OXFORD BOOKWORMS COMPREHENSION TEST

Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

1 Which story do these sentences come 3 Omega File 451: Loch Ness, Scotland.
from? Omega File 349:London, Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
England,Omega File 451:Loch Ness,
a ___ Something killed a lot of animals.
Scotland,Omega File 522:Galápagos:
b ___ Jude and Hawker went out in a boat.
Ecuador.
c ___ The army men wanted to help Jude.
a It was a greeny-black colour, with very long d ___ Jude killed the monster.
arms and legs. e ___ Arla was very happy about the
…………………… monster.
b They danced for hours.
    10 marks 
……………………
c When they got out of the plane, a wall of hot
4 Omega File 522: Galápagos: Ecuador.
air hit them.
Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
……………………
d It was a hard climb. a ___ There are giant tortoises on Isabela.
…………………… b ___ People were going to live on Isabela.
e They found five sheep with broken necks. c ___ Jude and Hawker went up the volcano.
…………………… d ___ There was an American on the
f An hour and three coffees later they went volcano.
back. e ___ The volcano erupted.
……………………     10 marks 
g Jude sat in the boat, with her gun in her
hand. 5 Who said this? Who did they say it to?
…………………… Archie, Arla, Johnny Cook, Jude,
h They sat on the hot lava rocks, and drank Hawker.
hot beer.
a ‘You can wash it for me’
……………………
……………….. to ………………..
i They went to Garcia’s first, then moved on
b ‘You’re only twenty-five! That’s not old.’
to Bruno’s.
……………….. to ………………..
……………………
c ‘I am going to be rich.’
j The night sky was filled with red and orange
……………….. to ……………….. and
light.
………………..
……………………
d ‘Get a coffee.’
    20 marks  ……………….. to ……………….. and
………………..
2 Omega File 349: London, England. Are e ‘You need some sheep.’
these sentences true (T) or false (F)? ……………….. to ……………….. and
a ___ They first found Johnny Cook in a club. ………………..
b ___ Johnny Cook was rich.     20 marks 
c ___ Johnny Cook lived in a big house..
d ___ Johnny Cook had papers with the drug
company’s name on them.
e ___ Johnny Cook died.
    10 marks 

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS COMPREHENSION TEST
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

6 Who, in the stories …?Archie, Alcedo,

Jude, Jude and Hawker, Johnny Cook,
the monster, Dr Miller, Gonzalo, the
iguana.
a danced every night? ………………..
b lost some sheep? ………………..
c killed the monster? ………………..
d was greeny-black? ………………..
e took them to Isabela? ………………..
f waited for extraterrestrials? ………………..
g was orange-yellowy? ………………..
h didn’t like Americans? ………………..
i made a lot of noise? ………………..
j left Isabela in time? ………………..
    20 marks 

7 Where, in the stories, did …

a they find Johnny Cook dead? ……………..
b Arla work? ………………..
c Jude and Hawker live at the end of the
book? ………………..
d Dr Miller come from? ………………..
e the spaceship come from? ………………..
    10 marks 

    Total marks 

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS COMPREHENSION TEST ANSWERS
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

1 6
a Loch Ness, Scotland a Johnny Cook
b London, England b Archie
c Galápagos: Ecuador c Jude
d Galápagos: Ecuador d the monster
e Loch Ness, Scotland e Gonzalo
f London, England f Dr Miller
g Loch Ness, Scotland g the iguana
h Galápagos: Ecuador h Dr Miller
i London, England i Alcedo
j Galápagos: Ecuador j Jude and Hawker

2 7
a T a In the River Thames
b F b Brussels
c F c Greece
d T d Australia
e T e Another planet

3
a T
b T
c F
d T
e F

4
a T
b F
c T
d F
e T

5
a Hawker, Jude
b Jude, Hawker
c Johnny Cook, Jude and Hawker
d Arla, Jude and Hawker
e Archie, Jude and Hawker

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

SETTING 8 Isabela Island is one of the _____ islands.

a  Spanish
Choose the best answer. b  Galapagos
1 Hawker and Jude work for the _____ c  Greek
Department of Intelligence. d  Hawaiian
a  American
9 Isabela Island has six _____.
b  Russian
a  roads
c  British
b  paths
d  European
c  rivers
2 Hawker and Jude work for the top man in d  volcanoes
the _____ office.
10 Hawker and Jude see giant _____ on
a  Moscow
Isabela Island.
b  New York
a  sheep
c  Brussels
b  monsters
d  London
c  tortoises
3 Hawker and Jude’s work is _____. d  fish
a  secret and dangerous
    20 marks 
b  slow and boring
c  difficult and boring
d  nice and easy CHARACTERS

4 Hawker and Jude meet Johnny Cook at Choose the best answer.
a _____ in London. 11 Arla is Hawker and Jude’s _____.
a  cinema a  detective
b  club b  son
c  restaurant c  friend
d  cafe d  boss
5 Somebody finds Johnny Cook’s dead body 12 Johnny Cook is a _____ man.
in _____. a  homeless
a  Oxford Street b  rich
b  Hyde Park c  very small
c  the River Thames d  fat
d  the North Sea
13 Johnny Cook wants to sell his story
6 The monster is killing animals near _____ in to _____.
Scotland. a  Hawker and Jude
a  Edinburgh b  the government
b  Glasgow c  a newspaper
c  Loch Lomond d  a policeman
d  Loch Ness
14 People from a _____ company took Johnny
7 There is an army _____ in the hills in Cook from the streets of London.
Scotland. a  magazine
a  laboratory b  hotel
b  hospital c  drug
c  camp d  TV
d  spaceship
15 The monster kills _____.
a  sheep and dogs
b  horses and dogs
c  people
d  children

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

16 Hawker and Jude meet some men in two 23 ‘And late one night, along the Strand, they
army _____. came and took me and some other people –
a  cars a boy and two girls.’
b  boats a  Jude
c  planes b  Hawker
d  houses c  Johnny Cook
d  Arla
17 Jude kills _____.
a  Archie Campbell 24 ‘Are you telling us everything, Arla?’
b  Arla a  Hawker
c  the monster b  Archie Campbell
d  the army men c  Mrs Fraser
d  one of the army men
18 Hawker and Jude meet Dr Jim Miller _____.
a  on Santa Cruz Island 25 ‘It wasn’t Nessie. Nessie doesn’t kill sheep.
b  on the boat to Isabela Island This … thing …broke their necks.’
c  in the sea near Isabela Island a  Jude
d  on Volcano Alcedo b  Archie Campbell
c  Arla
19 Dr Miller is from _____.
d  one of the army men
a  America
b  Australia 26 ‘This fighter can run all night, live under
c  Britain water, see in the dark. But it’s new. We
d  Chile haven’t got it right yet.’
a  Jude
20 Dr Miller thinks there is a _____ in the
b  Hawker
volcano.
c  Arla
a  spaceship
d  the tall army man
b  monster
c  secret laboratory 27 ‘You’re going to the Galapagos Islands,
d  giant tortoise a thousand kilometres out in the Pacific
Ocean.’
    20 marks 
a  Jude
b  Hawker
DIALOGUE c  Arla
d  Dr Jim Miller
Who said or wrote this?
21 ‘Our work was secret. It’s all in the 28 ‘My boat can take ten people. It’s a very
government files, and nobody can read good boat, but very expensive for only two
them.’ people.’
a  Jude a  Gonzalo
b  Arla b  Hawker
c  Johnny Cook c  Jude
d  one of the army men d  Dr Jim Miller

22 ‘So what’s the story then, Johnny? Have 29 ‘Nobody believes me! The Americans say,
some more coffee and tell us all about it.’ “Oh, crazy man!” The Australian government
a  Arla says, “Get some sleep!”’
b  Hawker a  Hawker
c  a journalist b  Jude
d  a taxi driver c  Gonzalo
d  Dr Jim Miller

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

30 ‘Oh no! We’re seven hours away from the 38 when you think that something is real or true
boat. Let’s get moving!’ a  believe
a  Gonzalo b  bring
b  Jude c  forget
c  Arla d  hear
d  Dr Jim Miller
39 an animal with a hard shell on its back; it
    20 marks  moves very slowly
a  dog
VOCABULARY b  tortoise
c  sheep
Choose the best answer. d  horse
31 when you look at something for a long time 40 when something is very unusual or
a  stand surprising
b  stare a  strange
c  stop b  strong
d  stay c  small
32 when something is very, very frightening d  slow
a  exciting     20 marks 
b  interesting
c  terrifying
PLOT
d  wonderful
33 a group of people who control a country Choose the best answer.
a  boss 41 Arla always gives the _____ jobs to Hawker
b  king and Jude.
c  queen a  easy
d  government b  hard
c  long
34 a small ‘road’ across a piece of land where
d  boring
people can walk
a  path 42 The Tyler company _____ Johnny Cook.
b  river a  gives 100,000 euros to
c  dust b  gives a job to
d  loch c  writes a book about
d  does tests on
35 when you say something very, very quietly
a  answer 43 The company makes a lot of money
b  sing from _____.
c  talk a  Johnny’s story
d  whisper b  an old drug
c  a new drug
36 a mountain with a hole in the top where fire,
d  a new spaceship
gas, and liquid rock sometimes come out
a  planet 44 In Scotland Hawker and Jude _____ at
b  path night.
c  hill a  go out on Loch Ness
d  volcano b  stay in the hotel
c  listen to the radio
37 when people try to hurt or kill each other
d  work with the police
a  carry
b  help
c  fight
d  wait

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

45 The men in the two boats are very _____

Hawker and Jude.
a  friendly to
b  unfriendly to
c  afraid of
d  happy with
46 _____ made the monster in a laboratory.
a  The army
b  The police
c  The EDI
d  Hawker and Jude
47 Everyday EDI gets _____ from the
Galapagos.
a  letters
b  presents
c  emails
d  secrets
48 A lot of people are leaving Isabela Island
because of _____.
a  the weather
b  the volcano
c  the giant tortoises
d  Dr Miller
49 Hawker and Jude _____ the volcano and
then they meet Dr Miller.
a  go down
b  fall down
c  climb
d  leave
50 Dr Miller _____ the volcano.
a  ran away from
b  left
c  stopped
d  died on
    20 marks 

    Total marks 

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST ANSWERS
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

SETTING PLOT
1 d 41 b
2 c 42 d
3 a 43 c
4 b 44 a
5 c 45 b
6 d 46 a
7 a 47 c
8 b 48 b
9 d 49 c
10 c 50 d

CHARACTERS
11 d
12 a
13 c
14 c
15 a
16 b
17 c
18 d
19 b
20 a

DIALOGUE
21 a
22 b
23 c
24 a
25 b
26 d
27 c
28 a
29 d
30 b

VOCABULARY
31 b
32 c
33 d
34 a
35 d
36 d
37 c
38 a
39 b
40 a

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OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories
BEFORE READING
page 44
1 To the bottom of page 21
1 Yes
2 No
3 No
4 Yes
5 No
6 No
2 looking for the Loch Ness monster.
Encourage students to make as many sensible
sentences as possible, but do not tell them the
answers. They will find out as they read that
these sentences apply to the stories:
Hawker and Jude …
 find a monster in Scotland.
 climb a volcano on a Pacific island.
 talk to a young man in London.
 talk to a crazy Australian on a Pacific island.
 kill a monster in Scotland.
 go dancing with a young man in London.
WHILE READING
Ediand Omega File 349: London, England (1)
1 F: Johnny Cook went clubbing nearly every
night.
2 F: When they left the last club, Hawker and
Jude took Johnny Cook to their hotel for
breakfast.
3 T
4 F: The company used homeless people for
drug tests.
5 T
6 T
7 F: Hawker and Jude couldn’t talk to Johnny
Cook again because he was dead.
Ediand Omega File 349: London, England (2)
Encourage students to ask any questions that
they feel are relevant. The prompts given could
produce questions like these:
 Who was with Johnny Cook when he fell in
the river?
 Who found Johnny Cook’s body in the river?
 Who did you telephone when we went to
have coffee?
 Who said Johnny Cook’s story wasn’t true?
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BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
Ediand Omega File 351: Scotland and
Loch Ness
1 How …? They phoned Hawker and Jude on
their mobile phones to give them news
about the monster.
2 What …? They went up and down the loch
in Archie’s boat and looked for the monster.
3 What …? They wanted Hawker and Jude to
go back to their hotel and go to bed / to stop
4 What …? It came out of the loch and killed
sheep, and sometimes dogs.
5 How …? He gave them his boat and got
them six old sheep.
Before reading to the end of Omega File 451
Encourage students to speculate and to choose
the endings they like best, but do not tell them
the answers. They will find out as they read that
the right answers are numbers 4 and 7.
Omega File 522: Galápagos, Ecuador
To the bottom of page 37
1+7 Arla wanted Hawker and Jude to go to
Isabela Island because he had strange
emails about visitors there.
2 + 10 Dr Miller was very angry with
everybody because nobody believed
his stories about the spaceship.
3+9 Hawker and Jude stared down into the
crater but they could not see anything
through the clouds of steam and dust
down there.
4+6 In the night they listened to the radio
and heard the news about Volcano
Alcedo erupting.
5+8 They wanted Dr Miller to go with them
to the boat, but Dr Miller did not believe
the news on the radio.
OXFORD BOOKWORMS
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories
Before reading to the end of Omega File 522
Encourage students to speculate and to make
guesses, but do not tell them the answers. They
will find out as they read that the ‘yes’ answers
are numbers 2, 3, and 4. Students can argue
about the answer to number 7 and give what
answer they like.
AFTER READING
1
If students need help with this, encourage them
to look at links in the language.
3 Arla: ‘OK, Jude. Tell me about it. What was
it?’
7 Jude: ‘It was one of the army’s new fighters.
It was a living thing – half animal, half
person.’
5 Arla: ‘Mm. Genetic engineering. And what
can it do?’
2 Jude: ‘It can run all night, live under water,
see in the dark, and it kills small
animals with four legs.’
8 Arla: ‘But why did it try to kill Hawker then?
Hawker hasn’t got four legs.’
4 Jude: ‘No, of course he hasn’t. This monster
isn’t very clever, Arla, but it’s horrible –
and dangerous.’
1 Arla: ‘And the army is even more dangerous!
I’m going to close their laboratory.’
6 Jude: ‘Good. Please do it soon, Arla!’
2 The hidden word is Antarctica, and it is a place.
When the volcano erupted, I saw a light in the
sky, moving up very fast. Jude says it was not a
spaceship, but it moved faster than the clouds of
dust. So what was it?
10
BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
3
1 You can read the news in a newspaper
every day.
2 It is dangerous to climb down into a volcano.
3 A company must do many tests before they
can sell a new medicine.
4 When a volcano erupts, lava and red-hot
rock come out.
5 A special room for scientists to work in.
(laboratory)
6 You can travel to planets and stars in a
spaceship.
7 This animal moves very, very slowly.
(tortoise)
8 When you look for something in the dark,
you need a flashlight.
9 When you are ill, you take medicine to make
you better.
10 A letter sent by computer. (email)
4
The picture goes on page 37, in the story Omega
File 522: Galápagos, Ecuador.
1 They are on top of Volcano Alcedo on
Isabela Island in the Galápagos.
2 The voice is saying that Volcano Alcedo is
going to erupt in the next twenty-four hours.
3 They call Jim, and then they climb down the
volcano, get into Gonzalo’s boat, and go out
to sea.
Lines taken from the story would make suitable
captions, for example:
 On the radio they could hear a voice from
Santa Cruz.
 Oh no! We’re seven hours away from the
boat.’
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OXFORD BOOKWORMS BOOK ACTIVITY ANSWERS
Stage 1
The Omega Files: Short Stories

Or students might want to invent something

more imaginative, for example:
 ‘You’re not going to believe this, Jude,’ said
Hawker.

5
Encourage students to discuss which titles they
think are ‘not good’. A possible answer is the
names, as they tell the reader very little about
the story.
Omega File 349: London, England
 Danger on the Streets
 Johnny (NG)
 Drugs for the Homeless
 Listening Through the Wall
Omega File 451: Loch Ness, Scotland
 An Army for the Future
 A Nice Friendly Monster
 The Men in Grey (NG)
 Danger in the Water
Omega File 522: Galápagos, Ecuador
 Crazy Dr Miller (NG)
 Danger from the Sky
 Hullo, Planet Earth!
 The Volcano Spaceship

6
Open answers.

7
Open answers.

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