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.

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for her book not to be published because it could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.

Back in his room, he realises that someone has done

something to his orange juice when he finds a small

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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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.

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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.

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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.

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Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Check your reading
4. A clever kid who wanted the money.
5. Open answer

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

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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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

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Worksheet
Answer Key
Level 3
Strong Medicine Richard MacAndrew
Chapter 9
1.
2.
3.
4.

Chapter 13

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 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

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.

After reading
19. Students own answers.

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.

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