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

2. Who is the subject of the long letter mailed from Boston to Gram?
(a) James.
(b) Maybeth.
(c) Dicey's father.
(d) Dicey's mother.

3. When Sammy says Dicey never gets in trouble, what does Dicey say about her troubles.
(a) Dicey says although it does not show, troubles make her very nervous.
(b) Dicey does not mind any troubles she has that she makes for herself.
(c) Dicey says troubles are only a rocky road to better things.
(d) Dicey says only other people can cause a person troubles.

4. What is Dicey's assessment of her new school and classes?
(a) School is a fun filled, safe haven from the real world.
(b) School day is a series of posturing, posing, and pretending.
(c) School day is long, slow, and boring
(d) School day is a whirl of thinking and doing.

5. What is Mr. Lingerle's mood after staying with the kids all day Saturday?
(a) He stays for dinner and relaxes with the family after dinner.
(b) He is tired and hurries to take his leave.
(c) He is disappointed with Maybeth.
(d) He is irritated with James and angry with Sammy.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the message in the note from Maybeth's teacher?

2. What is Dicey's response when Mina says she counted on Dicey not to be ordinary?

3. What thought occurs to Dicey when James shows the family Bible with the names of Gram's children written inside?

4. What is it about the history paper James writes that is different than the usual?

5. What is Dicey's reaction when the children go to bed without saying goodnight to her?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. When Maybeth is discouraged and upset by how others treat her, what does James' reaction indicate?

3. What does Gram's reaction about the kids in the attic reveal?

4. Why does Dicey begin the school year with a loner attitude and does not attempt to make any friends?

5. How is Dicey's thinking impacted when she learns Millie cannot read?

6. How does the time in Provincetown appear to have impact upon James as the school year gets underway?

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

8. What is the effect on Dicey when she returns from a brief time out to learn the kids have gone to bed for the night?

9. What action does Gram take that signals maybe there is a chance for a stable future in Maryland?

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

(see the answer keys)

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