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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. When the story refers to "Boyne," who or what is being referred to?
(a) Ned's father.
(b) The house.
(c) Ned.
(d) Mary.

2. When Mary thinks back on the October visit from the mysterious man, she thinks that it "had no mark of the portentous" (86). What does this mean she felt about the visit at the time that it happened?
(a) It was clearly unlucky.
(b) It did not seem to have any significant meaning for the future.
(c) It did not seem as confusing at the time as it would later become.
(d) It was an obvious breach of etiquette.

3. In section "II," what question does Mary repeatedly ask Ned that evening in the library?
(a) She asks whether he is having an affair.
(b) She asks whether it was a good idea to move into this particular house.
(c) She asks whether he has given up trying to see the ghost.
(d) She asks him what secret he is keeping from her.

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

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?
(a) They are grafted with many different kinds of pears on each tree.
(b) They are trained to grow flat against the wall.
(c) They are miniature pear trees.
(d) They are draped with nets to keep the birds away from the fruit.

Short Answer Questions

1. As Mary thinks back over the events of October, she sees a figure coming toward the house again. Who is it?

2. When Mary finally catches up with Ned on that October day, what is he doing?

3. When Ned speeds off to talk with the mysterious visitor on that day in October, why does it take Mary so long to follow?

4. What does Ned say, on page 83, must be true for him to believe a house is old?

5. When Mary discards her first two ideas about what is bothering Ned, she comes to a conclusion that upsets her. What is it?

Short Essay Questions

1. After she finds out that he has gone out with the mysterious man and not yet returned, why is Mary immediately alarmed?

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

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

5. What draws the Boynes to England?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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