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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 feature of his mother's face does Karl focus on in the photograph of her and his father?
(a) Her sharp eyes.
(b) Her forced smile.
(c) Her furrowed brow.
(d) Her clenched fist.

2. At the hotel, what suggestion of Karl's causes Robinson to begin loudly weeping?
(a) Karl suggests that Delamarche and Robinson are just broke con men.
(b) Karl suggests that Robinson should be ashamed of how he has treated Karl.
(c) Karl suggests that Delamarche is still bullying Robinson.
(d) Karl suggests that Robinson should go to the hospital.

3. What does the policeman's repetition of Karl's name make Karl think is true?
(a) The policeman is prejudiced against Germans.
(b) The hotel is trying to have him traced.
(c) The policeman suspects him of something.
(d) The policeman is not very quick-witted.

4. What causes Karl to have second thoughts about leaving New York?
(a) Robinson and Delamarche's criticisms of Jakob's company.
(b) His memory of his room, desk, and piano in his room in New York.
(c) The sight of an area that reminds him of Germany.
(d) The way Robinson and Delamarche eat the salami without offering any to Karl.

5. How long is Karl away from his lift when he is taking Robinson to the dormitory?
(a) 11 minutes.
(b) 8 minutes.
(c) 5 minutes.
(d) 2 minutes.

Short Answer Questions

1. What gossip starts to go around the Occidental about Rennel?

2. When Karl realizes that he is going to be fired despite two months of exemplary work, what does he realize is true about life?

3. At the hotel, what does Robinson blame his illness on?

4. What does Therese confide in Karl that she asks him to keep secret from the head cook?

5. What does the head cook promise to bring Karl on the day following his firing?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Karl's first sight of Giacomo imply about working conditions in America?

2. How do Delamarche and Robinson persuade Karl to accompany them in the morning?

3. Describe Karl's encounter with the policeman in the Ramses suburbs.

4. Describe Delamarche and Brunelda's relationship with their neighbors.

5. Describe the interior of Brunelda's apartment.

6. How does Therese's backstory support the idea that life for immigrants in America is difficult and somewhat dependent on sheer luck?

7. What annoys Karl about finding the salami in his trunk in Chapter IV, "The March to Ramses," and what is the salami's eventual fate?

8. How does Karl try to improve his position in life while he is at the Occidental Hotel?

9. When Karl is worried about the vomit in the light shaft being noticed, how do his thoughts foreshadow his eventual fate?

10. Describe Brunelda's personality.

(see the answer keys)

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