Worksheet Answer Key

Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Summary
Mark Latto is a doctor from Melrose, Scotland, who works with patients with Parkinsons disease, using western drug treatments. He visits Santa Cruz, California, to meet Deborah Spencer, a doctor treating patients with the same illness but using Asian medicine and new forms of treatment. On arriving at her house, he finds she is dead, and although the police think it was caused by a heart problem, he is not convinced. That evening he returns to her house to get the sunglasses he left there; however, the door is open, and when he goes in a man runs out from a room with Spencers laptop and knocks him unconscious. Latto describes his attacker to Detective Martinez, and while the policeman thinks it was just a kid stealing to sell, Latto thinks there may be a connection between the death and the theft. Next day he meets Sylvia Koning and Ray Molinaro, Spencers co-workers. They tell him that she had been writing a book about her new methods of treating Parkinsons, and that the only copy was on that laptop. Molinaro uses Lattos motel-room bathroom. That evening, Latto and Koning have dinner together. They are starting to like each other. As they approach Lattos motel room, they see someone climbing out of the window, and inside they discover that Lattos laptop is missing. After talking to Martinez about it, Latto goes to bed but as he falls asleep he realises that Molinaro must have seen his open laptop with a letter from Deborah Spencer on it, with an attachment. And so he suspects him of involvement in the theft. The next morning he waits outside Molinaros office and sees the same young man who hit him two days ago (he recognises the earring) give Molinaro a laptop-sized bag, in return for a thick envelope. He follows Molinaro in his car to Keiffenheim Laboratories and is surprised that a doctor working with Asian methods would visit a place which produces drugs for western medical cures. Back in his room, he realises that someone has done something to his orange juice when he finds a small hole in the cap. He tells Martinez who sends it away for analysis. However, the detectives boss, Lieutenant Becker, wants him off the job, claiming it is no longer a homicide case. Martinez, in the meantime, has been investigating Koning and Molinaro; while the former is clean, the latter has got big debts to the casinos in Las Vegas where he goes twice a month. Latto suggests that maybe Molinaro stole Spencers laptop because Keiffenheim would pay a lot of money for her book not to be published because it could damage their sales of Parkinsons drugs. Through two false phone calls, Martinez finds out that Molinaro has been seeing Matthew Crocker, Head of Development at Keiffenheim. After planning with Martinez, Latto then phones him up, saying that he has a CD copy of the book, and that he wants $150,000 for it. They arrange to meet at midnight in the open-air theatre of the university arboretum. Martinez and Latto go there. Unknown to them, Koning follows them in her car. Latto has microphones attached so that Martinez, who stays hidden, can listen to and record his conversation with Crocker. They meet. Latto gives Crocker the CD, but Crocker pulls a gun on him and doesnt give him the money. Crocker is joined by Max, the man with the earring, and is about to kill Latto. However, Latto gets him talking so Martinez can record more information about the crime. However, when he thinks Martinez is coming to his rescue, Molinaro arrives with a gun in Martinezs back. Crocker, Max and Molinaro all have guns trained on Martinez and Latto, and it looks like the end, when a voice calls for them to drop their guns. Crocker goes for his gun and is shot through the hand. Latto knocks out Molinaro. Martinez gets Crockers gun. Max runs away into the trees and Latto chases him. He is surprised to find it was Koning who had shot Crocker. They chase Max, but he is chased by a mountain lion, which Koning kills. They then catch Max and go back to the others. Martinez calls for police help to take the criminal trio to prison.

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Worksheet Answer Key

Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Next morning Martinez tells Koning and Latto what they found out that Molinaro poisoned Spencer with a heart drug called Cloperoxomine, which Max also put into Lattos orange juice. Latto then spends the next two weeks with Koning, as she shows him their new treatment methods, and they spend all their free time together. The story ends with Martinez returning Lattos laptop, and showing them a letter from a colleague on Spencers laptop, saying she has the book on the new treatment.

Before reading
1. Strong medicine literally means medicine which is very strong in order to be effective against an illness, but figuratively it means that a problematic situation needs strong actions to stop it. 2. Dr Mark Latto; California; murder mystery. 3. Open 4. San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Cruz; it is a coastal resort, with hotels and restaurants; people surf there; there are sea lions; and the University of California has a seat there. 5. Several are doctors, one is a policeman; because one of the doctors is dead, and the police investigate.

Cambridge English Readers

Cambridge University Press 2009

www.cambridge.org/elt/readers

PHOTOCOPIABLE

Worksheet Answer Key

Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Check your reading
Chapter 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. a 3, b 1, c 2, d 1 She just died of natural causes. Not of natural causes. Parkinsons disease. To find out more about her treatments. Open answer 4. A clever kid who wanted the money. 5. Open answer Chapter 6 1. That Molinaro had seen the email from Deborah Spencer on his laptop. 2. To Molinaros office. 3. Hes starting to like her (as a woman). 4. a T, b F, c F, d T, e F, f F, g T, h F 5. His laptop computer. 6. He followed him in his car. 7. To the Keiffenheim Laboratories Inc building; Molinaro is a doctor of Asian medicine and the Laboratories makes pills for western doctors. 8. Open answer Chapter 7 1. 1 c, 2 e, 3 b, 4 a, 5 d 2. That he was the same man who hit him on the head. 3. That she has no criminal record. 4. Open answer Chapter 8 1. a, e 2. Because they would lose a lot of money if people used her cure rather than buying their drugs. 3. They think hes sold Deborah Spencers book to Keiffenheim to get the money to pay off his gambling debts. 4. He phones Ray Molinaro pretending to be Charles Denning from California Telecom so that he can get the extension number Molinaro calls at Keiffenheim Laboratories. He calls Keiffenheim Laboratories pretending to be Carl Westlake, who is sending ideas to Matthew Crocker, in order to get Crockers position in the company. 5. Open answer

Chapter 2 1. 2. 3. 4. c, a, e, d, f, b c b That it couldnt be chance that a death and a robbery happened in the same house on the same day.

Chapter 3 1. 2. 3. 4. 1 c, 2 a, 3 e, 4 b, 5 d Because hes got some patients waiting for him. The only copy of her book was on the laptop. Tell Martinez about Deborahs book being on the stolen computer.

Chapter 4 1. b, d, e 2. Because there are surfers, a man with a snake and sea lions living under the wharf. 3. He looks at pictures of criminals on Martinezs laptop. 4. It was the only copy of her book on the treatment of Parkinsons disease. 5. (Possibly) interview Molinaro and Koning. Chapter 5 1. a pretty, b excellent, c rich, d unusual, e direct, f interesting 2. c, e, a, d, b 3. Martinez; the motel manager; the police scientists.

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Cambridge University Press 2009

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Worksheet Answer Key

Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Chapter 9 1. 2. 3. 4. Matthew Crocker. A CD copy of Deborah Spencers book. To start a health centre back home. a University of Santa Cruz arboretum (open-air theatre), b midnight, c itll be nice and quiet, d $150,000 in old notes, e no-one he must come alone Chapter 13 1. Ray Molinaro put Cloperoxomine in her milk. 2. Matthew Crocker. 3. Because he was a caring doctor whose patients liked him. 4. Because Molinaro had seen Latto following him to Keiffenheim Laboratories, and told Crocker, who told Max to do it. 5. Because hed stopped recording when Crocker talked about him. Chapter 14 1. a She shows him Spencers treatment for Parkinsons disease; b they spend all their time together and have a weekend away. 2. Because they had fallen in love and wanted to be together. 3. Because the police found it at Crockers house and the scientists had finished with it. 4. Good news, because it means that someone else has a copy of the book.

Chapter 10 1. d, b, f, a, c, e 2. Because in Chapter 7 Becker told Martinez he was off the job, and maybe Crocker asked him to do this. 3. Because mountain lions come out of the countryside in it. 4. Max the man with the earring. 5. Because Crocker has a gun and the CD and the money, and he says its the end for Latto. Chapter 11 1. To make sure Martinez has recorded enough information. 2. She was killed by Cloperoxomine which stopped her heart. 3. Because Molinaro found him. 4. Because Crocker, Molinaro and Max all have guns and he and Martinez dont. 5. Open Chapter 12 1. 2. 3. 4. b, d, e She used to shoot a lot at her home. Bad country music. Because he has destroyed Spencers book on the laptop, and Keiffenheim Laboratories will not lose money.

After reading
19. Students own answers.

Cambridge English Readers

Cambridge University Press 2009

www.cambridge.org/elt/readers

PHOTOCOPIABLE