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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 city the narrator's parents live at the start of the story?
(a) Lagos.
(b) Enugu.
(c) Nigeria.
(d) Port Harcourt.

2. What do Okenwa's parents complain of during one visit in November?
(a) Rising housing costs.
(b) Having no grandchildren for whom to buy Christmas presents.
(c) New aches and pains.
(d) Increased robberies in the area.

3. What does the narrator say his parents had "a new baffling patience for" (1) in their old age?
(a) Animals.
(b) Their son.
(c) Incredible stories.
(d) Small children.

4. Why was the houseboy just before Raphael fired?
(a) For hitting Okenwa.
(b) For insulting Okenwa's mother.
(c) For not cleaning well.
(d) For being a terrible cook.

5. Why did Okenwa's paternal grandparents dislike Okenwa's mother?
(a) They thought she was too educated.
(b) They thought she was not attractive enough.
(c) They thought she was not intelligent enough.
(d) They thought she was too poor.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose films did Okenwa watch obsessively when he was young?

2. What does Okenwa think each time he leaves his parents after a visit?

3. What does Okenwa believe his mother would have said 15 years earlier if told outlandish stories?

4. What does the narrator say his parents smell like at the start of the story?

5. Where does Okenwa live?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Okenwa's parents do for work?

2. What has changed about Okenwa's parents since retirement?

3. What are some of the "incredible stories" Okenwa's parents tell him on his visits?

4. What does Okenwa's mother say had happened during a visit in Okenwa? Who did they know who was involved?

5. Why does Okenwa's mother think he would not remember Raphael?

6. How did Okenwa's mother treat the houseboys?

7. What were Okenwa's parent's evenings at home like when Okenwa was young?

8. How did Okenwa feel about reading compared to his parents?

9. What does Okenwa imagine would be different if he did have a family, as his parents hoped? Why?

10. Under what circumstances did the houseboys that preceded Raphael stop working for Okenwa's family?

(see the answer keys)

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