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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 does Mary learn from the contents of the envelope?
(a) Her husband is a criminal.
(b) Bob Elwell is dead.
(c) All of their money is gone.
(d) Her husband is being sued.

2. What does Mary find in the envelope addressed to her?
(a) A newspaper clipping.
(b) An anonymous note.
(c) A photograph.
(d) A letter from Parvis.

3. When the story opens, in which room of her house is Mary waiting?
(a) Her bedroom.
(b) The front parlor.
(c) The dining room.
(d) The library.

4. On page 84, the narrator links isolated environments to "acuities of emotion." What are "acuities of emotion"?
(a) Exaggerated emotion that is difficult to control.
(b) Bluntness or dulling of emotion.
(c) The ability to perceive emotion with sharp accuracy.
(d) Quickly changing emotions.

5. What is the name of Mary and Ned's house?
(a) Pangbourne.
(b) Merton.
(c) Lyng.
(d) Boyne.

Short Answer Questions

1. What event causes Mary to temporarily forget about the mysterious man they saw in October?

2. What is the only descriptive detail that the maid is able to give Mary about the stranger's appearance?

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

4. What does Ned's motive seem to be when he first brings up the subject of whether the house has a ghost?

5. According to Alida, what is unusual about the ghost at Ned and Mary's new house?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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 is the name of Ned's book, and what is the thematic significance of this title?

5. How does the narrator describe the life that the Boynes had in America?

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

7. What happens with the mysterious visitor on the day that Ned disappears?

8. What draws the Boynes to England?

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

10. Why does Parvis come to see Mary near the end of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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