Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 6
Murder Maker Margaret Johnson
Summary
Carla’s life is turned upside down when her boyfriend,
Mark, dumps her. She eventually begins to put her life
in order by joining a support group. There she meets
Diane, Cathy and Gemma who have all had similar
experiences. Carla channels her feelings of bitterness
towards Mark into taking revenge on the other
women’s husbands.
Carla travels to Cuba where Diane’s husband, Alec
Cartwright, is living. There she meets the mysterious
Luis who lives next door to Alec. Luis tells Carla that
Alec has a girlfriend, the beautiful Gina.
Carla follows Gina, and discovers that she is twotiming Alec – she has a lover, the handsome Carlos.
Carla initially plans to blackmail Gina, but Luis
dissuades her, and suggests removing Alec. He
arranges for Carla to meet Gina. Gina is shocked to
hear that Alec is still married, agrees to end the affair,
and writes a farewell letter to Alec. Carla presents Alec
with the note but to her disappointment, he dismisses
his rejection as an inconvenience.
Carla’s resolve hardens; she enters Alec’s house and
poisons his mouthwash.
On returning to England, Carla fails to understand
why Diane is grieving rather than being grateful that
her husband is dead. Meanwhile, Carla proceeds
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with victim number two, Gemma’s ex, Terry. He is a
highly sexed ladies’ man, whom Carla is able to attract
by adopting a provocative disguise. She is invited to
dinner, and remains sober while Terry drinks steadily.
She murders him by drowning him in his pool. Again,
Carla escapes detection. Carla is disappointed at
Gemma’s reaction.
The final victim is Cathy’s ex, Pete. Carla finds Pete a
charming, attractive man, who is also a good father.
A loving relationship develops, and all seems to be
going well, when, to Carla’s horror, she finds her
secret journal open. Has Pete been reading the story
of her secret life? She panics and disposes of Pete by
electrocution. She flees the murder scene, and drives
madly towards Whitby, in Yorkshire.
On the way, Carla is involved in a road accident, and
viciously assaults the other driver, who is a prominent
woman politician. She is sentenced to two years in
prison. The story concludes with a visit from Diane,
Gemma and Cathy to the prison. They now realise
that Carla murdered their husbands and are now
feeling grateful. In fact, Cathy discovered Pete’s body
and summoned the help of the other two women to
remove any incriminating evidence. They show their
appreciation by offering to do Carla a favour. She asks
them to get rid of some rubbish for her, in other words,
her boyfriend, Mark.
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Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 6
Murder Maker Margaret Johnson
Check your reading
Chapter 1
1. I’ve met somebody else.
2. a Carla’s b Diane’s c Gemma’s d Cathy’s
Chapter 9
1. a for, on b Mark
2. a Gemma b Sharon c Sharon d Carla
e men f Terry
Chapter 10
Chapter 2
1. 1 f, 2 d, 3 e, 4 c, 5 a, 6 g, 7 b
1. a Mark b Luis c Carla d Diane
e Cartwright
2. Student’s own answer.
Chapter 3
Chapter 11
1. a disappointment b self-pity, anger
c logical d selfish e grateful
2. Student’s own answer.
1. 1 c, 2 e, 3 f, 4 a, 5 b, 6 d
Chapter 12
Chapter 4
1. a medical building b belly c passionately
d hospital e rival f Mark g revenge h blackmail
1. a OLD b OLD c NEW d NEW
e OLD f NEW g OLD
Chapter 13
Chapter 5
1. a Luis, Gina b Gina, Cartwright c Carlos
d Luis, Cartwright e Carla, Gina
f Cartwright, Diane
Chapter 6
1. Gina accepted the $500/money from Carla,
and agreed to marry Carlos and forget about
Cartwright. Luis Possible that Gina wrote a
note to end the affair. Carla expected to see
heartbreak/grief in Cartwright’s face on reading
the note. But his face remained expressionless.
He said that Gina’s departure was an
inconvenience, not a tragedy.
1. Student’s own answer.
2. Student’s own answer.
Chapter 14
1. a Carla b a politician c Diane, Cathy, Gemma
d Diane, Cathy, Gemma e Diane f Gemma
g Cathy
2. She wanted her friends to murder Mark.
Chapter 7
1. a F, b F, c T, d F, e T, f F, g T
Chapter 8
1. a dislike, bitterness b surprise, relief
c grief, desperation, loss d regret e grateful
2. Student’s own answer.
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© Cambridge University Press 2009
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