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

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

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

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

5. When the younger sister is "piqued," what is she feeling?
(a) Cautious.
(b) Tired.
(c) Angry.
(d) Curious.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which character thinks "I'll give you land enough; and by means of that land I will get you into my power"?

2. While the sisters talk, who is hiding behind the oven?

3. In which situation might someone "grease your palm"?

4. How many acres does the local landowner have?

5. Who calls Pahom's land a "narrow hole"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Pahom is most angry at the neighbor who has cut down his trees because whoever it was did not just take one or two trees but instead cut down a whole clump of trees. Why does this make Pahom angry, and what is ironic about his anger?

2. In what two ways is Pahom's first decision to buy land different from his later decisions?

3. In Chapter I, what is ironic about the conversation between the two sisters?

4. In Chapter I, what is ironic about where Pahom is while he listens to his wife and her sister talk?

5. What prevents the peasants from buying the nearby landowner's land as a group instead of as individuals?

6. What changes the relationship between the woman who owns land near the village and the peasants, and how does the relationship change?

7. What sequence of events with Simon follows Pahom's discovery of the stripped trees?

8. What sacrifices do Pahom and his family make for the first plot of land that they buy?

9. How does Pahom's relationship with his community change, and what are two specific pieces of evidence for this change?

10. When the devil overhears Pahom's thoughts, what does he vow to do?

(see the answer keys)

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