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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When the old woman saw Safran again years after the town was destroyed, what did they do?
(a) They had lunch, a bath, and a fight.
(b) They cursed the Nazis.
(c) They told stories about the people they knew.
(d) They cried.

2. Who is Alex referring to when he says, "it is as if after surviving so much, there was no longer a reason to survive" (143)?
(a) Alex's Grandfather.
(b) Jonathan's grandmother.
(c) Brod.
(d) Jonathan's grandfather.

3. Who approaches Alex while he is at the beach?
(a) The police.
(b) Father.
(c) Little Igor.
(d) Grandfather.

4. Why are the Gypsy girl and Safran unable to be together?
(a) Because of his arm.
(b) Because she is poor and he is rich.
(c) Because she is smart and he is not.
(d) Because she is a Gypsy and he is a Jew.

5. What does Alex admit to Jonathan in the "Letter Dated 17 November 1997"?
(a) Alex admits that he has stolen to get money for his trip to America.
(b) Alex admits that he cries all the time.
(c) Alex admits that he has never been carnal with a woman.
(d) Alex admits that he did not like Jonathan at first.

6. Who asks "how are your books arranged" (231)?
(a) Alex.
(b) The Gypsy girl.
(c) Lista.
(d) Zosha.

7. How does Alex feel about Safran having sex with older women and women who are not his wife?
(a) He thinks it is strange.
(b) He thinks it makes Safran sound like a superior person.
(c) He thinks it makes Safran sound like an inferior person.
(d) He wants to be like Safran.

8. What do Jonathan, Alex, and Grandfather see when they finally reach Trachimbrod?
(a) A ghost town.
(b) The foundations of where buildings used to be.
(c) Nothing.
(d) Rubble.

9. According to the old woman, what does Trachimbrod look like now?
(a) It is crumbling.
(b) It is empty.
(c) It has been rebuilt and doesn't look at all like it did before.
(d) It looks like any other field.

10. In "An Overture to Illumination," Jonathan, Alex, and Grandfather are returning from Trachimbrod. Why does Grandfather get mad at their waitress?
(a) She spills their drinks on them.
(b) She calls Jonathan a Jew.
(c) She reminds him of someone he knew.
(d) She does not have any meals without meat.

11. Concerning Jonathan's novel, what does Alex ask Jonathan to do?
(a) He asks Jonathan to have Grandfather and Augustine converse.
(b) He asks Jonathan to delete Augustine from the story.
(c) He asks Jonathan to write about his Grandfather's past.
(d) He asks Jonathan to not write about his Grandfather's past.

12. Why does everyone read from the Book of Antecedents?
(a) Because it includes a census.
(b) Because they will have their lives written in it one day.
(c) Because they are required to read it.
(d) Because it is fascinating.

13. At the end of "The Dial, 1941-1804-1941," Brod tells Kolker that she loves him and "for the first time in her life, the words had meaning" (139). Why do the words have meaning now?
(a) The Kolker has given her a baby.
(b) The Kolker has given her perfume.
(c) The Kolker is dying.
(d) The Kolker told her the truth about her father.

14. In "Falling in Love," who does Alex think he has found?
(a) Lista.
(b) Jonathan's grandmother.
(c) Augustine.
(d) Zosha.

15. In "Letter Dated 26 January 1998," what does Alex do with the division Jonathan sent him?
(a) He read it to Little Igor.
(b) He gave it to Father.
(c) He read it to Grandfather.
(d) He gave it to Samy Davis Junior, Junior.

Short Answer Questions

1. What makes Lista unique?

2. Who does Alex think was "born to be a writer"?

3. How did Jonathan's grandmother survive the war?

4. When Grandfather asks Alex for his life-savings, what does Alex ask for in exchange?

5. What is in all of the boxes in the old woman's house?

(see the answer keys)

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