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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What problem does the fox have when the boy meets it?

2. What does the mole say is the biggest waste of time?

3. What does the mole say the older moles it knows wish they had focused on?

4. What are the mole and the boy doing when they talk about how strange it is that we can only see the outside but most things happen on the inside?

5. What does the mole say is a great freedom?

Short Essay Questions

1. What three reasons does the mole give for freeing the fox?

2. When the boy and the mole are gazing out over a landscape--hills and grassy fields--what question does the boy ask, and what does the mole answer?

3. When the boy asks the mole what his favorite saying is, what does the mole reply, and why is his reply funny?

4. What happens when the mole tries to give the boy cake?

5. What does the mole first say to the boy, and what does the boy reply?

6. The mole says that it has learned how to be in the present. How does the mole do this?

7. What two things does the mole say about taking care of our own feelings?

8. Describe the first illustration that is in color.

9. Describe what happens when the boy and the mole meet the fox?

10. What sad thing does the boy say that he feels, and how does the mole try to cheer him up?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does "home" mean to the boy, and what does it mean to you?

Essay Topic 2

Why is this story told in the order that it is told in? Why start with the meeting of the boy and the mole, continue with the fox, and finally have them meet the horse? Explain what each of these sections teaches the boy and why this order supports the overall meaning of the book.

Essay Topic 3

The boy, the fox, the mole, and the horse can each be understood to stand for a particular kind of person. Choose one of them and explain what type of "real world" person they stand for. Give evidence from the story to help your reader understand your ideas.

(see the answer keys)

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