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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What is true of the tree with Deacon Peabody's name on it?
(a) The devil is burning it when Tom arrives.
(b) It has fallen to the ground.
(c) It is rotten inside.
(d) It stands apart from all of the other trees.

3. Tom's house is described as forlorn. What kind of house is it?
(a) Overdecorated.
(b) Tall and imposing.
(c) Falling apart.
(d) Sad and lonely.

4. When Tom opens the apron, what does he find inside?
(a) Gold coins.
(b) His wife's heart and liver.
(c) Valuable silver.
(d) A skull.

5. What is financial speculation?
(a) A group of expert opinions about the economy.
(b) A joking term for illegal gambling.
(c) Buying something with the hope that it will rapidly increase in value.
(d) Illegal investing by people with inside information.

6. What does the narrator compare Tom's clients to?
(a) Crops.
(b) Children.
(c) Sponges.
(d) Sheep.

7. 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.

8. What does Tom find in the mud of the swamp?
(a) A piece of gold.
(b) A human skull.
(c) A serpent.
(d) The remains of a sacrifice to the devil.

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

10. How does Tom treat his most needy clients?
(a) He takes advantage of their need to drive especially hard bargains with them.
(b) He breaks the rules of his bargain with the devil to help them.
(c) He mocks them and is openly rude.
(d) He pretends that he will help them, then refuses to do business with them.

11. Where is the pirate treasure buried?
(a) In an abandoned fort.
(b) Beneath a tall oak.
(c) On an island in the Charles Bay.
(d) Under a fallen hemlock.

12. What do Tom's neighbors do about the constant fighting in the Walker house?
(a) They ignore it.
(b) They stop in to try to find out what is wrong.
(c) They ask Tom about it privately.
(d) They call the police.

13. What is Tom's reaction to the idea of being a usurer?
(a) He is strongly opposed but finally agrees.
(b) He agrees but only because he misunderstands the devil's intentions.
(c) He is reluctant but understands that it is an important service to the community.
(d) He is enthusiastic and willing to do even more than the devil asks.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What causes Tom to start to worry about the deal he has made with the devil?

2. What does the narrator say that savin trees symbolize?

3. The narrator says that it is possible that Tom's wife was lost in a slough. Where would this mean she was lost?

4. What does the devil have all over his skin?

5. When the narrator refers to Tom's parsimony, what characteristic is being discussed?

(see the answer keys)

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