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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. From where does the straw pile near the barn come?
(a) It's thrown from the hayloft.
(b) It's put there by farmers who don't want it.
(c) It's cut in the fields and brought there on wagons.
(d) The thrashing machine.

2. Where do Eldon and Wayne put their mittens to dry?
(a) On the clothesline.
(b) In the dryer.
(c) On the back of the stove.
(d) On a peg in the winter room.

3. Who turns the crank on the cream separator?
(a) Mama.
(b) Uncle David and Nels.
(c) Papa.
(d) Wayne and Eldon.

4. What does Eldon say the buildings and machines look like after the first snow?
(a) Animals.
(b) Nothing.
(c) Igloos.
(d) Houses.

5. How are the calves fed?
(a) The book doesn't say.
(b) Their mamas feed them.
(c) With a bucket.
(d) With a baby bottle.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Mother do in the evenings in the winter room?

2. What is used to cover the table outside during the gathering at thrashing time?

3. Why do Mother and Father let Eldon and Wayne jump into the straw pile for hours at a time?

4. Why does Mother say she likes Jersey cows better than Holsteins?

5. What does the snow on the elm limb look like?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who is Rex? What does he do around the farm? Why is he allowed to do that job?

2. What prompts the fight between Eldon and Wayne in the opening paragraphs of "Winter," and what do the boys decide about their argument?

3. What are the roles and the attitudes of Uncle David and Nels about the killing?

4. Describe the haying process.

5. Describe what happens to Cousin Betty's daughter and where she's found.

6. Describe the time when Wayne and Eldon carved their names into a tree. How did Eldon feel and what happened to the tree?

7. What do Eldon and Wayne do with the stack of straw near the barn and what do Mother and Father say about it?

8. Why does Uncle David believe everyone works so much harder in the summer than in the winter?

9. What does Eldon say in response to Wayne's idea that spring is an "awakening," and why does he have this attitude?

10. What does Eldon say about his dislike of fall?

(see the answer keys)

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