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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the name of the magazine that hosts the party where Calvin first meets Alice?
(a) The New Yorker.
(b) Monocle.
(c) Times Magazine.
(d) Life.

2. Calvin states that he and his wife disagree about which of the following details from the night when they first meet?
(a) The hat and the punch bowl.
(b) The food and the beverages.
(c) The pipe smoke and the glow.
(d) The hat and the pipe smoke.

3. Where does Calvin keep one of the photos of Alice from the article in chapter three?
(a) On his mantle.
(b) On his living room wall.
(c) On his bedside table.
(d) On his desk.

4. What is the first thing that strikes Calvin about Alice when he sees her for the first time?
(a) Alice is talkative.
(b) Alice looks more alive than anyone he sees.
(c) Alice is opinionated.
(d) Alice is so very pretty.

5. What is the headline in the magazine article in which Alice is featured as a model at the age of thirty-five?
(a) About Alice.
(b) The beauty and the brain.
(c) The picture of health.
(d) College instructor, mother and wife.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Alice's reasoning for agreeing to be photographed in a fashion issue of a magazine?

2. What reasons does Calvin give for stating that "Alice doesn't look like who she is"?

3. In what month and year does Calvin first meet Alice?

4. At which institution does Alice teach English in her mid-twenties?

5. Which statement best describes Alice's upbringing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Alice keep in her Important Things envelope? Why are the things inside it so important to her?

2. In what ways are Alice's looks, coupled with the superficial facts about her background, misleading?

3. In chapter three, why does Alice accept the request to be photographed in a fashion issue of a magazine?

4. What is one positive quality that Alice inherits from her father? Why do you think this quality is especially beneficial to Alice?

5. What event causes Alice to feel as though she loses her looks?

6. In chapter two, Calvin Trillin reveals that he never stops trying to impress his wife Alice. Give an example of this.

7. According to Calvin Trillin, Alice's beauty gives her some advantages. Explain.

8. Calvin Trillin states that from the day he meets Alice, he never stops trying to impress her. Why?

9. Describe Calvin Trillin's father-in-law.

10. Chapter three contains two humorous poems about Alice. What theme do they share?

(see the answer keys)

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