PENGU IN R E A D E R S

T h e Pearl Girl
Stephen Rabley
 P e a rso n E d u catio n Lim ited
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,
Essex CM20 2JE, England
and Associated Companies throughout the world.
ISBN: 978-1-4058-6783-2
This edition first published by Pearson Education Ltd 2008

5 7 9 10 8 6

Text copyright © Stephen Rabley 2008

Illustrations by Laura Petrisin

Set in 12/20pt Bembo

Printed in China
SW TC/05

Produced for the publishers by Ken Vail Graphic Design

A ll rights reserved; no part o f this publication may be reproduced, stored

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prior written permission o f the Publishers.

Published by Pearson Education Limited in association with

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For a complete list of the titles available in the Penguin Readers series please write to your local
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Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex CM20 2JE
Kate Grant is fifteen and comes from Canada. She is
visiting the Netherlands with her mother and father.
On June 8th, the Grants are at a museum in The Hague.
“This is very good,” Mr. Grant says. He is looking at a
picture of an old man.
“Yes,” Mrs. Grant says. “What do you think, Kate?”
“It’s OK,” Kate says. She looks at her watch. It is 4.45.
1
Two minutes later she sees a picture of a young girl with
an ear-ring. Kate smiles. She loves ear-rings. She looks at
the girl’s face.
“Who are you?” she thinks. “What are you looking at?”
“That’s a very famous picture,” Mrs. Grant says.
A sign next to it says, “Girl with a Pearl Ear-ring.”
“It’s beautiful,” Kate says.
At 4.58 the Grants are drinking coffee near the museum.
“Julia, do you have the guide book?” Mr. Grant asks.
“No, Carl. You have it,” Mrs. Grant says.
They look for the guide book in their bags, then Mr. Grant
says, “Oh no, I remember now. It’s on a chair near ‘Girl
with a Pearl Ear-ring’. My passport is in that book!”
Kate gets up quickly. “Stay here,” she says. “I can find it.”
3
Kate runs to the museum. A guard is closing the door.
“Stop!” Kate says. “My father’s passport is in the museum.”
“I’m sorry, but we close at five o’clock,” the guard says.
A sign on his shirt says, “Paul Van Dyck.”
“Please,” Kate says. “It’s very important.”
The guard looks at his watch, then at Kate.
“OK,” he says and smiles. “Come with me.”
4
Kate goes into the museum with Paul Van Dyck. It is dark
and there aren’t any people in the rooms.
“Where is the passport?” Paul asks. “Do you know?”
“Yes. It’s on a chair near that picture of a girl with an
ear-ring,” Kate says.
They walk for a minute, then PaulVan Dyck stops.
“Sshh!” he says.“I can hear voices.”
5
Kate looks at Paul. He isn’t smiling now. Then she hears
voices, too.
“Be very, very quiet,” Paul says.
He takes a phone from his coat pocket, but suddenly there
are two men in the room. One is tall and has a big, black
bag in his hands.The short man has a gun.They look at
Kate and Paul. Kate and Paul look at the men. Time stops.
6
“Put your phone on the floor,” the short man says.
“Now!” His voice is cold.
“No,” Paul says. Suddenly there is a bang!
Paul falls down and says, “M y legl” Kate looks at him.
“Get the girl,” says the tall man.
The short man puts his cold hand across Kate’s mouth.
She is very scared. “Come with us,” he says.
7
A minute later Kate and the thieves are in a small street
behind the museum. They get into a car, and the tall thief
drives very quickly for thirty minutes. The men don’t talk.
Kate is on the floor. She can see a picture in the black bag.
It is “Girl with a Pearl Ear-ring”.
“Where are we going?” she thinks. Then she looks up and
sees a sign. It says,“Amsterdam 10”.
At 5.40 the car stops.
“Get up,” the short thief says. His voice is very quiet. He
opens the car door. The gun is under his coat.
“Smile,” he says. Kate is scared but she smiles.
There are people in the street. She can see a boat. Its name
is the Black Dog. The cold gun is next to her back.The tall
thief is behind them with his black bag.
9
“Sit down and be quiet!” says the short thief.They are in
the Black Dog’s kitchen. It has one small window. Kate sits
on a chair, and the men close the door and go. Later, Kate
hears their voices.
“What do we do now?” the short man says.
“We send a note to her family,” the tall thief answers.
“They want the girl back. We want money. It isn’t difficult.”
10
Kate is very scared. She looks round the kitchen. Suddenly,
she sees a ship in a bottle. There is a pen next to it. Quickly
she writes a note. It says: “I’m on the Black Dog with two
thieves. They have ‘Girl with a Pearl Ear-ring’. Call the
police! My name is Kate Grant.”
Then she puts her note in the bottle. She opens the small
window and throws the bottle into the canal.
11
At 9.15 that evening the bottle is a kilometer from the Black
Dog. An old man is walking next to the canal. He stops. “A
ship in a bottle!” he thinks. “That’s interesting.” He picks
the bottle out of the water. Then he sees Kate’s note and
reads it.“‘Thieves]’” he thinks.“This is important.”
He makes a call. “Hello? Police?” he says. He is talking very
quickly. “Listen to this.”
12
At 11.25 Kate is trying to sleep in the Black Dog’s kitchen.
Suddenly her eyes open. She can hear a woman’s voice.
“POLICEl” the woman says. “Put the gun on the floor.
That’s right. Now put your hands on your head. Quickly!”
Then the kitchen door opens. Kate sees three policemen
and two policewomen.
“It’s OK,” one of the policemen says. “We’re here now.”
13
Two days later Kate is in The Hague again with her
mother and father. Some TV people are there, too. The
museum’s director and Paul Van Dyck are standing next
to her.
The director smiles. “Thank you very much, Kate,” he says.
Then he gives her a small bag. Kate opens it and smiles.
In the bag there are two beautiful pearl ear-rings.
 A C T IV IT IE S

Pages 1-7
Before you read
1 Read the Word List at the back of this book. What are the twenty
words in your language? Find them in a dictionary.
2 Look at the pictures in the book, then talk to a friend about the
story.
a Where is Kate Grant on page 1?
b What is the name of the famous picture on page 2?
с Is the building open or closed on page 4?
d Who are the two men with Kate and the guard on page 6?

While you read

3 Here are eight sentences. Are they right (✓) or wrong (X)?
a Kate Grant lives in San Francisco. .....
b She loves ear-rings. .....
с After his visit to the museum, Carl can’t find his
passport. .....
d The museum closes at six o ’clock. .....
e The guard’s name is Peter Van Dyck.
f In the museum, Kate and the guard meet two thieves..........
g The short thief has a big, black bag in his hands. .....
h The guard puts his phone on the floor. .....

A fter you read

4 Kate Grant is your friend. She calls you on June 7th. Ask
questions about her vacation. Is her hotel OK? Does she like
the food? Do people understand English?

15
Pages 8-14
Before you read
5 Look at the pictures. What do you think?
a Where is Kate on page 8?
b On page 9 what is Kate doing?
с What is Kate doing on page 11 ?
d Who is talking to Kate on page 13?

While you read

6 What comes first? And then? Write a number from 1 to 10 after
every sentence.
a Kate writes a note. .....
b An old man finds the bottle. .....
с The museum director says, “Thank you, Kate.” .....
d The thieves take Kate to Amsterdam. .....
e The police visit the Black Dog.
f Kate walks from the car to the Black Dog. ....
g She throws a bottle into the canal. .....
h At 5.40 the car stops.
i He calls the police.
j The tall thief says, “They want the girl back.
We want money. It's not difficult.” .....

A fte r you read

7 A famous picture, a passport, a boat, and a bottle are all
important in the story. Why? Write your answers.
8 What is the story of The Pearl Girl? Write one sentence for every
picture in the book.
 W O RD LIST w ith exam ple sentences

canal (n) T h e w ater in the canal is cold and dark.

director (n) Steven Spielberg is a famous m ovie director.
ear-ring (n) I like your ear-rings. Are they new?
guard (n) You often see guards at the doors o f an airport.
guide b o o k (n) Visitors to a new place sometimes buy a guide book.
gun (11) Put your hands up! I have a gun\
kilom eter (n) It is two kilometers from here to the airport.
m inute (n) C an yo u wait a minute, please? I can’t find m y coat.
museum (n) T h e Lou vre is a famous museum in Paris.
next to (prep) M y father is standing next to me in the photo.
note (n) A letter is usually long, but a note is short.
passport (11) I can’t go to Japan tom orrow! I don’t have a passport!
pearl (n) Pearls are small, w hite, and very expensive.
scared (adj) I ’m always scared on airplanes.
ship (n) Boats are small, but ships are big.
sign (n) Can you see that sign? It says, “ D rive slow ly” !
th ie f (n) That isn’t your m oney. Y o u ’re a thief.
th ro w (v) I can catch things, but I can’t throw very well.
voice (n) I can't hear you. Y our voice is very quiet.
w atch (n)You have a watch. W hat is the time, please?

Answers for the activities in this book are available from the Penguin Readers website.
A free Activity Worksheet is also available from the website. Activity Worksheets are
part of the Penguin Teacher Support Programme, which also includes Progress Tests
and Graded Reader Guidelines. For more information, please visit:
www.penguinreaders.com.
N.
 T h e P e arl Girl

Kate G rant comes from Canada. She is visiting Europe with her
mother and father. O ne evening she sees tw o men in a museum.
They are taking a very famous p icture... “Girl with a Pearl
Ear-ring." W h a t can Kate do?

Penguin Readers are simplified texts which provide a step-by-step

approach to the joys of reading for pleasure.
I
I

Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

E a s y s ta rts 200 h e a d w o rd s
L e ve l 1 300 headwords Beginner
L e ve l 2 600 headwords Elementary
Level 3 1200 headwords Pre-Intermediate
Level 4 1700 headwords Intermediate
L e ve l 5 2300 headwords Upper-Intermediate
L e ve l 6 3000 headw ords Advanced

Original American English

Number of words (excluding activities): 949

C o v e r illu s tra tio n b y P h ilip B a n n is te r/ w w w .illu s tra tio n w e b .c o m

Audio CD pack also available