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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In the passage about Tom's activities in church, what aspect of his character is being stressed?
(a) Hypocrisy.
(b) Miserliness.
(c) Loneliness.
(d) Selfishness.

2. What tone does the narrator adopt when saying that Tom is a friend to his clients?
(a) Nostalgic.
(b) Sorrowful.
(c) Sarcastic.
(d) Condescending.

3. How does Tom seal his bargain with the devil?
(a) By signing a document.
(b) With a handshake.
(c) By cutting his thumb with the devil's knife.
(d) With a burnt offering.

4. Why does the devil say that he has a right to cut wood on this land?
(a) He says that the owner sold it to him.
(b) He says that he owns the soul of its owner.
(c) He says that it belonged to him long before Europeans came to North America.
(d) He says that the entire earth belongs to him.

5. What is true of the tree Tom is sitting on?
(a) It bears Tom's own name.
(b) The devil claims that it fell down on its own.
(c) The devil has lit it on fire.
(d) It bears the name of Absalom Crowninshield.

6. Why does the narrator say that Tom starts criticizing his neighbors?
(a) They begin asking him for money.
(b) His panic is making him more and more angry.
(c) They try to point out to him that he is selfish.
(d) Tom thinks that it makes him seem like a better person.

7. What does the narrator say that savin trees symbolize?
(a) Greed.
(b) Anger.
(c) Sterility.
(d) Hypocrisy.

8. What mark does the devil leave on Tom?
(a) A claw mark.
(b) A black fingerprint.
(c) A red mark in the shape of an axe.
(d) An upside-down cross.

9. When the narrator refers to Tom's parsimony, what characteristic is being discussed?
(a) Cheapness.
(b) Hypocrisy.
(c) Evil.
(d) Trickery.

10. What tool does the devil carry?
(a) A scythe.
(b) A blacksmith's hammer.
(c) An axe.
(d) A pitchfork.

11. What can a reader infer is one of the devil's conditions in the bargain he makes with Tom?
(a) Tom will not get the money until he makes a sacrifice to the devil.
(b) Tom will not tell anyone where he got the money.
(c) Tom will bring the devil other people to make bargains with.
(d) Tom will give his soul to the devil.

12. To what does the narrator metaphorically compare the financial speculation of Governor Belcher's time?
(a) A bubble.
(b) A doomed ship voyage.
(c) A plague of locusts.
(d) An illness.

13. What is true about the horses that draw Tom's carriage?
(a) They are more expensive than most people's houses.
(b) They were a gift from the devil.
(c) They are starving.
(d) They are stolen from a neighbor.

14. What does Tom's wife take with her when she goes into the swamp for the second time?
(a) A rifle.
(b) A Bible.
(c) All of their valuables.
(d) Their horse.

15. The narrator says that the timing for Tom's business is propitious. What kind of timing would this be?
(a) Unlucky.
(b) In advance of need.
(c) Favorable.
(d) Too late to make a difference.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who wrote "The Devil and Tom Walker"?

2. What does Tom see near the apron, keeping watch over it?

3. What significant event happened in Massachusetts in 1727?

4. What is the second thing that Tom does in an attempt to escape his bargain?

5. What does the narrator say makes it difficult to know what actually happened to Tom's wife?

(see the answer keys)

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