The Hidden Staircase, Chapter XII. The Theft quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. How did the Turnbull sisters come to own the silver urn?

   • Correct answer: It came down to them when their grandmother died
   • They bought it from a jeweler in Cliffwood years ago
   • It was a gift from an old friend in River Heights
   • Their father won it as a prize at a county fair

   Floretta says they have had it ever since their grandmother died, handed down from one generation to another.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. What do Nancy and Rosemary do with the heavy library bookcase?

   • Empty every book onto the floor to search it
   • Nail it to the wall so no one can climb it again
   • Push it in front of the library door for the night
   • Correct answer: Move it to see whether anything is behind it

   With Rosemary's help, Nancy moves the heavy bookcase, but there is nothing behind it.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. What does Nancy find when she checks the bookcase and chairs for fingerprints?

   • The prints of a large man's hand on the shelf
   • Correct answer: Not a single print or clue of any kind
   • Traces of dust and mud on the chair seat
   • A smudged thumbprint on the ladder-back chair

   Her search is not rewarded; there is not a single clue to the identity of the thief.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. Why do the sisters say they will leave when Nancy leaves?

   • They want to visit Abigail Rowen for a week
   • Nancy has asked them to come home with her
   • Correct answer: They will not stay in the house another night alone
   • They have already sold The Mansion to a buyer

   Rosemary says they have decided not to stay in the house another night alone.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. Who answers when Nancy telephones her home from the drug store?

   • Correct answer: Hannah Gruen, the housekeeper
   • Her chum Helen Corning
   • Her father, Carson Drew
   • Allie Horner from the chicken farm

   Hannah Gruen answers and says she has not heard from Carson Drew since he left.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. Where does Nancy ask the telegraph clerk to send the answer?

   • To her own home in River Heights
   • To the railroad station in Cliffwood
   • To the drug store in Cliffwood
   • Correct answer: To the Turnbull Mansion

   She tells the clerk to have the answer sent to the Turnbull Mansion.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. Why does Nancy wire the law firm in Chicago?

   • To ask the firm to send her father home at once
   • To tell her father that the silver urn was stolen
   • Correct answer: To find out whether her father has left Chicago
   • To ask the firm to find a lawyer for the sisters

   Hannah has not heard from Carson Drew, so Nancy wants to learn whether he has left Chicago.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'pessimistically' mean in: 'Floretta reviewed pessimistically'?

   • In a slow, careful whisper
   • Correct answer: In a way that expects the worst
   • In a bored and sleepy way
   • In a cheerful, hopeful way

   Floretta lists every theft so far and says it is too much, expecting things only to get worse.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'stilted' mean in: 'With the deepening of the shadows, the conversation became stilted and difficult.'?

   • Fast and full of news
   • Correct answer: Stiff and not natural
   • Loud and full of laughter
   • Angry and full of quarrels

   As the evening grows dark, the talk becomes stiff and hard to keep going.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. Which of these events happen in Chapter 12?

    • Nancy and Rosemary move the heavy bookcase in the library.

      Happened

    • Nancy finds the silver urn hidden behind a picture.

      Didn't happen

    • A messenger boy brings Nancy a telegram at The Mansion.

      Happened

    • Nancy finds a torn glove lying beside the bookcase.

      Didn't happen

    Read the passage