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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. In "Pret in the House," what does the ghost substitute for the toothpaste?

2. In "Goodbye, Miss Mackenzie," Anil falls in nasturtiums. What has he fallen in?

3. In "Pret in the House," the ghost hides Grandmother's spectacles. What is the ghost hiding?

4. In "Wild Fruit," how does Vijay try to feed himself in between his breakfast and dinner?

5. In "When the Trees Walked," in what surprising place does the grandfather plant trees?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "A Traveller's Tale," what does the narrator expect to see in Gopalpur, and what is the reality?

2. In "Wild Fruit," why is Vijay so hungry?

3. In "Those Three Bears," what do the villagers do with their pumpkins, and how does this cause a surprise for the narrator one night?

4. In "Pret in the House," what causes the family to decide that they need to move to a new house?

5. In "A Traveller's Tale," what happens when the narrator hears a tapping at his window at night?

6. In "Those Three Bears," what causes the young bear to fall from the tree?

7. In "Wild Fruit," what cruel trick does the well-dressed boy play on Vijay?

8. In "When the Trees Walked," what changes in the family's life are caused by World War Two?

9. Why is the narrator of "The Overcoat" unconcerned that neither he nor anyone at the party knows Julie?

10. In "The Coral Tree," what is the significance of the narrator's repeated claim that the girl is "fresh and clean like the rain and the red earth" (118, 121)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Several stories in Great Stories for Children feature death or ghosts. Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about what this collection of stories is saying about death and the afterlife. Be sure to defend your ideas with evidence from all of the stories that contain ghosts.

Essay Topic 2

Choose three stories in which characters travel a long distance by walking or riding a bike. Compare and contrast their situations and their attitudes, and then offer an analysis about what Bond is using these journeys to "say" about life. Be sure to support your claims with textual evidence.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that examines the motif of "legacies" in Great Stories for Children. Choose at least three stories in which older people pass something important on to younger people: knowledge, a possession, a passion, etc. Use evidence from these stories to support a claim about how the "legacies" motif works in this story collection.

(see the answer keys)

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