The Pit and the Pendulum
and Other Stories
7 To hurt someone because they did something
wrong ………………
8 To almost fall ………………
9 To look at someone or something for a long
time ………………
10Very thick, strong string ………………
COMPREHENSION
TEST
1 Match the events to the story.
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
1
2
3
4
5
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Cask of Amontillado
The Premature Burial
The Meeting
The Oval Portrait
For an hour he sat in bed staring at it.
His fears went away, and his catalepsy with
them.
The wine was making his eyes bright.
She fought wildly to get out of her coffin.
He can feel the soft wind on his face.
People came running down the steps to the
water.
He took poison.
He tore off a small piece of his prison shirt.
Nobody has moved the bones for fifty years.
Day by day she looked more unhappy.
30 marks
4 Match the beginning of the sentence with the correct
ending.
1 2 3 4 5 2 Match the people to the descriptions.
a
b
c
d
e
The man with catalepsy
Fortunato
The young man in Venice
The Marchesa
The Painter’s wife
1
a
b
2
3
c
4
5
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
20 marks
5 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
He knows a lot about wine and loves
drinking it
She is married to someone she doesn’t love
He is afraid of being buried before he is
dead
She is the loveliest woman in the town
He died for the woman he loved
10 marks
3 Do you remember these words?
1 To send out air from the mouth in a noisy way
………………
2 A cup for wine without handles ……………
3 A place where a dead person is buried
………………
4 The part of a knife that cuts ………………
5 A river made by people for boats to travel on
………………
6 To fall down suddenly because you are ill or
afraid ………………
oxford bookworms library sTAge 2
She was a young woman of great beauty,
Her eyes were dark with terror,
She lay like this for three days,
Day after day,
Her burial dress caught on some metalwork,
a and her face as white as the moonlight.
b she sat still and silent, not moving, not speaking.
c and even more beautiful when she was smiling
and laughing.
d which stopped her falling.
e and then they buried her in the family vault.
20 marks
Edgar Allan Poe
The Marchesa lives in London.
Fortunato was wearing a carnival suit with
bells on.
Mentoni is much younger than the
Marchesa.
The Oval Portrait was of a handsome man.
The man in prison falls into the pit.
Fortunato wants to drink the Amontillado.
The man with catalepsy wants to die.
The painter loves his work more than his
wife.
The Oval Portrait is on the kitchen wall.
The pit is full of cats and dogs.
20 marks
Total marks
34
© oxford university press photocopiable
The Pit and the Pendulum
and Other Stories
Setting
16 The Marchesa is the _____ woman in all of
Venice.
a c oldest c c youngest c c loveliest d c happiest
17 The famous young man is as _____ as a Greek
god.
a c old b c happy c c lovely d c beautiful
18 Mentoni is The Marchesa’s _____.
a c child b c father c c servant d c husband
19 The painter’s wife is _____ and young.
a c clever b c tall c c fat d c beautiful
20 The painter of the oval portrait is famous for
his _____.
a c house b c dogs c c wife d c art
Choose the best answer.
M U LT I P L E - C H O I C E
TEST
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
The pit and the pendulum are in a _____.
a c house b c shop c c prison d c school
The pendulum is made from _____.
a c rope b c metal c c meat d c stone
The pit is full of _____.
a c meat b c cats c c rats d c light
The Cask of Amontillado is in a _____.
a c shop b c house c c school d c pit
The man with catalepsy dreams he is _____.
a c dead b c on a boat c c in his house d c buried alive
The Marchesa lives in _____.
a c Rome b c Verona c c Milan d c Venice
The Marchesa’s _____ falls in the canal.
a c child b c friend c c husband d c servant
The young man met The Marchesa in _____.
a c Paris b c Madrid c c London d c Oxford
The oval portrait is in a _____.
a c bedroom b c school c c bathroom d c cellar
The Oval Portrait is of _____.
a c a young man b c an old man c c an old woman d c a young woman
20 marks
Dialogue
Who said this?
21 ‘You must die.’
a c the French Army b c the man in prison c c the judges d c old Father Time 22 ‘Come! Cut me! Be quick, give me death!’
a c the man in prison b c the judges c c the Inquisition d c General Lasalle
23 ‘Nobody sells the best sherry in the middle of
carnival.’
a c a servant b c a friend c c Fortunato d c Montresor
24 ‘Once more I ask, why don’t you go back?’
a c Montresor b c Fortunato c c Fortunato’s wife d c Luchresi
25 ‘I have no name in the place where I live.’
a c the man with catalepsy b c the woman
from Baltimore c c the voice d c the
husband
26 ‘They think that I’m dead, and they have buried
me like a dog, in a cheap wooden coffin.’
a c the woman from Baltimore b c a friend c c the man with catalepsy d c a servant
27 ‘You have won.’
a c Mentoni b c a servant c c the Marchesa d c the young man
28 ‘I have other apartments, but none like this one.’
a c the young man b c the Marchesa c c a servant d c Mentoni
20 marks
Characters
Choose the best answer.
11 The man in The Pit and the Pendulum is a
prisoner of _____.
a c the French army b c the Inquisition c c the judges d c old Father Time
12 Fortunato knows a lot about _____.
a c boats b c prison c c wine and sherry wine d c carnivals
13 Montresor is from a very _____ family.
a c old b c beautiful c c happy d c clever
14 The skeleton in the white burial clothes was a
_____.
a c man b c woman c c boy d c girl
15 The man with catalepsy was afraid of _____.
a c premature burial b c boats c c rats d c dead people
oxford bookworms library sTAge 2
Edgar Allan Poe
106
© oxford university press photocopiable
The Pit and the Pendulum
and Other Stories
44 Montresor wanted to _____ Fortunato for the
things he did and said.
a c punish b c like c c meet d c pay
45 In front of the new wall Montresor put _____.
a c the cask of amontillado b c a torch c c the bones of the dead d c wine
46 At the end of the story the man with catalepsy
_____.
a c died b c was afraid c c was buried d c stopped thinking about death.
47 The young man had a _____ of The Marchesa
in his house.
a c portrait b c shoe c c child d c husband
48 At the end of the story The Marchesa and the
young man _____.
a c leave together b c go to London c c stay in Venice d c die
49 The man was staring at the oval portrait because
it was _____.
a c beautiful b c strange c c old d c modern
50 He thought that the woman in the oval portrait
looked _____.
a c sad b c dead c c old d c alive
20 marks
Vocabulary
Choose the best answer.
31 the part along the end or side of something
a c door b c edge c c metal d c wall
32 something that can kill you if you eat or drink it
a c poison b c wine c c amontillado d c water
33 to fall down suddenly because you are ill or
afraid
a c fit b c hiss c c fear d c faint
34 a small stone building for a dead person
a c grave b c tomb c c cask d c furniture
35 someone who works in another person’s house
a c servant b c friend c c husband d c portrait
36 the part of your body that pushes the blood
around
a c head b c hand c c heart d c legs
37 to almost fall
a c faint b c hiss c c cough d c slip
38 a part of a room that is over your head
a c wall b c ceiling c c door d c pit
39 to look at someone or something for a long time
a c slip b c faint c c stare d c order
40 a large deep hole in the ground
a c pendulum b c ceiling c c canal d c pit
20 marks
Total marks
20 marks
Plot
Choose the best answer.
41 The man in the pit used the rats to _____.
a c eat the bed b c eat the ropes c c drink the water d c stop the pendulum
42 The man put _____ on the ropes.
a c water b c meat c c fat d c metal
43 The man in prison was _____ by the French
army.
a c killed b c stopped c c saved d c punished
oxford bookworms library sTAge 2
107
© oxford university press photocopiable
M U LT I P L E - C H O I C E
TEST
29 ‘Poison! She has taken poison! She is dead!’
a c the Marchesa b c Mentoni c c the young man d c a servant
30 ‘This is life itself! She lives in this portrait!’
a c the painter b c the young woman c c a
friend d c Pedro
Edgar Allan Poe