Name _______ Class _______ Number _______ Date _______

Passage 12
Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie is one of the most popular writers of all time. About four
billion copies of her books have been sold, and they have been translated into
103 languages. she is often called the queen of the “whodunit”. A whodunit is
a story that starts with a crime, usually murder. Then the main character of the
story tries to discover who did it (or who-done-it). Readers love Agatha
Christie’s stories because there are lots of clues and puzzles for them to think
about as they read. Her two most famous characters are the Belgian detective
Hercule Poirot and the elderly amateur detective Miss Marple.
Christie always wrote about places that she knew, like Torquay, the
English town where she was born in 1890. But her readers are lucky that she
was also a great traveler. She was married to an archaeologist and traveled
with him to Syria and Iraq, where they worked at archaeological “digs”. In the
book Murder in Mesopotamia, Poirot investigates a murder at one of these
digs. Christie also traveled to Egypt, the setting for Death on the Nile, and took
the train ride between Istanbul and Paris (Murder on the Orient Express).
Agatha Christie died in 1976 but her books continue to be popular today.
for one week every year, lovers of her stories can go to the Agatha Christie
Festival in Torquay. People dress up in clothes from the 1920s and 1930s, like
characters in her stories. Jazz bands play at tea parties and there are dinners on
old trains and at old country houses. “Murder” is everywhere, and visitors have
a lot of fun trying to discover who the “killer” is – or whodunit.

Part A. Word Power

I. Find these words in the text. Then match them to the correct meaning.
1. murder ( ) a. to try to find out about something
2. archaeologist ( ) b. doing something as a hobby, not a job
3. investigate ( ) c. a person in a play, book or movie
4. amateur ( ) d. killing someone when you have planned to do it
5. character ( ) e. someone who studies very old things that were found in the ground

II. Complete the sentences with the correct words from the box.

murder archaeologist investigate amateur character

1. The police are going to _______________ the robbery.

2. I’m an _______________ photographer. I take photographs in my spare time.
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3. My favourite _______________ in the movie was the young girl.
4. This pot was found by an _______________. It is five hundred years old.
5. There was a _______________ in the city last night. A young man was killed.

III. Find the words in the text with the same meaning.

detective dig festival setting translate

1. _______________ a place where archaeologists are digging up old things

2. _______________ someone who tries to solve crimes
3. _______________ the place where a story happens
4. _______________ to change words into another language
5. _______________ a special time once a year with lots of music and performances

IV. Complete the sentences with the correct words from the box.

detective dig festival setting translate

1. Can you _______________ this from English into Spanish?

2. Our town has a _______________ each year. It is so much fun.
3. I read a story about a _______________. He loved trying to solve crimes.
4. Austria is the _______________ for the movie The Sound of Music.
5. I’d love to visit an archaeologist’s _______________. It would be interesting.

V. Put these words in the correct box.

Syria Istanbul Paris Egypt Torquay Iraq

countries towns and cities

Part B. Understanding the main ideas

I. Choose the correct answer.
( ) 1. What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To describe Agatha Christie and the type of books she wrote.
B. To introduce Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple.
C. To describe the places Agatha Christie traveled to.

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II. Match each heading to the correct paragraph in the passage.
Paragraph _______ The Agatha Christie Festival
Paragraph _______ One of the most popular writers of all time
Paragraph _______ The settings

Part C. Reading for detail

( ) 1. The main character in Agatha Christie’s stories _______.
A. is usually the murderer B. tries to find out who the murderer is
C. is always Hercule Poirot D. is often a queen
( ) 2. Christie’s stories are always set in places that she _______.
A. had never visited B. knew as a child
C. wanted to visit D. had lived in or visited
( ) 3. Which Agatha Christie book is set on a train?
A. Murder on the Orient Express. B. Whodunit.
C. Murder in Mesopotamia. D. Death on the Nile.

Part D. Answering questions

1. Agatha Christie seldom wrote about her unknown places, did she?
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2. How many copies of Agatha Christie’s books have been sold around the world?
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3. What is a “whodunit”?
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4. Why do readers show great interest in Agatha’s stories?
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5. How do people celebrate the annual Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay?
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6. What do you think makes Agatha Christie a successful “whodunit” writer? Why?
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Part E. Using reference words

( ) 1. In Paragraph 1, “Then the main character of the story tries to discover who did it (or who-done-it)”, the
word “it” refers to _______.
A. the main character B. the story
C. the crime D. the reader
( ) 2. In Paragraph 2, “where they worked at archaeological ‘digs’”, the word “they” refers to _______.
A. Syria and Iraq B. Agatha Christie and her husband
C. archaeologists D. her readers

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Part F. Summary
Complete the summary with words from the text.
Agatha Christie is one of the most popular (1)_______________ of all time. She is famous for writing stories
about murder. Readers love her stories because there are lots of (2)_______________ and puzzles for them to think
about. Agatha Christie always set her stories in places that she knew. She travelled with her husband, who was an
(3)_______________, and often set her stories in the countries they visited. Agatha Christie died in
(4)_______________, but her stories are still popular today. Every year in her hometown, Torquay, there is an Agatha
Christie (5)_______________. People dress up like characters in her stories and visitors have a lot of fun trying to
discover who the “killer” is.

Part G. What do you think?

Have you ever read an Agatha Christie book? If yes, talk about it. If no, would you like to? Why or why not?
(At least give two reasons.)

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