PENGUIN READERS

Activity worksheets LEVEL 5 Teacher Support Programme

Outstanding Short Stories Photocopiable

While reading e has a hat and calls himself an
The Man Who Could Work Miracles unlucky .
1 Are these true or false? Write T or F and 4 Find out the answers.
change the false sentences so that they are a How long it would take Hughie to save
true. enough to marry Laura if he spent half his
a When Fotheringay performs his first allowance a year?
miracle, there are four other people in b How many times Hughies annual allowance
the inn. c is the picture of the beggar sold for?
b Fotheringay holds the lamp upside down. c c What percentage of his annual income did
c Most people in the inn think Fotheringay Hughie give to the beggar?
is very clever. c Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend
d After the shock of his first miracle, 5 a Who/What do these phrases describe?
Fotheringay starts to feel rather proud 1 a high priest of some ancient religion
of his ability. c about to kill a human being for the gods
e He can perform any miracle he wants
through willpower alone. c 2 a dog lying on his back at Gladyss feet
2 Solve these problems. with all four legs in the air
a Wells seems to have made a mistake in 3 a man, who, by mistake, has kicked a loyal
the text. According to him, what is the dog
approximate speed at which things on the 4 men who, if angry with a head gardener,
surface of the earth in England travel, would have him cut to pieces
expressed in miles per hour? What is the
speed at which he says everything had been b Find one more phrase or sentence that uses
thrown forward? What is the mistake? this type of humourous irony. Share it with
b Considering that the acceleration of gravity your class. What makes it funny?
(g) is around ten metres per square second 6 a Imagine that Wodehouse has given each
(10 m/s2) and that it took the cow that fell section of this story a heading. Which is
next to Fotheringay 24 seconds (t) to travel the heading of each section? Write the
up and another 24 seconds to travel down, numbers 15 next to them.
at what speed (v) was it thrown up, expressed 1 Dressed by strange forces ..
in metres per second (m/s), if v = t . g? 2 Dressed to speak ..
The Model Millionaire 3 Dressed to leave ..
3 Use the syllables in the box to form words and 4 Dressed with the wrong hat ..
complete the sentences. Who do they describe? 5 Dressed in what I want to wear ..
Write their names at the beginning. b Think of other possible headings for each
section. Share them with your class.
ing dev ing ly spot o grown ly
ty charm il roar faint ver ly The Dolls House
7 a Who/What was like
a has a face and
1 a queen under the tree? ..
an beard.
2 little dots? ..
b could be
3 two little cats?
crossed.
4 a chicken? ..
c smiled at
b Do you think the comparisons are effective?
Hughies good-hearted action.
Why?
d , when surprised, laughed
.

c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Outstanding Short Stories - Activity worksheets  of 2

 PENGUIN READERS
Activity worksheets LEVEL 5 Teacher Support Programme

Outstanding Short Stories Photocopiable

8 Answer these questions. Discuss your answers c I dont think they would have done me much
with your class. good.
a What is Kezia about to show to the Kelvey d I cannot let Susan take that from you.
girls when Aunt Beryl interrupts her? 13 What do the words in italics refer to?
b What is Else happy to have seen? a but Hetta was frightened at the trick.
c Do Kezia and Else have anything in common? (page 59)
If so, what? b But it mustnt have any meaning, sir,
9 Find in the text (page 64)
a somebody using power c that makes it worse. (page 64)
b an action used to show friendship d Young men say these things to amuse
themselves. (page 69)
c somebody not valuing a present 14 When he made a second picture for Susan,
Aaron said, I hope that it will neither burst
d an action used to hurt somebody and please with the cold nor be destroyed by the fire.
others Explain why
a he mentions bridges being destroyed by cold
X-ing a Paragraph
weather.
10 Do these sentences contain Fact (F) or
b he mentions bridges being destroyed by fire.
Possibility (P)?
c the bridge may be taken as a symbol of their
a Mr Bullet-head made a mistake in going
love.
to Nopolis. c
b The missing Os were taken by a man Lord Mountdrago
from the Daily News. c 15 Which of these words and phrases describe or
c Bob understood that he was to fight refer to:
the people in the Daily News office. c 1 Dr Audlin 2 Lord Mountdrago
d It is common practice in printing 3 both of them
offices to replace a letter they dont Write the correct number.
have by an X. c a good-looking ..
e People were angry at first about the b with strange powers ..
strange article. c c rude ..
11 In this paragraph, two vowels have been d tired pale blue eyes ..
replaced, by x and X. Which are they? e forty-two ..
Read the paragraph and find in the book a f large soft firm hands ..
paragraph that says the same. Write the page g rich ..
and paragraph number. h impatient ..
Thx cXnfusiXn that this strangx articlx causxd i successful ..
cannXt bx imaginxd. PxXplx first thXught that j well-known ..
thx strangx signs hid a dxvilish trick, and thxy 16 a Look up the word empathetic in your
rushxd tX Bullxt-hxads hXmx tX punish him, dictionary. Does the he in italics on page
but thxy cXuld nXt find him; hx had lxft, 93 suggest that Lord Mountdrago was or
nXbXdy knxw hXw and hx has nxvxr wasnt empathetic?
rxturnxd. b Find out what this sentence says. Do you
agree with it?
The Courtship of Susan Bell
If _o_d Mo_ _ _ _ _ag_ h_d
12 Who says the following, and who or what do
bee_ empathet_c with G_ _ff_ _hs,
the words in italics refer to?
pe_h_ps h_ wouldnt ha_e die_.
a There, show her my card.
b I am surprised that mother agreed to take
him.

c Pearson Education Limited 2008 Outstanding Short Stories - Activity worksheets of 2

 PENGUIN READERS
Progress test LEVEL 5 Teacher Support Programme

Outstanding Short Stories Photocopiable

The Man Who Could Work Miracles g the surname of the girl who asked Else if she would
1 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? be a servant
a d
a Mr Maydig was very enthusiastic about
Mr Fotheringays powers. c e

b With his new powers, Mr Fotheringay could f

make other people change their habits. c b g

c Mr Maydig wanted to use Mr Fotheringays

powers to his own benefit. c
c
d In the discussion between Mr Fotheringay
and Mr Beamish, Mr Beamish is right. c
The Model Millionaire
2 Make true sentences and put them in order. X-ing a Paragraph
Hughie 6 Choose the correct option.
a inherited 1 failed for lack of a Mr Bullet-head thought that his inflexibility was one
his fathers experience. .. of his strengths / weaknesses.
possessions 2 nobody bought b Mr Bullet-head brought his printing press from the
b traded tea but him. .. east / rented a printing press in Nopolis.
c bought and 3 they ended on a c The two editors published a total of four /
sold shares wall and a shelf in five editorial articles about each other in their
d sold wine his house. .. newspapers.
4 got tired of it. .. d Mr Bullet-head / Bobs master asked Bob to take the
3 a Circle the words that describe Hughie. Is from the Daily News offices.
sympathetic ironic friendly generous e The chief printer thought that using an X was a
b Oscar Wilde calls him useless. Do you think he good idea because nobody would read the article /
is? Why? the article was nonsense anyway.
Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend The Courtship of Susan Bell
4 Put these events in order. Write numbers 1 6. 7 Find 12 words of four letters or more related to
The head gardener the story in this chart. Only 7 are proper names.
a c threatens to leave and Lord Emsworth begs him The words/names can be in any direction.
to stay. R E T S I N I M E S A
b c is told that Gladys can pick all the flowers she N Y N A B L A L G N K
wants.
L A W Y E R T O D O A
c c decides to keep his position at Blandings Castle.
L S U X A N T V I R T
d c is hit by a stone thrown by a girl.
e c sees the girl who threw a stone at him and runs E E N G I N E E R A E
towards her. B N D U N N H R B A L
f c insists on his idea of cutting a path open among Lord Mountdrago
some trees. 8 a Are Lord Mountdrago and Dr Audlin similar (=)
The Dolls House or different () in these aspects?
5 Complete the crossword puzzle. 1 tolerance of the weaknesses of others c
Across 2 tendency to judge others c
a the name of the eldest sister 3 firmness in their decisions c
b the surname of the girls who owned the dolls house 4 pride in their knowledge and skill c
c the colour of the frames of the pictures on the walls 5 capacity to tolerate silences in conversation c
Down b Which of these aspects of their personalities
d the name of a Kelvey girl becomes clear in the exchange of calls between
e the name of a Kelvey girl Lord Mountdragos secretary and Dr Audlin?
f the place in which people thought Mr Kelvey was Circle the right number.

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