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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 is the small boy who was outside growling at the lions asking for when he says he wants to see heart books?
(a) He wants books of Valentines.
(b) He wants to look at picture books of art.
(c) He does not want paperback books.
(d) He wants to learn about his father's medical condition.

2. When Neil does not answer when Brenda asks if he loves her, what does Brenda say?
(a) She says she knows he does.
(b) She says she will sleep with him anyway.
(c) She asks if the cat had gotten his tongue.
(d) She says for him to leave until he makes up his mind.

3. What is a typical dinner at Aunt Gladys' house?
(a) Kosher chicken, tossed salad, and dessert.
(b) Matzos soup, leg of lamb, and mixed vegetables.
(c) Bagels, cream cheese, and lox.
(d) Pot roast, gravy, boiled potatoes, peas and carrots, and rye bread.

4. How does Neil avoid the issue of the boy wanting to check the Gauguin book out of the library?
(a) He says it is in need of repair and too fragile to take out.
(b) He says it is a reference book only and cannot be taken out.
(c) He says the boy needs to have his mother get a library card first.
(d) He says it is on hold and he can only look at it in the library.

5. How does Brenda change the subject and get Neil to stop playing?
(a) She tells him to grow up.
(b) She challenges him to a race across the pool.
(c) She threatens to scream.
(d) She asks about his parents.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Aunt Gladys' personal charity?

2. What does Brenda ask about his cousin, Doris?

3. What impresses Aunt Gladys about Neil's description of the Patimkin house?

4. What is the area like in Short Hills?

5. What are some of the things they do together that summer?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Neil feel sitting at the table with the Patimkin family?

2. How is Julie's character further defined in the play room that evening?

3. Since they met that day at the Country Club, has Brenda forgotten the young man she asked to hold her glasses while she dived into the pool?

4. How does the reader know that Neil is restless and bored babysitting Julie?

5. Early in the story what gives Neil away as a consummate romantic?

6. Explain a commonality between Neil and the boy.

7. How has the relationship developed between Neil and Brenda?

8. What does Brenda do that suggests she is very infatuated with Neil?

9. Explain the social and economic difference between Brenda and Neil.

10. What evidence is there that Brenda is driven by appearances?

(see the answer keys)

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