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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When Neil wants to phone Brenda in Short Hills, New Jersey, where does he find the Short Hills phone directory?
(a) Under a laundry basket.
(b) At the next door neighbor's house.
(c) Out in the garage.
(d) Holding up Anut Gladys' dresser.

2. What shows Brenda's independence at the Country Club pool?
(a) She sits in Neil's lap by the pool.
(b) She is dressed in a simple tank suit as opposed to the high heels and jewelry on other women.
(c) She dresses like the other society snobs.
(d) She dominates the diving board.

3. What does Brenda ask about his cousin, Doris?
(a) What she looks like.
(b) Where she is attending school.
(c) What sorority she is a member of.
(d) If she has a fiance.

4. What are some of the things they do together that summer?
(a) Go to motels, see plays in New York, read books.
(b) Go to Coney Island, drive to Atlantic City, visit Brenda's relatives.
(c) Drive into the mountains, go out to eat, watch Ron play basketball.
(d) Play ping pong, visit museums, take long walks in Central Park.

5. How has Mrs. Patimkin reinvented herself?
(a) She has never forgotten her humble beginnings and remains simple and kind.
(b) Her identity is based on her children's education.
(c) She has gone from former debutante to simple housewife.
(d) Her identity is derived directly from her husband's wealth and upwards mobility and from being Brenda's mother.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is a typical dinner at Aunt Gladys' house?

2. How is Neil's behavior the morning after his dinner with the Patimkin family?

3. Who is playing tennis with Brenda when Neill walks up?

4. What does Neil think that shows he is infatuated with Brenda?

5. What antic does Neil perform at the pool?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Julie's character further defined in the play room that evening?

2. How does the reader know that Neil is restless and bored babysitting Julie?

3. Explain the social and economic difference between Brenda and Neil.

4. What does Brenda do that suggests she is very infatuated with Neil?

5. What is Mrs. Patimkin's athletic involvement?

6. How does the reader get introduced to ten-year-old Julie Patimkin?

7. Describe the young African-American boy Neil encounters in front of the library.

8. Tell how the relationship has developed between Neil and the boy who comes to look at the Gauguin book.

9. Describe Brenda's neighborhood in Short Hills.

10. What is a noticeable difference between dinner at the Patimkins' house and dinner in the Klugman house?

(see the answer keys)

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