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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. With whom does the main character become infatuated?
(a) Mr. Mudge.
(b) Mrs. Jordan.
(c) Lady Bradeen.
(d) Captain Everard.

2. What dose Miss Staverton say Spencer Brydon would have done if he had returned years earlier?
(a) Made millions of dollars.
(b) Worked himself to death.
(c) Married her.
(d) Been miserable.

3. What does Eve Sedgwick suggest was John Marcher's real secret?
(a) His pathological fears.
(b) His bankruptcy.
(c) His homosexuality.
(d) His death.

4. Why does Dencombe feel this way?
(a) He has published so many novels, he has gone through this before.
(b) His previous books were not well received, and he does not expect this one to be either.
(c) He did not expect this money to come to him.
(d) This is his first book.

5. How much time passes between May Bartram moving to London and her falling ill?
(a) Six months.
(b) A few years.
(c) A year.
(d) Many years.

6. What does Dencombe find when he reads his new book?
(a) He cannot pay attention to it.
(b) He despairs.
(c) He is confused.
(d) He is impressed.

7. What does Spencer Brydon do with the second house he acquires?
(a) Installs his friends in it.
(b) Installs his mistress in it.
(c) Moves into it.
(d) Renovates it to rent it.

8. How does James characterize the main character's fiancee?
(a) Decent but dull.
(b) Dashing but daft.
(c) Diligent and devoted.
(d) Devious and disrespectable.

9. What does John Marcher realize about the event he was waiting for?
(a) It was never going to happen.
(b) He had been looking in all the wrong places.
(c) He was not worthy of it.
(d) He was mistaken about it from the start.

10. Why does James say John Marcher lives like this?
(a) To search for the most suitable partner.
(b) To remedy his guilt about inheriting his father's money.
(c) To avoid others detecting his secret.
(d) To give himself time to make his secret less destructive in his life.

11. How does the main character find out that Lady Bradeen's husband has discovered the affair with Captain Everard?
(a) By chance.
(b) By talking with Mrs. Jordan.
(c) By talking with Captain Everard.
(d) By talking with another telegraph operator.

12. Why does Lady Bradeen stop using the main character's telegraph office?
(a) She suspects the main character of having a crush on Captain Everard.
(b) She is sure the main character has stolen from her.
(c) She understands that the main character is watching her.
(d) She moves away.

13. How does James characterize the neighborhood where the telegraph office is located?
(a) Lower-class.
(b) Upscale.
(c) Bustling.
(d) Dingy.

14. How long ago did May Bartram and John Marcher meet?
(a) 4 years.
(b) 7 or 10 years.
(c) 1 year.
(d) A month.

15. In what month is 'The Middle Years' set?
(a) January.
(b) June.
(c) April.
(d) September.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Dencombe say about his best books?

2. What does the main character do to help Lady Bradeen?

3. How does James characterize Spencer Brydon's lifestyle all these years?

4. What does James say a damsel in a small village can write about, if she is someone on whom nothing is lost?

5. What does May Bartram tell John Marcher about his secret?

(see the answer keys)

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