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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Karl ask Pollunder about on the drive out to the country?
(a) His uncle.
(b) American customs.
(c) The business.
(d) Klara.

2. After dinner, what does Karl realize he finds incomprehensible?
(a) Social expectations in his new country.
(b) Pollunder's lack of supervision of Klara's activities.
(c) The attitude the Pollunders are now taking toward Green.
(d) The exact nature of his uncle's business.

3. What item of his does Karl expect to find in the dining room?
(a) His pocket watch.
(b) His gloves.
(c) His hat.
(d) His umbrella.

4. What happens as Karl steps out onto the stairs leading into the smaller boat that will take him to shore?
(a) He stumbles and almost falls.
(b) He shouts with joy.
(c) He sees a drowned rat.
(d) He bursts into tears.

5. What is the first thing Green discusses with the group during dinner at the Pollunder house?
(a) His dislike of Karl's table manners and general knowledge of American etiquette.
(b) His opinion that Jakob wastes a great deal of money on Karl.
(c) How surprising it is that Jakob allowed Karl to visit.
(d) How inconvenient it is to have had to come all the way out to the country.

6. How does Karl almost fall from a window at the Pollunder house?
(a) He loses his way in a dark hallway.
(b) He leans out to hear a train.
(c) He leans out to see a bird.
(d) Klara pushes him.

7. When Karl is wandering through the vast Pollunder house, what is he reminded of?
(a) The many floors of offices in his uncle's building.
(b) The cozy warmth of his parents' home in Germany.
(c) The sprawling interior of the ship he traveled to America on.
(d) Families on the east side of the city who live crowded together in one room.

8. What criticism of Schubal does the captain make?
(a) Schubal is rumored to favor Slovaks and Romanians.
(b) Schubal is often missing from his station.
(c) Schubal needs to learn to speak better German.
(d) Schubal is becoming too independent.

9. After dinner, what does Karl begin to suspect caused his uncle to be so reluctant about his visit to the Pollunder home?
(a) Klara's loose behavior.
(b) Karl's easy distractability.
(c) Pollunder's weak character.
(d) Green's terrible manners.

10. By the time dinner is over, how does Karl feel about Klara?
(a) He thinks she has good manners but a bad heart.
(b) He thinks she is more cunning and capable than she pretends.
(c) He thinks she is being taken advantage of by the men in her life.
(d) He thinks she is beautiful, but he has no interest in her.

11. Which is the most accurate description of the stoker's room?
(a) Smelly and loud.
(b) Dirty and disorganized.
(c) Cold and damp.
(d) Cramped and poorly lit.

12. How old is Karl when the narrative opens?
(a) 17.
(b) 18.
(c) 16.
(d) 19.

13. Which detail most clearly supports the idea that the stoker is nervous about going to the office?
(a) The picture he takes from the wall and puts in his pocket.
(b) His attempt to kick the rat in the corridor.
(c) The way he grabs Karl's hand to pull him out the door.
(d) His remarks to Line in the kitchen.

14. How does Karl's mood change during dinner at the Pollunder's house?
(a) His initial bad mood is lightened by Klara's jokes and teasing.
(b) He feels more and more confused and begins to feel as if he is watching a play.
(c) He grows progressively more uncomfortable and distressed.
(d) His pleasure at the fine food and surroundings is broken by Klara's strange mood.

15. How does Schubal say he found out that the stoker was in the office complaining about him?
(a) A passenger called "Butterbaum" told him.
(b) He was passing by the office and heard the stoker yelling.
(c) The attendant came to fetch him.
(d) One of the women from the kitchen told him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What item from his trunk does Karl think of giving to the stoker?

2. What does Karl first notice about Klara when he sees her in the light?

3. What does Klara say she would like Karl to do for her?

4. What makes Karl uncomfortable about the building his uncle lives in?

5. How did Jakob find out about why Karl was sent to the United States?

(see the answer keys)

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