Step Four B2.

1
READING & TRAINING
K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S

Saki Page 17 – exercise 3 c. He thinks that she has seen

b. Vera’s three uncles left through ghosts.
the open window on the day they
Page 25 – exercise 3
disappeared, and her aunt always
keeps it open with the hope that a. 3 – niece
they will return. b. 7 – feeling
c. Vera’s uncle was carrying a white c. 2 – advice
raincoat over his arm on the day d. 8 – yawned
he disappeared. e. 4 – upstairs
e. Vera’s uncles probably fell into a f. 6 – hunting, bog, came back
bog and drowned. g. 10 – picked up
f. Vera’s uncles had gone out hunting h. 5 – wondered, French window
on the day they disappeared. i. 1 – country, peaceful
j. 9 – shivered
Page 18 – exercise 4
KEY TO THE EXERCISES Page 26 – exercise 4
a. shouldn’t work so hard.
AND EXIT TEST b. shouldn’t eat sample answer:
c. ought to study more. I will never forget the day I went into
d. ought to go out. the countryside to relax. I knocked at
Page 8 – exercise 1 The Open Window e. ought to call the door of Mrs Sappleton’s house and
f. should never tell her niece Vera answered the door. I
a. satirical short stories
Page 10 – exercises 1-3 g. should be later discovered that Vera played a
b. the upper classes
h. ought not to watch terrible practical joke on me that day.
c. Hector Hugh Munro Open answers.
i. ought to hurry She told me that the French window
d. His mother died when he was
Page 11 – exercise 4 j. ought not to get married was open because her aunt hoped that
young, and he had to live with his
k. shouldn’t have her dead brothers would come back
two aunts, neither of whom liked 1. B 2. A 3. C 4. B 5. C through it. I was very tired and
Hector very much.
Page 19 – exercise 1 nervous and I believed her, and when
e. He survived with the help of his Page 17 – exercise 1
1. into 2. When 3. will 4. like her uncles returned I thought they
fantastic imagination.
a. F – His sister had met her four 5. there 6. would 7. While 8. was were ghosts. I ran away of course. I
f. His very first job was with the
years earlier and gave him a letter 9. for 10. What 11. about went home and told my sister about
Colonial Burmese Military Police.
of introduction. 12. however my experience. She told me that Vera
That job, however, did not last
b. F – Framton just wants to be had invented the whole story. At first I
long, and when he returned to
alone and relax. Page 20 – exercise 2 was angry, but then I began to laugh
England he wrote political satires.
c. F – She was in that part of the Open answers. and laugh and then, after laughing for
g. The name of a servant mentioned
country four years earlier. some time, I began to feel relaxed and
in The Rubáiyát by Omar
d. T Page 25 – exercise 1 calm. In the end, Vera’s practical joke
Khayyám.
e. T They are all really false. cured me.
h. A contemporary English writer
f. T
suggests that Saki took his name Page 27 – exercise 5
from a South American monkey, a Page 25 – exercise 2
Page 17 – exercise 2 a. ran away b. ran after
‘saki’, an animal that is generally a. He thinks that she is really a bit
Framton: timid, insecure, nervous crazy with sadness as Vera told c. have run out of d. ran over
silent except when provoked.
Vera: mature, intelligent, audacious him. e. ran away f. ran into
i. He died while fighting in the First
b. She thinks that he is rather boring. g. runs after h. ran over
World War.

2
 K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S

Page 28 – exercise 6 g. 9 – fell, muck Page 51 – exercise 2 the road. The car ran over the doll and
1. f – birds h. 10 – sinking, muck, die Open answers. crushed it! I was so happy. My plan
2. a – bees i. 11 – ladder had worked. So, even if I went to bed
3. g – fish j. 8 – pigsty Page 52 – exercise 3 without my dinner that day, I was very
4. e – wolves or dogs k. 2 – coop, belonged a. excited b. boring c. interesting happy. Yes, I can be terribly naughty!
5. b – people l. 3 – upset d. depressed e. fascinated f. bored
Page 60 – exercise 3
6. c – cattle or elephants g. shocking h. surprised i. exciting
Page 43 – exercise 2 1. imagination 2. existence 3. calmly
7. d – lions j. worried
Open answers. 4. driver 5. forgetful 6. wonderful
Page 52 – exercise 1 7. believable 8. quickly 9. angrily
Page 44 – exercise 3 10. careless
The Penance 1. fat little
1. impossible 2. Unfortunately 2. birthday
3. uninhabited 4. unaffected Page 64 – exercise 1
Page 30 – exercise 1 3. eleven
5. inexistent 6. incorrect 4. go to bed without tea a. F – He refused several
1. C 2. B 3. C 4. C 5. B 7. disappeared 8. insincere commissions because he did not
5. marry a rich lord
9. inconceivable 6. with Victor’s love think men should follow him into
Page 35 – exercise 1
battle if he did not have war
1. d 2. f 3. e 4. b 5. c 6. a Page 58 – exercise 1 experience.
Morlvera a. F – She was sad because she b. T
Page 35 – exercise 2
wanted to look at Morlvera a little c. F – It had a small standing army
Open answers. since it was the only major
Page 46 – exercise 1 longer.
b. T European power that did not have
Page 36 – exercise 3 Open answer.
c. F – She said nothing because this universal conscription.
a. don’t have to d. F – Upper-class men took part in
Page 46 – exercise 1 time Victor had not been acting so
b. mustn’t the war along with working-class
1. C 2. C 3. A 4. B 5. A badly.
c. mustn’t men.
d. F – He had a peaceful look on his
d. mustn’t e. T
Page 51 – exercise 1 face because he planned to throw
e. don’t have to f. F – The First World War was one
a. Because toyshops contained the the doll out of the car.
e. T of the bloodiest wars in history.
Page 36 – exercise 4 kind of exciting toys that children
f. T g. F – The war poets wrote about the
1. blood and feathers really liked, but the Olympic Toy
g. T horrors and brutality of the war.
2. looking for rats. Emporium had toys that were
h. F – He wrote that neither side
3. daughter fantastic, not the kind children
Page 58 – exercise 1 won the Battle of the Somme
4. flowers really liked playing with.
sample answer: because only ‘the war’ could win.
5. pigsties b. Because she had fashionable,
expensive clothes and a terrible I will never forget the day I tricked my
6. throw her down to the pigs.
expression on her face. mother. We went to the Olympic Toy
Page 42 – exercise 1 c. Because she was obviously rich Emporium because I had to get a Sredni Vashtar
and they were poor. birthday present for my horrible
a. 7 – go-cart, pigsties Page 66 – exercises 1-2
d. Because she poisoned him slowly cousin Bertha, who is a fat little fool.
b. 6 – chocolates, presents
so that nobody would discover. My mother suggested a doll for Bertha. Open answers.
c. 12 – ladder, penance
e. Because it sounded like the name I asked my mother if we could take the
d. 4 – rifle Page 66 – exercise 3
of an adventuress in a film. doll directly to Bertha. She said ‘yes’,
e. 1 – coop
f. He was a good-natured man. and when the car started moving, I 1. A 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. A
f. 5 – staring
threw the doll over my shoulder into 7. A 8. C

3 4
 K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S

Page 72 – exercise 1 e. Coradin didn’t like going to tea 7. afternoon 8. favourite food e. F – He had taught animals how to
a. The world of Conradin’s church because he thought the 9. Sometimes. speak English.
imagination; and the world of his services were boring. f. T
f. Mrs De Ropp had a toothache so Page 82 – exercise 1 g. F – He was her cat.
cousin that contained everything
that was necessary, unpleasant Conradin performed a special 1. A 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. A 6. D h. T
and real. ritual to celebrate the event. i. T
g. Mrs De Ropp told the gardener to Page 83 – exercise 2 j. F – He was very excited.
b. She looked after him but did not
like him, and took pleasure in take away Conradin’s hen because a. both cathedral and playroom
she noticed that he spent a lot of b. his god and hope to win the war Page 91 – exercise 2
stopping him from doing anything
that he enjoyed. time in the shed. against Mrs De Ropp sample answer:
c. the woman h. Conradin began to hate Mrs De c. the object of all his affection I too think that it would be great if
d. His war was to survive against Mrs Ropp even more because she had d. pleasure, the pleasure that Mrs De cats could speak. After all, cats
De Ropp’s belief that he was going taken away his hen. Ropp always kept from him probably see the world completely
to die within five years. He fought e. victory in his war to survive differently from how we see it. We
Page 74 – exercise 4 could learn many different things
this war with his imagination.
e. It was part cathedral, i.e., a place Page 83 – exercise 3 about animals in general. We would
of worship, and part playroom. 1. T R E A S U R E D a. By keeping him away from all learn why they do things, what things
f. It was slow and boring. 2. W E A P O N pleasures and by gradually making they really like and how they
g. His religion had a polecat-ferret him accept that he really was a experience the world around them.
3. F A R Also, if they could speak they would
as its god to which he brought very ill little boy that had to die.
things like stolen nutmeg. 4. S H E D b. open answer be even better company for people
h. He celebrated with his god. 5. N U T M who are alone.
E G
i. The object of all his affection. Page 84 – exercise 4 A big disadvantage, though, would be
&
j. She said that it was not good for 1. D 2. G 3. B 4. F 5. A 6. C that if cats could speak they would
6. B O R I N G
him to spend so much time in the 7. H 8. E probably judge us. And one of the
shed. 7. H U T C H 1. good 2. back 3. praise 4. cousin nicest things about pets, cats
8. S T O L E N 5. sick 6. delicious 7. else included, is that they do not judge us
Page 72 – exercise 2 8. another 9. hope 10. blood as human beings do.
9. F E R R E T In the end, though, I think that the
Open answers.
10. S P E N T advantages are greater than the
Page 73 – exercise 3 11. R
Tobermory disadvantages. This is why I am so
I T U A L S
a. Conradin went to live with Mrs happy that Cornelius Appin has
Page 86 – exercises 1-2 taught cats how to speak.
De Ropp because his parents were
Page 75 – exercise 5 Open answers.
dead.
1. more 2. that 3. which 4. by Page 92 – exercise 3
b. Conradin did not play in the
5. them 6. Like 7. when 8. to Page 87 – exercise 3 a. We asked our teacher what they
garden because he knew that Mrs
De Ropp would tell him to come 9. why 10. even 1. A 2. C 3. C 4. A 5. A had done the day before.
inside. b. We asked our father if he would
c. Conradin could not play in the Page 76 – exercise 1 Page 91 – exercise 1 help us with our homework.
garden so he spent his time in the Open answers. a. F – It was going to continue for c. I asked Cornelius if he could
shed with his animals. several days. really teach cats to speak English.
d. Conradin had nobody to give his Page 76 – exercise 2 b. F – She always tried to invite d. She asked her brother how many
love and affection to so he gave 1. breakfast 2. your hen 3. something entertaining people. times she had told him not to use
them to his hen. 4. explain 5. nothing 6. because at c. T her computer.
d. T

5 6
 K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S K E Y T O T H E E X E R C I S E S

e. She asked her friend if it was The Interlopers Page 122 – exercise 1 c. If the wind weren’t blowing
going to rain. a. Why couldn’t Georg see? Dried somebody could hear us.
Page 108 – exercise 1 blood covered his eyes. d. But if Georg were not a civilised
Page 92 – exercise 4
1. B 2. C 3. A 4. C 5. A b. Who decided to end the fight? man he would shoot Ulrich
a. ‘Did you go to the circus immediately.
Ulrich did.
yesterday?’ I asked her. Page 114 – exercise 1 e. If I didn’t have to work I would go
c. Why did he decide to end the
b. ‘Why don’t you ever wear a suit to the football match.
1. because 2. so 3. but 4. and fight? Because he saw Georg
and tie to work?’ they asked me.
5. when 6. but 7. because suffering.
c. ‘Do you like your school?’ Sylvia
d. What did Ulrich offer Georg? EXIT TEST
asked Harry.
Page 115 – exercise 2 Some wine.
d. ‘What are you doing in my
a. each other b. (none) e. Why did Georg decide that he
bedroom?’ Robert asked Emily.
wanted to be Ulrich’s friend? The Open Window
e. ‘Will you ever love me?’ Ahmed c. themselves d. ourselves
e. themselves f. each other Because Ulrich had offered him Page 125 – exercise 1
asked Sandra.
g. himself h. each other some wine.
f. Why would everyone be shocked 1. A 2. A
Page 93 – exercises 1-2
Open answers. Page 115 – exercise 3 if Georg and Ulrich rode into The Penance
Open answers. town together? Because nobody 1. D 2. C
Page 93 – exercise 3 could remember a time when the
1. everybody 2. happy 3. first Page 116 – exercise 4 Znaeyms and von Gradwitzes Morlvera
4. asking 5. None 6. word 7. some were friends. 1. D 2. B
1. C L A I M g. Who did Ulrich think he saw
8. little 9. room 10. milk
2. B R A N C H E S running down the hill? His Sredni Vashtar
Page 102 – exercise 1 guards. 1. B 2. B
3. S T A R E
A. 5 B. 6 C. 3 D. 8 E. EXTRA h. What did Ulrich really see
HEADING F. 7 G. 1 H. 2 I. 4 4. D E E R Tobermory
running down the hill? Wolves.
5. C 1. A 2. D
Page 102 – exercise 2 R A S H
Page 122 – exercise 2
1. have been working 6. L A N D The Interlopers
a. 4 b. 2 c. 6 d. 1 e. 5 f. 3
2. no better animals than 7. P O A C H 1. A 2. A
3. would come when he Page 123 – exercises 3-5 Page 128 – exercise 2
8. C A R P A T H I A N
4. was it difficult to learn
Open answers. 1. O b
5. apologised for spilling 9. S T E A L
6. might have taught 2. DR f
10. T R U N K Page 124 – exercise 6
7. was killed by his enemy 3. Vi h
11. F O R E S T a. If I didn’t have a bad cold I could 4. T e
8. did not have any more
go to his party. 5. Ve g
Page 103 – exercise 3 Page 117 – exercise 1 b. If we were friends then you could 6. G c
hunt on my land. 7. Ve d
Open answers. Open answers.
8. E a
Page 104 – exercise 4 Page 117 – exercise 2
1. C 2. D 3. D 4. B 5. B 6. C 1. men 2. pull 3. After 4. few
7. A 8. A 5. drank 6. cold 7. looked
8. fighting 9. throw 10. good
Page 105 – exercise 5 11. should 12. dies 13. because
Open answers. 14. drink 15. enemy

7 8
 EXIT TEST PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2004 Black Cat Publishing K E Y T O T H E E X I T T E S T

1 Answer the following questions 1. He had been feeling very tired and nervous, and so he needed to relax.
2. Mrs Sappleton’s niece.
1. Why did Framton decide to go to the country? 3. Because he wanted to stop her from talking about her dead husband and
2. Who was Vera? brothers.
3. Why did Framton start telling Mrs Sappleton about his health problems? 4. He jumped up and ran away.
4. How did Framton react when Vera’s uncle began to sing ‘Bertie, why do 5. He was a farmer.
you bound?’? 6. Because he thought it was killing his chickens.
5. What was Octavian’s job? 7. Something killed some more of his chickens after he had killed the
6. Why did Octavian kill the children’s cat? children’s cat.
7. Why did Octavian begin to think that the cat was innocent? 8. Because, otherwise, the children would not have helped him to save his
8. Why did Octavian accept to do the penance? daughter.
9. What did Morlvera look like? 9. She looked like a model in a fashion magazine.
10. According to Emmeline, what happened to Morlvera’s little boy? 10. She sent him away to live with some poor people.
11. What did Victor have to buy at the emporium? 11. A birthday present for his cousin.
12. He threw it over his shoulder out of the car.

Black Cat Publishing, an imprint of Cideb Editrice, Genoa, Canterbury

12. In the end, what did Victor do with Morlvera?
13. Who did Conradin live with? 13. His cousin, Mrs De Ropp.
14. How did Conradin defend himself against his cousin? 14. He used his imagination.
15. Why did Mrs De Ropp prepare Conradin some toast and butter? 15. Because she felt guilty about taking away his hen.
16. How did Conradin’s way of worshipping his god change after the 16. He began to ask it for a favour.
Woman took away his hen? 17. Judging from his name and from what people said, she thought he must
17. Why did Lady Blemley invite Cornelius Appin to her house-party? be a clever man.
18. Who was Tobermory? 18. He was Lady Blemley’s cat.
19. Why was there a general panic after Major Barfield asked Tobermory 19. Because they were all afraid that Tobermory would begin to talk about
about his girlfriend? their private love affairs.
20. Why, according to Mrs Cornett, was it better to teach elephants how to 20. Because elephants can’t sit outside your window or under your bed and
speak than to teach cats? listen to your conversations.
21. What did Ulrich plan to do to Georg if he met him? 21. He planned to kill him.
22. What did each man hope for once they were both trapped? 22. That his own guards would come first.
23. What did Ulrich offer Georg? 23. Some wine.
24. Why did Ulrich’s hate for Georg begin to end? 24. Because he saw his old enemy suffering so much.

SCORE /24

© 2004
9 10