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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 does the narrator say to the woman who answers the door in Chapter 2?
(a) That he is selling magazine subscriptions.
(b) That he needs directions.
(c) That he is delivering a package from Mr. Giacomin.
(d) That he is looking for her lost cat.

2. In Chapter 8, when he returned after his respite after breakfast, what does Patty ask him?
(a) Whether he had decided if he would stay with them and take the job or not.
(b) Whether he wanted lunch.
(c) Whether he was married.
(d) Whether he was lonely.

3. What habit does the passenger have that drives the narrator absolutely crazy during their car ride in Chapter 4?
(a) He shakes his head and says that he does not know the answer to every question that he is asked.
(b) He chain smokes.
(c) He shrugs his shoulders in response to almost every question that he is asked.
(d) He will not talk and blinks alot.

4. In Chapter 7, what do Patty, Paul, and Spenser have for dinner?
(a) Hamburgers and french fries.
(b) Cold tuna sandwiches on rye bread.
(c) Steak, peas, and baked potato.
(d) Hot dogs with macarooni and cheese.

5. What is the setting of the first paragraph of Chapter 6?
(a) Lexington, Massachusetts.
(b) Times Square.
(c) Soldier Field.
(d) Madison Square Garden.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the narrator get into room 315?

2. Who hires the narrator in Chapter 1?

3. When they arrive at the house in Chapter 4, how does the passenger enter the house?

4. What is the first question that the narrator asks the passenger in Chapter 4 after leaving the house?

5. What is Patty's reasoning for being married?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

4. 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?

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

6. When Paul arrives home, what is the reaction that mother and son both give and receive?

7. In Chapter 8, Patty makes breakfast for herself and Spenser after Spenser drops Paul off at school. During breakfast the two of them get into a somewhat heated discussion about the roles of men and women in life, as well as their places in society. What are Patty's views on the topic as shown by that discussion?

8. 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?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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