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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. What does the narrator say to get Scut Farkas to challenge him at top spinning?
(a) "Our school has never produced a top champion."
(b) "Top spinning is the easiest thing in the world."
(c) "There's no good top men around here, anyway."
(d) "I can beat anybody, even the best top player here."

2. For the family's Michigan trip, what does the Old Man pack into the Sears luggage rack on the car roof?
(a) Heavy, bulky items including chairs, beach umbrellas, and golf clubs.
(b) Camping equipment, including the portable stove and folded tent.
(c) A canoe, including oars and life vests.
(d) Mother's things because she won't be needing them during the drive.

3. At what point does the narrator realize they are halfway to their Michigan destination?
(a) After they've been driving for six hours without stopping.
(b) When the contents of the car have shifted so much he can no longer move.
(c) After he almost faints from dehydration and heat exhaustion.
(d) When Randy throws up, because he does this every year at the halfway mark.

4. What is the Old Man's greatest nemesis?
(a) Bumpus hounds.
(b) Scut Farkas.
(c) The radiator in his house.
(d) His old Pontiac.

5. When the narrator starts spinning tops against Farkas, what does he use first?
(a) A dummy top.
(b) Schwartz's champion top.
(c) His best top.
(d) An old, chipped top.

Short Answer Questions

1. How long does the ham that Mother prepares have to sit in the oven to rest?

2. What does the narrator say is one of the most popular playground games at his school?

3. When Farkas starts walking away from the narrator after their first top spinning contest, what does the narrator do?

4. Does the narrator tell his friends about his training and his intentions to beat Scut Farkas?

5. On Saturday night, right before the family trip to Michigan, what does the Old Man say about their departure?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the Mariah and the Wolf?

2. Who does most of the work when it's time to prepare for the narrator's annual vacation?

3. Where does the narrator find a top worthy of a battle against Scut Farkas, the school's bully and master top spinner?

4. What happens after the narrator uses a dummy top and lets Farkas win the first round?

5. Which member of the narrator's family seems to be the most excited at the County Fair?

6. What happens when Randy, the Old Man, and the narrator ride the Whirligig Rocket Whip?

7. What is top spinning, and why are the boys of Warren G. Harding Elementary School so obsessed with this pastime?

8. What are some of the misadventures the family experiences on their drive to Michigan?

9. Explain how the narrator prepares for his spinning tops battle against Farkas.

10. At the end of the Shepherd family's County Fair excursion, what is the Old Man's assessment?

(see the answer keys)

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