The Treasure in the Forest quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Which genre best describes "The Treasure in the Forest"?

   • Detective fiction
   • Correct answer: Adventure fiction
   • Fairy tale
   • Science fiction

   Correct. Two men follow a treasure map across the sea, through a reef and into a jungle in search of buried Spanish gold. That quest, with its exotic setting and deadly risk, is adventure fiction.

   Read the passage
2. 2

   Question 2. As the canoe nears the island, what does Evans's mind keep returning to?

   • The danger of the reef and the surf
   • The ship waiting for them on the mainland
   • The ingots the Chinese men spoke of
   • Correct answer: The thought of sweet water in the river

   Evans tries to think about the gold, but his mind 'came back headlong to the thought of sweet water rippling in the river.' The long night voyage in an unprovisioned canoe has left him desperately thirsty.

   Read the passage
3. 3

   Question 3. How did Evans and Hooker first learn about the hidden treasure?

   • They found the map on the wrecked galleon
   • A dying Spanish sailor told them the story
   • Correct answer: They overheard three Chinese men by a fire
   • They bought the map from a sailor in port

   In the dream, Evans remembers 'the black figures of the three Chinamen' around a little fire. Hooker caught the drift of their talk in pigeon-English and motioned to Evans to listen.

   Read the passage
4. 4

   Question 4. According to the story the men overheard, who first buried the treasure?

   • Correct answer: The crew of a stranded Spanish galleon
   • Pirates who raided the coast of the island
   • Dyak warriors guarding their tribe's riches
   • Chinese traders who had deserted their junk

   The tale tells of 'a Spanish galleon from the Philippines hopelessly aground,' its treasure buried by a shipwrecked crew who were never heard of again. Chang-hi only found the ingots and reburied them a year before.

   Read the passage
5. 5

   Question 5. What language is the writing on the map?

   • Correct answer: Chinese
   • Dutch
   • Malay
   • Spanish

   When Evans asks about the writing, Hooker answers, 'Chinese.' The map belonged to Chang-hi.

   Read the passage
6. 6

   Question 6. In the line "His movements were languid, like those of a man whose strength was nearly exhausted", what does languid mean?

   • Angry and jerky in motion
   • Quick and full of purpose
   • Correct answer: Slow and lacking energy
   • Careful and highly skilled

   Languid means slow and weak, without energy. Hooker moves like a man 'whose strength was nearly exhausted' after the night voyage with no food or water.

   Read the passage
7. 7

   Question 7. When Hooker first studies the dead man, what does he guess killed him?

   • His friends, in a fight over the gold
   • Fever and thirst after days of digging
   • A fall into the hole he was digging
   • Correct answer: The bite of some poisonous jungle snake

   Hooker says, 'He came here alone, and some poisonous snake has killed him.' He does not yet realize that the real killer is waiting in the hole among the gold.

   Read the passage
8. 8

   Question 8. When Evans's arms begin to ache as they carry the gold, what does he blame?

   • A fall he took on the river bank
   • Correct answer: The long night of paddling
   • The bite of an insect on his neck
   • The heavy weight of the ingots

   Evans says, 'my arms ache still with that paddling.' In fact the ache is the first sign of the poison from the thorns that pricked him in the hole.

   Read the passage
9. 9

   Question 9. Which people poison thorns like these for their blowing-tubes?

   • Correct answer: The Dyaks
   • The Spanish
   • The Maoris
   • The Zulus

   Hooker sees that the thorns are 'similar to those the Dyaks poison and use in their blowing-tubes.' The Dyaks are peoples of Borneo, known for blowpipe darts.

   Read the passage
10. 10

    Question 10. In the line "stood staring silently at this ominous dead body", what does ominous mean?

    • Huge and impressive in size
    • Calm, peaceful and harmless
    • Strange and impossible to explain
    • Correct answer: Warning that something bad is coming

    Ominous means threatening, a sign that something bad is about to happen. The dead man is a warning the two men fail to heed.

    Read the passage
11. 11

    Question 11. What does Evans's answer to Hooker's wish to bury the dead man show about Evans?

    • He respects the dead too much to move the body himself
    • He suspects the body is a trick to keep them away
    • Correct answer: He cares only for the gold and scorns the dead man
    • He thinks Hooker should bury it while he carries gold

    Evans tells Hooker to 'Let that mass of corruption bide,' and earlier brushes off his unease with 'All Chinamen are alike.' He sees the dead man only as something between him and the ingots.

    Read the passage
12. 12

    Question 12. How does the forest change as the men push inland from the beach?

    • The ground rises steeply into rocky, bare mountains
    • Correct answer: The blazing sunlight gives way to cool, deepening shadow
    • The quiet jungle fills with the cries of birds and apes
    • The thick trees thin out into open, sunny grassland

    'The blaze of the sunlight was replaced by insensible degrees by cool shadow,' and soon 'The shadow deepened.' The darkening forest mirrors the men's walk toward their doom.

    Read the passage
13. 13

    Question 13. What did the little dashes in the corner of Chang-hi's map turn out to mean?

    • The paths the Spanish crew took to their boats
    • The stones Chang-hi piled to mark the place
    • The number of ingots buried in the hole
    • Correct answer: The poisoned thorns hidden among the gold bars

    After the thorn pricks him, Hooker 'thought of the little dashes in the corner of the plan, and in a moment he understood.' The marks Evans could not make sense of showed the thorns guarding the treasure.

    Read the passage
14. 14

    Question 14. What does Hooker finally understand about Chang-hi's grin?

    • Chang-hi expected his friends to avenge his death
    • Correct answer: Chang-hi knew his trap would kill any thief
    • Chang-hi had already moved the gold to a new hiding place
    • Chang-hi was glad to die rather than return to his junk

    Hooker 'understood now what Chang-hi's assurance of the safety of his treasure meant. He understood that grin now.' Chang-hi had reburied the gold 'single-handed but very safe,' guarded by poisoned thorns, so he knew the men who took his map would not live to enjoy it.

    Read the passage
15. 15

    Question 15. The map's dashes, Chang-hi's grin and the dead man by the hole all hint at the ending. What is this technique called?

    • Correct answer: Foreshadowing
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Hyperbole
    • Personification

    Foreshadowing means giving hints of what will happen later. Each clue seems puzzling at first, and Hooker only understands them all once the thorn has pricked him.

    Read the passage
16. 16

    Question 16. Which statement best expresses the story's central idea?

    • True friendship matters more than any treasure
    • The wilderness is kinder than civilized society
    • Correct answer: Greed and violence bring their own deadly punishment
    • Hard work and patience are rewarded in the end

    Evans and Hooker took the map by force, and they die by the trap of the man they wronged. Their greed also blinds them to every warning: the writing, the dashes and the dead body. This is poetic justice.

    Read the passage
17. 17

    Question 17. Which of these happen in the story?

    • Evans dozes in the canoe and dreams of the night they learned the secret.

      Happened

      As the canoe drifts toward the reef, Evans begins to doze, and the dream carries him back to the night they 'hit upon the Chinamen's secret.'

    • Hooker reads the Chinese writing on the map aloud to Evans.

      Didn't happen

      Neither man can read it. Hooker only says the writing is Chinese, and Evans cannot get a notion of what the little dashes mean.

    • Hooker tastes the river water and spits it out before finding some to drink.

      Happened

      Near the river mouth Hooker tastes the water and spits it out. A little further up he tries again and says, 'This will do.'

    • The men land in the little creek and push through the growth to the beach.

      Didn't happen

      Evans suggests scrambling through, but Hooker says they had better paddle round, so they go back down the river and along the shore.

    • Evans leans over the front of the canoe to suck up water with his lips.

      Happened

      Finding it 'too slow' to drink from his hand, Evans leans dangerously over the fore part of the canoe and sucks up the water.

    • The men find a spade of the Chinese pattern near the dead man.

      Happened

      Near the body lies 'a spade after the Chinese pattern,' with a scattered heap of stones and a freshly dug hole.

    • Hooker buries the dead Chinese man before they lift the gold.

      Didn't happen

      Hooker says he will bury the body, but Evans refuses, and Hooker gives in: 'Let's get the gold out of this place, anyhow.'

    • Evans spreads his jacket on the ground to carry the ingots.

      Happened

      Evans takes his jacket off, spreads it on the ground and flings ingots into it. The two men then carry it by the corners.

    • Evans sucks the thorn wound on his hand to draw out the poison.

      Didn't happen

      Evans just pulls the thorn out and lifts the ingot. It is Hooker who later sucks 'furiously at the little pink spot' on his thumb.

    • Hooker paddles the canoe back to the mainland with some of the gold.

      Didn't happen

      Hooker never leaves the forest. The story ends with him sitting by the pile of ingots as the poison's pain spreads toward his throat.

    Read the passage