Comprehension Test

Deadlock
Sara Paretsky
1 Who said this in the story? Martin Bledsoe, Niels Grafalk, Vic, Paige Carrington, Jeannine
Phillips.
a I just want to know what happened. He was young, strong; its hard to imagine him falling into
the water like that. ...............
b Id been seeing a lot of your cousin the last few months. I think we were in love. ...............
c I was eighteen years old when I stole that money. ...............
d He was going to tell the president of Eudora Grain. It would have been the end of Claytons
job. We would lose the house, the club. ...............
e Ill kill you before you go overboard no unpleasant drowning for you. ...............
20 marks
2 Complete the following sentences with information from the story.
a Paige Carrington was looking through Boom Booms papers when ...
................................................................................
................................................................................

b When Vic was driving along the highway in her car ...
................................................................................
................................................................................

c When Vic looked behind her photo she ...

................................................................................
................................................................................

d Paige Carrington was helping Niels Grafalk because ...

................................................................................
................................................................................

e Vic set fire to the curtains on Niels Grafalks yacht because ...
................................................................................
................................................................................

20 marks
3 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
a

Vic lived with a friend.

Boom Boom had been a famous ice hockey player.

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 1

Boom Boom worked for a company that transported oil.

Vic liked Paige Carrington as soon as she met her.

Vic was invited to be a passenger on the ship, the Lucella.

Vic sometimes carried a gun with her.

Clayton Phillips was cheating money from his company.

Clayton Phillips was found dead on a coal ship.

Niels and Claire Grafalk were happily married.

At the end Niels Grafalk was sent to prison.

20 marks

4 Match a number from A with a letter from B to make complete sentences.

A
1

The day before Boom Boom died ...

When Bledsoe was having dinner ...

When Vic went back to Boom Booms apartment ...

When Vic was in hospital ...

When Vic met Grafalk at his house ...

B
a ... she found the watchmans dead body.
b ... he told her about Bledsoes crime.
c ... he left a message on Vics answering machine.
d ... a lot of people came to visit her.
e ... he broke a glass in his hand.
20 marks
5 Imagine you are Niels Grafalk. Explain why you blew up the Lucella.
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................
....................................................................................

20 marks Total marks

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 2

Multiple-choice Test

Deadlock
Sara Paretsky

Setting
Choose the best answer.
1 Boom Boom worked for _____ at the time of his death.
a [ ] the Eudora Grain Company b [ ] Grafalk Steamship
c [ ] the Pole Star Line

d [ ] the Black Hawks

2 Vic and Boom Booms fathers _____.

a [ ] were friends

b [ ] were enemies

c [ ] were brothers

d [ ] were Russian

3 Paige Carrington said she was _____ at Boom Booms apartment.

a [ ] packing

b [ ] looking for love letters

c [ ] cleaning d [ ] looking for jewellery

4 Boom Boom went under a _____ as it pulled away.

a [ ] yacht

b [ ] bus

c [ ] taxi

d [ ] ship

5 He had left an urgent message on _____ answering machine.

a [ ] Niels Grafalks b [ ] Paiges c [ ] Vics d [ ] Mr Phillips
6 Captain Bemis said that Boom Boom knew something about _____.
a [ ] Paige Carrington

b [ ] the accident to the Lucella

c [ ] the problems at the port

d [ ] the Eudora Grain Company

7 Grafalks company was the _____ on the Great Lakes.

a [ ] oldest and biggest

b [ ] smallest but most successful

c [ ] newest and least successful d [ ] newest and biggest

8 Vic found the watchman dead in Boom Booms _____.
a [ ] bedroom

b [ ] office

c [ ] car

d [ ] study

9 Boom Boom was being trained to _____.

a [ ] take over the office in Buffalo

b [ ] pilot two ships

c [ ] be the director of the company d [ ] make a return to ice hockey

10 In Boom Booms diary, _____ in 1981 and 1982.
a [ ] he wrote about Paige Carrington

b [ ] pages were torn out for dates

c [ ] circles were drawn around dates

d [ ] he wrote a lot

20 marks

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 3

Characters
Choose the best answer.
11 Vic Warshawskis family came from _____.
a [ ] Russia

b [ ] Hungary

c [ ] Poland

d [ ] Lithuania

12 Boom Boom was really called _____.

a [ ] Robert

b [ ] William c [ ] Basil d [ ] Bernard

13 Paige Carrington had dark straight hair and _____ eyes.

a [ ] gold-coloured

b [ ] different coloured

c [ ] dark brown

d [ ] light blue

14 Niels Grafalk knew that Bledsoe had spent _____ in prison.

a [ ] two months

b [ ] two years

c [ ] ten years

d [ ] ten months

15 Clayton Phillips was _____.

a [ ] Eudoras vice-president

b [ ] in charge of the port

c [ ] director of the Pole Star Line

d [ ] owner of a large shipping company

16 _____ had serious eyes and a calm manner.
a [ ] Niels Grafalk

b [ ] Boom Boomc [ ] Captain Bemis d [ ] Martin Bledsoe

17 Paige and Jeannine knew each other because they _____.

a [ ] were neighbours

b [ ] were classmates

c [ ] worked together

d [ ] were sisters

18 Vic discovered that Paige was Grafalks _____.

a [ ] cousin b [ ] mistress

c [ ] wife

d [ ] daughter

19 Grafalk knew that _____.

a [ ] Phillips was cheating Eudora Grain

b [ ] his wife had a lover

c [ ] Paige preferred Boom Boom to him d [ ] he would eventually go to prison

20 Claire and Niels Grafalk _____ for more than ten years.
a [ ] were artists

b [ ] argued

c [ ] lived separate lives

d [ ] didnt speak

20 marks

Dialogue
Who or what do the underlined words refer to?
21 People are saying he stole some papers from his boss.
a [ ] Boom Boom

b [ ] Sheridan

c [ ] Bobby Mallory d [ ] Captain Bemis

22 Why do they dislike each other so much?

a [ ] Boom Boom and Mattingly b [ ] Grafalk and Bledsoe
c [ ] Vic and Paige

d [ ] Claire and Niels Grafalk

23 Can I persuade you to eat dinner with me?

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 4

a [ ] Paige

b [ ] Grafalk

c [ ] Vic

d [ ] Bledsoe

24 I thought I saw Howard the other day in a very odd place.

a [ ] Boom Boom

b [ ] Vic

c [ ] Pierre

d [ ] Clayton Phillips

25 I want to know why you were spying on my house.

a [ ] Claire Grafalk

b [ ] Jeannine Phillips c [ ] Niels Grafalk

d [ ] Vic

26 His pilot flew it out twenty minutes ago.

a [ ] Sheridan

b [ ] Grafalk

c [ ] Phillips d [ ] Bledsoe

27 A small-time criminal. No good. Avoided prison.

a [ ] Pierre

b [ ] Howard Mattingly c [ ] Paige Carrington

d [ ] Niels Grafalk

28 Youre always around when disasters hit Pole Star.

a [ ] Paige

b [ ] Grafalk

c [ ] Vic

d [ ] Sheridan

29 We would lose the house, the club.

a [ ] Martin Bledsoes family b [ ] Jeannine and Clayton Phillips
c [ ] Vics family d [ ] Niels and Claire Grafalk
30 I still have the plastic bags. But I dont want to use them.
a [ ] Vic

b [ ] Claire

c [ ] Paige

d [ ] Jeannine

20 marks

Vocabulary
Choose the best answer.
31 to lose your balance and fall
a [ ] shrug

b [ ] grip

c [ ] grab

d [ ] slip

32 the place where ships are tied up in a port

a [ ] warehouse

b [ ] wharf

c [ ] crane

d [ ] hold

33 to break suddenly into very small pieces

a [ ] crumple

b [ ] crack

c [ ] slam d [ ] shatter

34 a complete failure to reach an agreement

a [ ] deadlock

b [ ] hawk

c [ ] picklock

d [ ] stage

c [ ] insurance

d [ ] pulley

35 a bill for goods received

a [ ] trophy

b [ ] invoice

36 well-dressed
a [ ] pale

b [ ] casual

c [ ] smart

d [ ] tidy

37 a sailing boat often used for racing

a [ ] tug

b [ ] canoe

c [ ] trawler

d [ ] yacht

38 a person who hides on a ship to have a free journey

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 5

a [ ] hideaway b [ ] stowaway

c [ ] freeway d [ ] highway

39 the small, hard seed of food plants

a [ ] grain

b [ ] wheat

c [ ] groan

d [ ] corn

40 the place for luggage at the back of a car (American)

a [ ] track

b [ ] truck

c [ ] trick

d [ ] trunk

20 marks

Plot
Choose the best answer.
41 _____ after she had dinner with Bledsoe.
a [ ] Vic felt ill b [ ] Vic drove into a truck
c [ ] Vics car was stolen

d [ ] Vics brakes didnt work

42 Jeannine Phillips told Vic that _____ that night.

a [ ] her husband was late home

b [ ] she had been at the cinema

c [ ] her husband stayed at home

d [ ] they had been to a restaurant

43 Vic thought someone from _____ had tried to kill her.

a [ ] the Black Hawks

b [ ] the Lucella

c [ ] her old school

d [ ] a local newspaper

44 Vic saw a red-haired man with a pair of _____ before the explosion.
a [ ] glasses

b [ ] red shoes

c [ ] sunglasses

d [ ] binoculars

45 She found the missing papers behind _____.

a [ ] Boom Booms picture of her

b [ ] a wardrobe

c [ ] a door

d [ ] a mirror

46 Clayton Phillips body was found in the hold of the _____.

a [ ] Bertha Krupnik

b [ ] Lucella

c [ ] Gertrude Ruttan

d [ ] yacht

47 Jeannine Phillips confirmed that her husband _____.

a [ ] worked very long hours

b [ ] disliked their old home

c [ ] sent invoices at higher prices

d [ ] was difficult to live with

48 After the Poe Lock was damaged, _____ couldnt get to the upper lakes.
a [ ] ships

b [ ] bigger ships

c [ ] people

d [ ] yachts

49 Vic cut her arm on Grafalks yacht to _____.

a [ ] leave evidence for the police

b [ ] distract Grafalk

c [ ] make Grafalk feel guilty d [ ] give Grafalk a surprise

50 Grafalk _____ Vic while she was in the water.
a [ ] tried to shoot

b [ ] laughed at

c [ ] couldnt see

20 marks
Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 6

d [ ] didnt shoot

Totalmarks

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 7

Deadlock
1 a Vic
b Paige Carrington
c Martin Bledsoe
d Jeannine Phillips
e Niels Grafalk
2 a ... Vic arrived at the / his / Boom Booms flat. / ... Vic entered the room./ ... Vic appeared.
b ... the brakes failed / stopped working. /... the steering stopped working. / ... she had a crash.
c ... found two invoices / some important papers / some important documents.
d ... she was his mistress / girlfriend. ... he paid for everything.
e ... he was trying to kill her / she was trying to save herself.
3 a F
b T
c F
d F
e F
f T
g T
h T
i F
j F
4 1 c
2 e
3 a
4 d
5 b
5 Students individual answers.

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 8

Deadlock
Setting
1

10

Characters
11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Dialogue
21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 9

Vocabulary
31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Plot
41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

Oxford Bookworms Library Stage 5 10