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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. What kind of street is a "pacific thoroughfare" (619)?
(a) Ominous.
(b) Crowded.
(c) Wet.
(d) Peaceful.

2. What effect does the officer tell Bob that time can have?
(a) It can make a person realize what is really important.
(b) It can gradually erase the feeling of friendship.
(c) It can give a man something new to be loyal to.
(d) It can change a good man into a bad man.

3. What is logical to infer about the officer asking about Bob's identity "doubtfully" (621)?
(a) He is an insecure and hesitant person.
(b) He is not sure that he and Jimmy are doing the right thing.
(c) He does not fully trust Jimmy Wells.
(d) He wants to seem like he is not already sure of Bob's identity.

4. What is the name of the restaurant that used to be in the spot where the man is waiting?
(a) "Big Joe" Brady's.
(b) Bill Diamond's.
(c) "Diamond Jim" Brady's.
(d) Bill Broozy's.

5. What regret does the plainclothes officer express while he is pretending to be Jimmy?
(a) That he and Bob lost track of one another.
(b) That the restaurant is closed.
(c) That he does not have a long time to talk.
(d) That he did not accompany Bob out West.

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator says, on page 619, that something has "well nigh depeopled the streets." In this context, what does the phrase "well nigh" mean?

2. How did the police discover that Bob was in New York?

3. On page 621, how does the reader learn that the first police officer was actually Jimmy?

4. What is the purpose of mentioning that everyone who passes Bob has their coat collar turned up?

5. What reason does Bob give for falling out of touch with Jimmy?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Bob guess that Jimmy might not be as much of a success as Bob himself has become?

2. What is ironic about the way that Bob describes his old friend to the "policeman" he encounters?

3. Describe the story's opening moments, including its setting.

4. What surprises Bob about the appearance of the man that he thinks is his old friend, and how does the man explain away Bob's doubts?

5. How does the introduction of Bob's character contrast with the introduction of Jimmy's character?

6. Why does Jimmy, in his role as the police officer, ask Bob if he is going to keep waiting for his friend to show up?

7. In the story's beginning, what evidence is there that Jimmy takes pride in his job?

8. What is the effect of the passage depicting Bob continuing to wait in the doorway as it begins to rain?

9. What is amusing about the plainclothes officer's answer to Bob's question about whether he is doing well in New York?

10. When the plainclothes officer tells Bob "We'll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times," (621), what does he mean, and what does Bob likely think he means?

(see the answer keys)

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