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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How did Patricia handle "major disputes" (84) with the author?
(a) She insisted on arguing in Xhosa.
(b) She beat him.
(c) She got other members of the family to help argue with him.
(d) She wrote extra-length letters.

2. What did the author do to get to know his father better after their reunion in Cape Town?
(a) He spied on him.
(b) He interviewed him.
(c) He hired a private investigator.
(d) He had him fill out a questionnaire.

3. How does the author explain his remark that he and his mother "weren't just mother and son" (70)?
(a) "We never got along at all."
(b) "We were a team."
(c) "She was like my boss."
(d) "I was like her savior."

4. What does the name Nombuyiselo mean?
(a) "The Fixer."
(b) "A builder of ships."
(c) "She who gives back."
(d) "She who popped out of nowhere."

5. What unusual career move did Patricia make in the early 1980s?
(a) She became a housekeeper.
(b) She became a chiropractor.
(c) She became a secretary.
(d) She started working in a factory.

6. How did the author first endear himself to the black students at H. A. Jack Primary?
(a) He showed off his skills at speaking English and Afrikaans.
(b) He demonstrated that he could speak their native languages.
(c) He pulled a prank on a white teacher.
(d) He bought them new Transformers toys.

7. Who did the author accuse of tricking his mother into going to church the day they were threatened in the minibus?
(a) He claimed that the pastor tricked his mother.
(b) He accused God.
(c) Trevor claimed that he tricked her himself.
(d) He accused the Devil.

8. What was the only part of a person's home that could not be improved in Soweto?
(a) The walls.
(b) The bathroom.
(c) The driveway.
(d) The ceiling.

9. What did the school counselor warn the author about when he asked to transition into the B classes at H. A. Jack Primary?
(a) She warned him that he was not smart enough for the B classes.
(b) She warned him the kids in the B classes would hold him back.
(c) She warned him that the kids in the B classes would beat him up.
(d) She warned him that the B classes were too full.

10. What did the vet reveal to the author about his dog, Fufi, after she died?
(a) Fufi was actually a coyote.
(b) Fufi died of natural causes.
(c) Fufi was deaf.
(d) Fufi had been pregnant.

11. How did arguments between the author and his mother change after the author turned eight?
(a) Their arguments became nastier and more personal.
(b) They began to argue in writing instead of in person.
(c) They started arguing about more mature topics.
(d) They stopped arguing altogether.

12. Why was the author unable to play with his cousins when he was very young?
(a) Trevor was being punished.
(b) His grandmother was afraid the neighborhood children would steal him.
(c) His grandmother was afraid the cousins would be a bad influence on Trevor.
(d) His grandmother was afraid the police would take him away.

13. Which of the following is NOT a language that Patricia taught to the author?
(a) Tsonga.
(b) Xhosa.
(c) Afrikaans.
(d) English.

14. In what country did the author grow up?
(a) South Africa.
(b) Nigeria.
(c) South America.
(d) North Africa.

15. According to the author, how do black people treat dogs in South Africa?
(a) They treat them like alarm systems.
(b) They treat them like children.
(c) They treat them like toys.
(d) They treat them like tools.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why was the author not allowed to eat food when visiting Temperance Noah's second family?

2. Why did the author think it was ironic when a black security guard was convicted of animal abuse for killing a cat on live TV?

3. What does the author indicate would probably happen if a black man had sex with a white woman under the apartheid system?

4. What was unusual about the steakhouse that Robert opened?

5. What happened when the author tried to show his friend how to burn his name into pieces of wood?

(see the answer keys)

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