Tales of Mystery and Imagination
ACTIVITIES ANSWERS
Before Reading
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BEFORE READING ACTIVITIES (PAGE 58)
ACTIVITY 1 BEFORE READING
1F 2T 3F 4T 5F
ACTIVITY 2 BEFORE READING
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:
s 4HE&ALLOFTHE(OUSEOF5SHERa strange book
s 4HE"LACK#ATan axe
s 4HE-ASQUEOFTHE2ED$EATHa large black clock
s 7ILLIAM7ILSONa game of cards
s 4HE4ELL4ALE(EARTa blue eye
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 FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER WHILE READING
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 TELL-TALE HEART WHILE READING
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.
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.
THE BLACK CAT WHILE READING
© Oxford University Press
A huge black clock.
A masked figure who had not been there before.
The white clothes of the dead.
He felt afraid and then angry.
Because they were too frightened.
The Prince fell down dead on the ground.
Nothing.
Darkness and the Red Death.
WILLIAM WILSON WHILE READING
While Reading
1 T
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.
4 T
5 F The new cat looked the same as Pluto except for
a white mark on its front.
6 T
7 F After he killed his wife, the narrator slept well.
8 F The police found the dead woman and the living
cat together behind the wall.
After Reading
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH WHILE READING
ACTIVITY 1 AFTER READING
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.
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 3
STAGE 3
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 have
78 TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
XXX
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 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 2 AFTER READING
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. The cat was making the
terrible sound that we had heard.
Students can complete this how they like; possible
answers might be:
PR IN C E : Who are you?
ST R AN G ER : You know who I am.
PR IN C E : How did you get in? The gates to the castle
are locked, and I have thrown away the keys.
ST R AN G ER : I do not need a key to pass through a
locked gate.
PR IN C E : Leave my castle at once! Or I will kill you
with this sword.
ST R AN G ER : I will not leave. And your sword cannot
hurt me.
PR IN C E : But what is your name?
ST R AN G ER : I have many names, but tonight I am called
the Red Death.
PR IN C E : Why have you come here tonight?
ST R AN G ER : Because, Prince Prospero, it is time for you
to die.
ACTIVITY 4 AFTER READING
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 AFTER READING
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.
79 TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
XXX
© Oxford University Press
ACTIVITY 6 AFTER READING
7 PO L IC EM AN : Now, sir, what’s the problem?
2 N EIG H BO UR : Well, there was a terrible noise tonight
from the house next door – like a great shout or
a scream.
13 PO L IC EM AN : What time did you hear this scream?
5 N EIG H BO UR : I’m not sure – about two o’clock
perhaps.
12 PO L IC EM AN : Two o’clock. I see. And were there any
more screams?
11 N EIG H BO UR : No, just one. But after that there was
a loud bang – like something heavy falling to the
floor.
8 PO L IC EM AN : So what did you do then?
6 N EIG H BO UR : 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 PO L IC EM AN : This old man – do you know him?
10 N EIG H BO UR : Oh yes – he’s a very nice man. A
younger man lives in the house too – but he’s a
bit strange.
3 PO L IC EM AN : Strange? In what way?
9 N EIG H BO UR : He talks to himself – and he has really
wild eyes.
4 PO L IC EM AN : Hmm. I think I should go next door
and ask a few questions. Thank you for telling us
about this.
ACTIVITY 3 AFTER READING
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 3
ACTIVITIES ANSWERS
spent 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 7 AFTER READING
ACTIVITIES ANSWERS
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.
'LENDINNINGINWilliam Wilson. He is gambling with
Wilson, in Mr Preston’s rooms in Oxford. Wilson is
winning (because he is cheating, and using special
CARDSAND'LENDINNINGISBECOMINGWORRIEDABOUT
losing all his money.
ACTIVITY 8 AFTER READING
Some possible answers (but many other
combinations are possible):
s 4HE&ALLOFTHE(OUSEOF5SHERdeep gloom, strange
disease, violent storm
s 4HE"LACK#ATviolent murder, mysterious animal,
terrible scream
s 4HE-ASQUEOFTHE2ED$EATHfantastic castle,
mysterious stranger, terrible disease
s 7ILLIAM7ILSONviolent anger, evil plan, strange fear
s 4HE4ELL4ALE(EARTwild idea, frightening sound,
silent house
© Oxford University Press
ACTIVITY 9 AFTER READING
The Fall of the House of Usher
s H O USE DISAPPEAR S IN ST O R M
s ST R AN G E DEAT H S O F BROT H ER AN D SIST ER
The Black Cat
s C AT C AL L S PO L IC E T O BO DY
s AN IM AL -LOV ER AR R EST ED FO R M UR DER
The Masque of the Red Death
s FAN TAST IC PART Y EN DS IN DEAT H
s T H E R IC H AN D T H E C RUEL PUN ISH ED AT L AST
William Wilson
s IS T H IS T H E M O ST EV IL M AN IN EURO PE ?
s M AN K IL L S EN EM Y – AN D M UR DER S SEL F
The Tell-Tale Heart
s K IL L ER H IDES BO DY , T H EN T EL L S PO L IC E
s ‘ I C AN ’ T ESC APE T ER R IBL E SO UN D ,’ M AD K IL L ER
s T EL L S PO L IC E
ACTIVITY 10 AFTER READING
Open answers.
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 3
80 TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION
XXX