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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the dream that Susan will lose if the cement is not successful?
(a) To buy a large diamond ring
(b) To take a cruise around the world
(c) Building a mansion in Santa Cruz that rivals Augusta's home in New York and a permanent home
(d) To buy the boardinghouse

2. Why does Oliver quit the New Almaden mine?
(a) He was turned down for a promotion
(b) Because he is ordered to tear down a fired man's house, and he refuses to do so.
(c) He has found another job
(d) He realizes he cannot do the job satisfactorily

3. Why does Lyman begin fictionalizing his grandparents' lives in a novel?
(a) Lyman has no experience in writing
(b) They are not famous enough for a non-fiction biography, and it will help him understand them better this way.
(c) Shelley suggested this form to him
(d) Lyman has long wanted to write a romance novel

4. What does Larry send to Shelley, care of Lyman?
(a) a wedding ring
(b) 24 canaries
(c) A car
(d) A bottle of scotch

5. What are Susan's hopes about Thomas Hudson?
(a) That he will buy her family's home so she can move the entire family west
(b) That he will move west
(c) That he will purchase a horse for her
(d) That he will ask her to marry him, or at least stay single so she, Thomas, and Augusta will be an eternal threesome.

6. When Susan returns home to Milton to spend the winter and get Ollie, what project does she begin?
(a) Cleaning the storeroom and attic
(b) Writing a book about her grandparents
(c) Studying Spanish
(d) Writing her memoirs

7. What is a recurring plot device used by the author?
(a) Several points of view
(b) Flashback
(c) Letters from Susan to Augusta and others which move the story along and let readers know what has happened.
(d) Symbolism

8. Where did Oliver live while he was waiting for his house to be finished?
(a) In a car
(b) With friends
(c) At Mother Fall's Boardinghouse
(d) In a tent

9. What does Susan encourage Oliver to do instead of moving their family to another country?
(a) Become a writer like her
(b) Become a salesman for Sears
(c) Become a hotel manager
(d) Continue trying to invent hydraulic cement

10. Lyman believes that his grandparents were
(a) Afraid to take chances.
(b) Wealthy and selfish.
(c) Boring and untalented.
(d) Tough, resilient, creative and enduring.

11. What is the difference between Leadville and New Almaden?
(a) New Almaden is nearer to a big city
(b) Leadville is in the United States
(c) Leadville is smaller
(d) Leadville is a growing mining town with visitors from all over the world

12. What happened on the day Susan first arrived in Leadville?
(a) Colorado statehood was passed
(b) Frank got married
(c) Two men were hung in front of the courthouse
(d) Oliver got fired

13. What is Lyman's fear?
(a) Shelley will leave with Larry
(b) That Ada will fall down the stairs while carrying him
(c) That his son will place him into an institution and take away his freedom.
(d) Ed will accidentally hurt himself

14. What reason does Augusta give Susan for disliking Oliver?
(a) Because he did not graduate from Harvard
(b) Because he is illiterate
(c) Because he is not from a wealthy family.
(d) Augusta is jealous of Susan's affections for Oliver, and believes Oliver is not good enough for Susan.

15. Where is Susan and Oliver's first home?
(a) San Francisco, CA
(b) Houston, TX
(c) Milton, NY
(d) New Almaden, California

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Susan tell Mrs. Elliott that shocks the older woman?

2. Where is Oliver's next mining job?

3. Who is charged with the care of Pricey after his injury?

4. Who meets her train when she arrives at her destination?

5. How does Susan deal with her frustration?

(see the answer keys)

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