number	country
I	112
II	911
III	999
IV	000

         B       What three emergency services do you know?

1

2

3

 

3          Why did Hiro delete Akiko’s text messages from his phone?

4          Why did Hiro pick up his guidebook?

5          Why did Hiro want to go to the Brandenburg Gate after reading about it in his  

         guidebook?

 

6          Do you think Hiro will be at the Brandenburg Gate in time? Explain your answer.

 

Chapter 8       A little bit of sightseeing

 

1       Why did Hiro join the coach load of Japanese tourists?

 

2       Who did Hiro see standing among the columns of the Brandenburg Gate?

 

3       What made Hiro jump?

4       What happened just before Hiro was entering the underground station?

 

Chapter 9       The safe house

1          Who did Karl Meier say he was?

 

2          Draw the driver’s face, showing a striking characteristic. 

 

 

3         When did Hiro first doubt the men’s true identities?

 

4         What was the safe house used for, according to Karl Meier?

 

5         How did Karl Meier say they knew about Hiro’s visit to the police station?

 

6       A       What did Hiro think the men wanted to know from him?

   B       Why had the Shark not come to ask the questions himself?

A

B

 

Chapter 10     Escape!

 

1          Why did Hiro run upstairs instead of downstairs after his escape?

 

2          Why did Hiro carry his shoes in his hands?

3          Why had one of the men banged the door to the fire escape shut?

 

4          Who did Hiro thank for his escape?

 

Chapter 11     The eye of the storm

 

1          Explain why being in the cinema was like being in the eye of a storm for Hiro.

2          Why did Hiro choose to sit in the back row?

3          What did Hiro think was going on? Fill in the blanks.

He thought that the Shark was an ……………………………. (A), who was to kill someone in   …………………….. (B) 319 of the ………………………………………… (C). He also thought   ……………………………. (D) and ………………………………….. (E) had met at the   …………..……………………….. (F). The two men had seen Hiro there and had followed him   to find out if he had told ………………………………. (G) about the intended murder.   If so, the Shark might have to …………………………. (H) the assassination.

4          Do you think Hiro liked the film he was watching? Explain your answer.

5          In Germany Hollywood films are not subtitled but dubbed. This means that the actors  

         speak German instead of English.

         Try to match these German titles with their original English ones in the list below. 

	German title		English title
A	Krieg der Sterne	I	A Bug's Life
B	Meine Lieder, meine Träume	II	Pet Cemetery
C	Das große Krabbeln	III	Cinderella
D	Der Staatsfeind Nr. 1	IV	Shark Tale
E	Friedhof der Kuscheltiere	V	Star Wars
F	Aschenputtel	VI	From Russia With Love
G	Grosse Haie - Kleine Fische	VII	The Sound of Music
H	Liebesgrüße aus Moskau	VIII	Enemy of the State

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

F =

G =

H =

 

Chapter 12     A voice in the ear

 

1          Walking towards the U-Bahn Hiro told himself that his grandfather would not be

         disappointed in him if he left Berlin the following morning. Do you think Hiro is right?

         (The answer to this question can be found in Chapter 11.)

 

2         A       Whose was the voice Hiro heard on the U-Bahn?

   B       What did this voice say?

A

B

3         Did Hiro like the Brandenburg Gate by night? Explain your answer. 

 

4         Write down 3 words and/or sentences from this chapter to show that the Hotel Adlon  

         was a very luxurious one.

 

5         Why was it not very likely that the receptionist would believe Hiro?

 

Chapter 13     Last hope!

1          Why did Hiro almost feel like a prisoner in a cell when he was in the hotel office?

 

2          Why did Hiro find it difficult to tell his story slowly and calmly?

3          What did the manager check over the phone?

4          What did Hiro try to make clear to the manager after he had asked Hiro if he felt less

         worried?

5          How did the manager react to what Hiro said?

 

6          How had Hiro recognised the Shark when he entered the hotel?

 

Chapter 14     Inside the Hotel Adlon

 

1          Why did Hiro run away from the hotel entrance?

 

2          How did Hiro get back into the hotel?

 

3          Hiro saw a sign which said ‘deliveries’. He saw a van that was carrying fruit and

         vegetables. What other sort of hotel deliveries can you think of? Write down four.

1

2

3

4

 

4          What did Hiro do in the room that led off the corridor? 

 

5       Why did he carry so many of the food cans?

 

6       A       What did Hiro pick up when he was near the lift?

         B       Why did he do this?

A

B

 

7

‰		A       Explain in English what you see on the left.
ˆ
‡
†
…		B       Why is the number three different from the others?
„
Ž
‚
		C       What do the (English) letters GF mean?
GF
-
-‚

 

Chapter 15     A little bit of Schubert

1    Fill in the blanks

325  -  327  -  329 are ……………………………………….numbers.

326  -  328  -  330 are ……………………………………….numbers.

2    Why did the man from room 320 find it strange that Hiro did not speak German?

 

   3   Why did Hiro use the name Schmidt?

4       Who did the man from room 320 say he was?

 

5        At what moment did the man start to believe Hiro’s story?

 

6       How did Hiro come by the man’s telephone number?

 

Chapter 16     A visit from the priest

 

1          Describe in some detail the two persons (apart from Schubert) that Hiro saw when he

         looked through the eyehole.

 

2          Why did Hiro open the door of his room?

 

3          A      What caused the two dull sounds, dumf! dumf! ?

         B      What was their result?

         C      Why had the Shark needed the boy?

A

B

C

 

4          What horrifying choice did the Shark offer Hiro?

 

5          Why did Hiro put his hands in his pocket?

6          How did Hiro try to win time for himself?

7          Finish Hiro’s sentence: ‘I want you to tell her …………..’

  

Chapter 17     A surprise visitor

 

1          Why did the Shark not shoot Hiro there and then?

2          What almost caused Hiro to be sick?

 

3          ‘Sorry to come in without knocking,’ Schubert had said. How had he come in?

 

4          Why did the Shark say, ‘I wish I had chosen another seat on the train.’?

 

Chapter 18     A note of thanks

 

1          What had Hiro been doing at the Home Security office that morning?

 

2          Why did Schubert put on the blue emergency light on the roof of his BMW?

3          Who is Karl-Hendrik Johansen?

4          What had been the purpose of the meeting at the Brandenburg Gate?

5          Hiro and Schubert were having a plate of seafood. What sort of fish and shellfish food

         would you usually find on such a plate?

6          A      Who was Mr Schmidt?

         B      Why was there only one bodyguard to protect him?

A

B

 

7          Look at the last page of Chapter 16 again. The Shark said, ’How romantic! Now I am

         bringing two lovers together in death!’.

         Who were these two lovers?

8          What did Hiro get as a reward for what he had done?

 

Chapter 19     A friendly word of advice

1          Why did Schubert say, ‘Hey, did I say something wrong? ’?

2          What would you do with the money if you were in Hiro’s position?

 

3          What had probably been the real reason for Akiko to break up with Hiro?

 

4          Why did Schubert order Hiro to get out of the car?

 

After Reading

 

1     Write out the telephone conversation between Hiro and Akiko in which:

      Akiko does not react too well at first and gives her reasons to be angry, Hiro                      apologises, briefly explains what has happened to him in Berlin and suggests to get back together again.      

      Think of something for Hiro to suggest doing together with Akiko which she is                    glad to accept. End the conversation on a happy note.

Hiro:     Akiko:     etc.

 

2     Below are the Japanese words that were used in Berlin Express.

      Explain in English what these words mean.

	Japanese	English
A	Shinkansen
B	Arigato
C	Sayonara
D	Hara-kiri
E	Itadakimasu
F	Samurai