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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 else happens to make Peter think that Irene will not return home?
(a) The car is missing from the driveway.
(b) Irene's closets have been emptied.
(c) The house is missing a cross that was hanging on the wall.
(d) Irene has taken her Bible that is usually lying on her nightstand.

2. Why does Jeremy have blood on his shirt when he arrives at Lisa's farmhouse at the start of Part Three?
(a) Jeremy helped Ezra out of the car when he crashed.
(b) Jeremy received a severe burn while helping Ezra out of the car.
(c) Jeremy crawled into Ezra's car to get Ezra's belongings out of the car.
(d) Jeremy gave CPR to Ezra after his car accident.

3. Why is it unusual that Irene left Peter a Christmas Card on the table?
(a) Christmas was two months earlier.
(b) It is summer.
(c) Christmas was days ago.
(d) Irene does not normally give cards.

4. What purchase does Lisa ask her father, Peter, to make?
(a) Lisa wants Peter to buy a new lawn mower.
(b) Lisa wants Peter to take her to Omaha to buy new clothes.
(c) Lisa wants Peter to purchase her a new bicycle.
(d) Lisa wants Peter to take the family on vacation.

5. Where does Ezra's car end up during the accident?
(a) Crashed into a tree.
(b) Upside down in the other lane.
(c) Upside down in a ditch.
(d) Right side up in a ditch.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the narrator describe children in Part Two, Chapter 6?

2. What does Irene draw next to her signature in the Christmas card?

3. What excuse does Irene give to Peter about the reason she is losing weight?

4. Why is Irene surprised when she attends a church in Council Bluffs?

5. What hopeful, but unlikely, situation does the narrator portray in regards to Irene and Lisa at the start of Part Three?

Short Essay Questions

1. Irene places the tract given to her by pastor Michael Christopher in her pocket and then in the "anything drawer" at the house. Why does Irene's placement of the tract give it more meaning?

2. In Part Three, Chapter 1, what are the two versions of where Irene may be according to the narrator? How do the different stories leave out any definite information?

3. Why are Jeremy and Stephanie surprised to meet Lisa on her porch when they travel there in the middle of the night?

4. How is Peter Sample's life described at the start of Part Two, Chapter 1? Do not use the exact information provided, but make inferences that can be drawn. Write in your own words.

5. Why is Sarah Jane truly concerned about Ezra's car accident?

6. When Irene leaves Bible study early and tells Peter it is because the others did not like the question she is asking, what sort of questions is Irene most likely asking that are controversial?

7. How does Irene view Peter Sample's courtship? What brings her to marry Peter, even though internally she has reservations?

8. In what ways is Irene's new married life in Crescent different from when she lived in Tama? How does the move emotionally affect her?

9. How and why does Sarah Jane justify not providing Jeremy access to the phone at the farmhouse after Ezra's accident?

10. Using the quote, "...when she'd [Irene] gave no indication that anything unusual had happened or was about to happen or would continue happening without interruption in the days to follow" (127), what might the reader assume about Irene's disappearance?

(see the answer keys)

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