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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where is the main character standing as he watches his father walk down the street at the start of the story?
(a) In the doorway of his hut.
(b) Ih his room at school.
(c) At the bus stop.
(d) Against the tree outside his hut.

2. 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 John is disobeying his mother.
(b) He does not want to hear that John is not doing well in school.
(c) He does not want to hear that John has a girlfriend.
(d) He does not want to hear of any trouble.

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

4. 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 if he got good grades this term.
(c) John's father asks him if he did his homework.
(d) John's father asks him when his journey is.

5. Why does John's father ask him what he has done after asking him to sit at the start of the story?
(a) John had told his father they needed to talk.
(b) John's mother told him he had gotten into trouble.
(c) John will not look at him.
(d) John's father heard a rumor about him in town.

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

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

8. 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 is just as hard on him.
(b) She has a point.
(c) Women will never understand.
(d) I am too easy on him.

9. What does John's father hope to protect his son from?
(a) Disease.
(b) Evil influences.
(c) Danger.
(d) Not getting a good education.

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

11. 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) Large and mean.
(c) Elegant and intelligent.
(d) Frail but energetic.

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

13. What does John's father feel his wife made him do long ago, and hopes his son does not do the same thing?
(a) Quit school.
(b) Move.
(c) Sin.
(d) Get a low-paying job.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does John's father carry in his bag as he walks down the street?

2. Who is the author of "Meeting in the Dark"?

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

4. What words are used to describe the way John's father treats his son, which his wife "was never blind to" (57)?

5. What did John's father tell his mother to talk to John about instead of telling him the stories she had always told him?

(see the answer keys)

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