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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. What reason does Frank give for the Fourth of July being one of his favorite holidays?
(a) He gets to take the day off from his work at his grandfather's house.
(b) He likes the fireworks.
(c) He likes the pies his mother makes.
(d) He gets to spend time alone with his sister Ariel.

2. Why are Frank and Jake forced to squeeze in next to Karl when he takes them for a ride in his Triumph sports car?
(a) Because the back seat is full of theater props.
(b) Because there are no seat belts in the back seat.
(c) Because the Triumph has no back seat.
(d) Because the back seats have been removed to make room for a speaker system.

3. How do Jake and Frank feel about their sister Ariel?
(a) They are jealous of her musical ability.
(b) They resent her status as their mother's favorite child.
(c) They feel they can never live up to her level of academic success.
(d) They adore her.

4. When Frank leaves Emil and Lise's house and goes to Warren Redstone's lean-to, who does he see there?
(a) Gus.
(b) Nathan.
(c) Officer Doyle.
(d) Warren Redstone.

5. What war experience does Travis Klement have?
(a) He was an army cook in the Korean War.
(b) He was a prisoner of war in World War II.
(c) He was a prisoner of war in North Korea.
(d) He was an army surgeon in the Korean War.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Jake decide not to go to the fireworks stand with Frank, Gus, and Officer Doyle?

2. What reason does Frank give for thinking his father might be disappointed to find Frank and Jake reading comic books?

3. What circumstances led to Emil's blindness and facial scarring?

4. Whose vehicle do the boys see parked at the quarry when they arrive there?

5. With whom does Frank sit at the Cadbury church service when Jake stays home sick?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the purposes of the Drum family's visit to Emil and Lise Brandt's house?

2. How does Gus' monologue about killing a man relate to the novel's title?

3. What happens within the conversation Frank overhears between Nathan and Emil after Emil's return from the private hospital?

4. What is the outcome of Nathan's and Gus' search for Travis Klement, the man they know to have beaten his wife and son?

5. What lengths has Gus gone to in order to make sure Nathan does not know of the card games he runs in the basement of the church?

6. What causes Frank to abruptly run away from the Indian man and to drag Jake along with him?

7. What is the situation that results in Frank, Jake, and Nathan going to the jail in the middle of the night?

8. What messages is the reader meant to absorb from the conversation between Frank and Warren Redstone in the O'Keefes' basement?

9. How does the scene at the old rock quarry reveal themes of adolescent sexuality through Frank's character?

10. How does Officer Doyle's search of Warren Redstone's lean-to sway the reader's opinion of Warren Redstone's character?

(see the answer keys)

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