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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Tom's reaction to the disappearance and likely death of his wife?
(a) It makes him afraid.
(b) He is angry.
(c) He is in shock.
(d) It cheers him up.

2. In the version of the story that the narrator says is most likely to be true, what draws Tom's attention to the tree where his wife's apron hangs?
(a) Her name scratched into the bark of the tree.
(b) The sound of crows calling.
(c) The tree is encircled with snakes.
(d) An eerie red light.

3. Where does Tom open his business?
(a) Washington.
(b) New York.
(c) Salem.
(d) Boston.

4. On what land feature did the old Native stronghold stand?
(a) A peninsula.
(b) A plateau.
(c) An island.
(d) A hill.

5. What news does Tom's wife have for him when he returns from the swamp?
(a) Absalom Crowninshield has died.
(b) A great treasure has been mysteriously left on their step.
(c) Their horse has escaped and they need to replace it.
(d) The governor himself has been to visit them.

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

7. What is the weather like on Tom's last day?
(a) A storm is brewing.
(b) It is unseasonably hot.
(c) It snows in the middle of summer.
(d) It rains nonstop.

8. Whom does the narrator seem to blame for the situation of Tom's clients?
(a) Tom and the devil.
(b) The clients and Tom.
(c) The devil and the government.
(d) The government and the clients.

9. Why does Tom Walker originally go into the swamp?
(a) He is looking for his wife.
(b) He has heard a rumor about the pirate treasure.
(c) He is trying to take a shortcut home.
(d) He is lost.

10. What is the second thing that Tom does in an attempt to escape his bargain?
(a) He begins giving refunds to old clients.
(b) He starts carrying a Bible in his pocket.
(c) He sells his house and donates the money to charity.
(d) He asks a preacher to bless him.

11. Why does Tom decide that he will not agree to the devil's bargain?
(a) Because his wife convinces him to ask for more money.
(b) Because it will please his wife if he does it.
(c) Because he does not want to risk his soul.
(d) Because he believes that the devil will try to trick him.

12. According to the narrator, why does Tom not immediately agree to the devil's bargain?
(a) What the devil wants from Tom is a serious thing that Tom wants to think over.
(b) Tom is afraid that his wife will just take the money and hide it.
(c) Tom still does not believe that he is talking to the devil.
(d) The devil is not offering Tom enough money.

13. Why does the devil say that he has a right to cut wood on this land?
(a) He says that the entire earth belongs 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 owner sold it to him.

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

15. What does the countryman say he saw happen to Tom Walker?
(a) He burst into flames and then disappeared.
(b) He was carried into the swamp by a horse just as the forest went up in flames.
(c) He was pulled down the road by an unseen hand which then drowned him in the swamp.
(d) He was flying through the air and dropped into the ocean.

Short Answer Questions

1. By what name does Tom call the devil?

2. What is one unusual physical feature of the devil?

3. What does the narrator compare Tom's clients to?

4. What is the reason the narrator gives for Tom not fearing the devil?

5. What does the narrator say his third attempt to evade the devil shows about Tom?

(see the answer keys)

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