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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What novel is the first book the boy has ever read?
(a) The History of Ireland.
(b) The Bible.
(c) The Poor Old Woman.
(d) Paradise Lost.

2. Where are the boy's father's sisters sent to live after the death of their parents?
(a) Their mother's sister.
(b) Their grandfather.
(c) Their father's brother.
(d) Their brother.

3. On what day do the Francis and Frances' parents die?
(a) November 21.
(b) August 11.
(c) September 14.
(d) May 7.

4. From which part of the traditions of both Protestants and Catholics does the boy derive excitement?
(a) The bonfires.
(b) The gathering.
(c) The dancing.
(d) The singing.

5. Where did the shoot-out of 1922 occur?
(a) In the streets.
(b) In the church.
(c) In the distillery.
(d) In the market.

6. Why does the boy's mother lie to Katie about why the boy's father started drinking again?
(a) Because she didn't want to tell Katie that Eddie was executed.
(b) Because Katie knew nothing about Eddie's disappearance.
(c) Because she would have to reveal that Katie's husband was the informer.
(d) Because she didn't want Katie to know Eddie was the informer.

7. Who gives a gun to the boy's father?
(a) A family friend.
(b) A German sailor.
(c) A local policeman.
(d) His grandfather.

8. Chapter 3 opens with the narrator talking about the neighborhood having what kind of infestation problem?
(a) Roaches.
(b) Mice.
(c) Bees.
(d) Rats.

9. The famous shoot-out in 1922 was between which two groups of people?
(a) The IRA and the boy's family.
(b) The boy's uncles and the IRA.
(c) The police and the boy's family.
(d) The IRA and the police.

10. In Chapter 1, why doesn't the boy's mother want him to cross by the window at the top of the stairs?
(a) The window is broken and glass shards cover the floor.
(b) Someone outside will see him.
(c) She senses a ghost nearby.
(d) Rain is pouring in from the open window.

11. What causes the boy to have nightmares?
(a) Stories of the murder trial of 1922.
(b) His mother's unsuccessful suicide attempts caused by her depression.
(c) His treatment by the police.
(d) The death of his sister.

12. Who is hired to look after the two children, Francis and Frances?
(a) Una.
(b) Aunt Bernadette.
(c) Katie McIlhenny.
(d) Brigid McLaughlin.

13. In what year does the novel begin?
(a) 1945.
(b) 1936.
(c) 1921.
(d) 1948.

14. When the boy and his brother, Liam, are taken across the river by their father, what does his father's explanation about Eddie reveal to the boy?
(a) Liam knows more about Eddie's disappearance than does the boy.
(b) The boy knows more than his father knows.
(c) His father knows more about Eddie's disappearance than does anyone else.
(d) His father knows nothing of Eddie's disappearance.

15. Which two characters are introduced first at the beginning of the novel?
(a) The boy and Rory Hannaway.
(b) The boy and Una, his sister.
(c) The boy and his father.
(d) The boy and his mother.

Short Answer Questions

1. What information about the family secret does the boy know in Chapter 3 that his parents do not know?

2. How do the boy's father's parents die?

3. Why is the boys' mother upset when they return from their boat ride across the river?

4. Why does the boy ride home with Sergeant Burke in the police car?

5. To whom is Larry McLaughlin related?

(see the answer keys)

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