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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is true of the tree with Deacon Peabody's name on it?
(a) The devil is burning it when Tom arrives.
(b) It has fallen to the ground.
(c) It stands apart from all of the other trees.
(d) It is rotten inside.

2. Why does the devil say that he has a right to cut wood on this land?
(a) He says that the entire earth belongs to him.
(b) He says that the owner sold it to him.
(c) He says that he owns the soul of its owner.
(d) He says that it belonged to him long before Europeans came to North America.

3. Why does Tom decide that he will not agree to the devil's bargain?
(a) Because he does not want to risk his soul.
(b) Because his wife convinces him to ask for more money.
(c) Because he believes that the devil will try to trick him.
(d) Because it will please his wife if he does it.

4. When the narrator refers to Tom's parsimony, what characteristic is being discussed?
(a) Cheapness.
(b) Evil.
(c) Trickery.
(d) Hypocrisy.

5. To what does the narrator compare the sound of Tom's carriage wheels?
(a) The clinking of coins.
(b) The creaking of the trees in the swamp.
(c) The laughter of the devil.
(d) The souls of his clients.

6. The swamp is full of quagmires. What does this mean it is full of?
(a) Dead, floating timber and brush.
(b) Thick stands of evergreen trees.
(c) Burrows and hollows where animals live.
(d) Soft, wet ground that gives way underfoot.

7. What does Tom find in the mud of the swamp?
(a) A piece of gold.
(b) A serpent.
(c) A human skull.
(d) The remains of a sacrifice to the devil.

8. What does the narrator say that savin trees symbolize?
(a) Sterility.
(b) Anger.
(c) Hypocrisy.
(d) Greed.

9. The narrator says that the timing for Tom's business is propitious. What kind of timing would this be?
(a) In advance of need.
(b) Favorable.
(c) Unlucky.
(d) Too late to make a difference.

10. What word does the narrator use twice to describe the situation of Tom's clients?
(a) Dubious.
(b) Fortunate.
(c) Desperate.
(d) Unexpected.

11. Tom Walker is described as meager and miserly. What kind of a person is he?
(a) He insists on living so cheaply that he does not have the ordinary comforts of life.
(b) He lives in poverty because he gives away most of what he earns.
(c) He lives in luxury through cheating and stealing.
(d) He hoards money so that he can life a lavish lifestyle.

12. Why does Tom Walker originally go into the swamp?
(a) He is looking for his wife.
(b) He is lost.
(c) He has heard a rumor about the pirate treasure.
(d) He is trying to take a shortcut home.

13. Why does Tom's wife go into the swamp, looking for the devil?
(a) She wants to strike the bargain with him herself.
(b) She does not believe Tom and wants to see for herself.
(c) She wants to argue for more money.
(d) She wants to tell the devil to stay away from her husband.

14. What does the narrator say is hard to believe about the conversation between Tom and the devil?
(a) It sounds too familiar.
(b) The devil sounds too much like an ordinary person.
(c) There is no such thing as the devil.
(d) Even Tom Walker would not be foolish enough to talk to the devil.

15. What part of the fort remains standing?
(a) A cellar.
(b) An alter to the devil.
(c) Some partial walls.
(d) Some mounded up earth.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the pirate treasure buried?

2. What does the devil have all over his skin?

3. To what does the narrator metaphorically compare the financial speculation of Governor Belcher's time?

4. Tom agrees to become a usurer. What job is he saying he will do?

5. How does Tom treat his most needy clients?

(see the answer keys)

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