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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. What does Tom Corey overhear Silas Lapham advising his pretty typist to do?
(a) Get a divorce.
(b) Try his family doctor for her insomnia.
(c) Move to a new part of town.
(d) Get a new job.

2. What does Persis Lapham do for a living before she marries Silas?
(a) She raises thoroughbred horses.
(b) She runs a restaurant.
(c) She teaches school.
(d) She owns a cattle ranch.

3. What does Tom Corey tell his father in Chapter Eleven that Mrs. Lapham has never done, a fact the Coreys find unusual given the Lapham wealth?
(a) She has never given a dinner.
(b) She has never bought a real diamond necklace.
(c) She has never attended the opera.
(d) She has never patronized a charity.

4. What does Tom Corey tell his mother the Laphams like to do more than read?
(a) Eat.
(b) Talk.
(c) Sail.
(d) Play tennis.

5. Which of the following statements does not appear in the description of Silas Lapham that Bartley Hubbard writes for his newspaper article?
(a) His nose is short and straight.
(b) He is of medium height.
(c) He has a square, bold chin and a short, reddish-gray beard.
(d) He is bald and walks with a cane.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Anna Corey's reaction when her husband Bromfield tells her their son has decided to join Silas Lapham's paint business?

2. While conversing with his mother in Chapter Eight, what does Tom Corey tell his mother about Penelope Lapham?

3. Why does Penelope Lapham think Tom Corey and Irene Lapham need to spend more time alone?

4. What business idea does Tom Corey propose to Silas Lapham that meets with Lapham's approval?

5. Where does Silas Lapham decide to build a new more fashionable home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What different opinions do Silas and Persis Lapham have in Chapter Seven for why Tom Corey visits them?

2. Describe Tom Corey's discussion with his mother in Chapter Eight about his entering Silas Lapham's paint business.

3. Why do the Coreys consider themselves "better" than the Laphams, and what virtues does Silas Lapham possess that the Coreys do not?

4. What happens in Chapter Ten when Milton Rogers asks Silas Lapham for a loan, and how does Persis Lapham feel about the situation?

5. What is Anna Corey's reaction to her son's decision to go into the mineral paint business?

6. What business proposals does Tom Corey suggest to Silas Lapham?

7. What information is revealed about Zerrilla Dewey in Chapter Eight and what does Walker the bookkeeper seem to imply about her relationship with Silas Lapham?

8. What kind of girl does Bromfield Corey think his son Tom should marry, and how do the Lapham girls compare to Bromfield's ideal daughter-in-law?

9. How does Silas Lapham feel about having Tom Corey work for him, and how does he feel about Tom's work?

10. How does Penelope react to Tom Corey's visits in Chapter Eleven, and what does her behavior indicate?

(see the answer keys)

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