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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. Who catches the thief red-handed with the stolen silver chalice?
(a) A parishioner
(b) A priest
(c) A man-at-arms
(d) A deacon

2. Why do the townspeople find the whole situation of the hanging strange?
(a) They are not used to seeing a man hanged.
(b) They don't understand why the condemned man would steal something he couldn't resell.
(c) Hangings usually take place in private.
(d) They find it strange that no one is going to see the hanging.

3. How many men show up to work on the cathedral?
(a) 1000
(b) 25
(c) 100
(d) 500

4. Why are the boys terrified at the moment of the prisoner's death?
(a) The person the prisoner was staring at drops to the ground, uttering a curse.
(b) Their fathers come to take them home.
(c) The prisoner's dead eyes stare at them.
(d) Their mothers chase them with switches.

5. Where do Aliena and Richard intend to go after their escape?
(a) To the forest where no one can find them
(b) To Salisbury
(c) To Winchester to find out where their father is
(d) To Kingsbridge to seek Prior Philip's help

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the historical significance of the ship that flounders off Balfour?

2. How does Philip plan to speed up the work on the cathedral repairs?

3. What do the older women bring to the marketplace when they go to watch the hanging?

4. What does Aliena buy to start up her wool business?

5. What horrifies Philip when he first sees Kingsbridge?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Tom ask Ellen after she allows Tom and the children to stay in her cave, giving them food and shelter?

2. What is the vow that Aliena's father asks her to make when she and Richard visit him in prison?

3. What is the deal that Archdeacon Waleran makes with Philip after the death of Prior James, the Prior of Kingsbridge?

4. Why does Lord William Hamleigh fire Tom from the job of building him a house?

5. What is the reaction of the townspeople as the man is led to the gallows?

6. What is Tom Builder's greatest passion in life?

7. Describe the plan Philip devises to get more work done on the cathedral before the visit from Bishop Henry.

8. Describe the conversation the young men have about witnessing other hangings.

9. What is the fate of the White Ship and its passengers after it sets sail from England in 1120?

10. What events take place when William Hamleigh goes to the castle at Shiring to claim it as his own?

(see the answer keys)

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