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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the clatter that can be heard in the coach as they make their journey from Totes?
(a) Pavement.
(b) Window-panes.
(c) Dishes.
(d) Gunfire.

2. Who asked suddenly as they retrace their steps on the second day of Totes, "if that trollop were going to keep them waiting much longer in this Godforsaken spot"?
(a) Madame Carre-Lamadon.
(b) The Count.
(c) Loiseau.
(d) Cornudet.

3. On their walk the second day in Totes, what do the ladies discuss as the men talk of war?
(a) Food.
(b) Dress.
(c) Children.
(d) Literature.

4. What metaphor does Maupassant use to describe Boule de Suif's tears in the coach from Totes?
(a) Lava pouring from a volcano.
(b) Water filtering from a rock.
(c) Holy water dropping in a church.
(d) Wine spilling from a glass.

5. On their walk the second day in Totes, what looks "so mournful and depressing" to the passengers that they retraced their steps?
(a) The open country.
(b) The tattered houses.
(c) The empty storefronts.
(d) The winding roads.

6. When the passengers return from their walk on the second day in Totes, why do the exchange sharp words over the "merest trifles"?
(a) Because they are restless.
(b) Because they are famished.
(c) Because they are ill.
(d) Because they are exhausted.

7. When Boule de Suif arrives at the coach for their departure from Totes, how does Madame Carre-Lamadon respond to her greeting?
(a) With a insolent nod and look of outraged virtue.
(b) With a warm smile and look of excessive gratitude.
(c) With an abrupt embrace and look of restrained gallantry.
(d) With a cool handshake and look of graceful humility.

8. Why are the married women "utterly humiliated" at being met by the person on their walk the second day?
(a) Because they are in the company of the innkeeper.
(b) Because they are in the company of Boule de Suif.
(c) Because they are in the company of Loiseau.
(d) Because they are in the company of Cornudet.

9. Why does Madame Loiseau state that the officer has "behaved very well" on the third day in Totes?
(a) Because he could have chosen a poor peasant woman instead of Boule de Suif.
(b) Because he chose the married women over Boule de Suif.
(c) Because he could have chosen one of the married women instead of Boule de Suif.
(d) Because he didn't choose any of the women.

10. Who chuckles at Boule de Suif crying in the coach from Totes and murmurs, "She's weeping for shame"?
(a) Cornudet.
(b) Madame Loiseau.
(c) Madame Carre-Lamadon.
(d) Comte de Breville.

11. How does the person who suddenly appears at the end of the street acknowledge the passengers?
(a) By bowing to the men and scornfully glancing at the ladies.
(b) By bowing to the ladies and scornfully glancing at the men.
(c) By bowing to the men and cheerfully glancing at the ladies.
(d) By bowing to the ladies and cheerfully glancing at the men.

12. In the afternoon of the third day in Totes, what tone does the Count adopt on his walk with Boule de Suif to convince her to surrender to the Prussian?
(a) Familiar, maternal, slightly intimidated.
(b) Proper, respectful, slightly intimidated.
(c) Familiar, paternal, slightly contemptuous.
(d) Proper, maternal, slightly contemptuous.

13. On the third day in Totes, which person suggests that they deliver Boule de Suif "bound hand and foot" to the Prussian officer?
(a) Cornudet.
(b) Loiseau.
(c) The Count.
(d) Monsieur Follenvie.

14. How does Boule de Suif react to the passengers' response to her when she arrives at the coach for their departure?
(a) She is humbled by their generosity.
(b) She is grateful and happy.
(c) She is stupefied with astonishment.
(d) She is relieved from anxiety.

15. When Boule de Suif arrives at the coach from their departure from Totes, why do the tier skirts appear "infected with some deadly disease"?
(a) Because they didn't want to touch Boule de Suif.
(b) Because they weren't laundered before departure.
(c) Because Boule de Suif's son died from disease.
(d) Because they were infected with disease.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Boule de Suif's expression as she begins to cry in the coach from Totes?

2. Who states after dinner the third day in Totes, "when women run after uniforms it's all the same to them whether the men who wear them are French or Prussian. It's perfectly sickening!"

3. What does Boule de Suif remember about their trip to Totes in the coach departing from it?

4. What is the tone Maupassant uses in describing the "good sisters" in the coach on their departure from Totes?

5. Why does the person who appears suddenly at the end of the street on the second day in Totes walk with in a peculiar motion with knees apart?

(see the answer keys)

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