The Legend of Beowulf
Once upon a time, there was a horrible monster called Grendel. Hewas half-man and half-monster. He lived in Denmark. One day, he went to the King's castle. The king and his men tried to kill the monster but their swords were useless. A knight called Beowulf heard about the problem and went to Denmark to help the king.
That night, Beowulf and his men took off their armour and put away their swords and went to sleep. The monster came into the castle and killed a knight. Beowulf woke up and fought the monster-he pulled off an arm! Grendel went back to his home in a lake and died. Grendel's mother was very angry and the next night she went to the castle and killed a knight.
In the morning, Beowulf went to the lake. He killed Grendel's mother with a special sword. When he came back, the king was very happy and he gave Beowulf presents and money.
Beowulf went back to his country and became a king. He was king for fifty years. But one day, a dragon came to his country, and it attacked people. It lived in a cave with treasure. The dragon was very big and breathed fire. The knights were afraid and they did not want to fight the dragon. King Beowulf was an old man but he put on his armour again and went to the dragon's cave with his men. …
Taken from Opportunities Elementary, 2003
Answer these questions based on the text.
1. Who was half-man and half-monster?
2. Were the king and his men succeed in killing Grendel? Why?
3. Why did Beowulf come to Denmark?
4. What did Beowulf do to Grendel when he fought him?
5. What happened to Grendel after he fought Beowulf?
6. What did Grendel's mother do when she find out about her son's death?
7. What did Beowulf use to kill Grendel's mother?
8. How long did Beowulf become king?
9. What attacked the people in Beowulf's country?
10. What did Beowulf do about it?
11. Decide how the story ends based on the following options:
a. Beowulf killed Grendel and took the treasure.
b. Beowulf killed Grendel but he died.
c. Grendel killed Beowulf and escaped.
12. Provide reasons why you choose the option as the ending of the story.
