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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator invent in order to publish his book?
(a) A contact in the publishing business.
(b) A translator.
(c) Nothing.
(d) A home address.

2. What does the narrator see that reminds him of Charlotte?
(a) An empty bottle of vodka.
(b) An old lady in a long coat.
(c) A suitcase similar to the Siberian Suitcase.
(d) A hat like Charlotte used to wear.

3. Who moves in with the narrator's family?
(a) The narrator's paternal grandmother.
(b) The narrator's maternal aunt.
(c) The narrator's paternal aunt.
(d) The narrator's first cousin.

4. What does the narrator think Charlotte would never leave?
(a) Her status as a foreigner in the tiny village.
(b) Fyodor's grave.
(c) Her job.
(d) Her friends.

5. What does the narrator often have with himself?
(a) Long, imaginary conversations with his mother.
(b) Confidence-building sessions.
(c) Long, imaginary conversations with his father.
(d) Long, imaginary conversations with Charlotte.

6. Why is the narrator targeted by bullies at his school?
(a) He likes to talk to the girls more than the guys.
(b) He has no shoes.
(c) He has a large, visible birthmark on his face.
(d) He shows no interest in sports and movies.

7. Where does the narrator seek shelter when it begins to rain?
(a) Under a large sycamore.
(b) Under a rock ledge.
(c) A family tomb.
(d) Under an overpass.

8. What does Pashka take the narrator to observe?
(a) A calf being born.
(b) A prostitute having sex with soldiers.
(c) A student at the school have sex with a prostitute.
(d) A student at the school making out with an older woman.

9. What does the narrator need in order to obtain a French passport?
(a) Enough money to purchase a ticket to Russia.
(b) His French naturalization papers.
(c) Proof of his Russian birth.
(d) Proof of his French birth.

10. How does the narrator sometimes use his scarf?
(a) To pull Pashka out of the water.
(b) To summon a taxi.
(c) To pull himself onto the roof of the school.
(d) To hide his birthmark.

11. What does Pashka demand to know from the narrator?
(a) What happens to the young, French boy.
(b) If the king rewards the boy.
(c) Why the boy is being executed.
(d) Why the king's life is in danger.

12. Who surrounds Charlotte and asks for money?
(a) Orphan children.
(b) No one.
(c) Samovars.
(d) Soldiers.

13. What does the narrator try to visualize about the three women in the photo?
(a) Their talking to him about their lives.
(b) Their being nude.
(c) Their names.
(d) Their dreams.

14. What does the narrator feel that Charlotte temporarily gives him?
(a) A sense of belonging.
(b) The ability to feel eternal.
(c) A sense of purpose.
(d) The ability to lift his mood.

15. What does the narrator succeed in imagining?
(a) Living in France.
(b) The breasts of a homeless woman he once sees.
(c) Becoming a famous writer.
(d) Joining his sister in Leningrad.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Charlotte become pregnant?

2. What does the narrator scrounge up enough money to buy?

3. How does the narrator surpass Charlotte?

4. Why does the narrator lie to Pashka?

5. Who is the one person who is kind to the narrator at school?

(see the answer keys)

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