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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 about the Blue Star Mine deal from her visitor in section "V"?
(a) Ned committed a crime in order to make the deal.
(b) It was not nearly as lucrative a deal as Ned pretended.
(c) Ned's actions caused the mine to go bankrupt.
(d) Ned cheated Bob Elwell in order to make more money from it.

2. What is the only descriptive detail that the maid is able to give Mary about the stranger's appearance?
(a) He walked with a limp.
(b) He was not very tall.
(c) He had an unusual hat.
(d) He wore foreign clothing.

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

4. Ned asks Alida a question about the ghost's "signalement" (84). What is he asking about?
(a) Its background.
(b) Its physical description.
(c) Its motivations.
(d) Its movements and habits.

5. What did Mary and Ned discover about their roof?
(a) It appears to be a different color over the library.
(b) There is a recently replaced section.
(c) It has a hidden walkway.
(d) It has one more chimney than they have fireplaces inside.

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes Mary to finally be certain that the ghost was Bob Elwell?

2. For the past week, what has Mary been assuming is the cause for Ned's need to be alone and his odd mood?

3. On page 84, the reader learns about the "prodigious windfall" that Ned and Mary experienced. Where did this "prodigious windfall" come from?

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

5. When section "III" opens, Mary is spending the morning working outdoors. She goes into the area where the "espaliered" pear trees are (89). What kind of pear trees are these?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Ned's mood changed on the morning after he and Mary first discussed the Blue Star lawsuit, and what does Mary believe changed his mood?

2. On the day of his disappearance, what is so frustrating for Mary about her conversation with her staff about where Ned is?

3. What does Mary remember happening earlier in the day in October when she and Ned first climbed Meldon Steep?

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

5. What draws the Boynes to England?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,100 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample