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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What word does the narrator say describes the appearance of "all creatures still unknown to us" (4)?
(a) "Formidable."
(b) "Innocent."
(c) "Cryptic."
(d) "Drowsy."

2. The narrator describes a hill covered with "verdure"; what is this hill covered with?
(a) Cultivated plants.
(b) Sprouting plants.
(c) Rotting plants.
(d) Flourishing plants.

3. From context, what is the likely meaning of the word "dactyl" in "On the other side...towered, arising from dactyl to dactyl, an ancient black castle" (14)?
(a) A tower in the shape of a digit, like a toe or finger.
(b) A type of stone used in medieval constructions.
(c) An image found in a metrical foot of poetry.
(d) An architectural figure of a bird.

4. When Ivanovich falls asleep on the third day of the tour, how do the others wake him up?
(a) By slapping him.
(b) By pouring water on him.
(c) By throwing a sausage at him.
(d) By singing loudly in his ear.

5. How does the text's language change when the group gets off the train at the last stop on the first day?
(a) The language becomes more lyrical.
(b) The language becomes more circuitous.
(c) The language becomes more conversational.
(d) The language becomes more grandiloquent.

6. Who wrote the book that Ivanovich opens on the train?
(a) Goethe.
(b) Donne.
(c) Tiutchev.
(d) De Viau.

7. Whom does the Bureau's song recommend should be "killed" by a walk in the countryside with "the good, the hearty guys" (9)?
(a) The loner.
(b) The outsider.
(c) The hermit.
(d) The artist.

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

9. Who greets Ivanovich at the inn near the lake?
(a) A pretty girl.
(b) The innkeeper.
(c) A puppy.
(d) A goose.

10. At what time of the morning is Ivanovich supposed to report for the tour?
(a) 11 a.m.
(b) 9 a.m.
(c) 5 a.m.
(d) 7 a.m.

11. When the narrator says that the road "undulated," what is being said of this road (12)?
(a) It gently rises and falls.
(b) It varies in width.
(c) It curves sharply.
(d) It abruptly ends.

12. Who is depicted "in a low-cut gown" on page 4?
(a) Mercy.
(b) Temperance.
(c) Fate.
(d) Justice.

13. What is the job of the older man who talks to Ivanovich about Russia?
(a) Post-office clerk.
(b) Paper manufacturer.
(c) Accountant.
(d) Produce distributor.

14. What does Ivanovich feel is happening as the first night of the tour wears on?
(a) The others are becoming more tolerant of his eccentricities.
(b) The other group members are starting to dislike Schramm.
(c) The group leader is losing power to Schramm.
(d) The others are melding together into one collective being.

15. What detail is the narrator uncertain if he is remembering correctly?
(a) Ivanovich's name.
(b) The time of day the tour departed.
(c) The source of the tour tickets.
(d) The destination of the tour.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the Bureau's song equate with solitude?

2. At the inn near the lake, what nationality does Ivanovich believe the innkeeper to be?

3. Which of the following best characterizes the narrator's attitude toward the absurd process that Ivanovich is told he must follow to sell back the tickets?

4. What is unusual about the four people who work together?

5. What is Schramm's job title?

(see the answer keys)

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