AW-Tales of Mystery and Imagination

Activity worksheets
LEVEL 5
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
While reading
William Wilson
1 Are these statements about the events and
information contained in the story true (T)
or not true (NT)? Correct the errors you find.
a As a boy, William Wilson went to school
in a large city in England.
c
………………………………………………
b The two William Wilsons started school
on the same day.
c
………………………………………………
c William Wilson was a student at
Cambridge University.
c
………………………………………………
d Lord Glendinning suggested that he and
Wilson play cards.
c
………………………………………………
e William Wilson went to Rome after he
was found cheating at cards.
c
………………………………………………
The Gold-Bug
2 Match each person or thing with the correct
description.
A
a Sullivan’s Island
b Jupiter
c G_____
1)
2)
3)
d Bessop’s Castle
4)
e Captain Kidd
5)
B
Legrand’s friend
a high rock
the person who
buried the gold
The place where
Legrand lives
Legrand’s servant
The Fall of the House of Usher
3 Put the following events in the right order.
a c Usher dies of shock.
b c The door opens and Lady Madeleine in
standing there.
c c Usher and the narrator paint and read
together.
d c The house splits in two and then
disappears.
e c Usher and the narrator place Lady
Madeleine under the house.
f c The narrator reads the story of Ethelred
to Usher.
g c Usher invites the narrator to stay.
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The Red Death
4 Choose the best answer to each of the
following questions.
a Whom did Prince Prospero invite to join him
in his castle? …..
1) All the survivors of the Red Death.
2) One hundred healthy lords and ladies.
3) One thousand lords and ladies.
b How did the people inside the castle make
sure that nobody else could get in? …..
1) They put armed guards on all the gates.
2) They closed the tall gates and melted the
locks.
3) They dug a deep moat around the castle.
c What provided the light in the seven rooms
used for the dance? …..
1) The moonlight shone through the
windows.
2) Each room was filled with candles.
3) Fires were lit outside the windows.
d Why did the dancing stop briefly every
hour? …..
1) Because the musicians stopped playing
to listen to the black clock.
2) Because Prospero ordered everybody to
listen to the black clock.
3) Because the servants brought drinks to
toast Prospero’s health.
e How did Prince Prospero try to kill the
mysterious figure? …..
1) By throwing it through the open window.
2) By striking it with his sword.
3) By shooting it with his gun.
The Barrel of Amontillado
5 Use one word to complete the following
sentences.
a Fortunato is very ………… of his knowledge
of wine.
b Montresor and Fortunado ………… a great
interest in wine.
c Montresor says that he thinks he has bought
Amontillado but that he has his ………… .
d Fortunato tells his companion that he will not
………… of a cough.
e Montresor uses a ………… to tie Fortunado
to the wall.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Activity worksheets of 2
Activity worksheets
LEVEL 5
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
The Whirlpool
6 Who is who? What is what? Complete the
sentences below with a word from the box.
Lofoden Ramus Moskoe
Vurrgh Helseggen Moskoe-ström
a The rock from which they watch the
whirlpool is called ……………… .
b The larger of the two islands near the
whirlpool is called ……………… .
c The man who wrote a description of
how the whirlpool functioned was called
……………… .
d The place where the fishermen come from is
called ……………… .
e The name the Norwegians give the whirlpool
is ……………… .
f The smaller of the two islands near the
whirlpool is called ……………… .
The Pit and the Pendulum
7 Put A and B together to make complete
sentences.
a
b
c
d
e
f
A
The prisoner
measures the
dimensions of his
cell by
The prisoner’s food
and drink was
The roof of the
prisoner’s cell was
painted with a
figure of
The prisoner frees
himself when he is
tied to the bed by
The prisoner nearly
falls into
The prisoner is
finally rescued by
B
1) rats eating through
his bonds.
2) Father Time.
3) walking round the
room and counting
his paces.
4) a pit in the middle
of his cell.
5) the French Army.
6) bread and water.
The Stolen Letter
8 Who is talking, what are they talking about,
and to whom are they talking?
a ‘That is another of your strange ideas.’
………………………………………………
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b ‘Give us more details.’
………………………………………………
c ‘The Paris police are very clever in the
ordinary way.’
………………………………………………
d ‘How much was the reward, did you say?’
………………………………………………
e ‘But is D_____ really a poet?’
………………………………………………
Metzengerstein
9 Correct the following sentences.
a The Berliftzings and the Metzengersteins had
been enemies for two generations.
………………………………………………
b The Berliftzing family was the richest in
Hungary.
………………………………………………
c The mysterious horse had the initials of
Frederick von Metzengerstein on its forehead.
………………………………………………
d William von Berlingfitzing died in a hunting
accident.
………………………………………………
e Frederick von Metzengerstein died in the
forest as he tried to run away from the fire
at his palace.
………………………………………………
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
10 Match the witnesses (A) with their evidence (B).
A
B
a Pauline Dubourg 1) Madame L’Espanaye
opened a bank
account eight years
ago.
b Isidore Musèt
2) The cries lasted about
ten minutes.
c Henri Duval
3) I carried the money
to the house in two
bags.
d Odenheimer
4) I’m sure they don’t
have a servant.
e Jules Mignaud
5) I forced open the
door with an iron bar.
f Adolphe le Bon 6) The high voice was
not that of either of
the dead women.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Activity worksheets
2 of 2
Progress test
PENGUIN READERS
Teacher Support Programme
LEVEL 5
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
1 In which stories do the following things happen?
William Wilson The Gold-Bug
The Fall of the House of Usher The Red Death
The Barrel of Amontillado The Whirlpool
The Pit and the Pendulum The Stolen Letter
Metzengerstein The Murders in the Rue Morgue
a A man breaks a code and finds buried treasure.
………………………
b A man invites his victim into a deep cellar and
tells him he needs him to taste an expensive wine.
………………………
c A rich young man becomes obsessed with a
beautiful horse. ………………………
d A fisherman tells the tale of how he cheated
death in the midst of incredible danger.
………………………
e The police are unable to find something which is in
fact right under their noses. ………………………
f Several people give different descriptions of the
same events. ………………………
g A man tells how he managed to cheat death
at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition.
………………………
h A brother is so sad about the death of his
sister that he thinks he has buried her alive.
………………………
i A group of rich people try to save themselves
from death by locking themselves inside a castle.
………………………
j A man is convinced he is being followed by his
namesake. ………………………
2 Who is who? Complete the following sentences
with the names from the box. Sometimes, there
may be more than one correct answer.
Glendinning Roderick Usher C Auguste Dupin
Frederick von Berliftzing Camille L’Espanay
Fortunado Prince Prospero
a ……………………… was a rather innocent
young man and William Wilson took advantage of
him.
b His pride and his great knowledge of wine led
……………………… to a horrible death.
c The character of ……………………… is seen in
two of the stories in this collection.
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d The dead body of ……………………… was
hidden in a chimney.
e ……………………… enjoyed holding expensive
parties for his friends.
f ……………………… was very sad when his sister
fell ill.
g ……………………… loved riding horses and
hunting.
3 Correct the factual errors in the following
summary.
(a) In The Pit and the Pendulum a prisoner recounts
his experiences at the hands of the French Army. He
is thrown into a dark cell and (b) soon realises there is
a deep pit by the door of the room from which there
would be no escape. (c) Having unsuccessfully avoided
falling into the pit, he awakes to find himself tied to
the bed beneath an enormous swinging pendulum
at the (d) end of which there is a heavy weight. As
the (e) weight slowly descends, coming ever-closer
(f ) to his head, he begins to give up hope of survival.
But suddenly he has an idea (g) that brings him new
hope and he manages to avoid being crushed by the
swinging knife by (h) attracting mice to eat through
his bonds. All his efforts seem to have been no help
however (i) when the floor of the cell begins to close
in on him.
4 Complete the sentences with words from the box.
attack
human nearly savagely sounds
stolen voices witnesses
In The Murders in the Rue Morgue. two women have
been (a) ………… murdered in their home in an
apparently motiveless (b) ………… . Although
the women had money in the house, nothing was
(c) ………… . Witnesses didn’t see anything, but
(d) ………… all of them say they heard two voices
coming from inside the women’s apartment. One of
the (e) ………… was that of a Frenchman, but the
(f ) ………… all give a different account of the second
voice – one says it was a Russian voice, another thinks
it was an Italian voice, others say they heard English
or German (g) ………… Dupin doubts that the voice
was (h) ………… at all.
Tales of Mystery and Imagination - Progress test of