Introduction
Elizabeth (1864-1918) was the grand-daughter of Queen Victoria. Her husband Sergei was Tsar Nicholas II’s uncle and the Governor-General of Moscow; her younger sister Alix was the Tsar’s wife. Steadfastly opposed to violence and the abuse of power, she dedicated her life to peace-making and charity.
AFTER Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was assassinated by Marxist revolutionary Ivan Kalyayev on 18th February 1905, his widow Elizabeth, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria and the Tsar’s sister-in-law, went to see Kalyayev in jail.
Elizabeth understood only too well the grievances of Russia’s people. Her husband had once expelled twenty thousand Jews from the capital, and Elizabeth had warned him that such actions could only bring grief to their country, and to themselves.
But she understood, too, the futility of violence. She hoped that if Kalyayev would renounce it, her brother-in-law, the Tsar, might be persuaded to pardon him, and break the cycle. But Kalyayev was defiant.
Widowed and childless, Elizabeth now sold her possessions to found a convent and become a nun, nursing the sick and assisting the poor in Moscow’s slums.
But in 1917, the violence broke out again. Kalyayev’s Marxist confederates overthrew Tsar Nicholas, and took him, his wife Alix, who was Elizabeth’s younger sister, and their five children prisoner.
Précis
Elizabeth, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was the wife of the Tsar’s uncle Sergei, the Governor of Moscow. After Sergei was assassinated, Elizabeth tried unsuccessfully to get his murderer to renounce violence in the hope of a pardon. She dedicated the rest of her life to Moscow’s sick and poor, as a nun in a convent of her own foundation. (60 / 60 words)
Elizabeth, a grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, was the wife of the Tsar’s uncle Sergei, the Governor of Moscow. After Sergei was assassinated, Elizabeth tried unsuccessfully to get his murderer to renounce violence in the hope of a pardon. She dedicated the rest of her life to Moscow’s sick and poor, as a nun in a convent of her own foundation.
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Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, just, must, ought, until, whereas, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did Elizabeth visit her husband’s assassin in jail?
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Princess Alice was Queen Victoria’s daughter. She was Elizabeth’s mother. Her husband was Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
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