English for Everybody - Elementary reading comprehension

Dracula

Page 37

 

An ancient building

"The estate is called Carfax. I'm sure the name has been changed over the years, and used to be 'Quatre Face' (four sides). This is because the house is four sided, with one side facing north, another south and so on. There are about twenty acres in the estate, and that solid stone wall all around it. There are many trees, so it is dark and shadowy in places. It has a deep, dark-looking pond or small lake. This lake is filled by water coming up from under the ground because the water is clear and flows away in a fair-sized stream. The house is very large and looks as if it is over five hundred years old. One part is built of stone and the wall is very thick. It has only a few windows high up with thick iron bars. It looks like part of a castle, and is close to an old church.

I could not enter the house, since I didn't have the key of the door, but I have photographed it from different places. Extra parts have been added to the house, but in a very untidy way. I can only guess exactly how big it is, but it is certainly very large. There are only a few houses nearby. One is a very large house which was recently rebuit into a private lunatic asylum. The asylum is not, however, visible from the estate"

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