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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In “The Townspeople Circle the Boy’s Body,” what is happening to the puppet lying near Petya?
(a) It is being protected by Sonya.
(b) Its mouth is filling with snow.
(c) It is being trampled by the soldiers.
(d) It is dangling from its strings.

2. What is Alfonso doing when Sonya is taken by force in a jeep?
(a) Hiding in the closet with Anushka.
(b) Begging for her to be released.
(c) Rocking Anushka.
(d) Out looking for bread.

3. In “Lullaby,” what does Alfonso call his baby?
(a) Little baby.
(b) Little angel.
(c) Little one.
(d) Little earth.

4. In “Alfonso Stands Answerable,” how does the narrator describe the people of town on the first day of arrests?
(a) Angry.
(b) Brave.
(c) Nervous.
(d) Scared.

5. What does Alfonso say about his wife’s words and actions in “Before the War, We Made a Child”?
(a) They kind and gentle.
(b) They are sweet and innocent.
(c) They are all requests for him to join her in bed.
(d) They are the words of a young bride.

6. As Petya’s body lies on the asphalt, what does Alfonso wonder?
(a) Why he, Alfonso, is alive.
(b) Why his town is being taken over.
(c) Why people kill other people.
(d) Why Petya had to spit in the Sergeant's face.

7. What does Sonya call Alfonso, playfully, In “While the Child Sleeps, Sonya Undresses"?
(a) Lover.
(b) Young man.
(c) Pig.
(d) Stranger.

8. What do the signs around town say is the danger of deafness?
(a) It is a sign of cancer.
(b) It is deadly.
(c) It is hard to correct.
(d) It is contagious.

9. The speaker tells God that he can be found, like what beak, pecking everywhere at astonishment?
(a) A cardinal’s.
(b) A dove’s.
(c) A pigeon’s.
(d) A duck’s.

10. In “We Lived Happily before the War,” it has been how many months since America has had a terrible leader?
(a) 6.
(b) 2.
(c) 12.
(d) 8.

11. What happens if townspeople show signs of deafness?
(a) They are to turn themselves in.
(b) They are sent for surgery.
(c) They are ignored.
(d) They are told to go home and quaratine.

12. Who does Alfonso say picks breadcrumbs from each citizen’s eyes and watches their legs as they run and fall?
(a) His neighbors and friends.
(b) The leaders of his country.
(c) The yellow canary of his country.
(d) The blue canary of his country.

13. To what does the speaker say is the only barricade for the townspeople?
(a) Deafness.
(b) Faith.
(c) A river.
(d) Furniture.

14. Sonya had once said that that she would be doing what the day they came to arrest her?
(a) Playing the piano.
(b) Dancing.
(c) Fighting.
(d) Singing.

15. In “Still Newlyweds,” Alfonso says that when Sonya steps out of the shower, it does what?
(a) It overwhelms him.
(b) Gives him another reason why he married her.
(c) Reminds him that there is a God.
(d) Calms the entire nation.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do Sonya and Alfonso teach others in Central Square?

2. In “Central Square,” those who are arrested are forced to walk how?

3. What do the townspeople do when soldiers arrive back in the square to take Petya’s body?

4. Alfonso says that you can have sex with anyone, but you cannot do what with just anyone?

5. “In Soldiers Aim at Us,” what do the soldiers do to make the townspeople run away, so they can get Petya’s body?

(see the answer keys)

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