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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where did the Ottoman Turks originally come from?
(a) Tibet.
(b) China.
(c) Nepal.
(d) Mongolia.

2. What was the name of the private school Balakian was made to attend for high school?
(a) Tanglewood.
(b) Marbury.
(c) Lawrenceville.
(d) Englewood.

3. Where did Balakian and his father meet the Indian dressed as a chief during their cross-country tour?
(a) The Black Hills.
(b) Arizona.
(c) Yellowstone.
(d) Illinois.

4. At what age did Peter Balakian begin attending Columbia football games with his father?
(a) Seven.
(b) Two.
(c) Ten.
(d) Five.

5. For what did Balakian win a trophy at the end of his first year at the private high school?
(a) Most likely to succeed.
(b) English student of the year.
(c) Most popular freshman.
(d) Freshman athlete of the year.

6. In what year did Balakian and his father take a Greyhound bus across the United States?
(a) 1966.
(b) 1964.
(c) 1968.
(d) 1963.

7. According to Armenian legend, what animal was Adam's first companion in the Garden of Eden?
(a) Elk.
(b) Tiger.
(c) Snake.
(d) Musk ox.

8. How many Crusades passed through Byzantium on the way to the Holy Land?
(a) Three.
(b) Four.
(c) Five.
(d) Two.

9. What is the name of the yogurt, water, and mint drink commonly found at Balakian family gatherings?
(a) Tourshi.
(b) Tahn.
(c) Kadayif.
(d) Bereks.

10. In what year did the Columbia Lions win the Rose Bowl?
(a) 1938.
(b) 1931.
(c) 1940.
(d) 1934.

11. At what time did Balakian and his friend Ed Harrison routinely sneak out of their houses to explore the town?
(a) 4 a.m.
(b) Midnight.
(c) 1 a.m.
(d) 3 a.m.

12. What prize did William Saroyan turn down for his play, "The Time of Your Life," in 1943?
(a) Tony.
(b) Pulitzer.
(c) PEN.
(d) Nobel.

13. What American author was NOT mentioned as the topic of one of Aunt Anna's published literary books?
(a) Carson McCullers.
(b) Kurt Vonnegut.
(c) William Faulkner.
(d) F. Scott Fitzgerald.

14. What meat did the Balakian family frequently eat for dinner?
(a) Beef.
(b) Lamb.
(c) Goat.
(d) Chicken.

15. What does odar mean?
(a) Infidel.
(b) Non-believer.
(c) Turk.
(d) Other.

Short Answer Questions

1. What popular song was played at Lenny Cohen's bar mitzvah?

2. At what school did Aunt Anna teach French?

3. In grandmother's dream about her friend Nevart (described in "The Woman in Blue"), what was Nevart drinking?

4. In what year did Peter's grandmother die?

5. What does the phrase, "Mairig Asdvadzadzeen," mean?

(see the answer keys)

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