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WHODUNNIT?
EDUCATOR:
Fingerprint everyone in the class, using an inkpad and then thumbprint on a class list that is photocopied and given to each learner.Randomly choose the “Thief” and paste that thumbprint in the THIEF block provided. The other three blocks are then filled with any two new prints and the “thief’s” prints.
Instructions
| LO 3.9 |
White Powder
1 Shortly before World War II a rusted old freighter slid into its berth at a Baltimore pier, completing its long voyage from the Orient. Customs officers boarded the vessel to check the cargo and look for contraband. The search was the routine sort of thing that occurred every day at every major port in the United States.
2 An inspector hurried to the quarters of the crewmembers and began his rounds. He encountered nothing unusual until he reached one crewman’s cabin and found the door locked. He knocked on the door and a muffled voice asked, “Who is it?”
3 “This is the customs inspector,” the officer answered. “Open up!”
4 The door opened and there stood a middle-aged man with thinning hair and tattoos on his forearms. “There’s nothing in here,” the seaman said gruffly. “You’ll find everything on my declaration.”
5 “It’s a routine check,” the inspector said. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
6 The seaman made no move to stand aside. “I told you there’s nothing in here!” he insisted.
7 “Look, Mac,” the inspector snapped, “you’ve been through this sort of thing before and you know it’s got to be done. So let me get at it.” He pushed his way into the cabin.
8 On a table he saw a hypodermic needle. He picked it up and turned to the seaman. “Are you a junkie?” he asked. “Have you got any narcotics?”
9 The seaman’s face reddened with anger. “Of course not!” he exclaimed. “I wouldn’t touch the stuff.”
10 The inspector wasn’t impressed with the denial. That’s what they all said until you found their supply of narcotics.
11 When he started to open a locker, the crewman said, “It’s empty. I’ve already taken everything out.”
12 The inspector watched the man’s hands shake as he lit a cigarette. “Why don’t you sit down and relax, mister?” he said. “I’ve just decided to take a good look around.”
13 Slowly he went over the cabin. At last he pulled the locker away from the bulkhead and saw a small cotton bag, taped to the back of the locker. He yanked it loose and held it out toward the seaman. “What is this?”
14 The seaman made a grab for the bag: “Give that to me!” he shouted. “It’s nothing that interests you.”
15 The inspector opened the bag and saw that it contained a white powder that looked suspiciously like heroin. “Mister,” he said, “if this is heroin, you’re in trouble.”
16 “It’s not heroin,” the seaman replied sullenly.
17 “If it isn’t heroin,” the inspector asked, “then what is it? Why did you hide it behind the locker? What are you trying to hide?”
18 The seaman remained silent.
19 “You are not to leave this ship until I have an analysis of this powder,” the inspector ordered. “Do you understand?”
20 The seaman nodded. The inspector left the cabin and went to the ship’s captain to explain the situation. He requested that the seaman be detained on the freighter pending a chemical test of the powder.
21 “It looks like heroin,” the inspector said. “If it is, we’ll have to take him into custody.”
22 “How long will it take to make this test?” the skipper asked. “We’re sailing tomorrow afternoon, and if this man is in trouble, I’ll have to take on another seaman.”
23 “We should know the results before you sail,” the inspector said. “I’ll be in touch with you.”
24 The sack of powder was sent to the Baltimore customs laboratory with an urgent request for a quick test, the results of which turned out to be negative: the white powder was not heroin.
25 When the inspector heard the results, he immediately called the chemist who had performed the test. “I just can’t believe that report you made on the powder I seized from the seaman,” he said. “If ever I saw a guilty man, this one is guilty. Would you mind running another test?”
26 “I’m sure the report was correct,” replied the chemist, “but if it will make you feel any better, I’ll run another test.”
27 “It certainly would,” said the inspector.
28 And so a second test was run, but again the results were negative. This second test not only proved that the white powder wasn’t heroin; it also proved the powder contained no narcotics of any kind.
29 “Well, if it isn’t heroin and it isn’t any other type of narcotic, what is it?” asked the inspector when he heard the results.
30 “I don’t know, but I’ve got a pretty good hunch,” answered the chemist. “I’ll run a third test and let you know.”
31 When the chemist completed his testing the next morning, he phoned the inspector. “Your man was carrying a sugar substitute called saccharine,” he said.
32 The inspector returned to the ship to have the seaman freed from detention and to question him further. “The powder wasn’t heroin,” he said, “It was saccharine. I’d like to know one thing. Why did you make such a big mystery of it?”
33 The seaman at last disclosed that he was a diabetic - a person whose system cannot properly absorb sugar - and that for months he had kept this fact from his shipmates and from the ship’s officers. He gave himself insulin shots secretly and used saccharine instead of sugar in his coffee. He had been fearful that if anyone aboard the ship learned he was a diabetic, he would be barred from going to sea - a fear that he was to learn was entirely groundless.
Questions & answers
How well did you read?
Do you remember why?
1. Customs officers searched the freighter because
| A someone had tipped them off |
| B the captain was a known smuggler |
| C neither A nor B |
2. The chemist ran a second test on the white powder because the
| A customs inspector asked him to |
| B results of the first test were inconclusive |
| C seaman didn’t believe the results |
3. The sailor didn’t want anyone to find out about the white powder because he feared he’d be
| A laughed at |
| B sent to jail |
| C barred from going to sea |
4. The customs inspector first assumed the seaman took narcotics when he saw
| A a bag of white powder |
| B a hypodermic needle |
| C neither A nor B |
How careful was your reading?
5. The customs inspector found the white powder
| A under a mattress |
| B on top of a table |
| C behind a locker |
6. The white powder turned out to be
| A insulin |
| B heroin |
| C saccharine |
7. The sailor was taking this powder because he was
| A a dope addict |
| B an alcoholic |
| C a diabetic |
What did the writer say?
8. When confronted with the hypodermic needle, the sailor
| A denied being a junkie |
| B broke down and confessed |
| C tried to jump overboard |
9. The customs inspector felt certain that the sailor was
| A guilty |
| B innocent |
| C insane |
How observant are you?
10. What did the seaman do that raised the inspector’s suspicion?
11. What are some body language signals that could give liars away?
| LO 3.8.2 |
| LO 3 |
| READING AND VIEWINGThe learner is able to read and view for information and enjoyment, and to respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and emotional values in texts. |
| We know this when the learner: |
| 3.1 reads and responds critically to a variety of South African and international fiction and non-fiction (journals, poetry, novels, short plays, newspapers, textbooks, etc.): |
| 3.1.2 uses appropriate reading and comprehension strategies (skimming, and scanning, predictions, contextual clues, inferences, monitoring comprehension, etc.); |
| 3.8 understands and uses information texts appropriately: |
| 3.8.2 selects and records relevant information appropriately; |
| 3.9 interprets and analyses independently details in graphical texts (maps, line graphs, bar graphs and pie charts) and transfers information from one form to another. |
| LO 4 |
| WRITINGThe learner is able to write different kinds of factual and imaginative texts for a wide range of purposes. |
| We know this when the learner: |
| 4.1 writes different kinds of texts for different purposes and audiences: |
| 4.1.1 writes for personal, exploratory, playful, imaginative and creative purposes (e.g. journals, poems, myths, dialogues, argumentative essays); |
| 4.1.2 writes informational texts expressing ideas clearly and logically for different audiences (e.g. research report, letter to the newspaper, technical instructions); |
| 4.3 presents work with attention to neatness and enhanced presentation (e.g. cover, content page, layout, and appropriate illustrations or graphics); |
| 4.4 applies knowledge of language at various levels: |
| 4.4.1 word level; |
| 4.4.2 sentence level; |
Answers to White Powder?
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Last edited by Siyavula Uploaders on May 15, 2009 6:09 am -0500.