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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The narrator says that on the day of the Centennial Celebration, "People came in farm wagons and Fords from as far away as" where, in "Centennial Summer"?
(a) "Memphis and Jackson."
(b) "St. Louis and Chicago."
(c) "Bement and Tuscola."
(d) "Little Rock and Hot Springs."

2. How much money does Otis say Grandma Dowdel has held in the bank in "Things with Wings"?
(a) $5.
(b) $17.
(c) $2.
(d) $12.

3. What is Grandma Dowdel's response to the performance by Mrs. Weidenbach's nephew at the talent show in "Centennial Summer"?
(a) "That made me about half-sick."
(b) "Now I'm half asleep."
(c) "That was a fine performance."
(d) "Now that was something to write home about."

4. What movie do Joey, Mary Alice, and Grandma Dowdel go to see at the movies on Wednesday in "Things with Wings"?
(a) Dracula.
(b) Annie.
(c) Gone with the Wind.
(d) The General.

5. Which of the short stories from A Long Way from Chicago was first published elsewhere?
(a) “Shotgun Cheatham’s Last Night above Ground.”
(b) "The Mouse in the Milk."
(c) "The Phantom Brakeman."
(d) "The Day of Judgment."

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the song that Mary Alice and her partner waltz to at the talent show in "Centennial Summer"?

2. Whose framed picture hangs on the wall of the Coffee Pot Cafe in "The Phantom Brakeman"?

3. Whose cow does Grandma Dowdel claim to have started the Great Fire of Chicago in "The Phantom Brakeman"?

4. Who is Mary Alice's dance partner at the talent show in "Centennial Summer"?

5. What kind of game are the boys playing on the train in "The Troop Train"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is implied by the conversation between Joey and Grandma at the end of “The Phantom Brakeman”?

2. What does the sign say that greets Joey and Mary Alice when they arrive at Grandma's town in “Centennial Summer"?

3. How is Uncle Grady Griswold described in “Centennial Summer"?

4. What is the significance of Nehi sodas in “The Phantom Brakeman”?

5. What noise does Joey hear from Mary Alice's bedroom at night in “The Phantom Brakeman”?

6. How would you describe the style of language and dialogue in A Long Way from Chicago?

7. How is the theme of family illustrated in “The Troop Train"?

8. What exchange do Mary Alice and Joey witness between Vandalia Eubanks and her mother at the Coffee Pot Cafe in “The Phantom Brakeman”?

9. When is “The Troop Train" set? Where is the story set?

10. What fight breaks out during the parade in “Centennial Summer"? How is the fight resolved?

(see the answer keys)

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