9328 test your english

“This is the Black Pearl of the Borgias!” said Holmes.. I looked at my old newspapers and discovered that Beppo was taken to prison only two days after the pearl was stolen.. They fought

Read the following text attentively.

As soon as Mr Sandeford had gone, Holmes started to do strange things Lestrade and I watched carefully First he took a clean white cloth from the cupboard and laid it on the table

Next he carefully put the bust on the cloth He took his stick and hit the bust hard It broke into small pieces Holmes shouted loudly and picked up a small black thing from the cloth Lestrade and I were silent

“This is the Black Pearl of the Borgias!” said Holmes

We were both very surprised “Well done, Holmes!” I cried “How did you know it was there?”

“It’s impossible,” said Lestrade quietly

Holmes explained He told us that this, the most well-known pearl

in the world, had been stolen from the hotel room of the Princess of Colonna on 22nd May the year before “I’m sure you remember that,

Mr Lestrade,” said Holmes

“Yes, I do,” replied Lestrade

“Well,” Holmes continued, “you may also remember that the hotel where she was staying was near to the part of London where Gelder and Company have their shop The police thought that the pearl might have been taken by an Italian girl who worked at the hotel Her name was Lucretia Venucci and I think that the man who was killed two nights ago was her brother Pietro I looked at my old newspapers and discovered that Beppo was taken to prison only two days after the pearl was stolen This was the same time that the busts were being made I think that Pietro Venucci and Beppo worked together to steal the pearl Perhaps Venucci stole it, then Beppo stole it from him;

TEST YOUR ENGLISH NAME _No _ CLASS EVALUATION TEACHER PARENT

The important thing is that Beppo had the pearl with him when the police tried to catch him after the street fight he had with another Italian He ran to Gelder’s and wanted to hide the pearl – but where?

He didn’t have much time and he saw the soft plaster busts of Napoleon which had just been made and were not yet dry He pushed the pearl into one of them and covered the hole He could do this quickly and easily because he had made many busts like it in the past It was the perfect place to hide the pearl Because of the fight, Beppo was sent to prison for one year During that time the six busts were sold but, luckily for Beppo, he had a friend who worked at Gelder’s I think this friend was able to tell him who bought the busts There were only six busts, five in London and one in Reading Beppo started looking for the one with the pearl in it Of course it was best for him to begin in London Venucci knew that Beppo knew where the pearl was When Beppo came out of prison, Venucci tried to find him

At last he followed Beppo to Mr Harker’s house in Kensington They fought and Beppo killed Venucci.”

“If Venucci knew Beppo well, why did he carry his photograph?” asked Lestrade

“To ask other people if they had seen Beppo, when he was trying

to find him,” replied Holmes “Of course I couldn’t be sure that the pearl had not been in Mr Harker’s bust but I warned Josiah Brown and his family We were lucky; the pearl was not in Mr Harker’s bust Beppo went to Mr Brown’s house and we caught him I knew then that the pearl must be in Mr Sandeford’s bust What Mr Harker wrote in the newspaper helped us He made Beppo think that the police had the wrong idea He thought that they were looking for a madman who hated napoleon; he didn’t know that I had discovered the true secret

of the busts Now we have the pearl and the man who killed Venucci.” “Mr Holmes,” said Lestrade, “I have seen you work on many cases

in the past, but this is one of the best My friends at Scotland Yard will,

I am sure, be very interested in the case and the way you have worked on it Can you come and meet them tomorrow? If you can, I

am sure they will be very pleased to talk to you.”

“I shall be happy to come,” said Holmes “Thank you.”

“It is I that must thank you,” said Lestrade “I didn’t understand this case completely Without your help I am sure I would never have found the pearl.”

Holmes smiled for a moment I think he didn’t quite know what to say Then suddenly his face changed

“Well, Watson,” he said, “we have work to do This is not our only case! Goodbye, Lestrade If you have any more little cases for me I shall be happy to help you with them, if I can.”

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE, “The Adventures of

Sherlock Holmes”

Longman (adapted and abridged )

I

A According to the text, say if the following statements

are TRUE or FALSE Quote from the text to support all

your answers.

1 Holmes acted strangely as soon as Mr Sandeford had

arrived

2 Lestrade couldn’t believe Holmes had found the black

pearl

3 The pearl had been stolen the previous year

4 Beppo escaped from the police and didn’t have time to hide the

pearl.

5 Beppo was sent to prison because of the theft

B Answer the following questions about the text, writing

complete sentences.

1 What did Holmes do after Mr Sandeford had left?

2 How did Lestrade react to Holmes finding?

3 Where did Beppo hide the pearl?

4 How long did he stay in prison?

5 If Venucci knew Beppo well, why did he carry his photograph?

C Ask the questions.

1 It had been stolen from the hotel room of the Princess of

Colonna.

2 Yes, Beppo was taken to prison two days after the theft

3 One of his friends told him the names of the people who

bought the

busts

5x 2%= 10%

5x 3%= 15%

3x 3%= 9%

D Find synonyms for these words/expressions in the

fourth, fifth and

sixth paragraphs.

1 astonished

2 shouted

3 in a low voice

4 famous

II

A Rewrite the sentences as indicated Use the reported

speech.

1 “This is the Black Pearl of the Borgias!”

Holmes said …

2 “How did you know it was there?”

Watson asked …

3.“It’s impossible.”

Lestrade said …

4 “Why did he carry his photograph?”

Lestrade wanted to know…

B Join the sentences using a relative pronoun.

1 Beppo was taken to prison He was Italian

Beppo,…

2 Venucci had stolen the pearl His sister worked in the hotel

Venucci, …

3 The busts were cheap They were made of plaster

The busts, …

C Rewrite the following sentences as indicated.

1 Sherlock Holmes is a good listener That’s why Lestrade visits

him

If …

2 Lestrade admires Holmes because he solves many cases

If Holmes …

3 If you don’t study, I won’t give you the book “The Six Napoleons

Unless …

4 We won’t go to the cinema if you don’t buy the tickets

4x 1,5%= 6%

4x 2%= 8%

3x 3%= 9%

4x 2%= 8% Total 40%

D Put the following sentences in the passive voice.

1 Holmes took a clean white cloth from the cupboard

2 Beppo killed Venucci two days ago

3 Beppo pushed the pearl into one of the busts

4 Different people had bought the six busts

5 Holmes has found the Black Pearl of the Borgias

III Choose one of the following topics and write about 100 words

on it.

Topic one: Summarize the chapter you’ve just read.

Topic two: Sherlock Holmes was a private detective Have you ever

thought

about your future career? What would you like to do?

5x 2%= 10%

25% Total 35%

Total 100%

I

A According to the text, say if the following statements

are TRUE or FALSE Quote from the text to support all

your answers.

1 Holmes acted strangely as soon as Mr Sandeford had arrived

FALSE

“As soon as Mr Sandeford had gone, Holmes started to

do strange

things.”

2 Lestrade couldn’t believe Holmes had found the black pearl

TRUE

“It’s impossible,” said Lestrade quietly.

3 The pearl had been stolen the previous year TRUE

“He told us that this, the most well-known pearl in the

world, had been

stolen from the hotel room of the Princess of Colonna on

22 nd May

the year before.”

4 Beppo escaped from the police and didn’t have time to hide the pearl.

FALSE

“He pushed the pearl into one of them and covered the

hole.”

5 Beppo was sent to prison because of the theft FALSE

“Because of the fight, Beppo was sent to prison for one

year.”

B Answer the following questions about the text, writing

complete sentences.

6 What did Holmes do after Mr Sandeford had left?

He took a cloth from the cupboard, put the bust on it

and broke it into pieces with his stick.

7 How did Lestrade react to Holmes finding?

Lestrade was so surprised that he couldn’t believe his

eyes.

5x 2%= 10%

5x 3%= 15%

8 Where did Beppo hide the pearl?

He hid the pearl in one of the plaster Napoleon busts

which weren’t dry

9 How long did he stay in prison?

He stayed in prison for one year.

10 If Venucci knew Beppo well, why did he carry his

photograph?

He carried Beppo’s photograph to ask people if they had

seen him.

C Ask the questions.

1 It had been stolen from the hotel room of the Princess of

Colonna.

Where had the pearl been stolen from?

2 Yes, Beppo was taken to prison two days after the theft

Was Beppo taken to prison two days after the theft?

3 One of his friends told him the names of the people who had

bought the

busts

Who told him the names of the people who had bought

the busts?

D Find synonyms for these words/expressions in the

fourth, fifth and

sixth paragraphs.

1 astonished - surprised

2 shouted - cried

3 in a low voice - quietly

3x 3%= 9%

4x 1,5%= 6%

Total 40%

A Rewrite the sentences as indicated Use the reported

speech.

1 “This is the Black Pearl of the Borgias!”

Holmes said that that was the Black Pearl of the Borgias.

2 “How did you know it was there?”

Watson asked how he had known it had been there.

3.“It’s impossible.”

Lestrade said that it was impossible.

4 “Why did he carry his photograph?”

Lestrade wanted to know why he had carried his

photograph.

B Join the sentences using a relative pronoun.

1 Beppo was taken to prison He was Italian

Beppo, who was Italian, was taken to prison

2 Venucci had stolen the pearl His sister worked in the hotel

Venucci, whose sister worked in the hotel, had stolen the pearl.

3 The Napoleon busts were cheap They were made of plaster

The Napoleon busts, which were made of plaster, were

cheap.

C Rewrite the following sentences as indicated.

1 Sherlock Holmes is a good listener That’s why Lestrade visits

him

If Holmes wasn’t a good listener, Lestrade wouldn’t visit

him.

2 Lestrade admires Holmes because he solves many cases

If Holmes didn’t solve many cases, Lestrade wouldn’t

admire him.

3 If you don’t study, I won’t give you the book “The Six Napoleons

Unless you study, I won’t give you the book “The Six

Napoleons.

4 We won’t go to the cinema if you don’t buy the tickets

Unless you buy the tickets, we won’t go to the cinema.

4x 2%= 8%

3x 3%= 9%

4x 2%= 8%

D Put the following sentences in the passive voice.

6 Holmes took a clean white cloth from the cupboard

A clean white cloth was taken from the cupboard by

Holmes.

7 Beppo killed Venucci two days ago

Venucci was killed by Beppo two days ago.

8 Beppo pushed the pearl into one of the busts

The pearl was pushed into one of the busts by Beppo.

9 Different people had bought the six busts

The six busts had been bought by different people.

10 Holmes has found the Black Pearl of the Borgias

The Black Pearl of the Borgias has been found by

Holmes.

III Choose one of the following topics and write about 100 words

on it.

Topic one: Summarize the chapter you’ve just read.

Topic two: Sherlock Holmes was a private detective Have you ever

thought

about your future career? What would you like to do?

5x 2%= 10%

25% Total 35%

Total 100%