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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What reaction do the peasants have when they hear rumors about the sale of the land?
(a) They celebrate, because they do not like the landowner.
(b) They beg the woman not to sell her land.
(c) They decide that they need to buy it themselves.
(d) They go to court to try to add the land to the commune.

2. When the younger sister is "piqued," what is she feeling?
(a) Tired.
(b) Curious.
(c) Angry.
(d) Cautious.

3. Why does Pahom end up taking his neighbors to court?
(a) They steal his crops.
(b) Their animals trespass on his land.
(c) They disagree about the boundary of his land.
(d) The refuse to pay him the rent that they owe him.

4. Who is the first person that the local landowner offers to sell her land to?
(a) Pahom.
(b) The innkeeper.
(c) The leader of the commune.
(d) Simon.

5. Which character says that "Loss and gain are brothers twain"?
(a) Pahom's wife.
(b) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(c) The local landowner.
(d) Pahom.

6. What is a steward?
(a) Someone who rents the land that they farm or graze animals on.
(b) An innkeeper.
(c) A shop owner.
(d) Someone who takes care of someone else's property.

7. What is Pahom's reaction to the trouble with the steward?
(a) He insists that the family move to a new settlement.
(b) He takes his anger out on his family.
(c) He refuses to have any more dealings with the man.
(d) He takes the steward to court.

8. Which character thinks "I'll give you land enough; and by means of that land I will get you into my power"?
(a) The devil.
(b) The local landowner.
(c) Pahom's brother-in-law.
(d) Simon.

9. How does Pahom's wife defend their life to her sister?
(a) She says that living in the countryside is more moral.
(b) She says that their life is quiet and ordinary.
(c) She says that someday Pahom will make them rich.
(d) She says that their life is steady and safe.

10. How do Pahom's neighbors retaliate when he takes them to court?
(a) They let their animals trespass on his land on purpose.
(b) They burn down his barn.
(c) They get him kicked out of the commune.
(d) They press charges against him in court.

11. The story opens with two sisters. What does the older sister's husband do for a living?
(a) He is an innkeeper.
(b) He is a tradesman.
(c) He is a commune leader.
(d) He is a farmer.

12. What bothers Pahom the most about the stripping of bark from his trees?
(a) He hates the idea of trees being wasted in this way.
(b) Whoever did it cut down a whole clump of trees.
(c) He hates the idea of a stranger being on his land.
(d) Whoever did it also let his cows out of their pen.

13. Who calls Pahom's land a "narrow hole"?
(a) Pahom's sister-in-law.
(b) The stranger who stays overnight at Pahom's house.
(c) Pahom.
(d) Pahom's wife.

14. In which situation might someone "grease your palm"?
(a) If you were trying to do something you had never done before.
(b) If you were asking to have them predict your future.
(c) If you were getting ready to do manual labor.
(d) If you were judging a contest they were in.

15. How far does Pahom walk in order to get to the new settlement?
(a) 300 miles.
(b) 30 miles.
(c) 3 miles.
(d) 130 miles.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which character thinks that "Busy as we are from childhood tilling Mother Earth, we peasants have no time to let any nonsense settle in our heads"?

2. How many acres does Pahom buy in his first land purchase?

3. What does Pahom do when the court rules against him?

4. What does the expression "racked his brains" mean?

5. What does Pahom's wife say may happen to a man in town?

(see the answer keys)

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