Test: Clearing in the Sky (Pages 1-4)

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is the narrator accompanying up the path?

   a) His mother

   b) His son

   c) His father

   d) A doctor

2. What was the temperature described in the story?

   a) 16 below zero

   b) 70 degrees

   c) 97 in the shade

   d) Just above freezing

3. Why couldn't the narrator drive his car all the way?

   a) His car broke down

   b) There were slips in the road

   c) He ran out of gas

   d) His father told him to walk

4. How many different doctors had the father visited between January and April?

   a) One

   b) Five

   c) Eight

   d) Forty

5. What did a doctor advise the father NOT to do forty years prior?

   a) Eat yams

   b) Climb mountains

   c) Work hard

   d) The same thing a recent doctor told him (e.g., not to walk much)

6. How many children did the father raise?

   a) Two

   b) Three

   c) Five

   d) Eight

7. What plant did the father cut a piece of to show his son?

   a) Corn

   b) Tomato vine

   c) Alfalfa

   d) Wild grass

8. How long did the father say it took him to improve the farm acres?

   a) Ten years

   b) Twenty years

   c) Thirty years

   d) Forty years

9. What animals did the father remember hunting with his hounds, Rags and Scout?

   a) Deer

   b) Squirrels

   c) Rabbits

   d) Foxes

10. What did the pines on the mountaintop look like to the narrator?

    a) Giant spears

    b) Fingers fondling a cloud

    c) Old, gnarled trees

    d) Covered in vines

11. What animal crossed the path just ahead of the father?

    a) A rabbit

    b) A deer

    c) A fox squirrel

    d) A groundhog

12. What unique type of tree did the father once find in the woods?

    a) Maple tree

    b) Coffee tree

    c) Banana tree

    d) Redwood tree

13. Approximately how large was the clearing on the mountaintop?

    a) One acre

    b) Two acres

    c) Three-fourths of an acre

    d) Five acres

14. Why did the father say he fenced the mountaintop clearing?

    a) To keep deer out

    b) Against stray cattle

    c) To mark his property

    d) To keep his son out

15. What type of soil did the father pick up in the clearing?

    a) Sandy soil

    b) Clay

    c) Rocky soil

    d) Leaf-rot loam

16. Which vegetables were growing in the father's mountaintop patch?

    a) Corn, beans, pumpkins

    b) Potatoes, yams, tomatoes

    c) Lettuce, carrots, onions

    d) Alfalfa, clover, hay

17. What did the father claim about the flavor of vegetables grown in new ground?

    a) They tasted bitter

    b) They had no flavor

    c) They had a better flavor

    d) They tasted the same as others

18. How old is the father?

    a) Sixty

    b) Sixty-five

    c) Seventy (Three score and ten)

    d) Eighty

19. What did the father use to plough the mountaintop patch recently?

    a) Cattle

    b) A tractor

    c) A mule

    d) By hand

20. What did the father make for the narrator when he was six years old?

    a) A toy gun

    b) A small hoe

    c) A little wooden plough

    d) A fishing rod

21. Why did the father make several paths up the steep bluff?

    a) He got lost easily

    b) Different family members used different paths

    c) To confuse animals

    d) He made progressively steeper paths as his strength returned

Synonyms (Multiple Choice)

Choose the best synonym for the given word, based on its use in the text.

1. Protest

   a) Agree

   b) Object

   c) Ignore

2. Bragged

   a) Whispered

   b) Asked

   c) Boasted

3. Abruptly

   a) Slowly

   b) Suddenly

   c) Gently

4. Fondling

   a) Breaking

   b) Hitting

   c) Caressing

5. Sapling

   a) Old tree

   b) Young tree

   c) Vine

6. Braced

   a) Relaxed

   b) Weakened

   c) Supported

7. Aroused

   a) Ended

   b) Stimulated

   c) Answered

8. Curtly

   a) Politely

   b) Rudely/Briefly

   c) Lengthily

9. Fertile

   a) Barren

   b) Rich/Productive

   c) Rocky

10. Whiffed

    a) Ignored

    b) Exhaled

    c) Sniffed

11. Stalwart

    a) Weak

    b) Small

    c) Strong/Sturdy

12. Vast

    a) Narrow

    b) Tiny

    c) Huge/Expansive

13. Crawl

    a) Run

    b) Fly

    c) Move slowly on hands/knees

14. Stinging

    a) Soothing

    b) Closing

    c) Burning/Irritating

15. Valley

    a) Mountain

    b) Low area between hills

    c) Plateau

Short Answer Questions

Provide your answers in the text boxes below.

1. Why was the narrator initially reluctant to accompany his father?
2. What actions demonstrate the father's strong will and determination?
3. Describe the father's feelings about the alfalfa he grew.
4. What pleasant memories does the father associate with the woods?
5. Why did the father choose to climb the steepest path instead of the easier ones?
6. What was the narrator's reaction to seeing the cleared patch on the mountaintop?
7. According to the father, why is the soil on the mountaintop special?
8. How does the father justify ignoring doctors' advice over the years?
9. What does the father mean when he says he is living on 'borrowed time'?
10. What work did the father and mother do together on the mountain slope when they were young?
11. What memory does the narrator have about a lost toy on the mountain slope?
12. Why did the father feel a deep need to return to cultivate this 'new ground'?
13. Explain the purpose of the different paths leading up the second bluff.
14. Contrast the land on the mountaintop with the land in the valley farm.
15. What does the father's effort in creating the clearing symbolize about his character?