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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. Is Dr. Condor actively pursuing a cure for Edith?
(a) No, he has no hope of a cure, but has not told the family how he feels.
(b) Yes, he has just received funding for a new research project he is conducting in his own lab.
(c) Yes, he is trying to get in touch with a doctor who has a promising new treatment for paralysis.
(d) Yes, he is planning a trip to the United States to pursue some new possibilities.

2. Why does Hofmiller try to keep his two worlds - his life in the military and his relationship with the Kekesfalva family - separate from each other?
(a) Kekesfalva asks him to keep the relationship a secret.
(b) He doesn't want his friends to build a relationship with the family and become his rival for their affections.
(c) He thinks they don't fit together.
(d) He thinks Kekesfalva will think less of him if he realizes that he is a low-ranking officer in the military.

3. How does Hofmiller react when he sees Ilona in the street after taking a night away from the family to play cards with his friends?
(a) He is thrilled to see her on his own turf and asks her to go for a walk or to the patisserie.
(b) He is upset that she has apparently left Edith alone.
(c) He is excited about the opportunity to introduce her to his friends.
(d) He seems embarrassed and tries to avoid her.

4. Why does Hofmiller continue exaggerating about the new treatment's promise?
(a) Dr. Condor asked him to make the treatment sound more promising than it actually is.
(b) He has been diagnosed as a compulsive liar.
(c) He hopes that he'll benefit financially if he finds a cure for Edith.
(d) He finds the fact that Kekesfalva is hanging on his every word intoxicating.

5. After they are alone following dinner at the castle, what does Dr. Condor tell Hofmiller he finds frustrating about Kekesfalva?
(a) He doesn't seem to respect Dr. Condor's medical opinions.
(b) When Dr. Condor arrives for appointments, Kekesfalva often isn't there.
(c) He doesn't seem to take an interest in Edith's condition.
(d) He pesters him constantly about Edith, asking the same questions over and over.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Hofmiller find when he arrives back at his barracks after his first meeting with Dr. Condor?

2. How does Dr. Condor describe Kekesfalva's background?

3. How does Dr. Condor perceive that Edith's attitude seems to have changed?

4. When Kekesfalva apologizes for his daughter's rude behavior, how does he describe Edith when she was a child?

5. Why is Hofmiller so confused by the range of emotions Edith and her family brings forth in him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do you think Edith flies into a rage when Josef, the butler, comes to take her for her exercises?

2. How does learning about his past affect Hofmiller's feelings about Kekesfalva?

3. What is Hofmiller's real motivation in accepting Edith's invitation to tea?

4. Why does Kekesfalva become upset with Dr. Condor during their discussion of Edith's condition?

5. What is the difference between how Hofmiller initially feels about Ilona and how he feels about Edith?

6. Although Edith often seems to behave childishly with regard to her disability, how does her talk with Hofmiller about his failure to appear for dinner show her maturity?

7. How does Hofmiller realize that the pity he feels for Edith is already beginning to poison him?

8. Why does Hofmiller attach so much importance to Kekesfalva's request that he speak to Dr. Condor?

9. What does Hofmiller mean when he says that everything that happens in the book began with a blunder?

10. Describe how Kekesfalva got off on the wrong foot with Dietzenhof when they first met.

(see the answer keys)

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