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

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

3. What school is Ariel planning to attend after high school?
(a) NYU.
(b) Juilliard.
(c) Harvard.
(d) New Bremen Community College.

4. What song does Ruth Drum sing at Bobby's funeral?
(a) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
(b) Amazing Grace.
(c) Ordinary Grace.
(d) Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

5. Whose vehicle do the boys see parked at the quarry when they arrive there?
(a) Karl's car.
(b) Gus' motorcycle.
(c) Nathan's car.
(d) Morris Engdahl's car.

Short Answer Questions

1. What topic is at the center of the large argument between Ariel and Ruth on the day of Ruth's chorale performance?

2. Why is the new Bremen bank a source of fascination for Frank?

3. What is found in the pocket of Skipper's dead body?

4. What two queries does Frank make of Karl during the ride in the Triumph?

5. Why are Frank and Jake not technically allowed by their parents to swim at the old quarry?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Frank and Jake come upon the Indian man and the apparently lifeless man referred to as Skipper, the Indian man says, "Know what I like about railroad tracks? They're always there but they're always moving" (32). When Jake replies, "Just like a river" (32), why is Frank shocked at Jake's reply?

2. Why is Frank so surprised when Officer Doyle asks him his opinion about this year's Minnesota Twins team and asks about his own experiences with baseball?

3. How does Frank convince his dad to give him the tire iron for the boys' walk home from the jail and what do they subsequently do with it?

4. How does Axel's request of Jake at the hospital reveal differences between Frank and Jake?

5. How is the character of Julia Brandt a foil to the character of Ruth Drum?

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

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

8. 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?

9. Why is it such a significant moment when Nathan tells his sons, Frank and Jake, about the first dead body he saw in the war?

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

(see the answer keys)

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