Collection 1 PostTest

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

This test asks you to use the skills and strategies you have learned in this collection. Read “The Boy Who
Drew Cats,” and then answer the questions that follow it.

The Boy Who Drew Cats

by Lafcadio Hearn

A long, long time ago, in a small country village in Japan, there lived a poor farmer and his wife, who
were very good people. They had a number of children, and found it very hard to feed them all. The elder son
was strong enough when only fourteen years old to help his father; and the little girls learned to help their
mother almost as soon as they could walk.
But the youngest, a little boy, did not seem to be fit for hard work. He was very clever—cleverer than all
his brothers and sisters; but he was quite weak and small, and people said he could never grow very big. So
his parents thought it would be better for him to become a priest than to become a farmer. They took him with
them to the village-temple one day, and asked the good old priest who lived there if he would have their little
boy for his acolyte, and teach him all that a priest ought to know.
The old man spoke kindly to the lad, and asked him some hard questions. So clever were the answers that
the priest agreed to take the little fellow into the temple as an acolyte, and to educate him for the priesthood.
The boy learned quickly what the old priest taught him, and was very obedient in most things. But he had
one fault. He liked to draw cats during study-hours, and to draw cats even where cats ought not to have been
drawn at all.
Whenever he found himself alone, he drew cats. He drew them on the margins of the priest’s books, and
on all the screens of the temple, and on the walls, and on the pillars. Several times the priest told him this was
not right; but he did not stop drawing cats. He drew them because he could not really help it. He had what is
called “the genius of an artist,” and just for that reason he was not quite fit to be an acolyte;—a good acolyte
should study books.
One day after he had drawn some very clever pictures of cats upon a paper screen, the old priest said to
him severely: “My boy, you must go away from this temple at once. You will never make a good priest, but
perhaps you will become a great artist. Now let me give you a last piece of advice, and be sure you never
forget it. Avoid large places at night—keep to small!
The boy did not know what the priest meant by saying, “Avoid large places—keep to small.” He thought
and thought, while he was tying up his little bundle of clothes to go away; but he could not understand those
words, and he was afraid to speak to the priest any more, except to say goodbye.
He left the temple very sorrowfully, and began to wonder what he should do. If he went straight home he
felt sure his father would punish him for having been disobedient to the priest; so he was afraid to go home.
All at once he remembered that at the next village, twelve miles away, there was a very big temple. He had
heard there were several priests at that temple; and he made up his mind to go to them and ask them to take
him for their acolyte.
 Now that big temple was closed up but the boy did not know this fact. The reason it had been closed up
was that a goblin had frightened the priests away, and had taken possession of the place. Some brave warriors
had afterward gone to the temple at night to kill the goblin; but they had never been seen alive again. Nobody
had ever told these things to the boy—so he walked all the way to the village, hoping to be kindly treated by
the priests.
When he got to the village, it was already dark, and all the people were in bed; but he saw the big temple
on a hill at the other end of the principal street, and he saw there was a light in the temple. People who tell the
story say the goblin used to make that light, in order to tempt lonely travelers to ask for shelter. The boy went
at once to the temple, and knocked. There was no sound inside. He knocked and knocked again; but still
nobody came. At last he pushed gently at the door, and was quite glad to find that it had not been fastened. So
he went in, and saw a lamp burning—but no priest.
He thought some priest would be sure to come very soon, and he sat down and waited. Then he noticed
that everything in the temple was gray with dust, and thickly spun over with cobwebs. So he thought to
himself that the priests would certainly like to have an acolyte, to keep the place clean. He wondered why
they had allowed everything to get so dusty. What most pleased him, however, were some big white screens,
good to paint cats upon. Though he was tired, he looked at once for a writing pad, and found one and ground
some ink, and began to paint cats.
He painted a great many cats upon the screens; and then he began to feel very, very sleepy. He was just on
the point of lying down to sleep beside one of the screens, when he suddenly remembered the words, “Avoid
large places—keep to small!”
The temple was very large; he was all alone; and as he thought of these words— though he could not
quite understand them—he began to feel for the first time a little afraid; and he resolved to look for a small
place in which to sleep. He found a little cabinet, with a sliding door, and went into it, and shut himself up.
Then he lay down and fell fast asleep.
Very late in the night he was awakened by a most terrible noise—a noise of fighting and screaming. It
was so dreadful that he was afraid even to look through a chink in the little cabinet; he lay very still, holding
his breath for fright.
The light that had been in the temple went out; but the awful sounds continued, and became more awful,
and all the temple shook. After a long time silence came; but the boy was still afraid to move. He did not
move until the light of the morning sun shone into the cabinet through the chinks of the little door.
Then he got out of his hiding place very cautiously, and looked about. The first thing he saw was that all
the floor of the temple was covered with blood. And then he saw, lying dead in the middle of it, an enormous,
monstrous rat—a goblin-rat— bigger than a cow!
But who or what could have killed it? There was no man or other creature to be seen. Suddenly the boy
observed that the mouths of all the cats he had drawn the night before were red and wet with blood. Then he
knew that the goblin had been killed by the cats which he had drawn. And then also, for the first time, he
understood why the wise old priest had said to him, “Avoid large places at night—keep to small.”
Afterward that boy became a very famous artist. Some of the cats which he drew are still shown to
travelers in Japan.

From 75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World’s Literature, edited by Roger B. Goodman, Bantam
Books, 1961. Copyright © 1961 by Bantam Books, Inc.

Vocabulary Skills
 For each sentence below, select the word or phrase that provides the best meaning
for the underlined word. Write the letter of the meaning in the space provided.

____ 1. If you are an acolyte, you are a(n) —

a. farmer c. artist
b. attendant or follower d. ordained priest

____ 2. Someone who is disobedient —

a. fails to follow orders c. follows his own conscience
b. pays strict attention to the rules d. respects the rights of others

____ 3. When you take possession of a place, you —

a. move away from it c. take ownership of it
b. remove goblins from it d. frighten the people who live in it

____ 4. If you have resolved to do something, you have —

a. solved a problem c. voted for a resolution
b. decided against something d. reached a decision to act in a certain way

____ 5. If you move cautiously, you move —

a. very quickly c. quite slyly
b. with great care d. very slowly

Comprehension

____ 6. Why do the parents ask the priest to take in their youngest son?
a. The boy doesn’t get along with the other children.
b. His parents are angry with him because he draws cats.
c. The boy is too small and weak to be a good farmer.
d. The boy has told his parents that he wants to be a priest.

____ 7. All of the following items describe the boy except —

a. clever c. artistic
b. quick to learn d. studious

____ 8. The boy doesn’t go home after he is turned out by the priest because the boy —
a. is afraid his father will punish him
b. cannot give up his dream of becoming a priest
c. has been accepted by other priests in another town
d. wants to explore the world

____ 9. Once in the temple the boy looks for a small space in which to sleep because he —
a. doesn’t want to take up too much room
b. knows that a goblin cannot get into a small space
c. remembers the words of the old priest
d. hopes no one will notice him

____ 10. Which detail reveals the fate of the monstrous rat?
a. The boy understands the meaning of the words “Avoid large places—keep to small.”
b. The mouths of the cats the boy drew are red.
 c. The boy’s drawings of cats are still shown to travelers in Japan.
d. During the night the boy hears awful sounds from the temple.

Predicting

____ 11. What is a logical prediction to make after reading that the temple has been closed up because a goblin had
frightened the priests away?
a. Some brave warriors will return and frighten the goblin away.
b. The boy will encounter the goblin in the temple.
c. The priests will keep the boy from the temple.
d. The boy will draw the goblin

____ 12. All of the following details are significant in helping you make predictions in this story except the —
a. words of the old priest
b. boy’s need to draw cats
c. story about the light in the temple
d. fact that the boy went to be trained by a priest

Short Answer

Using Chronological Order

13. Use the 10 events below and create a summary of the passage.
priest tells the boy to avoid large places. priest rebukes the boy for drawing pictures.
boy becomes a famous artist boy is awakened by fighting and screaming
farmer and his wife ask the priest to take in boy finds that the mouths of the cats are
their son covered with blood
The priest educates the boy for the priesthood the boy draws pictures of cats
boy looks for a small place in which to sleep boy travels to the next village in the hope that
the priests will take him in

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Problem

Literary Focus: Constructed Response

14. The setting of this story plays a very important role. The author tells you details about the old temple that
help you predict the true nature of the setting. In the left-hand column of the chart below, list the details you
know that the boy doesn’t know. Then, in the right-hand column, list details that finally make him suspicious
that something odd is going on. Finally, on the lines below the chart, explain the meaning of the old priest’s
warning.

Details You Know That Boy Doesn’t Know Details That Finally Make Boy Suspicious

The Old Priest’s Warning

Collection 1 PostTest
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: B PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.3.9 (literal meanings of words)

2. ANS: A PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.3.9 (literal meanings of words)
3. ANS: C PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.3.9 (literal meanings of words)
4. ANS: D PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.3.9 (literal meanings of words)
5. ANS: B PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.3.9 (literal meanings of words)
6. ANS: C PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.1.1 (plot) | 9.1.4.2 (character interactions)
7. ANS: D PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.1.4.1 (characterization)
8. ANS: A PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.1.1 (plot) | 9.1.4.2 (character interactions)
9. ANS: C PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.1.1 (plot)
10. ANS: B PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.2.1.7 (reading for details)
11. ANS: B PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.1.2 (time and sequence)
12. ANS: D PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.2.1.15 (making predictions)

SHORT ANSWER

13. ANS:
4. The priest tells the boy to avoid large places.
3. The priest rebukes the boy for drawing pictures.
10. The boy becomes a famous artist.
8. The boy is awakened by fighting and screaming.
1. The farmer and his wife ask the priest to take in their son.
9. The boy finds that the mouths of the cats are covered with blood.
2. The priest educates the boy for the priesthood.
6. In the empty temple the boy draws pictures of cats.
7. The boy looks for a small place in which to sleep.
5. The boy travels to the next village in the hope that the priests will take him in.

PTS: 1 OBJ: 9.2.1.15 (making predictions) | 9.2.1.7 (reading for details)

PROBLEM

14. ANS:
Details You Know That Boy Doesn’t Know
The temple is closed up.
A goblin had frightened the priests away.
Brave warriors who tried to kill the goblin were never seen again.
The goblin kept the light burning in the temple to tempt lonely travelers.
Details That Finally Make Boy Suspicious
Temple is gray with dust.
Temple is very large and empty.
The boy remembers the old priest’s words.
The boy hears frightening noises at night.

The Old Priest’s Warning

The old priest seems to be warning the boy about the temple with the goblin in it. The temple is just such a
large space, but the boy remembers the warning and keeps safe because he finds a small space to sleep in, so
the huge rat isn’t able to get in and harm him.

PTS: 1
OBJ: 9.1.3 (setting and mood/atmosphere) | 9.2.1.15 (making predictions) | 9.2.1.7 (reading for details)