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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. Why is the information about Bob Elwell's slow death so significant to Mary?
(a) She cannot help being glad that the man who made her husband suffer also suffered.
(b) She realizes that Ned lied when he told her that everything was resolved.
(c) She realizes that the timing lines up with the sightings of the ghost.
(d) She is devastated about how much suffering her husband caused.

2. When Mary, startled by the envelope's contents, cries out and rises to her feet, how does Ned react?
(a) He quietly tells her to sit back down.
(b) He rushes to her side to comfort her.
(c) He laughs loudly and tells her to stop being dramatic.
(d) He looks cornered and guilty.

3. In section "III," when Mary looks at the house from across the property, what does she feel about the house?
(a) That it seems to be laughing at her, somehow, almost mockingly.
(b) That it is like a kindly older person that keeps secrets for the good of others.
(c) That is is like an evil creature squatting in the landcape.
(d) That it seems to be trying to communicate something urgent to her.

4. What is Ned's joking theory about why the ghost is so hard to see?
(a) It is shy.
(b) It will not see you without an appointment.
(c) It has too much competition from other "ghostly" things.
(d) The house is deliberately keeping them from seeing its ghost.

5. To what do Mary and Ned attribute the great beauty they see in England?
(a) New places always seem attractive at first.
(b) Their own hatred for the American Midwest.
(c) Its history.
(d) Its small size.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Mary's mind, what is the only possible source of information about what has happened to Ned?

2. Which character opens the story on page 83 by saying "Oh, there is one, of course, but you'll never know it"?

3. When the young man appears behind Mary, who does she at first assume that he is?

4. When Mary tells Ned what she has learned from her mail, how does Ned react?

5. What detail does the narrator relate as evidence of how much Ned and Mary have yearned for a life like the one they have in England?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the beginning of section "IV," how much time has elapsed since Ned's disappearance, and what has been happening in that time?

2. Describe the emotional condition that Mary is in in section "IV" of the story.

3. What news does Mary learn from a newspaper clipping that someone sends her in the mail, and why is she so upset by it?

4. What strange conclusion does Mary come to about the relationship of the ghost to the house, Lyng?

5. What does Ned tell Mary about the Blue Star lawsuit?

6. What is Mary doing on the morning that Ned disappears?

7. What does Alida Stair tell the Boynes about Lyng?

8. In the narrative present at the beginning of the story, where is Mary and what is she doing?

9. What do the Boynes tell Alida Stair about why Lyng's drawbacks are not problems from their point of view?

10. What do Mary and Ned plan to do with their time at Lyng?

(see the answer keys)

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