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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 describes the young woman he calls "Queenie" (5) as doing what to two different words?
(a) Spitting them out.
(b) Tripping over them.
(c) Lisping them out.
(d) Ticking over them.

2. The young woman referred to as "Queenie" (5) replies to Lengel's comments by saying that the three young women are what?
(a) Students.
(b) Minors.
(c) Decent.
(d) Of age.

3. What is NOT a register button Sammy hits while ringing up the young woman's purchase?
(a) GROC.
(b) 8.
(c) TOT.
(d) 4.

4. Lengel performs what function within his church?
(a) He is a reverend.
(b) He is a deacon.
(c) He teaches Sunday school.
(d) He is the custodian.

5. What verb does Sammy use when describing his removal of his apron?
(a) Exiting.
(b) Peeling.
(c) Shirking.
(d) Shrugging.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the first word of the song Sammy has come to hear when he works the register?

2. When the narrator imagines the home of the young woman he calls "Queenie" (5), what are the women at the party wearing?

3. What are the final two syllables of the nonsense word Sammy utters to Lengel?

4. The narrator describes Lengel as doing what "all day" (13)?

5. What term does the narrator use to describe the intensity of the eye color of the young woman he calls "Queenie" (5)?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Sammy use haste when saying "I quit" (22) the first time?

2. Which comment of Lengel's causes the young woman dubbed "Queenie" (5) to get angry rather than embarrassed?

3. How does Updike show the childlike and whimsical nature of Sammy's personality in the story?

4. In what way do the themes of guilt and responsibility enter the narrative?

5. In what way does Updike use the animal motif within the customers' reaction to the scene involving Lengel and the young women?

6. What type of home life does Sammy imagine for the young woman he dubs "Queenie" (5)?

7. How does Updike demonstrate Sammy's lack of experience with girls and women?

8. How is repetition utilized within Paragraph 21?

9. Discuss a possible reason for Lengel's request for Sammy to repeat his words "I quit" (22).

10. What is the policy cited by Lengel when he tells the young women they are in violation?

(see the answer keys)

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