chemical secret By Tim Vicary Jennifer Bassett

1. Chemical Secret Tim Vicary
1 Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
a John Duncan’s wife died at sea.
COMPREHENSION
b John’s new job was in a plastics factory.
c The factory was near a river.
d The waste products from the factory went
into the drinking water for the town.
TEST
e The waste products were dangerous to rats.
10 marks
2 Who said this in the story? John, Andrew, David
Wilson, the doctor, Simon, Mary, Christine.
a ‘When can you start?’ ...............
b ‘I wouldn’t want anyone to drink those waste
products.’ ...............
c ‘You should leave too.’ ...............
d ‘He thinks I’m still a little girl.’ ...............
e ‘I’m too old.’ ...............
f ‘I have to write an article every week about
the environment.’ ...............
g ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’ ...............
h ‘Have you robbed a bank or something?’
...............
i ‘We can’t put those chemicals in the river.’
............... 4 Look at the picture above. Who are these
j ‘Can we have a boat?’ ............... two people?
..........................................................................................
20 marks ..........................................................................................
10 marks
3 Fill in the gaps in the story using these words:
floating, swimmer, life, heavy, swim, water, slowed,
turn, floated, swim. 5 Where are they?
Hurriedly, Simon began to ............... after her. ..........................................................................................
He was a good ............... but the white clothes ..........................................................................................
............... him down. The ............... seemed heavy
10 marks
and held him back. For the rest of his ...............
he would dream about that long, slow ...............
6 Complete these sentences about the last chapter of
towards a white body that ............... quickly away.
the story.
As he reached her she was ............... with her face
a John was living ..............................
down, unconscious. He tried to ............... her over
b His bedroom was full of ..............................
but it was so difficult because she was ............. .
c He hadn’t spoken to Christine because ..............
20 marks ................
d Every morning he rang the hospital to ask .........
.....................
e On the way to the hospital he went into a shop
and ..............................
f The rain was falling on the sandbanks where
..............................
30 marks
T Total marks
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2. Chemical Secret Tim Vicary
Setting 12 David Wilson had _____.
a a cold, hard smile b a friendly smile
Choose the best answer.
c long hair d a lot of gold rings
1 John Duncan stopped being a biologist _____. 13 Mary had _____ and a friendly face.
a to make and sell cars b to become a a short brown hair b long brown hair
teacher c to sail around the world c short blonde hair d long blonde hair
d to make and sell boats 14 Christine was _____ than her brother, Andrew.
2 He lost his business after _____. a three years younger b one year older
a his wife divorced him b his wife died c three years older d one year younger
c he met David Wilson 15 They _____ when they first met her.
d he bought another company a liked Mary a lot b were angry with Mary
3 David Wilson told John that they needed a c laughed a lot d cooked Mary a fantastic
biologist _____. meal
a to find new chemicals b to produce new 16 David Wilson said that John would _____ if he
colours c to say that the factory was safe told the truth.
M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e
d to clean the dangerous water a be paid twice as much b be an honest
4 John was _____ when he was offered the job. man c become a director d lose his job
a very disappointed b very unhappy 17 Christine told Mary that Simon _____.
c not surprised d very surprised a made her feel important
TesT
5 He had _____. b made her feel young c laughed a lot
a two sons and a daughter b a son and a d was a lot like her father
daughter c no children d two daughters 18 Simone wrote an article saying that _____.
6 The flat he and his family lived in was _____. a the paint was fantastic for cars
a small and miserable b big and modern b the factory’s waste products were dangerous
c beautiful with a big garden c the factory made safe products
d twenty years old d the river was safe for swimming
7 When his wife was alive, they used to have a 19 Peter and Susan were _____.
_____. a two colleagues from the newspaper
a flat in the city b boat for holidays b John’s neighbours c two people against
c house in the country d house by the sea Greenworld d two friends from Greenworld
8 John said he hadn’t been able to find another 20 At the end of the story, John was living _____.
job because _____. a in a smaller house near the sea
a companies didn’t employ biologists b in a different country c with Mary
any more b there were too many bright d in a small flat near the sea
young biologists c he wasn’t a very good
biologist d he didn’t like biology 20 marks
9 Christine Duncan had never _____.
a been skiing b been sailing
c seen mountains d lived in a house Dialogue
10 John told his children that they were going ____
Who said this?
_.
21 ‘You’ll have your own office, and a company car,
a to live in another country b to be poor
of course.’
c to be rich d to work
a David Wilson b Mary
20 marks c Simon’s father d John
22 ‘She sailed around the world alone in a small
boat.’
Characters a Christine b John c Andrew
d Simon
Choose the best answer.
23 ‘I wouldn’t want anyone to drink those waste
11 Before John got the job, he was _____. products.’
a short and thin, with black hair b tall a John b a chemist c David Wilson
and thin, with grey hair c tall and thin, with d John’s doctor
no hair d tall and fat, with brown hair
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3. Chemical Secret Tim Vicary
24 ‘I never knew they lived here, so close to the town.’ 40 an illness of the body
a Andrew b Mary c Christine a waste b pain c pipe d disease
d John
25 ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know!’ 20 marks
a John b Simon c David Wilson
d Simon’s father
26 ‘You should leave, too, and get a job in another Plot
company.’ Choose the best answer.
a Mary b Simon c Christine 41 The most important thing that the company
d John produced was _____.
27 ‘He says he’s too old for me, and I mustn’t see a paint for houses b a machine to clean
him!’ water c paint for cars d special pipes
a Simon’s mother b Susan 42 Some of the _____ left a mark on John’s leg.
c Christine d Mary a new paint b river water
28 ‘We want to help those poor seals, if we can.’ c sea water d waste products
M U LT I p L e - C H O I C e
a Christine b Simon c John 43 He told his doctor that the water at the river
d a young chemist mouth was _____.
29 ‘Nothing can come out of that pipe now!’ a dangerous b safe c clean
a Simon b Christine c John d dirty
TesT
d Mary 44 When John tested the waste products on rats,
30 ‘Are you worried about her baby?’ some of their babies _____.
a a policeman b a young chemist a were healthy b were bigger than usual
c a journalist d the lawyer c were very small d were born without
eyes and ears
20 marks
45 David Wilson _____ to clean up the waste.
a was not interested in machines
b agreed to buy machines c employed
Vocabulary more people d said it was a good idea
Choose the best answer. 46 After eighteen months, Mary _____.
31 a person who says things that are not true a decided to marry John b became one of
a scientist b chemist c liar the directors c decided to move to another
d painter company d developed another new product
32 to have enough money to buy something 47 Christine wanted to marry Simon, who was
a arrange b afford c allow d argue interested in _____.
33 bad, not nice a the environment b science
a wrong b dangerous c sad d nasty c sport d cars
34 land, air, water, plants, etc. 48 She drank the dangerous river water _____.
a sewage b stream c environment a when she was swimming b when she
d sandbanks was watching the seals c as part of an
35 worried, afraid experiment d when she nearly drowned
a nervous b angry c proud 49 At the Public Enquiry, John _____.
d miserable a said the water was OK b told the truth
36 an official description of something c said nothing d started crying
a post b log c report d headline 50 John didn’t know if his grandchild would _____
37 make a liquid run out of a container by mistake .
a kick b spill c shiver d sail a be a biologist b be like him
38 a small grey or brown animal with a tail c be polite d be born healthy
a seal b rat c bear d body
39 unhappy because you are not with other people 20 marks
a lonely b untidy c polite d tired
Total marks
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