The Pardoner's Tale - TEST
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Comprehension (3 points each 25 questions covering comprehension - 75 of 131 points)
Select the best answer for each question below.
Literary Focus: Irony (3 points each 6 questions covering Irony - 18 of 131 points)
Select the best answer for each question below.
Multiple Choice - Select the BEST answer for each question or to fill in the blank.
____
1.
How do two of the rioters decide to increase their share of the gold?
c. Find the original owner of the gold and
rob him for more
a. Stab the other rioter upon his return
b. Poison the other rioter upon his return d. Turn the third rioter in to the priest
____
2. Which of the following statements best describes the end of the tale?
a. Death takes the gold florins.
c. The rioters become rich.
b. Death takes a holiday.
d. The rioters meet death.
____
3.
Who is the real traitor in “The Pardoner’s Tale?”
a. The old man
c. Death
b. The plague
d. The three rioters
____
4.
Which of the following best describes the three rioters in “The Pardoner’s Tale?”
a. Praying, arrogant, greedy
c. Prating, kindly, old
b. Earnest, brave, handsome
d. Hoary, arrogant, insincere
____
5. After telling his tale, what does the Pardoner offer to do for his fellow pilgrims?
a. Explain the moral of the tale.
c. Buy them a round of drinks.
b. Pray for their souls.
d. Sell them relics and pardons.
____
6. The moral of “The Pardoner’s Tale” is ______________.
a. Friends should never be trusted.
c. Old men are unreliable.
b. Greed is the source of evil.
d. A promise is a promise.
____
7. On a symbolic level of the allegory of “The Pardoner’s Tale,” which of these qualities might the
rioters represent?
a. Fame and fortune.
b. Old age and death.
____
c. Courage and greed.
d. Greed and treachery.
8. In. “The Pardoner’s Tale,” how do the rioters treat the old man when they first meet him?
a. With polite disinterest
c. With contempt
b. With false flattery
d. With kindness
____
9. What becomes clearer when rereading the following passage from “The Pardoner’s Tale?”
… if it be your design
To find out Death, turn up this crooked way
Towards that grove. I left him there today
Under a tree, and there you’ll find him waiting.
a. The man is directing the three rioters
toward their own deaths.
b.
There is a hooded figure near the
grove awaiting the three rioters.
c. The three rioters will be victorious
over Death because they are not afraid
of him.
d. The plague will get the three rioters
because there is a graveyard near the
grove.
____ 10. When “The Pardoner’s Tale” opens, what has caused Death to stalk the land?
a. An outbreak of plague.
c. Greed
b. A riot
d. A terrible flood.
____ 11. The tale related by the Pardoner is one he tells in order to _________.
a. Improve people’s morals
c. Save souls
b. Raise funds for the Church
d. Sell pardons to gain his own wealth
____ 12.
At one point in “The Pardoner’s Tale,” the publican says, “This very year he killed, in a large
village / A mile away, man, woman, serf at tillage.” Reread these lines that precede the
publican’s remark, and then decide what most likely happened in the village.
There came a privy thief, they call him Death,
Who kills us all around here, and in a breath
He speared him through the heart, he never stirred.
And then Death went his way without a word.
He’s killed a thousand in the present plague,
And, sir, it doesn’t do to be too vague.
a. Everyone in the village died with a
c. A strong wind blew through the
spear in his or her heart.
village, killing everyone there.
b. Thieves robbed the village and killed d. Plague claimed the lives of the people
the inhabitants.
in the village.
____ 13. The Pardoner earns money from all of the following activities except ____________________.
a. Making and selling baskets
c. Begging from church to church
b. Selling relics and papal pardons
d. Preaching against greed
____ 14. To present the character called Death, Chaucer uses the technique known as _________.
a. Personification
c. Suspense
b. Simile
d. Alliteration
____ 15. It is ironic that the Pardoner preaches against avarice, because he is ________________.
a. A friend of the Summoner’s
c. Rude to the Host
b. Especially greedy
d. A pious man
____ 16. In “The Pardoner’s Tale” the three rioters are sure that they can destroy Death, and yet they fail to
see that they are falling into his trap. This is an example of ______________.
a. Dramatic irony
d. Hyperbole
b. Sarcasm
e. Symbolism
c. Tragic irony
____ 17. In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Death is portrayed as ____________________.
a. Both a skeletal figure and an evil
c. An old man selling wares by the side
angel.
of the road.
b. Both the price of wickedness and an
actual person.
d. An archangel who kills people through
natural disaster and war.
____ 18. The character who prefers a fight between the Pardoner and the Host is the _________.
a. Squire
c. Oxford Clerk
b. Monk
d. Knight
____ 19. The stories about Death that the servant boy and the tavern-knave tell suggest that
a. People are dying of plague
c. Death will be hard to find
b. Death from violence and plague is
d. People looked forward to death
rampant
____ 20. A Pardoner is an official of the ______________.
a. Church
c. Local government
b. Feudal system
d. King
____ 21. The fate of the three greedy revealer stocks at the story’s end can best be described as _____.
a. Ironic
c. Comic
b. Tragic
d. Romantic
____ 22.
What is ironic about the attitude that the old man has toward Death?
a. Most people refer to death as an event c. He refers to his grave as his “mother.”
not a person.
b. He has seen death more than once.
d. Most people seek to avoid death, but
the old man looks for it.
____ 23. After the rioters abandon their search for Death, they murder on another. This act is an example of
______________.
a. Dramatic irony
b. Tragic irony
c. Verbal irony
d. Poetic irony
e. Situational irony
____ 24.
What is ironic about the pledge the rioters make in these lines of “The Pardoner’s Tale?”
They made their bargain, swore with appetite.
These three, to live and die for one another
As brother-born might swear to his born brother.
a. They later plot to kill on another to get c. They have only just met.
a larger share of the gold.
b. They really are brothers but have
d. They do not realize that Death is
forgotten.
listening.
____ 25. “The Pardoner’s Tale” deals with the subject(s) of _________.
a. Death
d. Greed
b. Revenge
e. Both greed & sin
c. Sin
____ 26.
For what reason does the Pardoner usually the “The Pardoner’s Tale?”
c. He uses it as an exemplum in a sermon
designed to get listeners to part with
their money.
a. All of these.
b. He is convinced that greed is evil and
d. He is a poor man who tells the story in
has himself given all of his money
away to the poor.
storytelling contests in the hopes of
earning enough money to pay for his
travels.
____ 27. The old man is a symbol of the __________.
a. Road to death
c. First step to happiness
b. Key to wealth
d. Door to repentance
____ 28.
The old man’s comment to the three rioter that Death “isn’t one to hide for all your prating” is an
example of ________.
a. Verbal irony
c. Tragic irony
b. Dramatic irony
d. Situational irony
____ 29.
Which of the following words best describes the Pardoner’s treatment of the Host?
a. Generous
b. Mocking
c. Angry
d. Uneducated
____ 30. The rioters go looking for Death because they ____________________.
a. Want to banish him from England.
c. Want to repent of their sins and find
salvation.
b. Plan to avenge the deaths of their
d. Know he has great treasure.
friends.
____ 31.
The Pardoner’s pious story reveals his ___________.
c. Sensitivity
d. Immorality
a. Honesty.
b. Ignorance.
Vocabulary (1 point each – 14 of 131 points)
____ 32. Which word has the same meaning as tarry?
a. Chatter
c. Hurry
b. Refuse
d. Hesitate
____ 33.
The word or phrase most close to meaning to wretched is ______________.
a. Vulgar humor
b. Vexation or resentment
c. Miserable
d. Opponent
____ 34.
The word or phrase most close to meaning to adversary is ______________.
c. Joker
d. Ally
a. Opponent
b. Greed
____ 35. The word or phrase most close to meaning to ribaldry is ______________.
a. Vulgar humor
c. Serious conversation
b. Rumor
d. Chatter or idle talk
____ 36.
Which answer choice best completes the following sentence?
Somebody whose face shows pallor is ______________.
a. Flushed
b. Pale
c. Sunburned
d. Blue and cold
____ 37. The word most nearly opposite to in meaning to hoary is ______________.
a. Contemporary
c. Young
b. Honest
d. Senior
____ 38. The word or phrase most close to meaning to avarice is ______________.
a. Paleness
c. Miserable
b. Greed
d. Opponent
____ 39.
The word or phrase most close to meaning to yokel is ______________.
a. Chatter or idle talk
c. A naïve or gullible rustic person, a country
bumpkin
b. Paleness
d. Vexation or resentment
____ 40. The word or phrase most close to meaning to pique is ______________.
a. Paleness
c. Vexation or resentment
b. Chatter or idle talk
d. Stealing
____ 41. The word or phrase most close to meaning to pallor is ______________.
a. Vexation or resentment
c. A healthy glow
b. Paleness
d. Miserable
____ 42. The word or phrase most close to meaning to prate is ______________.
a. Chatter or idle talk
c. Stealing
b. Vexation or resentment
d. Paleness
____ 43. Which answer choice best completes the following sentence?
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” when the murderer sauntered back to his friends, he ______________.
a. Tiptoed
b. Ran quickly
c. Walked heavily
d. Walked slowly
____ 44. The word or phrase most close to meaning to absolution is ______________.
a. A formal forgiveness of sins
c. A powerful drink sold in Europe originally
b. Conviction
d.
Something to mix with orange
juice
____ 45. The word or phrase most close to meaning to tarry is ______________.
a. Taxes
c. Greed
b. Linger or stay
d. Stealing
True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
Understanding what happened – True or False (A for True & B for False) (2 points each – 20
of 131 points)
Select the best answer for each question below.
Select if the statement is True (A) or False (B)
____ 46.
Shortly after setting out to find Death, the three rioters meet a poor old man who complains that
even Death rejects him.
____ 47.
After the Pardoner has finished his story, he offers to sell pardons to the pilgrims and singles out
the Host as most in need of absolution.
____ 48.
Greed causes one of the men to buy poison to kill his companions, and they, in turn, make plans
to stab him.
____ 49.
The old man refuses to give the men directions to the place where Death lives.
____ 50.
While sitting in a tavern, three young revelers hear a funeral bell and learn that one of their
friends has been slain by Death.
____ 51.
Fortunately, Death is busy elsewhere and the three friends make up and return to the tavern.
____ 52.
According to the Pardoner, the theme of his sermons is always “Love of money is the root of all
evil.”
____ 53.
In his Prologue, the Pardoner presents himself as a moral man who disdains riches and
wishes only to save people from sin.
____ 54.
The quarrel that breaks out over the Pardoner’s insulting remarks is patched up by the Wife of
Bath.
____ 55.
After finding eight bushels of gold florins under an oak tree, the men devise a plan to seal the