King s Ransom Ed McBain
1 Who said this in the story? Sy, Pete Cameron, Kathy, 4 Put the following events in the story in the right
Carella, Doug, Diane, Jeff, Charles Reynolds, Eddie. order. Number them 1 5.
a  You re getting so hard, Doug. ............... a Kathy suddenly shouted the address of the
b  Somebody has the boy, and we want to know farmhouse into the microphone.
who that somebody is. ............... b Sy fired at King, then took out his knife.
c  I ve been worrying so much about this job. c Eddie gave instructions to King by radio.
............... d King held Sy tightly by the throat.
d  I ll make something good of my life there, e Carella and King jumped out of the car.
Kathy, you ll see. ...............
20 marks
e  What s your name? Your real name? ...............
f  I m not going to pay the ransom. ...............
5 Match a number from A with a letter from B to make
g  Wait! I want my gun! ...............
complete sentences.
h  You re out and I m in! ...............
A
i  Do you want me to go down on my knees?
1 Charles Reynolds brought up Jeff alone ...
...............
2 Bobby looked for Jeff in the trees ...
j  That five hundred grand has got to be ours!
3 When Jeff told Sy his name ...
...............
4 Sy and Eddie changed the number plates ...
20 marks
5 Diane left her husband ...
B
2 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
a ... but he couldn t find him.
a King didn t want to make cheap shoes.
b ... so the police wouldn t find their car.
b There were seven break-ins at radio stores.
c ... because his wife had died.
c Liz helped Eddie to kidnap Jeff.
d ... because he wouldn t pay the ransom.
d At first Sy thought Jeff was Bobby.
e ... Sy thought he was lying.
e Meyer was happy when Adrian Score
arrived.
10 marks
f Eddie stopped Kathy and Jeff from
escaping.
6 Where did Pete Cameron have to go to finish the deal
g Jeff s father begged King to save Jeff.
for King?
h When Sy cut Kathy s sweater, Jeff ran away.
...........................................................................................
i King cut Sy with Sy s knife.
...........................................................................................
j Sy went to prison for the kidnapping.
...........................................................................................
...........................................................................................
20 marks
10 marks
3 Fill in the gaps using these words: gun, sweater,
noise, car, door, escaping, woke, table, cigarettes,
T Total marks
ashtray.
When Eddie went to the ............... to get
..............., Kathy ............... Jeff. She put his
............... on him and led him to the ............... .
Suddenly Jeff ran back for his ............... . As
he picked it up from the ..............., an ...............
fell to the ground. Sy heard the ............... and
stopped them from ............... .
20 marks
PHOTOCOPIABLE
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 5 20 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
TEST
COMPREHENSION
King s Ransom Ed McBain
Setting Characters
Choose the best answer. Choose the best answer.
1 Doug King lives in a nice house _____. 11 Diane King was an attractive woman with _____.
a Ä„% in a poor part of town b Ä„% in the centre of a Ä„% a silver streak in her black hair
town c Ä„% near the sea d Ä„% in the best part of b Ä„% beautiful blonde hair c Ä„% blonde streaks in
the city her hair d Ä„% a black streak in her silver hair
2 If Doug King s business deal is not successful _____. 12 Pete Cameron was Doug s _____.
a Ä„% he ll find another job b Ä„% he ll be out on a Ä„% scientist b Ä„% brother c Ä„% brother-in-law
the street c Ä„% his wife will get a job d Ä„% he ll d Ä„% assistant
join the police 13 _____ Reynolds was the Kings chauffeur.
3 Sy Bernard and Eddie Folsom are _____. a Ä„% Bobby b Ä„% Charles c Ä„% Peter d Ä„% Jeff
a Ä„% working for the police b Ä„% working for 14 Meyer Meyer had had to learn to fight with _____.
Doug King c Ä„% small-time crooks a Ä„% a knife b Ä„% his hands c Ä„% the police
d Ä„% famous bank robbers d Ä„% his intelligence
4 Sy and Eddie want _____. 15 Steve Carella did not like cases that involved
a Ä„% all the things that money can buy _____.
b Ä„% a new TV and radio c Ä„% to rob some more a Ä„% very rich people or children b Ä„% children
banks d Ä„% to steal some radios or dogs c Ä„% very rich people or cars d Ä„% very
5 The top men in Granger Shoe think that what s rich children or thieves
wrong with the company is _____. 16 Doug King did not want to _____.
a Ä„% the shoes are too cheap b Ä„% the Old Man a Ä„% be poor again b Ä„% talk to his wife
c Ä„% they don t make enough shoes c Ä„% work for Granger Shoes d Ä„% help the police
d Ä„% they don t earn enough money 17 Liz Bellow had blonde hair, blue eyes and _____.
6 The top men all wanted Doug s _____. a Ä„% a thin mouth b Ä„% was very tall c Ä„% was
a Ä„% house b Ä„% shoe designs c Ä„% voting stock married to Pete Cameron d Ä„% a full mouth
d Ä„% son 18 Jeff and Bobby were both _____.
7 The King s house lay just within the _____ precinct. a Ä„% eight years old and blond b Ä„% seven years
a Ä„% 87th b Ä„% 78th c Ä„% 85th d Ä„% 58th old with black hair c Ä„% eight years old and
8 Mr Peck came to see Meyer Meyer because very tall d Ä„% eight years old and thin
someone was _____. 19 Kathy was a woman with the pretty but hard
a Ä„% trying to kidnap his son b Ä„% trying to rob face of one whose _____.
his bank c Ä„% stealing things from his house a Ä„% life had never been easy b Ä„% husband was
d Ä„% stealing parts from his shop a kidnapper c Ä„% family were not happy
9 Meyer Meyer was a patient detective who had d Ä„% children had left home
_____. 20 Eddie listened to police calls _____.
a Ä„% a good memory b Ä„% lots of time a Ä„% on the TV he had made b Ä„% at the garage
c Ä„% been in the police for a short time c Ä„% on the radio he had built d Ä„% in the car
d Ä„% a nice house in the city
20 marks
10 Carella never tried to _____.
a Ä„% find crooks b Ä„% understand crooks
c Ä„% speak to crooks d Ä„% listen to other police
Dialogue
officers
Who said this?
20 marks
21  The old man may have faults, but he always
made an honest shoe.
a Ä„% Doug King b Ä„% Frank Blake
c Ä„% Pete Cameron d Ä„% Rudy Stone
22  & Why did Doug rush upstairs past me? He
didn t even see me.
a Ä„% Liz Bellow b Ä„% Pete Cameron
c Ä„% Mr Reynolds d Ä„% Diane King
PHOTOCOPIABLE
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 5 56 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
TEST
MULTIPLE-CHOICE
King s Ransom Ed McBain
23  We re playing cowboys and Indians, Mr King. d Ä„% grand
a Ä„% Bobby b Ä„% Jeff c Ä„% Mr Reynolds d Ä„% Liz 39 a plaster model which shows the shape of
24  What did you say? What s happened to Bobby? something
a Ä„% Doug King b Ä„% Diane King c Ä„% Meyer a Ä„% cast b Ä„% battery c Ä„% oscillator
Meyer d Ä„% Pete Cameron d Ä„% transmitter
25  Let me get this clear, Mr King. The boy who 40 to find out where something comes from
was kidnapped is not your son, is that right? a Ä„% wiretap b Ä„% streak c Ä„% trace d Ä„% cast
a Ä„% Meyer Meyer b Ä„% Lieutenant Byrnes
20 marks
c Ä„% Steve Carella d Ä„% Pete Cameron
26  Get that boy out of here! Take him back where
you got him!
Plot
a Ä„% Sy b Ä„% Eddie c Ä„% Kathy d Ä„% Doug King
27  Maybe we got the wrong kid. Maybe this is the
Choose the best answer.
chauffeur s boy.
41 Doug King wanted to buy enough stock to make
a Ä„% Eddie b Ä„% Sy c Ä„% Cameron d Ä„% Kathy
him _____ of Granger.
28  Why should I play their game?
a Ä„% vice-president b Ä„% president c Ä„% sales
a Ä„% Diane King b Ä„% Meyer Meyer c Ä„% Steve
chief d Ä„% a director
Carella d Ä„% Doug King
42 Bobby and Jeff were playing in the woods trying
29  Go to the garage and get in to the black
to find _____.
Cadillac.
a Ä„% trees to climb b Ä„% a gun
a Ä„% Eddie b Ä„% Sy c Ä„% Meyer Meyer d Ä„% Kathy
c Ä„% the farmhouse d Ä„% a car
30  Just because a man is brave enough to face a
43 The kidnappers wanted _____ thousand dollars.
knife, it doesn t mean he can face himself.
a Ä„% fifty-five b Ä„% five c Ä„% fifty
a Ä„% Meyer Meyer b Ä„% Diane King c Ä„% Doug
d Ä„% five hundred
King d Ä„% Carella
44 Kathy thought that Eddie and Sy were going to
_____.
20 marks
a Ä„% rob a bank b Ä„% kidnap both children
c Ä„% steal radios d Ä„% steal cars
45 Pete Cameron was going to Boston to _____.
Vocabulary
a Ä„% find the boy b Ä„% buy some shoes
Choose the best answer. c Ä„% have a holiday d Ä„% buy some stock
31 a very rich and important person in business 46 The boy wanted to drink hot _____.
a Ä„% vice-president b Ä„% chauffeur c Ä„% tycoon a Ä„% milk b Ä„% chocolate c Ä„% tea d Ä„% coffee
d Ä„% guy 47 Eddie and Sy changed the number plates on
32 to move in a jerky, uncomfortable way, not their five-year-old _____ car.
smoothly a Ä„% black b Ä„% blue c Ä„% green d Ä„% grey
a Ä„% bump b Ä„% interrupt c Ä„% smash d Ä„% trace 48 Carella was hidden in the _____.
33 equipment that sends out radio signals a Ä„% back of the car b Ä„% garage
a Ä„% wiretap b Ä„% transmitter c Ä„% oscillator c Ä„% farmhouse d Ä„% police station
d Ä„% battery 49 Doug King did not let go of Sy s throat until _____.
34 courage a Ä„% he dropped the gun b Ä„% the knife fell from
a Ä„% garbage b Ä„% grand c Ä„% guts d Ä„% guy his hand c Ä„% he was dead d Ä„% the boy was free
35 a place from which an organisation is controlled 50 Two policeman found the boy _____, with a
a Ä„% precinct b Ä„% laboratory c Ä„% headquarters blanket round his shoulders.
d Ä„% store a Ä„% outside the farmhouse b Ä„% sitting in the
36 a long, thin line of colour front seat of the car c Ä„% sitting on a bed in the
a Ä„% streak b Ä„% trace c Ä„% blond d Ä„% in the red farmhouse d Ä„% with Kathy in the house
37 to take somebody away by force, in order to
20 marks
demand money for their return
a Ä„% bust b Ä„% interrupt c Ä„% smash d Ä„% kidnap
38 statements telling somebody what they should do
Total marks
a Ä„% instructions b Ä„% ransom c Ä„% cast
PHOTOCOPIABLE
OXFORD BOOKWORMS LIBRARY STAGE 5 57 © OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
TEST
MULTIPLE-CHOICE