P e n g u i n R e a d e r s A n s w e r K e y

Tales of Mystery and Imagination

l e v e l

5

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE

1–2 Open answers.

3

Possible answers:

a Because they don’t enjoy

travelling alone.

b To protect their eyes while they

are using dangerous tools.

c Because someone who was

close to them has died.

d Because the namesake is

damaging their good name by
his/her bad behaviour.

e To mend a hole in a silk shirt.
f To see the stars.
g Because they are cold or

frightened.

4 a Incorrect. A determined person

doesn’t give up easily.

b Correct.
c Incorrect. Mercy is an act of

kindness.

d Correct.
e Incorrect. It is the bones in your

head.

f Incorrect. A tale is a story that

you read, hear or tell.

g Incorrect. People want to find

treasure.

5–7

Open answers.

8 a immense

b shield
c disturb

9 a They are twins, they have no

other relatives, and they have
always been close companions.

b She is very weak, and her heart

keeps stopping.

c He keeps it in a small, dark

room under the house.

d Because he has locked his

sister in a box underground
while she is still alive.

e Roderick dies of shock when

his sister falls on him. Madeline
dies of her illness a moment
later.

f It cracks and falls into ruins.

Then the deep dark lake closes
over the ruins.

10–12 Open answers.

13

Possible answers:

a We cut the logs up and made

barrels from the wood.

b When we reached the top of the

slope, we could see as far as
the horizon.

14

The conditions are: The
wrongdoer must know that he is
being punished, and by whom.
It must be impossible for him to
hit back. (And Open answers.)

15–17 Open answers.

18 You are not at all sure, but you

suspect it.

19

Open answers.

20 a A government minister (‘D–’)

has stolen it from a royal lady. It
is very important to her that the
letter should be kept secret
from a third person (probably
her husband), so D– now has
power over the lady.

b Without the letter, the thief will

lose his power over the lady.

c The thief is often away, and the

police have keys that can open
any door in Paris.

d He has ‘hidden’ it in a different

envelope in a letter holder, the
most obvious place for a letter.

e He takes the letter and puts

another one in its place–a
message for D–.

21–22 Open answers.

23 a shutter

b orangutang
c stable

24

Open answers.

25

Possible questions:

a Who are killed?
b Where is the daughter’s body

found?

c How has the old lady’s throat

been cut?

d Where are keys found?
e How does the orangutang get in

and out?

f Where has the animal come

from?

g How does Dupin find the

orangutang’s owner?

h Where does the owner take it

after he finds it again?

26–31 Open answers.

Activities before reading the book

‘William Wilson’ and ‘The Gold-Bug’

1

(a) False. He went to school in a

village in England.

(b) True.
(c)

False. He went to Oxford
University.

(d) False. It was William Wilson

who cheated at cards.

(e)

True.

2 (a) –– (iv)

(b) –– (v)
(c) –– (i)
(d) –– (ii)
(e) –– (iii)

‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ and

‘The Red Death’

1

(g), (c), (e), (f), (b), (a), (d)

2 (a)

He invited a thousand of his
lords and ladies to join him.

(b) They heated and melted the

locks of the gages of the
castle.

(c)

The light came from fires
outside the windows.

(d) The dancing stopped because

the clock struck to mark the
hour.

(e)

Prince Prospero tried to kill
him with a sword.

‘The Barrel of Amontillado’ and

‘The Whirlpool’

1

(a)

Fortunato is very proud of his
knowledge of wine.

(b) Montresor thinks he has

bought Amontillado but he has
his doubts.

(c)

Fortunato says that his cough
will not kill him.

(d) Montresor ties Fortunato to

the wall with a chain.

(e)

Montresor places eleven rows
of stones across the entrance.

2 (a)

Helseggen

(b) Vurrgh
(c)

Jonas Ramus

(d) Lofoden
(e)

Moskoe-ström

‘The Pit and the Pendulum’ and

‘The Stolen Letter’

1

(a)

He walks around his cell from
a fixed point marked with a
piece of cloth.

(b) The prisoner is given bread

and water and some meat.

(c)

The figure of Father Time is
painted on the ceiling.

(d) He rubs meat into the bands

tied across his body so that
the rats come and chew
through them.

(e)

He is rescued by General
Lasalle.

2 (a)

Monsieur G____ to Dupin.

(b) The narrator to Monsieur G____.
(c)

Dupin to the narrator.

(d) Dupin to Monsieur G____.
(e)

The narrator to Dupin.

(f)

Dupin to the narrator.

‘Metzengerstein’ and ‘The Murders

in the Rue Morgue’

1 (a)

False. The Berliftitzings and
the Metzengersteins had been
fighting for centuries.

(b) True.
(c)

False. The horse had the
initials WVB on its head.

(d) True.
(e)

False. There was a fire in the
Palace of Metzengerstein.

2 (a) –– (iv)

(b) –– (v)
(c) –– (vi)
(d) –– (ii)
(e) –– (i)
(f) –– (iii)

Answers to Factsheet activities

Answers to book activities

Answers to book activities

© Pearson Education 2001