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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. While the sisters talk, who is hiding behind the oven?
(a) Simon.
(b) Pahom's brother-in-law.
(c) The innkeeper.
(d) The devil.

2. What does Pahom do when the court rules against him?
(a) He accuses the judges of taking bribes.
(b) He strips someone else's trees in revenge.
(c) He quits the commune in protest.
(d) He tries to appeal the case.

3. Which character says that "Loss and gain are brothers twain"?
(a) Pahom.
(b) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(c) The local landowner.
(d) Pahom's wife.

4. Whom does Pahom accuse of stripping his trees?
(a) The head of the commune.
(b) Simon.
(c) His brother-in-law.
(d) The innkeeper.

5. What is Pahom's first reaction when he learns that people are moving to a new settlement?
(a) He tries to get their share of the commune lands.
(b) He worries that there will not be enough workers for his land.
(c) He thinks that maybe he can buy their land.
(d) He wants to sell his land and move.

6. How does Pahom's wife defend their life to her sister?
(a) She says that living in the countryside is more moral.
(b) She says that someday Pahom will make them rich.
(c) She says that their life is quiet and ordinary.
(d) She says that their life is steady and safe.

7. What is a steward?
(a) An innkeeper.
(b) Someone who takes care of someone else's property.
(c) A shop owner.
(d) Someone who rents the land that they farm or graze animals on.

8. Which character thinks "I'll give you land enough; and by means of that land I will get you into my power"?
(a) The devil.
(b) The local landowner.
(c) Simon.
(d) Pahom's brother-in-law.

9. What does the stranger staying at Pahom's house overnight tell Pahom?
(a) Life in the countryside is difficult but secure.
(b) The Bashkir are selling land very cheaply.
(c) Life in town is very risky.
(d) That people in the new settlement beyond the Volga are making good money.

10. How many acres does Pahom buy in his first land purchase?
(a) 13,000.
(b) 1,300.
(c) 40.
(d) 300.

11. Which character thinks that "Busy as we are from childhood tilling Mother Earth, we peasants have no time to let any nonsense settle in our heads"?
(a) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(b) Pahom's wife.
(c) Pahom.
(d) Simon.

12. How far does Pahom walk in order to get to the new settlement?
(a) 3 miles.
(b) 30 miles.
(c) 130 miles.
(d) 300 miles.

13. What agreement does Pahom come to with the landowner?
(a) He will work for her until the land is paid for.
(b) He will pay for half of the land up front and half within two years.
(c) He will pay less for the land because he can pay for it all in advance.
(d) He will pay for the land over the next ten years, one-tenth at a time.

14. How do Pahom's neighbors retaliate when he takes them to court?
(a) They press charges against him in court.
(b) They burn down his barn.
(c) They get him kicked out of the commune.
(d) They let their animals trespass on his land on purpose.

15. What bothers Pahom the most about the stripping of bark from his trees?
(a) Whoever did it also let his cows out of their pen.
(b) He hates the idea of trees being wasted in this way.
(c) He hates the idea of a stranger being on his land.
(d) Whoever did it cut down a whole clump of trees.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Pahom feels "aggrieved," what is he feeling?

2. What does Pahom's wife say may happen to a man in town?

3. Who is the first person that the local landowner offers to sell her land to?

4. The story opens with two sisters. What does the older sister's husband do for a living?

5. What reaction do the peasants have when they hear rumors about the sale of the land?

(see the answer keys)

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