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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Cotton Mather say is the cause of the degeneracy of the New England community?
(a) The Devil is making one more try to debauch the Puritans.
(b) People like Thomas Morton are undermining the values of the community.
(c) Children are becoming undisciplined and grow up to think they can do whatever they wish.
(d) The Indians are setting a bad example for the colonists.

2. Why does Queen Elizabeth call Raleigh back when he goes with the fleet to attack Spain?
(a) Because he has seduced one of her maids.
(b) Because she has decided not to attack Spain.
(c) Because she is urgently in need of his advice.
(d) Because she intends to send him to the Americas instead.

3. What explanation does the narrator give for the Puritans' lack of imagination?
(a) They are afraid being imaginative would cut them off from the others.
(b) They believe that God does not approve of imagination.
(c) They think their lives depend on doing things the same way every time.
(d) They do not have materials with which to exercise their creativity.

4. Why do the Puritans disapprove of Thomas Morton?
(a) He barters guns and liquor to Indians.
(b) He is not married.
(c) He does not pay his taxes.
(d) He does not believe in God.

5. What does the following sentence mean? "Rather the ice than their way: to take what is mine by single strength, theirs by the crookedness of their law."
(a) Eric the Red considers his unjust exile to be more honorable than staying in Iceland.
(b) Eric the Red feels remorseful about the murder he committed and willingly accepts punishment.
(c) Eric the Red prefers places that are cold and icy.
(d) Eric the Red has chosen to leave Iceland of his own accord.

6. What does Gregory say about the way in which the reputation of In the American Grain grew?
(a) It became more popular after Williams died.
(b) It became more popular as it was falling out of print.
(c) It became more popular when it was marketed more aggressively.
(d) It became more popular when it was published in a magazine.

7. Why isn't the French Conquest as severe as the Spanish one?
(a) The Spanish massacre Indians but the French just marry local women.
(b) The Spanish want furs but the French want gold.
(c) The Spanish have many explorers to help but the French have only a couple.
(d) The Spanish are much more gentle than the French.

8. Why do Ponce de Leon and his men travel north?
(a) To find new land for Spain.
(b) To find food and water.
(c) To find the fountain of youth.
(d) To find gold.

9. Which of the following names does the narrator call Raleigh?
(a) The planter who never planted.
(b) James' man.
(c) The new King.
(d) Explorer of the Orinoco.

10. How does De Soto keep his men alive when the maize crop fails?
(a) He sends the men out to hunt and fish.
(b) He rations corn.
(c) He writes to Spain for help.
(d) He gives each man 1/2 pound of pork daily.

11. What happens when Montezuma asks his people not to fight back against the Spanish?
(a) He is hit on the head by a stone, which kills him.
(b) He convinces the Aztecs to lay down their arms peacefully.
(c) He frightens the Aztecs and they run away.
(d) He stirs the Aztecs to resist even more fiercely than before.

12. What people do Karlsefni and Snorri find in the New World?
(a) The Iroquois.
(b) The Abenaki.
(c) The Skrellings.
(d) The Inuit.

13. Does Columbus profit from his trips to the New World?
(a) No, he is left financially ruined and impoverished.
(b) Yes, he is rewarded with all the gold he could ever want.
(c) No, but at least the voyages do not harm him financially.
(d) Yes, he is able to sell many things that he took from the islands.

14. How does the death of Juan Ortiz affect De Soto?
(a) It leaves him without a doctor.
(b) It leaves him without a single soldier who knows the way back.
(c) It leaves him without a translator.
(d) It makes him feel lonely and wish he had a friend.

15. Who is Juan Ortiz?
(a) De Soto's brother who accompanied him on the expedition and on whom De Soto relied.
(b) De Soto's commanding officer, stationed in Cuba, to whom De Soto writes letters.
(c) The leader of the Indian community that helped De Soto and his men to survive the first winter.
(d) A Spanish soldier separated from an earlier expedition who lived with the Indians for 12 years.

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the girl Ponce de Leon gives a gold crucifix to?

2. What does Eric the Red say that his life is like now that he has been exiled?

3. What happens when Ponce de Leon and his men first land among the Caribs?

4. What do Indian envoys bring to De Soto and his men?

5. What kind of literature does Gregory say is forced to answer the question of whether or not it is sincere?

(see the answer keys)

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