Reading Comprehension Test Sherlock Holmes

Reading Comprehension

Sherlock Holmes

II Choose the sentences containing the information from the text:

1. Sherlock Holmes is the most famous character.

2. Holmes went in for gymnastics. That's why he was very athletic.

3. Arthur Conan Doyle began to write about the famous detective in 1886.

4. Arthur Conan Doyle didn't think his hero would become so popular.

III Choose the best variant:

1. Sherlock Holmes is so famous because…

a) he was the best detective in the world. b) he was the first detective in English literature.

c) he wrote books about himself. d) so many people have enjoyed reading about him.

2. Holmes could find out a lot about people by…

a) listening to the sound of their voices. b) looking at them very carefully.

c) meeting them in disguise. d) reading their thoughts.

3. Did Holmes ever help the police?

a) No, never. b) Yes, when he was in financial difficulties.

c) Yes, when they had a problem they couldn't solve. d) Yes, when they needed a person in disguise.

4. Today Sherlock Holmes…

a) is alive and lives in London. b) is still a topic of interest to many people.

c) still answers letters from his fans. d) visits countries all over the world.

IV Answer the following questions with a phrase or sentence.

1. Give the address and the name of the town where Holmes lived.

2. Where was Conan Doyle when he first started to write about Sherlock Holmes?

3. What happened to Holmes in a story Conan Doyle wrote in 1893?

4. Why did people stand in long queues in 1903?

Of all the characters of fiction, the best-known must surely be the famous London detective, Sherlock Holmes. The adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his friend Doctor Watson have given pleasure to countless millions of readers.

The picture we have of Holmes is of a tall, lean man in a deerstalker hay with a pipe in his mouth and a magnifying-glass in his hand. Holmes was unmarried; he enjoyed playing the violin. His life's work was the solving of mysteries and detection of crime for the many clients who came to 221В Baker Street to ask for the help. Holmes's power of observation and logical reasoning are legendary, and he could discover almost anything about a person from his clothes and appearance. He was also very athletic and a master of disguise. Even Scotland Yard made use of Holmes's services in particularly difficult cases.

It was in 1886 that Arthur Conan Doyle, a doctor from Edinburgh then living at Southsea on the south coast of England, began to write the first Holmes story. Holmes became a huge popular success, but the author did not take his character very seriously and in 1893 he got rid of Holmes by dropping him over a cliff to his death as he struggled with his enemy Professor Moriarty. After receiving hundreds of letters of protest from his readers and offers of large sums of money from magazines, Conan Doyle brought his hero back to life in 1903. When the new story - The Adventures of the Empty House — appeared in the Strand Magazine, there were long queues to buy it and the printing presses were kept going day and night to meet the demand.

Although the last collection of stories appeared in 1927, Holmes is still very much alive today. Conan Doyle may not have taken his hero seriously, but some of his readers certainly do. There are Sherlock Holmes Societies in many countries, and dozens of books have been written about the detective. Holmes fans still visit Baker Street, and letters arrive regularly at 221В addressed to Mr Sherlock Holmes.