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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 1.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Chapter 1, where does the boy's mother ask him to take flowers?
(a) To his teacher.
(b) To his father.
(c) To a sick relative's house.
(d) To a grave.

2. What makes the boy feel distinctly uncomfortable in Chapter 1?
(a) The book he reads in the dark.
(b) His sympathy for the Protestant police.
(c) What he finds in his sister's wardrobe.
(d) His mother's depression.

3. From where does the title of the novel get its name?
(a) The sadness felt by the boy after being forced to read only at night.
(b) The confusion the boy feels by not understanding what he reads.
(c) The loneliness of reading alone and the boy's feeling of being alone.
(d) The boy's reading of his first book.

4. What happens to Billy Mahon?
(a) He is framed for murder.
(b) He is pushed off the bridge.
(c) He is robbed.
(d) He is shot.

5. What does Brother Regan teach the boys at the school in December of 1948?
(a) Only God should judge people and decide their fate.
(b) God's love extends even to those who commit evil deeds.
(c) Action should be taken to prevent further violence.
(d) Bad things happen because people make poor choices.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the hero of the novel the boy reads in the dark?

2. In Chapter 1, what causes the boy's mother to become inconsolable?

3. What key theme of the novel is introduced in Chapter 1?

4. What happens to the boy when the police come to search the house?

5. Where did the shoot-out of 1922 occur?

(see the answer key)

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