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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Miss Coulson's believe about love?
(a) That it is overpowering.
(b) That it is a pretense.
(c) That it is humiliating.
(d) That it is inconvenient.

2. What are the "portières" that Miss Coulson is sitting near?
(a) Wall hangings.
(b) Curtains hung in the doorway.
(c) Hanging lamps.
(d) Window shutters.

3. What claim is the narrator making by calling humans "lineal scions of the pansy" (332)?
(a) Humans and flowers are related through evolution.
(b) Humans are the servants of nature.
(c) Plants and animals are just as valuable as humans.
(d) Pansies are more like humans than most people realize.

4. What does the narrator warn the reader to "never trust" (333)?
(a) May.
(b) Sparrows.
(c) Hyacinths.
(d) Warm breezes.

5. What is the name of the servant who usually gives Mr. Coulson his medication?
(a) Treadwell.
(b) Foster.
(c) Higgins.
(d) Marley.

6. How old is Mrs. Widdup?
(a) 30.
(b) 35.
(c) 49.
(d) 40.

7. Why does Mrs. Widdup go into Mr. Coulson's room in the afternoon on the second day of the story?
(a) She is concerned that he is all by himself.
(b) She needs to tell him that everyone else has left the house.
(c) She hears him ring for help.
(d) She wants him to finish what he was going to say on the day before.

8. What physical gesture of affection does Mr. Coulson make toward Mrs. Widdup?
(a) He strokes her hair.
(b) He holds her hand.
(c) He touches her arm.
(d) He kisses her.

9. How much ice does Miss Coulson order be delivered each day?
(a) 250 pounds.
(b) 2,000 pounds.
(c) 500 pounds.
(d) 1,000 pounds.

10. Whom does the narrator refer to as "the venerable and scarcely suspecting victim of May" (334)?
(a) Miss Coulson.
(b) Mr. Coulson.
(c) The iceman.
(d) Mrs. Widdup.

11. When Mr. Coulson complains about the cold, what is his servant's response?
(a) He laughs.
(b) He calls for Mrs. Widdup.
(c) He offers to investigate the problem.
(d) He shuts the windows.

12. When "May holds up a chiding finger," (332), what is May's intention?
(a) To indicate a pause.
(b) To scold.
(c) To indicate a direction.
(d) To indicate the "first" of something.

13. After the iceman tells Miss Coulson, "It'll be a pleasure to fix things up for you any way you please," the narrator comments "Alas for May" (334). What is implied by this comment?
(a) Miss Coulson has deliberately given the iceman the wrong impression about her intentions.
(b) Miss Coulson would not have to scheme against Mr. Coulson if it were not for the season.
(c) The iceman is mocking Miss Coulson for making such a strange request.
(d) The iceman is flirting a little bit with Miss Coulson.

14. Why is Mr. Coulson so clumsy on the afternoon after the ice is delivered?
(a) He is nervous about speaking to Mrs. Widdup.
(b) He is upset because of the cold.
(c) He is frustrated that he has not yet been able to confess his feelings to Mrs. Widdup.
(d) He is angry at Miss Coulson's meddling.

15. With which motif is Miss Coulson most identified?
(a) Flowers.
(b) May.
(c) Ice.
(d) Wealth.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is implied by the number of days for which Miss Coulson orders extra ice?

2. What is Mrs. Widdup's job?

3. Why does Mr. Coulson hesitate as he says, "In the spring...a y -- that is a man's -- fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love" (333)?

4. What is the implication of the passage "She blushed. Oh, yes, it can be done. Just hold your breath and compress the diaphragm" (333)?

5. What point is made through the juxtaposition of Mr. Coulson's and Mrs. Widdup's comments about springtime?

(see the answer keys)

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