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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where has Ma seen the "most water she ever saw in one place" (19)?
(a) In upstate New York after the snow melted.
(b) In California in giant public swimming pools, where she swam in the summer.
(c) In Brooklyn when men opened a johnny pump and water rushed forth.
(d) In Brooklyn after it rained and puddles gathered on the sides of the street.

2. What do the brothers find in the crawlspace at the end of Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?
(a) A box of old photos of Ma and Paps.
(b) An old yellow phone.
(c) Their old clothes and toys.
(d) A gun.

3. At the start of Chapter 6, US PROPER, what do the three brothers create by stacking up on one another's shoulders?
(a) "[A] woman" (24).
(b) "[A] ladder" (24).
(c) The "Three Musketeers" (24).
(d) "[B]urglars" (25).

4. What are Ma and Paps doing in the bathroom while the brothers bathe in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME??
(a) Ma and Paps are both washing the boys.
(b) Arguing about money.
(c) Flirting and playing with each other.
(d) Ma is doing her make-up, and Paps is fixing the plumbing.

5. At the start of the novel, how many boys, also brothers, are introduced?
(a) 3.
(b) 4.
(c) 2.
(d) 6.

6. At the start of Chapter 9, TALK TO ME, what does Ma cut her fingertip on?
(a) The edge of a soup can.
(b) A metal toy.
(c) A broken beer bottle.
(d) A piece of glass.

7. When Paps and the brothers return home from Paps' job in Chapter 11, NIGHT WATCH, what are they shouting?
(a) "No More Crying! No More Crying!" (59).
(b) "He crying?" (58).
(c) "Stop, stop" (59).
(d) "Thump, thump, thump" (58).

8. Why do the brothers run their fingers around the empty bowls in Chapter 9, TALK TO ME?
(a) Because they are curious what the food tastes like.
(b) Because they are so hungry and want all the food there is left.
(c) Because there is excess frosting left in the bowls.
(d) Because they are angry all the food is gone.

9. What tool do the boys use to smash the tomatoes?
(a) A big rock.
(b) A stick.
(c) A mallet.
(d) A hammer.

10. What does Paps say to the narrator as he dries him off in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?
(a) "You grew" (46).
(b) "I thought you disappeared" (49).
(c) "Get my boots from the closet" (49).
(d) Paps jokes "about needing to make some more boys to take our [the brothers'] places" (46).

11. In the opening of Chapter 2, NEVER-NEVER TIME, why are the brothers wearing raincoats?
(a) Because they are smashing tomatoes in the kitchen and the guts will ruin their clothes.
(b) Because they spray water on each other as a game.
(c) Because there are leaks all over the house, and they may get wet.
(d) Because Ma will not let them take the raincoats off.

12. When the boys' father, Paps, comes home, how does he punish his sons?
(a) Paps makes the sons mow the lawn.
(b) Paps spanks his sons.
(c) Paps yells at his sons for hours.
(d) Paps does not speak to his sons.

13. At the start of the narrative, what age does the narrator turn?
(a) 14.
(b) The narrator does not have a birthday.
(c) 7.
(d) 8.

14. What does the word "rappel" most likely mean on Page 25?
(a) "Ascend."
(b) "Rise."
(c) "Descend."
(d) "Assimilate."

15. In the crawlspace, the narrator asks Joel, "It's just going to be like this forever?" (43). What is the narrator referring to?
(a) The family being poor and not able to support themselves.
(b) Paps' abusive ways and how they will get out of the situation.
(c) The brothers always being spanked after school.
(d) Ma and Paps' relationship and it affects their situation and futures.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the weather like when the narrator's family goes to the lake?

2. What metaphor does the narrator use at the end of Page 27 about the pregnant woman's response to the brothers?

3. Why is Ma worried about the brothers' bath in Chapter 10, YOU BETTER COME?

4. What do the brothers do with the baby robins that they find in the woods?

5. On the last page of Chapter 11, NIGHT WATCH, what is Paps sad/worried about?

(see the answer keys)

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