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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To which American writer did Balakian send his poems while at Bucknell College?
(a) Jack Kerouac.
(b) Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
(c) Robert Pirsig.
(d) Allen Ginsberg.

2. What baseball team did Peter and his grandmother root for?
(a) Chicago White Sox.
(b) Philadelphia Phillies.
(c) New York Mets.
(d) New York Yankees.

3. At what age did Aunt Nona begin institutional schooling?
(a) Fourteen.
(b) Sixteen.
(c) Twelve.
(d) Fifteen.

4. What popular song was played at Lenny Cohen's bar mitzvah?
(a) Heartbreak Hotel.
(b) Mack the Knife.
(c) The Twist.
(d) I Want to Hold Your Hand.

5. What anniversary was the Soviet Armenian Republic celebrating when Balakian's father wrote to his son at college urging him to learn more about the country?
(a) 30th.
(b) 50th.
(c) 40th.
(d) 25th.

6. What is the name of the torte made with shredded wheat?
(a) Titoomov.
(b) Paklava.
(c) Kadayif.
(d) Nujuk.

7. What food did Balakian's mother bring when she visited during the talk by Allen Ginsberg?
(a) Baklava.
(b) Kebabs.
(c) Lasagne.
(d) Stuffed grape leaves.

8. Why did Balakian not like the works of Anais Nin, who was friends with his aunt?
(a) He found her works self-indulgent.
(b) He found her works too difficult to understand.
(c) He found her works too realistic.
(d) He found her works too ironic.

9. In what year did the book open?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1959.
(c) 1957.
(d) 1913.

10. What injury did Balakian sustain on the football field during August practice before his sophomore year?
(a) Heatstroke.
(b) Heat exhaustion.
(c) Pulled Achilles' heel.
(d) Torn knee ligament.

11. What baseball legend was Balakian reading about while he was sick with the measles?
(a) Babe Ruth.
(b) Roger Maris.
(c) Willie Mays.
(d) Jackie Robinson.

12. Who was Balakian's first anti-hero?
(a) James Dean.
(b) Marlon Brando.
(c) Holden Caulfield.
(d) Benjamin Braddock.

13. What color dress did Auntie Anna wear while delivering a talk at Balakian's college?
(a) Yellow.
(b) Red.
(c) Black.
(d) Blue.

14. To what town was Balakian taking his girlfriend when he refused to return home for his grandmother's memorial service?
(a) Boston.
(b) Amherst.
(c) Cambridge.
(d) Princeton.

15. What kind of trees do the silkworms come from?
(a) Willows.
(b) Mulberries.
(c) Maples.
(d) Oaks.

Short Answer Questions

1. What fruit does the spice mahleb come from?

2. Whose voice did Balakian describe as hitting him "as broken glass under a tire"?

3. In what year did Balakian's father save the man having the heart attack at a Columbia game?

4. Where did Franklin Delano Roosevelt attend prep school?

5. What junk food did Balakian reminisce about eating at the Dillstein's house?

(see the answer keys)

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