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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What indicates to Captain Delano that the strange ship may be in trouble?
(a) The ship is giving a distress signal.
(b) The ship flies no flag.
(c) The ship seems uncertain of its direction.
(d) The ship is bound for an uninhabited island.

2. Why does the lightning rod salesman claim that his rods are superior?
(a) They're made of steel.
(b) They're made of iron.
(c) They're made of copper.
(d) They're made of magnesium.

3. What sentence was chalked below the figurehead?
(a) "Follow your faith."
(b) "Follow your leader."
(c) "Follow orders."
(d) "Never follow."

4. Whose cause does the Marquis de Grandvin champion?
(a) Animals.
(b) The French.
(c) Women.
(d) Freedom fighters.

5. Why does the narrator of "I and My Chimney" decide never to leave home?
(a) His wife won't permit it.
(b) He is busy rebuilding the house.
(c) He is standing guard over the chimney.
(d) He is "sour and unsocial."

6. What caused the bell-ringing automaton to kill Bannadonna?
(a) Jealousy.
(b) A design flaw.
(c) An unrepaired defect.
(d) A manufacturing error.

7. What caused the loss of Jimmy Rose's fortune?
(a) His overly generous dealings.
(b) Duplicitous dealings.
(c) The stock market crash.
(d) Shipwrecks.

8. What mythical character does the narrator say would have failed at his task if the chimney had then been in existence?
(a) Hercules.
(b) Prometheus.
(c) Atlas.
(d) Icharus.

9. Why does the narrator of "The Piazza" believe the soil is richer around the cottage that he finds?
(a) The garden is obviously well-fed there.
(b) There is more sunlight there.
(c) The owners have planted there.
(d) There is a sense of blessedness there.

10. In "The Piazza," how does the narrator's house look to the inhabitants of the mountain cottage?
(a) Like a palace.
(b) Like a prison.
(c) Like a mansion.
(d) Like a happy place.

11. Who finally persuaded the narrator of "I and My Chimney" to knock a few feet off the chimney?
(a) His daughters.
(b) His neighbor.
(c) His mortgage holder
(d) His wife.

12. What sort of feet did the apple-tree table have?
(a) Brass fittings.
(b) Marble balls.
(c) Hooves like Satan.
(d) Carved mahogany.

13. In "I and My Chimney," what is the narrator's wife's maxim?
(a) Whatever is, is wrong and must be altered.
(b) Whatever is not, is not.
(c) Whatever.
(d) Whatever is, is right.

14. What is the attitude of the bachelors in the Temple toward pain and trouble?
(a) Pain and trouble are unavoidable.
(b) Pain and trouble are everywhere.
(c) Pain and trouble are nonexistent.
(d) Pain and trouble are for other people.

15. Why is it hard to see the mill when coming upon it?
(a) The mill's entrance is disguised by branches.
(b) The whole landscape is white.
(c) The mill is hidden in a cave.
(d) The mill is painted to camouflage the entrance.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the disadvantage of building the piazza on the north side of the house?

2. What habit of the bachelors in the Temple does the narrator wish to introduce in his own country?

3. How does the narrator of "The Piazza" travel to the spot in the mountains that he wants to see?

4. How does Captain Delano evaluate Babo when he first meets him?

5. To what did Captain Delano attribute the ship's being so long becalmed?

(see the answer keys)

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