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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How was Bobby Cole killed?
(a) He was run over by a speeding train.
(b) He was strangled.
(c) He drowned.
(d) He fell off a steep cliff.

2. What is the punishment that Frank and Jake receive as a result of playing at the tracks?
(a) They have to do Ariel's chores, as well as their own, for one week.
(b) They are not allowed to ride in Karl's sports car for one week.
(c) They are not allowed to leave the yard without permission from a parent for one week.
(d) They are not allowed to use the phone for one week.

3. Though there is little furniture in Lise and Emil's home, what object is a prominent feature in every room?
(a) Dolls.
(b) Books.
(c) Cushions.
(d) Flowers.

4. Where is the private hospital located where Emil goes to recuperate?
(a) The Twin Cities.
(b) Minneapolis.
(c) Orlando.
(d) Minnetonka.

5. Why do Frank and Jake look forward to Saturday dinners at their house?
(a) Because that night Gus always comes to dinner.
(b) Because Ariel always brings her boyfriend Karl to dinner.
(c) Because their mother makes their favorite dinner: pot roast.
(d) Because their father usually cooks and often they get to eat outside.

6. What word does Ruth instruct the family to use when talking about Skipper, the dead man the boys had found on the tracks?
(a) Bum.
(b) Itinerant.
(c) Transient.
(d) Hobo.

7. When Ruth gets angry at Julia's words, what physical attribute does Ruth mention in order to insult Julia?
(a) Freckles.
(b) Worry lines.
(c) Crow's feet.
(d) Warts.

8. Who fixes Jake's suit?
(a) Ruth.
(b) Ariel.
(c) Nathan.
(d) Frank.

9. Why is the old stone quarry the boys' usual choice of swimming site when there are three possibilities in town?
(a) Because the country club requires membership and the public pool is too crowded.
(b) Because the creek is generally dried up this time of year and the public pool costs money.
(c) Because the quarry is the only swimming site with nice scenery.
(d) Because the public pool costs money and the country club is full of snobs.

10. Who first voices the suspicion that Bobby Cole's death might have involved foul play?
(a) Gus.
(b) Ruth.
(c) Nathan.
(d) Officer Doyle.

11. What river flows through the town of New Bremen?
(a) The Jewel River.
(b) The New Bremen River.
(c) The Snake River.
(d) The Minnesota River.

12. What is found in the pocket of Skipper's dead body?
(a) $100 cash.
(b) A few buttons.
(c) A photograph.
(d) A necklace.

13. Who arrives at Emil and Lise's house moments after the firemen have left with Emil?
(a) Ruth.
(b) Ariel.
(c) Karl.
(d) Axel.

14. Why does Jake want Frank to answer people's questions about the incident with Emil instead of answering himself?
(a) Because he is so shaken by the incident that he does not know what to say.
(b) Because he is worried he will stutter.
(c) Because he cannot stop crying.
(d) Because he still does not feel well.

15. What reason does Warren Redstone cite for the 1862 attack on the white settlers by the Sioux tribe?
(a) Because the Sioux realized that the white settlers wanted to own land the Sioux had occupied for centuries.
(b) Because the white settlers had attacked the Sioux first.
(c) Because the Sioux were starving and had been denied food promised them in a treaty.
(d) Because the Sioux had discovered the white settlers' use of smallpox-infected blankets to kill their tribe members.

Short Answer Questions

1. What prompts Ruth to bring food to the Klements' house?

2. Who stays with Lise at her house while Emil is in the hospital?

3. When Officer Doyle, Gus, and Frank pass by the Emil Brandt's house in Officer Doyle's Studebaker, who is sitting on the porch with Emil?

4. What difficult task does Lise assign to Frank and Jake when the three are gardening together?

5. What object does Frank see sticking out of Danny's Uncle Warren's pocket?

(see the answer keys)

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