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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why do Persis and Silas Lapham begin to feel glad their daughter is not engaged to Tom Corey?
(a) A richer man develops an interest in their daughter.
(b) Tom Corey has bad manners.
(c) The Coreys are rude and snobbish.
(d) So they won't be embarrassed due to their financial losses.

2. How do Anna and Bromfield Corey feel about Penelope's behavior toward Tom?
(a) They think Penelope is too aloof.
(b) They think Penelope behaves with great decorum.
(c) They think Penelope is too demonstrative.
(d) They think Penelope is too clinging.

3. What does Silas Lapham wear to the Corey dinner that no other man there wears?
(a) Gloves.
(b) A cravat.
(c) A hat.
(d) A wedding ring.

4. Which of the following statements does not describe Silas Lapham's interactions with Zerilla Dewey and her mother, Moll Millon, in Chapter Twenty Three?
(a) Zerilla and Moll take Silas and Persis out to lunch.
(b) Zerilla needs help dealing with her drunken husband.
(c) Lapham tells Zerilla's husband to find work.
(d) Moll Millon demands money from Lapham.

5. How do Bromfield and Anna Corey respond to the news about Tom's romance?
(a) They offer to pay for the wedding.
(b) They try to interest Tom in a more aristocratic bride.
(c) They don't like it but resign themselves to it.
(d) They threaten to disinherit Tom.

6. What novel do the guests at the Coreys' dinner party discuss?
(a) David Copperfield.
(b) Tom Sawyer.
(c) Tears, Idle Tears.
(d) Middlemarch.

7. What advice is given to Silas and Persis Lapham at the end of Chapter Eighteen to handle the situation with Tom Corey?
(a) To force Tom to marry Irene.
(b) To fire Tom from the paint business.
(c) To let Penelope have Tom so only Irene suffers.
(d) To take Penelope and Irene far away from Tom.

8. What has the competition found that allows them to undersell Silas Lapham?
(a) A shorter route to their markets.
(b) Cheaper labor.
(c) A cheaper way to manufacture their product.
(d) Free advertising.

9. What competition arises for Silas Lapham's paint business?
(a) A Canadian paint company.
(b) A new quick drying paint.
(c) A West Virginia paint company.
(d) An aluminum siding company.

10. What does Irene give Penelope after learning the truth about Tom Corey's feelings for her?
(a) A new dress to wear on a date with Tom.
(b) A photo of Tom.
(c) A book of love poems.
(d) All the souvenirs she has collected of Tom.

11. How does Anna Corey describe Penelope Lapham to Bromfield Corey?
(a) Pretty and sweet.
(b) Rude and disgusting.
(c) Sly and completely disagreeable.
(d) Very shy and timid.

12. Who does Irene mention frequently in her letters from Dubuque?
(a) Cousin Will.
(b) Her hatred of Penelope.
(c) Her fear about her father's health.
(d) The fashions in Iowa.

13. Why does Silas Lapham decide not to sell his new house?
(a) He decides to buy out the West Virginia company instead.
(b) He likes the house.
(c) He thinks Persis likes the house.
(d) It symbolizes his success.

14. With what keen sense does Nanny Corey read novels?
(a) A sense of their inaccuracy as representations of life.
(b) A sense of artistry and desire to write her own novel.
(c) A sense of moral indignation.
(d) A sense of adventure and romance.

15. On what street do the Coreys live?
(a) Beacon Street.
(b) Main Street.
(c) Kennedy Lane.
(d) Bellingham Place.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Milton Rogers comes to visit Silas Lapham at the office in Chapter Twenty One and says he thought the railroad would pay a fair price for the mills, what does Lapham accuse Rogers of doing?

2. In their determination not to be the first guests to arrive at the Coreys' dinner party, what do the Laphams end up being?

3. With whom does Silas Lapham suggest he and his wife discuss the matter of Tom Corey's relationship with their daughters?

4. To where does Persis Lapham take Irene at the beginning of Chapter Twenty?

5. Which of the following statements does not describe Penelope's opinion of the novel she and Tom Corey discuss?

(see the answer keys)

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