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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. What has happened to Maybeth that brings her to uncontrollable sobbing?
(a) The other kids will not talk to her or sit near her on the bus.
(b) The other girls make fun of her clothes and hair.
(c) Her friends have been stealing from her lunch money.
(d) Her classmates laughed at her poor reading skills and the teacher could not control them.

2. What is the common thread in the kids' background that seems to stifle true joy of life?
(a) Their comfortable former life in Massachusetts can never be recaptured.
(b) Hardships and loneliness are constant facts of their daily existence.
(c) They have always been poor and looked down upon.
(d) Serious physical and mental illness is hereditary in the family.

3. What is Maybeth able to do at school that Dicey is determined not to do?
(a) Maybeth develops a respect for teachers that Dicey cannot seem to do.
(b) Maybeth sits and reads for hours at the school library.
(c) Maybeth works harder than every other student in her class.
(d) Maybeth is making friends at school.

4. What has Gram planned for the Saturday after Halloween?
(a) Some of the kids' classmates can come to the farm in the afternoon.
(b) A shopping trip and discussion with Dicey about the teacher conferences.
(c) A day to take size measurements so Gram can make winter clothes for the kids.
(d) A family visit to town after Dicey's work at the store.

5. While doing homework together, what does Dicey learn is troubling James about his classmates?
(a) His class mates are lazy underachievers with no direction.
(b) His classmates are socially mean and overbearing toward James.
(c) His classmates are smart, but not like him; he does not fit in.
(d) His classmates are all smarter than James.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Gram's announcement that pleases the children?

2. What does Dicey like to do for solitary relaxation each afternoon?

3. During lunch at the mall, what does Gram report was the teacher's review of Sammy?

4. What is it about the changed circumstances that has brought each of the kids to insecurity and doubt?

5. Who is the person Gram and Dicey decide to talk with about Maybeth's school progress?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Dicey's decision about Maybeth's music lesson cost indicate?

2. Why does Gram insist upon first telling only Dicey about what the teachers had to say?

3. Gram receives along letter from the doctor in Boston about Momma's condition. What are Dicey's thoughts when Gram tells her that there has been no change in Momma's condition?

4. What does Gram's insistence about buying a jumper and a dress indicate?

5. What small initiative step does Dicey take soon after school starts that shows she still feels responsible for the four kids?

6. What is the importance of the presence of Mr. Limgerle as the babysitter and staying as dinner guest?

7. What does Dicey's actions regarding the home economics apron project reveal about her inner self?

8. Why does Dicey stop to listen to Jeff play the guitar and sing, but never says much or stays very long?

9. How does the small sailboat Dicey finds in the barn anchor her thoughts on this day?

10. What is the impact on Dicey when James gets his job delivering newspapers?

(see the answer keys)

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