OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
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.
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.’ ...............
      20 marks  seven rooms come from?
2 Match a word from A with a definition
from B.
A ………………………………………..…………
1 ___ Evil
2 ___ Mad
3 ___ Terror
4 ___ Horror
5 ___ Imagination
B lantern, sword.
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  with an ................
3 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).
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? ..............
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COMPREHENSION TEST
d had the face of a dead man, covered with
blood? ...............
e could only eat food that almost had no
taste? ...............
      20 marks 
4 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
………………………………………..…………
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’?
………………………………………..…………
      20 marks 
5 Fill in the gaps using: axe, cloak, dragon,
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
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.
      20 marks 
      Total marks 
 
OXFORD BOOKWORMS COMPREHENSION TEST ANSWERS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination

1
a William Wilson
b The Black Cat
c The Fall of the House of Usher
d The Tell-Tale Heart
e The Masque of the Red Death

2
1 c
2 d
3 e
4 a
5 b

3
a William Wilson (the narrator)
b The old man
c Lady Madeleine Usher
d The stranger
e Roderick Usher

4
a A lake
b He became a heavy drinker
c Fires in the passages outside the rooms
d Rome
e Under the floor

5
a dragon
b axe
c cloak
d sword
e lantern

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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE
TEST
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
SETTING 8 William Wilson was different to the other
boys at school because he _____ the writer
Choose the best answer. of the story.
1 The writer visited the House of Usher a  was the best friend of
on _____. b  refused to obey
a  a beautiful summer day c  didn’t play with
b  a cold winter night d  didn’t talk to
c  a grey autumn day
9 Every night the man opened the old man’s
d  a sunny spring afternoon
door to put his _____ inside the room.
2 When he saw the House of Usher the writer a  head
felt _____. b  foot
a  happy c  lantern
b  sad d  bed
c  ill
10 On the _____ night he started opening the
d  terrible
door even more carefully.
3 Life changed for the man with the black cat a  second
when he _____. b  seventh
a  got married c  eighth
b  met his wife d  tenth
c  started drinking heavily
      20 marks 
d  started playing with animals
4 The man with the black cat felt sadness and
CHARACTERS
pain when he thought of _____.
a  killing his wife Choose the best answer.
b  hanging the cat from the tree 11 Roderick Usher was the _____ in his family.
c  cutting the cat’s eye from its socket a  only one with children
d  hiding his wife’s body b  last living man
5 Everybody was afraid of the Red Death c  richest man
because people _____. d  poorest man
a  wore red masks 12 Roderick Usher had to choose his clothes
b  had to wear red clothes very carefully because _____.
c  started to bleed from every part of their a  most of them hurt his skin
bodies b  he was very tall
d  died when they saw the colour c  his sister was ill
6 At Prince Prospero’s ball every man and d  he didn’t like black
woman was dressed _____. 13 Lady Madeleine’s coffin was taken to _____.
a  like a terrible dream a  the lake
b  in red b  her bedroom
c  in white c  the vaults
d  in beautiful clothes d  her brother’s bedroom
7 The writer in the story of William Wilson only 14 The man with the black cat got
listened to _____. married _____.
a  himself a  when he was quite young
b  his friends b  three times
c  his parents c  when he was old
d  William Wilson d  to a woman who did not like animals

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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE
TEST
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
15 Prince Prospero invited _____ people to
stay in one of his castles.
a  a hundred
b  two hundred
c  two thousand
d  a thousand
16 Prince Prospero tried to kill the masked
stranger with _____.
a  a sword
b  an axe
c  his hands
d  a rope
17 The only strange thing about William Wilson
was his _____.
a  clothing
b  voice
c  hair
d  face
18 Glendinning met the writer _____.
a  in Rome
b  at a party
c  playing cards
d  at university
19 The old man had a _____ eye, the eye of
a vulture.
a  green
b  blue
c  red
d  black
20 The writer hid the old man’s body _____.
a  under the wooden floor
b  behind the wall in the cellar
c  in a coffin in the vaults
d  in the garden
      20 marks 

WHICH WAS YOUR FAVOURITE STORY?

WHY?

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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE
TEST
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
29 ‘And then I heard a sound. Hadn’t I told you 37 a big dangerous animal with fire in its
that my hearing was excellent?’ mouth, which lives only in stories
a  the old man a  vulture
b  the writer b  plunge
c  a policeman c  dragon
d  a neighbour d  evil
30 ‘Stop pretending that you cannot hear it!’ 38 with little colour in the face
a  the neighbour a  mask
b  a policeman b  tears
c  the old man c  socket
d  the writer d  pale
      20 marks  39 to move suddenly by accident, and fall or
almost fall
VOCABULARY a  slip
b  plunge
Choose the best answer. c  throw
31 a feeling of deep sadness and hopelessness d  whisper
a  anger 40 the sound of a bell in a clock
b  gloom a  advice
c  evil b  chime
d  mad c  outlined
32 not kind; bringing pain or trouble to d  paint
someone       20 marks 
a  cruel
b  crack
PLOT
c  horror
d  terror Choose the best answer.
33 very great fear 41 Lady Madeleine was Roderick
a  mad Usher’s _____.
b  hell a  mother
c  terror b  sister
d  horrible c  daughter
d  friend
34 a narrow way in a building
a  passage 42 Roderick Usher was killed by _____.
b  vault a  the writer
c  cellar b  his own terror
d  plaster c  his illness
d  Ethelred
35 a thin line of light
a  chime 43 The black cat had the shape of _____ on
b  candle its chest.
c  ray a  the gallows
d  mask b  an axe
c  a vulture
36 a wide loose coat without sleeves
d  a mask
a  cloak
b  chest
c  crack
d  chime

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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE
TEST
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
44 The man killed his wife with an axe
because _____.
a  she wanted to leave him
b  she stopped him killing the cat
c  she didn’t want to go to the cellar
d  she killed the cat
45 When the man with the black cat killed his
wife he hid her body _____.
a  in the vaults
b  in the lake
c  under the wooden floor
d  behind the walls of the cellar
46 Prince Prospero was in _____ when he saw
the masked stranger.
a  the cellar
b  his bedroom
c  the blue room
d  the vaults
47 The Prince’s friends were all too frightened
to _____ the masked stranger.
a  touch
b  look at
c  talk to
d  run towards
48 _____ lost everything he had playing cards.
a  William Wilson
b  The writer
c  Mr Preston
d  Glendinning
49 The writer realized that every time Wilson
appeared he had never seen his _____.
a  cloak
b  face
c  mask
d  clothes
50 The writer put his _____ on the place where
he had hidden the body.
a  bed
b  foot
c  chair
d  ears
      20 marks 

      Total marks 

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ANSWERS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination

SETTING PLOT
1 c 41 b
2 b 42 b
3 c 43 a
4 c 44 b
5 c 45 d
6 c 46 c
7 a 47 a
8 b 48 d
9 a 49 b
10 c 50 c

CHARACTERS
11 b
12 a
13 c
14 a
15 d
16 a
17 b
18 d
19 b
20 a

DIALOGUE
21 c
22 b
23 b
24 d
25 d
26 a
27 b
28 a
29 b
30 d

VOCABULARY
31 b
32 a
33 c
34 a
35 c
36 a
37 c
38 d
39 a
40 b

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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
BEFORE READING
Activity 1
1F 2T 3F 4T 5F
Activity 2
Encourage speculation, but do not give the
students the answers yet. Ask them to
think of ways in which the various
objects might be connected to the
different titles. The correct answers are:
 The Fall of the House of Usher: a strange
book
 The Black Cat: an axe
 The Masque of the Red Death: a large black
clock
 William Wilson: a game of cards
 The Tell-tale Heart: a blue eye
WHILE READING
The Fall of the House of Usher
1 Why . . .? Because the narrator was his only
friend, and the only person who could help
him in his illness.
2 Who . . .? Lady Madeleine.
3 Where . . .? In one of the vaults under the
house.
4 Why . . .? Because he could hear some low
sounds somewhere in the house and he was
trying to shake off his fear.
5 What . . .? He read to him.
6 What . . .? He realized that they had put
Lady Madeleine alive into her coffin.
7 Who . . .? Lady Madeleine.
8 What . . .? It broke and fell into the lake.
The Black Cat
1T
2 F Pluto the cat was the narrator’s favourite
animal.
3 F When Pluto bit the narrator, he cut one of
its eyes out from its socket.
4T
5 F The new cat looked the same as Pluto
except for a white mark on its front.
6T
7 F After he killed his wife, the narrator slept
well.
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BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
8 F The police found the dead woman and
the living cat together behind the wall.
The Masque of the Red Death
1 Prince Prospero.
2 A thousand of his strong and brave friends.
3 Because the Prince and his friends locked the
gates and threw away the keys.
4 Blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet,
black.
5 A huge black clock.
6 A masked figure who had not been there
before.
7 The white clothes of the dead.
8 He felt afraid and then angry.
9 Because they were too frightened.
10 The Prince fell down dead on the ground.
11 Nothing.
12 Darkness and the Red Death.
William Wilson
1+9 2+12 3+8 4+14 5+11 6+13 7+10
The narrator had to leave Oxford for Europe
because everyone knew that he was a cheat
at cards. But in every city that he visited the
other William Wilson appeared. When he had
evil plans, the other Wilson stopped them. At
first the narrator obeyed Wilson’s orders, but
then he began drinking heavily. This made
him feel brave and strong and he thought
that he could break away from his enemy. At
last, at a party in Rome, the narrator took his
sword and killed the other man. But when he
looked at his enemy’s face, he saw that it
was the same as his own.
The Tell-tale Heart
1 Because of his disease the narrator had
excellent hearing.
2 The old man had never hurt the narrator in
any way.
3 The narrator decided to kill the old man
because of his blue eye.
4 The narrator took sixty minutes to put his
head inside the old man’s room.
5 The old man could not see or hear the
narrator in his room. / could feel the narrator
in his room.
6 The narrator felt angry when he saw the old
man’s eye.
 
 OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
7 The narrator pulled a heavy bed on top of the
old man.
8 He hid the old man’s dead body under the
floor.
9 The policemen came to the house because a
neighbour had heard a loud shout there.
10 The narrator told the police that the old man
was away in the country.
11 When the narrator spoke more loudly, the
noise in the room became louder.
12 The noise in the room was the beating of the
old man’s heart.
AFTER READING
Activity 1
Dear Sarah
I have been here for a week now. Usher was
pleased to see me, but he has changed so
much since our last meeting. He has a
strange disease, which makes him very thin,
pale and nervous. Since I arrived, we
havespent a lot of time together. I try to help
him, but his sadness is too deep, and
sometimes I am frightened by his fantastic
ideas.
Two days ago Usher’s sister Madeleine died, so
I must stay here a little longer. Although I
hate this house of gloom and madness, I
must help my friend, who needs me very
much. When he feels stronger, I will leave
this terrible place for ever.
With love, Nathaniel
Activity 2
5 9+2 10+4 12 1+7 14+11 13 8+3 6
On the 7th July we went to 51 Baker Street. After
we had searched the rooms upstairs, the
owner took us down to the cellar. We found
nothing unusual there so we got ready to
leave. Then the owner began to tell us how
well built the house was. He knocked on one
of the cellar walls with his stick, and
suddenly we heard a sound from behind the
wall. At first it was a soft cry, but then it
became a loud and terrible scream. We
began to pull the wall down. Soon we found
the dead body of a woman, and on top of
her head there was a black cat with one eye.
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BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
The cat was making the terrible sound that
we had heard.
Activity 3
Students can complete this how they like;
possible answers might be:
PRINCE: Who are you?
STRANGER: You know who I am.
PRINCE : How did you get in? The gates to the
castle are locked, and I have thrown
away the keys.
STRANGER : I do not need a key to pass through a
locked gate.
PRINCE : Leave my castle at once! Or I will kill
you
with this sword.
STRANGER : I will not leave. And your sword
cannot
hurt me.
PRINCE: But what is your name?
STRANGER : I have many names, but tonight I am
called the Red Death.
PRINCE: Why have you come here tonight?
STRANGER : Because, Prince Prospero, it is time
for
you to die.
Activity 4
There is no right answer to this question.
Encourage students to discuss their
interpretation of this story, and the effect
of making ‘the voice of the conscience’
seem like a separate character.
Activity 5
1 I no longer play cards. I am known to be a
cheat, which is no better than a thief. Once,
when I tried to win a lot of money by
cheating, I was caught and told to leave
Oxford at once. But the man that I tried to
destroy was saved.
2 At Oxford I was a clever and successful
gambler. It was an easy way to make
money. I used special cards, which I hid
inside my sleeve. I only played with stupid
 
 OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination
people, but sadly, one day I was caught, and
so had to leave England.
3 Tonight the Duke Di Broglio’s wife has
agreed to meet me in a room where we can
be alone. She is young, beautiful, and not
very clever – and tonight she will be mine! I
shall fight anybody who tries to stop me.
4 I spend my life searching for pleasure.
Tonight I have planned a secret meeting with
the Duke’s wife. She is beautiful, but not
clever enough to recognize an evil man
when she sees one. Somebody should warn
her about me.
Encourage students to look at the attitudes
conveyed by the different words used by
Wilson about himself. In passages 1 and
4 he uses cheat, thief, evil, so this
attitude represents his ‘good’ side.
Passages 2 and 3 show his ‘bad’ side –
he refers to other people as stupid, and
congratulates himself on his success as
a gambler and with women.
Activity 6
7 POLICEMAN: Now, sir, what’s the problem?
2 NEIGHBOUR : Well, there was a terrible noise
tonight from the house next door – like a
great shout or a scream.
13 POLICEMAN: What time did you hear this
scream?
5 NEIGHBOUR: I’m not sure – about two o’clock
perhaps.
12 POLICEMAN: Two o’clock. I see. And were
there any more screams?
11 NEIGHBOUR : No, just one. But after that there
was a loud bang – like something heavy
falling to the floor.
8 POLICEMAN: So what did you do then?
6 NEIGHBOUR : I went to the window and looked
out. I didn’t see anyone, but there was a
light in
the old man’s room.
1 POLICEMAN: This old man – do you know him?
10 NEIGHBOUR : Oh yes – he’s a very nice man. A
younger man lives in the house too – but
10
BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
he’s a bit strange.
3 POLICEMAN: Strange? In what way?
9 NEIGHBOUR: He talks to himself – and he has
really wild eyes.
4 P OLICEMAN: Hmm. I think I should go next
door and ask a few questions. Thank
you for
telling us about this.
Activity 7
1 One of Prince Prospero’s friends in The
Masque of the Red Death. The clock is
striking midnight, and people have noticed
the stranger for the first time.
2 The old man in The Tell-Tale Heart. The
narrator has just made a noise with his
lantern and woken the old man up.
3 The cat in The Black Cat. The narrator has
hidden the dead body of his wife behind a
cellar wall, which he has just rebuilt, but the
cat is in there too, just waiting for a chance
to scream.
4 Lady Madeleine in The Fall of the House of
Usher. She is in her coffin in a vault under
the house, and she is just about to break
open the coffin and climb out.
5 Glendinning in William Wilson. He is
gambling with Wilson, in Mr Preston’s rooms
in Oxford. Wilson is winning (because he is
cheating, and using special cards), and
Glendinning is becoming worried about
losing all his money.
Activity 8
Some possible answers (but many other
combinations are possible):
 The Fall of the House of Usher: deep gloom,
strange disease, violent storm
 The Black Cat: violent murder, mysterious
animal, terrible scream
 The Masque of the Red Death: fantastic
castle, mysterious stranger, terrible disease
 William Wilson: violent anger, evil plan,
strange fear
 The Tell-tale Heart: wild idea, frightening
sound, silent house
Activity 9
The Fall of the House of Usher
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 OXFORD BOOKWORMS BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
Stage 3
Tales of Mystery and Imagination

 HOUSE DISAPPEARS IN STORM

 STRANGE DEATHS OF BROTHER AND
SISTER
The Black Cat
 CAT CALLS POLICE TO BODY
 ANIMAL LOVER ARRESTED FOR MURDER
The Masque of the Red Death
 FANTASTIC PARTY ENDS IN DEATH
 THE RICH AND THE CRUEL PUNISHED AT
LAST
William Wilson
 IS THIS THE MOST EVIL MAN IN EUROPE?
 MAN KILLS ENEMY – AND MURDERS SELF
The Tell-Tale Heart
 KILLER HIDES BODY, THEN TELLS POLICE
 ‘I CAN’T ESCAPE TERRIBLE SOUND,’ MAD
KILLER TELLS POLICE

Activity 10
Open answers.

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