The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Toyland quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. What is the little ladder that comes down through the arm-hole of Father's cloak made of?

   • Silver wire
   • Barley-sugar
   • Correct answer: Cedar-wood
   • Gilt paper

   A tug on the tassel lets a pretty little ladder of cedar-wood down through one of the arm-holes of the cloak.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Nutcracker call the sweet-scented meadow where Marie first finds herself?

   • Correct answer: Candy Mead
   • Christmas Wood
   • Lake Rosa
   • Paperland

   As Marie looks out at the neck of the cloak she finds herself on a lovely meadow, and Nutcracker tells her it is Candy Mead.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Why does Nutcracker apologize after the shepherds and shepherdesses dance for Marie?

   • The hunters played their horns much too loudly
   • The dancers arrived late and missed the music
   • The golden chair was set too far from the dance
   • Correct answer: His dancers can only do the same thing over again

   He explains that the dancers belong to the Wire Ballet Troupe and can only do the same thing over and over again.

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4. 4

   Question 4. Why does Nutcracker decide not to take Marie into Gingerthorpe?

   • Its people are at war with Bonbonville
   • Correct answer: Its people are cross from tooth-ache
   • Its bridges are sticky with honey
   • Its gates are shut to all strangers

   Gingerthorpe is famed for its good-looking inhabitants, but they are very short-tempered because they suffer so much from tooth-ache.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What are the houses of Bonbonville like?

   • Dark brown with roofs of shining gilt
   • White marble with barley-sugar towers
   • Correct answer: Many-coloured and quite transparent
   • Built of gingerbread and lemon-peel

   Marie sees a little town where the houses are all sorts of colours and quite transparent; the dark-brown, gilt-roofed houses belong to Gingerthorpe.

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6. 6

   Question 6. According to the narrator, why is Marie all the more willing to follow Nutcracker?

   • She fears the mouse king will come back if she stays
   • Correct answer: She knows he owes her gratitude and will keep his word
   • She hopes to find her lost sugar toys in his country
   • She wants to see a place her brother has never been

   The narrator says she knew what her just claims on his gratitude were and was sure he would keep his word and show her beautiful things.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What does Nutcracker's reply at Lake Rosa suggest about the wonderland Marie is seeing?

   • Correct answer: It owes more to Marie's imagination than to Drosselmeier
   • It was built long ago by the King of Chocolate's people
   • It is too dangerous for a girl to explore alone at night
   • It is a copy of a toy garden kept in the glass cupboard

   When Marie credits Godpapa Drosselmeier, Nutcracker says his uncle could never make such a thing and that Marie would be much more likely to do it herself.

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8. 8

   Question 8. What does 'variegated' mean as used in: 'she was walking along upon a beautiful variegated marble pavement'?

   • Polished until it shines like glass
   • Cracked and worn from many years of heavy use
   • Laid out in perfectly straight rows
   • Correct answer: Marked with patches of different colours

   Variegated means marked with patches or streaks of different colours, which fits a pavement that is really a mosaic of lozenges of all colours.

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9. 9

   Question 9. What does 'soughing' mean as used in: 'there was a soughing among the leaves and branches'?

   • Correct answer: A soft murmuring sound like wind in trees
   • A sudden snapping of twigs and small branches
   • A heavy dripping of dew from the leaves above
   • A flutter of small birds hidden in the foliage

   Soughing is a soft sighing or murmuring sound, the noise a breeze makes moving through leaves.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'vexatiously' mean as used in: 'These poor Bonbonville people have been vexatiously threatened lately by the Fly-Admiral's forces'?

    • Cheerfully, as part of a friendly game
    • Correct answer: Annoyingly, in a way that causes worry
    • Secretly, without anyone noticing it
    • Rarely, only once in a great while

    Vexatiously means in an annoying, troubling way; the Fly-Admiral's threats are worrying enough that Bonbonville is building fortifications.

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11. 11

    Question 11. Which of these events actually happen in Toyland?

    • Six monkeys in red doublets play brass instruments above a gate.

      Happened

    • Marie picks and eats one of the gold fruits in Christmas Wood.

      Didn't happen

    • Children on a stream bank catch fish that look like filberts.

      Happened

    • Nutcracker leads Marie into Gingerthorpe to meet its people.

      Didn't happen

    • Swans with collars of gold sing on a rose-red lake.

      Happened

    • Fritz follows Marie up the ladder through the cloak.

      Didn't happen

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