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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. How did Austin die?
(a) Terminal illness.
(b) In a boating accident.
(c) A gunshot wound.
(d) In a car accident.

2. In the second ending of this story, Averill ______________________.
(a) falls overboard.
(b) becomes seasick.
(c) misses the ship's launch.
(d) takes the captain's hand.

3. Who is the friend who Anita visits in her hometown?
(a) Mavis.
(b) Maria.
(c) Margot.
(d) Marlene.

4. Who was Joan's brother?
(a) Maury.
(b) Morris.
(c) Marvin.
(d) Mike.

5. What secret did Maya confide to Georgia?
(a) Maya got a new job.
(b) Maya never went to college.
(c) Maya had filed for divorce.
(d) Maya had an abortion.

Short Answer Questions

1. What observation does Morris' bookkeeper make about Matilda?

2. What is Joan's husband's profession?

3. When Maya has affairs now she ________________________.

4. Which of the following does the man on the phone NOT tell Karin?

5. Why did Morris not go to dinner with Matilda a few years ago when she was interested in him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why would Austin have had good reasons--in his mind--to have committed suicide?

2. What lie about Austin's true plans does Karin learn and how does she react to the news?

3. Who is Austin Cobbett and what is a woman named Karin helping him do as the story begins?

4. What kind of world does the boat at night represent for Averill, and how does she incorporate the captain into this world?

5. In what ways is Georgia's friendship with Maya one-sided in terms of who gives more and who controls the friendship?

6. How did Margot get even with Reuel after his affair with their babysitter and manage to get all the things she had ever wanted in life?

7. Who is Matilda and what are the circumstances in which her mother is cruel to Morris?

8. What sad event does the snowstorm prompt Karin to recall and why does she take Austin to the lake to photograph the ice?

9. Why had Teresa come to Canada and what troubles has she had in her marriage to Reuel?

10. Who are June (Bugs) and Averill and what are they doing as the story begins?

(see the answer keys)

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