The quiet life of Huguette Clark

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Elementary A2

PDF: The quiet life of Huguette Clark

Warm-up

Do you know who Huguette Clark was? (Yes, she was... / No, I've never heard of her.)

Vocabulary Match

wealthy •• rich
grand •• many years
solitude •• a lot of money
wonder •• being alone
decades •• large
fortune •• think about

Vocabulary Answers

wealthyrich
grandlarge
solitudebeing alone
wonderthink about
decadesmany years
fortunea lot of money

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

Huguette Clark was a very rich woman, born in 1906 in the United States. She was the daughter of a ________ businessman. Despite having so much money, she decided to live a quiet life away from other people.

For the last 20 years of her life, she lived in a hospital room, even though she wasn't sick. She was happy there, surrounded by her dolls and paintings. People often wondered why a woman with many big houses chose to live in a small hospital room.

When she died in 2011, people were surprised to learn she still owned ________ empty homes. She hadn't visited them in ________ because she didn't like to go out. She had a huge ________ but lived like a normal person.

Huguette Clark's life is a unique story. It shows us that money can't always bring happiness and sometimes, people just prefer simple things and ________.

Huguette Clark was a very rich woman, born in 1906 in the United States. She was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. Despite having so much money, she decided to live a quiet life away from other people.

For the last 20 years of her life, she lived in a hospital room, even though she wasn't sick. She was happy there, surrounded by her dolls and paintings. People often wondered why a woman with many big houses chose to live in a small hospital room.

When she died in 2011, people were surprised to learn she still owned grand empty homes. She hadn't visited them in decades because she didn't like to go out. She had a huge fortune but lived like a normal person.

Huguette Clark's life is a unique story. It shows us that money can't always bring happiness and sometimes, people just prefer simple things and solitude.

Quiz

  1. What was Huguette Clark surrounded by in her hospital room?
  2. Why were people surprised when Huguette Clark died?
  3. Did Huguette Clark like to go out?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. She was surrounded by her dolls and paintings.
  2. Because she still owned grand empty homes.

True or False

  1. Huguette Clark was born in France. T F
  2. She was a very poor woman. T F
  3. She didn't like to go out. T F

True or False Answers

  1. False
  2. False
  3. True

Conversation

A:Hi Huguette, how are you today?
B:Oh, I'm fine. Just enjoying my paintings.
A:They're lovely. Have you thought about selling them?
B:No, I couldn't. They mean too much to me.
A:I understand. Well, I'll come back and check on you later.

Discussion

  1. Have you ever lived alone?
  2. What is your favorite thing to do when you're alone?
  3. Do you think money can buy happiness?
  4. What is the most important thing in life?

Further Reading

https://www.emptymansionsbook.com/about


MORE: