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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why has no stranger set foot in the Fromes' house in twenty years?
(a) Ethan Frome has grown angry and unfriendly.
(b) Ethan Frome is too ashamed of Zeena and Mattie.
(c) Ethan Frome is too ashamed of his past actions to entertain friends.
(d) Ethan Frome is too proud to let anyone see how he lives.

2. What details does the narrator provide about the Fromes?
(a) He says he was given food and sent on his way.
(b) He says he does not wish to discuss the matter.
(c) He says he was given dinner and slept in the barn.
(d) He says he was treated with kindness and slept in the study.

3. What clues suggest the Fromes are very poor?
(a) The lack of food and fire.
(b) The broken dishes and poor furnishings.
(c) Their refusal to offer the narrator food or shelter.
(d) The skinny women and the lack of shelter.

4. Ethan feels his misery is mocked by ________________________________.
(a) Denis Eady and his young friends.
(b) The decaying state of his home.
(c) The beauty of the day outside.
(d) Zeena's renewed energy.

5. Why isn't Zeena fooled by Ethan's claim that the cat broke her pickle dish?
(a) Zeena found the glue Ethan brought home.
(b) Zeena never believes her cat can cause harm.
(c) Zeena found the pieces placed carefully back together.
(d) Zeena knows Mattie used the dish.

6. Wharton describes Ethan's mood as ________________________.
(a) Hesitantly happy.
(b) Irrationally happy.
(c) Cautiously optimistic.
(d) Irrationally fearful.

7. What does Zeena want to question Mattie about before she leaves?
(a) Missing household items.
(b) Some of Mattie's recipes.
(c) Ethan's behavior.
(d) More broken dishes.

8. Ethan perceives Zeena's tone as __________________________.
(a) Happily vindictive.
(b) Dryly resolute.
(c) Sadly defeated.
(d) Cheerfully upbeat.

9. Mattie knows Ethan slept in the unheated study because ________________________________.
(a) She heard him come in late the night before.
(b) She stayed up all night watching for him.
(c) She knows Zeena kicked him out of the bedroom.
(d) She heard him smashing things in there.

10. What word does Zeena use to describe the state of her health?
(a) She says she has troubles.
(b) She says she has tremors.
(c) She says she has vapors.
(d) She says she has complications.

11. Before they strike the elm, Ethan has a last vision of __________________________.
(a) Zeena's face.
(b) The cemetery by his home.
(c) His mother.
(d) Mattie's face.

12. Why does Mrs. Hale only visit the Fromes twice a year?
(a) She does not want the Fromes to grown tired of her visits.
(b) She does not want others to know she associates with them.
(c) She thinks it pains them to have visitors.
(d) She thinks they blame her for the accident.

13. Zeena instructs Jotham Powell to ________________________________________.
(a) Take Mattie to the train when he goes to pick up the hired girl.
(b) Take Mattie into town and leave her there.
(c) Search Mattie's belongings for Zeena's missing items.
(d) Carry Mattie's trunk to the sleigh.

14. Ethan hopes that the bad roads or a late train might cause him to __________________________.
(a) Arrive home before Zeena.
(b) Avoid delivering the lumber.
(c) Arrive at the train on time to pick up Zeena.
(d) Run into the elm tree.

15. Why does the memory of the Fromes' place cause Mrs. Hale pain?
(a) Mrs. Hale remembers Mattie keeping the house clean.
(b) Mrs. Hale remembers Zeena throwing parties.
(c) Mrs. Hale remembers living with the Fromes briefly before her marriage.
(d) Mrs. Hale remembers when the house was well-kept by Ethan's mother.

Short Answer Questions

1. Ethan's room is unusable for several months of the year because ______________________________________.

2. When they are alone outside together, Ethan tells Mattie __________________________________.

3. Instead of asking the Hales for money, Ethan _________________________.

4. Ethan finds Mattie crying because __________________________________.

5. Ethan returns home to find _____________________________________.

(see the answer keys)

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