East of Eden, Chapter 18 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Horace Quinn ride out to the Trask ranch at the start of Chapter 18?

   • Correct answer: To investigate a rumor that Adam Trask has been shot
   • To serve a warrant on one of the carpenters Adam fired
   • To ask Adam Trask for money for his campaign
   • To collect back taxes owed on the Sanchez place

   Word has spread that Trask was shot, and Horace, newly made deputy, saddles up to find out what happened.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Adam claim caused his wound?

   • An intruder who broke in while the house slept
   • A hunting accident out in the hills
   • A fall from a horse near the barn
   • Correct answer: A gun that went off while he was cleaning it

   Adam repeats the cleaning-accident story throughout the interview and never abandons it, even when threatened with jail.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What detail finally destroys Adam's claim that he hardly knew how to handle a pistol?

   • Julius recognizes the gun as one Adam had bought new
   • Correct answer: Horace points out that Adam served in the United States Cavalry
   • The empty shell turns out to be the wrong caliber
   • Lee testifies that he watched the shooting happen

   Cavalry weapons were carbines and pistols, so a former cavalryman could not plausibly be ignorant of revolvers.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Adam answer when Horace asks what his wife's name was before they married?

   • He tells Horace to go and ask the Hamiltons
   • He gives a name that later proves to be false
   • Correct answer: He says he promised not to tell and will not say
   • He claims the shock has wiped it from his memory

   Asked her name, Adam answers, 'I won't tell. I promised.' Later he adds that she had a secret and that he promised he wouldn't ask her.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Horace swear Julius Euskadi in as a deputy?

   • To have a second witness for the written report
   • Correct answer: To leave someone at the ranch watching over Adam
   • To split the reward the county has posted
   • To stop Julius from carrying gossip into Salinas

   Horace has to go for the sheriff and needs Julius to make sure Adam neither leaves nor harms himself.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Who supplies the physical description of Cathy that Horace carries to Salinas?

   • Correct answer: Samuel Hamilton, who delivered the twins, and his wife
   • A carpenter who had worked on the old Sanchez house
   • Lee, who had looked after her during the pregnancy
   • Julius Euskadi, who had once seen her in King City

   Samuel delivered the twins and his wife cared for Cathy, so between them the Hamiltons knew her appearance in detail.

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7. 7

   Question 7. How does the sheriff work out where Cathy has gone?

   • He gets a telegram about her from the Sacramento police
   • He recognizes her from a photograph Adam had kept
   • Correct answer: He matches the description to a new girl at Faye's house
   • He traces a railroad ticket bought in King City

   Faye had sent word about a puzzling new girl, and the wide-set eyes, yellow hair, and forehead scar match the Hamiltons' description exactly.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Why do Horace and the sheriff decide to keep their discovery from Adam?

   • They are being paid to keep quiet by the owner of the house
   • They have no legal authority to question the woman
   • They are afraid Adam would go to Salinas and kill her
   • Correct answer: They want to spare the twin boys from ever finding out

   The sheriff limits the secret to three people and tells Horace to think about the little boys before he ever tells anyone, even his wife.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does Samuel Hamilton urge Adam to do in the closing scene?

   • Hire back the carpenters and finish the old house
   • Sell the ranch and take the twins back to Connecticut
   • Name the twin boys before they grow any older
   • Correct answer: Act out being alive until the acting becomes true

   Samuel tells Adam to go through the motions, promising that after a long while the performance will turn into the real thing.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 18?

    • Horace examines the pistol and smells the one spent shell.

      Happened

      Horace swings out the cylinder, pokes out the cartridges and smells the one empty shell.

    • Adam finally admits that his wife shot him.

      Didn't happen

      Adam never admits it; asked whether his wife shot him, he only repeats that it was an accident.

    • Julius Euskadi is deputized and left behind to guard Adam.

      Happened

      Horace swears Julius in, hands him the pistol and his star, and tells him to see that Adam does not get away or hurt himself.

    • Lee tells the deputy that he watched the shooting happen.

      Didn't happen

      Lee says he went to King City on Saturday and came back around midnight, so he was not there when it happened.

    • Adam breaks down and weeps while being questioned.

      Happened

      When Horace says he cannot even describe his wife, Adam says she had a secret he promised not to ask about and begins to cry hopelessly.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these happen during Horace's trip to Salinas?

    • He runs into Will Hamilton while eating breakfast.

      Happened

      Horace stops at the Chop House for breakfast and runs into young Will Hamilton in a salt-and-pepper business suit.

    • Will Hamilton suggests that Horace run for sheriff.

      Happened

      Will asks whether Horace ever thought of running for sheriff, since King City has no county officer, and tells him to keep it under his hat.

    • Horace arrests Cathy at the house where she is working.

      Didn't happen

      No one is arrested; the sheriff, who has already looked over the new girl at Faye's, keeps the secret among himself, Horace and her.

    • The sheriff takes a bottle of whiskey out of his desk.

      Happened

      Partway through Horace's story the sheriff takes a pint of whiskey from his rolltop desk and offers him a drink.

    • Horace sends a telegram with the news back to Adam.

      Didn't happen

      Horace sends no word to Adam; the sheriff tells him that only three people know, and to think of the little boys before telling anyone.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'sardonic' mean as used in: "The corners of his mouth were turned slightly up in a sardonic smile."

    • Nervous and faintly apologetic
    • Sleepy and only half attentive
    • Correct answer: Mocking in a grimly amused way
    • Openly friendly and welcoming

    Julius's expression shows scornful private amusement. Horace sees it and thinks that Julius is already ahead of him.

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13. 13

    Question 13. What does 'myopic' mean as used in: "they were shiny with sickness, intense and myopic"?

    • Correct answer: Nearsighted, unable to see far
    • Bloodshot from constant weeping
    • Unusually pale and washed out
    • Swollen almost completely shut

    Myopic means nearsighted, and the word makes Adam's stare feel both fixed and unable to see past its own small world.

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14. 14

    Question 14. What does 'fallow' mean as used in: "Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles."

    • Fenced off from livestock
    • Correct answer: Left unplanted and idle
    • Deeply flooded with water
    • Newly harvested and bare

    A fallow field is left unworked. Samuel's point is that neglect does not stop growth; it only decides what grows.

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