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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why is Mrs. Tiflin crying at the end of the novel?
(a) She is tired of her life.
(b) She isn't.
(c) She is sad about her father's death.
(d) She wants Jody to stay a little boy forever.

2. What does Billy Buck say about how Nellie is handling her pregnancy?
(a) The she only thinks she is pregnant but really isn't.
(b) That she is comforted by Jody only.
(c) That she has "turned nice."
(d) That she has gone crazy.

3. When Jody wakes up crying in Chapter 3, what does his mother say to calm him down?
(a) To eat a cookie as a treat and then go back to bed.
(b) To remember that dreams aren't real.
(c) To be quiet so he doesn't anger Carl.
(d) To try to wake up and start over again.

4. What does Grandfather mean by the term "westering"?
(a) Learning to read the wind when it blows west.
(b) Getting a huge group of people across the country/out West.
(c) Holding on to your past when you should really let it go.
(d) Looking too much into the future without understanding how you got into the present.

5. What does Grandfather overhear in the Tiflin kitchen the morning after he arrives?
(a) Jody saying that he smells like an old man.
(b) Mrs. Tiflin talking about his failing memory.
(c) Carl complaining about his endless storytelling.
(d) Billy saying that he has lost his respect for him.

6. Whose ranch has Jody been told to take Nellie to?
(a) Jess Taylor's.
(b) Billy Buck's.
(c) No one's.
(d) A stranger's.

7. Why is Jody so worried about Nellie?
(a) He doesn't want her to die like his pony did.
(b) Carl will beat him if anything happens to the horse.
(c) He just worries about everything anyway.
(d) She is acting very strangely.

8. What items are in the mailbox when Jody returns home from school in Chapter 3?
(a) A dead squirrel.
(b) A birthday present from Jody's grandmother.
(c) A catalog and a newspaper.
(d) The flute Jody had ordered a few weeks earlier.

9. How does Carl react to finding Jody sneaking back into bed after checking on Nellie in the middle of the night?
(a) He laughs and stays up to talk with Jody.
(b) He is torn between pride and anger.
(c) He is furious.
(d) He beats Jody.

10. Who answers most of Jody's questions about the colt that is supposed to be coming?
(a) Jess Taylor.
(b) Billy Buck.
(c) Carl.
(d) Mrs. Tiflin.

11. What is the colt born in?
(a) The colt is never born, actually.
(b) A twisted mess of pus.
(c) The placenta.
(d) A strange tumor of some kind.

12. What role does Mrs. Tiflin play in the horse's birth?
(a) None; she is sleeping.
(b) She helps comfort Jody.
(c) She helps comfort Nellie.
(d) She helps comfort the newborn calf.

13. What does Jody imagine doing with his imaginary horse?
(a) Helping the sheriff.
(b) Winning rodeo contests.
(c) All of these answers are correct.
(d) Being asked by the president to catch a criminal.

14. What role does Carl play in the horse's birth?
(a) He is busy bossing everyone around.
(b) None; he isn't there.
(c) He comforts Jody.
(d) He is strangely quiet in the corner.

15. How much advanced notice do the Tiflins have of Grandfather's visit?
(a) Three days.
(b) One week.
(c) None; they find out the day he is supposed to arrive.
(d) One month.

Short Answer Questions

1. What reason does Mrs. Tiflin give about why it takes Grandfather so long to rise in the morning?

2. What does Jody have to eat at Jess Taylor's ranch in Chapter 3?

3. What interrupts Grandfather's storytelling the first night he is visiting the Tiflins?

4. Who picks up Jody and puts him on a horse for safety?

5. When Jody finally brings Grandfather his drink, where does he sit?

(see the answer keys)

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