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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the narrator, which element would not be found in a chemistry class?
(a) Money.
(b) Gold.
(c) The element of surprise.
(d) Silver.

2. According to the narrator, when is the best time for thinking?
(a) In the evening.
(b) After a nap.
(c) In the afternoon.
(d) In the morning.

3. During their first few days with the Squalors, whom do the Baudelaires scarcely see?
(a) Esme Squalor.
(b) Sunny.
(c) Mr. Poe.
(d) Jerome Squalor.

4. Each morning, who takes the children to places in town?
(a) Violet.
(b) Jerome.
(c) Mr. Poe.
(d) Esme.

5. What kind of dessert do the children have at Café Salmonella?
(a) Cake.
(b) Chocolate ice cream sundaes.
(c) Apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
(d) Salmon pie with a scoop of salmon ice cream.

Short Answer Questions

1. When the children first meet Mr. Squalor, what does he offer to get them?

2. According to Violet, which of their former guardians would have enjoyed eating salad?

3. What happened to the Quagmire children?

4. When the Baudelaires reach the bottom of the staircase after listening at every apartment door, who do they see?

5. What is Jerome's suggestion for putting the Baudelaires' mind at ease?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the narrator state the element of surprise won't be on the table of elements in a chemistry?

2. Why does the narrator compare the Baudelaire children's experience at the Squalor's house as a mixed bag?

3. Why does Esme act strangely when Klaus asks her if Gunther took the elevator down from the penthouse?

4. How does the atmosphere on Dark Avenue mirror the orphans' feelings in Chapter 1?

5. What is the importance of the Baudelaire orphans' friends being named Quagmire?

6. Why is the meaning of "nervous" and "anxious" important to the reader's understanding of the novel?

7. Why does Esme reject her husband's idea to give the In Auction money to a good cause?

8. What is significant about the doorman's comments that all problems have a solution, and the solution is sometimes under the nose?

9. What does the Squalor's apartment say about their lives and their character?

10. How does the author illustrate the differences between Esme and Jerome Squalor?

(see the answer keys)

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