To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 6 quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why do the children decide to sneak to the Radley Place on this particular night?

   • Atticus is out of town and cannot hear them leave the house
   • Correct answer: It is Dill's last night in Maycomb before he returns home
   • Miss Rachel has gone to bed early and will not see Dill go
   • It is the first night of summer vacation after school ends

   Dill is leaving for Meridian the next day, making this their last chance for a summer adventure together.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Dill see when he is boosted up to look through the Radley window?

   • Boo Radley sitting alone in a rocking chair by the fire
   • An empty room full of old and dusty furniture
   • Correct answer: Only curtains and a faint light in the distance
   • Nathan Radley loading his shotgun at the kitchen table

   Despite all the effort and risk, Dill's peek reveals almost nothing — just curtains and a tiny light far off inside the house.

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3. 3

   Question 3. What frightens the children on the Radley back porch?

   • Correct answer: The shadow of a man moving across the porch toward Jem
   • A light suddenly turning on inside the house
   • Boo Radley opening the back door
   • A dog growling from under the porch

   Scout sees the shadow of a man with a hat on move across the moonlit porch toward Jem as he kneels at the window; Dill covers his face and Jem goes rigid.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How does Jem lose his pants during the escape from the Radley yard?

   • He trips and they rip on the ground
   • Nathan Radley grabs his pants leg as he runs past
   • He tears them on a nail on the Radley porch
   • Correct answer: They get caught on the wire fence as he squeezes through

   As the children flee through the wire fence at the back of the Radley property, Jem's pants snag and he must kick them off to escape.

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5. 5

   Question 5. What cover story does Dill invent to explain Jem's missing pants?

   • Jem left his pants at the swimming hole
   • A stray dog chewed up Jem's pants
   • Jem fell in a creek and his pants washed away
   • Correct answer: Dill won Jem's pants in a game of strip poker

   Dill thinks quickly and claims he won Jem's pants playing strip poker. Jem corrects him to say they were playing with matches, not cards.

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6. 6

   Question 6. Why does Jem correct Dill's story from cards to matches?

   • Atticus specifically forbade playing cards
   • Playing with matches sounds more believable for children
   • Correct answer: Playing cards would be considered a worse offense in their community
   • Jem is trying to get Dill in more trouble

   In their conservative Southern community, being caught with playing cards — associated with gambling — would be a bigger scandal than playing with matches.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What is Jem's primary motivation for returning to the Radley fence to get his pants?

   • Correct answer: He fears Atticus will discover the truth and lose trust in him
   • He left something valuable in a pocket of the pants he lost
   • He wants to prove his bravery to Dill and Scout before Dill leaves
   • The pants are his only good pair and he needs them for school

   Jem tells Scout that Atticus has never whipped him and he wants to keep it that way. Keeping Atticus from finding out matters more to him than the risk of Mr. Nathan's shotgun.

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8. 8

   Question 8. According to the neighbors, why did Nathan Radley fire his shotgun?

   • He was cleaning his gun and it went off accidentally
   • Correct answer: He fired at an intruder in his collard patch
   • He saw children trespassing on his property
   • He was shooting at a wild animal near his chicken coop

   Miss Maudie tells Jem that Mr. Radley shot at an intruder in his collard patch, and Miss Stephanie adds that he fired into the air and has the other barrel waiting for the next sound he hears there.

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually happened in this chapter?

   • The children successfully see Boo Radley through one of the windows of the Radley house.

     Didn't happen

     The children never see Boo. Dill sees only curtains and a distant light, and the mission is interrupted by the shadow and the shotgun blast before they can look further.

   • Jem sneaks back to the Radley Place alone at night to retrieve his pants from the fence.

     Happened

     Despite the danger of Nathan Radley's shotgun, Jem returns to the Radley fence late at night to get his pants, driven by his fear of disappointing Atticus.

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does the word "desolate" mean as it is used in Chapter 6?

    • Threatening, dangerous, and hostile
    • Careless and immoral in behavior
    • Loud, busy, and full of activity
    • Correct answer: Bleak, empty, and dismally lonely

    Desolate means bleak, empty, and lonely. While Scout waits for Jem to come back from the Radley fence, the darkness is desolate with the barking of distant dogs.

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11. 11

    Question 11. In the context of this chapter, what is a "collard patch"?

    • Correct answer: A garden plot where collard greens are grown
    • An area of rough ground covered in weeds
    • A small clearing in the woods behind a house
    • A repaired section of a fabric quilt

    A collard patch is a section of garden where collard greens, a leafy vegetable common in Southern cooking, are cultivated. Nathan Radley claims he fired his shotgun at an intruder there.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does the word "ramshackle" mean as it is used to describe the Radley back porch?

    • Sturdy and carefully maintained
    • Crowded with old junk and clutter
    • Correct answer: Badly made and falling apart
    • Dark and hidden in deep shadow

    Ramshackle means badly made or falling apart. The back of the Radley house is less inviting than the front, with a ramshackle porch propped up at one end by a rough two-by-four instead of a column.

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