Exam practice: Reading Unit 2

Open comprehension Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

1 Decide if the sentences about open comprehension
questions are true (T) or false (F). Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a British
doctor, writer and journalist who
1 You should write in complete sentences. T/F is perhaps best remembered for
2 It’s a good idea to copy exactly from the text. T/F creating Sherlock Holmes.
3 Write sentences that are as long as possible. T/F Doyle was born in Scotland on
22 May 1859. His family were quite
4 You can write more than one sentence. T/F wealthy but they were also quite
2 Complete each gap with a word from the box. strict. While he was growing up, his
mother often told him stories. Years
accuse • ​
analyse • ​investigate • ​ later, these stories were the thing
question • ​search for that Doyle remembered most from his early childhood.
Doyle went away to school in England at the age of nine
and after he had finished, he decided to become a doctor.
1 The police are going to the case to He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh While
find out what happened. he was still studying, he wrote and published his first
2 There are two witnesses to the crime, so the police two stories.
will them. After finishing his studies in 1881, Doyle worked as a
3 The criminals are hiding, so the police have to doctor for ten years. He continued writing, hoping to
them. They might not find them. become successful. In 1888, A Study In Scarlet, the first
Sherlock Holmes story, was published and it made Doyle
4 Before the police can a suspect of a famous. In total, he wrote 56 Sherlock Holmes stories and
crime, they must have evidence. four novels. Doyle also wrote historical books, science
5 A police officer has to the evidence. fiction and adventure stories, plays and poetry.
It’s important to look at it closely. Doyle also investigated at least two real-life crimes. One
of them involved a man called George Edalji, who was
Exam tip accused of hurting animals and was put in prison. Edalji
When you’re answering comprehension questions, use asked Doyle for his help and, after investigating, Doyle
your own words as far as possible. Write short, clear was sure he was innocent. The crimes happened at night
complete sentences. Try not to copy the text exactly.
and Edalji had bad eyesight, so he couldn’t be responsible.
As a result of Doyle’s investigation, Edalji was freed.
In another famous case, Doyle proved that a man called
Oscar Slater was not guilty of murder. In 1909, Slater
3 Answer the questions. was charged and put in prison despite the fact there was
1 What did Doyle remember from when he was no clear evidence. In 1912, Doyle began demanding that
growing up? police release Slater. He was convinced he was innocent,
but Slater stayed in prison. More than ten years later, he
looked into the case again. After analysing the evidence,
2 When did he write his first stories? Doyle used his scientific knowledge and logic to prove that
Slater didn’t do it. In 1925, Slater was finally freed.
3 How and when did he become well-known? Doyle was married twice and had five children. He died
on 7 July 1930.

4 What did police accuse George Edalji of doing?

4 Find words in the text that have these definitions.

5 Why was Doyle sure that Edalji was innocent? 1 making something exist (paragraph 1)
2 rich (paragraph 2)
6 What happened to Slater in 1925? 3 the ability to see (paragraph 4)
4 responsible for a bad thing (paragraph 4)

5 sure (paragraph 5)

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Exam practice: Reading Unit 2

B1 Preliminary Part 6 3 For each question, write the correct answer. Write
one word for each gap.
1 Choose the correct alternative.
A gap in a text (a) can/can’t be a phrasal verb or it can
It pays to be honest
be part of a fixed (b) sentence/phrase. Look at the
words before and after the gap to see what is there. If it
is a phrasal verb, it might be missing the verb (c) and/or
the preposition.

2 Replace the words in bold with the phrasal verbs

in the box. There are two extra words you do not
need to use.

come across • ​come up with • ​find out • ​look for • ​

look into • ​
look up • ​
turn up • ​
work out

1 After investigating the crime, the police arrested

the criminals.
2 I found some old photos. I wasn’t expecting to find Nineteen-year-old Jose Nuñez Romaniz (1)
them. helping his grandfather with some online shopping
3 Sam arrived unexpectedly at my house. I didn’t (2) he realised he had to go to the bank.
know he was coming. While he was standing by the cash machine outside the
bank, he saw a big bag full of money. He was shocked.
4 The police are trying to find the three bank robbers.
But Jose (3) take the money. Instead, he
phoned the police. When they looked into it, they found
5 We’ve talked about the project and thought of lots (4) that a bank worker had accidentally left
of good ideas. the bag there. The bag had $135,000 in it!
6 We finally discovered the truth about what had Jose’s dream has always been to become an investigator.
happened. In fact, he (5) studying criminal justice
at college at the moment. And because Jose was
so honest, the head of police invited him to apply for
Exam tip (6) job with them.
Open cloze texts test knowledge of phrasal verbs
and fixed phrases, as well as grammar. Look at any
gaps after a verb or before a preposition because
there might be part of a phrasal verb missing. If the
verb is missing, decide what verb and tense you
need. If the preposition is missing, make sure you
choose one that has the correct meaning.

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