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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. How many pigeons are gathered for the pigeon shoot, according to Palmer's dad?
(a) Five hundred.
(b) Five thousand.
(c) One thousand.
(d) Eight hundred.

2. What does Palmer hear in his dream on the night of his birthday?
(a) "Your father must respect you to give you the soldiers."
(b) "You are finally nine years old."
(c) "You have run out of birthdays."
(d) "You are so cool."

3. What does Palmer get for Christmas from his parents?
(a) A new red bicycle.
(b) A new red skateboard.
(c) A new red coat.
(d) A new red sled.

4. In Palmer's dream, what does a pigeon's eye look like?
(a) A coat button, orange with a black ring around it.
(b) A coat button, blue with an orange center.
(c) A shirt button, black with an orange dot in the center.
(d) A shirt button, orange with a black dot in the center.

5. Where do the gang go after Beans has opened his presents?
(a) The playground to slide.
(b) Palmer's house to play basketball.
(c) The park to play soccer.
(d) Farquar's house for The Treatment.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are some of the things Palmer apologizes for?

2. What is the nickname the boys give Palmer at his party?

3. What does Palmer know he should wish but cannot?

4. Where do the boys go in the middle of the night?

5. Who does Palmer question about Nipper when the bird does not come home?

Short Essay Questions

1. What scene do Mutto, Beans and Henry enact at the park? How does Palmer react to their display? Why does he react this way?

2. When Palmer returns from Beans' birthday party he finds Dorothy waiting in his room. She sarcastically calls him Snots and talks about his gang. What does she say, and what does she really mean?

3. When Beans has his tenth birthday party, he invites the gang to his house and then leaves with them to find Farquar. Again, The Treatment is part of the story. How does Beans anticipate The Treatment and his birthday in general? How is Beans' reaction different from that of Palmer?

4. What does Beans pull out of the freezer when the gang is at his house? What does he do with it? The author does not tell us how Palmer feels about what Beans has done. Based on what you know of Palmer, how does he feel about the prank?

5. For his birthday, Palmer gets an old apple core, an old sock, and a cigar butt from his new friends. What makes these gifts special? How does Palmer react to his mother's gifts?

6. Palmer describes the wish he should make after Nipper has been seen in the sky by the gang. What is that wish? Why can't he make that wish?

7. Palmer comes home after the boys see a pigeon flying overhead and he cries. Why is he crying? What does he admit about his day?

8. In Chapter Seven, how does Dorothy treat Palmer when he comes to show her his arm? How does he react?

9. What are some of Palmer's memories of his first pigeon shoot? What does this tell us about Palmer?

10. Palmer finally becomes old enough to read the inscription on his father's trophy in the den. What did he pretend it said when he was younger? What does it really say? How does Palmer respond to learning what the words actually are?

(see the answer keys)

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