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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is John's mother doing quietly when his father asks him to sit down?
(a) Peeling potatoes.
(b) Reading a book.
(c) Washing clothes.
(d) Cleaning the dishes.

2. What does John's father do after his wife shouts at him in a tone she has never used before?
(a) He smacks her.
(b) He storms out of the hut.
(c) He yells back.
(d) He reads his Bible.

3. Who is the author of "Meeting in the Dark"?
(a) Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
(b) John Thiong'o.
(c) Thiong'o Achibe.
(d) Ngũgĩ Thomas.

4. What does John's father tell him he does not want him to hear of before dismissing John from their conversation at the start of the story?
(a) He does not want to hear of any trouble.
(b) He does not want to hear John is disobeying his mother.
(c) He does not want to hear that John has a girlfriend.
(d) He does not want to hear that John is not doing well in school.

5. At which point is it said that John's parents stopped being happy?
(a) When he became a preacher.
(b) When his mother got a job.
(c) After John was born.
(d) When John left for college.

6. What adjectives are used to describe John's father as he walks down the street at the start of the story?
(a) Husky and strong.
(b) Elegant and intelligent.
(c) Large and mean.
(d) Frail but energetic.

7. What religion did the family convert to when John was young?
(a) Judaism.
(b) Islam.
(c) Buddhism.
(d) Christianity.

8. How does John feel about the way his father often looks at him?
(a) He feels he looks at him likehe is a child.
(b) He feels he looks at him with great respect.
(c) He feels he looks at him with pity.
(d) He feels he looks at him like he is a sinner.

9. What did John's father tell his mother to talk to John about instead of telling him the stories she had always told him?
(a) How to be a good man.
(b) How to avoid trouble in the village.
(c) The importance of a good education.
(d) How Jesus had died for them.

10. How much time does John say he has before going away to school at the start of the story?
(a) 6 months.
(b) One week.
(c) 8 weeks.
(d) One month.

11. Where did John's parent live when John was very young?
(a) Limuru.
(b) Fort Hall.
(c) Mombasa.
(d) Nairobi.

12. What does John's father carry in his bag as he walks down the street?
(a) His change purse.
(b) School books.
(c) A Bible.
(d) His shoes.

13. What word does John's mother use to describe how he treats his son?
(a) Threaten.
(b) Persecute.
(c) Admonish.
(d) Antagonize.

14. What is John's father's occupation?
(a) Farmer.
(b) Preacher.
(c) Teacher.
(d) Doctor.

15. What does John's father call his wife?
(a) Susana.
(b) Sister.
(c) Love.
(d) Susie-dear.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is John's feeling toward his father?

2. What does John's father ask him, which John feels he has told his father many times?

3. What does John's father think as he pauses before responding after his wife asks him why he treats John the way he does?

4. What is the main character's name?

5. What does John's father feel his wife made him do long ago, and hopes his son does not do the same thing?

(see the answer keys)

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