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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What reason was Gerald given for his mother wanting a bamboo house?

2. What was the second catch of the fishing expedition for Taki?

3. When did Larry learn all about donkeys?

4. What did Crippenopoulos accuse Roger of doing?

5. How did the water-spider manage to live underwater?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Sally? Where did Sally come from? How did the name Sally come to be? Why was Gerald excited to have Sally as a member of the household?

2. Who was the first friend the family made upon arriving on the island of Corfu? What important help did this new friend give Gerald and his family?

3. What did mother have Costas construct in the yard? How did she explain the construction to Gerald? What was Gerald's mother really having built and why?

4. What was the set pattern Theo and Gerald had established for their excursions? What was the first thing they did when settling into a new spot?

5. What did Gerald bring with him for his nighttime fishing expedition? What did he do with his treasures before returning home? What did Taki give Gerald to appease Mother for the late hour of Gerald's return?

6. Who was Sven? How did he come upon the Durrell family? What was Sven's unusual talent that drove the family crazy? What did Gerald learn Sven had in common with him?

7. Where did Taki take Gerald to catch fish? What unusual method did Taki use to catch fish? What strange fish did Taki catch that fascinated Gerald? What did Gerald learn about the fish Taki caught?

8. What is a China-mark moth? What makes this moth unique?

9. What did Gerald do with the crab he and Roger discovered on one of their walks? What did Gerald find fascinating about the crab that led him to further exploration?

10. Where did Gerald go to thank Katarina for giving him Sally? What was happening when Gerald arrived at Katarina's? What did Gerald do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Gerald says upon introducing Theodore Stephanides to his story, "...someone who was going to become immediately the most important person in my life. To me, Theodore was one of the most remarkable people I had ever met." Explain who Theodore Stephanides is, and why he is so important in Gerald's life.

Essay Topic 2

Gerald Durrell ended his memoir with the short paragraph "Lulled by the wine and the throbbing heart of the boat's engine, lulled by the warm night and the singing, I fell asleep while the boat carried us back across the warm, smooth waters to our island and the brilliant days that were not to be." Discuss this sentence, its relevance to the memoir as a whole, and the "days ahead" for the family.

Essay Topic 3

What is the "olive merry go round?" How does it work, and what does it do? How does Gerald discover it and its owner?

(see the answer keys)

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