READING COMPREHENSION TEST

Surname: Name: Form : Mark :

Date: 30 20
The Plague.
1 The disease called plague has been unknown in Europe since the late 17th century, but for
centuries before that it was a frequent and terrifying visitor. The worst outbreak occurred in 1347-49. It is
known as the Black Death.
There are three varieties of plague. Bubonic plague is the most common, but there are two others
5 which are even more deadly. The Black Death probably included at least one of these as well as the bubonic
variety. The plague germ is carried by the fleas of rats, but 14th-century people did not know that. Even if they
had known, they could not have done much to help themselves. For most of them, the Black Death was simply a
sign of God’s anger.
Sometimes it began with a sore throat. The patient’s temperature rose, he became feverish and
10 dizzy, and was violently sick. Large swellings appeared, or dark inflamed patches on the skin, with intense pain
and raving delirium. Death came in a day or two.
The Black Death reached Europe from Asia in an Italian merchantship. It swept through Italy and
France, reaching England in 1348 and Scotland in 1349. Graveyards filled up, and trenches were dug for more
bodies. Farm animals wandered about untended and the corn stood unharvested in the fields. Grass grew in the
15 streets of Bristol and the Oxford colleges closed. Prices slumped: a good horse could be bought for six shillings
which in normal times would have cost forty. Some places escaped but in others everyone died and whole
villages disappeared for ever. In East Anglia a woman named Matilda Wyninge watched three husbands die of
plague in two months. Then she caught it. In Derbyshire, Sir William Wakebridge lost father, wife, three
brothers and two sisters – in two months.
20 No one can say exactly how many people died; probably about one-third of the total population,
perhaps more. It was the greatest disaster the English people ever suffered.

Neil GRANT, Children’s History of Britain, 1977.

I ] General comprehension
A) Circle the title which best applies to the text:
1) A lethal disease is coming back.
2) How to fight against the plague.
3) The plague: a minor disease. 0.5
4) How terrible a disease the plague was.
B) Associate each of the 5 paragraphs to the following titles:
1) Symptoms of the disease = §
2) Consequences of the disease = §
3) Description of the disease = §
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C) Match the four place names mentioned (L12-19) with the “definitions” given below:
1) a town in South-West England: ____________________
2) the teaching establishments of this town are renowned: ___________________
3) a region in the South-East of England: _____________________ 2
4) a county in Northern England: _______________________

II ] Detailed comprehension
A) Right or Wrong. Circle the letter corresponding to your choice and justify with a quotation
from the text.
1) R – W The plague is still present in Europe today.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2) R – W Very few people died in the mid-fourteenth century.
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3) R – W The Bubonic plague is the most dangerous sort of plague.
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4) R – W The Bubonic plague was not a cause of the Black Death.
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5) R – W People of the Middle Ages knew the exact origin of the Black Death.
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6) R – W This text gives medical information on the Black Death.
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7) R – W It explains how the Black Death arrived in Europe.
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8) R – W In England all the areas were equally touched by that disease.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
9) R –W It estimates that the total number of people who died was around 30 % of the population.
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B) In the text, find a synonym of:
1) an illness: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6) a large mark on the body: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2) to happen: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7) to spread rapidly across: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3) lethal: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 8) the place where dead people are normally
4) a very small, parasitic buried: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
blood-sucking insect: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 9) to walk aimlessly: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
5) to increase: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 10) to fall down: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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III ] On your own
A) In your own words, explain what the author means when he says: “Farm animals wandered
about untended and the corn stood unharvested in the fields. Grass grew in the streets of Bristol and the
Oxford colleges closed” L 14/15. (50 words)
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B) Translate the first paragraph into French.
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