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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to pundit, what must Mr. Biswas stay away from?
(a) Sunlight.
(b) Trees and water.
(c) The road.
(d) Bulls and calves.

2. What does Sharma use to treat bedbugs?
(a) Gasoline.
(b) Kerosene.
(c) Alcohol.
(d) Lysol.

3. What does Mr. Biswas use to begin construction on his new house in Book 1, Chapter 5?
(a) Bricks from an old estate.
(b) Cinder blocks.
(c) Salvaged or cheaply purchased used materials.
(d) Fresh lumber from the field.

4. What was the purchase price of Mr. Biswas' house?
(a) $3,000.
(b) $13,000.
(c) $2,450.
(d) $5,500.

5. Why does Pundit Jairam send Mr. Biswas back home?
(a) Because Mr. Biswas tainted the oleander tree with urine.
(b) Because stress was making Mr. Biswas ill.
(c) Because Mr. Biswas was severely homesick.
(d) Because Pundit Jairam became too ill to teach.

6. Why does Sharma call her daughter Savi?
(a) She believes that saying her daughter's true name aloud is unlucky.
(b) She believes that the name will bless her daughter.
(c) Because Mr. Biswas dislikes the name.
(d) Savi is a variant of Sharma's own name.

7. What solution does Seth recommend for Mr. Biswas' financial problems?
(a) Declaring bankruptcy.
(b) Burning the store and collecting the insurance.
(c) Selling the store to his English investor.
(d) Hiring thugs to collect debts.

8. How has Pundit Tulsi been immortalized?
(a) In a painting.
(b) In a poem.
(c) In a drinking song.
(d) With a statue.

9. What does Mr. Biswas love about Sharma?
(a) Her smile.
(b) Her mouth.
(c) Her figure.
(d) Her voice.

10. What physical reaction does Mr. Biswas have to stress?
(a) Fainting.
(b) Tremors.
(c) Stomach pains.
(d) Headaches.

11. How does Mr. Biswas reply to his mother's claim that she will end up in the poorhouse because of him?
(a) He cries and runs out of the house.
(b) He declares she will never go hungry as long as he is alive.
(c) He faints.
(d) He declares that he will find his own job and buy his own house.

12. After recovering from his illness, how does Mr. Biswas view his past?
(a) As the result of his marriage to Sharma.
(b) As an unrealized blessing of family and providence.
(c) As confirmation of the pundit's prophecy.
(d) As counterfeit and a series of cheating accidents.

13. What does Sharma blame for the failure of the store?
(a) The poor economy.
(b) The overuse of credit.
(c) Mr. Biswas' lazy behavior.
(d) The greed of their customers.

14. How does Mr. Biswas decorate his room in Green Vale?
(a) With wallpaper salvaged from construction sites.
(b) With hand-lettered slogans from Hindi meetings.
(c) With new furniture.
(d) By painting the entire house inside and out.

15. How is the beginning of the prologue unusual?
(a) Mr. Biswas begins telling his own story.
(b) The prologue begins with Mr. Biswas' murder.
(c) All the dialogue is in Hindi.
(d) The prologue begins with the end of Mr. Biswas' story.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the Tulsis hire Mr. Biswas to do in their dry goods store?

2. In Book 1, Chapter 2, who runs away with Dehuti?

3. What is Mr. Biswas' favorite hobby?

4. What disease afflicts Bipti's father?

5. When Mr. Biswas becomes disillusioned about his marriage to Sharma, where does he go?

(see the answer keys)

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