1 my grandfather was the oldest of the brothers. when he married betsy buss his father set aside for him twenty acres of the home farm, and here he built the house in which he lived for forty years, raising a family of ten children. i remember quite clearly my great-grandfather silas hills. he was old and querulous, and could certainly scold; but now that i know that he was born in 1760, and had nineteen brothers and sisters, i think of him with compassion and wonder. it connects me with the distant past to think i remember a man who was sixteen years old when the declaration of independence was signed. he died at ninety-five, which induces apprehension. 2 my grandfather's house faced the country road that ran north over the rolling hills among the stone-walled farms, and was about a mile from the common that marked the center of the town. it was white, of course, with green blinds. the garden in front was fragrant from castilian roses, sweet williams, and pinks. there were lilacs and a barberry-bush. a spacious hall bisected the house. the south front room was sacred to funerals and weddings; we seldom entered it. back of that was grandma's room. stairs in the hall led to two sleeping-rooms above. the north front room was "the parlor," but seldom used. there on the center-table reposed baxter's saints' rest and young's night thoughts. the fireplace flue so seldom held a fire that the swallows utilized the chimney for their nests. back of this was the dining-room, in which we lived. it had a large brick oven and a serviceable fireplace. the kitchen was an ell, from which stretched woodshed, carriage-house, pigpen, smoking-house, etc. currant and quince bushes, rhubarb, mulberry, maple, and butternut trees were scattered about. an apple orchard helped to increase the frugal income. 3 we raised corn and pumpkins, and hay for the horse and cows. the corn was gathered into the barn across the road, and a husking-bee gave occasion for mild merrymaking. as necessity arose the dried ears were shelled and the kernels taken to the mill, where an honest portion was taken for grist. the corn-meal bin was the source of supply for all demands for breakfast cereal. hasty-pudding never palled. small incomes sufficed. our own bacon, pork, spare-rib, and souse, our own butter, eggs, and vegetables, with occasional poultry, made us little dependent on others. one of the great-uncles was a sportsman, and snared rabbits and pickerel, thus extending our bill of fare. bread and pies came from the weekly baking, to say nothing of beans and codfish. berries from the pasture and nuts from the woods were plentiful. for lights we were dependent on tallow candles or whale-oil, and soap was mostly home-made. 4 life was simple but happy. the small boy had small duties. he must pick up chips, feed the hens, hunt eggs, sprout potatoes, and weed the garden. but he had fun the year round, varying with the seasons, but culminating with the winter, when severity was unheeded in the joy of coasting, skating, and sleighing in the daytime, and apples, chestnuts, and pop-corn in the long evenings.


1) The author seems to recall that his own childhood was

A) simple, but happy

B) complicated, but joyful

C) miserably uncomfortable.

D) filled with death and despair.


2) The author appears to be a person who

A) regrets the choices he made in his life.

B) doesn’t notice what is going on around him.

C) recognizes the value of the people and experiences in his life.

D) takes for granted his relatives and the people who are close to him.

3) The statement, ‘He died at ninety-five, which induces apprehension.’ shows that the author

A) has a fixation on death.

B) is still a very young man.

C) regrets not having known his great grandfather.

D) realizes his own mortality as he approaches the same age.


4) To whom is the author referring in the last paragraph when he says, ‘The small boy had small duties’?

A) himself Reactivate

B) his father Reactivate

C) his brother

D) his grandfather Reactivate


5) The author most remembers Silas Hills as

A) cold and lonely.

B) sad and depressed.

C) stern and a bit grouchy.

D) easy-going and laid back.