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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 do the prisoners all say when questioned by the Governor?
(a) They all helped dig the tunnel.
(b) They do not know who did it.
(c) Aksionov did it.
(d) Semyonich did it.

2. What does Aksionov try to do day and night after meeting Semyonich, but it brings him no peace?
(a) Read.
(b) Play guitar.
(c) Write.
(d) Pray.

3. How does Aksionov feel after thinking of the 26 years he spent in prison for another man’s crime?
(a) He feels thankful he might finally get out.
(b) He feels ready to kill himself.
(c) He feels he must forgive.
(d) He feels happy for his health.

4. Who does Aksionov see emerge from under a shelf while he was walking the prison at night?
(a) A rat.
(b) A guard.
(c) Semyonich.
(d) The Governor.

5. Who enters Aksionov’s room the night he was questioned by the guard about the tunnel?
(a) The Governor.
(b) Aksionov’s wife.
(c) The Czar.
(d) Semyonich.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Aksionov tell Semyonich is the only one who can decide if Aksionov tells on him?

2. How does Aksionov reply when asked by the new prisoners why he is in jail?

3. What does Semyonich tell Aksionov he will do to him if Aksionov tells anyone of his secret?

4. What does Aksionov ask of the prisoner who says he is from Vladimir?

5. How does Aksionov feel after saying that he may be “a hundred times worse” (117) than Semyonich?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the new convicts discuss when they first arrive at the prison?

2. What does Aksionov discover Makar Semyonich has done one night when he is walking the prison after not sleeping for two weeks?

3. Why does Aksionov begin to suspect Makar Semyonich is the one who killed the merchant?

4. Why does Semyonich come to beg Aksionov’s forgiveness after the tunnel was found?

5. How does Aksionov reply to the Governor when asked who dug the tunnel?

6. How does Makar Semyonich come to learn who Aksionov is and how does he react?

7. What does Aksionov tell Semyonich about being released from prison?

8. Why does the Governor come to question the prisoners near the end of the story?

9. How does the Governor ask Aksionov about the tunnel, thinking it will convince him to tell what he knows?

10. What does Makar tell Aksionov he will do if he tells anyone what he has found out, and how does Aksionov respond?

(see the answer keys)

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