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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Within 5 weeks, how hot would the compost pile get?
(a) 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
(b) 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
(c) 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
(d) 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. What purpose do the stones serve in the greenhouse?
(a) They act as radiators.
(b) They are cool in the summer.
(c) They are pretty to look at.
(d) They are solid and will not fall.

3. What was the size of the garage-workshop-storeroom in Maine?
(a) 5 feet wide and 9 feet long.
(b) 25 x 25.
(c) 25 feet wide and 50 feet long.
(d) 20 feet wide and 100 feet long.

4. What did the Nearings build in the corner of the walled-in vegetable garden?
(a) A rabbit hutch.
(b) A chicken coop.
(c) A barn.
(d) A greenhouse.

5. How did the Nearings get most of the clothes they wore?
(a) They bought them in thrift shops and rummage sales.
(b) They bought them on trips to New York.
(c) They made them from their sheep.
(d) They too hand-me-downs from neighbors.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the Nearings eat their bread?

2. What kind of roof was on the greenhouse?

3. How much did the stone garden wall cost?

4. What were "cold frames?"

5. How many blueberry plants did the Nearings plant their first spring in Maine?

Short Essay Questions

1. What were the Nearings thoughts on cold-weather planting?

2. How was the homestead in Maine to be different than the one in Vermont? What were the Nearings looking for when they began their search for a new home?

3. How did the Nearings feel as they began to age about life?

4. How was building the pond an exercise in patience?

5. Why did the Nearings decide to move from Vermont? What had happened to the community they had lived in for 20 years?

6. What changed in the attitudes of the community in Vermont during and after WWII?

7. Why did the Nearings believe homesteaders should record everything?

8. How did the Nearings can fruit?

9. To bring the point home to her husband about the increasing number of visitors, how did Helen handle visitors who came to the door just before the move to Maine?

10. Why, according to the Nearings, do most people want old buildings?

(see the answer keys)

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