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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What two books did Penelope's father obsess over?
(a) Finnegan's Wake and Ulysses.
(b) Ulysses and The Iliad.
(c) The Iliad and The Odyssey.
(d) The Quarryman and The Odyssey.

2. What was Claudia's surname before she married?
(a) Merchison.
(b) Draft.
(c) Hanley.
(d) Kirkby.

3. What was Michael's mother's profession?
(a) She was a baker.
(b) She was a receptionist.
(c) She was a nurse.
(d) She was a schoolteacher.

4. Matthew describes Rory and Henry looking like melded elements in "The Forces are Displayed" (76). What elements does he describe combined?
(a) Metal and fire.
(b) Water and clay.
(c) Sand and rust.
(d) Water and fire.

5. Where did Penelope reach a refugee camp where whe was interviewed and fingerprinted in "The Birthday Girl"?
(a) West Berlin.
(b) Traiskirchen.
(c) Salzberg.
(d) Klagenfurt.

6. Who was the next-door neighbor to the Dunbars in "Portrait of a Killer as a Middle-Aged Man"?
(a) Mrs. Haas.
(b) Mrs. De Witt.
(c) Mrs. England.
(d) Mrs. Chilman.

7. What three words did Clay say while looking back at his work before walking to the town in "The Boy With Bleeding Hands" (196)?
(a) "I made it."
(b) "Wait for me."
(c) "Here goes nothing."
(d) "I let go."

8. When did Penelope and Michael arrange for their first official "date," according to the narrator in "Like Skiers on a Mountainside"?
(a) Sunday at 3:00.
(b) Saturday at 4:00.
(c) Saturday at 6:00.
(d) Friday at 7:00.

9. Who is the woman that gave Matthew directions to the Merchisons' home in "Before the Beginning"?
(a) Marie.
(b) Daphne.
(c) Sarah.
(d) Abbey.

10. Who was the postman that Michael helped at the door in "The Murderer Wasn't Always a Murderer"?
(a) Mr. Combs.
(b) Mr. Kimble.
(c) Mr. Jade.
(d) Mr. Harty.

11. What object in the house does the narrator say "watched [the Murderer] from behind" in the end of "The Greeks Got Him" (34)?
(a) "The mirror."
(b) "The chair."
(c) "The piano."
(d) "The fence."

12. What is the name of the border collie that is described in "Warming Up the Clay Way"?
(a) Moon.
(b) Achilles.
(c) Hector.
(d) Rosy.

13. Who is the youngest of the Dunbar brothers?
(a) Tommy.
(b) Clay.
(c) Matthew.
(d) Henry.

14. What is the title of Part 3 of the novel?
(a) "Cities + Criminals + Arches."
(b) "Cities + Waters + Criminals."
(c) "Cities + Arches + Waters."
(d) "Cities + Waters + Arches."

15. How old was Michael Dunbar when he received the "Men Who Changed the World" calendar?
(a) 8.
(b) 12.
(c) 6.
(d) 10.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose letter did Clay read first in "War of the Roses"?

2. What is the full name of the pigeon that is described in "The Greeks Got Him"?

3. To what is the sun in Australia compared through metaphor in the beginning of "The Mistake Maker"?

4. Who was responsible for the stolen letter-box in "The Arsemover and the Minotaur"?

5. Who said to Michael Dunbar when he was trying to state why he came in "The Forces are Displayed," "For Christ's sake, spit the fucking thing out!" (78)?

(see the answer keys)

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