Shadowing Practice: Chapter 1 Sherlock Holmes from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Learn English Speaking with Video
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The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Read by Greg Wagland Chapter 1 Mr. Sherlock Holmes
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Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night,
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was seated at the breakfast table.
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I stood upon the hearthrug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before.
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It was a fine thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a Penang lawyer.
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Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across.
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To James Mortimer, MRCS, from his friends of the C.C.H was engraved upon it with the date 1884.
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It was just such a stick as the old-fashioned family practitioner used to carry, dignified, solid, and reassuring.
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Well, Watson, what do you make of it?
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Holmes was sitting with his back to me, and I had given him no sign of my occupation.
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How did you know what I was doing?
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I believe you have eyes in the back of your head.
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I have at least a well-polished silver-plated coffee-pot in front of me," said he.
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But tell me, Watson, what do you make of our visitor's stick?
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Since we have been so unfortunate as to miss him, and have no notion of his errand, this accidental souvenir becomes of importance.
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Let me hear you reconstruct the man by an examination of it.
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I think," said I, following as far as I could the methods of my
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that Dr. Mortimer is a successful elderly medical man, well esteemed since those who know him,
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give him this mark of their appreciation." "'Good!' said Holmes.
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"'Excellent!
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I think also
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that the probability is in favour of his being a country practitioner who does a great deal of his visiting on foot.
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Why so?
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Because this stick, though originally a very handsome one, has been so knocked about that I can hardly imagine a town practitioner carrying it.
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The thick iron ferrule is worn down, so it is evident that he has done a great amount of walking with it." "'Perfectly sound,' said Holmes.
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"'And then again there is the friends of the C.C.H.' I should guess that to be the something-hunt,
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the local-hunt to whose members he has possibly given some surgical assistance, and which has made him a small presentation in return.
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"'Rolly Watson, you excel yourself,' said Holmes, pushing back his chair and lighting a cigarette.
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I am bound to say that in all the accounts
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which you have been so good as to give of my own small achievements, you have habitually underrated your own abilities.
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It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but you are a conductor of light.
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Some people, without possessing genius, have a remarkable power of stimulating it.
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I confess, my dear fellow, that I am very much in your debt." He had never said as much before, and I must admit that his words gave me keen pleasure,
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for I had often been piqued by his indifference to my admiration,
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and to the attempts which I had made to give publicity to his methods.
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I was proud, too, to think that I had
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so far mastered his system as to apply it in a way which earned his approval.
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He now took the stick from my hands and examined it for a few minutes with his naked eyes.
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Then, with an expression of interest, he laid down his cigarette, and, carrying the cane to the window,
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he looked over it again with a convex lens.
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Interesting, though elementary," said he as he returned to his favorite corner of the settee.
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There are certainly one or two indications upon the stick.
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It gives us the basis for several deductions.
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Has anything escaped me?
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I asked with some self-importance.
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I trust that there is nothing of consequence which I have overlooked.
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I am afraid, my dear Watson, that most of your conclusions were erroneous.
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When I said that you stimulated me, I meant, to be frank, that in noting your fallacies I was occasionally guided towards the truth.
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Not that you are entirely wrong in this instance.
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The man is certainly a country practitioner, and he walks a good deal.
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Then I was right, to that extent.
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But that was all.
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No, no, my dear Watson, not all.
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I no means all.
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I would suggest, for example, that a presentation to a doctor is more likely to come from a hospital than from a hunt,
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and that when the initials C.C are placed before that hospital, the words Charing Cross very naturally suggest themselves.
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You may be right.
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The probability lies in that direction, and if we take this as a working hypothesis,
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we have a fresh basis from which to start our construction of this unknown visitor.
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Well then, supposing that C.C.H does stand for Charing Cross Hospital, what further inferences may we draw?
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Do none suggest themselves?
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You know my methods.
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Apply them.
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I can only think of the obvious conclusion, that the man has practised in town before going to the country.
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I think that we might venture a little farther than this.
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Look at it in this light.
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On what occasion would it be most probable that such a presentation would be made.
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When would his friends unite to give him a pledge of their good will?
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Obviously at the moment when Dr. Mortimer withdrew from the service of the hospital in order to start a practice for himself.
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We know there has been a presentation.
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We believe there has been a change from a town hospital to a country practice.
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Is it then stretching our inference too far to say that the presentation was on the occasion of the change.
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It certainly seems probable.
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Now, you will observe that he could not have been on the staff of the hospital, since only a man well established in a London practice could hold such a position,
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and such a one would not drift into the country.
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What was he then?
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If he was in the hospital and yet not on the staff, he could only have been a house surgeon or a house physician, little more than a senior student,
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and he left five years ago.
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The date is on the stick.
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So your grave, middle-aged family practitioner vanishes into thin air, my dear Watson, and there emerges a young fellow under thirty,
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amiable, unambitious, absent-minded, and the possessor of a favourite dog, which I should describe roughly as being larger than a terrier and smaller than a mastiff."
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I laughed incredulously as Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his settee and blew little wavering rings of smoke up to the ceiling.
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"'As to the latter part, I have no means of checking you,' said I.
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"'But at least it is not difficult to find out a few particulars about the man's age and professional career.
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From my small medical shelf I took down the medical directory and turned up the name.
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There were several Mortimers, but only one who could be our visitor.
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I read his record aloud.
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Mortimer, James, MRCS, 1882.
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Grimpen.
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Dartmoor, Devon.
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House surgeon from 1882 to 1884 at Charing Cross Hospital.
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Winner of the Jackson Prize for Comparative Pathology, with essay entitled Is Disease a Reversion?
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Corresponding member of the Swedish Pathological Society.
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of Some Freaks of Atavism Lancet, 1882 Do We Progress, Journal of Psychology,
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March 1883 Medical Officer for the Parishes of Grimpen, Thorsley, and High Barrow.
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No mention of that local hunt, Watson?" said Holmes, with a mischievous smile.
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What a country doctor, as you very astutely observe.
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I think that I am fairly justified in my inferences.
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As to the adjectives, I said, if I remember right, amiable, unambitious, and absent-minded.
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It is my experience that it is only an amiable man in this world who receives testimonials,
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only an unambitious one who abandons a London career for the country,
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and only an absent-minded one who leaves his stick and not his visiting card after waiting an hour in your room,
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and The dog has been in the habit of carrying this stick behind his master.
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Being a heavy stick, the dog has held it tightly by the middle, and the marks of his teeth are very plainly visible.
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The dog's jaw, as shown in the space between these marks, is too broad, in my opinion, for a terrier, and not broad enough for a mastiff.
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It may have been—yes, by Jove, it's a curly-haired spaniel.
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He had risen and paced the room as he spoke.
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Somehow he halted in the recess of the window.
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There was such a ring of conviction in his voice that I glanced up in surprise.
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My dear fellow, how can you possibly be so sure of that?
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For the very simple reason that I see the dog himself on our very doorstep, and there is the ring of its owner.
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Don't move, I beg you, Watson.
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He is a professional brother of yours, and your presence may be of assistance to me.
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Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.
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What does Dr. James Mortimer, the man of science, ask of Sherlock Holmes, the specialist in crime?
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Come in?" The appearance of our visitor was a surprise to me, since I had expected a typical country practitioner.
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He was a very tall, thin man with a long nose like a beak,
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which jutted out between two keen grey eyes set closely together and sparkling brightly from behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.
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He was clad in a professional but rather slovenly fashion, for his frock-coat was dingy and his trousers frayed.
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Though young, his long back was already bowed, and he walked with a forward thrust of his head and a general air of peering benevolence.
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As he entered, his eyes fell upon the stick in Holmes's hand, and he ran towards it with an exclamation of joy.
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"'I am so very glad,' said he.
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"'I was not sure whether I had left it here or in the shipping office.
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I would not lose that stick for the world.' "'The presentation, I see,' said Holmes.
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"'Yes, sir.' "'From Charing Cross Hospital?' "'From one or two friends there, on the occasion of my marriage.' Dear,
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dear, that's bad," said Holmes, shaking his head.
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Dr. Mortimer blinked through his glasses in mild astonishment.
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Why was it bad?
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Only that you have disarranged our little deductions.
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Your marriage, you say?
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Yes, sir.
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I married, and so left the hospital, and with it all hopes of a consulting practice.
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It was necessary to make a home of my own.
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Come, come.
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We are not so far wrong after all," said Holmes.
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And now, Dr. James Mortimer.
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Mr. Sir-Mr.
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A humble M.
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R. C.
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S. And a man of precise mind, evidently.
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A dabbler in science, Mr. Holmes, a picker-up of shells on the shores of the great unknown ocean.
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I presume that it is Mr. Sherlock Holmes who I am addressing, and not.
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No, this is my friend, Dr. Watson.
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Glad to meet you, sir.
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I have heard your name mentioned in connection with that of your friend friend.
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You interest me very much, Mr. Holmes.
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I had hardly expected so delicocephalic a skull, or such well-marked supraorbital development.
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Would you have any objection to my running my finger along your parietal fissure?
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A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum.
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It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull." Sherlock Holmes waved our strange visitor into a chair.
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"'You are an enthusiast in your line of thought, I perceive, sir, as I am in mine,' said he.
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"'I observe from your forefinger that you make your own cigarettes.
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Have no hesitation in lighting one.' The man drew out paper and tobacco, and twirled the one up in the other with surprising dexterity.
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He had long quivering fingers, as agile and restless as the antennae of an insect.
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Holmes was silent.
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But his little darting glances showed me the interest which he took in our curious companion.
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I presume, sir, said he at last, that it was not merely for the purpose of examining my skull
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that you have done me the honour to call here last night and again to-day.
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No, sir, no, though I am happy to have had the opportunity of doing that as well.
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I came to you, Mr. Holmes, because I recognized that I am myself an unpractical man,
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and because I am suddenly confronted with a most serious and extraordinary problem.
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Recognizing as I do that you are the second highest expert in Europe?" -"Indeed,
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sir." -"May I inquire who has the honor to be the first?" asked Holmes with some asperity.
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-"To the man of precisely scientific mind, the work of M.
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Bertillon must always appeal strongly." -"Then had you not better consult him?" I said, sir, to the precisely scientific mind,
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but as a practical man of affairs it is acknowledged that you stand alone.
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I trust, sir, that I have not inadvertently.
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Just a little," said Holmes.
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I think, Dr. Mortimer, you would do wisely
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if without more ado you would kindly tell me plainly what the exact nature of the problem is in
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which you demand my assistance.
Context & Background
The first chapter of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduces us to the character of Sherlock Holmes, a renowned detective known for his acute observational skills and deductive reasoning. In this segment, Holmes engages in a dialogue with his companion, Dr. Watson, regarding a stick left by a visitor, Dr. Mortimer. This discussion highlights Holmes's analytical approach and provides a glimpse into his intellect and character. The interaction serves as an excellent illustration for English learners, showcasing rich vocabulary and communicative techniques that are valuable for everyday English speaking practice.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “What do you make of it?” - A way to ask someone for their opinion or analysis.
- “Perfectly sound.” - Used to express agreement with a judgment or reasoning.
- “Excellent!” - A term to show approval of someone's observations or ideas.
- “How did you know?” - A phrase for expressing surprise at someone’s insight.
- “You are a conductor of light.” - A metaphorical expression appreciating someone’s ability to bring out the best in others.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively utilize the shadowing technique with this transcript and improve your English pronunciation, follow these steps:
- Start with Listening: Listen to the chapter excerpt at least once without interruption. Focus on the tone and rhythm of the dialogue.
- Break it Down: Pick one sentence or phrase from the transcript, such as “What do you make of it?” Before repeating, ensure you understand the context and meaning.
- Repeat Aloud: Once comfortable, repeat the sentence aloud, mimicking the intonation and stress patterns. Aim for clarity and confidence as this contributes to better English speaking practice.
- Record Yourself: Use a recording device to capture your practice. Play it back to identify areas for improvement in your pronunciation and delivery.
- Integrate into Daily Use: Finally, incorporate the phrases into your everyday conversations. Use them in appropriate contexts to solidify your learning and challenge yourself to maintain the fluency gained through shadowing.
This structured approach not only helps in mastering specific phrases but also enhances overall communication skills in English, promotes better understanding of context, and aids in boosting your confidence in speaking through practical application.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.