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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 famished.
(b) Because they are ill.
(c) Because they are restless.
(d) Because they are exhausted.

2. Who is the "creature" the person is referring to in the coach from Totes?
(a) Comtess de Breville.
(b) Boule de Suif.
(c) The Old Nun.
(d) Loiseau.

3. During their trip from Totes, what does Cornudet remove from his loose overcoat in the coach?
(a) Fruit and bread.
(b) Hard-boiled eggs and bread.
(c) Wine and bread.
(d) Hard-boiled eggs and fruit.

4. What do the nuns do in the coach on their departure from Totes?
(a) Sleep.
(b) Read.
(c) Eat.
(d) Pray.

5. Who breaks the "painful silence" in the coach as they began on their departure from Totes?
(a) Madame Carre-Lamadon.
(b) Comtess de Breville.
(c) The Old Nun.
(d) Monsieur Carre-Lamadon.

6. What kind of cheese does Comtess de Breville take out in the coach on their departure from Totes?
(a) Brie.
(b) Cheddar.
(c) Gruyere.
(d) Parmesan.

7. What is Boule de Suif's expression as she begins to cry in the coach from Totes?
(a) Fixed.
(b) Stubborn.
(c) Defeated.
(d) Lost.

8. What is the subject Monsieur Carre-Lamadon is discussing with his companion in the coach from Totes?
(a) War.
(b) Religion.
(c) Business.
(d) Politics.

9. On their final morning in Totes, what are the passengers doing while they wait for Boule de Suif?
(a) Dining at the village cafe with the coach driver.
(b) Putting up provisions for the remainder of the journey.
(c) Waiting by the fireplace with blankets for the trip.
(d) Cleaning out their rooms for the next guests.

10. On the second day in Totes, the coach passengers, for want of something better to do before lunch, do what?
(a) Nap in their rooms.
(b) Walk to the square.
(c) Wander around the coach.
(d) Read by the fire.

11. What is the name of the song Cornudet begins to hum in the coach at the end of "Boule de Suif"?
(a) Rouen.
(b) Marseillaise.
(c) Totes.
(d) Dieppe.

12. What does Boule de Suif remember about their trip to Totes in the coach departing from it?
(a) The lunch she shared.
(b) The kind coach driver.
(c) The bad weather.
(d) The length of time it took.

13. How do the passengers respond when Boule de Suif arrives at the coach for their departure?
(a) The women thank her while the men ignore her.
(b) They greet her warmly as if she had been on vacation.
(c) They turn aside as if they had not seen her.
(d) The men help her while the women ignore her.

14. When the church bell summons the faithful on the third morning in Totes, what does Boule de Suif think about that convinces her to attend the ceremony?
(a) God's mercy on the poor and weak.
(b) Her own child being rasied by peasants.
(c) Her own wedding in Yvetot.
(d) The fallen soldiers from the war.

15. What do the nuns partake in at lunch in the coach from Totes?
(a) Sausage.
(b) Pie.
(c) Fruit.
(d) Bread.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the afternoon their second day in Totes, who proposes the passengers go for a walk in the village neighborhood?

2. Why are the married women "utterly humiliated" at being met by the person on their walk the second day?

3. What kind of pies does Comtess de Breville take out in the coach for lunch on their departure from Totes?

4. What is the metaphor Maupassant uses to describe the course of action the passengers take in persuading Boule de Suif to sleep with the Prussian?

5. On the third day in Totes, which person suggests that they deliver Boule de Suif "bound hand and foot" to the Prussian officer?

(see the answer keys)

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