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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who also visits the boy's parents as he is there in Chapter 6?
(a) Sergeant Burke.
(b) The dead soldier's father.
(c) Crazy Joe.
(d) Tony.

2. According to Chapter 6, what was Tony's job before he disappeared?
(a) Train operator.
(b) Police inspector.
(c) Coal mine worker.
(d) Bus conductor.

3. Why does Sergeant Burke want the situation with Eddie's death cleared up?
(a) So that someone will be punished for it.
(b) So that the boy's mother is happy again.
(c) So that the children will not be poisoned by it.
(d) So that he can sleep at night.

4. What does the boy write down in the exercise book?
(a) An apology letter.
(b) The details of Eddie's death.
(c) The story of Brigid.
(d) An essay for school.

5. What does the boy say is significant because of the mother's change?
(a) She is no longer depressed.
(b) She can't hear the lies about Eddie any longer.
(c) Her mind won't linger on the secret of loving McIlhenny anymore.
(d) Her secret is now locked inside of her.

6. In what year does the boy enter university?
(a) 1969.
(b) 1965.
(c) 1961.
(d) 1971.

7. What happens two days before the boy visits his parents in Chapter 6?
(a) The story of Eddie's death becomes public.
(b) The town gets snowed in.
(c) His mother dies.
(d) A soldier is shot dead on their doorstep.

8. How long are Bernadette and Ena kept in the shed until the boy's father finds them?
(a) Eleven months.
(b) Three months.
(c) Eight months.
(d) A year and a half.

9. Where do the police help McIlhenny escape to after he was tipped off to the boy's grandfather in 1926?
(a) New York.
(b) Paris.
(c) Chicago.
(d) Boston.

10. At the very end of the book, what does the narrator think he hears as he is going down the stairs?
(a) A sigh.
(b) A bird.
(c) The clock tower.
(d) A siren.

11. Which one of these characters does not know the truth about Eddie's death in Chapter 5?
(a) The boy's father.
(b) The boy.
(c) The boy's grandfather.
(d) The boy's mother.

12. What happens to the boy's mother after she stops taking the medicine?
(a) She becomes suicidal.
(b) Her state of mind improves.
(c) She becomes healthier.
(d) She loses her memory.

13. Who teaches the boy about sex?
(a) Father Nugent.
(b) His mother.
(c) Brother Regan.
(d) His father.

14. Why does the boy not tell his mother everything he knows about Eddie's death?
(a) He thinks she is too sensitive to handle the truth.
(b) He doesn't think she deserves to know.
(c) He thinks that she already knows the truth but is hiding it.
(d) He is afraid of her reaction.

15. Where does the boy go to university?
(a) Dublin.
(b) Belfast.
(c) Shannon.
(d) Limerick.

Short Answer Questions

1. The boy's mother's depression causes her to do what?

2. What is his mother's response when the boy asks her what she wants for her birthday?

3. What reason does the boy's mother give for not taking her medicine?

4. What is wrong about the boy taking Irene to the cinema?

5. What passages of scripture does the boy find intriguing?

(see the answer keys)

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