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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 reason does the waiting man give the police officer for his presence?
(a) He thought that the business would be open.
(b) He is lost.
(c) He is waiting for a friend.
(d) He is trying to stay out of the rain.

2. What criticism does Bob have for New York itself?
(a) It dulls the mind.
(b) It is full of snobs.
(c) It is crowded.
(d) It is corrupt.

3. What does the narrator say causes Bob to tell officer about his career in the West?
(a) His ego.
(b) He is trying to fill an awkward silence.
(c) His suspicions about the officer's identity.
(d) The officer asks him about it.

4. What is the most likely reason that Bob does not recognize Jimmy when they are talking?
(a) He is too busy trying to hide his own identity from the police officer.
(b) He expects Jimmy to be a rich, successful man like himself.
(c) It is too dark.
(d) He does not really remember what Jimmy looks like.

5. The narrator says, on page 619, that something has "well nigh depeopled the streets." In this context, what does the phrase "well nigh" mean?
(a) Completely.
(b) Tried and failed to.
(c) Slowly.
(d) Come very close to.

Short Answer Questions

1. Bob's eyes are described as "keen" (620). What does this description of his eyes communicate about his character?

2. What hope does Bob express about Jimmy?

3. What duty is the police officer performing in the opening of the story?

4. What can logically be inferred about Jimmy's question about whether Bob and Jimmy kept in touch?

5. What detail reveals Bob's emotions when he discovers that Jimmy has betrayed him?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How is Bob characterized by the accessories that he carries?

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

5. What does the note from Jimmy explain to Bob?

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. What causes Bob to finally realize that the plainclothes officer is not Jimmy Wells?

8. 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?

9. What were the circumstances of the agreement Jimmy and Bob made 20 years ago?

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

(see the answer keys)

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