The Hidden Staircase, Chapter III. Interesting Information quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Who is at the front door when Nancy opens it at the start of the chapter?

   • A neighbor who heard the shouting earlier
   • Correct answer: Allie Horner, bringing Nancy a present
   • Nathan Gombet, back for the papers
   • Hannah Gruen, home early from her day off

   Nancy expects Gombet, but it is Allie Horner, who has come to give her a chicken and two dozen eggs.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Allie think of every time she sees the old mantel clock?

   • How her own farmhouse clock stopped long ago
   • How much she would like to own one like it
   • Correct answer: How much Nancy did for her and the others
   • How old and worn the Drews' furniture is

   Allie says the clock reminds her of how much Nancy did for all of them, and she wishes Nancy would accept a more suitable reward.

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3. 3

   Question 3. How did Allie find out what kind of man Gombet is?

   • He once ran into her new car on the River Road
   • He tried to buy her farm for a very low price
   • He worked for her as a hired man for one summer
   • Correct answer: He tried to cheat her while buying her eggs

   Gombet used to buy eggs and chickens from her, and once he tried to slip an extra dozen eggs into his crate when her back was turned.

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4. 4

   Question 4. What did Gombet claim after the railroad bridge went up?

   • Correct answer: That the railroad had built over its boundary line
   • That the bridge was too weak to hold up heavy trains
   • That the railroad had promised him a job on the line
   • That the bridge blocked the road leading to his house

   Allie says Gombet sold a strip of land on either side of the river and then claimed the railroad had built over its boundary line.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does no one believe Gombet's claim about his land?

   • Correct answer: Because the land was carefully surveyed beforehand
   • A judge already ruled against him in a court case
   • The railroad paid him twice for the very same strip
   • He has told the same story about many other farms

   Allie explains that the land was carefully surveyed, so the boundary was known before the bridge was built.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What rumor does Allie repeat about Gombet?

   • That he is hiding a fortune in gold under his floor
   • Correct answer: That he threatened to blow up the bridge if not paid
   • That he is planning to move far away from Cliffwood soon
   • That he once set fire to a neighbor's barn in anger

   Allie says it is only a rumor that he threatened to blow up the bridge if they did not pay his price, but she believes he said it.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Nancy wish as she walks home at the end of the chapter?

   • That she had stayed at the farm with Allie and Grace
   • That her father would give up his law work altogether
   • That the railroad would pay Gombet so he would stop
   • Correct answer: That Gombet could be put behind bars before he harms anyone

   Nancy decides Gombet is dangerous and wishes there were some way to put him behind prison bars before he harms anyone.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'beset' mean in: 'were undernourished and beset with financial worries'?

   • Bored by
   • Set free from
   • Correct answer: Troubled by many of
   • Proud of

   Before their inheritance, Allie and Grace were hungry and had many money problems pressing on them, so they were beset with worries.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'invigorating' mean in: 'Nancy found the air invigorating'?

   • Damp and chilly
   • Correct answer: Freshening and energizing
   • Smoky and hard to breathe
   • Heavy and sleepy

   A cool breeze is blowing along the river, and the fresh air gives Nancy energy, so it is invigorating.

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10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Chapter 3?

    • Allie Horner gives Nancy a chicken and two dozen eggs.

      Happened

    • Grace Horner drives Nancy all the way home in the new car.

      Didn't happen

    • Nancy watches a train cross the new railroad bridge.

      Happened

    • Nancy spots Gombet hiding under the railroad bridge.

      Didn't happen

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