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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 is the River Tom Crick describes at great length to explain how the landscape of the novel's setting is formed?
(a) The Thames.
(b) The Cam.
(c) The Ouse.
(d) The Tyne.

2. Tom Crick mentions a similarity his father found between his home and the battlefields of World War I. What is that similarity?
(a) The mud felt the same and eels swam in the pools.
(b) The army served the same ale the Atkinsons brewed in Gildsey.
(c) The men were silent and preferred to keep to themselves.
(d) The pretty girls in the town were disdainful of him.

3. What does Ernest Atkinson convert his manor Kessling Hall into?
(a) An asylum for the mentally ill.
(b) A school for orphans.
(c) A museum in honor of Sarah Atkinson.
(d) A hospital for the wounded of World War I.

4. What does Freddie Parr do to Mary as revenge for setting him up to lose the competition because she knew he couldn't swim?
(a) He holds her under water until she nearly drowns.
(b) He rolls her in wet mud until she is totally covered by it.
(c) He slips a large eel into her knickers.
(d) He steals all her clothes and forces her to walk home naked.

5. What is the worst thing Tom Crick can imagine?
(a) Humans stop being curious.
(b) Nuclear weapons destroy the earth.
(c) Mary stops loving him.
(d) Humans forget their own history.

Short Answer Questions

1. The headmaster of the school where Tom Crick teaches history thinks Tom should retire from his job. Why?

2. What is the agreement between Helen and Ernest Atkinson in exchange for Ernest allowing Helen to marry Harry Crick?

3. What did Johannes Schmidt conclude about the difference between the European eel and the American eel?

4. What convinced Tom Crick that he should study and teach history?

5. Which one of the following is NOT one of the ghosts that is said to haunt the marches along the River Leem?

Short Essay Questions

1. In chapter 5, what does Tom notice about Freddie Parr's face, and what does he conclude from it?

2. In chapter 6, Tom Crick suggests that the Fens and history have what in common?

3. Chapter 9 details the rise of the Atkinson family through various activities and involvements. After Tom Atkinson marries Sarah Turnbull. Sarah becomes a pivotal character in the Atkinson story. How?

4. Chapter 36 is titled "About Nothing." What is the "nothing" that Tom refers to?

5. In chapter 11, Tom Crick describes the inquest into Freddie Parr's death. What does the judge determine is the official cause of death, and how does he arrive at his conclusion?

6. Chapter 51 is titled "About Phlegm." What is the significance of phlegm for the novel?

7. In chapter 31, Price tells Tom Crick about the student club he is part of. What club is that and what is its purpose?

8. In chapter 48, what is the difficulty the headmaster runs into when he tries to announce Tom Cricks' retirement to the students at the school?

9. At the end of chapter 45, Tom and Dick have a conversation about Mary and her baby. What is the one thing Dick confesses to Harry, and what are the two things Tom tells Dick?

10. Chapter 16 is titled "Longitude 0°." What is this a reference to?

(see the answer keys)

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