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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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.

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

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

4. What reaction do the peasants have when they hear rumors about the sale of the land?
(a) They beg the woman not to sell her land.
(b) They go to court to try to add the land to the commune.
(c) They celebrate, because they do not like the landowner.
(d) They decide that they need to buy it themselves.

5. Who calls Pahom's land a "narrow hole"?
(a) Pahom's wife.
(b) The stranger who stays overnight at Pahom's house.
(c) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(d) Pahom.

6. 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) That people in the new settlement beyond the Volga are making good money.
(d) Life in town is very risky.

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

8. Who is the first person that the local landowner offers to sell her land to?
(a) The innkeeper.
(b) Pahom.
(c) Simon.
(d) The leader of the commune.

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

10. What problem does the new steward create for the local peasants?
(a) He refuses to sell seed to those who do not own their own land.
(b) He fines them when their animals trespass on his employer's land.
(c) He does not supervise his cattle properly.
(d) He demands payment of the peasants' outstanding loans.

11. How many acres does the local landowner have?
(a) 13,000.
(b) 300.
(c) 1,300.
(d) 40.

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

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

14. Why does Pahom end up taking his neighbors to court?
(a) Their animals trespass on his land.
(b) They disagree about the boundary of his land.
(c) The refuse to pay him the rent that they owe him.
(d) They steal his crops.

15. What is Pahom's reaction to the trouble with the steward?
(a) He insists that the family move to a new settlement.
(b) He takes his anger out on his family.
(c) He takes the steward to court.
(d) He refuses to have any more dealings with the man.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a steward?

2. When the younger sister is "piqued," what is she feeling?

3. What does the older sister brag about?

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

5. What bothers Pahom the most about the stripping of bark from his trees?

(see the answer keys)

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