Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery John Escott

1 Put the following events in the right order. Number 4 Match a number from A with a letter from B to make
them 1–10. complete sentences.

COMPREHENSION
a Agatha went to Baghdad. A
b Agatha’s first book was published. 1 ‘I’ll go to Baghdad, ...
c Agatha was made a Dame of the British 2 Agatha changed her tickets for the West
Empire. Indies ...

TEST
d Agatha married Archie. 3 While she was staying in Baghdad, ...
e     Agatha met Max Mallowan. 4 Agatha loved Ur, ...
f     Agatha disappeared. 5 It was slow, tiring work ...
g Agatha wrote a play: The Mousetrap.
h Agatha wrote her first story. B
i Agatha and Archie divorced. a ... she remembered Commander Howe’s words.
j Agatha had a baby. b ... and she loved watching the archeologists.
c ... for tickets to Istanbul.
20 marks d ... not the West Indies.
e ... and they had to dig carefully.
2 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)
20 marks
a Agatha’s first story was published very
quickly.
b Agatha married Reggie Lucy. 5 Match the person with the description: Leonard
Woolley, Madge, Hughes Massie, Jane Marple,
c Agatha worked with poisons in hospital.
Reggie, Rosalind, Hercule Poirot, Clara, Teresa Neele,
d Agatha called one of her detectives
Max Mallowan.
‘Hercule’.
a Agatha’s mother ...............
e Nobody knows why Agatha left her car on
b Agatha’s sister ...............
the night she disappeared.
c A young army officer ...............
f After her divorce, Agatha didn’t want to be
d A Belgian detective ...............
called ‘Christie’.
e Agatha’s agent ...............
g Agatha went to Baghdad by plane.
f Agatha when she was in Harrogate ...............
h Max Mallowan was much older than
g Agatha’s daughter ...............
Agatha.
h The head archaeologist at Ur ...............
i Agatha liked travelling with Max.
i Agatha’s second husband ...............
j Miss Marple was a beautiful young woman.
j A woman detective ...............
20 marks
20 marks

3 Who said this? Who did they say it to? Archie, Max,
Agatha, Hughes Massie, an actor, Clara, people in the Total marks
theatre.
a ‘Why don’t you write a story?’ ............... to
...............
b ‘I want to marry you next month!’ ............... to
...............
c ‘You need a publisher who will pay you more.’
............... to ...............
d ‘They want me to write a play for the radio.’
............... to ...............
e ‘Please don’t tell your friends who did the
murder.’ ............... to ...............

20 marks

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 Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery John Escott

Setting 13 Agatha’s father died when she was _____.

a c eleven b c eight
Choose the best answer.
c c fourteen d c eighteen
1 _____ told Agatha to start writing stories. 14 _____was tall and good-looking with blue eyes.
a c Agatha’s mother b c Agatha’s father a c Reggie Lucy b c Archibald Christie
c c Agatha’s sister d c Agatha’s English c c Hughes Massie d c Roger Ackroyd
teacher 15 John Lane was Agatha’s _____.
2 Agatha’s first story was _____. a c first boyfriend b c favourite cousin
a c about a murder b c a love story c c first publisher d c favourite writer
c c about Belgium d c about dreams 16 Hercule Poirot had black hair, _____.
3 Her first novel was called _____. a c green eyes and a moustache
a c Vanity Fair b c Snow Upon the Desert b c green eyes and a beard c c brown eyes
c c House of Beauty d c The Bodley Head and a moustache d c blue eyes and a beard
4 It was about _____. 17 He _____ how clever he was.
a c a girl who lived in China b c a boy who a c didn’t like to tell people b c was always
M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e

found a head c c a girl who lived in Cairo telling people c c sometimes told people
d c a strange family d c never told people
5 She sent her novel to _____. 18 In Harrogate Agatha told people that her name
a c her sister b c two publishers was _____.
TesT

c c one publisher d c four publishers a c Teresa Neele b c Clara Miller

6 Eden Phillpotts, a writer, told Agatha _____. c c Nancy Neele d c Agatha Miller
a c to find an agent b c to write another book 19 After she married Max, _____.
c c to take her book to his agent a c she still thought a lot about Archie
d c to stop writing b c she stopped writing c c she was happy
7 In 1911, Clara’s mother _____. for the rest of her life d c she became an
a c got married again b c got divorced archaeologist
c c stopped travelling d c became ill 20 _____ saw, heard and remembered everything.
8 Agatha decided to _____. a c Agatha b c Miss Marple
a c start playing tennis b c go to Egypt with c c Agatha’s mother d c Queen Elizabeth
her mother c c become a journalist instead
d c go to Hong Kong with her mother 20 marks
9 She met Reggie Lucy, a young _____.
a c policeman b c teacher
c c army officer d c naval officer Dialogue
10 They decided to get married _____.
Who said this?
a c in two years’ time b c in ten days’ time
21 ‘You need to go somewhere warm and sunny to
c c straight away d c the following year
get better.’
20 marks a c Clara b c Agatha
c c Agatha’s father d c Clara’s doctor
22 ‘I want to see you as often as I can.’
Characters a c Archie b c Max
c c Reggie d c Agatha
Choose the best answer.
23 ‘Don’t worry about it. I understand.’
11 Agatha was _____ when she wrote her first a c Max b c Agatha
story. c c Reggie d c Clara
a c twenty b c seventeen 24 ‘Some of my readers think that we could publish
c c twenty-eight d c eighteen your book.’
12 _____ wrote more than a hundred novels and a c Hercule Poirot b c Agatha
plays for the theatre. c c Hughes Massie d c John Lane
a c Hughes Massie b c Eden Phillpotts 25 ‘I didn’t cheat. It’s wrong to say that.’
c c Reggie Lucy d c Madge Miller Christie a c Archie b c Roger Ackroyd
c c Agatha d c Miss Marple

oxford bookworms library stage 2 48 © oxford university press photocopiable

 Agatha Christie, Woman of Mystery John Escott

26 ‘Why is that car down there, and why are the Plot
lights on?’
Choose the best answer.
a c Miss Marple b c Hercule Poirot
c c Agatha d c George Best 41 Agatha met Archibald Christie _____.
27 ‘She doesn’t know me, and she doesn’t know a c while playing golf b c at a dance
where she is.’ c c at the beach d c on a train
a c Archie b c Clara c c Madge d c Max 42 She learned about _____ in the hospital
28 ‘I’ve changed my plans.’ dispensary.
a c Agatha b c Hughes Massie a c medicine b c murder
c c Max d c Clara c c poisons d c illnesses
29 ‘It’s nice and quiet. There’s no telephone!’ 43 Agatha got the idea of a Belgian detective _____.
a c Max b c Agatha a c after a holiday in Belgium b c after
c c Commander Howe d c Mrs Howe meeting Belgian people in Torquay c c from a
30 ‘Please don’t tell your friends who did the Belgian detective story d c from her sister
murder in this play.’ 44 People talked about _____ The Murder of Roger
Ackroyd.

M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e
a c Agatha’s agent b c Agatha
c c an actor d c Miss Marple a c the unusual beginning of b c the big
surprise at the end of c c the interesting
20 marks characters in d c the strange story in

TesT
45 Agatha disappeared when _____.
a c her mother became very ill
Vocabulary b c her publisher didn’t like her new book
c c people asked her to write too many books
Choose the best answer.
d c she knew Archie loved another woman
31 sad because something nice doesn’t happen
46 After her divorce, Agatha _____.
a c bored b c disappointed
a c was happy to use the name ‘Christie’
c c surprised d c tired
b c changed her name back to ‘Miller’
32 someone who does useful work for no money
c c didn’t want to use the name ‘Christie’
a c agent b c nurse
d c stopped using the name ‘Christie’
c c doctor d c volunteer
47 She decided to go to _____ on the Orient
33 something that can kill you if you eat or drink it
Express.
a c puzzle b c medicine
a c Cairo b c Baghdad
c c poison d c dispensary
c c Paris d c The West Indies
34 a large piece of land with no trees
48 Agatha married Max Mallowan, _____, in 1930.
a c moor b c lake
a c a young archaeologist b c a middle-aged
c c mountain d c garden
archaeologist c c a young army officer
35 intelligent
d c a middle-aged writer
a c tidy b c clever c c shy d c lonely
49 Her other famous detective, _____ appeared the
36 to do something that is not honest
same year.
a c guess b c hurry
a c Miss Jane Marple b c Sherlock Holmes
c c cheat d c disappear
c c Mary Westmacott d c George Best
37 information that helps to find the answer to a
50 Queen Elizabeth made Agatha _____ in 1971.
mystery
a c a princess b c a Dame of the British
a c clue b c secret c c idea d c maid
Empire c c a promise d c a jumper
38 when you like to keep things in good order
a c lonely b c tidy c c clean d c quiet 20 marks
39 something that is difficult to understand
a c book b c letter c c game d c puzzle
40 the hair between a man’s mouth and nose Total marks
a c beard b c eyebrow
c c moustache d c lip

20 marks

oxford bookworms library stage 2 49 © oxford university press photocopiable