East of Eden, Chapter 37 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What first pulls Adam into studying refrigeration in this chapter?

   • A refrigeration book Lee assigns him
   • Correct answer: The large icebox Lee buys for the house
   • A warehouse tour with Will Hamilton
   • A request from the Chamber of Commerce

   Lee outfits the Salinas house with a large icebox. The box fascinates Adam; he buys a refrigeration textbook and begins packing little cups of food in it.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. What scientific curiosity keeps feeding Adam's one idea?

   • A Salinas well that never froze
   • A National Geographic photo of Alaska
   • Correct answer: A frozen mastodon dug from Siberian ice
   • A live mammoth displayed in New York

   Adam and Lee keep returning to a mastodon dug from Siberian ice whose meat was still good. That image, not a local marvel, locks him onto cold as preservation.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. What does Will Hamilton tell Adam to plant on the bottom land?

   • Correct answer: Beans that keep without ice
   • Cauliflower packed in waxed paper
   • Lettuce for the New York winter market
   • Oranges to match the biggest eastern demand

   Will argues that the war in Europe will leave people hungry and that, if America gets into it, fortunes will be made in imperishable foods. He tells Adam to plant the whole bottom land to beans rather than chase refrigeration.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. How many carloads of lettuce does Adam send east?

   • Twelve
   • Two
   • Four
   • Correct answer: Six

   Six cars leave Salinas under civic posters. The same six stand dripping at Sacramento, sit in Chicago, and arrive in New York as slop.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What first stops the lettuce train after it leaves Salinas?

   • A flood along the lower Salinas River
   • A strike in the Chicago freight yards
   • Correct answer: A snowslide that closes the Sierras
   • A broken ice machine in Sacramento

   As the train reaches Sacramento, a snowslide closes the Sierras for two days. The six cars sit on a siding while their ice drips away.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. After the crash, what does Lee say Adam still possesses?

   • Correct answer: About nine thousand dollars and the ranch
   • Only a two-thousand-dollar disposal bill
   • Forty or fifty thousand dollars in cash
   • The ice plant and nothing else

   Lee tells Adam he is not quite wiped out: about nine thousand dollars remain, plus the ranch. The garbage bill is already deducted and the new ice machinery is paid.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. Where do Aron and Abra sit over celery tonic after the street kiss?

   • The Abbot House Bar
   • Correct answer: Bell's candy store
   • Logan's music store
   • Reynaud's Bakery

   They go into Bell's candy store. Celery tonic is the rage that year; Abra pays Mr. Bell after Aron runs out.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. What does Adam do with the ice plant once the lettuce has rotted?

   • He signs the plant over to Will Hamilton
   • He sells it back to the original owners
   • He converts it into a bean warehouse
   • Correct answer: He keeps the plant, sure the idea works

   Lee suggests selling the plant, but Adam's face tightens and he says he still believes it will work. He keeps it because cold does preserve things and the plant makes some money.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in Chapter 37?

   • Lee buys a typewriter and learns to use it after unpacking his books.

     Happened

     Lee builds bookshelves, unpacks his books and, last of all, buys a typewriter and sets about learning to use it.

   • Will Hamilton invests his own money in the six lettuce cars.

     Didn't happen

     No one wanted to invest in the project, and Will had told Adam to let the idea die.

   • The Chamber of Commerce attends the departure of the iced lettuce.

     Happened

     The Chamber of Commerce attends as the six cars, decorated with big posters, leave Salinas.

   • Adam plants the whole bottom land to beans before the shipment leaves.

     Didn't happen

     Will urges beans and Lee says Adam might plant some beans too, but Adam puts his effort into the ice plant and the lettuce.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events actually occur after the lettuce fails?

    • Schoolmates start calling the twins Aron and Cal Lettuce.

      Happened

      The high-school group starts calling the boys Aron and Cal Lettuce, or simply Lettuce-head.

    • Aron asks Adam, in this chapter, to tell him the truth about his mother.

      Didn't happen

      Abra lets Aron out of his promise and urges him to ask, but he only says he does not know if he will.

    • Abra pays Mr. Bell for the celery tonics after Aron runs out.

      Happened

      Abra calmly pays Mr. Bell for the celery tonics, tells the giggling group to let Aron alone, and goes after him.

    • Cal succeeds in drawing Abra away from Aron.

      Didn't happen

      Cal tries to attract Abra to himself and fails; she and Aron do not want him with them.

    Read the passage
11. 11

    Question 11. What does remonstrated mean as used in: 'Adam remonstrated, "What are you getting upset about?"'

    • Asked for a written contract
    • Correct answer: Protested or objected
    • Changed the subject with a joke
    • Agreed without thinking

    To remonstrate is to protest or plead against something. Adam objects when Will turns angry and says he is going to stick his neck out.

    Read the passage
12. 12

    Question 12. What does consigned mean as used in: 'The lettuce was consigned to commission merchants in New York at a fine price.'

    • Returned unsold to Salinas
    • Insured against weather delays
    • Correct answer: Sent to agents to be sold
    • Hidden from the Chamber of Commerce

    To consign goods is to send them into someone else's keeping for sale. Adam ships the six cars to New York merchants before the delays wreck the load.

    Read the passage
13. 13

    Question 13. What does leaven mean as used in: 'Her breasts were rising with the leaven of her years'?

    • Correct answer: A transforming influence causing growth
    • A rumor spreading through the town
    • A sickness that leaves a person weak
    • A household debt that grows with interest

    Leaven is what raises dough; Steinbeck uses it for the slow change of adolescence. Abra is growing from prettiness into a sure, adult beauty.

    Read the passage