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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What happened when someone went out to work in the garden after lunch?
(a) They were escaping and never returned.
(b) They stayed later and worked most of the afternoon.
(c) They fell asleep in the shade of the garden.
(d) Their productivity was very high.

2. Who could "smell a frost coming?"
(a) Scott.
(b) Floyd Hurd.
(c) Jack Lightfoot.
(d) Helen.

3. How was each work day divided up?
(a) 8 hours days with a lunch and two breaks.
(b) 4 hours of work and 4 hours of discussion.
(c) 4 morning hours and 4 afternnoon hours.
(d) 4 hours of inside work and 4 hours of outside work.

4. What did the Nearings eat from?
(a) China.
(b) Plates.
(c) Plastic plates.
(d) Wooden bowls.

5. What did the Nearings do with the spring they found in the back of the cellar-hole?
(a) They concreted the sides and ran a pipe up to the kitchen sink.
(b) They ran the water to the garden.
(c) They plugged it up.
(d) They ran the water to the outhouse.

6. How old, according to the Nearings, were they when they decided to move to Vermont?
(a) 68 and 69.
(b) In their 20s.
(c) Approaching fifty.
(d) 70.

7. Who attended the party when the mail route was restored in Vermont?
(a) The Representative who represented their valley.
(b) The Postmaster General of the state.
(c) The Attorney General of the state.
(d) The Governor of the State of Vermont.

8. What did Harold Field feel about working with the Nearings to make sugar?
(a) He liked the work, but hated their food.
(b) He worked with them for 15 years.
(c) He thrived in the environment.
(d) The work schedule was too rigid.

9. How did the Nearings ask workers how much they wanted for a job on the farm?
(a) "Mastercard or Visa?"
(b) "Will you take a credit card?"
(c) "How much will you expect for that job?"
(d) "Can we give you a check?"

10. What was inserted into the compost pile to help break down matter?
(a) Bees.
(b) Snakes.
(c) Ants.
(d) Earth worms and worm capsules.

11. How did the Nearings make applesauce?
(a) The "open kettle" way.
(b) They chopped up the apples and stored them through the winter until it was applesauce time.
(c) They strained the apples through cheesecloth and canned them.
(d) They froze them in the freezer.

12. Who taught the Nearings to make maple syrup?
(a) Walter Twing.
(b) Zoe and Floyd Hurd.
(c) Nobody. They researched it and learned from books.
(d) Harold Field.

13. Whose ideas of design did the Nearings follow when building their stone homes?
(a) Frank Ghery.
(b) Frank Lloyd Wright.
(c) Louis Sullivan.
(d) Robert Louis Stevenson.

14. What was 7 miles from the farm in Vermont?
(a) The Jamaica Post Office.
(b) The grocery store.
(c) The ski resorts.
(d) The movie theater.

15. What did the boys serving in the war do to help the valley when the mail was canceled?
(a) Write their representatives.
(b) Stop writing letters.
(c) Call their representatives.
(d) Write lots of letters home.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the Nearings use to cook in?

2. How much heat does an old-fashioned fireplace allow to go up the chimney?

3. When the Nearings talked about being vegetarians, which neighbors changed their habits and also became vegetarians?

4. How was the Sunday morning musical events divided?

5. What, according to the Nearings, is important about keeping an axe?

(see the answer keys)

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