View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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) An image found in a metrical foot of poetry.
(b) An architectural figure of a bird.
(c) A tower in the shape of a digit, like a toe or finger.
(d) A type of stone used in medieval constructions.

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

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

4. The group leader is "lanky" (5). What does this mean is true about him?
(a) He is athletic.
(b) He looks unhealthy.
(c) He moves stiffly.
(d) He is tall and thin.

5. What does Ivanovich associate with happiness?
(a) Work.
(b) His friends.
(c) Music.
(d) His childhood.

6. What is special about the room at the inn by the lake?
(a) Its decor.
(b) Its view.
(c) Its library.
(d) Its price.

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

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

9. What relationship does Vasili Ivanovich have to the story's narrator?
(a) He is the narrator's brother-in-law.
(b) He is the man who was once in love with the narrator's wife.
(c) He is the narrator's former employee.
(d) He is a man whom the narrator met on a group tour.

10. Why does the group make Ivanovich eat a cigarette butt?
(a) He accidentally trips one of the women.
(b) He tries to read his book.
(c) He speaks Russian in his sleep.
(d) He loses a game.

11. In the description of the "mother-of-pearl claws on his dirty toes," what is the man with whom Ivanovich spends the night being compared to (12)?
(a) A statue.
(b) An animal.
(c) A laborer.
(d) A hidden gem.

12. What "fancy-style" item does Ivanovich buy for his trip (3)?
(a) A pair of hiking boots.
(b) An enormous backpack.
(c) A walking stick.
(d) A flannel shirt.

13. Which character is said to have "lustreless eyes and a vague velvety vileness" (6)?
(a) The widow.
(b) Greta.
(c) Schultz.
(d) Schramm.

14. What technique is used in the sentence "The burning sun crept toward a corner of the window and suddenly spilled over the yellow bench" (6)?
(a) Juxtaposition.
(b) Imagery.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Simile.

15. Which detail of the group leader's appearance is associated with authoritarianism?
(a) Tyrolese clothing.
(b) Walking stick.
(c) Knapsack.
(d) Hobnailed boots.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the tour group doing in the passage that says "they raised dust along a highway" (12)?

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

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

4. When the man tells stories about his "philanderings," what is he talking about (5)?

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 569 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample