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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ned have trouble doing that his father told him to do?
(a) Getting one of the cows ready for slaughter.
(b) Keep his mind off the gun.
(c) Spending time with Mrs. Scallop.
(d) Working a puzzle his dad gave him.

2. How does Ned perceive his family life before his mother is ill?
(a) As boring.
(b) As happy.
(c) As calm.
(d) As solemn.

3. Why does Ned fluster Evelyn?
(a) He asks if she wanted to be kissing the boy she was talking about.
(b) He asks her to the movies.
(c) He presses her for information about the one-eyed cat.
(d) He looks directly at her for a minute.

4. Who is Cosmo?
(a) The family bull.
(b) The barnyard rooster.
(c) The horse Ned's mother used to own.
(d) The family goat.

5. What does Ned leave out on the porch at Mr. Scully's?
(a) Bread and milk.
(b) A rat trap.
(c) Bird seed.
(d) Nothing.

6. Where does Doris live?
(a) Texas.
(b) In a neighboring town.
(c) Out West.
(d) Florida.

7. What does Ned wish about visiting his mother?
(a) He could do so whenever he wants.
(b) That it wasn't so glum.
(c) That she didn't ask him about school.
(d) That she didn't ask him so many questions.

8. What is on Ned's mind constantly?
(a) His firing the air rifle.
(b) His mother's illness.
(c) His father's desire for him to become a minister.
(d) A bully at school who keeps harassing Ned.

9. What does James Wallis tell his son to refrain from when at the Brewster's home?
(a) Not eating everything on his plate.
(b) Addressing the servants.
(c) Picking up any of their expensive nic nacs.
(d) Asking for seconds.

10. Who is Mrs. Scallop?
(a) The next-door neighbor to the Wallis family.
(b) Ned's current teacher.
(c) The present housekeeper for the Wallis family.
(d) The first housekeeper for the Wallis family.

11. About what does Ned lie to his mama?
(a) The need to write a poem about autumn.
(b) The need to stay after school for the week.
(c) The need to have a new notebook for school.
(d) Nothing.

12. What kind of potatoes does Mrs. Brewster serve?
(a) French fried.
(b) Lumpy mashed.
(c) Unrecognizable.
(d) The best in the town.

13. For how long has Ned's mother been ill?
(a) 3 years.
(b) 1 year.
(c) Most of her life.
(d) 6 years.

14. In what country does Hilary buy a butterfly enclosed in glass?
(a) Mexico.
(b) Canada.
(c) Italy.
(d) Japan.

15. About what does Ned worry when he gets back to his room with his presents?
(a) If he was seen the night before out with the rifle.
(b) If his father will get back in time for his birthday dinner.
(c) If his brother will have to leave again for the Army.
(d) If his mother got too tired during the birthday celebration.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Ned feel safe?

2. Where do Ned and his father eat supper on the Sunday before Ned's birthday?

3. What do Ned and Mr. Scully watch in the yard through the window?

4. Who does Ned knows that lives in New York City?

5. What does the narrator say about Mr. Scully's bed?

(see the answer keys)

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