View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where did Nelson Mandela and Steve Biko go to school?
(a) They went to school over seas.
(b) Government-run Bantu schools.
(c) They did not go to school.
(d) Schools founded by British missionaries.

2. How did the author track Robert down after his mother instructed him to do so?
(a) He released an ad in the newspaper.
(b) He contacted the Swiss embassy.
(c) He consulted a local shaman.
(d) He searched Cape Town on foot.

3. How did Patricia handle "major disputes" (84) with the author?
(a) She got other members of the family to help argue with him.
(b) She wrote extra-length letters.
(c) She insisted on arguing in Xhosa.
(d) She beat him.

4. What did Patricia do after discovering the fecal matter in the trashcan?
(a) She called people over to pray to rid their house of demons.
(b) She punished Trevor for making a mess.
(c) She buried the fecal matter.
(d) She took the trash out to the curb.

5. What did Robert show the author after the author tracked him down in Cape Town?
(a) A photo album tracking the author's career.
(b) A forged birth certificate accurately listing Robert as the author's father.
(c) An old family photo album of Robert's past.
(d) A shiny new car.

6. What crime did the author's parents commit when they had him?
(a) They each had intercourse with a person of another race.
(b) They kidnapped him from his real parents.
(c) They illegally crossed the border to have him in Swaziland.
(d) They hired an off-the-books midwife to deliver him.

7. Who taught Patricia how to navigate Johannesburg without being deported to the Bantustans?
(a) Police.
(b) Prostitutes.
(c) Food vendors.
(d) Mini-bus drivers.

8. How did Robert feel when Patricia asked him to impregnate her?
(a) He said he was not physically attracted to Patricia.
(b) He said he did not like Patricia at all.
(c) He said he did not want a family.
(d) He said he wanted to start a family right away.

9. At the end of the foreword to the story "Born a Crime," the author wrote that apartheid would be easy for occupants of which country to understand?
(a) America.
(b) Nigeria.
(c) Costa Rica.
(d) England.

10. Why did people in Soweto use the author as a landmark for giving directions when he was young?
(a) He was the only light-skinned person in the area.
(b) He was famous for his work on The Daily Show.
(c) His house had an unusual shape.
(d) He was always singing very loudly so you could always tell where he was.

11. Who was the only member of the author's family who was willing to use corporal punishment on him?
(a) His aunt.
(b) His father.
(c) His mother.
(d) His grandmother.

12. When does the author believe that a person is most themselves, according to the story "Pray, Trevor"?
(a) When defecating.
(b) When working.
(c) When looking into the eyes of a loved one.
(d) When suffering.

13. From what mental disorder did Temperance Noah suffer?
(a) Bipolar disorder.
(b) Schizophrenia.
(c) Depression.
(d) Obsessive Compulsive Disordr.

14. What language does the author indicate was especially valued for making prayers while he was growing up in Soweto?
(a) Swahili.
(b) English.
(c) Afrikaans.
(d) Xhosa.

15. Why did the author think it was ironic when a black security guard was convicted of animal abuse for killing a cat on live TV?
(a) White people were horrified by the animal abuse yet were silent about violence against black humans during apartheid.
(b) The author believes cats would do much worse things to humans if they were in charge instead.
(c) The security guard came from a long line of cat breeders.
(d) Traditionally, security guards in South Africa keep cats as helpers.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the author react as a child when children in the neighborhood called him white?

2. Why does the author say he never felt poor when living alone with Patricia?

3. What happened to the cats that Patricia adopted after moving to Eden Park?

4. What did the school counselor warn the author about when he asked to transition into the B classes at H. A. Jack Primary?

5. What answer did Patricia give when the author asked her why she chose to give birth to him?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 801 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample