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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. As Howard stands in the silt of the pond outlet in the woods in Chapter 3, the narrator describes the sticks and branches on the pond bed as feeling like what to him?
(a) Stones.
(b) Engine parts.
(c) Snakes.
(d) Bones.

2. Whose neighboring corn field does Howard pass through as he looks for his father in the woods in Chapter 3?
(a) The Petersons' corn field.
(b) The Williams' corn field.
(c) The Gaspars' corn field.
(d) The Andrews' corn field.

3. What is the first step in the excerpt called "How to Make a Bird's Nest" in Chapter 4?
(a) Take a wafer of tinker's tin.
(b) Punch holes near the base of the triangle.
(c) Take a piece of rotten cardboard.
(d) Take a piece of yarn.

4. What were Ed Titcomb and his friend doing when they came upon Howard in the woods in Chapter 3?
(a) Collecting arrowheads.
(b) Going to their mother's house.
(c) Hunting.
(d) Gathering firewood.

5. What are the men wearing as they wait outside to take Howard's father away in Chapter 3?
(a) Blue coats and hats.
(b) Black coats and hats.
(c) White coats and hats.
(d) Blue hospital uniforms.

6. The narrator says in the opening of Chapter 4, "During the days, George was aware of a large group of people murmuring and flowing in and out of the room as if on tides." What literary device is used in this sentence?
(a) Personification.
(b) Onomatopoeia.
(c) Literary allusion.
(d) Simile.

7. What is the name of the middle-aged teller that George gives his payment to after repairing the clock for Mr. Billings in Chapter 4?
(a) Wilma.
(b) Eddie.
(c) Irma.
(d) Diane.

8. What is Howard's father's profession?
(a) He is a reverend.
(b) He is a policeman.
(c) He is a doctor.
(d) He is a senator.

9. When Howard goes into the woods to look for his father in Chapter 3, what pond does he pass?
(a) Birch Pond.
(b) Merced Pond.
(c) Tagg Pond.
(d) Willow Pond.

10. What newspaper did George once read regularly at the kitchen table at lunchtime, according to the narrator in Chapter 4?
(a) The New York Times.
(b) The Montreal Herald.
(c) The Wall Street Journal.
(d) The Chicago Tribune.

11. Around what year does Howard say the local Indian died or disappeared during his childhood in Chapter 3?
(a) 1896.
(b) 1926.
(c) 1911.
(d) 1856.

12. What food does Megan prepare for Howard before she leaves to care for her mother over Christmas in Chapter 4?
(a) Tuna casserole and peach cobbler.
(b) Roasted lamb and new potatoes.
(c) Meatloaf and banana cream pie.
(d) Roasted turkey and apple pie.

13. What is the name of the wheat planter in Roman times that is described in Chapter 3?
(a) Julius.
(b) Andrus.
(c) Lucian.
(d) Brutus.

14. What magazine does Nikki Bocheki read while she sits with George in Chapter 4?
(a) People Magazine.
(b) Cosmopolitan.
(c) Better Homes and Gardens.
(d) International Luxury Properties.

15. Of his parents, Howard says in Chapter 3, "That he and my mother should wrestle him into his clothes in the dark seemed" what?
(a) Illogical and strange.
(b) Furtive and awful.
(c) Inhumane.
(d) Amusing and playful.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Howard's mother helps his father dress before he is taken away in Chapter 3, Howard describes it as appearing as though she is dressing what?

2. What does the narrator describe opening in 1953 in Chapter 4?

3. Where did the local Indian work for many summers cutting wood, according to the narrator in Chapter 3?

4. What book is Howard reading on the night he dies?

5. What word used by Howard in Chapter 3 means anxious or concerned?

(see the answer keys)

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