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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 planted the roses outside Miss Strangeworth's house?
(a) Her grandmother.
(b) Her great-grandmother.
(c) Her mother.
(d) Miss Strangeworth.

2. Linda suggests that since no one in town seems to care about her and Dave, they should not bother to help anyone else. When Dave decides to help anyway, what does it demonstrate?
(a) That Linda is really the problem in their relationship, not Dave.
(b) That a good person chooses to be kind and helpful even in difficult times.
(c) That Miss Strangeworth would not be so isolated if she were a kinder person.
(d) That even the town's teenagers are more mature than Miss Strangeworth.

3. What has Miss Strangeworth written to Mr. Lewis in one of her letters?
(a) That his wife is cheating on him.
(b) That his nephew is plotting to kill him.
(c) That his grandson is stealing from him.
(d) That his girlfriend probably killed her first husband.

4. Why does Miss Strangeworth refer to the Cranes' baby as "her highness" (421)?
(a) Helen Crane has referred to her as a "princess."
(b) She is trying to make Helen feel better about the baby's problems.
(c) She is making fun of the possibility that the baby has some kind of developmental problem.
(d) The Cranes are from an even older and more important family than Miss Strangeworth's.

5. According to the narrator, how do the townspeople feel about Miss Strangeworth and her house and her roses?
(a) Amused.
(b) Irritated.
(c) Jealous.
(d) Proud.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Miss Strangeworth seem to think her family's place in the world is?

2. What does Miss Strangeworth tell Helen Crane about her worries?

3. When Miss Strangeworth thinks to herself "People must live graciously, after all," (425), what does this show about her as a person?

4. When Linda says "Catch old lady Strangeworth sending anybody a check," (427), what is she implying?

5. What is Dave Harris's reason for hand-delivering one of Miss Strangeworth's letters?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the setting of the story "The Possibility of Evil."

2. What does the green letter at the end of the story say, and what does it imply?

3. What is ironic about Miss Strangeworth's criticisms of Helen and Don Crane's parenting?

4. What is ironic about Dave Harris being the one to find and deliver Miss Strangeworth's dropped letter?

5. Explain how Miss Strangeworth's need to do things perfectly is shown in how she writes her letters.

6. Who is Linda Stewart, and why has she been so upset?

7. Describe the main character of "The Possibility of Evil."

8. Describe Miss Strangeworth's relationship with Tommy Lewis.

9. What does Miss Strangeworth write to Mrs. Foster about her upcoming surgery, and what is she implying?

10. What evidence is there in the story that Miss Strangeworth is well-known and respected in the town?

(see the answer keys)

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