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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the Messenger say were the last words of Thomas Becket to the King of England before the Archbishop's exile?
(a) My Lord, I leave you as a man, whom you shall not see again for seven years.
(b) My Lord, I leave England, a land I shall not see again.
(c) My Lord, I leave you as a man whom in this life I shall not see again.
(d) My Lord, I leave you as a man, whom you shall see again as an angel.

2. What does the First Priest compare the women of Canterbury to?
(a) Chickens in a coop.
(b) Frogs in the treetops.
(c) Horses in the stalls.
(d) Worms in the belly.

3. What is the first word that Becket speaks on his first entrance?
(a) Stay.
(b) No.
(c) Peace.
(d) Wait.

4. What is not one of the events of the past seven years that the Chorus describes?
(a) The disappearance of several girls.
(b) The town burning down.
(c) A good harvest.
(d) Brewing beer.

5. What is it that the Second Tempter offers Becket?
(a) His former political position.
(b) The English throne.
(c) A new life.
(d) A new love.

6. What does Beckett claim the Fourth Tempter offers?
(a) Promises of Nothing.
(b) An End to Suffering.
(c) Hopes that Die.
(d) Dreams to Damnation.

7. What metaphor does the Third Priest use to compare the relationship between the King and the Archbishop?
(a) A wolf and a sheep.
(b) A hammer and an anvil.
(c) A rock and a hard place.
(d) Fire and water.

8. What, according to the First Tempter, "should be more than biting Time can sever?"
(a) Hope.
(b) Death.
(c) Loyalty.
(d) Friendship.

9. What doesn't the Third Priest see in "the art of temporal government?"
(a) Intrigue.
(b) Duplicity.
(c) Frequent Malversation.
(d) Violence.

10. In Part One, where does the action of the play take place?
(a) The Archbishop's hall.
(b) Outside the gates of the Cathedral.
(c) The Cathedral.
(d) The King's palace.

11. What does the Messenger call the relationship between the King and the Archbishop?
(a) A silly affair.
(b) A violent affair.
(c) A peaceful affair.
(d) A patched-up affair.

12. What does the First Tempter tell Becket he remembers?
(a) The hard times of the poor.
(b) The good time past.
(c) His loyalty to the king.
(d) The danger he is in.

13. Fill in the blank: "I leave you to the pleasure of your __________, Which will have to be paid for at ______________."
(a) higher vices; higher prices.
(b) piety; reckoning.
(c) lies; the end.
(d) life; your strife.

14. Who are the first two characters who speak of "the wheel" on separate occasions?
(a) The First Priest and the First Tempter.
(b) The Chorus and Thomas Becket.
(c) The Third Priest and Thomas Becket.
(d) The First Priest and the Second Priest.

15. According to the Four Tempters, what is man's life?
(a) An inconvenience to God.
(b) A fleeting moment.
(c) A viscious cycle.
(d) A cheat and a disappointment.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Becket say may have intercepted his letters and planned his demise?

2. What does the First Priest believe was Becket's character flaw that ultimately brought an end to his friendship with the King?

3. How does the chorus define its time in Canterbury since the Archbishop left seven years previous?

4. Why is the fourth visitor the most successful Tempter?

5. In what city of England does the story take place?

(see the answer keys)

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