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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through "Cloud, Castle, Lake".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What instrument does one of the men insist on teaching Ivanovich to play?
(a) Fiddle.
(b) Balalaika.
(c) Mandolin.
(d) Ukulele.

2. What does the narrator remember about the time of year in which the story takes place?
(a) It was damp and cold.
(b) It was an exceptionally hot summer.
(c) It was shortly after the last snow melted.
(d) The leaves had begun to turn.

3. What does Ivanovich think "must be oriented toward something or someone" (4)?
(a) "Some wonderful, tremulous happiness."
(b) "The really good life."
(c) "Things seen in a dream."
(d) "Creatures still unknown to us."

4. What is unusual about the four people who work together?
(a) They work for the same employer but have never met until this trip.
(b) Two have the same last name and two have the same first name.
(c) The men are married to the two women's sisters.
(d) All of them quit their jobs right before this trip.

5. What does Ivanovich do to distract himself from "the absurdity and horror of the situation" (6)?
(a) Reads his book.
(b) Tries to fall asleep.
(c) Plays solitaire.
(d) Looks out the window at the scenery.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who greets Ivanovich at the inn near the lake?

2. What relationship does Vasili Ivanovich have to the story's narrator?

3. Who wrote the book that Ivanovich opens on the train?

4. What detail of Ivanovich's appearance seems to impress the narrator?

5. On page 19, to what does the narrator compare Ivanovich's return journey, away from the lake?

(see the answer key)

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