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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. In Chapter 10, Spenser tells Patty that he can put her in touch with the feminist writer, Rachel Wallace. Patty responds that feminist theory is all well and good on paper, but that it is not successful in reality. Spenser asks her what the term, successful means in the "real world"; and Patty's response is:
(a) "Women are so boring...I need men."
(b) That women really need self-actualization.
(c) "That we get a lot further batting our eyes and wiggling our butts."
(d) That there is more to life than being a mother and housewife.

2. Who does Spenser call on to help him during the hostage situation in Chapter 12?
(a) Harold.
(b) Buddy.
(c) Hawk.
(d) Henry.

3. What is the narrator hired to do in Chapter 1?
(a) Help the client find out about a blackmailer.
(b) Investigate the client's spouse.
(c) Find the client's son and bring him back home.
(d) Locate the client's missing dog, a championship-winning fox terrier.

4. Who hires the narrator in Chapter 1?
(a) Patty Giacomin.
(b) Hawk.
(c) Susan Silverman.
(d) Buddy.

5. What does Spenser do for dinner the first night that Patty is away in New York?
(a) He stops by a deli on his way home and picks up some sandwiches.
(b) He gets take-out from a Chinese restarurant just down the corner from his office.
(c) He makes pork chops with pineapple cream sauce, rice, and a salad.
(d) He orders out for pizza.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Chapter 7, what is Patty's "plan" for Spenser?

2. What is the setting of the first paragraph of Chapter 6?

3. What is Spenser's response to Patty's "plan" in Chapter 7?

4. In Chapter 3, what does the man keep calling the narrator?

5. What did the narrator accomplish by visiting the woman in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 12 we meet Hawk. What kind of a person does Hawk appear to be?

2. In the scene where Paul arrives home, Patty is entertaining a male guest, Stephen Court. How does that scene make you feel?

3. What does Spenser's rescue plan for Patty and Paul along with its execution show us about yet another part of Spenser's personality?

4. In Chapter 9, Spenser makes an impromptu dinner for himself and Paul. At the dinner table, Paul seems surprised that Spenser can cook. The discussion that follows allows the reader to learn more about Paul and his relationship with the world around him. What did you learn about Paul and how he relates to the world around him?

5. How does Spenser diffuse the situation between himself, Buddy, and Harold in Chapter 11?

6. In Chapter 11, Spenser and Paul have a discussion about why Spenser did not shoot the intruders. What does Spenser tell Paul about his reluctance to shoot Buddy and Harold?

7. In Chapter 10, Patty propositions Spenser, who politely rejects her advances. The two have a fairly lengthy discussion about the event, during which we learn more about Patty's feelings of self worth. What are those feelings?

8. In Chapter 6 we are introduced to Spenser's girlfriend, Susan Silverman. What type of a person does she seem to be, and how does that contrast or compliment Spenser's personality?

9. If you were Spenser, what would you have done differently in Chapter 2?

10. What type of person does Mel Giacomin appear to be?

(see the answer keys)

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