Tales of Mystery and Imagination
COMPREHENSION
TEST
1
Which of the five stories do the following sentences
come from? The Fall of the House of Usher, The Black
Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, William Wilson,
The Tell-Tale Heart.
4
20 marks
Match a word from A with a definition from B.
20 marks
A
1
2
3
4
5
evil
mad
terror
horror
imagination
5
Fill in the gaps using: axe, cloak, dragon, lantern,
sword.
a In Roderick Usher’s favourite book, The Sad,
Mad life of Sir Launcelot Canning, Ethelred
fights a ..............., with fire coming out of its
mouth.
b The narrator of The Black Cat kills his wife
with an ................ .
c William Wilson had a very unusual and
expensive ..............., which a shop made
specially for him.
d William Wilson killed the other William Wilson
with a ................ .
e The murderer in The Tell-Tale Heart looked at
the old man with a ............... at night.
B
a a feeling of great fear or dislike
b making pictures in your mind
c very bad, very wrong
d with a sick mind
e very great fear
20 marks
3
Answer these questions. There is one about each of
the stories.
a What was next to the House of Usher, and
finally closed over it?
..........................................................................
b What changed the narrator in The Black Cat
from a quiet gentle man into a violent one?
..........................................................................
c Where did the light for Prince Prospero’s seven
rooms come from?
..........................................................................
d In which city did William Wilson kill the other
William Wilson?
..........................................................................
e Where did the murderer put the old man’s body
and his ‘tell-tale heart’?
..........................................................................
a ‘At Oxford I spent a lot of my time gambling.’
...............
b ‘I decided to hide the body behind the walls of
the cellar.’ ...............
c ‘He painted strange pictures, and sang
mysterious songs with wild words.’ ...............
d ‘I opened the lantern a little and a thin ray of
light fell on his eye.’ ...............
e ‘But no one was brave enough now to enter the
black room.’ ...............
2
Edgar Allan Poe
Use these five names to answer the questions:
Roderick Usher, Lady Madeleine Usher, the stranger
(in The Masque of the Red Death), William Wilson
(the narrator), the old man (in The Tell-Tale Heart).
20 marks
Who . . .
a . . . nearly took all the money of a man called
Glendinning? ...............
b . . . had a pale blue eye like the eye of a vulture?
...............
c . . . was buried alive in a vault under an old
house? ..............
d . . . had the face of a dead man, covered with
blood? ...............
e . . . could only eat food that almost had no
taste? ...............
Total marks
20 marks
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STAge 3
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Tales of Mystery and Imagination
12 Roderick Usher had to choose his clothes very
carefully because
.
a F most of them hurt his skin b F he was
very tall c F his sister was ill d F he didn’t
like black
13 Lady Madeleine’s coffin was taken to
.
a F the lake b F her bedroom
c F the vaults d F her brother’s bedroom
14 The man with the black cat got married
.
a F when he was quite young b F three times
c F when he was old d F to a woman who did
not like animals
15 Prince Prospero invited
people to stay in
one of his castles.
a F a hundred b F two hundred
c F two thousand d F a thousand
16 Prince Prospero tried to kill the masked stranger
with
.
a F a sword b F an axe c F his hands
d F a rope
17 The only strange thing about William Wilson
was his
.
a F clothing b F voice c F hair d F face
18 Glendinning met the writer
.
a F in Rome b F at a party c F playing cards
d F at university
19 The old man had a
eye, the eye of a vulture.
a F green b F blue c F red d F black
20 The writer hid the old man’s body
.
a F under the wooden floor b F behind the
wall in the cellar c F in a coffin in the vaults
d F in the garden
Setting
Choose the best answer.
M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e
T e sT
Edgar Allan Poe
1 The writer visited the House of Usher on
.
a F a beautiful summer day
b F a cold winter night c F a grey autumn day
d F a sunny spring afternoon
2 When he saw the House of Usher the writer felt
.
a F happy b F sad c F ill d F terrible
3 Life changed for the man with the black cat
when he
.
a F got married b F met his wife
c F started drinking heavily
d F started playing with animals
4 The man with the black cat felt sadness and
pain when he thought of
.
a F killing his wife b F hanging the cat from
the tree c F cutting the cat’s eye from its
socket d F hiding his wife’s body
5 Everybody was afraid of the Red Death because
people
.
a F wore red masks b F had to wear red clothes
c F started to bleed from every part of their
bodies d F died when they saw the colour
6 At Prince Prospero’s ball every man and woman
was dressed
.
a F like a terrible dream b F in red
c F in white d F in beautiful clothes
7 The writer in the story of William Wilson only
listened to
.
a F himself b F his friends c F his parents
d F William Wilson
8 William Wilson was different to the other boys at
school because he
the writer of the story.
a F was the best friend of b F refused to obey
c F didn’t play with d F didn’t talk to
9 Every night the man opened the old man’s door
to put his
inside the room.
a F head b F foot c F lantern d F bed
10 On the
night he started opening the door
even more carefully.
a F second b F seventh c F eighth
d F tenth
20 marks
Dialogue
Who said or thought this?
21 ‘You will probably not see her again alive.’
a F Lady Madeleine b F the family doctor
c F Roderick Usher d F the writer
22 ‘Let’s close the window and read together.’
a F Roderick Usher b F the writer
c F Lady Madeleine d F the family doctor
23 ‘The next day I went back into the house and I
saw several people standing in a group, looking
at a wall.’
a F a policeman b F the writer
c F the writer’s wife d F a neighbour
20 marks
Characters
Choose the best answer.
11 Roderick Usher was the
in his family.
a F only one with children b F last living man
c F richest man d F poorest man
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Tales of Mystery and Imagination
24 ‘Do you see how well built this house is? These
walls, you will notice, are very strong.’
a F the writer’s wife b F a neighbour
c F a policeman d F the writer
25 ‘Who is mad enough to play games with us, and
with death, in this way?’
a F the Red Death b F the writer
c F Prince Prospero d F a friend
26 ‘Let’s double the stakes.’
a F Glendinning b F Mr Preston
c F the writer d F William Wilson
27 ‘I have had enough trouble from you! This is the
last time you’ll follow me anywhere!’
a F Glendinning b F the writer
c F William Wilson d F the Duke Di Broglio
28 ‘You have won, and I have lost. But from this
moment you, too, are dead – dead to the world,
to Heaven, and to hope!’
a F William Wilson b F Glendinning
c F Mr Preston d F the Duke Di Broglio
29 ‘And then I heard a sound. Hadn’t I told you
that my hearing was excellent?’
a F the old man b F the writer
c F a policeman d F a neighbour
30 ‘Stop pretending that you cannot hear it!’
a F the neighbour b F a policeman
c F the old man d F the writer
Edgar Allan Poe
39 to move suddenly by accident, and fall or almost
fall
a F slip b F plunge c F throw d F whisper
40 the sound of a bell in a clock
a F advice b F chime c F outlined d F paint
20 marks
Plot
41 Lady Madeleine was Roderick Usher’s
.
a F mother b F sister c F daughter
d F friend
42 Roderick Usher was killed by
.
a F the writer b F his own terror
c F his illness d F Ethelred
43 The black cat had the shape of
on its chest.
a F the gallows b F an axe c F a vulture
d F a mask
44 The man killed his wife with an axe because
.
a F she wanted to leave him b F she stopped
him killing the cat c F she didn’t want to go
to the cellar d F she killed the cat
45 When the man with the black cat killed his wife
he hid her body
.
a F in the vaults b F in the lake
c F under the wooden floor
d F behind the walls of the cellar
46 Prince Prospero was in
when he saw the
masked stranger.
a F the cellar b F his bedroom
c F the blue room d F the vaults
47 The Prince’s friends were all too frightened to
the masked stranger.
a F touch b F look at c F talk to
d F run towards
48
lost everything he had playing cards.
a F William Wilson b F The writer
c F Mr Preston d F Glendinning
49 The writer realized that every time Wilson
appeared he had never seen his
.
a F cloak b F face c F mask d F clothes
50 The writer put his
on the place where he
had hidden the body.
a F bed b F foot c F chair d F ears
20 marks
Vocabulary
Choose the best answer.
31 a feeling of deep sadness and hopelessness
a F anger b F gloom c F evil d F mad
32 not kind; bringing pain or trouble to someone
a F cruel b F crack c F horror d F terror
33 very great fear
a F mad b F hell c F terror d F horrible
34 a narrow way in a building
a F passage b F vault c F cellar d F plaster
35 a thin line of light
a F chime b F candle c F ray d F mask
36 a wide loose coat without sleeves
a F cloak b F chest c F crack d F chime
37 a big dangerous animal with fire in its mouth,
which lives only in stories
a F vulture b F plunge c F dragon d F evil
38 with little colour in the face
a F mask b F tears c F socket d F pale
20 marks
Total marks
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M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e
T e sT
Choose the best answer.
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