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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does his mother's body change after what happens to her in 1968?
(a) She goes blind.
(b) She loses the ability to speak.
(c) She loses her hearing.
(d) She loses a limb.

2. At the very end of the book, what does the narrator think he hears as he is going down the stairs?
(a) A sigh.
(b) A bird.
(c) A siren.
(d) The clock tower.

3. To whom is the boy attracted in Chapter 4?
(a) Katie.
(b) Ann.
(c) Irene.
(d) Brigid.

4. What does the boy conclude about his mother during Chapter 5?
(a) She always knew McIlhenny was an informer.
(b) She always knew about Eddie's death.
(c) She was always insane.
(d) She didn't really like Tony.

5. Why is the boy punished in 1954 by the Dean?
(a) Not doing his homework.
(b) Cheating on the test.
(c) Skipping the retreat.
(d) Badmouthing the teacher.

6. Why will no one ever know what really happened to Eddie in the secret passageway of Grianan?
(a) Larry does not speak anymore.
(b) No one was there to witness what happened after he was sealed inside the passageway.
(c) Those who know were sworn to secrecy.
(d) The records of his death were burned.

7. Who does Larry meet on his way home from Grianan?
(a) Crazy Joe.
(b) Sergeant Burke.
(c) The boy's grandfather.
(d) The devil-woman.

8. Where does the boy go with Moran in Chapter 4?
(a) The circus.
(b) A football match.
(c) The distillery.
(d) The boy's house.

9. What passages of scripture does the boy find intriguing?
(a) The law of the Old Testament.
(b) The gospel parables.
(c) The prophecies of revelation.
(d) The ones about good and evil.

10. What does Crazy Joe reveal to the boy?
(a) He knows why Larry has stopped talking.
(b) He saw Eddie die.
(c) He saw McIlhenny get out of the Sergeant's car in July 1926.
(d) He knows who tipped off McIlhenny.

11. In what year does the boy enter university?
(a) 1965.
(b) 1969.
(c) 1961.
(d) 1971.

12. Why does the boy not tell his mother everything he knows about Eddie's death?
(a) He is afraid of her reaction.
(b) He thinks that she already knows the truth but is hiding it.
(c) He doesn't think she deserves to know.
(d) He thinks she is too sensitive to handle the truth.

13. After his mother tells him much of the story of Eddie's death at the end of Chapter 5, why is the boy still hurt?
(a) She does not tell him everything.
(b) He thinks his mother does not know the truth.
(c) He doesn't understand the full story.
(d) She lies.

14. What does the boy's mother do with the flower he gives her in Chapter 6?
(a) She eats it.
(b) She throws it away.
(c) She puts it in a vase in the window.
(d) She destroys it.

15. According to Chapter 6, what was Tony's job before he disappeared?
(a) Police inspector.
(b) Coal mine worker.
(c) Train operator.
(d) Bus conductor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Jimmy from Chapter 4?

2. Where do the police help McIlhenny escape to after he was tipped off to the boy's grandfather in 1926?

3. To what does Father Nugent compare murder?

4. What is wrong about the boy taking Irene to the cinema?

5. An army chaplain comes to the school to talk to the boys about what?

(see the answer keys)

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