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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does John's father think as he pauses before responding after his wife asks him why he treats John the way he does?
(a) She has a point.
(b) She is just as hard on him.
(c) Women will never understand.
(d) I am too easy on him.

2. What words are used to describe the way John's father treats his son, which his wife "was never blind to" (57)?
(a) Tough love.
(b) Excessive leniency.
(c) Moral torture.
(d) Unconditional love.

3. What is John's feeling toward his father?
(a) Anger.
(b) Warmth.
(c) Admiration.
(d) Fear.

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

5. What is the main character's name?
(a) Steven.
(b) Paul.
(c) Joseph.
(d) John.

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

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

8. Why does John's mother wonder if his father's treatment of him stems from resentment?
(a) Because John was born out of sin.
(b) Because he never wanted a child.
(c) Because he had wanted a daughter.
(d) Because John like his mother better.

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

10. What is John's mother's name?
(a) Mary.
(b) Lilith.
(c) Susana.
(d) Annie.

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

12. What is John's father's name?
(a) Anthony.
(b) Sylvane.
(c) Stanley.
(d) Ned.

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

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

15. What does John's father ask him, which John feels he has told his father many times?
(a) John's father asks him if he cleaned his hut.
(b) John's father asks him when his journey is.
(c) John's father asks him if he got good grades this term.
(d) John's father asks him if he did his homework.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does John's father hope to protect his son from?

2. What word does John's mother use to describe how he treats his son?

3. At which point is it said that John's parents stopped being happy?

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

5. How much time does John say he has before going away to school at the start of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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