03/07/2020 The Big Speckled Band Quiz

The Big Speckled Band Quiz

Show your understanding of our detective fiction story by underlining or highlighting the
correct answer to each question.
*Required

1. Email address *

2. Name please *

3. 1. Why is Helen Stoner afraid when she comes to see Sherlock Holmes at 1 point
the beginning of the story? *

Mark only one oval.

Her stepfather has been killed and his money is missing.

Her mother is missing and her stepfather doesn’t seem upset.

Her sister was murdered and she fears for her own safety.

4. 2. How was Julia Stoner murdered? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

A snake was released into her room through a ventilator.

Her stepfather pulled the bars on the window apart and poisoned her.

The cheetah got in through the trap door.

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03/07/2020 The Big Speckled Band Quiz

5. 3. How is Helen’s situation similar to her sister Julia’s before she died? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

She is also poor and running away from home.

She is also to be married and is sleeping in the same room.

She has also just returned from India and likes cheetahs.

6. 4. When Helen asks if Julia was killed by fear, Sherlock assures her that… * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

The perpetrator is supernatural, and the murder weapon has vanished.

The perpetrator is real and the murder weapon can be seen or touched.

The whole mystery is very confusing and unsolvable.

7. 5. Which of the following questions best sums up the mystery which 1 point

Sherlock Holmes must solve? *

Mark only one oval.

Why would anyone want to murder an innocent young girl?

Why don’t the fingerprints on the speckled band match those of the prime suspect?

How did the perpetrator get into a locked room and kill the victim without a trace?

8. 6. The writer made it clear that Sherlock Holmes had solved the mystery 1 point

before testing his theory. Did the writer do this to… *

Mark only one oval.

Show how silly Helen Stoner is?

Show that Sherlock Holmes has strong powers of deduction?

Show that Doctor Watson has an excellent memory?

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9. 7. Why does Sherlock Holmes quickly suspect that Doctor Roylott is the 1 point

perpetrator? *

Mark only one oval.

Doctor Roylott’s wife died under suspicious circumstances.

Doctor Roylott has poisoned people in the past.

Doctor Roylott is violent and has a financial motive.

10. 8. What is a red herring? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

A delicious fish to be eaten with chips.

A name for misleading information.

A lie told by a perpetrator.

11. 9. What was the significance of the ‘band of gipsies’ living on Doctor 1 point
Roylott’s land? *

Mark only one oval.

They were red herrings as they didn’t have a part in the murder.

They were the perpetrators as they helped Doctor Roylott to kill Julia.

They were Doctor Roylott’s next victims.

12. 10. What is the significance of Doctor Roylott’s interest in Indian animals? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

It was a red herring and doesn’t provide any evidence.

The murder ‘weapon’ turns out to be an Indian animal.

The cheetah helps track down the murderer.

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03/07/2020 The Big Speckled Band Quiz

13. 11. Which two sounds are important in solving the crime? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

A ticking clock and a ringing bell.

A barking dog and a police siren.

A whistling and metallic clang.

14. 12. Why do you think the author decided to include the part of the story 1 point

where Doctor Roylott turns up to Sherlock Holmes’ office and threatens

him?

Mark only one oval.

To show Sherlock Holmes is frightened, slowing the action down.

To increase the tension and motivate the detective.

To show who the perpetrator is at the beginning of the story.

15. 13. Why do Holmes and Watson wait for a signal (a flashing lamp) from 1 point

Helen Stoner? *

Mark only one oval.

They don’t want the perpetrator to know that they are there.

The signal means that the mystery is solved.

He wants to make sure that everyone’s asleep.

16. 14. Why does Sherlock Holmes make the statement: ‘violence does, in 1 point

truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer (villain) falls into the pit
which he digs for another’? *

Mark only one oval.

Helen Stoner is revealed to be the true criminal in the end.

Doctor Roylott is poisoned by the snake he used to kill Julia.

Sherlock Holmes is injured in the trap he sets for Doctor Roylott.

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17. 15. What was the speckled band? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

A spotted scarf.

A poisonous necklace.

A poisonous snake.

18. 16. What were the murder victim’s final words? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

“Call Sherlock Holmes...Now!”

“It was the band! The speckled band!”

“He wants our money. Save yourself!”

19. 17. Why is it important to find out about the crime/murder at the beginning 1 point

of a detective fiction story? *

Mark only one oval.

The detective has to have something to do.

The story then explores the mystery and is solved at the end.

The reader will enjoy a story that begins with violence.

20. 18. Why is it crucial that the detective explains his inferences at the end of 1 point

the story? *

Mark only one oval.

So that the reader can fully understand what happened.

Because they’ve been paid to explain the mystery.

So that he/she can show how clever they are.

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03/07/2020 The Big Speckled Band Quiz

21. 19. Why do most people enjoy reading detective stories? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

They often involve supernatural elements and readers like to feel scared of the
perpetrator.

They are full of mystery and they like to try and solve the crime alongside the
detective.

They are very tense and things could go badly wrong - readers enjoy unhappy
endings.

22. 20. How can we be good detectives? * 1 point

Mark only one oval.

Be kind and always put other people’s safety first.

Be observant and have good inference and deduction skills.

Be smartly dressed and always speak very formally.

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