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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What word best describes the narrator's tone toward modern parenting practices?
(a) Enthusiastic.
(b) Confused.
(c) Skeptical.
(d) Concerned.

2. What interrupts Edith's thoughts about John as the party is winding down?
(a) The doorbell rings and another father enters the room.
(b) Mrs. Markey suggests that Edith might want to call John.
(c) Billy opens a present and Ede asks her mother what it is.
(d) Ede pushes Billy down and Billy cries out.

3. What is the meaning of "amity" as it is used on page 5?
(a) Diplomacy.
(b) Rivalry.
(c) Friendship.
(d) Compromise.

4. How do the Androses know the Markeys?
(a) They are in the same bridge club.
(b) Joe and John work at the same firm.
(c) Joe and John went to college together.
(d) They are next-door neighbors.

5. Edith thinks that Mrs. Markey is "snippy" (5). What does she think is true about Mrs. Markey?
(a) Her lack of attention to detail causes problems for others.
(b) Her friendship is fake and she often criticizes people behind their backs.
(c) She wants to know everything about everyone just so that she can gossip.
(d) She has a stuck-up and short-tempered way of speaking.

6. Besides "rude," what does Edith call Mrs. Markey on page 10?
(a) "Snippy."
(b) "Common."
(c) "Fat."
(d) "Fool."

7. John enjoys hearing Ede's "non sequiturs" (3). What does this describe in his daughter's speech?
(a) Ideas that have no logical connection.
(b) Ideas that are more fantasy than reality.
(c) Ideas that flow continuously without waiting for a response.
(d) Ideas that are more emotional than rational.

8. What does the narrator mean by "even his feeling about his little girl was qualified" (3)?
(a) John understands that fatherhood, like most things, is imperfect.
(b) John is aware that his daughter is spoiled, but he loves her anyway.
(c) John takes pride in making sure that his daughter has everything she needs.
(d) John's earlier battles with illness and poverty make him especially grateful for his child.

9. What amuses John about the idea of the baby party?
(a) The idea of the mothers all making critical remarks about one another's children.
(b) The idea that anyone would want to go to a party for babies.
(c) The idea of the babies causing chaos in someone else's house.
(d) The idea that babies would even understand the idea of a party.

10. When Ede and Billy argue over the teddy bear, what is Joe Markey's initial response?
(a) He scolds Ede and embarrasses Edith.
(b) He laughs and tells Edith not to worry.
(c) He teases his son for letting a girl get the better of him.
(d) He tells his wife that it is her job to handle the children.

11. What does Ede do when Billy tries to get his toy back from her?
(a) Pushes Billy down deliberately.
(b) Hits Billy in the face.
(c) Cries for her mother.
(d) Hides under the dining room table with the toy.

12. When Edith tells Ede, on page 8, that she is a "bad girl," what does Ede do?
(a) Cries.
(b) Shrugs.
(c) Laughs.
(d) Hides.

13. How old is John Andros?
(a) 38.
(b) 42.
(c) 32.
(d) 48.

14. What causes the two men to stop fighting?
(a) They grow too tired to keep fighting.
(b) They realize that neither one of them can actually win.
(c) They realize they have no reason to fight.
(d) They realize that someone is coming down the sidewalk.

15. What does Edith feel when she joins Ede in her misbehavior?
(a) Relief and freedom.
(b) Solidarity and defiance.
(c) Anxiety and exhilaration.
(d) Shame and embarrassment.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long is the fight between John and Joe?

2. What surprising thing does Joe say to John after the fight?

3. Why are all of the children at the party so carefully dressed?

4. To John Andros, what does Ede represent?

5. At the end of the story, what does John tell Edith he expects her to do?

(see the answer keys)

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