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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Coram tells Lyra that the alethiometer decoder book can be found where?

2. What is inside the package wrapped in black velvet that the Master gives Lyra?

3. To conceal Lyra from the daemons of the police who are searching for her, the Costas hide her in their boat in a secret compartment made of what?

4. Mrs. Coulter is a member of

5. Lyra learns from Gyptian leaders that in order to use her alethiometer, she needs to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Lyra learn about eating liver when she dines with Mrs. Coulter at the Royal Arctic Institute?

2. Summarize the story Farder Coram tells about his encounter 40 years ago with a Lapland witch.

3. Lyra feels at home with the Gyptians and begins talking like them, but Ma tells her she is not Gyptian. Summarize the dialogue Lyra and Ma have on this matter.

4. As Lyra rides with the Gyptians on a narrow boat captained by Ma Costa, what does Tony Costa say about the missing children?

5. Describe Lyra's encounter with a giant gray goose while she is on the deck of the ship looking at the Aurora.

6. Why does the Master want to see Lyra before she leaves the college with Mrs. Coulter?

7. How does Lyra feel after learning that Mrs. Coulter is her mother?

8. Describe Farder Coram's daemon as seen through Lyra's eyes.

9. Describe Lyra's attempts to read the alethiometer in Chapter 9, particularly regarding Mr. de Ruyter, head of espionage.

10. On the boat ride, what does Tony tell Lyra about armored bears?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1. Analyze the author's choice of an Arctic setting to magnify the severity of what is being done to the children and their daemons.

2. Compare and contrast Lyra's real world with what she glimpses in the portals to other dimensions.

Essay Topic 2

Explain ways in which the children use their innocence and goodness to outsmart the conniving, heartless adults. What message is the author trying to convey through these examples?

Essay Topic 3

Various individuals and groups in the book have their own agenda.

1. Explain, in detail, how three of the groups or individuals depend on Lyra to further their goals.

2. How is Lyra able to stay on her own mission and complete her job when so many different factions want so much out of her? Support your answer with examples.

(see the answer keys)

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