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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At what age did Emily McVeagh die?
(a) 32.
(b) 42.
(c) 35.
(d) 23.

2. Which of the following drugs does Lessing admit to having taken once?
(a) Cocaine.
(b) Heroin.
(c) Marijuana.
(d) Mescalin.

3. How long before this book was written did Europeans arrive in Southern Rhodesia?
(a) 103 years.
(b) 23 years.
(c) 54 years.
(d) 34 years.

4. What did the doctor prescribe to alleviate Lessing's mother's ailment?
(a) Tonic and quinine.
(b) Penicillin.
(c) Bed rest.
(d) Hydration and exercise.

5. Which of the following song for children made Lessing's mother cry?
(a) "Baa Baa, Black Sheep".
(b) "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
(c) "Ring Around the Rosie".
(d) "Humpty-Dumpty".

6. With whom did Lessing board as a child?
(a) Mrs. Mitchell.
(b) Mrs. Scott.
(c) Mary Peach.
(d) Mrs. James.

7. Growing up, what was Lessing always told about the family's financial status?
(a) That the family was financially stable, but morally corrupt.
(b) That the family would be fine when her father settled in his new job.
(c) That the family was poor.
(d) That the family was middle-class.

8. Which of the following areas was the homeland of Lessing's mother's doctor?
(a) Persia.
(b) Sinoia.
(c) Zimbabwe.
(d) Johannesburg.

9. In Chapter 2, what is one thing that Lessing says the writer must have in order to begin to write about his/her life?
(a) Tedious, rhetorical questions.
(b) Perspective.
(c) Copious emotional space.
(d) Free time.

10. During the 1930's what did Lessing and her brother hear all of the adults discussing?
(a) The Native Problem.
(b) The Empire.
(c) The War.
(d) The Slump.

11. Why did Lessing learn to drive?
(a) Lessing learned to drive because she wanted independence.
(b) Lessing learned to drive to displease her mother.
(c) Lessing learned to drive because she wanted to work in town.
(d) Lessing learned to drive because of her father's awkward leg.

12. How did Lessing's mother cure Lessing's lice problem?
(a) By washing her hair with scalding hot water.
(b) With paraffin.
(c) By shaving her head.
(d) With expensive shampoo.

13. According to Lessing, what is the most intense form of hatred?
(a) The racially-motivated hatred of post-colonial Africa.
(b) The rage of a child.
(c) The hatred of the disillusioned soldier.
(d) Stereotyping.

14. What type of play did Lessing write while at the Convent?
(a) A Ciceronian tragedy.
(b) An Aristophanean comedy.
(c) A one-act Shakespearean play.
(d) An English tragedy.

15. Which of the following does Lessing state as signifying the end of any war?
(a) Armistice.
(b) Military defeat.
(c) Total victory.
(d) Negotiations.

Short Answer Questions

1. To which book did Lessing often compare her childhood?

2. What kind of food were the children fed at the convent that Lessing stayed in as a child?

3. What did Biddy O'Halloran's skin resemble?

4. After returning to England, where did Lessing's family settle?

5. Why did Lessing not like the clothes that her mother had made for her?

(see the answer keys)

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